It's never too early ...

...or too late to help your children remember each of their family members and how much they mean to them!
I have been pretty sick this week, I still am, but I just couldn't stand not being able to work at any project, so I decided to go for something simple.
I looked in the template gallery, and I found the perfect template for a swatch book for my sweet Luca.
He is 14 months old, and I think he is ready to start learning about his closest family members, both the ones who live here in America and the Italian ones who are living in England.
The template I found  was so perfect I didn't have to change much: it took more time to decide which pictures I wanted to use than to actually create the swatch book!

There are pictures of when he was born, pictures of his mamma and daddy, his brothers, his nana and granddaddy, his great grandparents, his nonna Rita, and also his nonno Oreste, (he will never meet him in this life, but I know he met him before coming here on earth, and he will meet him after this life), and then there are pictures of cousins and aunts.

I am really proud of the final result, and I know I will enjoy countless moments going through this swatch book with my boy, and also having to ask his brothers to bring it back;)
Not to count the fact that I have been able to produce something even if I was so sick I couldn't think!

Thank goodness for templates that help me feel accomplished no matter what!

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Hero DVDs can do a lot for your family

I was looking into the Heritage Makers business blog and I found this entry that I thought was really enlightening on the value of the History Hero DVDs.

I couldn't say it better, so I am just transcribing it exactly as it was written by Hallie Redd.

"I wanted to share my experience with the History Hero DVDs. I was not sure I thought they were a great addition to our products when they were released. I bought a set last month so I could have them and use them for my family and as the [sample] product. What I found out amazed me!
All three of my kids from Jaxon, who is 12, to Mckell, who is 6, are fighting over whose turn it is to "pick" the hero to watch. I have to admit it is now a family affair. I have learned so much about each person in the DVD. And to make it even better, there is an adventure quiz at the end that has three separate quiz levels. Well, we have to do all three levels and see who knows the most.
I am really inspired after seeing the results. My kids love it. They are learning and we are spending quality time watching something that matters. I would much rather have them watching how Galileo did not give up, even after 50 years of trying vs. Transformers! We have watched five DVDs and the kids can hardly wait for dad to come home to watch another one.
Hallie Redd"

I am not one that likes to have her kids in front of the TV, I prefer them playing outside or reading a good book, but when they can make good use of technology with an interactive DVD, I am more than happy to let them do it!

If you are a grandma or a granddad and  want to do something really special and useful for your grandchildren, this is what you have been waiting for. Even if your children/grandchildren don't like cartoons, they will like these DVDs because they are much more than that, and you will enjoy witnessing the progress they will make while they learn about important History Heroes and events.

Christmas in July gift giving idea for kids: let's learn!

It is always great to see our children get all excited at Christmas when they rip the paper and discover the presents they get, if only this excitement could last!
I am a fan of learning toys and since I discovered the possibilities with Heritage Makers, I have found the answer to my dilemma! I can create educational projects for my kids that will keep them entertained and excited for long time after they open their present. What's even better, they will learn something, and they will improve their self confidence.

Long time ago I found in the template gallery a template for an ABC book, and I loved it, so I created one for my children, and they love it! It has their pictures, and they can tell me the story behind them. They love showing these books to friends and family when they come over! You can have a 3D preview of the whole book here.

Seeing how much joy and enthusiasm this brought to my children induced me to create another book, a color and numbers book, which has been their new favorite since!
You can have a 3D preview of the whole book here

My youngest boy is turning 1 soon and I am creating an ABC matching game for him, it is never to early to start them on learning! I know that my other 2 boys, who are 3 and almost 5, will end up being the ones who use this cards most in the beginning, so this is going to be a gift that keeps giving! I might even order a copy for each child, to avoid any fight!;)
You can find a 3D preview of the template that I am modifying to suit my kids' needs here.


Another matter that is very important to me, is that my children speak Italian, as I was born and lived in Italy for 30 years, but I have had no luck in finding any tools to help me in this endeavor. My only choice was having to go back to Italy and get some books, which I would be the only one able to use to teach to our children, then I found this template in the template gallery, beginner Spanish flash cards, and was inspired to create a beginner Italian flash card set. Now my husband will be able to use them and learn Italian together with the kids. How cool is that!^_^
I also just found a cute ABC poster, it was a breeze to just pop my kids pictures in it, I created it while also updating the blog, timing my self: it took me 7 minutes, and could have been less if I didn't take more time trying to decide among many cute pictures of my children! I dragged and dropped the pictures, re sized some, and it was done!

You'll find many more educational ideas in the template gallery, each of them modifiable to suit your own needs!

You can also create any educational book or flash card, or poster for your children, and tailor them to your kids' individual capabilities!

My first born tends to put himself down when he doesn't succeed at first in something, so he is going to get a special book where I list all the things he can do, that he might always remember how special he is and all of his great qualities and abilities!

As you can see the ideas are endless, so don't wait!
With the wonderful  packages available each month, creating gifts for the whole family is going to be super fun and you won't have to break your budget this holiday season!
 Just give me a call or email me and I will be happy to get you started on the best gifts you can ever give to your dear ones!