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    The Five Minute Parent: Fun & Fast Activities for You and Your Little Ones
    The Five Minute Parent: Fun & Fast Activities for You and Your Little Ones
    The Five Minute Parent: Fun & Fast Activities for You and Your Little Ones
    Ebook278 pages1 hour

    The Five Minute Parent: Fun & Fast Activities for You and Your Little Ones

    By Deborah Shelton

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    About this ebook

    The Five Minute Parent offers fun and fast ways to create small treasures and lasting memories with children. Projects include games, outdoor play, family fun, crafts for all ages, puppet-making, and many more activities that are perfect for play dates, rainy-day boredom busting and overall family togetherness. Each project is illustrated for easier understanding, and is also supplemented with either a joke, tidbit of trivia, famous quote, or a funny riddle. A comprehensive index and an appendix of parent and family resource centers by state are also included.

    This book is for every time your child asks you to play, and you're tempted to say, "Not now. Maybe later." In the time it takes to check email, load the laundry or write a grocery list, you now have 115 fast, fabulous, fun things to do with your little one. This book turns five minutes together into a treasury of new experiences neither of you will ever forget. This is not about keeping your child busy while you do something else. It's for anyone who wants to build strong bonds with their child...and have fun doing it! So the next time your child asks, "Will you play with me?" open this book and say, "Sure!"

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBayou Publishing
    Release dateMay 1, 2018
    ISBN9781886298842
    The Five Minute Parent: Fun & Fast Activities for You and Your Little Ones

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      Book preview

      The Five Minute Parent - Deborah Shelton

      The Five Minute Parent

      Fun & Fast Activities

      for You and Your Little Ones

      Deborah Shelton

      Illustrated by Frankie Gordon

      © 2018, 2002 by Deborah Shelton

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.

      Cover Design by George Foster

      Back Cover Writing by Susan Kendrick

      First Edition 10 9 8 7 6

      ISBN: 978-1-886298-13-2 (pbk)

      ISBN: 978-1-886298-64-4 (ebk /ePDF)

      ISBN: 978-1-886298-84-2 (ebk / ePUB)

      Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2001132542

      Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication

      (Provided by Quality Books, Inc.)

      Shelton, Deborah (Deborah L.)

      The five minute parent : fun & fast activities for you and your little ones / Deborah Shelton ; illustrated by Frankie Gordon. -- 1st.

      p. cm.

      Includes index.

      ISBN 1-886298-13-0

      1. Family recreation. 2. Games. 3. Cookery. 4. Handicraft. I. Gordon, Frankie. II. Title.

      GV182.7.S54 2002                             790.1’91

                                                   QBI02-701527

      Dedication:

      This book is for my beautiful son Kizer,

      who has shown me that time spent with him

      is one thing I will never regret.

      What People Are Saying About The Five Minute Parent

      This is a wonderful book and I am sure any parent or caregiver could use it over and over again. I am a coordinator of a resource center and the activities are just the kind we could use for our students. Thanks!

      —Linda Cross

      Coordinator, Reiley Family Resource Center, Alexandria, Kentucky

      I wish I had this book when my children were young—but now I have it for when the grandchildren come to visit.

      —Connie Dean, Mother of 5, Grandmother of 6

      "The Five Minute Parent is a book every parent of young children should have in their home. An instant boredom buster that stimulates creativity and learning!"

      —Heidi Hoff, Publisher of Preschool Planet

      "If you want an enriching experience, share the projects in The Five Minute Parent with your child. You will both grow in the process."

      —Jane Jacobs, Program Director,

      Special Programs Organized Recreational Therapy (S.P.O.R.T.), City of LaPorte, Texas

      "The interesting thing is that there are activities that my 12 year old can do, as well as ones for her younger brothers. My wife and I especially like the cost effectiveness of the activities. The kids have fun, we have fun and everybody is happy!

      —Manuel Cuevas, Father of 3

      A creative complement to homeschool curriculum.

      —Martha Jenke, Homeschooling Mother of 4

      "As a long-time home educator, I appreciate the easy-to-use ideas in this warm-hearted book. The Five Minute Parent is one of those resources I wish I’d had available to me when my own three children were preschool age. How much fun today’s parents will have now that Deborah Shelton’s book is on the market!"

      —Deborah Taylor-Hough, Editor of Bright-Kids newsletter

      I want to take this book with me to all of my babysitting jobs!

      —Kimberly Romero, age 14

      Wonderful, practical ideas for turning the desire for quality fun time with kids into a reality!

      —Anne Grizzle, LMSW-ACP, Family Therapist

      This book is a godsend to a homeschooling parent. I love the fact that it reminded me to do fun things with my kids (not just make their schooling fun and interesting) so that I’m also a parent who does cool things with them in addition to a mom who’s teaching them daily.

      —Jannai Phelps, Homeschooling Mother of 4

      This is a recipe for fun!

      —Kandace Savitsky, Devoted Aunt of 8

      Introduction

      I will never forget the day I decided to write this book. My 2 ½-year-old son and I were at home together, in the office. I sat at one end of the desk, staring at the computer screen, watching the cursor race as my finger tapped furiously on the backspace key, while my son sat at the opposite end, watching the portable television. My latest parenting article was no match for the dreaded Writer’s Block. Mommy, I want to go camping, my son interrupted.

      Without taking my eyes from the screen, I answered, Not right now Sweetie. Mommy’s working now…maybe this weekend, and continued typing.

      "But I want to go camping now Mommy! he wailed. I turned to see tears on the verge of spilling over his cheeks. He kept pointing at the television, which featured a happy sitcom family enjoying a camping trip in the woods. I looked at the tears again, then shot a glance at the computer screen. Finding Time for ‘Quality’ Time" was all that had survived the backspace key.

      That’s when it hit me: Don’t wait for the weekend! Five short minutes later, my son and I transformed our living room into a sofa-cushion-and-bed-sheet camping ground. He was thrilled, we had a ton of fun, and I subsequently defeated Writer’s Block.

      The Five Minute Parent is for parents, grandparents, teachers, caregivers and families. Most of all, it is for children who want to see and experience their world NOW, and for adults who catch themselves saying, Maybe this weekend. Have you ever noticed how many things in our lives get put off until the weekend? The Five Minute Parent is not only about finding more time to spend with our children, but also finding more creative ways to spend the time we already have.

      The activities in The Five Minute Parent are ideal for play dates, rainy-day blues busting, and overall family fun. Most of the projects call for materials that you probably already have in your home. If not, use that as an excuse to visit your favorite craft supply store.

      At the back of this book, you will find a comprehensive index that lists the activities by their names and also by their materials. The appendix offers a brief directory of parent resource centers by state. Parent resource centers provide support in the form of counseling, parent training classes, special needs assistance, family literacy programs and much more.

      I hope you enjoy this book, and remember: Don’t wait for the weekend! No matter how hectic your schedule, you can create small treasures and lasting memories with your children in just minutes!

      Have fun!

      Deborah Shelton

      Contents

      1: Getting Organized

      2: Adventures In Art

      Sand Scribbles

      Painting Press

      Handprint Art

      Tissue Paper Collage

      Splitter-Splatters

      Seashell Memories

      Rocky Colors

      Creative Faces

      Smooch Picture

      Sheet Murals

      3: Weird & Wacky Science Experiments

      Tornado In a Jar

      Moo Juice Science

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