Archive for April 2009
- Gather your materials. You will need a paper plate, 4 pipe cleaners, glue , 2 googley eyes and some color coding labels ( they are circle stickers found in the office supply section and way cheaper than stickers).
- Start by handing your child some stickers and the plate – and let them go for it. After my son did about 3 he said “glue” so I asked him if he could stick a red one, then a green… and he got back into it and covered it with no more prodding.
- Grab the glue ( or the stick on googley eyes) and add some where you want to put the eyes.
- Add the eyes.
- Let dry.
- Once they are dry enough to handle, poke 2 holes in the edge of the plate
and thread a pipe cleaner through, zig zagging both ends,
Repeat for all 4 .
Books !
“Diary of a Spider “ by Doreen Cronin is a very clever book with some pretty funny bits of humor that I laughed my way through. It was too long to hold my son’s attention but older preschoolers would love it. The overall theme is that spiders aren’t all nasty and that they have fears too, a great lesson for kids !
Mess Free
Spider Cookies!
- Gather your materials. You will need some sandwich cookies , shoe string licorice, some gummy candy and /or jelly beans.
- Open up two cookies and discard the sides with no yummy middle icing.
- Cut your shoe string licorice into 8 legs of the same length and stick them in the white icing on one cookie.
- Pop the other open cookie on top ( so it’s double stuffed now… you could also just use double stuffed to start with) .
- Cut some green gummy candy into small circles. I am using sour apple licorice.
- Pop it on top of the cookie to make eyes.
- Add small bits of the shoe string licorice for the pupil.
- OR you can cut a red jelly belly in half and pop those on for eyes. They stick well if you lick the bottom ( so you may not want to do this version if you are serving these to guests) .
- OR you can add green gummy candy for the eyes and top it with the very end of a red jelly belly.
- Enjoy.
- Gather your materials. You will need some orange paper and tissue paper, some heavy paper or a discarded cereal box, a marker, scissors, glue and a handful of green Easter grass.
- Start by drawing a basic carrot on your cardboard/ heavy paper with the marker.
- Next hand the paper already ripped in long strips to your child to rip into smaller pieces. my son needed some guidance here but got it after a few tries. He wanted to ball them up first.
- While they are ripping, cut some orange tissue paper into small squares.
- Time to add the glue. If you are apprehensive about allowing your little ones to handle the glue this is a great project to let them try since they don’t need to be precise at all.
- Add the paper and tissue paper.
- Add more glue if needed
- Add more paper.
- Glue the Easter grass on the top , let dry.
- Cut out and enjoy. We’ve been feeding a stuffed bunny our finished carrot all day.
I love to cook but between my schedule, my son’s and husband’s individual food quirks and trying to provide the healthiest options possible it can get stressful. What I love about this blog is that they ( Kara and Celeste)not only have recipes but they test the food out and give real reviews and reactions from their own kids! There isn’t an ounce of pretense, they are real moms who will have you in stitches laughing with them while trying to feed your family better.
PS : I also love that like my son, Kara’s older daughter loves to wear her PJ’s for the photos!
“Machines At Work” by Byron Barton is a bold and bright book that is perfect for toddlers who are obsessed with construction vehicles. The text is brief but effective. My son loved this book as an infant and at 2 still enjoys reading it, aw well as counting the workers and trucks on each page.
“The Berenstain Bears and the Big Road Race” by Stan and Jan Berenstain shouldn’t be overlooked. I really enjoy this book but not as much as my son who has begged for it every day before nap this week. It’s a good story about being persistant and they sneak lots of learning into the rhyming text. Colors, opposites and more can be reinforced by this retelling of the classic tale of the tortoise and the hare.
“School Bus” by Donald Crews is the book for you if your child goes nuts for the big yellow buses! The reader tags along for a day in the life of a school bus from the depot in the morning , to school , across town and back. The book was also helpful when I was teaching the concepts of stop/ go and empty/ full.
“Truck Stuck” by Sallie Wolf was an awesome find. It immediately reminded me of ” One Duck Stuck ” by Phyllis Root and that is not a bad thing at all! The rhyming text is fun and the illustrations made me giggle, especially the Elvis impersonator in a pink Cadillac! My son was so impressed with this book, I was able to negotiate my reluctant eater to finish his lunch if I read it one more time . That speaks volumes!
I was trying to think of ways to incorporate some of the work we’ve been doing exploring opposites with some Easter crafts. This craft can also be made more challenging by turning the stripes into a patterning lesson for older children. Toddlers like my son can keep it simple learning about hard and soft materials while making a cute holiday craft.
- Gather your materials. You will need 2 sheets of construction paper in different colors, some buttons , pom poms , pencil crayons or chalk, glue and scissors.
- Cut one sheet of construction paper into a large oval.
- Have your child color the egg to their liking. Pencil crayons and chalk both make pretty light and muted marks that won’t over shadow the rest of the egg. But if you want to use markers go for it !
- While they are coloring, cut some stripes of paper from the other sheet.
- When they are done introduce the buttons and pom poms. Ask your child to feel them, tell you how they feel and if they are the same or different. With older children this is a great time for them to make practice patterns before making them permanent.
- Hand them the stripes and glue.
- Add the collage materials one type at a time.
- Keep going until they are satisfied- I cut out 4 stripes but my son was done with 3.
- Let the stripes dry
- Glue onto the egg and trim the ends if needed.
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