Archive for December 2010
Making snowflakes isn’t a new craft. I love to try different ways of doing traditional activities. When Iwas young my mom and I would make snowflakes like this. So I had to do this with my son.
You will just need paper, hole punch and scissors.
Fold the paper into a triangle.
Give your child the hole punch and the triangles. Just let them punch away.
You will need to make sure that you don’t fold the paper too much or you may encounter this…
Cole made random punches on the first snowflake, but as he started the second one I asked if he coulduse the hole punch to make a hole that was a line. He looked at me funny for a second, then you could see the light bulb go off. He really got into making clusters and lines.
The end result was a window full of beautiful snowflakes. Now I have passed down this activity to the next generation and I guess we have a new tradition in our house.
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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.
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All I wanted was to make a keepsake plate for Santa’s cookies! Ever get an idea in your head and you HAVE to do it? Yeah I get like that during the holidays a lot. I had the idea of my son painting a plate for Santa for ages. I was planning on getting a kit and doing it at home , but all the kits were sold out . We drove around to 4 stores, with both kids, in the rain. I ended up close to tears, with no plates. So instead Monday we packed up and went to a paint your own pottery place and should have just done that to start with. It was the perfect day!
We picked our plate . My son chose a small one saying ” Santa eats a lot of cookies all night, let’s only give him 1 or 2.” 
We painted it however we wanted. I did a mug, since Santa needs milk too. 
The back was an homage to Ichiro and Tatupu my son’s 2 favorite athletes who share the number 51 . We both thought Santa might like them too.
We even used the numbered bottles for a fun ” Find the number game” . Hey I can’t help it , I see lessons everywhere, as long as he is into it I play. He loves numbers so he was way into it. 
Baby girl slept the whole time. It was precious and I will post the final product when we get it back next week, but wanted to share the idea in time for others to find a local pottery studio before Christmas. More than once my son proclaimed ” This is the best day ever Mama!” and it was, truly a holiday memory I will cherish.
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We were actually snowed in a few weeks back but considering my Twitter stream was packed with tweets about snow days I thought I’d better post this now while so many of you have snow ( It can also be done with ice if you are short on snow). My son loved this and it’s the type of activity that adjusts seamlessly to different ages and abilities.The goal is to answer the question : Where does snow melt the fastest in your house? And why?
- Gather your materials. You will need some small bowls or containers, a stop watch or clock,a measuring cup, large piece of paper, and marker.
- Start by making a chart with 4 columns : Container #, Place, Prediction, Result.
If your child can help write encourage them to. 
- Number your containers, decide where you will place them and make your time predictions. I had my son go to each room and think about how long it would take the based on how warm each was.
- Go outside and gather some snow! Don’t forget to put about the same amount in each container .
- Put them in different spots around your house.
- Start the timer.
- Enter your results.
- Discuss the results. It was cold in our garage it wasn’t until bedtime that the snow was all water! Since doing this a few weeks ago my son has made many mentions about our cold garage.
Have a little one not ready for this yet? Try ice cube painting .
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We love sensory tubs! Digging, scooping and my son’s favorite… pretending! Yes these fun tubs filled with dry goods aren’t just for sensory development they are awesome for the imagination too. I really love this one not just because it was a big hit with my son, but because it combines so many different textures as well as sounds as you play.
- Gather your materials. For this festive themed tub we are using split peas, white beans, green matte garland , red and silver shiny garland, scoops, tongs and a plastic container. My son also grabbed a Christmas tin to fill up.
- Start by cutting the garland into the tub. Have your kids help if they want.
- Pour in the split peas.
- And the beans .
- As soon as he did the hands dove in to explore. The shiny garland was smooth, the beans were hard, the green garland was crunchy and the split peas were sharp. A wide range of textures for such a simple tub.
- Add the tools and enjoy.
- My son used the tongs to sort the garland into the tin.
- And the scoop for the beans.
- Eventually he got all the bunches of garland out.
Books
Merry Christmas, Mouse! (If You Give…)
A Small Christmas
Today I was thinking we should mix it up a bit , I want to see your best OLD post. Which post are you most proud of from way back? Is there a post you think should have gotten more comments but didn’t? Link it!
Also while you are at it please leave a comment here telling us which No Time For Flash Cards post was your favorite for 2010, it might just make our annual Best Of series after the holidays.
