Photo: Cielo de la Paz/Flickr

Growing up, spring cleaning is something I remember my mom doing each year. Mind you, my mom always kept a clean house and that I can remember, nothing was ever out of place. But, when spring came around, she broke out the extra cleaning duties that weren’t in her normal cleaning routine. This is when she removed the cushions from the couch to wash the covers, put mattresses out in the sun, cleaned the window screens, and went into every corner of the house to be sure not a speck of dust stayed behind.

I don’t know how many of you partake in true spring cleaning rituals each year, but it’s not something I really do. We clean regularly, but don’t have specific “spring cleaning” duties we do around this time of the year. I realize many of you are preparing to get through your spring cleaning list soon, and may be wondering how to get everything done with the kids around. Whether on the weekend or during the week, if your kids are around while you’re trying to clean, you know sometimes they do more harm than good. It seems like they always find a way to keep you from making progress and get the cleaning done, doesn’t it?

It doesn’t matter whether you’re going down your spring cleaning checklist or just doing regular cleaning at any other time of the year, it helps to know how your kids can help with the cleaning. Here are some ideas I’ve previously shared.

Tips for Spring Cleaning with Young Children

• Chores for Preschoolers: Kid-Friendly List of Chores Your Child Can Do
• How Preschoolers Can Help With Laundry
• Clean Up Game for Young Children

Amazingly, kids can have a lot of fun with cleaning if you make it a game. I know my girl is eager to help us clean and loves being challenged to complete her tasks in a specific time period, in a certain way, or just having fun with her chores. Sometimes, you don’t even have to create a game out of it; kids just want to be involved. I find that simply including my girl in a task pleases her. This means that we can just have a conversation as we do our chores and she’s glad to help because it means we’re spending time together.

What are some ways you make spring cleaning fun in your house?

Disclosure: This story is sponsored by Hallmark through their Life is a Special Occasion campaign. As always, all stories and opinions are my own. To receive special offers and discounts from Hallmark, sign up for their e-newsletter!

If you have young children at home, then you may be excited to find out that a new 24-hour Disney Junior channel will be coming on March 23!  The current Disney Junior block will continue on Disney Channel as well, but your kids can now enjoy their favorite shows throughout the entire day.

The new Disney Junior channel will include shows like Jake and the Never Land Pirates and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, plus will launch with new shows like Doc McStuffins and a weekend full of Disney movies. In addition, the Disney Junior channel will feature past Disney shows such as, Higglytown Heroes, JoJo’s Circus, and Rolie Polie Olie. My girl loved JoJo’s Circus when she was younger and her first birthday party theme was even JoJo’s Circus, so this is pretty exciting for our family! Now, we can share these shows with baby boy as well.

Other new shows coming to Disney Junior are Sofia the First, about a little girl princess, and Oki’s Oasis, the first western for preschoolers, starring Mandy Moore as the voice of Oki. You can check DisneyJuniorTheChannel.com to see if the new 24-hour Disney Junior channel will be available in your area.

What are some of your children’s favorite Disney shows?

***Be sure to scroll down for the awesome giveaway!***

Living in Orlando, people often think that we frequently visit the many theme parks we have in the area. This is not necessarily true, though. As I’m sure is the case for many of you, life often gets in the way of having fun on a regular basis. There is work to be done, household and family responsibilities, and everyday errands to attend to. Sometimes, you need an escape from it all, even if it’s in the same city you live in.

That’s why it was a treat for our family to be a part of the Universal Orlando Resort blogger tour held a couple of weeks ago. During this trip, we were able to take a mini-vacation right here in our own city, though honestly, we nearly forgot we were still in Orlando. It was nice to visit the Universal theme parks again; it had been nearly five years since we had visited Universal Orlando. We also had an opportunity to play tourists and stay at one of the on-site hotels, Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, instead of driving back and forth from our home. This definitely helped us feel like we were on vacation and provided us with the chance to experience the theme parks at another level.

During our visit, we visited both Universal Studios and Universal’s Islands of Adventure, both of which have changed quite a bit since the last time we had been there. Both parks have fun rides for the younger kids, such as my baby girl. She’s a tall five year old, but even still, isn’t quite to the 48 inch height requirement that many of the bigger rides require. However, there is plenty at both parks that will please your preschooler. Here’s some of what our family enjoyed.

7 Ways Preschoolers Will Have Fun at Universal Orlando Resort

1. Woody Woodpecker’s Kid Zone

This area is located at Universal Studios and is made for the little ones. Within this space, you can find a variety of fun for toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary-aged kids.

• Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster: If you have a thrill seeker like my girl, your child will be disappointed to find out she can’t ride Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. Luckily, there are mini roller coasters, such as this one, for the kids to enjoy.
• Curious George Goes to Town: Perfect for the very-hot summer days we have here in Orlando, this play area allows the kids to run, get wet, and splash around in a Curious George themed water playground. On our last day at Universal Orlando, we dressed baby girl in her bathing suit and let her have fun for a couple of hours with Curious George before coming home.
• A Day in the Park with Barney: My girl is a bit past her Barney days, but this show and Barney-themed plaza is perfect for toddlers and babies.
• Fievel’s Playland: A huge playground where all kids can have fun, your child will enjoy crawling, climbing, and running through Fievel’s world. There’s also a fun water tube slide that my daughter says, “zips you down with twists and turns!”

2. Meeting Super Heroes at Marvel Super Hero Island

Though your kids may not be familiar with all of the super heroes that reside at Marvel Super Hero Island, they will definitely have fun seeing them parade down the street and getting to know them as they pose for pictures and get their autographs. At Universal’s Islands of Adventure, baby girl was able to meet comic book characters Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Storm, and Rogue. I think the only one we missed was Cyclops, one other X-Men available to meet and greet. We also met some villains, Dr. Doom and Green Goblin, who weren’t actually so evil, but provided some comic relief. The Green Goblin wasn’t too fond of baby boy’s Spider-Man hat and called it “the ugliest hat I’ve ever seen!”

*Bonus: Be sure to also check out The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride while at Marvel Super Hero Island! It was by far one of my girl’s favorites.

3. Seuss Landing

Located at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, Seuss Landing brings the fun of Dr. Seuss to life. It is really one of the most fun areas of the park with lots of rides for the kids that you’ll also love.

• The Cat in the Hat: Based on the famous book by Dr. Seuss, this ride spins around and guides you through the story.
• Caro-Seuss-el: As baby girl describes it, “there’s lots of wacky animals to ride” on this Dr. Seuss themed carousel! We enjoyed the fact that baby boy could ride along with us as there are stationary bench-like seating available for those that can’t or don’t want to ride on an animal.
• One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish: Our tour guide told us to pay attention to the song played on this ride, otherwise we may get soaked by the fish. Little did we know, that it doesn’t matter if you do or don’t follow the instructions, you’ll still get wet!
• The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride!: A view from the top as a train takes you over Seuss Landing.
• If I Ran The Zoo: Perfect for toddlers, this is a small play area that also has a splash section for the kids to have fun with water.

*Bonus: Combine lunch with a fun show and character meet and greets by dining at Circus McGurkus Cafe Stoo-pendous at Seuss Landing. This was a treat for my girl as we were able to experience character dining without the need for reservations.

4. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Baby girl did not yet know who Harry Potter was, but once we found out we were taking a trip to Universal Orlando, we introduced her to the character by watching the first two movies in the series. This definitely helped her understand some of what she saw in this section of Universal’s Islands of Adventure. But, even if your kids aren’t familiar with the books or movies, they will enjoy the fun window displays as you walk through the streets of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the Flight of the Hippogriff ride, and Butterbeer (we all preferred the frozen version). Check out some of our photos of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to get a glimpse of the beautiful buildings and fun.

5. Learning About New Characters and Films (Well, new to them, old to us.)

There are plenty of iconic characters at both parks of Universal Orlando Resort. But, the younger crowd may have a hard time relating to some of the ones that provide you and I with flashbacks from our childhood. Luckily, as you walk through the parks, you’ll have the perfect chance to introduce new movies and characters to your children, such as:

• E.T.: Though she’s never seen this movie, baby girl truly enjoyed the E.T. Adventure ride at Universal Studios and thought it was cool this was a part of my husband and I’s childhood. Of course, she now wants to see the movie to learn more about the “cute little alien” called E.T.
• Woody and Winnie Woodpecker: My girl enjoys getting autographs from and taking pictures with various characters. So, even though she’d never heard of Woody Woodpecker before, she thought it was awesome to meet him and his girlfriend, Winnie. The good thing is that this creates an interest and opens up a conversation, allowing her father and I to tell her all about who the character is and even showing her video clips we find online. You can find Woody and Winnie at Universal Studios, particularly in Woody Woodpecker’s Kid Zone.
• Toon Lagoon characters: There is an entire area at Universal’s Islands of Adventure dedicated to cartoon characters from the past, including Popeye, Bluto, and Olive. In Toon Lagoon, your kids will enjoy playing at Me Ship, The Olive and those that are tall enough can have fun on Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges or Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls.

6. Meeting Characters They Already Know

Of course, there are plenty of characters to meet at Universal Orlando Resort that your preschooler probably already knows and loves. Some of the characters baby girl got to meet included:

• Dora and Diego
• Spongebob
• Scooby and Shaggy
• Curious George
• Madagascar crew

7. Blue Man Group Show

The Blue Man Group show has been at Universal Orlando Resort for a few years, but this was our first time seeing it. I’m so glad we got a chance to do so too! It was definitely a highlight of our trip. All of us enjoyed the show and though we (and some of the other parents) weren’t sure if our little ones would like it or could handle sitting in on the show, our girl laughed the entire time! I checked in with some of the other bloggers that took their kids, and they also had a good time – from the three-year-olds to the older kids.

Special thanks to the Universal Orlando Resort team, Loews Hotels, and organizers of the trip. My family and I had a wonderful time and enjoyed meeting and hanging out with the other bloggers and their families.

Now, it’s your turn to have some fun at Universal Orlando Resort! Two (2) of you will win a package of four (4) two-day, two-park tickets. See more information and enter to win below.

Universal Orlando Resort Giveaway

*****Giveaway has ended and is closed*****

Enter for your chance to win four (4) two-day, two-park tickets to Universal Orlando Resort. Each package of 4 tickets is valued at $539.96. Tickets are to be used by June 11, 2012, or winner will forfeit prize. Giveaway is for park tickets only and does not include travel, lodging, or other expenses. See full official rules here. [pdf]

How to Enter

Required entry: If you’d like to enter this contest, simply leave a comment below telling us which Marvel Super Hero your child (or you!) would love to meet.

Extra entries (optional):

Each of the following will count as 1 extra entry. You’ll need to leave a separate comment for each entry.

1. Follow @modernmami on twitter.
2. Tweet the following: Enter to win (4) 2-day 2-park passes to Universal #Orlando Resort from @modernmami! http://bit.ly/uorgiveaway #UORfamily #giveaway #contest
3. Receive post updates by subscribing to our RSS feed. You can do so either via email or through a RSS reader. Leave a comment saying you did so or are already a subscriber.
4. Subscribe on friendfeed and leave a comment with your friendfeed ID.
5. Like ModernMami™.com on Facebook.
6. Write a blog post on your own blog sharing the details of this contest. Be sure to include a link back to this post. Leave a comment with your post link.

All entries must be in by Friday, June 10, 2011 at 11:59 pm EST. You must be 18 or older and have a valid U.S. address to enter. Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry. The winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be notified via email. (Please be sure to provide a valid email address with your entry.) Winner will have 24 hours to respond and claim prize, otherwise a new winner will be chosen. See full official rules here. [pdf]

Disclosure: My family and I were invited to Universal Orlando Resort as part of a blogger/media press tour. All expenses paid. No compensation received.

Photo credits: ModernMami.com, Kristen Doyle, Universal Orlando Resort

Want a quick and easy way to get your young children to clean up around the house? I tried this with my five-year-old today and I just know that any preschooler will enjoy it as much as she did. It absolutely adds an element of fun to cleaning and even more, gives them a challenge!

All I did was simply tell her, “Let’s see how much you can clean up in one minute! I’m going to count to 60 and you go around and see how much you can put away. Ready? Set? Go!” I then counted 60 seconds as she ran around the house picking up. She was so worried about the time that twice she passed by me and slowed down just enough to hear what number I was on. But, she definitely did more in that one minute than she would have done in five minutes had I just told her to clean up her stuff.

The best thing was that I too had fun. I went around picking up a few items myself, but enjoyed seeing her having fun with something that ordinarily would have been a boring task. She ran, she laughed the whole time, and she completed her task. It was a true win-win for both of us.

After she caught her breath, I suggested that next time we should see how much we could clean up in three minutes. She was all for it!

What games do you play with your children to make chores more fun?

“You’re just a big monster!”

You may be used to hearing such words on the playground as one preschooler screams out to another after doing something he/she didn’t like. It happens all the time and more than likely after a few minutes, they’re back to being best friends again.

But, never, did I think I’d be hearing those words directed at me, much less from my own daughter. Well, at least I thought I had quite a few more years before the dramatic accusations came my way from an over-hormonal teenager. It seems, though, that is not the case. Five-year-olds, apparently, can be just as hormonal and dramatic.

In the past few weeks, my daughter has been hearing what she calls my “serious voice” quite a bit – more than I’d like. But, we try hard to be firm and consistent and though I know we’re still undergoing a transition in our house with a new baby, that does not excuse the misbehaving. So, when needed, serious voice it is.

However, every so often, the use of the serious voice causes her to begin crying. Sometimes, this escalates into a full-out dramatic scene of shouting out random phrases like, “You just don’t love me!” When asked why she’s crying when she knows she was doing something wrong and the situation wasn’t so severe, she once screamed out, “You’re just…you’re just such a big monster!”

Later that evening, I shared the incident with my husband and confessed that those little words were like a knife to my heart. I told him: “I don’t want her thinking I’m a big monster!” He laughed, because of course, she doesn’t really think I’m a big monster. He spoke to her during her bath that night and asked her why she said that. Her response: “Sometimes…when mami uses her serious voice, it scares me, like a monster.”

She apologized, we talked it over, and I reminded her that no matter what she does and no matter how upset I may be, I will always love her. I was also reminded that sometimes words are just words. In my daughter’s case, she may just be trying to express her frustration and doesn’t necessarily mean what she says. In short, I should not take all her outbursts to heart…especially when there will be many more to come as she grows into her teenage years.

How do you deal with emotional outbursts?

Kids’ imaginations are endless. One day they can be a super hero rescuing the world from evil, another day they can be a  dog looking for treats or a little petting. The joy of childhood. Simple, yet fun. Unfortunately, in today’s society there is little room left for imagination. Kids are constantly entertained by the television, video games or the ever endless amount of electronic toys they have. There really isn’t much room left for them to imagine or to create.

As parents we play a big part as to how much of our child’s imagination is active.  We can do this by limiting them to the amount of television they watch and video games they play, as well as by surrounding them with toys that allow for that creative part in them to come out and explore. Wooden blocks, costumes, puppets, paints, and crafts are just a few examples.

There have been more than enough studies done on the benefits of exposing children to the arts.  This does not mean you have to be a Picasso to be able to show your chiquito how to be creative.  Just give them a piece of blank paper, some crayons or markers (or if you’re a little more daring, paint) and listo -  set them free to just be.  The simplest crafts are usually the ones that allow for more imagination.

Crafts also need not be expensive.  Just look around at what you have at home.  In our home we keep a basket full of recyclable items that can be used for crafts.  Empty toilet paper rolls can become a telescope; empty egg cartons can become an art pallet or even a caterpillar. Gift wrap tissue paper saved from the trash, can be perfect to tear apart and glue on to construction paper, or it can be turned into flowers.  Empty cans like the chocomilk or oat meal ones, once decorated, can become great for storing colored pencils, crayons or other little special somethings.  If you have enough cans, they are also great to use for stacking and making towers.  Foil paper can become fun accessories for that special little princesa or a crown for the principe azul.  The possibilities are endless.  Take a step back and look around your house, you’ll be surprised as to all the great things you already have and can use.

Here is a simple kid’s craft to get you started.

How to Make a Treasure Box (Caja de Tesoros) – Kids Craft Activity

What you’ll need:

• An old shoe box (any size)
• Scraps of colored paper (I save all my scrapbook scraps, but you can also use colorful magazine pages, newspaper funnies or old gift wrap tissue.)
• A paint brush (or fingers)
• White glue (I like to water mine down for paper projects. Or you can make your own glue at home.  Here is a great easy recipe.)
• A cup or mug to use for the glue

Tear or cut all the paper scraps into small pieces.  They don’t need to be perfect, in fact, the more variety in sizes, the nicer the end result will look.  This is also really fun for the little ones to help you do.

Set the glue, pieces of scrap paper, and shoe box on the table.  Hand the paint brush to your little artist and let them start gluing the scraps of paper on to the box.  Guide them at first, by showing them how to brush the glue onto the box and then attach the paper.  It is okay if they overlap.  Set them free to do it all on their own.

Once your little artist is done and the glue is dry, cut any excess pieces of paper sticking out.

If your chiquito knows how to write, let him write his name or first initial and then glue it onto the box.

You are done!  A Caja de Tesoros to keep all those special little rocks, acorns, leaves, hotwheels, etc. that your chiquito finds.

All photos courtesy of Lisa Renata with the exception of top photo.

Mommy, you know there are bras for little girls too?

Well, not for little girls like you, but older little girls, yeah.

Like for 5 year olds? (Mind you, she turns 5 next month and apparently the world is going to drastically change when she’s 5 – she’ll officially be a big girl that can do any.thing. So she thinks.)

No, not for 5 year olds. Older girls. Like 10 maybe.

Nuh uh! [classmate's name] had a bra on when she was 3!

Are you sure it was a bra sweetie? Maybe it was an undershirt, like the ones you sometimes wear.

Noooo. It was a bra.

How do you know it was a bra? Did you see it?

Yes, she showed it to me.

Well, baby, even if she did, you’re not going to wear a bra until you need to – when you start growing breasts. That’s when mommy started wearing a bra.

Awww…I wish I could wear a bra.

Baby girl, don’t rush it. Enjoy being a 5 year old and not having to worry about that. When the time comes, you’ll wear a bra. Your body knows when it’s supposed to grow and when things are supposed to happen. Don’t rush things, ok?

Ok, mommy.

So went our conversation a few mornings ago. I’m not sure if her classmate really did have a bra on or not – I would hope not, since there’s no reason – but, somehow my not-even 5-year-old got the idea in her head that she needed a bra. I know she sees them in the stores too as we shop for her clothes and nowadays they look really pretty. I cringe every time I see a padded beginner’s bra. Why does a 10 year old just starting to develop and wear a bra need padding again? Aside from the padding, the bras in the little girls’ section are definitely much prettier than the ones around when I went through the ritual of picking my first bra. I definitely get why they are enticing for my girl.

Still, I can’t help but think of what else is coming my way. Did I ask my mother such questions at such a young age? What other questions will I have to answer within the next year and especially when she begins kindergarten?

I am not shying away from such conversations, but it would be helpful if I could peek into her little brain and know ahead of time so that I can prepare myself. It would also help if she waited until after I’ve had breakfast and fully woken up before she springs such heavy conversation on me.

If you have a little girl, at what age did she start asking about bras? What other questions have you fielded from your young children already?

[photo credit: Glamcheck]

This post is part of a paid campaign.

My baby girl started Prekindergarten this past Monday. Here in Florida they actually call it Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK), and the state funds the program. So, if you properly enroll your child with the state, various local child care centers will provide VPK free of charge 3 hours a day, five days a week. But, even though the state funds the program, I found myself receiving a school supply list from her preschool and having to purchase school supplies. We didn’t mind at all, and of course, it was very exciting for her to get her school supplies and take them to school. After all, starting next year when she starts Kindergarten, I’ll be buying school supplies every year thereafter – so this was good training.

Still, it reminded me of how underfunded the general school system is. Here in Florida, there have been many budget cuts for the Education industry, some that even recently affected the program where just eight months ago I was working full-time. The program no longer exists. I also know that most teachers purchase school supplies for their classrooms and students out of their own pocket. I know this because my mother-in-law is an elementary school teacher in South Florida and she is constantly looking for items at stores for “her kids” and her classroom. And, I think that’s how most teachers feel too – their students are “their kids” and they wholeheartedly embrace their role of educating those kids.

A major way that schools are affected by budget cuts are through critical enrichment programs such as music, arts, and sports. Sadly, many schools have had to cut back on or eliminate such programs. This year, Clorox wishes to help schools by awarding four grants, totaling $110,000, to help fund school programs that will brighten and enrich the lives of kids. Through the Power A Bright Future grant program, Clorox is seeking nominations for schools to win a $50,000 grand-prize grant or one of three $20,000 grants. All you have to do, is visit the Clorox site from August 12 to September 27, 2010 and submit a photo and information about the program in the appropriate category for your idea: Learn, Play or Create. For more information, official rules and to nominate a school program, visit Clorox.

Additional Ways To Help Your School and Children

• I’m sure this is stuff we all already know, but as a reminder, taking several easy steps can help prevent the spread of germs:
  • Sing and Scrub: Wash hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds (the time it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice).
  • Do the Elbow Cough: Cough and sneeze into your elbow instead of your hands to help prevent the spread of germs by touch.
  • Disinfect Hot Spots: School staff and adults should routinely clean areas that people touch often, like desktops, remote controls and light switches.
• In addition to nominating a school, there’s also plenty that can be done to support teachers in keeping his or her classroom clean and ready to inspire students. Consider bringing teachers hand sanitizer or canisters of Clorox Disinfecting Wipes to help make clean-up easier. Similar to school supplies, many teachers also provide cleaning supplies at their own expense.

Power A Bright Future and Have Fun Too!

Through this campaign, Clorox is offering us a few ways to have fun while learning more about the Power A Bright Future program and helping schools. First up, there is a contest at the bottom of this post for you to win a prize, and next week, I’ll be co-hosting a Twitter party to discuss the program and learn tips from each other – with more prizes!

Bilingual Power a Bright Future Twitter Party

Come ready to share and receive advice from fellow moms on how you can help in keeping a healthier and happier school. The party will be in both English and Spanish, so feel free to tweet in either language! Be sure to follow the party hosts and organizers:

• Migdalia Rivera – @MsLatina
• Silvia Martinez – @mamalatina
• Melanie Edwards – @modernmami
• Ana Flores – @laflowers
• Clorox – @clorox

Party Details:

Date: Thursday, August 26
Time: 9-10 pm EST
Hashtag: #CloroxBrightFuture
Prizes: Three (3) $25 AMEX gift cards will be given out during the twitter party.
RSVP: It’s not mandatory to RSVP in order to join us, but if you want to connect with fellow party attendees ahead of time, RSVP on the Facebook Event page.

Twitter Party Giveaway Rules: Three winners will be chosen at random from all #CloroxBrightFuture tagged tweets between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m EST 8/26/10. Winner must be present and using the tag between these times to win. Winner must be 18 years of age or older and have a valid U.S. address.

ModernMami.com Reader Giveaway

One of you could win a $50 AMEX gift card.

How to Enter

Required entry: If you’d like to enter this contest, simply leave a comment below answering one of the following questions:

1. Now that you’re preparing for back-to-school, how can you help in keeping a healthier and happier school for your children?
2. If you had $50,000 to fund one program in your child’s school, what would it be?
3. How have state budget cuts affected your child’s school?

Extra entries (optional):

Each of the following will count as 1 extra entry. You’ll need to leave a separate comment for each entry.

1. Follow @modernmami on twitter.
2. Tweet the following: Enter to win a $50 AMEX gift card from @modernmami. Ends 9/3. http://bit.ly/cloroxmodernmami #giveaway #contest #CloroxBrightFuture
3. Subscribe to this blog via email and leave a comment with the email you used to subscribe. (You can use the email field to do this instead of putting your email in the comment if you prefer.)
4. Subscribe on friendfeed and leave a comment with your friendfeed ID.
5. Write a blog post on your own blog sharing the Power A Bright Future program with your readers; make sure to link back to this contest page in your post. Leave a comment with your post link.

All entries must be in by Friday, September 3 at 11:59 pm EST. Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry. The winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be notified via email. (Please be sure to provide a valid email address with your entry.)

Be sure to also check out my co-hosts’ blogs for additional giveaway opportunities. They are each hosting the same giveaway.

• Migdalia Rivera – Latina on a Mission
• Silvia Martinez – Mamá Latina Tips

Official Rules: Entrants can only win a $50 American Express gift card on one (1) Bilingual Power a Bright Future Twitter party host’s blog. If an entrant chooses to comment on more than one host’s blog post, he/she is only eligible to win one (1) prize, even if randomly selected as the winner more than once. Entrants for the Giveaways may not participate with multiple e-mail addresses. Any entrant who attempts to enter with multiple e-mail addresses, under multiple identities, or uses any other device will be disqualified from participation in the promotion, and all entries submitted by that entrant will be void.

Disclosure: I am being compensated for co-hosting the Bilingual Power a Bright Future Twitter party. This post was written in conjunction with the campaign, but all opinions and thoughts are original.

Disclosure: I received Little Pim products for review purposes. No other compensation received.

By now you know that my husband and I have committed to raising bilingual children. Coming from different cultures ourselves, our daughter has the benefit of growing up multicultural and learning two languages – English and Spanish. Though my first language was Spanish, having moved to Florida at a young age and living here the majority of my life, has resulted in me speaking mostly Spanglish rather than true Spanish. I often have to force myself to think of the words in order to hold a Spanish-only conversation. That is why I love to compensate speaking Spanish around the house with Spanish books, shows, games, and music, so that my baby girl can be exposed to Spanish as much as possible.

I’ve had the pleasure of receiving some additional Little Pim products to add to the Little Pim Spanish DVD I had previously received and reviewed. This time, I was able to review the Little Pim Spanish Word and Phrase Cards, Little Pim Spanish Bop CD, and the new Little Pim Word Bag app for the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Little Pim Spanish Word & Phrase Cards

With 60 cards to choose from, my daughter has fun picking out a few cards at random and making up a story about Little Pim. I love this for two reasons: 1) She’s not just staring at the card and words and repeating them one after the other. It’s much more interactive, which helps (in my opinion) her learn the word or phrase better. 2) Making up stories is a great way to encourage imaginative play!

We take out these cards a few at a time and either make up stories or just review how to say the word/phrase in Spanish. But, we’re usually making up stories – it’s much more fun!

Little Pim Spanish Bop CD

This CD has 15 songs from artists like Dan Zanes and Milkshake. There are three songs that are repeated in English at the end and all the lyrics for each song are included in the pamphlet in both Spanish and English. My daughter especially liked “Tía Monica” and its merengue rhythm, but other fun songs include “Clap Clap Clap” and “Las Comidas.” Of course, a personal favorite of mine is “El Coquí” since Coquís are native to Puerto Rico (no bias whatsoever here).

Little Pim Word Bag iPhone/iPod Touch App

Little Pim’s Word Bag allows your child to play in either Spanish or French. We enjoyed playing with this app on our iPod Touch and I love how it matches the style and feel of the DVD. Using the app, my daughter was able to easily find what words were in Little Pim’s word bag. It’s easy for her to use her finger to “take” the words out of his bag, hear and see the word, and laugh along with Little Pim.

Image from AppShopper

However, I think that it would have been much more cool to be able to “match” the words to the picture and make it a bit more interactive and game-like. It would have been fun to play a game and perhaps help Little Pim find his way through a story scenario by finding the words he needs. Or something like that anyway. Clearly, I’m not a game designer; I just think an interactive element to the app might make it even more fun than it already is.

Where to Purchase

You can purchase the Word and Phrase Cards and the Spanish Bop CD directly from the Little Pim site for $14.95 each or you can also find them on Amazon for the same price (in case you have Amazon gift cards you want to use).

• Purchase Little Pim Spanish Word & Phrase Cards on Amazon for $14.95
• Purchase Little Pim Spanish Bop CD on Amazon for $14.95

You can buy the Little Pim Word Bag iPhone App for $1.99 in the iTunes App Store.

Giveaway

One of you will win a set of the Little Pim Spanish Word & Phrase Cards and the Spanish Bop CD.

How to Enter

If you’d like to enter this contest for a Little Pim Spanish Word & Phrase Cards and Spanish Bop CD, simply leave a comment below and tell us which product you think your kids will enjoy from the Little Pim site.

For extra entries:

1. Tweet about this contest with a link back to this post and include @modernmami in your tweet. You must leave a separate comment with a link to your tweet for your entry to count.
2. Follow @Little_Pim on twitter and tweet the following: “@little_pim Hola Little Pim! Following from @modernmami for the #modernmami contest!“
3. Become a fan of ModernMami.com on Facebook and leave a comment with your Facebook name.
4. Subscribe to this blog via email and leave a comment with the email you used to subscribe. (You can use the email field to do this instead of putting your email in the comment if you prefer.)
5. Subscribe on friendfeed and leave a comment with your friendfeed ID.
6. Write a blog post on your own blog sharing with your readers your favorite Little Pim product you found on the Little Pim site. Make sure to link back to this contest page in your post. Leave a comment with your post link.

All entries must be in by Thursday, March 11 at 11:59 pm EST. Make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry. The winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be notified via email. (Please be sure to provide a valid email address with your entry.)

Early last month, I posed the question, “Can Preschoolers Help Clean?” and provided a list of chores for preschoolers to do around the house. Many of you agreed that yes, preschoolers can indeed help clean around the house and even provided a few additional suggestions based on what your kids help with.

One of the original suggestions I had listed was to have your young child help with folding clothes. As I thought about it more, I realized that my daughter actually helps with pretty much all aspects of doing the laundry. If we involve her, she can be of help from beginning to end when it’s laundry day. In case you hadn’t thought about it, let me share the ways your young children can be of more help with this task.

Photo by FL4Y from Flickr

How your Toddler or Preschooler can Help with the Laundry

• Sort clothes – Your child can easily take the clothes out of the hamper and help you properly create the necessary piles. On our laundry day, what we do is start a few piles on our floor, tell her what each pile is for (most are recognizable by color), and have her sort her own clothes.
• Load washer – We put her step stool in front of the washing machine, bring a pile over, and have her help throw the clothes into the washer. It’s so simple, but she loves doing it.
• Load dryer – Similarly, when it’s time to change out the loads, she stands next to the dryer and pushes in the clothes as one of us takes them out of the washing machine. Sometimes, she takes the dryer sheet and throws it in too before we start up the dryer.
  • Once the clothes are dry, she also helps us take them out of the dryer and throw them on the couch.
• Fold clothes – Though the clothes may not end up folded perfectly, your preschooler can help fold his/her clothes or even some towels. Their clothes are small, so they’re perfect for little hands to fold. They may be able to hep fold other clothes, depending on the size, but generally, their own clothes work best.
• Hang up clothes – Grab a stack of hangers, and lay out a few shirts on the couch. Your preschooler can easily slide a hanger into each shirt, and make a new pile of ready to hang clothes. This also works best with their own clothes and the smaller hangers.

Now that you know how your preschooler can help out with the laundry, let’s think about why this is actually a good thing for not only them, but you as well.

Photo by Anna Maria Horner from Flickr

Why Helping with the Laundry is Good for your Preschooler

I’m sure there are many more reasons why helping with the laundry is beneficial to young children, but here is a short list of the benefits I’ve seen:

• Color recognition
• Recognizing patterns
• Categorization
• Coordination
• Feeling helpful
• Teamwork
• Teaches responsibility and pride in taking care of what we own

Photo by Ruth from Flickr

How Letting your Preschooler Help with the Laundry Helps You

Getting some help with the housework is always a good thing, right? But, particularly if you work from home or are striving to create more work-life balance in your days, then involving your young children in daily chores will help. You may think that if you just do the chores yourself, you’ll be able to get them done faster. However, how often do you find yourself interrupted when doing one task because your son or daughter wants some type of attention? Do you really get it done very fast?

Keeping them involved will allow you to have conversations with your kids while getting things done. It lessens the feeling of stress because you’re spending time with them while doing housework. They will feel like a “big helper” and you may find that it helps the overall mood in the house.

Do your kids currently help with the laundry? Do you feel it’s a learning experience for them?