Archive for January 2011
Ring in Chinese New Year with these fun kids crafts and my two favorite books about Chinese New Year. This year is the year of the rabbit so grab your cotton balls for some fun rabbit crafts. After being away all week I planned to have a Groundhog Day craft and book post ready but my head is still on Tennessee time and so is my baby, which changed my plan. So if you have a ground hog day craft and want to be featured in tomorrow’s post ( I have books), please email me a link and I will be happy to add it.
Chinese New Year Picture Books
My First Chinese New Year
Bringing in the New Year
All this week I was in Nashville at Blissdom and I had the pleasure of speaking in a workshop about media and marketing. I focused on building community and one of my favorite ways is this link up. Even if I don’t always leave a comment I visit as many of these blogs as I can and that is what makes me post this every week, I love your blogs! So please take the time to visit other participants you will be awed by the wonderful blogs.
Snuggle Puppy 
Dog’s Colorful Day
I Got Two Dogs: (Book and CD)
Otto Goes to Bed
McDuff Moves In
Here is our library area at our house. A few cheap shelves, a throw rug, and bean bags in a small unused area of the house makes a great learning nook.
Since we have our own little library, we decided to “play” library. Just grab some books, double sided tape, small envelopes, index cards, a notepad, pen, and stamps.
Put a piece of double sided tape on the front of the envelope and stick it to the inside cover of the book.
To make it easier for my guys, I tore the flap off of the envelope like this.
Place an index card in the envelope.
When you go to check the book out, be sure to have your librarian take out the index card and stamp it. I made my kids take the card completely out and lay it next to the book. I did not want them getting tempted to stamp their books.
Any good librarian knows that you have to keep track of who has which book. So have your librarian stamp their notepad with the same stamp.
Be sure that they write the name of the person that checked out the book. Sometimes we play track down the overdue book, too. 
Even non-writers can do this fun activity. My daughter is two years old and loves to be a part of the library. She stamps and stuffs the index cards like a pro.
Now that I have my kids all trained, please do not tell them that all of the books are really scanned and monitored by a computer system in the library. They have too much fun with this!
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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.
Young children need plenty of opportunities recognizing and forming letters before they can become proficient at writing them. Since the fine motor dexterity to form letters on paper sometimes doesn’t come until late in the preschool years, creativity is key! When an activity blends multiple domains of early childhood development, this helps to engage your child even more. Here are just a few ideas for teaching letter recognition and letter formation in a fun and engaging way!
Attach several pieces of ribbon or yarn to one end of a
What fun ways do you and your child practice forming letters?
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