My great-grandpa made me one of these great rocking horses when I was just a baby and I wanted to have one that I would let the kids play on as they grow. That way if something happened to it, I wouldn’t freak out and be sad that mine was broke. I went looking around the internet and finally found instructions on how to make one. It does require a bit of carpentry skills and being able to stand the smell of stain. But what you have when you are finished is a great toy for the kids to play with and something that will last for years and years to come.

Just about everyone who has children at Easter will buy those plastic eggs that you can fill with goodies. After Easter is over, parents will put these up into the closet or throw them away. Now there is something you can use these for all year long. These plastic eggs make the perfect molds for making your own sidewalk chalk. By following these easy to understand instructions, you will be able to provide your children with chalk to use all summer long.

Stuffed animals are great gifts for children. They are also relatively easy to make on your own. This gives them a great homemade touch if you give them as a gift. They can be made by following this easy tutorial. After these are made, they will range in height from 5 inches to 8 inches. There are three animals that can be made a lamb, pig and a chicken. It is easy to add your own look to these cute little animals while you are sewing; these can include things like wings or floppy ears. Just have fun with the material and enjoy making these homemade stuffed animals.

Image from Molly Chicken

The wonderful and generous Lyn at Molly Chicken has done it again, presenting us with another super cute, simple tutorial for one of her adorable softies.  Head on over there to see how it’s done and you can have your own pair of love birds stitched up in time for Valentine’s Day.

I wanted to share this chair with other mothers or families with special needs children, that may find it helpful.  Aiden’s therapist recommended this type of chair for back and trunk support but was very expensive  so my son made one for  Aiden. It is amazing the difference this chair has made. I have included pictures to show the work (and love) that went into this chair. The chair is a standard Corner Chair.  A Corner Chair is used to help children who need minimum to maximum support in order to sit up straight.  It allows the parent, therapist, or care-giver, to interact with the child hands-free with activities such as feeding, reading, playing with toys, etc., while the child is fully supported.  The chair also promotes trunk strengthening and perhaps, eventually, independent seating.  Because the chair seats the child in a corner, the child gets support enough to keep them upright, but not so much support that they don’t have to work to sit up.  This little workout helps increase muscle tone and strength in the trunk of the body of the child.  Aiden was born underdeveloped with low muscle tone and needed maximum support in order to sit upright.  For Aiden, the chair gave him the opportunity to get him up from laying on his back and to interact with his therapists and family members while also helping him to strengthen his trunk and improve his sitting balance and posture.  When first presented with the chair, Aiden could not sit independently and needed maximum assistance.  After using the Corner Chair for a year, and much therapy, Aiden can now sit independently in short intervals.

If anyone is interested in purchasing these therapy Corner Chairs please send me an email

armiller@cableone.net

http://www.anjdesigns.com/page/3113160

My son is  developing a special needs swing now, that again helps kids with their balance and co-ordination.  My grandson loves this swing.