Teddy Bear Swing

We had SO much fun with this morning with this activity- tied a ribbon around M's favorite stuffed animal, tied the other end to a tree branch and let her push Sheepy on the "swing." Of course, then all the other little friends need to have a turn too!This idea came from The Toddler Busy Book. There seem to be quite a few other good ideas here too. I'll keep you posted!

A Morning Outdoors

I was reminded the other day of the value of spending time outdoors with my girls even when I don't have any particular ideas for activities with them.

For a number of reasons, our poor backyard has been looking like a jungle lately- lots of prickly weeds have been springing up here and there. My husband has a lot on his plate right now; so one morning, I decided to go back there with a screwdriver and try to get rid of some of the weeds. M wandered around the yard while I worked.

After I had been working about 20 minutes I saw that one of the weeds had a snail shell on it. I called M over to show her the live, slimy snail living inside. She was transfixed. I gave him to her to carry around, and she watched over him like he was a babydoll.

As I worked, I found more and more snails of various sizes, and at each, M was delighted, calling them mommies, daddies, or babies depending on their sizes. She set them on the patio, and pretty soon they oozed out of their shells enough to slide slowly along.

There were so many moments of childlike wonder that I couldn't have planned if I had tried.

Much of the time, it is easy for me to slip into an attitude of instant gratification with my children. If something doesn't seem interesting or fun to them in the first five minutes of trying it, I often abandon the effort. Adopting that attitude with nature doesn't work very well though. One can't expect the outdoors to show its little glories on demand. The snail surprise reminded me of the importance of being content to while away empty, unexciting time outdoors for the sake of the wonderful serendipity of spotting a red- headed woodpecker one day or a spider spinning a web the next.

Toddler Activity Disaster

I don't usually write posts about the activities that don't turn out so well, but this morning's activity was so awful that I just had to share.

It was supposed to work like this (I read about the idea in a book):

1. Using masking tape, mark several familiar shapes on the carpet.
2. Using different actions, tell the child to go to each shape. (run to the square, hop to the triangle, etc)
3. Child runs, frolicks and plays while learning her shapes!

M did not think this sounded like fun. (I think partly as a reflection of the terrible twos- following directions is something one has to put up with all day to stay out of trouble- it is NOT a fun game). I didn't want the time and effort to be a total waste; so I told her that she could give ME directions for moving from shape to shape.

That was mildly more interesting to her- but only mildly. I should have just given up on the whole idea, but I was stubbornly determined to make it fun. Knowing how much she enjoys it when we turn somersaults together, I told her that she could tell me to somersault to the different shapes.

Apparently my tumbling ability needs a little work. Instead of saulting to the diamond, I catapulted crookedly into M, kicking her in the head with my feet and sending her flying backward into the wall. Poor little girl...I'm afraid this incident has ruined our somersaulting fun for a long while!

Outlines and Shapes

Quick, easy, free and fun!

1. Gather a few distinctively shaped objects
2. Draw their outlines in marker on pieces of scrap paper
3. Spread the outlines in front of your toddler
4. Take the objects one at a time and ask the toddler to match the object to its outline.
5. Then try it the opposite way: have the toddler match outlines to objects.

Keeping Little Hands Busy: Peeling Cuties

My mom discovered over Christmas vacation that M can easily peel a clementine, and it keeps her focused and happy for about 8 minutes. Of course, she then has the pleasure of being able to share the slices with all of us!

What are some easy ideas you have found for helping toddlers stay busy on their own when you can't watch them too carefully?

Snowflake Pancakes

Aren't they cute? Heavenly Homemaker tells you the secret for making them quickly and easily over here!

Magnet Fishing Game

Over Christmas my mother and M had fun playing a magnet fishing game that my mother made. The "fishing pole" was a ruler with a string. The "hook" was a magnet tied to the end of the string. On the table was the "pond," a number of cardboard circles cut out of Christmas cards with a paper clip attached to each one.

M's job was to catch the circles one at a time. On the back of each circle was a number (one, two, or three). When she caught the "fish" she would look on the back, identify the number and then got to take that number of candies (my mom used the tiny dot candies that are stuck to a paper). Great fun!

Sugared Cranberries: A (Semi) Healthy Holiday Treat

I went in search of a Christmas treat that we could make that wouldn't be completely devoid of nutritional value. I came up with something kind of fun! Sugared cranberries are full of vitamin C, good for urinary tract health, have fewer calories per serving than most Christmas treats- AND they're tasty and festive!

The recipe is from Cooking Light, but I would add that whereas they say to remove the sugar syrup from heat before one adds the cranberries, I found that one should leave the cranberries on the heat for a couple minutes so that they will soften enough to absorb sugar.

Have you found any good, healthy holiday treats? I'd love to hear about them!

Wooden Puzzle Science Lesson

Here's a new twist on putting together wooden puzzles with your toddler. I've discovered lately that it can be a fun opportunity for teaching science facts about animals.

As I take each animal out of the ziploc bag I say (for example), "This animal eats bugs; It's a ____"

"Frog," M answers as she takes the puzzle piece and puts it in the correct place.

Once all of the pieces are placed, I ask, "Can you hand me the animal that eats bugs?" She gives me the frog, and so on and so forth until all of the pieces are put away.

Rainy Day Pillow Jump

My 2 year old asks to do this about 3 times a day. It's great for using up extra childish energy when the day is too wet or rainy to go outside.

I pile all of our downstairs pillows, cushions, and blankets around the floor below our big arm chair, clear the coffee table out of the way and let M jump off and climb up over and over until she is spent and ready for a nap. She likes it when I say, "One, two three...jump!" or when I tell a little story like "The man jumps out of the plane- and one, two, three! Down into the clouds!"

Our Family's Advent Tradition

Last year was the first time for this Advent tradition in our family. It is basically an expansion of the traditional advent wreath; instead of lighting five candles we light one for each night. Before the candle is lit we read two passages of Scripture together- one from the Old Testament that foreshadows the coming of Christ in some way, and another from the New Testament that highlights how it was fulfilled in Him. We talk about the significance together and then with candles lit and lights out we sing a Christmas carol or hymn about that aspect of Christ's coming.

Coming up with the Scripture passages was really a great Bible Study for Ryan and me. It also has really helped me to think more deeply about the meanings of Christmas carols. The log itself was made by my father. Isn't it beautiful?
It was made it out of a poplar tree that he cut down in our woods. He flattened the log, and then drilled holes in the top for the candles.

We would like to build on this tradition by coming up with corresponding symbols for each night and doing something hands-on with our children with those images, but we haven't worked out the details yet.

I would love to hear about ways that you help capture the anticipation of Christ's coming with your family. Please feel free to share!

Baby Initiated Peek-a-Boo

Playing a game with a newborn is a little tricky, but being a game-loving family, we try our best. Here is something my husband came up with for M when she was a baby that we do now with Baby G.

When the baby is sitting in her bouncy chair, my husband tosses a baby blanket over her head. She, of course, has a pretty constant flailing of arms, and soon the blanket falls down from her face. We exclaim peek-a-boo, and usually earn a big smile- sometimes giggles. I don't imagine there's any connection at all right now in Baby G's mind between her arm flailing and the peek-a-boo, but I remember that with M, it really seemed that over time she grasped that there was a cause and effect involved.

Wrapping Paper Fun

For her Daddy's birthday, I wrapped M's present to him with white wrapping paper and then let her decorate it with foam stickers. When she was done, we tied it up with a nice satin ribbon.

Having decorated it herself made it more fun for her when he opened it, and it even looked (half-way) decorative. I'm thinking about doing something similar with red and green stickers for Christmas.