I Heart You!

Weeeelllll, another week shut in due to the lovely winter weather! This time we have been plagued by ice. No fluffy snow to sled and play in, just cold dreary sleet and ice. Thankfully we had the luxury of power, heat, food, and all of our family under one roof; as many Georgians weren’t as fortunate to have during this storm.

So how to pass the day with a 3 year old, teething 10 month old, and a husband who’s working from home????? Lots, and Lots, and Lots of activities. Since Valentine’s Day is on the horizon I decided to dedicate the day to hearts and crafts for loved ones.

We started the day reading some favorite Valentine’s stories we checked out from the library: The Day it Rained Hearts, The Biggest Valentine Ever, and Happy Valentine’s Day Mouse (If you give a…).

 

 

Next Sean was given a handful of conversation hearts in the lid of an egg carton cut in half. On the inside of the holes I colored the bottom the same colors as the candy. I free handed a graph and supplied him with some magnetic numbers. First Sean sorted the colors in the egg carton; next he transferred each pile of colors onto the graph. Then he counted the number of each color from the graph and placed the appropriate number in the egg carton. We talked about which color had the most (longest line) and the least.

 

 

I whipped up a bowl of cloud dough. Just mix 2 and half cups of flour with half a cup of oil ( I used baby oil which made the dough soft and lightly scented). You could always add food coloring, glitter, or essential oils. The cloud dough is different from play dough in that it crumbles like dirt but molds together when firmly pressed. It’s a great texture to explore. I added some measuring cups, heart molds, pom poms, and leftover heart candies. Sean spent a long time scooping, sorting, counting, mixing, and stacking. This was a hit. I placed some saran wrap over the top to keep it fresh for tomorrow.

Last we spent hours painting and crafting Valentine cards and prints for our loved ones.

I used contact paper to make heart collages. Cut contact paper into desired shape/size, peel the paper backing off, tape it sticky side up, tear/cut tissue paper (Sean is working on cutting so this was great practice for him), and stick all over the contact paper.

 

 

Check out the cute handprint art. I stalk Pinterest for handprint art every holiday and make one for our scrapbook and one for each set of grandparents. They are cute personal ways to remember how tiny your babies are and how fast they grow.

 

Olivia got in on the craft action by crumpling tissue paper and finger painting. She also had 2 busy baskets today. One was filled with random items: a block, board book, 2 teething rings, balls, and scrap material. The other was filled with musical instruments. She loved pulling out each item, exploring (ie. eating, sucking, chewing, throwing) and placing them back in.

We survived the boredom, kept the noise level down for daddy to work, did a little learning, and had lots of fun. Now off to plan for tomorrow as we will be home yet again! Stay warm!

She’s a 10!

I cannot believe that my little princess is 10 months old…cue the horns, fireworks, and drumroll as I begin the frantic need to begin party planning-only 2 months people!!! So in honor of Miss O I am sharing 10 of her favorite things.

In a world of technology and all things baby that light up, make music, and move I am so excited that my lil diva likes the simple things- a girl after my own heart.

#1- Singing with Mommy and Big Brother- She loves songs with motion like “Row, Row, Row your Boat,” “Open, Shut Them,” and “Itsy Bitsy Spider.”

 

#2- Bubbles- A daily activity in our house is a good ‘ol bubble fest of popping fun, she has even learned to blow them herself!

#3- Bath Fun- Her new interests are scooping and pouring so I make sure to provide an assortment of cups, scoops, spoons, and bowls for her entertainment. She also loves to smear shaving cream over the walls of the tub.

#4- Books- She’s been sharing bedtime stories with her big brother from her first day at home but I make sure that we have our own little story time with her books every day. She loves board books that have a variety of textures and lift/flap books.

 

#5-Nature- Both of my kiddos love being outside for strolls through the neighborhood, hikes in the woods, lazy beach days, snowy winter play…but her favorite is playing on a blanket out back or at a park while enjoying the breeze. On walks we collect leaves, pinecones, sticks, and rocks for her to investigate. Oh the simple things in life!

 

#6-Putting In and Taking Out- Hide your wipe box or anything that has an opening to pull and replace things, she loves rummaging through the diaper bag, or pulling tissue from tissue boxes, and plucking shapes from her shape sorter.

#7- Crawling- She has recently discovered a love of a play tunnel that Sean got from Gymboree. Her and Sean will sit in the tunnel and play-I love witnessing their special relationship almost makes me want 5 more…ALMOST!

 

#8- Eating! Miss O no longer wants mommy feeding her all her meals. Miss Independent now feeds herself 3 meals a day from a variety of fruits, steamed veggies, meats, cheese, pancakes, and anything that tickles her fancy. I love how neat she is for such a little person. Self-feeding is a great sensory experience as they experiment with textures from crunchy to mushy. Her current favorites are blueberries, pancakes, avocados, and watermelon! She still tops her meals off with mommy’s milk and I’m going to be so sad to wean her when the time comes.

#9- Dancing…or head bopping! She loves some bass…must be that mix of Miami and Decatur! She loves to shake a water bottle full of beans or pasta and have a jam fest!

#10- Her brother! Anything that Sean does she wants to do! She loves him so!!!

 Happy 10 months Baby Girl! Slow down you're growing up too fast!

 

Eeeeek! There's a Mouse in the House

If your family is anything like mine you have gone through a few tissue boxes this germy winter season. After reading a Sean favorite, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, I decided to transform an old box into the furry lil critter from this well-known tale.

First lay the box on its long sides and trace around it on blue construction paper. Cut out and glue on both sides for his overalls. Then lay it facedown where the opening is and trace/cut on brown paper and cut a hole where the tissue is pulled from. Glue on the box, repeat with the 2 short sides in brown. Cut out some ears, arms, and legs. Draw on a face and voilà you now have a mouse in your house.

This box can be used for retelling by printing and cutting pictures from the story and having your child feed them to the mouse in order. Check out http://www.octc.org/pdf/guides/giveamouseacookie_rg.pdf for images

I made a quick chart with just a few items from the story and had Sean glue them with the correct match.

*Sean and Olivia enjoying the story!

 

 

 

 

 Also you can create “cookies” by making circles on different colored construction paper and take turns feeding colored cookies to the mouse. This can be adapted by cutting the cookies into shapes, with numbers, or letters.  

Sean had cookies with the letters from his name in upper and lowercase that he had to correctly put in order before feeding the mouse.

We also practiced counting chocolate chips on handmade cookies. He counted the chips on each cookie then placed the correct number (cheap number magnets from the dollar store) on the cookie.

 

For a gross motor activity Sean practiced throwing various items from the story (glue stick, straw, napkin, tape, plastic toy cup, and crayons) into the mouse box. We had a great discussion about which ones were easier to get in and why.

Bonus…don’t forget to get in the kitchen with your kids and bake some REAL cookies!

Water Beads

Sensory play is a huge part of Sean and Olivia’s daily play. Sensory play, also known as messy play, uses your child’s senses (either one or more) while they explore and naturally use the scientific process. One concept that profoundly stands out from one of my college psychology classes is the idea that babies enter this world with a blank slate and through experiences we begin to create file folders of ideas and then with more experiences we continue to add files in each folder. Sensory play helps create and fill these files. When you engage the senses it creates memorable moments that we can draw upon later. When playing in snow or ice, for example, you learn that it’s white, cold, and eventually melts when the temperature rises. These are all areas that children will later encounter in school (color, temperature, changes of matter). Your child will have these experiences in their memory that will help them later assimilate this information faster and with deeper meaning.

 

I introduced water beads to Sean when he was 1 year old and recently introduced them to Olivia (9 months) under supervision. Water beads are tiny beads that expand when soaked in water and take on a jelly like consistency, think wet contact lenses. They can be purchased in craft stores or online near the artificial flower section. They are nontoxic but if you know your child loves to put things in their mouth I would wait until this phase passes or watch them like a hawk and correct them so they learn not to eat them (which is what I did with Olivia).

 

For this invitation I set a bowl of presoaked water beads, measuring cups, spoons, and plastic containers on a large sheet on my kitchen floor. Sean compared the amount in each measuring cup, practiced scooping and pouring (great for helping in the kitchen), and set up a “picnic” for his little sis. Olivia of course made several attempts to eat them I just said NO and redirected her by showing her how to put them in the cup and bounce them. After about 15 minutes she became so engrossed in pouring and squishing them she stopped trying to eat them.

Sean "measuring"                                   Olivia trying to put some in the cup

 Olivia pouring!

Self discovery through exploration!

When you are finished playing you can store them in a large zip lock bag with water or drain the water and let them dry (they will shrink to original size) and reuse them later. They are a great addition to a fun bath experience (just don’t let them go down the drain) or to a themed sensory bin like the beach bin below. They have become quiet the craze for sensory lovers just do a quick internet search for more ideas.

*Throwbacks of Sean age 19 months

 

J-E-L-L-OOOOO!

Play dough is one of those simple childhood novelties that everyone has memories playing with. It is one of the best things that kids can play with #1- it’s CHEAP…hello Dollar Store #2- it ignites creativity #3- great for those fine motor skills necessary for writing and cutting, and #4- a great medium to practice things like counting, shapes, color, size, letters, and patterns.

We are play dough addicts in this house. I even carry a small fun size container of it in my diaper bag with a few accessories for traveling and restaurants. Since we are such enthusiasts I decided to try some of the pinterest recipes for homemade dough when Sean was 1. We have tried dozens of variations but the JELLO dough is our favorite. I found the recipe over at Modern Parents Messy Kids. It is soft and easy to handle, smells AMAZING, and easy to make. The only ingredients I didn’t have on hand was a box of JELLO and cream of tartar.

Ingredients:

1 cup white flour

1 cup warm water

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons cream of tartar (found with spices in grocery stores)

2 tablespoons of cooking oil

1-      3oz package of any flavor JELLO

Process:

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan until combined (will be slightly lumpy)

Place pan over medium heat and keep stirring until lumps are gone and dough comes together and forms a ball (about 5 minutes)

 

Turn off stove and place dough ball on floured counter and let cool about 20 minutes

 

Knead cooled dough with a tablespoon of flour, repeat until no longer sticky

PLAY!!!

 

 

 

 *When you are all played out just place dough in a plastic container or gallon size zip lock plastic bag and keep refrigerated until the next use. Should last several weeks when refrigerated. Play dough will keep its soft consistency even after refrigeration.

We have several dollar store and target dollar play dough accessory kits with cutters and rollers. I also provide other tools such as cupcake liners, candles, nature (rocks, sticks, leaves, pinecones), and thematic items. Play dough is great to center on themes just change the color and add themed items for holidays or topics of interest. Sean is a lover of trains and trucks so we have done several construction site invitations. You don‘t have to spend tons of money on brand named accessories just scour your house for random toys and household items.

I couldn't resist adding a few throwback photos of Sean with our first batch of homemade Jello dough when he was a year and a half.