Mothers, You Can Teach & Save Precious Memories to Last a Lifetime!

by Lois Breneman, 1999, Revised 2004, Heart to Heart 

These are things to do with your children that will provide precious memories to fill a lifetime!

Record Your Children Talking and Singing
Record your children's voices at various ages.  We have tapes of our children singing songs that they were making up as they sang.  Priceless!  Our oldest child read books on tape for the youngest child.  She would ring a bell each time the page was to be turned.  We still have those tapes. Maybe her own children can use them some day.  We even have a tape of one of our children nursing and trying to catch a breath.  So funny!   Tapes of the children reciting memory verses in their toddler voices (and older) will always be priceless.  You could plan an interview for each of your children at various ages, asking them about their interests at this stage in their lives.  Tape the conversation around the dinner table, unknown to the children and play it back.  The children love to listen to tapes from when they were first learning how to talk, and it's a precious way to keep up with our memories as parents.

Bedtime Togetherness
After the children have gone to bed, go lie down beside each one and ask them if they want to tell you anything about their day.  They will open up to you if it is just the two of you and no interruptions, and besides that, it's more fun than going to sleep!  Listen without interrupting. Then give advice, if needed.  Those times alone will go a long way!

Dates with Your Children
Take your children out on dates.  Mothers, take your sons -- one at a time. Fathers can take your daughters.  Teach them manners and how to treat a member of the opposite sex when you eat out.  You have their undivided attention.  Use it to have heart to heart talks and for listening to them.  Have fun together!

PLAY DOUGH SURPRISE BALLS

Contributed by Barb Campbell of Mississippi ~ Precious_Stones@JEMMinistries.org

This is a fun treat you can fix up for any child. We use these in Bible School! 

You will need a batch of homemade playdough for this. Here is the recipe I use:

1 c. flour (plain all-purpose), 2 tsp. cream of tartar, 1 Tbsp. cooking oil, 1/2 c. salt, 1 c. water

Mix all the ingredients in a large pot and cook over low heat until a ball forms -- you will need to stir while cooking. Remove the mixture from the pan and knead it. Once it is smooth and the right consistency for play dough, you can create the Surprise Balls.

There are 2 ways to do this -- One way is to pinch off pieces of dough and roll into little balls (about the size of those bouncy balls that come with jacks). Poke a small hole in the ball, don't go through all the way, and drip one drop of food coloring into the hole. Seal it off. When the children begin to play with the plain balls, they will "magically" change colors!  OK -- I have to tell you that the food coloring is fun, but messy!

So here is the other way -- Make the balls as above, but instead of poking a hole in them, flatten them out a bit into circles. Then add a pinch of glitter into the center of each circle and carefully pull the dough up to recreate a ball. The glitter will appear in the dough once the children start working it with their hands. You can use just one color of glitter or try a multicolor blend. Be creative and have lots of fun!

Note from Lois: To prevent food coloring stains on little hands, while handling the balls with food coloring inside, children might wear those inexpensive fold-over plastic sandwich bags as gloves, using a rubber band to hold them on, since most plastic gloves are much too large for them.