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Product Review – Blast From The Past – Shrink Dinks

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Isn’t funny how old things are new again.  My daughter wanted to be Strawberry Shortcake for Halloween last year. We searched the internet for costume ideas (we don’t buy costumes, we make them…another long lost tradition). I showed her an example of the “new” Strawberry Shortcake with the jeans and big pink straw hat and the “old” Strawberry Shortcake with the green striped leggings and the puffy hat. I asked her which she wanted to be…her reply as she pointed to the “new” gal…”Mom, I want to be the REAL Strawberry Shortcake!” I guess in the mind of a 4 year old real and original are two different things.

Anyway, “old” toys aren’t the only things making a comeback! Do you remember Shrinky Dinks? They are still around and better than ever. There are kits for boys and girls. Remember pressing your face against the oven door, watching them curl up and shrink? It was magic! Now you can share that same experience with your child.

How many potholders did you make with those looms and long hooks? The crazy colors that didn’t match anything, but Mom was still proud of them. This will keep your weaver busy for hours. They are now making the loops specially for the looms. I had no idea, but the loops that we used were from sock companies…that’s why they didn’t always fit!
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Reflecting on the Past Year with Kids

I’m in deep denial about the fact that new year is almost upon us again! It’s been the fastest and the longest year at the same time, and I can look back and see some good things as well as some things I wish had gone differently.

Doing a year in review with your kids — whether in the classroom or at home — is a good way to capture some of their memories and the things they really liked about the year gone by.

There are a lot of different printable year in review worksheets you can use if you want to make this super easy. Here are links to a few (often part of larger posts about NYE celebrations with kids that are worth a read, too):

  • Teach Beside Me has lots of fun printables fro the end of the year, including a year in review that covers favorite memory, funniest memory and the best book they read, among other topics.
  • NurtureStore‘s version has space for a self-portrait and prompts like favorite toy, best day out this year and future dream job.
  • Remember favorites, their “best idea” of the year and have room for setting goals for next year with this one from The Keele Deal.
  • The year in review from Yes We Made This has room for drawing or writing and includes things like something they learned, a memory they made and a place they visited.

Of course you could pretty easily make your own year in review for the whole family to do that asks questions based on what you most want to remember. (Favorite video game? Best friend? Favorite family memory?)

And if after the year in review you’re ready to look ahead a bit, Mrs. Merry has new year’s resolution printables to inspired kids to look ahead and set goals for things they want to try. You can totally fill this one out as a grownup, too.

[Photo: Mrs. Merry]