Archive for November 2010
I was going to post some of my previous Thanksgiving crafts when my son’s quiet time was a lost cause after 30 minutes ( you win some you loose some) so I gave him the option of staying in his room or coming down and quietly doing a craft so his sister’s nap wouldn’t be a gonner too. This is what we came up with! You don’t have to include construction vehicles in yours but I think it’s a good reminder not to take craft time too seriously.
- Gather your materials. You will need brown ( whole sheet), red,white, yellow and orange construction paper ( scrap paper would do well). You will also need glue, scissors and a marker.
- Draw a ear of corn on your brown paper.
- Cut your paper into smaller strips to make it easier for your child to cut them.
- Start cutting. We shared this task.
- If you want smaller kernels of corn, cut the paper into even smaller strips for your child to cut into pieces.
- Add glue ( and construction vehicles if desired).
- Using your hands or a front loader and dump truck add the cut pieces on the cob.
- Add more glue as needed and keep adding pieces.
- My son insisted on using his toy steam roller to press the pieces down so I grabbed a plastic bag to put between the craft and his toy to prevent glue everywhere.
- Let dry.
- Cut the husks from the corn.
- Color with a brown marker.
- glue the husks over the cob and let dry.
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I love online shopping. With a handful of small children, you have to love online shopping (because browsing in the stores will make you insane). I never knew what to do with the packing peanuts.
Did you know that when packing peanuts get wet they “melt”?
Here is a fun way to use them to teach your child math. They make quite a perfect fit for counting and graphing. You just need a piece of paper, small bowl with water, a marker, packing peanuts, and glue (not in the picture).
Draw a space and then write the numbers you wish to use. I used 1-5, but this can be a great way to introduce counting by two’s (or anything else).
Have your child dip the ends of the packing peanuts in water. Press the ends together. They will “melt” and fuse to each other. Don’t use too much water or the peanuts will dissolve too much and become mush. You can have your child count out the peanuts as he fuses them together.
Place some glue on the paper and attach the coordinating stack of packing peanuts to the numbers.
The end result is a neat graph that clearly shows which numbers are greater. It is a fun way for children to learn number recognition, counting, graphing, and whatever else you can think of. 
The stack in #4 really does have 4 peanuts, but a little too much water was used and one of the peanuts melted down into almost nothing. We still had a great time and learned a lot.
When I was offered a chance to play with these blocks I almost deleted the email. I am very choosy about reviews and giveaways, generally turning down most offers. I am so glad I didn’t ignore this opportunity, these blocks fit what we do here almost exactly. Tegu blocks are more than your average set of blocks, they have magnets safely inside and come to life as you create with them as they stick together and repel as well. I love the combination of building, art and learning about magnets while playing. My son spent the first half hour or so building and then he took a block around our house finding things for it to stick to. I loved making letters for the two of us to play with and later in the evening my son make a square that could shift into a diamond shape without falling apart.
These blocks don’t come with directions but as most parents with kids know , often times kids want to know how to make this , that or the other. That is where Tegu Live comes in. I think this is such a cool idea. Tegu has a master builder who can be reached via Twitter and takes requests. My son’s first request was a fire truck – this is what they made. Then we requested a helicopter , how cool are they? We had so much fun and I have to admit I was a little concerned that after making requests my son wouldn’t want to play with the blocks by himself without the builder showing him how, but instead he pretended to be the builder and I sent him requests and he made things for quite some time.
My son does get a little frustrated when the magnets repel but he’s not even 4 years old, as you can see in the video he gets over it fast as he flips them so they click. I absolutely love the interactive element but even without that these are quality, creative blocks that requires your child to use their imagination , which is what toys should do!
Want a set? Win It!
I was given an original set , 2 discovery sets and a travel tote to play with. So I am giving away 1 discovery set ( 26 blocks) and the travel tote to one lucky reader, the other 26 piece discovery set will be donated to Toys for Tots this holiday season.
How to Enter:
Leave a comment telling me what your favorite toy was when you were a child. That’s it.
Fine Print :
This contest is open to US residents only. Winner will be chosen using random.org from qualifying entries. Contest closes November 17th 2010 at 9pm PST. Products provided free of charge , no payment was received for this post, all opinions are mine, all mine!
This craft is not just for veterans but also for active duty , spouses and the often forgotten children of the men and women who serve their country and make incredible sacrifices . It’s a simple craft with a big heart behind it.
- Gather your materials. You will need one red and one blue sparkly pipe cleaner and letter beads to spell out THANK YOU. For the Rememberance Day version, you need one red and one white pipe cleaner and letter beads to spell out REMEMBER .
- Start by putting the letters in order, my son was all into this part.
- Next thread the beads on. I lost him after a few letters.
- Twist the pipe cleaners together into a bracelet.
Is this too tricky? Try on of these kids crafts instead.
Can’t have a holiday without treats!
My son has been asking how to spell words for a while, he knows his letter sounds and while I am not planning on formally teaching him to read yet I do want to keep him interested and learning , as well as offering some challenge . This activity evolved as we played and is easy to adapt to various abilities. You could even skip spelling as use it as a match game for younger children!
- Gather your materials. You will need a cardboard puzzle ours was from trick or treating , and markers in various colors. If you are doing this with school age or more proficient readers you can use one color, but for beginners or children needing less challenge the single color per word will help the process.
- Start by putting the puzzle together.
- Next divide it into smaller pieces for the words.
- Using one color per word , write the word one letter per piece on the back of the puzzle. Out of habit Icapitalized two of the words. When we put those together we talked about Uppercase letters and when we use them.
- Now to play! The way we did it for my son was to pick out all the letters in one color and place them on the tray.
- Next we tried to decide which letter came first. This frustrated my son, it was too much of a challenge. So I found the first letter and he was golden from there.
- Once the pieces are all together he sounded it out without prompting .
- This is when he figured it out!
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