Archive for February 2009
How could I not do this? I already did a heart H previously and was just going to repost it but when my son woke up from nap early ( don’t you hate that?) he asked for art so we made a new one, he was pretty little when we did the last so it was fun to do a slightly different version with glitter foam.
- Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of construction paper, some foam sheets, glue , markers and scissors.
- Draw a large H on one piece of construction paper.
- Have your child color the H if they want, mine was eager to glue so we skipped it.
- While they color ( if they color) cut out some hearts from the foam sheets.
- Time to glue !
- Add the hearts.
We talked about the big and little hearts and how we wanted to keep them in the H, not out of the H. I have been sneaking in these little lessons while doing art. If they get frustrated with you drop it but if you get a dialogue going, run with it! Let dry. - Cut out the H
- Glue on to the 2nd piece of construction paper.
- Show off your awesome work !
Heart Match
Sorting, classifying and matching objects are all skills that parents probably see their children doing naturally. These are all skills we want to encourage as they are important foundations for math, logical thinking and problem solving. Here is a super quick and easy activity we have been having fun with all weekend.
- Gather your materials. You will need some fun paper, I am using card stock I had on hand, but if you are doing this with a toddler I would stick to solid colors. The patterns were tricky for my son at first. We want it to be challenging but not frustrating. You will also need a heart paper punch or scissors and a tray or dish with multiple compartments. I got this one at the dollar store for 99 cents !
- Make multiple hearts in the different papers. If your child is very young start with 2 colors, and add more for older , more experienced kids.
- Take one of each color/pattern and tape it to the bottom of the container as a guide for your child.
- Invite your child up to test out the fun . * Since making this early on Saturday it’s been played with 5 times, definitely worth it!
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I made peppermint bark at Christmas and was amazed at how easy and tasty it was, so while at the grocery store I thought why not try with cinnamon hearts? Here are the results!
- Gather your materials. You will need a package of chocolate chips, I used milk but semi sweet or dark would have been a nice balance. A package of white chocolate chips, some cinnamon hearts or candies ( can you believe no one in my town had hearts?) , a ziploc , a pan lined with wax paper , some butter and a hammer.
- Put the cinnamon candies in the ziploc and hammer them into little pieces, if I had had hearts I would have crushed 1/2 and kept the other half whole.
- Melt your chocolate chips – I always use my microwave but they recommend a double boiler for better results. I pop in about 1/2 a tablespoon of butter to help make the chocolate spread easier.
- Spread the chocolate in the pan- pop in the freezer for a few minutes to help it set.
- Repeat the process with your white chocolate but add the crushed candies before putting it all in the freezer.
- When it’s set break into pieces!
- Gather your materials. You will need a white piece of heavy paper, paint, some glue and your collage materials. I am using some foam pieces, tissue paper, feathers and pipe cleaners. Anything will work!
- Paint the paper- we are finger painting today but you can use a brush, sponge or roller!
- While the paint is drying, let your child explore the collage materials. Ask how they feel, what is the same about all of them, and which ones they like. With toddlers you can label things with their texture, shape and of course color!
- Drizzle glue all over the painting or with older children allow them to glue as they go if they want.
- Start collaging !
Books!
” Hello, Red Fox ” by Eric Carle is a fun interactive book about colors and the color wheel. Kids will love the “trick” on each page. The trick being that if you stare at a color for long enough then stare at a blank page the complimentary color will appear! This book is great, but not for a group, a class will disintegrate into “Let me!!” and “My turn!” quickly so this is really is best read one on one!
“Freckleface Strawberry” by Julianne Moore is one of the few celebrity books you will see me review, I really like this book. It doesn’t talk down to kids, and the humor is funny for parents and kids alike. I like that her freckles do not go away as she got older too!
” The Little Red Hen Makes A Pizza” by Philomen Sturges is a great retelling of the classic story. Kids will be able to relate to this hen not getting any help for all her hard work. Luckily her friends realize their mistake and do the dishes after she shares her yummy pizza.
Who doesn’t love flowers? These are custom made by your very favorite little artist just for you! Valentine’s Day is a great time to reinforce learning about heart shapes too!
- Gather your materials. You will need some card stock or stiff paper, markers or crayons, pipe cleaners, and scissors.
- Start by drawing a heart on the card stock,
cut it out and use it as the template to draw more on the other card stock. 
You can simply draw the hearts individually too. If your child is able to have them draw the hearts! - Have your child color the hearts,
we chose other red and pink colors for drawing but any color marker or crayon will work!
- Make 3 small holes with sharp scissors or a very small hole punch in the heart.
- Thread the pipe cleaner through. This is great for fine motor development, but really little hands will need help. The pipe cleaner should have some extra after being threaded through and you will bend that to secure it.
- Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each heart.
- Older children can write messages in black pen on the heart or you can have your child dictate a valentines message for the recipient
- Tie a pretty bow around your stems and give it to someone you love!
Books!
” Who Do You Love? “ by Martin Waddell has a cute concept and the cats on the cover grabbed my attention. The book I got from the library was in board book form and I was a little disappointed when it had as much text on each page, my wiggly man shut it on the 2nd page and insisted on a book about school buses instead. When I grabbed it later he sat back down to look at some of the pages but the story didn’t grab him. I the story about a cat and a kitten playing a “Who do you love?” game listing all the cats the kitten loves before bed, it’s very sweet. The part where the kitten says that she loves the cat she met in the woods yesterday gave me the heeby geebies though. I understand it’s supposed to be funny that the kitten lists this stranger and hasn’t said her mama yet but it just came across as creepy. I would just skip that line if I read it again.
- Gather your materials. You will need construction paper, a blue marker, scissors and glue.
- Give your child the marker and a piece of construction paper to draw the water and waves.
- While they are drawing the turbulent sea, cut out a semi circle, a long thin rectangle, two triangles and 3 small circles.
- When they are done break out the glue! Add the glue for the boat first.
- Add the semi circle boat.
- Next add the glue for the mast and the rectangle.
- Time to add the triangles
- Dot on three dots of glue for the port holes.
- Add the little circles.
- Sail Away !
“The Seaside Switch” by Kathleen V. Kudlinski is a book packed with information about tides and creatures in the sea. As a child I found nothing more fascinating than a tide pool and all the scurrying crabs and this book captures that. It’s main story is how the tide changes throughout the day and brings with it different animals. The book is too long for most toddlers but my son enjoyed pointing out the animals in the book.
” Busy Boats” by Tony Mitton is a fun little book packed full of good information about boats. The text is short , rhymes and matches the illustrations perfectly. It’s hard to find non fiction books that small ones will sit for and listen to, the cartoon characters in this book will grab and keep your child’s attention , I also like how small the books are, perfect for car rides and longer travel!
