Fundraising Through Mobile Giving Initiatives

If you didn't know it before, you now know the power of the cell phone. After the earthquake in Haiti, there were texting options all over the place making it easy for people to donate. Have you considered using this same technology for your nonprofit organization? That includes you too, local schools! Instead of selling cookies or candles, this is a method even schools can utilize. I got this info through two sources this time. One was ezine articles where I get some inspiration from time to time. Another was a Twitter friend of mine from Atlanta, Greg Cornelius, also known as @smart_beam. The first part will tell you a bit about the companies working with the big guys. Maybe small ones too, if you qualify. Greg can work with the little guys, or at least fill you in on how this can work for you. Take a read.

Mobile Donations in the US

In the US, a mobile donor can make a $5 or $10 donation per text message. The amount is determined by the non profit charitable organization, so the donor can decide whether or not to make a donation but not how much to give. Pre-paid mobile plans can also be used to make donations.

The donor sends a text message to a short code with a keyword, like any other text message. For example, for the Haiti campaign, mobile donors sent the word HAITI to 90999 and a $10 donation was automatically added to their mobile phone bill.

Once the keyword has been sent to the short code (e.g., 'HAITI' to 90999), the donor receives a message back that asks her to confirm the donation with an OK or YES response. The donor confirms the donation and the next time the donor receives their mobile bill, the $10 donation will appear on the statement. There may be other messages sent to the donor, including opt-in marketing messages, etc.

Fees for Mobile Giving
The fees related to mobile fundraising can include one-time costs for set-up, recurring monthly costs which can also include other services like text message campaigns or extra keywords, and the actual transaction costs for the mobile donations.

There are some providers who charge fees as low as $99 and allow charitable organizations to begin mobile giving campaigns almost immediately.

Depending on your mobile giving volume and contractual agreement with a provider, you could be looking at a couple of thousand dollars or more each month as a cost base for a mobile giving initiative.

Service Providers

There are a couple of different players in the mobile giving chain. Trusted third parties sit between the mobile carriers and non profit fundraising organizations. Their job is to validate your organization so the mobile carrier knows it's a true tax-exempt, non profit organization.

The trusted third party receives the donation payments from the mobile carrier and then pays the fundraising organization. Two trusted third party organizations in the U.S. are the Mobile Giving Foundation and the mGive Foundation.

The charitable fundraising organization will work directly with what's called an application service provider (ASP). ASPs provide your organization with short codes and keywords that can be used to facilitate the mobile giving initiative (e.g., text the word 'HAITI' to 90999).

They may also offer CRM, e-mail marketing, and other tools your organization can use to further connect with donors. The ASP is the primary point of contact for the non profit fundraising organization and will arrange the contract with the trusted third party.

What About Security?

The mobile donation process is fast and secure. As I said above, the amount of the mobile donation is set by the organization at either $5 or $10 and the number of charitable donations that can be made in any given month is typically capped at 5 or less. This limits the exposure and risk of the donor and the fundraising organization.

The non profit charity fundraising organization also has limited information about the donor; the only information provided to the organization is the donor's mobile phone number. Donor's can opt-out of further communications by replying to a fundraiser's message with the words STOP or NO.

Keep in mind it could take 90 days or more before your charity receives the funds from donations. Currently, donations are filtered to the fundraising organization from the mobile carriers via one of two trusted third parties: The Mobile Giving Foundation and the mGive Foundation.

Mobile giving can be a great addition to your integrated marketing campaigns. More information about setting up an account and getting started is available at the links above.

Gene De Libero helps people and companies innovate, compete and succeed. Find out more at http://www.genedelibero.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gene_De_Libero

Now here is what Greg has to say about what SMS technology can do for you smaller entities, including schools. PTA presidents! Take note!

Schools can use SMS technology for two basic purposes.

Emergency Notification - This is where the school has a database of opt-in parent subscribers who want to be able to be reached immediately if there is a school or individual emercy situation, or if there is just pertinent information that needs to communicated. The syatem can send out broadcast messages to all subscribers or individual messages based on the need.

Fund Raising - This allows the school to encourage giving to support fundraising efforts by providing the opportunity to donate $5 or $10 dollars by texting a keyword like "give" to a short code (for ex. To Donate $5 text "give" to"64842"). The amount is added to the givers mobile phone bill for a minimal fee from the carrier.

A relatively new technology is text-to-screen or text-to-pledge giving. This used best for special fundraising events like banquets or dinners. It allows attendees to text a pledge live that is displaed on a big screen at the front of the room for everyone to see. Used with visual enhancements like videos describing what the organization has done and the work they are planning to do. This has a viral effect as people see others giving they are challenged to give as well! Any amount can be pledged and there is software to help in the collection process.

For more information, email Greg at smart_beam@yahoo.com or visit his site, http://smartbeamtechnologies.ning.com/.

Happy fund raising!

Puzzled By Mother's Day? Try a Bouquet!

Does the mother in your life have a love of flowers and puzzles? Combine her interests in a puzzle bouquet! We are having an early bird special from now unntil April 10th!

Get an 8x10 6-piece puzzle for $15.95 (regular price - $19.95) or 30-piece puzzle for $17.95 (regular price - $21.95.

All puzzle bouquets are also customizable. Put your special message on the basket for a floral gift that never fades away! Check them out today!

Business Blog Post Interlude

Today I usually post something business related. Something hopefully helpful and informative. Something with a great picture. At the time of writing this I haven't picked one out yet. I hope it's a good one!

Today I take a mini timeout to let you business owners know that VWE hasn't forgotten you. If you all could see what we have planned and are working on! No, I wanted to let you know that we know businesses small and medium, and hopefully large too, want to use our puzzles to help promote their businesses and we love that. So we are working on something for you.

Not sure how long it will take, but it is something being worked on as I type so hopefully not long. In the meanwhile, we'd love to hear from those businesses who want to know when we have our little something something ready so we can contact you directly. So feel free to reply to this post or, if you're seeing this via our Facebook fan page, comment there.

It won't be long!

Wedding Insurance - Cover Your Wedding Plans

This is a new one for me. But I suppose it makes perfect sense given how much people tend to invest in these hopefully once-in-a-lifetime events. Getting married? Be sure you are covered. Read on.



Wedding insurance is as essential to your wedding planning as the dress. Consider how much you spent on your car, was it less than the sum you are about to invest in your wedding? Would you even consider not having adequate car insurance? No? Then why wouldn't you insure your wedding - when the average cost these days can fall between two and three times the cost of an average family car?

A wedding insurance policy is comparatively cheap for insurance which covers a wide range of different parts of your wedding day. Cover can be arranged that gives you reassurance about the largest disasters (cancellation) through to some parts that may give minor disruption but not devastating consequences (cars not arriving, for example).

Before deciding on the items that you need insurance cover for, and the value of cover that you will need, it will be worth investigating a couple of other sources of cover that may be available to you. If you have sufficient limits on your household insurance policy, you may find that items such as the wedding gifts, rings and wedding dress/attire are covered whilst in your home. A call to the insurance broker should be able to confirm this and/or give you a quote for the extension of cover required to the household insurance.

Items purchased or booked for your wedding and paid by credit card will often carry a level of insurance cover from the credit card provider. In these cases, a wedding insurance policy may be duplicating cover that you already have. For example, if the florist went out of business before your wedding day, your credit card supplier would most likely cover the refund of any deposit or payment made by the card.

When you have considered each of the alternative insurance options available to you, if you decide that a more comprehensive wedding insurance policy better serves your needs, start shopping for it as early as possible. Most wedding insurances offer cover on a fixed scale of fees, providing cover until 24 hours after your wedding date. The sooner you arrange insurance cover the more reassured you can be about issuing deposit payments to the various suppliers, etc., so make wedding insurance one of the priorities when you're making the planning list of items.

When assessing the level of cover you may need, take into account the various items that come together to make your wedding day:

Wedding Cars / Transport Cover

If the transport fails to show or they go out of business before your wedding day, the wedding insurance will cover a refund of your costs, enabling you to make alternative arrangements without incurring additional costs on the budget.

Wedding Rings Cover

The age-old 'joke' of the best man losing the rings - it can happen, and it's not funny! It's also possible for theft or loss of the wedding rings to happen any time up to your marriage service. Check that the amount specified in the wedding insurance policy is adequate to cover the total value of both the bride and groom's wedding rings.

Wedding Flowers Cover

If the florist goes out of business before the wedding day or doesn't arrive with the floral decorations or buttonholes on the day, although the wedding insurance won't replace these, it should cover the cost that you have outlaid to the florist supplier. It means that your last minute replacements won't be an additional cost to your special day.

Wedding Dress / Attire Cover

Accidental damage to the wedding dress ranks amongst the highest of claims made against wedding insurance policies. Imagine the loss and devastation that you would feel if a burst water pipe or fire or other unexpected event was to cause loss or damage to your beautiful gown. Most wedding insurance policies will cover the wedding dress and the outfits of the main bridal party, but where suits, etc. are to be hired, check who's responsibility it is for insurance, the supplier or the hirer (most will be the responsibility of the hirer, but some suppliers will offer their own additional insurance cover).

Wedding Caterer Cover

If the chosen caterer goes out of business or - even worse - fails to show up at your reception venue on the date, adequate wedding insurance will cover a refund of the large sum that you have paid to them, leaving you to be able to make emergency alternative arrangements without suffering the additional inconvenience of extra costs to your budget.

Wedding Reception Venue Insurance Cover

If a last-minute disaster prevented you from using the reception venue that you had booked, fire or flood for example, wedding insurance would cover the last minute alternative that you had been forced to arrange. If your chosen reception venue were to close or go out of business the wedding insurance policy would reimburse the payments you had make, allowing you to choose a different reception venue location without suffering a financial loss.

Wedding Cake Cover

The extravagant creation of your masterpiece wedding cake will be finished and then transported to the reception venue. In almost every case this is done by experienced people and it is successful, but disasters can happen! If your wedding cake isn't delivered, or anything causes it to be damaged, the wedding insurance policy will cover the cost.

Wedding Photographer and Photography Insurance Cover

A lot of things can happen surrounding your plans and wedding day that are totally beyond the couple's control; the photographer not turning up, the photographs not being able to be processed because of technical problems, etc. Adequate protection from wedding insurance will help alleviate the cost should these difficulties occur. If your photographs don't turn out, then you have the opportunity to have the bridal party and many of the guests reassembled and have them re-taken, thanks to your wisdom of having your wedding day adequately insured against such mishaps.

Wedding Present Insurance

A good wedding insurance policy will reimburse the cost/value up to a specified sum for damage to, or theft of, wedding presents. One of the higher number of claims relating to wedding insurance policies is the collapse of tables holding the gifts at the reception, or accidental damage of more delicate presents such as glass or crystal items.

Wedding Guest Liability Cover

Most wedding insurance policies give a level of liability insurance if someone is injured at your wedding. The level of cover often has an option to increase the amount should you need to do so. Some of your suppliers (marriage location, reception venue, etc.) will carry their own liability insurance, so it may be prudent to check this out before extending the level of inclusive cover.

Wedding Cancellation Cover

If the bride or groom change their mind or run for the hills, this won't be covered by wedding insurance! However, if an event beyond your control, such as the death of a close family member or illness in the family (or of the bride or groom), that causes your wedding to be canceled or postponed, then the insurance will cover a refund of your expenditure up to a stated amount. If extreme weather conditions cause cancellation due to the guests being unable to attend, or the venue being adversely affected, then the wedding insurance will apply. However, if you are unfortunate enough to have bad weather on the day it is unlikely that the insurance would cover such circumstances (you may wish to try a bookmaker!).

Marquee Cover

Most wedding insurers offer marquee cover as an optional extra. Not all weddings will need this and those using a marquee should check with the hire company if an additional level of insurance cover is needed before adding it to the policy.

The months before your wedding day can be quite stressful, while you're trying to get everything organized and perfectly timed. No one wants to think of things going wrong, but wedding insurance will give you the peace of mind that your deposits and outlay to the various suppliers are insured and will be refunded in the event that anything did go amiss in the period leading to your big day. Wedding insurance will take away some of the worries that you may have and is a good investment to make.

Article by Steve Shaw, of wedding services and information. The website http://www.weddingservices.eclectic-choice.co.uk offers advice and information on organizing and arranging your wedding insurance.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steven_Shaw


Puzzles for a wedding invitation? Oh yeah. We do them. You can use a predesigned theme like this one or let us create a unique one just for you. Check it out!

Guest Bloggers Wanted!

We are growing and looking for help - blogging help. We make fun, fast and unforgettable jigsaw puzzles so YOU can make memories! We write about things related to that.

Do you write about:

• education/how we learn
• children
• family activities/events
• business marketing
• event planning
• meeting planning

Then email us at shop@vwepuzzles.com and let's talk!

I write as well so if you think I might be a good fit for you, let me know that as well. Here are some articles you can take a look at to show you what I can do.

Thanks for reading. More is on the way!

The Importance of Developing Multi-Cultural Awareness at an Early Age

One of the reasons my business partner and I started Village Works is because we saw a lacking of puzzles that taught about cultural awareness. It has taken many years, but we were able to start developing children's puzzles and we continue to work on new ones. This article begins to explain that importance we were thinking of in terms of the adoption community. In light of recent catastrpphic events in faraway lands where many children are or will be brought into the adoption system, I thought this piece was particularly interesting. Please read on.


Sara poked her head into the playroom to check in on Lilly. She saw her daughter happily playing with her Asian dolls. Like so many days, Lilly was having a tea party with her imaginary friends, complete with Asian dinnerware, cookies, and homemade place mats. She was lost in her play time and it brought a smile to the face of her mother.

Several years ago when Sara adopted Lily from China it was the happiest day of her life. As they boarded the plane for the flight back to America, she thought of all the wonderful opportunities Lilly would have in the States. Yet Sara was very mindful of how important it would be for Lilly to love and respect her birth culture. Many adoptive parents share this very important perspective. Creating a multi-cultural awareness in the home is not only important for adoptive families but for all families. There are a few simple practices that families can incorporate into their lives to increase multi-cultural appreciation and awareness.

1. Begin teaching your children about other cultures at the earliest possible age. Young minds soak up information like none other. Use some of the plentiful resources that are at hand. For example, there are many great books for children that introduce multi-cultural material. Visit your local library or head to your favorite bookstore to check them out. There are also an abundance of internet sites available for children that provide a multi-cultural experience.

2. Make sure you as a parent are aware of any cultural holidays or significant traditions from the birth country of your child. Find ways to celebrate these holidays or take part in these traditions. This will mean a lot to your child, particularly as he or she grows.

3. Keep an open dialogue and welcome questions regarding cultural practices or differences. The mind of a child is often filled with questions. Children are inquisitive by nature and need to feel free to ask questions when they do not understand what they are taking in with their senses.

4. Celebrate the differences that exist between various cultures. Sometimes the misconception exists that different equals bad. This can be particularly true for children as they often do not understand what they do not experience. By celebrating cultural differences a child can learn that different is not wrong or scary.

5. Remember that you are the primary influence for your young child. As a parent, you have an amazing opportunity and responsibility to teach your child and to shape his or her view of the world.

Sara knew that as the parent in a multi-cultural family she had the responsibility to educate her small daughter. Teaching her daughter to love and respect the culture in which she was born was so very important. Whether or not you are a multi-cultural family or whether you simply feel a responsibility to teach your children the wonderful rich heritage of the many cultures of the world, there is much you can do to celebrate the diversity of the world.

Connor R. Sullivan is very pleased with the Asian dolls he and his wife chose online. His wife loved her new Asian dinnerware she recently purchased.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Connor_R_Sullivan


Part of the start of our mission to help develop a child's awareness of his or her own culture was the development of this puzzle inspired by our historical American election. With this puzzle a parent or teacher can bring up the political topic to talk about with their child. They can dicuss the basics about what it takes to be president. And they can discuss what they too can do to help bring about change in their world. This is just the start. More "Yes, I Can..." puzzles are in the works. But if you want to see something specific, just let us know.

Changed Our Minds!

We are moving back. Had to try it. Had to see if we could consolidate. We LOVE our website and it's overall functionality but they just don't have this blogging platform down yet. So we are coming back home and I doubt we'll leave any time soon. I'll be packing up the old-new blog and bringing everything back here to STAY! Please bear with us while we unpack then we'll get to work on freshening things up a bit.

And if you are reading via our Facebook page, you can feel free to comment here or there, everywhere! Thanks for your patience and your support.

10 Essential Criteria For Choosing Your Target Market

As business owners, we are always concerned about our target market. You want to be sure the customers you seek are in fact receptive to your business idea. But what I don't think we always consider is does your target market fit YOU? That's what this article made me think of. I like how it gave me a slightly different perspective. Enjoy.


A specific group of people you will focus on selling your services to is your target market. This is not to be confused with the problem you will be solving for this group.

Why choose a target market? You need to decide exactly who your audience is before you sell your services. Deciding on your target market lays a critical foundation for your business. When you get clear about who your target market is, you will:

* know where to focus your selling and marketing efforts.

* know where to focus your research efforts. You want to intimately understand your market: the problems they have and the language they speak. The greater your level of understanding the more magnetic you will become.

Your target market will determine your income and success. Choose the wrong one and you will waste a lot of time and money with very little results.

Whatever target market -TM- you choose, check to see that it meets the following 10 essential criteria:

1. Your TM has a big problem. They think about it all the time, it keeps them awake at night.

2. Your TM wants the problem solved. The impact and cost of the problem is big enough that they will act to solve it (some people have problems they are quite happy to live with!).

3. You can easily find your TM. Do they belong to associations? Are there conferences for this target market? Are there publications? Where do they hangout? If it's not easy to find your target market, it will cost you a lot of money to find them.

4. Your TM has money to spend. No point having a terrific service if your target market hasn't the money to pay for it. I know this sounds basic but it's often overlooked.

5. Your TM has a history of paying to have this problem solved. You want to focus on a target market where there is a proven track record of problems and people paying to solve them. A good sign is if your competitors are selling similar services to the target market.

6. There's enough of your TM out there to sustain a business. How many people or businesses are in your target market? Realistically how many will become your clients and what will that be worth to you? Is that enough?

7. You enjoy working with your TM. Think about what types of people are in your target market and visualize being with them day in and day out. How does that feel? Will you feel energized or drained at the end of the day? Remember, you are also in business to enjoy yourself so make sure you will enjoy working with this target market.

8. You have a passion for helping and serving this TM. Passion is an essential ingredient for selling your services.

9. You have valuable expertise and experience you can offer. Your target market will want to buy from people who are experts in their field. Think about what specific expertise and experience you can offer your target market.

10. Your TM fits with your ultimate lifestyle package. What hours do you want to work? Where do you want to work? How do you want to work? Does this fit in with your target market? Ensure that working with your target market will enable you to live the kind of life you want to live.

Once you have found your target market, the next step is to refine it even further. Decide on the profile of your ideal client. What sort of person are they? Decide on their demographics and psychographics. Demographics are the basic facts like age, gender, income, location, etc. Psychographics are their characteristics, values etc. This will enable you to focus even more.

The clearer you are about who you want to do business with, the more you will attract exactly the clientele you're looking for. You will then need your Sales Conversation skills to convert them to clients.

(c) Tessa Stowe, Sales Conversation Pty Ltd. 2005

Tessa Stowe teaches coaches, service professionals and recovering salespeople 10 simple steps to turn conversations into clients without being sales-y or pushy. Her FREE monthly Sales Conversation newsletter is full of tips on how to sell your services by just being yourself. Sign up now at http://www.salesconversation.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tessa_Stowe


This little beauty is a 2x2, 4-piece puzzle that just says hi. Interested? They start at $1.75 per puzzle for a minimum of 500. Check it out!

How To Host a Successful Home Business Expo

You don't have to wait for the next vending event or expo to get your business out there. You can plan your own! Get together with some other businesses - preferably ones that don't compete with you - plan an expo and get out there! Don't know how? Maybe this can give you some ideas. Enjoy!


Are you in direct sales or network marketing?

No doubt you're currently having parties, luncheons, meetings or other events to showcase your business opportunity and products.

But have you ever thought of hosting a larger event that is open to the public? If you're building your business mostly on the Internet, you may shy away from offline activities, but I hope to convince you of the many perks of hosting a Home Business Expo.

The advantages of planning a large offline event are:

You can potentially get a LOT of targeted leads for your business opportunity or product.

You will be seen as the "go-to" person in your community for work at home information.

If you work it right, you will get lots of media attention.

You're providing a service in the community that benefits people.

The believability level is higher when people are meeting you face-to-face.

I strongly urge you to include other Moms in business when you plan your event. After all, your business is not right for everyone! Inviting other work at home Moms means that you'll make a lot of new friends, expand your network, and even make some money too, which will more than cover your advertising and other associated costs.

Ok, so we've covered the "why", let's work on the "how".

Choose a Venue

I've hosted business expos in public libraries, and these are great for a couple of reasons: They're free to reserve and most people in the community will know where they're located.

The disadvantages: You may not be able to serve refreshments which may not be a big deal to you, but may make it more difficult for the Pampered Chef lady you invited to sell her product. However, this may not be a strong consideration if the event is designed more as a lead generation tool for recruiting. Hotels have nice conference rooms but often carry a hefty price tag, although in some towns you may only pay $50-$75 for the room. The advantage of booking a room in a hotel is that you'll usually be able to serve food and also post signs outside the venue. Local gyms and recreation centers are good too.

Choose a Theme

Since space is limited and you can't include everyone, it's a good idea to choose a theme for your business expo. For instance, you may want to limit your vendors to Moms in Direct Sales, or you may want to choose Homeschooling parents in business. A friend of mine hosted a Natural Moms expo, and invited women who made herbal products, midwives, yoga instructors, massage therapists and the like. Having a theme also makes your advertising efforts easier since it clarifies what your event is "all about".

Other Planning Tips

At my events, I always asked each vendor to be responsible for her own table. (Most Moms in business have one so this wasn't an imposition.) That way I wouldn't have to worry about whether the venue had enough.

Encourage your vendors to have plenty of information about their business on hand-- printouts, catalogs, business cards, etc. It's also a good idea for them to have a small door prize as a way of collecting the names and numbers of people who look at their business.

Decide how much you're going to charge vendors. I always kept my vendor fee very low, since I wasn't so much interested in making a huge profit as I was exposing my own business to the community and helping Moms get legitimate information about working from home.

I've attended events that I did not plan and was very disappointed at the turnout when I had paid a nice fee in order to participate. You don't want your vendors getting resentful. If you decide to host another Expo, you'll have a lot of people who want to take part again and even assist you if the first one is a success. So keep those things in mind when deciding how much to charge your vendors. I also strongly suggest keeping the event free to the public.

Start Advertising Early

I'm a big believer in press releases because they work! Local media will likely call you to ask questions about your event, especially if you live in a smaller town. A few tips regarding press releases:

1) Emphasize how your event will help the public. Are you going to be educating women on how to avoid work at home scams? Will there be free information and samples available? Giveaways and door prizes? Are children welcome? Etc.

2) Be sure to post your press release online (Do a Google search for "submit press release") ,as well as faxing or emailing it to local newspapers.

3) Call the newspaper first to see how they prefer to receive your release and always follow up to be sure they got it!

You may be able to advertise your business expo for free online at some of the work at home websites, as well as local interest websites. Do an Internet search for "submit event", with the name of your town in the search. That should give you quite a few places to submit your event to. You'll likely find that as a few women find out about the event, you'll have no trouble getting vendors! Especially if you keep the cost for inclusion low. In order to keep in touch with your vendors for updates and communication, consider starting an online newsletter list just for this purpose. Otherwise you'll find yourself answering phone calls and emails and saying the same things over and over.

Getting Lots of Attendees

If your press release gets picked up by a few local newspapers you'll probably have lots of people show up for your event, but it's also a good idea to diversify your advertising. Take out a small ad in a community events paper if there is one in your area (but be sure to send your press release first to see if they'll give you free advertising!). Post about your event in forums online that allow you to do so. Encourage your vendors to invite their customers (it's great if they can have some product on hand to retail, thus saving their customers shipping costs) and warm market. Post flyers at local businesses, always asking permission first (I almost never had anyone say no!). And be sure to have large, well placed signs pointing to your event, like you would if you were having a yard sale.

Well that's about it! I hope you plan a business expo that brings you tons of new customers and prospects, and establishes you as THE work at home Mom in your area!

Carrie Lauth is a work at home Mom of 4. If she can earn money online, so can you! Get her free "No Fluff" marketing tips plus free subscriber gifts at http://www.Carrielauth.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carrie_Lauth

If you need a unique giveaway or marketing device for your event, have you thought about jigsaw puzzles? They come as small as 2x2! Want to know more? Fill out our custom puzzle order & quote form here.

Use Jigsaw Puzzles to Prepare Your Child for Reading

We have all sorts of technology these days for teaching our children. The price for some of these can give the average parent pause as we are usually willing to invest in the things our children are drawn to, but you can't always be sure if they will take to the latest not-so-cheap battery-operated learning tool. There are still some old-school methods of learning that work really well. Take a read and see what you think.

Do you want to help your child develop those all important pre-reading skills? You can do that by doing jigsaw puzzles together. Puzzles help develop vital thinking processes that need to be developed before reading can take place.

Babies learn to recognize things by their shape. The position of the object is not important. A cup is a cup, whether it is standing upright, lying in it's side or upside down; it is still a cup. A jigsaw puzzle introduces the concept that position is important. More refined recognition skills are developed.

There are valuable learning experiences that can be gained from puzzle activities. Firstly hand-eye co-ordination is necessary to manipulate the piece into the correct position. To fit the piece exactly involves observing the shape of the hole as well as the shape of the puzzle piece. At first a young child deals with the problem by trial and error and sometimes force. The guidance and example of a parent begins to solidify the process. The youngster starts to develop spatial awareness and mental manipulation as well as increasing physical dexterity. Skill and ability develops as the child learns to place the piece in correctly and internalization of the process occurs.

The role of the parent is very important. Talking about the picture and demonstrating the correct method to complete it, will facilitate the child's learning process. This creates a great opportunity to increase your little one's vocabulary, as well as increase the recognition of objects and situations outside the child's immediate world.

Early childhood puzzles can be purchased in varying degrees of difficulty as your youngster's spatial and reasoning skills become more developed. Children learn to recognize color and shape by playing. Adult conversation increases the potential of the young learner's understanding and development. The green shape only fits in the green hole. This type of matching activity develops early reading skills.

When introducing a new puzzle spend time doing it together at first. Make this a happy social time and lots of fun. Do a puzzle long enough to maintain interest and attention, but be ready to move on to another activity as focus begins to wane. Eventually children will want to do puzzles by themselves as their dexterity and confidence increases, With praise and encouragement children will practice until the skills become familiar. Then is the time to introduce puzzles with a greater challenge.

In this technical age do not forget the simple jigsaw puzzle. The benefits and educational value of doing puzzles with your children far out weigh the small amount of time and money a parent invests in this great learning tool.

Barbara White has over twenty years experience as a parent, teacher and principal. Barbara, President of Beyond Better Development, now enjoys sharing her experience and insights about learning with parents and teachers through workshops and seminars Barbara highly recommends Jigsaw Puzzles for all ages of children and adults.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Barbara_White

Educational puzzles can be bought but they can also be created. Check out our children's puzzles here and if you want to discuss creating something for your school or organization, fill out our custom puzzle order & quote form here.

5 Powerful Tips On How To Sell In An Economic Downturn

Is the recession over? Some think we are coming out. Others aren't so sure just yet. Either way, here are some thoughts on boosting business that can be applied no matter what the climate is out there. Enjoy!

1. Believe and achieve!

One of the problems with all of this talk about recession is that once people believe there is going to be a recession they start to feel negative about their business prospects and only tend to see what they believe rather than believing what they see. Once you believe that there is going to be a recession you tend to only notice articles, comments and statistics that support your beliefs.

What's more, your negative beliefs quickly affect your outlook and the way that you feel about your business prospects.

If you thought 2008 was going to be a great year for business, your best year yet; how would you feel?

On the other hand, if you thought this year we're going to have a major downturn and you and your business would be badly affected; how would you feel?

Mighty different huh? And remember, nothing's changed here other than your belief. Having a positive and supportive belief structure is essential if you want to succeed in any market but it is vitally essential if you want to keep on selling in a tough one.

Having a winning belief system does not mean that you need to be deluded however! In the middle of the darkest recession you don't want to have your eyes shut! But you have to understand that in a downturn clients want to partner with the best companies. Suppliers that they can rely on. Suppliers that support them. Suppliers who are going to be around tomorrow. And if your competitors struggle, that means more sales and more business for you.

2. Get proactive

You need to be more proactive. Much more proactive. You need to do more marketing and more selling. You need to attend more events and do more networking. You need to do more promotion and more canvassing. You need to increase your sales activities, maybe dramatically.

In a recession many companies cut their sales activites. They figure, "If we're not going to sell anything, what's the point?" Many individual salespeople do this too.

Cut your activity, cut your sales. You're a living, breathing, self-fulfilling prophecy! You believe there is not much business out there, so you feel negative. That in turn affects your activity and your activity destroys your sales results.

Even if there is not as much business out there, then you need to be more active, more focused and more targeted. If your competitors are easing off a little, now is the time to up the anti and grab your share of the market. Even if there is a blip, you will be strongly placed when activity picks up.

One of my friends went down to our local real estate agent this week to put his house on the market. He was told that maybe he should wait as he might not get the price he wants right now. They told him the market was quiet and that might not be able to sell the house at all. Better to wait for the market to pick up. I walked past their offices later on that day. They were all sitting, chatting and drinking coffee. They were probably moaning about what a bad year it's going to be. If I'd have been in that office, I'd have taken my mates house on and I'd have been on the phone drumming up some viewings. 50 calls, 100, calls, 500 calls... Whatever it takes. I'd have found someone.

Talk about killing your own market! If you see less business then you need to do more sales and marketing, not less. That's common sense.

3. Sharpen your sales skills

If a workman needs a spade and a farmer needs a horse; a boxer needs a defence and a chef needs a recipe; what do salespeople need? The answer's obvious - it's sales skills.

Most salespeople do not spend enough time working on improving their sales skills and techniques. Sales training and development is not something that many salespeople spend their time on out of choice. Perhaps they can get away with this in a booming marrket when sales are easy. Perhaps not. But things will always change if the market tightens. Sales success will go to the salesperson who really understands why people buy and can help people make the right business decisions. Salespeople of this calibre stand to benefit from possible changes ahead because there will be more business for them as their competition falls by the wayside.

Sales will not go to the journeyman salesperson, the mediocre wannabee or the 9-5 order taker. Salespeople like these could well be in for a rough time.

When did you last read a sales training book on selling? How many sales training audios have you listened to over the last month? How many sales training seminars have you atteneded in the last 6 months? For 80% of salespeople reading this, the answer is zero.

4. Improve your service and focus on relationships

As I write this many companies will be working out how to cut corners. They will try to save money by tinkering with their business offerings. They will try and eek extra profits out of their clients by cutting the bells and whistles from their offerings. This is not a good idea. A Swiss cow with no bells is just a cow and no-one would send postcards of them home!

If business is tight you want to be wowing your clients with the best service that they have ever had, from you or from any of your competitors. You need to be going the extra mile. If a recession bites many companies will try and discount to survive. They probably won't (survive), but you don't want your clients going to them as they try to keep their heads above water! You need to "lock in" your existing clients now so that they won't even think about going anywhere else.

Spend time with your clients. Build stronger relationships with your clients. Make sure you truly understand them, their concerns and their businesses. Find ways to help them and add value over and above what they could have ever expected.

5. Leverage your efforts

In a soft market many salespeople only chase the easy stuff. They don't chase the tough stuff. They're doing ok, they don't have to. They're making sales right?

Wrong.

Most salespeople have all sorts of opportunities which they squander every day and every month because there are seemingly easier things that they can be doing. This is particularly true in an industry or a company where leads have been relatively easy to come by, where sales targets are relatively soft (I could tell you which industries but I'm not going to) or where salespeople are overpaid so don't crave the business (again, I'll keep this to myself!).

In a tough market you must leverage all of your efforts. This is basic sales 101 and should be stuff that you do every day anyway... Here are just a few ideas.

Always ask for referrals. Referrals are great business but most salespeople do not ask for them because clients often say no. Learn how to ask for a referral properly and then build asking for a referral into your sales process and ask for one every time.

Upsell and cross-sell. Whether though laziness, lack of knowledge or lack of ability many salespeople sit on accounts where there is so much more business than they are currently leveraging. Extending your business with existing clients will not only make you more money, it will also strengthen your relationships with and value to them and their businesses.

Contact dormant accounts. Most companies have hundreds if not thousands of "dormant" accounts. There may be multiple reasons for this from changing business practises to fall-outs with the client. Dormant clients may well be redeemable and may have been "lost" purely because someone forgot to ring them or a salesperson moved on. Get in touch with them!

Follow up on all leads. I recently contacted 5 health insurance companies over the web. Only one replied. You should not be burning leads like this in any market. Follow up on all leads professionally using a proven sales system like the ones I teach in my sales training seminars and programmes and you will close more business. New business is the lifeblood of any business in any market.

So there we are, 5 tips to help you to sell in a recssion. This year may well prove to be an interesting year for some businesses and individuals. Some of this will be down to the market itself. Much of it will be down to you and how you react and respond to what might be a challenging year.

Here's my prediction for the year...

There will be winners and there will be losers. Which are you going to be?

For more powerful personal development articles visit http://www.gaviningham.com now.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gavin_Ingham

Ready to do something different to get your customers buzzing about you? If yohave the ideas, we've got the puzzles. Heck, you don't even need the ideas. We've got those too! Contact us before someone else beats you to it!

Bridesmaid Duties

Weddings, honestly, are a pet peeve of mine. OK, so not weddings per se, but just the whole notion that its ok for brides to be self-centered. An acquaintance of mine just got canned as maid of honor because the bride thought she should have answered her phone calls at work - this was a new job for my acquaintance, FYI, after a year of unemployment.

I am married so I have been here, but tried my best to not do that. Before getting married I had found most brides had the same thing in common - tunnel vision. It was amazing how no matter what the topic of discussion, they could just about always manage to bring the topic back to their wedding and wanted you to share in their enthusiasm. Now, ideally, the bride is a friend and as friends, you give her latitude to have an attitude. It's ok to know nothing but bridal talk because she is indeed planning the party of a lifetime. As friends, you want to help the betrothed to be calm and make decisions. But how far is too far? If you are going to be part of that wedding party, where do your responsibilities begin and end? That was what I went searching for today to help you all out. Consider this post me trying to keep the peace between friends as well as let people know what they are in for. Consider this post me trying to tell all brides that while your day IS about you and your groom, the people around you - helping you, supporting you, in some cases paying for you - deserve your respect and consideration as well because the people in THEIR lives are not expecting them to disappear like they expect a bride to disappear. The people in their lives are still expecting them to do their jobs, care for their families, etc. Mutual respect, in my opinion, is key to keeping everyone happy. So now, the real post. Enjoy.


In the movie, 27 Dresses, one of Jane's (main character) "duties" as a bridesmaid, apparently, is to hold the bride's dress while the bride is ...well...using the restroom. Now, I'm not sure that exact duty would be listed in any etiquette book. And, there lies the problem. What exactly are the duties of today's 21st century bridesmaid? It seems that everyone has an opinion on this, which just complicates the issue. We need a basic list to work with. So, here it is.

When asked to participate in a wedding as an attendant, we often become a bit lightheaded about the honor, feeling very special that someone would care for us so much that they would want us to share this moment. And yes, it is an honor. But, it is also expensive and time consuming. So, consider all aspects and responsibilities of the position before agreeing.

Money, Money, Money
When considering expenses, the bridesmaid is responsible for the cost of her attire, including alterations, and shoes. She can even be expected to pay for hair and make-up. Although, if the bride is insisting on all bridesmaids using a specific salon, this cost is/should be negotiable.

Gifts?
One of the most common questions from bridesmaids is, "Do I still have to give the bride a wedding gift if the wedding is a destination wedding for which I am expected to pay for travel expenses? We feel for your ever-lighter pocket book, but the answer is yes. However, it is common and acceptable, besides just plain smart, to share the expense of the shower and wedding gift with your fellow bridesmaids. And, please remember, both of the gifts do not have to be expensive, just heartfelt.

Gas Pains
Bridesmaids are expected to pay for their travel expenses, except for the day of the wedding. The bride provides this. The bride also provides lodging for out of town bridesmaids.

Party Like It's 1999!
Between the time the couple set the date and the beginning of the reception, it can be one pre-wedding party after another. Are bridesmaids obligated to attend? If it is humanly possible, yes. However, out of town bridesmaids usually receive a get-out-of-jail-free-card, or at least out of the obligation of attending, except, of course, the reception.

Traditionally, the two parties in which the bridesmaids hosted are the shower and the bachelorette party. However, these two, as are all pre-wedding parties, are optional. Bridesmaids may host if they wish. But, all must agree on the cost and are not obligated to pay unless they are all in agreement.

Bridesmaids may host a bridesmaids' lunch, but it is most commonly hosted (and it is fairer to the bridesmaids) by the bride. The bride may host this to thank her bridesmaids for the time they have given her.

The Ever Dutiful Maid
And, how about all of those "duties"? Attending every pre-wedding party possible is the bridesmaid's fist duty. All fellow maids should try to help, as much as possible, such as writing invitations, place cards, making decorations or favors, and running wedding related errands. Sometimes this isn't possible due to general "life stuff," as we all have our own jobs, school, children, everything that could stand between helping to address invitations and keeping our jobs. So, no squabbling allowed.

However, recriminations may be in order if the bridesmaid repeatedly misses her appointments for alterations or won't stay in contact with her fellow bridesmaids and the bride. Once she signs on for the duration, it is her duty to stay in touch.

Bridesmaids attend the rehearsal and party. And, on the day of the wedding, each participates in the pre-wedding and post-wedding photos. Many times bridesmaids will help the bride with her multilayered and many times very heavy dress-hence the holding it while the bride needs to take a ...restroom break. They walk down the aisle and stand as instructed.

After the wedding, all maids may stand in a row. Or, is that the receiving line? They may stand in the receiving line or mingle with guests, per the bride's preference. During the reception they dance the first dance with groomsmen and single bridesmaids are often asked to mingle and dance with unattached guests. The groomsmen join them as well. Single bridesmaids may even compete to catch the bouquet. This could be considered a contact sport, so be forewarned.

Note To Brides: Although the word bridesmaid does include the word "maid", please don't treat your bridal attendants like slaves. Remember that you asked them to stand up for you out of love but, not to be used and abused.

TeamWedding.com - Home of Top Wedding Planning Sites Get more information on wedding planning here

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donna_Ennis

So as a bride you want to start off on the right foot, right? You want to let your potential bridesmaids and maid/matron of honor know you care about them, value them and need them. Send them a fun puzzle asking them to stand with you. Guarantee they will never forget it. Just read what one bride had to say about giving a puzzle to her potential party.

Jigsaw Puzzle Games Help Kids Develop Cognitive Skills

Children need a variety of cognitive skills for everyday use now and into adulthood. The ability to rationalize and problem solve is vital for most of life activities, but giving our childen a leg up in the area of critical thinking means helping them to be the dynamic people they were created to be; people who aren't afraid to take chances and follow their dreams, no matter how scary those dreams may seem. Personally, I want my children to have the joy of utilizing their spiritual and natural gifts because I know doing so will make them productive and giving people in the world. People who have the power to think outside-the-box open themselves up to experiencing all sorts of things, including their internal drives. This can bring them joy. Joyful people give. Let's help our children be joyful. Please read on.

A jigsaw puzzle can provide long-lasting entertainment and numerous benefits of promoting the cognitive development of children of all ages.

Puzzle solving activities can start at very early ages and continue as children get older. There are puzzles designed just for toddlers, with large wooden puzzle pieces or other durable puzzle games. For toddlers and preschool kids, solving a jigsaw puzzle helps improve basic skills such as hand-eye coordination because it requires the child to manipulate relatively small objects and to place those objects in specific places.

The benefits can continue into preteen, teen, and adult years with more challenging puzzles that require more advanced coordination as well as other benefits. As kids get older, they can advance to more challenging puzzles, which include a larger number of smaller pieces and more complex color patterns. For older kids, solving puzzle games can help develop analytical skills, communication and collaboration, logic and attention to details.

Puzzle games also improve a child's spatial skills. Solving a jigsaw puzzle requires the child to visualize a puzzle piece, and then to mentally rotate the puzzle piece up to 360 degrees to find that piece's accurate fit. This forces the child to move away from concrete thoughts and into a realm of abstract thoughts. He has to imagine the results of an action (in this case, the results of rotating a puzzle piece) not unlike a game of chess.

Puzzle solving improves a child's problem-solving and reasoning skills. The child is repeatedly presented with a problem while solving a jigsaw puzzle: how to make a particular piece fit into the overall puzzle. He will have to evaluate the shape of the puzzle as well as any colors or patterns presented on the puzzle, relative to the other pieces on the game board. He may have to flip or rotate the piece to make it fit. In some cases, he may have to flip or rotate the piece several times before he finds its place in the puzzle. Successfully solving this problem can give children the confidence to attempt more challenging puzzles.

A less-often recognized cognitive benefit of jigsaw puzzles is the picture on the puzzle. For example, solving a puzzle with a picture of the United States will familiarize a child with the geography of the United States. Jigsaw puzzles can also familiarize a child with a scene from history or literature. There is a great variety of puzzles available today making it easier than ever to find ones with an educational theme that appeals to your child. Themes include horse breeds, astronomy, trains, bible stories and more. Even text printed over a puzzle picture is learned particularly well, as a child is often required to study and read the final picture and the individual pieces repeatedly in order to solve the puzzle.

Often, solving a jigsaw puzzle will spark an interest in other types of problem-solving tasks and puzzle games, such as crosswords or word puzzles. However, the cognitive benefits of jigsaws alone cannot be discounted. These skills will overlap into many other areas of the child's life.

Joe Kanooga is a father of two kids, a successful business owner and the author of numerous articles about jigsaw puzzle. Click here to download our free puzzle games guidebook filled with tips, ideas and information.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joe_Kanooga

Educational puzzles can be bought but they can also be created. Check out our children's puzzles here and if you want to discuss creating something for your school or organization, fill out our custom puzzle order & quote form here.

Bring Your Business Out of the Noise

There are many smart people out there writing and speaking about marketing your business. Today the voice you shall hear is my own. But I will not necessarily speak as one business to another. I will instead be one customer to businesses and people who are in charge of the marketing of that business.

In case you did not notice, it's a pretty noisy world out there. I don't care if you live on a mountaintop in Greenland. If you have a business and are actively marketing that business, then you are using a lot of the same tools everyone else is using - TV, radio, social networking, newspapers, some even still use the Yellow Pages because it works for them. Maybe you are vending and networking face to face to build relationships. Maybe you are networking screen to screen. If you stop to visualize all these places, what do they have in common? Your ad is next to someone else's. Your TV or radio spot has to say it all in 30 seconds. Your social networking page has tons of people on it that's hard for you to sort out, so imagine everyone else.

It's a noisy world today compared to just 10, 20 years ago; basically one to 1 1/2 generations ago. It's no wonder people ignore their calls and let them go to voice mail. They don't necessarily respond to emails quickly, if at all. I know I do this and again, I am talking to you as a consumer.

I see your emails and I am annoyed because there are SO many of them from SO many people so I mostly delete, sort, or save for later. In any of these scenarios, your immediate deal goes unnoticed. Yeah, I get those tweets. But I get too many of them so I may glance, I may never read, I may miss them altogether. Where is my safe haven? Personally, I have two children so my car is one of my favorite places and thus radio is still somewhat effective for me. But I don't live in my car so you've got me for a limited amount of time.

No. My safe haven is home where I can turn all that noise off. Businesses and even everyday people have gone wild with the power of instant connection so I have to go invisible for a little while. But how can you still reach me, dear business owner, when I am screening my phone calls? What is one place where even you can still enter my quiet world? The U.S. Mail.

Oh yes, dear business owner. I am still reading my mail. I still come home and sort looking for something other than a bill I am going to pay online anyway so I doubt I'll open. (Gotta go paperless. Note to self.) My eyes are still looking for pops of color because I am attracted to that. That's why even if I don't plan to order a thing, catalogs still grab me. As I chill and do nothing, I'll peruse those and by the end, who knows? I may just be dog-earring a page for future use. I may even be checking out my bank account to see if I can swing this unexpected expense (so you better make it good!).

The mail, dear business owner, is no longer fun for people. I just heard a statistic yesterday that ever since the Internet came along, over 70% of people no longer write letters. I still do, though not as much, and everyone I know appreciates it. Think of the holidays. We are still scrambling to send cards and we love to get them. The mail has become a place of mainly bills and overdue notices, but there is still some soliciting going on. People are still reading even the solicitations of companies they are interested in if the mail is interesting enough.

So make yours interesting for me!

Once in my whole life, so far, have I received a puzzle from a company. Did I open that unusual package? Sure I did! Ok, yes, this was pre-anthrax days, but I think we're back to safe mode now. Even today I REMEMBER that puzzle. It was for a car dealership, so no I wasn't buying. But I remember it! My kids took it to play with right then and there. Jigsaw puzzles are memorable, dear business owners! And people tend to keep them as well. Imagine how much your message is getting through over and over again!

You can use jigsaw puzzles to:

Introduce yourself

Tell about a special or make an announcement

Send one-piece at a time for some sort of giveaway or to even get them onto your site/into your store.

Put a special code on a piece to be redeemed. (yes, we print on the back too)

Just say thank you/happy birthday/send a little fun gift with your logo on it.

Invite your customers to some special event

Use as a business card or giveaway

If you want to be different and new right now, go old school. Try the mail and make yourself stand out from the crowd.

This little beauty is a 2x2, 4-piece puzzle that just says hi. Interested? They start at $1.75 per puzzle for a minimum of 500. Check it out!

First Birthday Party Idea - Making Wonderful Memories

Parties can be fun, but when you have children, after awhile it can be hard to be creative and keep the parties fresh for your guest as wel as your child. But not when it's your first birthday! So here's are some ideas to help you get your parted started and even an invite idea you just might like (see the picture below. It's a Village Works original!)

You're so excited.

Here's a first birthday party idea that will preserve your child's party, an important event in the life of your child and your family.

This is a special time to celebrate, remember, and look back at how much your baby has grown and learned in just one year.

Unlike other birthdays, your child's 1st birthday party is more for you, your family and friends. At only one year of age, your baby doesn't understand all the fuss and excitement and why there are so many people in your home.

First Birthday Party Idea - You're making memories

Even though your child is too young to appreciate their first birthday right now, you need to make sure that years from now when your child is old enough, they'll be able to enjoy all the fun activities, gifts, food, family and friends that helped celebrate their very first birthday.

Here's how:

Pictures, a scrapbook and video or a DVD.

Take lots and lots of pictures and shoot lots of video. You can take too few pictures, but you can't take too many pictures of your child's first birthday party.

Set a goal.

You want to document the entire celebration. Later on you can choose the best pictures to include in your scrapbook and DVD.

Treasured Keepsakes

Here's a fun project that's sure to become a treasured keepsake. Put together a special scrapbook about your child's first birthday.

Include your pictures in chronological order, save a party napkin (especially if it's a theme napkin), save an invitation and anything else that will help make your scrapbook special.

And if you shoot video or take digital pictures, either you or someone else can put together a precious DVD so that future generations to come will be able to see what everyone looked like "way back when."

Your DVD can include shots of your baby's room, special toys, stuffed animals and crib. And you can use a special song in your video.

Put Your Party Together

Schedule your party at a time that works best with your baby's schedule. You don't want them to be fussy or cranky because they didn't have their nap.

The party should only last a couple of hours because all the excitement will begin making your child tired and that can lead to being cranky and spoiling the party.

And remember that your young guests have a very short attention span too. So keep your games and activities short and simple.

Make Your Invitations Interesting and Fun

Your invitation should be fun, interesting and precious. Remember, you want everyone to know you're going to be celebrating a very special event in your family's life.

Use a phrase like "look who's turning one year old" and include their newborn picture.

Just for Fun

Make the newborn picture into a 3 or 4 piece puzzle. Or give then only one small piece of the puzzle and ask everyone to being their puzzle piece so the puzzle can be put together as a party activity.

Make sure to copy all the pieces in case someone doesn't show up.

Decorate Your Home with a Party Theme

Do you have a theme for your baby's room? That can be your party theme. Or you can use fun themes like Noah's Ark, Sesame Street, Pooh or Over the Rainbow just to name a few.

Online party stores carry lots of wonderful first birthday party supplies for just about any theme you can imagine. To learn more just click on the link below this article.

The Games You Can Play

Play games so the adults can assist the little ones.

Stack soft blocks, roll a ball, read a very short story, sing songs, do "baby art work" using crayons an paper.

Remember When

Put together a scrapbook of pictures and memories from the birth of your child, bringing baby home for the first time, baby's first bath and all the special times through out their first year.

This gives everyone an opportunity to see the wonderful progress your child has made during their very first year.

Food and Other Goodies

You may want to have snacks available for the grown-ups and of course you'll want to have a special cake.

First Birthday Cakes

You'll have lots of fun putting together your little one's birthday cake. You can put together a special cake that fits perfectly with your party theme. You'll find theme candles and oh-so-cute cake decorations that will turn your cake into a masterpiece.

It's going to be so much fun!

Yes, with this first birthday party idea, your child's party is going to be a very special event, one you want to capture with lots of pictures and video that will be remembered and enjoyed for years to come.

And when your baby gets to be old enough, they'll really enjoy seeing their first birthday party too.

Have fun.

Mike Dougherty "Grandpa Mike" has lots of experience putting together successful birthday parties for his children and grandchildren. For more information visit http://fun-kid-birthday-parties.com/first-birthday-party-ideas.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Dougherty

Did you like that? Fun, huh? Well, imagine an image like the one above used not only as a baby birth announcement, but it can be altered to be an invitation too! It's called Baby Announcement and it's one of the many puzzles we have created at Village Works that you can personalize. It's available. All you have to do is let us know how many and the info you need it to say. Contact us today!

Creating A Family Tradition-Jigsaw Puzzles

I don't have to tell you how scary the world is and how vital it is to hold on our families. The necessity of work - most times both parents - can make it hard to create those special moments that help lay the foundation for our kids. That foundation is what holds them up when they are away from us and have to make tough choices on their own. The power of a puzzle? Even a little time over one makes memories - and a foundation - for a lifetime. Enjoy.

Do you find it difficult to spend time together as a family?

There are so many pressures and activities that can take away from the sense of family which was more commonly experienced 50 years ago. Parents often both work, and their commute can be tiring and long. For children there is school and homework, TV, video games, and the computer to juggle with. This does not include outside the home activities such as belonging to sports teams and organizations. All of these factors mean that the family is not together so often. Many activities that occupy children nowadays are individualistic or non-social. Electronic forms of entertainment are now normal, but the disadvantage is that they are not conducive to social interaction and relationship building.

Parents increasingly have to plan to set aside time to spend as a family. During these times it is a good idea to plan activities that involve everyone. A great way of bonding is to do an activity where everyone works together to accomplish a project.

Doing a jigsaw puzzle together is a good example of this and has many benefits. Working on a jigsaw puzzle is a practical activity that all ages can participate in some way. Even younger children can be encouraged to help. They can sort the pieces into like colors, or look for particular pieces. They feel such a sense of accomplishment when they find the piece and help complete the section.

For children, a jigsaw puzzle has several learning applications. It develops spatial awareness and hand eye coordination. There are analytical, abstract, and concrete thinking skills that are needed to become adept at doing a jigsaw puzzle.

While the family is together around the puzzle, a relaxed natural environment is created for conversation and relationship building. It develops a sense of team as all participate.

Doing a jigsaw puzzle is also a great introduction to other types of hobbies and crafts that involve using hands and creating something. For the upcoming generation these types of crafts and hobbies are in danger of dying out as electronic entertainment increases in popularity and use.

I have fond memories of doing jigsaw puzzles with my family as a child. It became a family tradition especially during the winter months. Today, however, this can still be done but without the inconvenience of losing the use of the dining room table until the puzzle is completed. There are now puzzle mats and other new storage possibilities now available.

In comparison to the jigsaw puzzles that were around when I was a child, the jigsaw puzzles today are far more interesting and appealing. There are shaped puzzles, glowing, educational puzzles, and more complex puzzles for the experienced puzzler such as 3D and two sided puzzles.
Create a tradition for your family. Plan now and buy some jigsaw puzzles to bring out on a rainy or cold weekend and have a refreshing family bonding time .

I would recommend http://www.thepuzzlemania.com as a good place to order puzzles online and get prepared for family fun.

Barbara White, a jigsaw puzzle enthusiast, has a passion to revive family traditions. For more facts and trivia about jigsaw puzzles visit her blog and forum at http://www.thepuzzlemania.com , an online jigsaw puzzle store for all the families interests.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Barbara_White

Looking for some memory-building puzzles? Start here!