A Creative Way to Teach Kids Some Good Manners
If you’re looking for something creative for kids during summer recess, Make My Own Fun note-card kits could be just what you need.
Xoxo International in San Mateo offers several versions of the kit, providing children everything they need to create imaginative, handmade greeting cards for relatives or friends. Each kit contains colorful paper shapes for cutting, assorted decorations--feathers, beads, yarn and material--scissors, nontoxic glue, crayons and 12 blank cards with matching envelopes. Since they contain small parts, the kits are suggested for use only by children 3 and older.
No specific instructions are included because, according to Kathryn Lloyd-Williams, founder of Xoxo International, “we wanted the activity to be open-ended, giving children the freedom to make their own creative decisions.”
The latest Make My Own Fun kits feature prehistoric or endangered animals. Several species of dinosaurs are included in the prehistoric one; the endangered animals series include shapes of green sea turtles, crocodiles, giant panda bears and whooping cranes. Children can either cut out the shapes and paste them to the cards, trace or draw them after seeing what the animals look like. There’s even a drawing of a hairy-nosed wombat. (How many adults could draw one of those without a hint of what it looks like?)
Other kits include those for all-occasion cards, birthday, Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter. The kits are compact and have a small plastic handle, making them easy to carry. They are made of recycled and reusable materials whenever possible and are partially assembled by people with developmental disabilities.
Make My Own Fun note-card kits ($14.95) are available locally at Nordstrom and Imaginarium stores, A Child’s Fantasy and the Huntington Memorial Hospital Gift Shop in Pasadena, Imagine and My New Friends in Santa Monica, the Toy Zone in West Los Angeles, My Gifted Child in Torrance, Star Toy in Barrington Place and the Metropolitan Museum of Art store in Los Angeles. If you can’t find them in your area call Xoxo’s toll-free number, (800) 554-8886.
When You Need Some Serious Dust Busting
Pledge furniture polish has a new additive: a dust repellent. Dust Block Formula Pledge repels dust up to 50% more dust over a one-week period compared to dusting with a dry cloth, according to its manufacturer, S. C. Johnson & Son.
Founded in 1886 as a maker of parquet wood flooring, the Racine, Wis., firm has also introduced a new all-purpose household cleaner that cleans most woods and a variety of other surfaces in the home. It also doesn’t have to be rinsed or wiped dry.
Dust Block Formula Pledge ($1.79-$1.99 for a 7-ounce can or $2.99-$3.19 for a 12.5-ounce) and Pledge Household Cleaner ($1.49 for a 16-ounce bottle of concentrate or $1.79 for a 16-ounce spray bottle) are available nationwide in supermarkets, drugstores and mass merchandising outlets.