14 Stocking Stuffer Ideas that Encourage Learning

Getting a letter from Santa would be the greatest to have happened to me when I was a child. Just the thought that Santa was thinking about me would have been so cool. You can give your child that feeling this Christmas. It is an easy thing to do that would mean so much.

Personalized Letter from Santa

Gone are the days of trying to write in “Santa’s handwriting.” Educents has made it so easy to make your child feel special and loved by Santa! The personalized letter comes straight to your front door from the North Pole in a beautiful red envelope, and highlights your child’s exciting accomplishments this year. The letter also includes some fun Santa-approved activities for you and your kiddo to spend some sweet holiday time together, like a recipe for Mrs. Claus’ Famous Cookies, two snowflake craft templates, a packet of reindeer food (glitter!) and a sheet of festive stickers. This special letter will make for an imaginative and exciting addition to the very top of our Christmas stockings this year! This letter will make for an imaginative start to any Christmas morning, but there’s more pressure now to keep the fun going! Here are some other easy stocking stuffers to keep the magic going for your kiddos this year!

Educational Stocking Stuffer Ideas

1. FREE DIY Crystal Christmas Tree Experiment - An opportunity to spend more time together as a family is one of the best gifts you can give! These directions for a DIY salt-crystal Christmas tree can get the whole family involved and teach everyone something new! 2. DIY Push Light Planets - Create these amazing lights for your kiddo's bedroom. Each light is decorated to represent one of the planets. To encourage planet recognition, even paint the names of the planets onto each pushable light! 3. Show Me the Kwan - Looking for a great, fun game for the whole family to play after all the presents have been opened? This clever and upbeat word game gets kids excited about vocabulary, word construction and more and is the perfect size for a stocking! 4. Matching Games for Little Learners - These handmade wooden matching games from Mama May I are a very sweet stocking stuffer for little learners. Choose from Zoo, Trucks, Vegetables, Space and more ! 5. The Familia Craft Kit - This craft kit has all the tools for your kiddos to decoupage little wooden peg dolls to create their own story or to include in a new adventure! They come in a slim tube that’s easy to fit in a stocking! 6. DIY Domino Set - This homemade domino set is one you and your family can play for years to come. To make this set special for the holidays, use green and red puff paint! 7. DIY Pop-Up Alphabet Sponges - This simple gift is a low-cost way to make baby's bath time fun and educational! Cut sponges into the shapes of alphabet letters and numbers. 8. DigiPuppets - This adorable animal finger puppet acts as a touchscreen-sensitive stylus for phones and tablets. Use them on their own to keep kids engaged with digital learning tools, or head to the app store to download DigiPuppet’s educational games. 9. Just Add Milk Science & Art Kit - This kit is filled with fun science and art projects you can do along with some at home ingredients, and it’s just the size of a milk carton! If your child is lactose-intolerant, don’t worry, the experiments work with non-dairy milk as well! 10. DIY Telling Time Clock Pillow - Crafty family members can take a few hours to create this comfortable accessory for kiddos learning to tell time! 11. Clever Catch Math Balls - These inflatable balls make math-learning fun with active games you can play with 2 or more people. Just keep it deflated, and this blow-up Clever Catch is ready for the stocking! Choose from: Numbers 0-25, Money, Multiplication, Addition, or Subtraction. 12. DIY Hopscotch Mat - Here's a fun game you can make yourself, roll up into a Christmas stocking, and then play on Christmas Day and many, MANY days after that! 13. DIY Bongo Rice Shakers - Use some household materials to make shakable, musical instruments for little ones to use while Christmas caroling on Christmas Day! Looking for more ways to make your Christmas stockings and holiday gifts extra special this year? Head to Educents' Give the Gift of Education page for more ideas, tips, steals and deals!

Preparing Your Home for Wind Damage Before the Storm

Back in 2008 we had a major wind storm here in Indiana, really the whole east did, because of a hurricane that then brought the wind to us. We lost our roof, a few outdoor toys, and our power ( for 3 days)  because of it. There are things that you can do to keep the damage down to a minimum.


How to Avoid Wind Damage

• Know your risks. Do you know the hazards in your community? How often do floods or wind storms occur?When there is a wind storm in your area will power go out?
• Ensure that your roof sheathing is properly installed. The roof sheathing is the boards or plywood nailed to your roof rafters or trusses. During a heavy windstorm, wind forces flow from the roof down to the exterior walls and then the foundation. Homes are damaged when wind is not properly transferred to the ground in a storm. Properly installed sheathing helps to ensure wind is transferred correctly. Make sure the sheathing nails haven't missed the rafters. If they have you'll need to redo them.
• Make sure end gables are secured to the roof. 'In a hurricane or other wind storm, the side walls of the roof (end gables) take a real beating and can collapse. Gable bracing often consists of 2"x4"s placed in an "X" pattern at both ends of the attic: from the top center of the end gable to the bottom of the brace of the fourth truss, and from the bottom center of the end gable to the peak of the roof,' Federal Emergency Management Agency.
• Check that your garage door is properly secured. In a windstorm the garage door can be easily ripped off allowing wind to enter your home and blow out doors, windows, walls and even the roof.

• Protect your windows with storm shutters. Installing storm shutters is one of the best ways you can protect your home from high winds. You can purchase these in wood, aluminum or steel.

If you take the measures to secure your home, than you should be able to weather any storm.

Food Storage Recipe - Cake Mix Cookies

Easy enough your kids could make them!

I stock up on cake mixes everytime they are on sale.

NEED:

1 package cake mix

2 eggs

1/4 cup oil

Mix all together.

It will be a thick dough.

Roll into small balls and flatten onto a cookie sheet.

Bake for about 8 minutes at 350 degrees.

Tons of styles of cookies to make with any of the different types of cake mixes. One of my favorites uses carrot cake mix and are iced with white icing!

Food Storage Recipe - Homemade Rice A Roni

This is a great thing to be able to make. A lot healthier than the boxed mix. The prepackaged mix is full of items that can't even pronounce. Plus, good to be able to make for yourself when you can't get to the store.

NEED:

4 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup of rice

1/2 cup of spaghetti that you have broken into tiny pieces

2 cups of chicken broth

2 tablespoon parsley

salt and pepper to taste.

In a saucepan, melt the butter and add the rice and the spaghetti.

Cook it until it is slightly golden brown.

Add the broth and bring to a boil.

Turn the heat down to allow it to simmer covered.

Cook it until the rice is tender.

Fluff and add the parsley, salt and pepper. .

Organizing Everything With Totes

Since we are organizing everything and getting prepared to move we are repacking anything that we have into Rubbermaid Roughneck Tote.  They have been a huge help. They hold a lot of things. The items inside are protected a lot better than just being in a box. I have gotten the boxes for the donation pile and the Rubbermaid Roughneck Tote are for the stuff that we are keeping. These pack easy together and really help with the decluttering.  Stack them in the closet, shed, or wherever and they will stack to the ceiling.