Sirena Van Schaik
Author's posts
Apr 23 2018
Language Development and Your Four Year Old
The preschool age is a wonderful time during childhood and I really enjoyed teaching children in this age group. They are interested in learning about any topic from bugs to space and have countless questions for you to answer. Developmentally, they should be at a level to really express their needs and some of them …
Apr 17 2018
Mother’s Day Craft: Whimsical Bath Salt Bottles
You have probably seen these at countless children’s festivals or even in stores. Those nice jars filled with colored sand to create a little 3D art piece. There are actually two ways to make these; you can layer the colors vertically or horizontally, as a work of art that can be used for a relaxing …
Apr 13 2018
Cheat Sheets: Butterflies
If you have ever spent a few minutes with any child, you will know that they can come up with questions that stump you. I have seen experts in a field being taken completely aback by the complex question asked by a 5 year old. I have also seen those same experts sputter and blush …
Mar 30 2018
Healthy Alternatives for Easter
It’s only a few days away and the stores are packed with chocolates, candies, baskets and everything else that has to do with Easter. Actually, in some places those shelves have been packed since just before Valentine’s day but Easter probably hasn’t been on your mind for that long. Every year I do the exact …
Sep 12 2017
Craft Project: A Cornucopia of Thanks
I know, Thanksgiving isn’t for another few months, well actually it isn’t for a month for those celebrating it in Canada, which is part of the reason why I am starting to post a few craft ideas. This always seems to be the busy time of year when everyone is scrambling around for the first …
Apr 16 2016
Mother’s Day Craft: Relaxing Neck Wraps
This is a great little craft to make any mom who enjoys unwinding in the tub or propped up on the bed with a good book. They are easy to make, are fairly inexpensive and can be made by any child of any age. What you will need: Large men’s sports socks (preferably brand new …
Jan 03 2016
Theorists of Child Development Part Three
If you can remember far enough back, I wrote both part one and two of this series on Theorists of Child Development. My first post was about Freud and my second was about Erikson. Today, I am going to take us closer to the end of this series and discuss Piaget. If you are not sure who Piaget was, …
Sep 04 2015
Crafty Recipes: Face Paint
With Halloween a little over a month away, I like to start planning out some things for Halloween. It is a great time of the year, one of my favorites and in a few short weeks, if you celebrate Halloween, you will be getting costumes ready and all the other little goodies that are involved. …
Aug 29 2015
The Last Days of Summer
Today it was official, we took down the pool so it has to be the last day of summer. Okay, maybe the last day of summer is officially on September 21st and the last day of summer vacation isn’t until Monday but you can definitely feel the days winding down into a new schedule. Already …
Jul 01 2015
Between Parents: Lamenting the Loss of a Tooth
I was all set to write about that horrible stage in development when you need to have “The Talk.” You know the one about the birds and the bees but then I was making dinner last night and my oldest son yelled out, “My tooth is really loose!” Oh, no! I knew that this day …
