Bagpipes on Memorial Day

In honor of Memorial Day and for my Dad, this bagpiper is for you.

Adapted from the children's book, The Roots of My Family Tree, by Niki Alling.

Bagpiper Mug by nikiclix
View more Bagpipes Mugs at zazzle.com

Mothers

When I wrote the children's books, "Your Mother's Love" and "Your Father's Love", my hope was that the children who read it, or have it read to them, will have a better understanding of how much love their mothers and fathers have for them. Parental love is so huge, and so strong, and helping children to understand that, may possibly lead to a greater sense of security and confidence as they go out into the world.

I have worked in a school with young children for many years, and I have seen hundreds of parents with their children. Besides my own mom and dad, it is because of these school parents, that I was able to write these books. I've witnessed first hand their interactions while dropping off their children and picking them up. I witnessed the unconditional support through many school functions, and luncheons and birthday parties. I've seen how their children's eyes light up when they walk through the door. And I've sat in on many parent-teacher conferences and seen how important their children's education is to them. These books are a combination of all of their love and hard work as parents. My hat is off to you!

Happy Mother's Day, to all the mothers I have known, and to all the mothers everywhere!

Ebook & Paperback at Amazon

Fun learning for Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is this week! Have fun combining shape recognition, and Valentine's Day this year, with this fun little book, Hearts Are For Loving.

Available at:

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / CreateSpace

Festive Winter Windows

Every season in our Pre-K class, we like to have something pretty in our windows. Recently, we've been studying shapes and colors. What better way to explore those two things together, than with stained window projects? For this project, we searched the internet to find some ideas. Then we modified what we found somewhat, to fit our class.

We found a few stained window projects that use contact paper such as  this one, shown here with these cute hearts -http://www.pbs.org/parents/crafts-for-kids/tissue-paper-stained-glass/

However, for our class, we decided to use wax paper and glue. Wax paper is less expensive than contact paper, and painting the glue onto the tissue paper led to some nice small motor skill activity, and some great discussion about how the colors blend together when the tissues are overlapped. Each child was able to chose the shape of their frame, (heart, square, rectangle, oval, or triangle) which was then glued to the finished and dried piece of wax paper and tissues later. The frames were pre-cut ahead of time using black construction paper. Here is the results of our new window treatment for winter, they are quite stunning when the sun is bright. I'm looking forward to trying this again at home during the winter break with my grandchildren. They make a nice colorful addition to any sunny window!

Christmas .99 sale - limited time!

Happy Holidays to everyone! Thank you to all who entered the paperback giveaway for, It's A Colorful Christmas, a winner has been chosen. In keeping with the Holiday spirit I have reduced the price of the ebook version for .99 for a limited time! So in case you don't have yours yet, now's the time.

Happy Holidays! Click on the cover, it will take you to the Amazon sale!

Holiday Giveaway!!

Happy Holidays!! To kick off this holiday season, I will be giving away one paperback copy of my book,

It's A Colorful Christmas! 

You may enter below starting on 12/6/13 through 12/13/13.

Winner will be randomly chosen by Goodreads.

Good Luck and Happy Holidays!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

It's a Colorful Christmas

by Niki Alling

Giveaway ends December 13, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

 

Also, for a FREE holiday coloring page from this book,  
It's A Colorful Christmas  (click here and scroll down)
Merry Christmas!

World Teacher Day

Through the years, I have had the honor of working along side and in the same buildings with many wonderful teachers. Today I would like to honor them by re-posting the poem I wrote especially for them. I've learned so much from them, and that knowledge carries over into my personal life, and my creative life. It has always been my belief that knowledge is what helps us to conquer our fears, and the teachers are the ones who give us the gift of learning.

Also, to the many teachers who taught my own children as they were growing up; thank you. They have both become wonderful young adults, and as I was a single parent while they were growing up, I give their teachers the utmost credit in working with them and with me in helping to mold their young lives. I'm looking forward to watching my grandchildren begin school, very soon, and to see the wonder of learning and knowledge that their teachers will give to them. Thank you teachers, this one is for you.

Teacher Christmas Ornament by nikiclix
Create customized christmas tree ornaments at zazzle.com.