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6/4/2010

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A gaggle of neighborhood kiddies descended on our house a few weeks ago and wrote the first installment of our new - monthly - summer - neighborhood newspaper.

This project first emerged early in the spring when the kids came up with the idea themselves and wrote out a four page piece which included comics and recipes. This summer, I helped formalize their idea with custom templates and a publishing budget of 3 copies per family.

The first summer edition totaled nineteen pages and included comics, recipes, jokes, poems, songs, a story about the neighborhood community garden and a reminder of bike safety. The pride in my 5 year-olds face as he passed out his copies to the neighbors of his choice was fabulous.

As a more formal project, I would have children look at local newspapers to get a feel for the style and content, and then have students use the writing process to refine their own articles; but as an at-home activity we just used this as an occasion for fun. First drafts were ‘good enough.’ We celebrated the effort; not the grammar or spelling. As every family is able to decide how to distribute their own copies, we chose to have kids sign their work by initials only and to split the costs, each family will take turns paying for copy charges over the duration of the project.

I’ve posted the templates here in case your young journalists want to give it a try. Happy Writing!

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Card crafts…

1/14/2010

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      After Christmas this year, my kiddos and I created our very own thank you cards. My sons enjoyed using a ‘Monster Making’ sticker kit to decorate the front of each card. My seven year-old can now write his own messages, while I serve as my four year-old’s secretary. 
     Plain cards with matching envelopes can be purchased at your local craft stores, and then supplies on-hand can be your inspiration. Over the years, we’ve decorated cards with hand and foot prints, tracings of the boys’ hands and just good-old stickers. 
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I have to say: I’m a huge fan of mini-glue dots. These fabulous, little wonders let my sons independently glue decorations on to their cards without the spilling, oozing, all-over-the-table-mess.

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     Just this week, my family also used our homemade cards to participate in the "Make a Child Smile" program. This national program tells stories of "children battling serious illnesses" and coordinates volunteers to send mail to the children in hopes of brightening their day. My kiddos LOVE to get mail – so they can certainly relate to the mission of this non-profit.

     Our family signed-up, sent cards with our very favorite knock-knock jokes, and even included a deck of cards and directions to our family’s favorite card game. It’s a great volunteer opportunity that even allows the youngest member of the family to join in. Those special kids on the receiving-end deserve a good smile and we appreciate the opportunity to be a part of their journey.
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