Looking for a great holiday idea to use with your grandchildren to liven up these drab, long winter days?  Try celebrating the colorful Chinese New Year.  It is coming up on Feb. 3 and it is the Year of the Rabbit.

So what can you do to celebrate the Chinese New Year?  Let me tell you . . .

Learn how to fold origami rabbits.  Here is a video that demonstrates how to make them.

There are step-by-step directions listed below the video.  Just click on the arrow on the bottom right side beneath the video. (Here’s a screen shot to help you find the expand arrow.)

You could also give these activities a whirl:

Chinese Dragon puppet – with a printable template
Ribbon Dragon
Carp Wind Sock
Red Chinese lantern
Dragon Gloves (oh so cute — and you can find gloves on clearance now)
Printable bunny maze
Chinese New Year maze

Maybe part of your activities could include a cooking activity.  Try your hand at making Sweet and Sour Chicken or Chicken Lo Mein to top off your Chinese New Year celebration with your grandchildren.

Throw lots of confetti (and get grandpa to vacuum it up. . .), bang on pots and pans to make lots of noise, and like the Chinese say:

P.S. You might have great fun going to Babel Fish, translating some English phrases into Chinese, and then drawing them.

Because I enjoyed reading The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt, I decided that I would read First Boy.  And over all, I enjoyed this book more than The Wednesday Wars.

Cooper Jewett is the main character.  He lives with his grandparents because his parents died in a car crash shortly after he was born.  Then, his grandfather passes away (his grandmother had passed away earlier) leaving Cooper an orphan.  An orphan responsible for a New Hampshire dairy farm.

A local politician wants Cooper’s help on the campaign trail.  The Senator believes that Cooper can help him become the next president of the United States. Then there are suspicious black sedans lurking around.  Then his small barn burns down.  Cooper struggles to do his homework and do all of the chores on the farm.

Theft, kidnapping, and car chases.  And the President of the United States wants to talk with him. Suspense abounds in this book.  It is a definite page-turner-I-gotta-know-what-happens kind of book.

I only have one complaint about the book.  Some of the emotions that the author attributes to the fourteen-year-old main character seem to be rather juvenile.  Emotions that seem to be more normal for a nine or ten-year-old boy. But, I think this would not be something that a young person would think while reading the book.

Recommend this book to your grandchildren that are in the sixth grade — or above.  I think know that they will enjoy reading it.

Okay, all of you iPhone totin’ grandmothers!  Whip out your iPhone, connect to the App Store in iTunes and download a fun lovin’ app for your grandchildren.  And that app is iCrayonMaker.

With iCrayonMaker, your grandchildren can have loads of fun drawing on your iPhone.  They can choose from four different drawing styles: crayon, chalk, glitter, and felt marker.

To select the color that you want to draw with, tap the color of the crayon that you want. (In this picture, you’ll notice that the hot pink crayon is selected because it is slightly higher than the rest of the other crayons.)

Then you tap inside the circle and start swirling your finger around.  This will fill in the circle.  When it gets to be the color that you like, tap the Crayon Draw tab at the bottom of the screen.  This will take you to a blank screen where you can start drawing.  Now, draw away!

When you want to change the color of your crayon, tap the Crayon Marker at the bottom of the screen to go back to your ‘box’ of crayons.

There is an undo feature that lets you undo your last three strokes.  (I wish it had more undo levels . . .)  There is an erase feature that erases everything on your screen so you can have a fresh start on a different drawing.  If you want to change the style of your crayon, simply tap the Change feature.

Once your grandchild has finished her drawing, you can send the picture to Facebook.  (How cool is that?)  You can e-mail it to someone through e-mail — like grandpa or your grandchild’s mother or father or sibling.

You can also save it to your phone’s camera roll.

The only drawback (to me) is that it doesn’t change orientation when I rotate my phone. I would like a horizontal screen.  Having this capability would give a wider screen to draw on.  (Maybe my fat fingers just need to go on a diet.  Hmmm, maybe?)

Here are two of my fabulous artistic renderings.  Watch out Rembrandt.  Here I come!

This fun little application will keep grandchildren — and grandma — happily and busily occupied for quite some time.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

(NOTE: Here is a guest post by Julee Russo. Thanks, Julee for writing it. I started uploading it last week and ran into glitches. I thought that I saved it. Alas, my dyslexic finger clicked publish instead of save and only a partial article was published. I apologize to Julee for this grievous error — and to any who read it before I fixed the problem.)

Positive TV Influences on Children
by Julee Russo

Children are constantly engaged in learning. Their developing minds absorb information, concepts, images, and words gleaned from their surroundings. One place a child has the potential to pick up large amounts of information is the TV. The family television isn’t just about entertaining; it can have a positive impact on your child’s learning.

Tuning in to Learn
The Kaiser Family Foundation, which conducts research and analysis on health-related subjects, found the following statistics:

• Two-thirds of children under age four watch an average of two hours of TV a day.
• Children under age six watch an average of two hours of TV every day, including DVDs.
• Children between the ages of 8 and 18 watch almost four hours of TV entertainment.

With so many children of all ages spending a significant amount of their time watching the television, the impact it has on their development can have both positive and negative outcomes. Remember, children are innately curious and learn by example, so making sure they have access to quality shows is essential for their well being. TV shows that entertain and educate are the perfect balance to keep your child happy and well-versed.

TV With a Positive Impact
When enjoyed in moderation, educational television has numerous constructive effects on your child’s learning. Quality programming can accomplish the following things:
Help children learn about world cultures, traditions, and religions;

• Nurture interest in history, art, English, math, and the sciences;
• Help children understand friendship;
• Teach children concepts like sharing, saying please and thank you, and using good behavior; and
• Introduce children to road, fire, and stranger safety issues.

Children can sometimes be reticent to anything labeled “educational.” Television programs or DVDs on educational subjects seem MORE like entertainment than a boring show about leaves, do you remember School House Rock? I know I do. Approach educational TV it in a way that piques your child’s interest. If your child expresses interest in an educational subject, like tigers (this was my younger sister’s favorite) or South America, a program or DVD on the subject can help nurture curiosity for learning. An animated movie about trees may be more successful than a live-action Disney version from the 1950s.

Emphasize the Good
Children are very much like sponges: They pick up words and ideas from what they see and hear whether you want them to or not. While TV shows can introduce children to things that lead to negative behavior, you can reinforce good behavior or new learning away from the TV screen.

• Encourage positive role play. Children’s TV show costumes can help kids act out positive concepts they saw their favorite characters engaging in, like making friends and being polite.
• Ask them questions about what they learned. Conversation helps them remember what they learned and helps them feel connected to you.
• Have them create a project that demonstrates a concept they learned or tie in fun activities to reinforce the lesson. Let them explain it to you and share their knowledge.

Replacing a mindless TV show with an educational one, such as “Yo Gabba Gabba” or “Dora the Explorer,” can have a wonderful impact on your learning child. Just remember that too much television, even educational, can have negative effects on your child’s health and well being.