Counting Activities

Looking for fun and simple ways to practice counting with your little one?  Here are some cute ideas from around the web.

1.  Paper rolls and twigs from Montessori on a Budget
2.  Roll and Stamp Man from Pre-K Pages
3.  Pipe Cleaner Counters from Kids Matter
4.  Marshmallow Teeth Game from Mama Bee from the Hive

1.  Jumbo Clothes Pin Letters from Counting Coconuts
2.  Shells and Glass Beads from RockaBye Butterfly
3.  Peanut Butter and Jelly Counting from Time for Play
4.  Gumball Machines from Michelle's Charm World

Homemade Interactive Books

When I first saw the idea in the children's book Press Here by Herve Tullet I knew we were going to have lots of fun.  Not only the fun of reading the book together, but MAKING our own little books built on the same concept.

In Press Here each page tells your child to do something different to the little colored dots. Rub the dots, tilt the page, shake them, etc.  You turn the page, and something amazing has happened in response to the child's action.

Today we made our first couple of books built on this concept.  First- Three Teddies.

1.  Kiss the teddy on the left.
(Teddy smiles)

2.  Awwww, you made him one happy teddy!  Now blow on the middle teddy.
(Teddy's fur poofs out)

3.  Oh my!  That was a big blow!  Maybe you could give him a couple of pats to smooth down his fur.
(Teddy gets smushed)

4.  Ooops!  I guess teddy got a little bit squished.  Now take two fingers and stretch him out a little.
(Teddy is elongated)

5.  Whoa!  Tall teddy!  Tap him gently on the top of his head to get him back down to size.
(Teddy is back to normal size and now has a smile on his face)

6.  Ahhhh, much better. The teddy on the right has a secret.  Can you whisper in his ear and ask him what his secret is?

(A birthday hat appears on teddy's head)
7.  It's his birthday!  Can you run and go find a present to give to him?
(teddy smiles)
8.  He really likes the present you gave him.  Happy Birthday, Teddy!
(now all three teddies are smiling)

We also made one with balloons.  Directions included tapping the balloons, inflating them by blowing on them, turning them upside down, singing to them, and tickling them.  In response, they turned colors, got bigger, popped, donned crazy designs, and finally turned into moon balloons and went to sleep.

 There are soooo many possibilities for book-making with this concept.  No real artistic ability required (that's why I choose teddies and balloons- who can't draw those? :-) M had fun reading the book to little G, and letting little G do the actions.  I think it would be neat to let an older child MAKE a book like this for a younger sibling.

(We used a blank paperback book for this project.  For homemade books in the past we've used blank board books for longevity, but the paperbacks are smaller and have more pages- so better suited for the interactive books.)

It's Playtime!

A Surprise Package

Look what just came in the mail from Michigan! 

A children's book.

But not just a children's book...

a children's book chock full of REAL FALL LEAVES!

 It was like a treasure hunt finding them all!

So what should we do with all these little beauties?  I'm off to brainstorm and gather ideas.  :-)

Lower Case Carrot Garden

You may remember my letter matching board from a couple of months ago.  It turned out to be a good tool for letter recognition; G thinks of it as a game, and it keeps her moving around while she learns.

   For a while now G has been ready to tackle lower case letters, but I didn't have any inspiration for the letter board until my husband suggested little carrots growing in the flower pots. M had fun gluing the carrot top greens onto her sister's game board.
 This morning we tried them out!

 

Fun Scarecrow Ideas

1.  Plant a little garden of sunflower sprouts and make a scarecrow for it.  From Creative Jewish Mom
2.  Make a brown sack scarecrow and put a surprise inside.  From KatherineMarie Photography
3.  Toilet Paper Roll Scarecrow from Busy Bee Kid's Crafts
4.  Scarecrow Candy Necklace from Family Fun
5.  Felt Scarecrow Game from Let's Explore
6. Poseable Scarecrow printable from Piikea

A Habit that Warms Children

Deliberately catching your child's eye and sending a kind, focused smile specifically to them.  

I remember reading once that children's evaluation of how physically attractive a person is centers largely around how much that person smiles.  Smiling at your children not only makes you prettier in their eyes, but it creates a special bond between you.  

Sometimes in the midst of dirty diapers and laundry and busyness smiling does not come naturally, but you can practice it as a discipline.  Be intentional about smiling at each of your children often, and it will change your outlook as well as delight your child.

Childmade Gift: Homemade Bath Fizzies

M's little friend just turned five the other day.  M and G helped me to make little heart shaped peppermint bath fizzies for a gift.  The directions came from Martha Stewart.

Things I liked about this as a birthday gift:

1.  It allowed M and G to give the gift of time and service instead of their parents' money.
2. The bath fizzies really are a fun gift to receive (unlike, say a picture, which may not be very exciting for the receiver)
3.  Bath fizzies get used up and don't add to the toy clutter problem so many families have.

4.  They were fun and interesting to make.  The girls enjoyed stirring the ingredients together, spritzing it with a spray bottle, and packing it into the heart-shaped ice cube trays.

Things that weren't as wonderful:

1.  Citric acid can be a bit difficult to find.  (It is sometimes sold for canning, and can be found at Central Market for any interested Austin readers)
2.  They take a long time to make.  You have to moisten the mixture slowly with a spray bottle so that it doesn't fizz while you're doing it.  Martha Stewart's website warned that spritzing could take quite a while, and it DID. We spritzed for about 35 minutes before it was ready to pack into the trays.

3.  It can be a bit messy.  G, in fact, spilled the entire bottle of peppermint oil onto my dining room table.  At least the mess smelled pleasantly of Christmas though!

What are some other child-made gifts you have enjoyed giving?

Fall Handprint Art Ideas

Check out these clever fall handprint ideas from around the web!

1. Turkeys from Share and Remember
2.  Candy Corn from The Education Center
3.  Native Americans from Hand and Footprint Art
4. Apple Trees from All Kids Network

Word Family Paper Dolls

This project combines three things that I love:

1.  Paper dolls
2.  Paper chains
3.  Early Literacy

To make a paper doll chain, fold a piece of paper several times in a fan style, like this:

 

Draw the figure of a doll on the front of one of the folded sections, making sure the hands reach all the way to both sides.  Cut out (but leave the folds intact!) Here's a template for a doll and dress if you'd like to use mine.

Unfold dolls.  Let your little girl decorate the faces, etc.

Cut several dresses out of scrapbook paper or fabric (you might not even want to bother with the tabs because it can get a little tricky to work with all those tabs on a string of dolls)

Write a letter on each dress, and let your little girl arrange into words

and sentences!

An Active Alphabet for Toddlers

I'm realizing more and more that G is just a more naturally active little girl than M was at her age.   Sitting still during school time can be a bit of a trial for her; so to make it  more engaging I've come up with a list of actions to go with each letter of the alphabet when we are reviewing phonics.

At first I tried super active gestures, and soon realized that was a BIG mistake.  Little G would start hopping and slithering all over the room, and it was impossible to get her focused again.  This list is comprised entirely of actions a little one can do while sitting.

A is for antlers (hold arms up high over head)
B is for baby (rock imaginary baby in arms)
C is for cuddle (wrap arms around self or eachother and hug)
D is for dig (hold hand as if grasping a shovel and pretend to dig dirt)
E is for elephant (hold arm out to nose and wave like a trunk)
F is for fan (fan self with hand as if hot)
G is for give (pretend to hand a box to the other person)
H is for happy (smile big)
I is for icky (make a face as if something is gross)
J is for jiggle (hold hands around an imaginary box and wiggle it)
K is for kiss (blow a kiss)
L is for laugh (hold one hand on belly and laugh heartily)
M is for monkey (scratch ribs with hands and make monkey noises)
N is for no!  (shake index finger and say "no" sternly- she really likes this one!)
O is for octopus (wave arms around as if they were tentacles)
P is for pillow (lay head on hands as if going to sleep)
Q- quiet (hold finger to lips and say "shhh")
R is for roar (place hand around face as if they are a lion's mane and roar)
S is for strong (flex muscles and look tough)
T is for touch (gently touch a person or object with a single finger)
U is for under (place one hand under the other)
V is for violin (pretend to play the violin)
W is for water (move hands over imaginary waves)
X says xxxxxxx (draw a giant x in the air)
Y is for yawn (yawn big and cover mouth)
Z is for zig zag (using pointer finger, draw a zig zag in the air)

Little G after some happy active backyard time.

I try to use words that : 


1.  a toddler knows and can relate to
2.  use the simplest phonic sounds (hard g and c sounds, short vowel sounds)


but I definitely think there's room for improvement.  Have you found any action words that work really well for your little one?

Making Our Own Fall Leaves: Painted Toast Style

I had the girls painting bread leaves with food dye early Sunday morning while it was still a tiny bit chilly from the night so it felt a little like fall.

  

 The thing I really liked about this project was what happened when we put the bread leaves into the toaster oven.  They started crisping up and turning brown like real leaves.

Fall Fun Linky
It's Playtime!

Coffee Filter Towers

I know this is a little goofy, but we had so much fun the other evening, sitting down together on a blanket with a package of coffee filters and seeing how high we could build towers out of the filters.  

They really are fun to stack.  The fluffier you make them, the easier it is to make them pile high.  At one point, we had a tower as tall as little G (much to her delight).

Then of course, there is knocking them down and reveling in the floating coffee filters like snowfall- fun!

A Pre-Reading Habit

When you are reading aloud to toddlers, you can make it a habit to regularly pause before words that you think your child will be able to guess.  Place your finger on the word and wait for them to chime in.  It might feel like you are teaching them to guess instead of to read, but developing the kind of logic needed to figure out a word from context  is a big part of learning to read later on.  It's also a painless way to start practicing sight words (long before you think they're ready)

This works especially well with rhyming books.  For example, "Oh! They would put me in the zoo, if they could see what I can____"

"Do!" exclaims your child.

If they aren't able to guess, just supply the word and move on.  It's good to include some difficult pauses as well as easy ones to keep it challenging.

I employed this habit a lot when M was little, and I'm convinced it was really helpful for her.  Now I do it when I'm reading to little G, and she enjoys making a game out of it.

Do you have any other simple tips for developing reading readiness when your children are at the toddler stage?