Archive for July 2010
When you find something your child genuinely loves use it! My son adores painting with this roller sponge, he calls it his steam roller and pretends to be making a road on any painting we make with it. When I suggested we make a magic number painting with it he all but leaped into the kitchen, which delighted me since he has not been as keen about art since the weather has been amazing, really who can blame the kid?
- Gather your materials. You will need a sheet of light colored paper, some vinyl number stickers, paint, plates and a sponge or roller sponge paint brush. Using a sponge is much easier when you want coverage. This activity doesn’t work well if the whole paper isn’t covered in paint.
- Start by placing the number sticker on the paper. Depending on your child’s ability you can simple pop them on , or challenge them to make numbers with them. For example say ” Can you make 23? Or 51? ” don’t push it though having fun with learning is the point not quizzing your kids.
- Pour paint onto the plates.
- Start painting.
- I called out the numbers at first for my son to cover with paint asking him if he could find 7 or 4 etc… but then he started to pretend that he was building a road and I sat back and listened to his pretend play.
- Let dry.
- Peel off.
As adults we know that the number will peel off and white will be beneath it but at least for my 3 year old it was a fun and awesome surprise – and he even thought it was magic that they were white!
by Mitsumasa Anno almost didn’t make it into my library bag. I am so glad it did. This is a wonderful book full of possibilities. There is no text , simple aerial illustrations of a field as it evolves one number at a time. The illustrations fill up quickly and it might take a while to see that you have to classify the pictures on each page to match it with the number on the page but once you do , each page is a lesson!
by Doris K. Gayzagian is a beautiful book. Visually it reminds me of an impressionist painting, the soft beach colors used by illustrator Kristina Swarner are calming and pretty. This is more than just a counting book, there is a story of a little girl at the beach,what she finds and how she plans to use them when she takes them home. It’s so beautifully done that it almost makes me forget how much I hate finding sand in my car after a trip to the beach.
Museum 123 
Join in on the Summer Reading Challenge even if you haven’t participated yet you can still get in on the action! It’s so simple and all about spending time reading with your kids. Read 10 books or more with your children each week, fill out this form ( one per child), and you are automatically entered to win not just the weekly Alphabet Crafts eBook but also the Amazon.com gift card giveaway at the end of the summer. How simple is that? If your child is infatuated with one book and that’s all you read, not a problem if you read it 10 or more times , it counts! Our goal is to make reading with your child a part of your daily routine ( hopefully the best part!) , not see who can read the most variety of books.
For this weeks drawing for the Alphabet Crafts eBook you need to get your entry in by 12 AM PDT ( midnight tonight) Monday June 26th . Good Luck!
As a mom I try to buy toys for my son he is going to like so that my family room doesn’t turn into a toy graveyard. Who wants toys that are played with once and discarded only to be rescued from the “donate” pile and played with a 2nd and final time? One thing I love is being able to show my son a catalog and see what strikes his fancy, without the in store meltdown that can happen when you go see toys in person.
I am a Constructive Mom for the toy company Constructive Playthings and they have a new catalog. They asked us to share what we thought, give them some constructive criticism . I have to say I liked it and the variety of toys and my son was as expected more than happy to show off the Firehouse Playstation and tell me how he wants to add it to his Christmas list. One thing I wish was different was that the sale items are in the middle, as a savy shopper that is where to turn to first and it’s easier if it’s at the end.
The best thing about this catalog though are all the fun crafts you can make with it too 
Visit Constructive Playthings to get your own free toy catalog and see for yourself.
PS see that button ( <———over there on the left) if you click that it gives you 15% off automatically at Constructive Playthings.
Draw Me a Star 
Comets 
by Michael Dahl was a great find, my son loved counting down from 12-1 with the bright illustrations , simple text and hidden numbers on each page. Something that seems simple but was really awesome was that each page had the number written as a word, shown as a digit and as dots to count. You can take the time to count each dot, read the word or simply recognize the digit!
How to Catch a Star 
The Way Back Home 
Hush, Little Alien
Our Stars
I saw this idea originally here on mumma made it and have been wanting to do it ever since. We have had thunderstorms for a few days so what a perfect opportunity to try it out.
All you will need are pool noodles, gumballs, and a serrated knife.
I cut the pool noodles into different lengths and then cut them in half. You can use scissors for this, but a serrated knife made it so easy (be careful, though).
I set up a system of the “slides” on the furniture. My kids were tickled pink.
I had them guess whether the gumball was going to make it to the bottom or not. This time it didn’t make it.
We played around with a few different ways of putting the slides and connecting them. I challenged Cole to make a system using at least 3 different colors. Here is what he very meticulously made.
He was hoping the gumball would shoot up at the end and into his mouth. You and I know that it didn’t do that, but didn’t understand why. So I had the opportunity to explain (in preschooler terms) about speed, force, and gravity.
We also set up slides next to each other to race. We wondered if certain colors would go faster than others. We had to test it out and talked about why they went equally fast.
We tested out whether the incline would make a difference on how fast it went. My son was really into trying all sorts of angles. I think we did this experiment at least 20 times on different pieces of furniture.
While my daughter didn’t really get into the hypothesis and explaining part, she loved participating in the testing. She would squeal as the gumballs went shooting down the slides.
This can easily be modified using a marble, but I know my toddler and I know she would put it in her mouth. So I opted for gumballs. If I know it is going in her mouth I might as well use something that is meant to be there.
While gumballs are a suitable choice for preschoolers with supervision, they are choking hazards for under 3 years of age. My house has gumballs often (thanks for the gumball machine Grandma) and my children are very familiar with them. I was very confident doing this activity with my daughter. You know your children and if you are not comfortable doing this with them, it is better not to.
This activity was a great opportunity to discuss all sorts of different science concepts with my preschooler. I took advantage of the different colors of pool noodles and gumballs and showed them to my toddler. Overall it was a great activity for both age levels. We had a lot of fun doing it.
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Kim is a contributing writer for No Time For Flash Cards, a mom to a toddler, a preschooler, and a foster parent, too. She juggles her day by trying out fun activities and crafts with the kids. After all, she is just a big kid herself. See what she has been up to over at Mom Tried It.
