I know how to organize the time and how to care for little ones. Just needed help with some creative ideas.

If we will be in the room I'm thinking of, there is no where for the 1yo to nap. The only room with a pack/play (at least I think there is one) is the baby room. When I asked her about any crafts or activities, her reply was that in the past they tried with this age but they are too young. So they just do color pages, videos, and snacks. I would imagine if she has anything she would have offered it. *shrug* I commented on this above.

I absolutely agree. Basically this is the childcare room for the volunteers with children in this age-range. Thanks for the ideas. It's a good start to work on putting a basic "lesson plan" together to present to the children's ministry coordinator. :)

I don't know yet which room they'll put this group in. If it's the room I'm thinking/hoping it will be, there is a rug and and at one end of the room there is a table. And lots of toys in there. I'd just like to incorporate a few animal-themed things into their choices. And yes, I was thinking loose structure. Having things they could just wander and do. There is a playground but it's not appropriate for this age. That's really the only fenced in space we could take them outside. It would be a nightmare trying to keep them off the big play structure. Other than that it's all parking lot. How could I forget bubbles?!? Yes, very helpful! The last few days my mind has been focused on high school transcripts, credits, etc. as we're wrapping up our school year. We had requested to work with the snacks but she needs help in this class so my brain is having to do a major shift. ;) And I want to do more with them than just coloring, videos, and food.

Your ideas were things I was trying to think of. :)

Yes, I know that. There will be four of us in the room. No idea yet on how many littles. So pretty easy to divide and conquer. ;) My thought is finding 2-3 things we can do each day that may take 5-10 minutes. Things that will break up time in front of the screen or just crayons/paper. Like the puppet show idea, that's something we could do while they are having a snack and could just be a couple minutes long. Instead of crayons/paper, at some point of the morning we could do a different, very simple craft for the 3yo.

My girls and I are helping in the 1-3yo class this year. The lady heading it up told me that they basically just do color sheets, watch videos, play, and and have snacks. The VBS theme they are doing this year is Weird Animals. They'll be in there for THREE hours. I know the 1-2 yo won't focus much for a simple craft or a quick puppet show but surely we can find some things to go along with the VBS theme for the 3yo…??? If we're going to be in the room for 4 days from 9a-12p, I'd really like to have a little more to the morning than coloring, putting them in front of the tv, and feeding them. :glare: I'm thinking of just quick little activities to break up the time to keep them from getting restless. So far I've thought of a few things that might work. But it's been 5 years since I had a 3yo. ;) So I might be a little ambitious right now. - Singing: One of the VBS songs is Jesus Loves Me. - Puppet Show - Some kind of tactile play station…? - Easy animal "crafts" (like this: http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/e3/5a/0b/e35a0bbf529e367cf807229f094c7168.jpg)…just something that's a little different than coloring yet really, really simple. Ideas?

Compared to Chuck E Cheese or Incredible Pizza (a place we have here), D&B is more adult oriented. There aren't any gigantic singing stuffed animals. There aren't any "kiddie" games (ie. a motorized train they can ride, a giant indoor playground with a ball pit, etc). There aren't 500 children running all over the place out of control. It's just arcade games. ;)

I'm an introvert and I like D&B. Yes it's loud and crazy…BUT it's an arcade. You can't expect it to be quiet with classical music playing. When we go I just prepare myself for the crazy and have fun. :) I also like it because it's small. We can let the kids roam around with their game card and still keep sight of them. The food is ok. Not great but not horrible. I like that they have Eat/Play combos (only on certain days and during certain hours) which saves a bit.

How about a card shower? Send word out to everyone they know that you can contact to please send a card to your address. Put them all together in a pretty basket and present to them. Then you can have a nice, quiet, dinner with just close family. And your dad can bring the surprise cake. ;)

My ds made me a rainbow loom bracelet with OKC Thunder colors. :) :001_wub: Other than that. Nothing. My other dc didn't do anything. Dh didn't do anything. Not even a card. But he didn't for my birthday either this year so I think I've come to not expect anything for my special days. *sigh*

I don't have any on my current phone (mostly because I don't know how :sad: ). But on a previous phone I had all of my clients set to "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash. ;)

Just got a pedi on Thursday. OPI's "Yoga-ta get this blue". They are my OKC Thunder play-off toes. ;)

Yes, I make my own.

No. I know *how* to assist in the delivery if it were a surprise breech and baby was coming *NOW*. But I won't purposefully do a breech delivery. I just didn't have the training for it in my apprenticeship (we never had anyone have a breech). I know my limits. ;)

I've never seen one, just the cloud rotation. And I drink store bought 'bucha too. ;) My jar sits in a dark corner of my kitchen counter. Doesn't get hot enough in the house for it to cause a problem. And no, you don't put it in the fridge while it is fermenting…that cold will stop the fermenting process. I bottle it, do a 24-48h second ferment, and then put it in the fridge. It was more of a challenge when the kids were smaller (I've been doing birth work for almost seven years). Now they are all independent, can complete school work without me there constantly, can help take care of the house, and make meals. Kombucha doesn't smell bad. If it brews too long it smells like ACV. Lots of probiotics, vitamins, etc. Really great stuff for your gut. :) Plus…it's fun to make and it's yummy! ;)

I always thought it was because they don't want you to win.

The closest I've ever come (Thank God) is seeing cloud rotation. Last Spring a tornado passed about a mile from our home. No, not yet. And I'm an only child. And we have seven chickens. And I knit. So many things…not enough room in the title space. :p INFJ is a personality type. It stands for Introverted iNtutive Feeling Judging. http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp

MMMmmm…but my homemade bucha is delicious!!! ;)

I can drink my kombucha while sitting in my hallway waiting out the threat of a tornado. I drink kombucha while at births….??? Independently. I am an INFJ after all. :p j/k Actually I do have my own practice but I work in collaboration with two other midwives. We assist each other at births and provide back-up if needed.

My kids love when we hook up the laptop to the TV so they can watch them on the big screen. lol

I just had to. Don't get me wrong, they are fun threads!! It's just that every time I log on to the board there is another "ask a…" thread and I just have to laugh a little. Didn't want to be left out. :tongue_smilie:

Ditto being absolutely sure about the latch.

:grouphug: Happy Birthday!!!!! BTDT myself this year. My bday was on Easter this year. My husband didn't get me anything. My kids didn't do anything. My inlays got me a Duck Dynasty poster and a Duck Dynasty "book of wisdom" (or whatever it was…I dunno…it's in the trash now) AND a Duck Dynasty bday card. :001_rolleyes: AND my cycle started that day too.

I just had my first canning experience today!!! And I think I'm hooked! I made dandelion blossom jelly. Hoping to try canning some salsa this summer.