Search Results for: blog the santa cop out

Sensory-Friendly Santa – At a Mall Near You

One of the fun parts of the holiday season is a trip to visit Santa Claus at the local mall. It can be hard for many little ones to wait in line – but most manage to do it. Children who have autism, or who have difficulties coping with the bright lights, loud sounds, and big crowds that surround Santa can visit a Sensory-Friendly Santa. A Sensory-Friendly Santa might also be called a Sensitive Santa or a Caring Santa. Santa looks the same, but is able to behave differently than typical in order to accommodate for kids who have special … Continue reading →

Inexpensive Secret Santa Selections

Take the stress out of Secret Santa gift swapping by wrapping up these interactive holiday page-turners that won’t break the bank: Santa on the Loose!  A Seek and Solve Mystery It’s the Christmas version of Where’s Waldo.  Only, pint-sized bookworms are not hunting for a geeky-looking kid wearing a striped shirt.  Rather, youngsters must read clues, don their detective hats, and find Santa to solve the mystery of the missing Christmas toys. Is the toy thief Emo the unhappy elf, Loki the dissatisfied reindeer, Roz the ravenous polar bear, Softy the sneaky snowman or Arlo the deceivingly cute penguin? Kid … Continue reading →

Guide Dogs, iPads, Egg Allergies, and Santa

It is time, once again, for the Special Needs Blog Week In Review. There are a lot of different topics that get covered here in a given week. This time, there were blogs about iPads as tools, control of Special Education school busses, egg allergies, Sensory Friendly Santa events, the effects of smoking while pregnant, and guide dog puppies visiting the fire house. Which ones did you miss? Study Says iPads Help People with Vision Problems Read A recent study found that the iPad is a great tool for helping people who have vision problems be able to read. There … Continue reading →

Where to Find More Sensory Santa Events

A visit to the mall to see Santa can be very overwhelming to children who have certain types of special needs. The crowds, the music, and the long wait in line may be more than a child can cope with. Sensory Friendly Santa events are designed to make a visit to see Santa more comfortable for kids with special needs. Here is where to find some of these events this year. The Huntington Mall, which is located in Barboursville, West Virginia, will have a Special Santa event in their Center Court starting on November 17, 2012. There will be a … Continue reading →

Getting Your Holiday Layouts to Pop

Don’t overlook the fine details when constructing a holiday layout. Often, it’s the little touches, such as proper photo placement, fonts and adhesive selections that can make the difference between an ordinary page design and an extraordinary one. When it comes to page titles or journaling blocks, you can enhance a holiday theme by using fonts that are decorated with seasonal details. Fortunately, many websites offer free fonts for scrapbookers that are embellished with festive designs, such as letters covered with snow or topped with Santa hats. Other choices include letters printed on Christmas ornaments or made to look as … Continue reading →

Santa Insured By Lloyd’s Of London

Lloyd’s of London, an insurance company famous for writing insurance policies on some really odd and unorthodox things, has insured Santa Claus. That’s right, Santa Claus, the one who drops off presents to all the good little girls and boys every Christmas Eve, now has a personal accident insurance policy through Lloyd’s of London. This is not the first time that Lloyd’s of London has been in the news as a result of an unusual insurance policy they have written. A model once took out a “happiness policy” with Lloyd’s of London, to insure against “worry lines” developing on her … Continue reading →

Breakfast With Santa

Every year our county throws a pancake breakfast for all the foster and adoptive families in the county. This was our third year going. The first year I worked the silent auction with the foster parents’ group. Jessie was one and crawled all over and had many people carry her around. Daddy came with us to last year’s Breakfast With Santa. We ate pancakes and Jessie did all the crafts. When we went to take a picture with Santa, Jessie was not excited. Giggles was five months and was an angel on Santa’s lap. For the family picture Daddy and … Continue reading →

Teaching Kids About Cancer

I’m not one of the lucky ones. Or maybe I am. I was forced to teach my daughter about cancer well before she could even spell the word… but with knowledge comes power. In 2004, I gave birth to my first child; a healthy baby girl with a mound of electrocuted jet-black hair. She was the first grandchild on my side of the family and instantly became the end-all, be-all of my parents’ existence. My mom especially doted on her first grandchild, spending every waking moment rocking, singing, hugging, kissing and cuddling the newest member of our family. My daughter … Continue reading →

Another Reason to Encourage Your Kids to WRITE a Letter to Santa

In a previous blog I vented… rather, shared my feelings regarding the influx of websites encouraging kids to go high-tech and email their letters to Santa instead of writing them by hand and shipping them off via snail mail. Frankly, I find the whole Santa email idea a bit insulting. It’s a slap in the face of parents and teachers who work tirelessly to encourage children to practice their penmanship. Think about it; what better incentive to get your kindergartener to master spelling, printing and word order than actually putting pen (or pencil or crayon) to paper and jotting down … Continue reading →

Santa’s Secret – Christy Hardman with Phil Porter

I know it’s August, and that does seem a little early to be bringing up the subject of Christmas. However, I have two reasons for reviewing this book today. First, book retailers traditionally bring out their Christmas merchandise right around now, so for them, it’s not too early to be thinking about the holidays. Second, and this reason is much more pressing, I’m hoping to get you in the mood for Christmas a little early this year, and I’ll explain why after I tell you about this book. Phil Porter has dressed up like Santa Claus for the last twelve … Continue reading →