My sister-in-law (an elementary school teacher) bought these for my kids last year and I think they’re fabulous.  The books are designed to jump start creativity by offering an incomplete doodle on each page.

Here, let me show you.  This page of my son’s doodle book simply had a sign printed on it with the word LOST.  Jack came up with this…

If you can’t read the words, it says

LOST
Hampster Ninja in a Ball
$110,000 (hampster ninjas are very rare, as you all know)

If I had handed Jack a blank piece of paper and asked him to draw me something he probably would have given me a picture of a rocket or a robot.  But when I hand him this book, he comes up with all kinds of crazy ideas.  I love to flip through it when he’s finished and laugh at all the bizarre things his creative little brain has come up with.

Here’s a page he hasn’t completed yet…hmm, I wonder what ferocious animal he’ll create next…

My daughter’s have doodle books too and they love them.  In fact, when everyone’s fighting and pestering each other I sometimes tell them to grab their doodle books from their homework boxes and mandate 10 minutes of silent drawing time.  Quiet creativity is a great chaos killer at our house!

You can find these books at Borders or Barnes & Noble for around $12 each.  I also noticed them at Sam’s Club this week for around $10.  If you’ve got a budding artist in your family you should definitely pick one up.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

*If you want to read a few more of my favorite discipline strategies and a bunch of great discipline ideas from my readers click here.

• An Eye for An Eye: Often the most successful discipline takes the least amount of effort.  When my 9 year-old daughter left the lids off the markers and ditched them on the carpet (for the third time), I grabbed one of the washable markers and wrote “I love my MOM!” in big letters on her arms and forehead – then sent her out to play with her friends.  She was mortified, of course, but I’m pretty sure the message sunk in.
• Stairs to Nowhere: When I was little, my Dad would make us run laps around the house (one lap for each year of age).  I adapted this technique for my own house by making my kids run up and down our 15-step flight of stairs.  I love this one because it can be used for almost anything.  If they take 45 minutes to finish a 10 minute chore, 5 sets of stairs.  If they completely ignore me when I ask them to turn off the wii, 10 sets of stairs.  If they get out of a math test by telling their teacher I’m in the hospital having a baby, …well you get the idea.
• A Different Kind of Pillow Fight: There are few things I hate more than shouting – especially whiny shouting.  When they were little, I used to force the offenders to sit across from each other and sing the BYU fight song until they could be friendly again.  Now that they’re older I don’t have as much time to be the mediator so I’ve instituted a new rule – the kids are welcome to shout at each other as loud as they can as long as they cover their faces with a pillow and shout through it.  Generally I’ve found that the muffled result causes a lot of laughter and cools down any heated tempers.

Ok, you know the drill, I shared a few of mine now it’s time for you to share yours.  Good news!  This month I have a great little commenting incentive for you.  Mariah from the Etsy shop ‘look what Mariah Made with love‘ has generously offered to give away one of her incredibly popular Onsie Cuddle Sacs to a very lucky commenter.  These adorable little newborn garments are a perfect example of form meeting function – they’re made of gorgeous materials (don’t you just love that chunky grosgrain ribbon at the bottom?) and the clever design makes those frequent newborn diaper changes a cinch.  Whether you’ve got a little of your own or just want to have a fabulous baby shower gift on hand – you’ll definitely want to give this giveaway a try.

The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday (June 21) at midnight CST.  The winner will be chosen at random, contacted by email and announced here.  There’s no catch…you can choose any fabric you like from her collection and the shipping is included.

As always, to those of you who participate, thanks in advance for passing it on.

*This giveaway is now closed.

And the winner (chosen by the iPhone app iChoose) is #16 Rachal.  Congratulations on your big win, Rachal.  I’ll be contacting you via email tonight.  Thanks to all of you for sharing your parenting wisdom.