this is working as expected!

A test

Threading pasta through a straw. Penne works well.

Hide small objects in a bowlful of dry rice and have your child find them. This is a fun sensory activity, too!

Dot art with Q-tips. I like to reinforce letter and number recognition with this activity, too, by outlining a letter or number for him to paint by "dotting" the inside with a q-tip dipped in washable paint.

Tearing paper - make collage art!

Sorting small objects, like cereal, beads, buttons, etc.

Peeling and placing stickers. Sticker books are great for this.

Placing letters on a letter board. I discovered this one by accident, but I love how it keeps my 4-year-old sitting quietly for long stretches of time while he tries to get the plastic letters to stay in my felt letter board.

Wow, that’s so generous! We typically do between $20-$30. We’ll do higher for very close friends or cousins, but not usually more than $40-$50.

My daughter wore braces for years, and my son just started Invisalign, so I have some opinions! :) Though it definitely depends on the kid, I think braces are probably best for most teens. Although you have to be more careful about what you eat, and have to deal with irritations like broken brackets, loose wires, etc, the fact that you can't remove them weighs pretty heavily in favor of braces - if you can't remove them, you can't lose them (or "forget" to put them on)! My son is pretty responsible, so we decided to give Invisalign a try. And, although he likes it, we hadn't considered that having to remove them anytime he eats is a huge pain, since he is ALWAYS hungry and needing to snack. It also means he ends up wearing them less than he should, since it's otherwise hard for him to eat between classes, at practice or events, etc. Soooo, we'll see if they end up working as well!

We went from having almost all of the streaming services to just having one. And, the one we are left with is Prime! Not only do we get expedited shipping, Amazon music and other non-streaming perks with the same subscription, but the PBS add-on means most of our favorite kids shows end up being available on Prime. Disney+ was the last to go, and while we miss the ease of streaming some favorite Disney and Marvel movies - and most importantly, Bluey! - we own most of our faves already, and have found them to be easily available at our local library, too.

Dholes are wild dogs that hunt as a pack and can catch prey more than 10 times their body weight. They've even been known to scare off a tiger!

Powerful Owls are well named - they are so powerful that they hunt and eat medium-sized mammals like possums, rabbits, wallabies, and even koalas!

Ravens are highly intelligent, communicative animals with the ability to mimic simple sounds, including human speech.

Hamster cheek pouches can expand to nearly 3 times their size in order to store food.

Honeypot ants can store water, nectar, and insect fluids in their bodies in order to feed other ants in the colony during lean times. Their body can expand to the size of a grape!

The female platypus nurses its young by releasing milk from skin patches on its body.

Cheetahs can turn in midair to follow their prey while they are sprinting.

When a bald eagle loses a feather on one wing, it will lose a matching feather on the other wing to keep its balance.