Archive for February 2009
Crafts and art projects are a great way to spend time with your child exploring and learning but for young children (0-5) it really should be the icing , not the cake. Most of the things kids this age should be doing should be open ended, play, exploration and with less boundaries than most crafts offer. I get asked almost daily about a schedule and about how much time we use up doing crafts and the reality is usually less than 30 minutes a day is spent at the kitchen table doing structured learning. Here are some of the other things we do – please feel free to share yours too .Oh and don’t worry , your children are learning while they play , they are always constructing and connecting many concepts and skills while they “work”.
Here is our list of fun play activities we have been into lately, with my tips on how to make it work and how to keep the fun going with those tricky toddlers.
- Play outside, I know this seems like a no brainer but I find I go in cycles, I take him to the park every few days then I don’t for ages. When we go and there is no one else there , we play follow the leader, hide and seek and chase. It’s a great workout for me and he naps well after it !
- Dress up. I don’t leave all of our dress up stuff out all the time, when I do they don’t get played with, if I put it away and bring it out all at once we end up playing with it for 30 minutes happily. Our collection is just starting with s few costumes, some beads, hats and the bunny ears you see above. My son loves using my husband’s clothes too.
- Book Festivals are big right now in our house. We gather a pile of books, and snuggle in my bed while reading each book. ( I didn’t really read Twilight to my toddler ).
- Block cities, castles and of course toddler-zilla. Build it up and knock it down, don’t fight it, embrace it and make sure that no one is getting bonked , bu you have to admit blocks scream to to knocked down. If you have a child like mine who can get pretty upset if his tower gets knocked down , teach them that it’s okay , you can rebuild. I have found that simply saying ” Oh let’s rebuild” and not really coddling him but acknowledging his frustration has worked for us. If you have a tip, share!
- Animals. We love the aquarium, zoo and our local marine science center, visits are short but still worth it , but even if you don’t have that you probably have a pet store or good old Walmart. Trust me on a rainy day a few goldfish can save your sanity!
- House. This hasn’t surfaced yet at our house but when I was nannying 2 little girls I spent most days from 4-5:30pm playing some form of house. Make believe is a great way to teach and learn about your kids, it’s fascinating to listen to what they say when they are playing “roles”. Or choose another pretend play idea that appeals to your child and run with it.
- A kid size hike is always fun, most towns and cities have pathways in parks that will let your little one explore some nature freely !
- Cooking! Real food, wood food it doesn’t matter this is a great way to spend time with your child . My son loves to play with wooden mushrooms but I can’t sneak real ones into him in go figure!
- Children’s Museums. As a teacher I loathed going on field trips, they are logistical nightmares with preschoolers, but I love it now that I have one hand to hold not 20 heads to count. Click here to find one in your area.
- Sensory fun : Water, sand,rice, oatmeal, the options are endless. Add some measuring cups or favorite, coffee scoops and you are good to go ! We have made tons of sensory tubs you find a great one with just the right theme for your child.
Of course they can also always just play, a box is always fun !
Marshmallow Rainbow
A whole bag of these little fruit flavored marshmallows cost me 88 cents! Add some markers, paper and glue and you have a matching activity, craft and snack. Now that is frugal. I want to warn you though, you may think you aren’t going to snack on these sickly sweet little things but they will call to you from the cupboard. Make a big rainbow or some rice crispy squares if you want to avoid them.
- Gather your materials. You will need some multicolored mini marshmallows, glue, markers and paper.
- Start by drawing a rainbow on the paper.
- Next I added some squiggles of color in the rainbow to act as a guide. Older children can skip this step.
- Add glue
- Add your marshmallows,
I added some to get my son started, then he began matching them to the colors on the rainbow. When he started to loose some steam I asked him if he could find specific colors, then praised him when he did and helped him fill in his colors . A little praise and team work goes so so far at this age it’s amazing. If they don’t want help but the rainbow is too big, put it away for a day or two and bring it back out, the marshmallows aren’t really food and will stay ok for days.
- Let dry- it takes a while but it will dry!
- Cut out.
Books
“Rain Dance” by Kathi Appelt is a simple little counting book with bog numbers and fantastic simple pictures of the animals on a farm in the rain. This is a great example of a book made for a young toddler. My son loves it because he can read the numbers and announce the animals, even though he can’t read the text he has been “reading” it to himself multiple times a day complete with clapping at the end.
” Duckie’s Rainbow” by Frances Barry is a clever little book , you walk with her as she passes things like a yellow cornfield and blue pond until the pages above create a rainbow . I love the idea but reading it with my son all he wanted to do was turn the pages as quickly as he could to make the rainbow. Not a big deal in really but this would make a better story time book then a bedtime one for that reason.
“The Umbrella” by Jan Brett is another fantastic book by this very talented author and illustrator. A little boy goes off into the jungle in the rain to see if he can find animals. He puts down his umbrella to climb a tree and while he keeps climbing higher and higher all the animals he wanted to see fight for a spot in his umbrella that ends up floating down the river. The story is adorable and layered for different ages, and the illustrations will captivate you !
” Duckie’s Rainbow” by Frances Barry is a clever little book , you walk with her as she passes things like a yellow cornfield and blue pond until the pages above create a rainbow . I love the idea but reading it with my son all he wanted to do was turn the pages as quickly as he could to make the rainbow. Not a big deal in really but this would make a better story time book then a bedtime one for that reason.
“The Umbrella” by Jan Brett is another fantastic book by this very talented author and illustrator. A little boy goes off into the jungle in the rain to see if he can find animals. He puts down his umbrella to climb a tree and while he keeps climbing higher and higher all the animals he wanted to see fight for a spot in his umbrella that ends up floating down the river. The story is adorable and layered for different ages, and the illustrations will captivate you !
My computer is in the shop, and we all know how fun the library is with a toddler , enjoy this old post ! I will be back online Thursday
Drum!
- Gather your materials. You will need an old beverage mix container, or coffee can. We are using a huge Lemonade can because my husband drinks far too much of it. You will also need some tissue paper, glue, some tape, a pastry or paint brush and a small plate or plastic lid.
- Tape or glue down the plastic lid to the drum.
- Pour some glue onto a plastic lid or plate , you will be brushing on the glue with the paint brush .
- Have your child paint on the glue. I was shocked how well my little guy did, as long as no glue was dripping off the brush he didn’t even try to eat it. Normally he has a hankering for glue.
- Cover the can in big pieces of tissue paper. I used a dark color so you couldn’t see the writing on the container but if you are using a container that is free of all that you can skip this step.
- While your child is covering the can with big pieces, cut out some smaller pieces of tissue in contrasting colors.
- Glue those on.
- Let dry.
- Start making music! ( I swear my child isn’t always in sleepers, we usually do art in the early am , and he was drumming away right before nap. )
Hello! Just a quick note from my local library – my computer is getting fixed and my house is spic and span since I have a whole bunch of free time. I have some great posts just waiting to go up as soon as my lap top is back, and until then I have a few old post that are probably new to most of you.
The blog roll is on it’s way and emails will be answered asap too .
Thanks
~ Allie
Shape Skyscraper
The idea for this building came from my daily helping of “Mama, build city wit me?” my son builds cities to go with his collection of cars daily, so I capitalized on this love and made it into a shape matching lesson. You can drop the shapes and just decorate the carton if free art is what you need for the day, I know we will be repeating this with plain paper shapes that he can paste wherever he wants real soon! Today though was more mama directed since we have done free art for the past few days , remember to give your child lots of free time with crayons, paints and their imagination!
Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of black construction paper, some sticky back foam, scissors, a cleaned out milk carton, and glue.
Start by tracing the milk carton on the paper, then fold the 2 pieces and cut . You should have 4 identical pieces of black paper. 
Next cut out 4 groups of different shapes from the foam, I did ovals, circles, rectangles and triangles, but feel free to do any shape you are learning about right now. 
Invite your child to the table, and have them match up the shapes on the paper. I stuck one of each shape on the pages to guide my son and he got it right away. 
For younger ones do two shapes at a time, older children can have all 4 shapes to sort a once. 
Give them the next two shapes and pages.
While they stick the shapes on cut the top off the milk carton.
Grab the glue .
Glue the pages on the sides of the carton. 
Using the top of the milk carton you cut off trace a square for the top of the building. 
Glue it on. Let dry
Start by tracing the milk carton on the paper, then fold the 2 pieces and cut . You should have 4 identical pieces of black paper. Next cut out 4 groups of different shapes from the foam, I did ovals, circles, rectangles and triangles, but feel free to do any shape you are learning about right now. Invite your child to the table, and have them match up the shapes on the paper. I stuck one of each shape on the pages to guide my son and he got it right away. For younger ones do two shapes at a time, older children can have all 4 shapes to sort a once. Give them the next two shapes and pages. While they stick the shapes on cut the top off the milk carton.Grab the glue . Glue the pages on the sides of the carton. Using the top of the milk carton you cut off trace a square for the top of the building. Glue it on. Let dryBooks!
“Madeline” by Ludwig Bemelmans is a great book often overlooked because of the popularity of the character. The book has great rhyming text, wonderful illustrations of Paris, with ample opportunity to talk about what you can find in the city, and a hospital storyline too! I love this book, and would even if the illustrations of Paris didn’t make me long for my traveling days. My son sat happily for the whole book this morning and made me go upstairs to get his Madeline doll and read it again.
” Inside a Zoo in the City” by Alyssa Satin Capucilli is a rebus read along , so children who can’t read words yet can help read this with pictures put right into the text! The story is repetitive and builds with one animal and page at a time. Preschoolers love these books and the repetitive nature of it makes it interactive and fun! 
“Barney Backhoe and the Big City Dig” by Susan Knopf is a perfect book for your digger obsessed child, but even if your child can’t spot a backhoe from a mile away this book is a cute story about helping people , and the illustrations are filled with things that are found in the city and can spark great discussions with your child . 
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