FREE Small Photo Book (Great Tool to Help Little Hands Learn!)

Through Wednesday (Oct. 6, 2010), you can get a FREE purse photo book from Walgreens (4.5"x6" with 20 pages). Use it to show off your beautiful monkies, or it could even make a great item for teaching your baby. Include photos of loved ones so she can learn their names--especially those she doesn't see often. Or include photos of items around your house to teach the words for each item, their colors, ABCs or numbers. For instance, take photos of common objects found around your house such as a chair, lamp, toy, and dog. To get the book free, use the code FOREVER at checkout ($2.99 shipping applies).

Customize a Coloring Book

Little kids love to color (as evidenced by the scribbles on your walls). To help keep their creativity on paper, give them pictures that capture their interests. With all the coloring pages available online, it's easy to create the perfect, customized coloring book for your little one. Go with one whole theme (for instance, ABCs, or mix it up with some Little Mermaid, favorite animals and some shapes. Check out these links for some popular options for toddlers and preschoolers: 

• Learning themes (letters, numbers and shapes), Little People, Rescue Heroes,  dinosaurs and more
• Nick Jr. characters
• Disney, Playhouse Disney
• PBS Kids

You have several options for putting the coloring book together.Whichever option you take, start by printing out 20 pages or so, which gives your child options to choose from (sometimes they want that perfect subject to color!).

1. Punch three holes along the left side and put into a paper folder with brads. This makes for a book feel but with flexibility so it's easy to put into your bag (great for restaurants and waiting rooms). You can also have your child decorate the outside with stickers.
2. If you want durability, stick the pages into plastic sleeves in a 1/2-inch binder. This gives the option of either taking the pages out and coloring with crayons, OR leave them in the sleeves and color with dry-erase markers! 
3. Punch three holes along the left side of the pages. Then add a construction-paper front and back; pull pieces of yarn through each hole and tie. 
4. Of course, the simplest route is just to staple them all together along the left side. Maybe add a blank "cover" your child can decorate.

Put Your Child in His Favorite Show

The four of us took a trip to the library over the weekend. Thought A might be getting to the age to enjoy seeing all the books (she wants to read EVERYthing lately). We chose several and read a few. Then we also picked a few DVDs. She loves "Arthur," so we took one home. In the end commercials, there was one for Kideo, which puts your child's photo in an episode of certain kid shows. I checked out their site (not knowing if they were even still in business since this video came out). Come to find out, they don't only offer "Arthur" versions, but others as well. Here's a full list:

• Dora and Diego
• Precious Moments
• Spider-Man
• Arthur
• Care Bears
• Baby Genius
• Barney
• Gregory

I think most little kids would get a kick out of seeing themselves on TV. Could be a special treat. The Dora selection has one with a birthday theme, which could make a great gift. You can upload your child's photo on the website to get a preview. They're $29.99 each (must say, I was hoping for cheaper...yet I'm still considering one as a potential Christmas gift).

Personalized Books

I remember my grandfather giving me a book that had my name and other info (like hometown, dog's name, etc.) printed throughout the story. I thought it was the coolest thing! Ever since, I've known I wanted my daughter to have such an experience. I plan to get one soon, even though it might be awhile before she fully appreciates the concept.

Here are some personalized book sites to check out:*

• Find Me Book - include photos of family members, which get hidden amongst a variety of images. 
• Happy Kids - personal information can be printed in various book themes, such as Sesame Street 
• Created4Me - the child's name is highlighted "in lights," and each letter has a page devoted to it  
• Freckle Box - stories with non-character-related (such as Elmo) stories/themes, which include the child's name 
• Custom Made for Kids - insert your child's favorite people and places, while telling the story of his or her time from birth to present. All put into an illustrated format
• And of course you could always make a photo book on a photo-sharing site and add your own short story within the caption fields.
  

*Note: I haven't ordered anything from any of these sites as of yet, so I don't know anything about their quality, etc. (but they look fun!). If you have, let us know your experience.