When I’m not with my family or obsessively shopping on the Internet, I’m an educational consultant. And I was just named one of Education.com’s JustAsk Experts. Education.com has some amazing resources, including a community, articles, and plenty of activities.

My daughter and I signed up for the Summer Activities Challenge–just complete 20 activities by August 31, 2009, and you’ll get a certificate of achievement and even be entered to win some prizes.

Look under a bush and high in the sky but you can’t catch all of the butterflies in the world–but along your adventure, you may just find something even more important.

Can’t Catch a Butterfly is a sweet book, illustrated in the style of children’s crayon drawings. I had the pleasure of meeting Michelle Zimmerman, author and publisher of Rainbow Star Books, at a local wildlife center fair. As a speech-language pathologist, Zimmerman has written a book filled with love and help for pre-readers and children with special needs…

Kids love to design their own–customizing gives them sense of accomplishment, plus it is creative and fun. Why choose an ordinary gift that anyone can buy when you can make your very own unique CurlyQ Cuties plush monster?

CurlyQ Cuties gave my daughter an opportunity to design her own plush monster and my preschooler is delighted with the results!

Is your child entering kindergarten or pre-school in the fall? Teach letter recognition over the summer using two fun, educational resources: How to Build an A and the LeapFrog - Letter Factory.

Robeez are great little booties for babies, shoes for beginning walkers, and indoor slippers for older kids. And Robeez Tredz makes a perfect outdoor shoe for toddlers and preschoolers.

Receive 15% off any purchase of $35 or more at Robeez Footwear with code SUMMER15 (ends June 27, 2009)

The best children’s books stick in your head long past your childhood–and if you first encounter them as an adult, reading the stories to your own children, the tales transport you back to that time of childlike wonder and whimsy.

Although many of Neil Gaiman’s first children’s books (The Graveyard Book and Coraline) are macabre chapter books and better suited for school-aged children, Blueberry Girl and Crazy Hair are perfectly kooky reads for preschoolers.

Toddlers seem to just love to play in the water. In the bath, at the sink, or running through the sprinkler, getting wet is tons of fun.

Like many little girls, my daughter has also grown very attached to her dolls. She loves the cloth ones and does not want to put them away while she plays in the water.

So, the Tidoo Lutin Bright Doll Corolle sent us has become a favorite around here anytime we’re splashing around.

What if you combined a soft leather bootie with a fun knit sock? You’d get Nowali, the moccassin that comes in sizes from infant to toddler to big kid to even adult.

Barefoot is best for babies, but sometimes little feet need extra protection, warmth, or traction or mom just wants to add a shoe to make a cute special occasion outfit look just right. Nowali solves your baby shoe needs comfortably and looks adorable, too…

Like many kids, I wanted to be a guitar hero, jamming with friends and soaking up the spotlight. Although I already enjoyed the piano and the flute, but I struggled to get my small fingers to stretch to reach the guitar chords. And all due respect to Jethro Tull, it is hard to rock out with the flute.

Learning a musical instrument is far easier during childhood and First Act Discovery makes a series of high quality steel-string acoustic guitars sized just right (30″) for little hands. And at $30 these guitars are sized just right for your budget…