More Alphabet Books!

I love alphabet books, they are a good teaching tool and are really fun to read especially for children who are still in early stages of reading, they can recognize some letters and be an active participant in reading the book!

" Alphabet Under Construction" by Denise Fleming is a wonderful example of what an alphabet book should be. Perfect for toddlers and preschoolers learning their first letters, the text is short , the letters are front and center and the illustrations are fun and interesting. My son loves this book, I grabbed it at the library after remembering how much my Pre K class loved it too! Many alphabet books are too long to read entirety at circle time or in one shot with a toddler but this my 19 month old will sit through Z every time!



" The Racecar Alphabet" by Brian Floca did not live up to my expectations. My main complaint it that the letters aren't showcased at all. Yes each page starts with the appropriate letter but I really feel like in an alphabet book the letter needs to be obvious , and easy for young children to pick out. The text was centered around each letter but there wasn't very good flow from one page to the next. I was disappointed in this pick.



" The Ocean Alphabet" by Jerry Pallotta is a good book, not a page turner but it is filled with fun facts about sea creatures. The book is geared towards older children but because it has letters prominently displayed on each page, with great illustrations your toddler will enjoy it too. The text really is too long to read from A-Z for a circle time or a toddler but it was very easy for me to simply read each letter and label the ocean animal for my son who then sat through the whole alphabet. If your child is into all things that swim this is a good book to foster that love and learn a little about letters at the same time!

Hung By The Chimney With Care

Scrap Paper

Stocking

I hate wasting anything and those little bits of wrapping paper start adding up if you don't throw them away. So I decided to use them up with this fun little craft. My son loves seeing his name up on his stocking and keeps asking if we can "marker" his real one...um no!

1. Gather your materials. You will need some cardboard, I am using a gift box that is ripped and can't be used this Christmas, you'll need scissors, glue,markers, one piece of construction paper, and some wrapping paper scraps.
2. Draw a stocking shape on the opposite side of your cardboard and cut out.
3. Have your child draw on the stocking to start with.
4. While they color, cut the wrapping paper into smaller pieces, I am using pinking sheers to make it look fancy!
5. Time to add glue! I let my son add and spread the glue himself today, lots went in the mouth but overall he did well.
6. Now add the wrapping paper.
7. While your child is adding the paper , cut out a rectangle of construction paper and write their name on it. If they can write even if it's not perfect, or very legible they should try!
8. Add glue at the top of the stocking for their name.
9. Glue the name on and let dry!

Song!

That Means Merry Christmas !

Joyeux Noel
Joyeux Noel
That means Merry Christmas!

Joyeux Noel
Joyeux Noel
That's French for Merry Christmas

In Spanish it's Feliz Navidad
In Spanish it's Feliz Navidad

Joyeux Noel
Feliz Navidad
It all means Merry Christmas!


Books!

"What Is Christmas?" by Michelle Medlock Adams is a great book for little children about Christmas. It touches on all the fun and cultural aspects of Christmas in a positive way but reminds the readers that really it's about Jesus' birth. I like the book because it doesn't make the rest of the traditions out to be wrong or bad but explains that the holiday's origin in a simple matter of fact way.



"Merry Christmas, Mouse! " by Laura Numeroff is an adorable little Christmas counting book. Most of the praise should really be on Felicia Bond the illustrator because the pictures take the cake on this one. The book follows the mouse as he decorates the Christmas tree, 1 Star... 2 angels... etc... It's a perfect to read and then count the ornaments on your own tree. After reading it my son and I found 4 bells, and 3 trains on our own tree.

Naptime Creation :Festival of Lights

Foam

Menorah

My son is fascinated with candles, he tried to touch the burning flames on his birthday cake so I knew I had to do a flame free menorah activity this year. If you are not familiar with the traditions and significance of Hanukkah click here for a great overview. This is a great project for an older child to do with a parent or the way we are doing it for a parent to do and have their child help with the lighting every night of Hanukkah!

1. Gather your materials. You will need 4 sheets of foam, they don't need to be sticky back but it's even easier if they are, especially the candles. Scissors, some ribbon, an orange marker, and a pen.
2. If your child is helping you I would have then paint or decorate the base piece of foam or paper. While they do that you can start the cutting.
3. Start by cutting out a semi circle. in the silver foam. After you do this fold in half and make a series of 4 small 1/4 inch wide and about 2 inch long cuts into the semi circle arching towards the center. ** For an easier more kids friendly version you can simply cut out a semi circle and add small squares on top for each holder and use a larger square for the center.
4. Trim all but the center holder , the middle should be higher than the other 8 holders. You can see my ill fated drawings, going free hand ended up working the best.
5. Cut out a base for the menorah.
6. Using the white foam cut out 9 rectangle candles. Older children can do this no problem.
7. Using the yellow foam cut out 9 flames.
8. Draw a little orange marker in the middle of the yellow flames.
9. If you are using sticky back foam peal back only a small part of the flames backing and attach it to the white candle.
10. Attach the menorah base on the backing piece( foam or your own paper that was decorated) .
11. Add the candle holders.
12. When it's time to light your menorah just peel off the backing of the candle and stick it on. For how to properly light a menorah check out Chabad.org
13. Poke small holes in the upper corners of the backing and thread a ribbon through, tie a knot and trim the end.
14. This is how it will look fully lit!

Books !

"Hershel and The Hanukkah Goblins" by Eric Kimmel is a great book, not just because it's funny, and action packed but it explains so much about Hanukkah in an entertaining way. It is a little long for young preschoolers and the goblins may frighten some too but for the elementary crowd this is a great book! I found it interesting and loved to see Hershel outwit those nasty goblins to
save Hanukkah.



"The Only One Club" by Jane Naliboff is a cute book about a little girl named Jennifer who is the only one in her class who celebrates Hanukkah. Soon she finds out that there are lots of "Only Ones" in her class , like the only one with red hair, the only one who wears dresses every day and the only one with a unique last name. I like the message this book has, that we should celebrate our diversity and tell our kids it's not a bad thing to be unique.

That's French For Christmas !

Jingle Bell

Banner



I have been trying to work in some letter learning into our holiday crafts, this was today's effort. This will work for any celebration , you can spell out Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Happy New Year... the sky is the limit. I chose to do Noel because 1. I want my son to understand that his mommy's country speaks 2 languages and because 4 letters was the perfect amount for a 2 year old! In a class allowing each child to do one letter is a great option.

1. Gather your materials. You will need some cardboard, paint , a plain kitchen sponge, thin ribbon, scissors, a marker and a few jiggle bells.
2. Write out the letters on the cardboard. Don't cut them all the way out, this way your child especially if they are young will be more likely to paint to the edges of the letter. Ho Ho Ho is another great option for Santa fans!
3. Time to paint. Sponge painting is a great way to encourage lots of paint , within a toddler or preschooler's attention span. We added yellow sparkle paint to our green for some flair
4. Alternate between the red and green paint.
5. Let all the letters dry.
6. When dry cut them out, older kids can do this, but cardboard is tricky for little hands.
7. Poke tiny holes in the top of the letters and thread your ribbon through.
   
8. After adding your first letter add a jingle bell and tie a knot, continue with the rest of the letters and jingle bells.
9. Hang it up!

Books !

" Madeline's Christmas" was published after Ludwig Bemelmans passed away, it had been published as a book insert in McCall's magazine in 1956 and as a book in 1985. The story itself is a curious Christmas tale about a rug seller who brings a little magic to Madeline and her friends. My toddler say for the whole thing and laughed at many of the rhymes, which if you have read others in the Madeline series you will know are awesome. If you are working on rhyming words check this and the rest of the series out!


"Babar and Father Christmas" by Jean De Brunhoff was one of my very favorite Christmas stories as a child. As an adult i have had some great belly laughs at some of it's writing which I still think is awesome. Babar goes looking for Father Christmas because he wants to ask him to visit Elephant country. He searches all over Paris and finally ends up in the north pole and finds after much effort Father Christmas. I love the details in this book, as a child I would lay looking at the pictures of Santa's workshop and imagine what visiting it would be like. As an adult I appreciate the smallest details like how Father Christmas's flying machine ( not a sled) has P.N #1 on it , meaning of course Pere Noel #1.

Super Stars!

Weekend Repost
Have fun learning all about Stars this weekend!

Constellations

This is a wonderful activity for preschoolers interested in constellations and space. When I did this activity with my PreK class most of the children chose to make multiple constellations. For a special treat use glow in the dark stars!

1. Gather your materials. You need black or dark blue paper, some white or yellow chalk and some sticker stars.
2. Draw any picture you want on the paper using the chalk.
3. Once the picture is finished , add the stars.
4. Don't forget to give your constellation a name.

______________________________________

Sparkle Paint Sponge Painting!
( say that 3x fast!)

1. Gather your materials. You will need some liquid paint,glitter, a kitchen sponge some black paper, scissors and a marker.
2. Draw a star on the sponge and cut out.
3. Pour the paint onto a plate or tray, mix in the glitter. It should still be runny enough to paint with. My paint was too thick - if yours looks like this, add more paint!
   
4. Start stamping.
5. As the paint dries the sparkles will show through!

Books!

" Goodnight Moon- A Counting Book" uses the familiar illustrations from the classic book by Margaret Wise Brown and turns it into a counting book. The page with 100 stars really has 100 stars on it, count and see!

" The Night Sky" by June English is a short non fiction book for PreK-1st grade that touches on the phases of the moon, constellations and much more. The illustrations are bright and engaging.

" Five Wishing Stars" by Treesha Runnels is a great bedtime book, it countdowns from 5 to zero with a rhyming text and glow in the dark stars!

We Are Most Thankful For...

Family

Photo Quilt

More than any craft we've made, my son has gone wild for this, after making it he insisted I take it off the wall so he could study all the pictures. I tried to get a video if him pointing out all our family, but they never cooperate when the little red light starts flashing! I have done similar projects in classrooms, calling it a friendship quilt and instead of pictures we have our recipe for being a good classroom, things like "Share" " Be Gentle" etc...

1. Gather your materials. You will need card stock, I am using note cards cut in half, because they are sure to be the same size that way. Something to decorate the paper with , in our case it's the paint rollers, it can be anything though. Double stick tape, do not use glue, if you mess up it the picture might be ruined, with tape mistakes aren't the end of the world. Pictures of your family, ribbon, and more ribbon, scissors and a hole punch.
2. Have your child decorate the paper, I only had my son do the cream colored paper because that fit his attention span , but there is no reason not to color all if you want. Let these dry.
3. Next if your child is able to have them cut the pictures out in different shapes, you can go free hand or use a paper punch if you have one. If you have a little guy or gal do this for them. I cut them but had my son tell me who each picture was!
4. Put the double stick tape on the back of the pictures and place them in the middle of the quilt square, my son put a picture of my sister sideways and laughed his fool head off, but since we were using tape it was ok, came off and we fixed it.
5. While they are doing that write or if your child is able have them write the message on a extra piece of card stock, I layered mine for effect.
6. Punch holes in all the corners except the very bottom corners of your bottom squares.
7. Map out your quilt
   
8. 
9. Thread ribbon through the holes and tie. Repeat.
10. I used a little fine ribbon on the back of the quilt to tie the middle square to the squares on either side of it since it was only secured to the top and bottom squares, this way there isn't too much ribbon on the front, but your quilt will stay together.
11. Ideally I should have had a dowel and tied the top row of ribbon to it and then hung it, but I don't so I just threaded some ribbon through the top two corner holes and push pinned it to the wall. It didn't matter since my son has found it's permanent home on my coffee table so he can gaze lovingly at out family.

Books!

"10 Fat Turkeys" by Tony Johnston was a classroom favorite, it's about as silly as a book gets and the kids had no clue they were actually learning about subtraction while listening to the crazy rhymes. This won't explain the pilgrims , or talk about the Mayflower, but it will make your kids laugh! Very cute!

"The First Thanksgiving Day : A Counting Story" by Laura Krauss Melmed is a stunning gem of a book. I can't believe I haven't read it before, normally great books like this go through teaching circles like wildfire. The book has so many layers it will keep toddlers and preschoolers alike busy and engaged. The text explains the first Thanksgiving while counting 1-10 in rhyming poetry and the illustrations by Mark Buehner have hidden treasures, see if you can find them! After I return this to the library, I will be buying it for sure!

Turkey Take Two

Paper Plate

Turkey


After seeing my foam turkey after from nap my son asked to make one , which means he said " urkey yeah yeah, urkey pease pease" but I knew what he meant. So I grabbed a paper plate and made a more toddler friendly version of a Thanksgiving Turkey!

1. Gather your materials. You will need a paper plate, some markers ( crayons, or paint would work too) , s few colors of tissue paper, glue and scissors.
2. Have your child color the paper plate, my son did not want to move on past this step, coloring is where it's at at our house lately. He colored 2 other paper plates while I tried to convince him that glue was cool too.
3. While they color cut out some feathers from the tissue paper.
4. Cut the plate in half, and cut a small triangle off of the discarded half, this will be your turkey head.
5. Add glue to the inside lip of the paper plate.
6. Add your feathers, at first my son was refusing to do this, so I let him keep coloring and soon enough, he was asking to do it after watching me.
7. While they glue, make a face on the "head" .
8. When all the feathers are on glue on the head. Let dry .

Books

" A Plump and Perky Turkey " by Teresa Bateman is such a cute and funny book about a town that needs a turkey and the lengths they go to to find one. The town is sadly outwitted by the turkey and end up eating shredded wheat for thanksgiving. The illustrations kept my little man interested even though the story's humor was above his head.



" Thanksgiving is for giving thanks" by Margaret Sutherland is book that explains what Thanksgiving is, and gives lots of examples of things to be thankful for. I like this book although I could go without the page where the narrator is thankful for lollipops, all the other things are wonderful like a teacher's encouragement, grandma's hugs, and sunny days and to me the lollipops sorta fall flat. Easily skipped over if you are not keen on it but the book as a whole is valuable teaching tool about thanksgiving.

So much to be thankful for...

Thanksgiving

Garland

My son was born on American Thanksgiving so a day that used to mean the day before shopping became very very significant in my life. There is nothing I am more thankful for than him , and his health and happiness . That inspired me to make a long term project leading up to Thanksgiving. Depending on how old your children are they can do a few steps like my son or all of this project.

1. Gather your materials. You will need a grocery bag, ribbon, plain paper, markers, clothes pins, hot glue gun and glue, paint, cookie cutters or other stencils.
2. Draw various leaf shapes, either free hand or using stencils.on your grocery bag. Do one for each spot along your garland. I used cookie cutters!
   
3. Using the markers have your child color the leaves, we are doing this as well as painting just for added effect, feel free to skip one.
4. Have your child paint the leaves. We are using a sponge to paint, we haven't sponge painted in a while, but don't limit yourself use whatever you will most enjoy. Let dry
5. While your child is painting , lay 2-4 feet of ribbon face down on your counter, hot glue gun your clothes pins to it. Let dry.
6. Cut out ( or have your child if they can use scissors, even if it's not perfect) the leaves.
7. Glue the leaves to the ribbon and clothes pins.
8. We aren't done yet! Using the same stencil trace the leaf pattern on a stack of plain paper.
9. Cut out.
10. Add things you are thankful for on these pieces of paper from now until Thanksgiving, at dinner you can un clip these and share them. With toddlers ask them what things they think are special, or love. I am always scrambling to think of what I am thankful for , especially since at that point in the day I just want some wine! Also this will help teach your children about recognizing all we do have , all we have to be thankful about throughout the whole month not just on Thanksgiving day.

Book!

Thanksgiving is also the day that I don't big my husband about football one bit. I am so so so not a fan but I am trying not to be so angry while watching, or rather while doing something else while my boys watch. This book - although a board book was really enlightening and my son loved it too! Thanks to my husband's coworker David who suggested it !

" Touchdown : My Football Book" by David Diehl is a short, to the point and completely entertaining little book. It explains so much about football in the absolute easiest ways. My son has started to show a love of football, helmets and tackling and this book is a great injury free way to harness that love!

To Infinity And Beyond!

Weekend Re Post !
This idea can easily be changed to a Halloween Picture using white and orange crayons and black paint! A new post will be up Monday, have a safe and happy weekend!

Magic Space Paintings

Even when you paint over your drawings magically they appear!

1. Gather your materials. You will need some white paper ( cardstock or construction paper works best ) , some bright colored crayons, a paint brush and black paint. If you don't have black paint use the darkest blue or mix your own.
2. Mix up some dark paint- I just mixed all my darkest ones and got pretty close to black. My son loved this part, older kids can make predictions about what will happen to the paint as you mix it.
3. Draw a space or night scene with crayons. Toddlers and young preschoolers will need help but will still enjoy coloring too. Press Hard, you want lots of wax on the paper.
4. Paint over the drawing.
5. Marvel at the masterpiece!

Books!

" Hush Little Alien " by Daniel Kirk is a quirky updated version of the classic lullaby. So many bedtime books are super sugary but this one is funky and bright! I love the space theme and the illustrations are great! I like it especially for older kids who may be sick of the old standards!

" Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown is a classic for a reason. My son has loved it since day one and it really does a great job of calming before bed, like all great bedtime stories should. As a teacher I hated this book probably because it's not a great book for groups I admit I was wrong, this is a gem !
" Good Night Mr. Night" by Dan Yaccarino This is another wonderful and calming bedtime book, Mr. Night quiets the animals , closes the flowers and gets the world ready to go night night! I love this book- I keep meaning to pick up the board book version! Like " Goodnight Moon" there aren't too many words, but the illustrations are perfect!

Five Senses: Stop Did you Hear That?

Sound Safari!

I had no clue how well or not well this idea would work with my 23 month old, I have done it with 3- 5 year olds in the past but never with toddlers. It was a huge hit. He understood the chart and that we were listening to for the things listed and got very excited to earn each star! We chose to go for a walk in our neighborhood but you can do this inside or in your backyard too!

1. Gather your materials. You will need some construction paper, plain paper, markers, a ruler, scissors, stickers and glue or double stick tape.
2. Make a simple chart , one space for the sound you are searching for and a small box for a sticker or a check mark.
3. Add things you hear often around your neighborhood or where ever you will be listening. We did sirens, dogs barking, birds, cars, etc...
4. Tape or glue the paper on the construction paper and head off on your walk.
5. I gave the chart to my son and told him we were looking for all those sounds, we talked about hearing things, and although he was quite convinced we hear with our eyes, he still got it.
6. I helped start things off my closing the garage door and asking him what he heard. when he said the garage door , I asked him to look on his chart to see if that was on it. When it was we got a sticker and put it in the box.
7. The next up was our neighbors barking dogs! Then birds... we were only a few hundred feet from our door and we already had half the items on our safari.

As we kept walking we found more and my son pointed out ones we didn't have like the lawnmowers the gardeners were using. That tickled me because that was the point of this whole exercise to learn about using our ears to hear and identify sounds. These were our final safari findings:
Books!

" Sounds Funny" and " Sounds Tough" by Kevin Somers are exactly the type of books I have been looking for. They have super fun illustrations that dominate the pages, and the text is simply the sound that the pictures would make. A perfect way to engage young preschoolers and toddlers about sound. Also I found it rather interesting that the motorcycle sound in " Sounds Tough" is " Na Na Na" since my son calls motorcycles nanas. maybe he knows something I don't! Either way there are many books about how sound works and the five senses that are far too complicated for really little guys, these books are perfect!

Five Senses - Touch and Learn

Super Soft

Sheep!

Our bedtime stories lately have all had one thing in common, a sheep! So I decided for our lesson that we make a super soft sheep. For older children, you can add smooth grass made out of foam or plastic and hard fence made from popsicle sticks. If your child is younger though don't overload them, one texture to focus on is perfect!

1. Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of construction paper, one a lighter color and the other black. Scissors, cotton balls, glue, markers and googly eyes.
2. Have your child draw the farm background, ask them what sheep eat, even my 23 month old could do this and drew grass. If you are doing multiple textures have them glue on the grass and fence here, make sure there is enough space for your sheep!
3. While they work on the farm, draw a sheep body and head out of the black paper and cut out.
4. Glue the body on and add glue and cotton balls, we ripped our apart to spread them out.
5. Glue on the head.
6. Add the eyes!
7. All done!

Books!

" How Big Is A Pig" by Claire Beaton has fast become a favorite in our house around bedtime. I love the felt illustrations, the detail amazes me and helps distract me from noticing that I have read it 20 times in as many minutes. The story itself is great too, it focuses on opposites in the farm yard with a zippy rhyming text.

"Brown Bear Brown Bear" by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle is a classic, it is genius in it's simplicity. So often we think things have to have fancy bells and whistles to keep toddlers and preschoolers interested and this book proves us wrong yet again. I haven't met a child who hasn't responded well to this book about colors and animals!

" Duck on a Bike" by David Shannon tickles my funny bone. I love this book, the message is awesome too. Just because it's never been done before doesn't mean that you shouldn't try! Also how cute is a duck riding a bike? The illustrations are amazing and your child will love the farm animals .

~Additional Activities~

Touch Bowl

This is a fun activity that anyone can do. Older children should be encouraged to close their eyes and try to identify the objects while describing the way they feel. Toddlers can just explore with you labeling the textures, and if they are able you can play a little game of "Find the Texture". Simple games like this are so valuable even if they seem bland to us on paper your child will love it. So try and see! My son loved the sticky tape and bumpy gourd.


Gentle Touch

What a perfect time to talk about gentle touches. Having been both a teacher and the dreaded director of a childcare center sometimes I felt like all I did all day was talk about gentle touches, remind little people that we use gentle hands and words with our friends. So this is my plea for all of us parents to practice this with our kids, it doesn't come naturally to most but with lots of reminders and praise we can help teach them how to be gentle even when it's soooooo hard to , basically from ages 1-5 !

Five Senses ! Do you see what I see?

I Spy !

This week we are focusing on the 5 senses, to start our mini unit off we are doing our own I spy chart. Older kids can do the writing themselves and preschoolers can draw if they choose. I wrote my son's exact words then , clarified in marker. See additional activities for some fun games using the sense of sight!

1. Gather your materials. You will need some goggley eyes, a larger piece of card stock or construction paper, another plain sheet of paper, some crayons/markers, and glue.
2. Start my coloring the big paper, If your child is old enough have them write the words " I spy..." all over it.
3. While they are doing that , write on the white paper something like " From my front porch, I spy...." I did three areas of our house but more or less works great.
4. Add glue around the edges.
5. Add lots of googly eyes. Ask toddlers and preschoolers what they are, and to point to their eyes. Ask them what they are for. Explain we are putting them all over the paper because we are going to go explore using our eyes and come back and write down our findings on this paper!
6. Go to the different places and ask your children to tell you what they see! While they are doing this if they are old enough ask them to close their eyes and ask them if they can't see how would they know what is around them.
7. Report your findings, if your child can write let them do it, if they want to draw what they saw, that is great! If they are a toddler do it for them but talk to them about it and have them recall it as you write it down.

Books!



The whole I spy series is a wonderful treat to have in a classroom or home, preschoolers have an uncanny love of finding things and these books rock. I used to love to pull them out on rainy day recesses while teaching Pre K and it would keep many a preschooler engaged for quite a while! They are by Jean Marzello and Walter Wick and if you have access to Scholastic Book orders you will usually find one in each order at a great discounted price!

Additional Activities

Old McDonald Lost His Sight!

This is a fun game that I have played with children as young as 2.5, all you need is a blindfold and a room clear of danger . Blind fold the child who is going to be ' Old McDonald' and have any other kids or yourself around them in a circle, the leader ( you) says "Old McDonald had a farm eieio, and on his farm he had a ---animal------ then make the sound, the farmer has to go find the animal using his sense of hearing.

You can also use scarves and have them available for the farmer to touch and the animal is at the end of the scarf. So this time he is using his sense of touch. Please be careful with this one - gentle tugs, and a bump proof room is a must!

I Spy!

I have countless memories of playing this game with my sister as a child but as a teacher it's been a wonderful tool. Helps teach all sorts of basics, and when learning about the sense of sight, it's great! So if you don't know how it works, one person says " I spy with my little eye something that is __ enter color__ or ___ starts with the letter___ " and the other person/ people have to guess. If they get it right it's their turn.

Raining Cats and Dogs

Weekend Re Post, I thought this post could fit easily into Halloween, you may want to paint the cat black and glue on eyes instead of drawing them on. Have a great weekend , a new post will be up Monday!

Cat Puppets

This is a fun craft that can easily be scaled down for young toddlers or up for older children.

1. Gather your materials. You will need a paper plate or heavy card stock cut in a circle, some paint , paper for ears, pipe cleaners, some cardboard or large tongue depressors for the handle and dark colored marker for the eyes and mouth.
2. Paint the paper plate.
3. This picture illustrates perfectly why non toxic paints are a requirement with young kids!
4. While your child is painting , cut out two ears , glue or using double stick tape attach them to the underside of the plate.
5. Have your child paint the cardboard handle or tongue depressor.
6. While they are painting that twist some pipe cleaners together for the whiskers.
7. To attach these to the plate poke two holes in the paper plate and using another pipe cleaner make a loop, slide the whiskers in then tighten the loop , and twist. Cover the pipe cleaner on the underside with tape to protect your child from any pokes.
8. Draw on the eyes, and mouth, attach the handle, and voila!

** To make it harder for older children you can cut out eyes, a mouth and use more than one color paint too! **

Song!

Bingo!
There was a farmer had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-O.
B-I-N-G-O! B-I-N-G-O! B-I-N-G-O!
And Bingo was his name-O!

There was a farmer had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-O.
(Clap)-I-N-G-O! (Clap)-I-N-G-O! (Clap)-I-N-G-O!
And Bingo was his name-O!

There was a farmer had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-O!
(Clap, Clap)-N-G-O! (Clap, Clap)-N-G-O! (Clap, Clap)-N-G-O!
And Bingo was his name-O!

There was a farmer had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-O.
(Clap, Clap, Clap)-G-O! (Clap, Clap, Clap)-G-O! (Clap, Clap, Clap)-G-O!
And Bingo was his name-O!

There was a farmer had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-O.
(Clap, Clap, Clap, clap)-O! (Clap, Clap, Clap, clap)-O! (Clap, Clap, Clap, clap)-O!
And Bingo was his name-O!

There was a farmer had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-O.
(Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap) (Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap) (Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap)
And Bingo was his name-O!

Books!

" Have you seen my cat?" by Eric Carle is a fun look at different kinds of cats large and small around the globe in an easy repetitive book with predictably great illustrations.

" Oh, Tucker!" by Steven Kroll is cute story about a clumsy excited dog , with colorful illustrations and kids love how he "whams" into everything!

" McDuff moves in" by Rosemary Wells will pull at your heart strings , McDuff escapes the dog catcher and goes at it alone, that is until he finds Fred and Lucy!

Letter of the week ! R r!

Rabbit R !

We have almost completed our alphabet! R is a fun letter that you can use "red" or " rice" but we chose to do "rabbit" as out R activity! This craft is fast and easy, and perfect for a busy Monday. You can use furry material or felt if you don't want to make as colorful a rabbit as we did!

1. Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of construction paper, a pipe cleaner, a marker, glue , scissors and some paint.
2. Draw a large R and some rabbit ears on your construction paper.
3. Have your child paint the R and the ears. While painting my son sounded like a pirate repeating " Arr!" over and over while hitting the paint dobbers onto the paper.
4. Cut the R and ears out, snip the pipe cleaner in half and twist to make whiskers.
5. I made a R out of glue and then my son was able to match up where his R was supposed to go on the paper.
6. Add the ears and whiskers on. My son was patting the ears on so fast you can barely see his arm!
   
7. Let dry!

Song!

Little Bunny Foo Foo

Little bunny foo foo ,
hopping through the forest,
scooping up the field mice ,
and bopping them on the head!

Down came the Good Fairy,
and she said ,
"Little bunny foo foo, I don't want to see you,
scooping up the feild mice and bopping them on the head!
I'll give you three chances before I turn you into a gooooooon!"

• Repeat until no more chances!

Book!

" My Friend Rabbit " by Eric Rohmann is a cute book with award winning illustrations that follows a mouse and a rabbit who remain friends despite the rabbit's uncanny ability to get into trouble. The little rabbit means well and his heart is true, the limited text and descriptive illustrations make this book great for a wide range of age groups and my son loved the Rhino!

I'm Thankful For ..

These Three
Canadian Books!

Monday is Thanksgiving in Canada, so even though I won't have a chance to sit with my family and eat too much turkey I can share a little about Canada with all of you. Whether you celebrate Thanksgiving in October, or November, or not at all these books will teach you a little about a wonderful country I am thankful to be from.

Happy Thanksgiving!

" ABC of Canada" by Kim Bellefontaine is a cute little book that is a perfect little introduction about Canada for toddlers and preschoolers. The text is short, the colors are bright and the illustrations are both fun and accurate. I was happy to see things like the northern lights, Calgary Stampede and of course Z is for Zamboni !

" Anne of Green Gables" by Lucy Maude Montgomery was the first book I read cover to cover that didn't have any pictures. It is still and always will be a favorite, in a world where so many books are filled with things I am not sure I want my child to read, at least not yet... this book is filled with old fashion values and fantastic writing . I can't wait to read this aloud to my son. " M is for Maple, A Canadian Alphabet " by Mike Ulmer. This book will make you feel proud to be from Canada if you are Canadian and teach you something about your neighbour if you are an American. It will also teach your children things about the country they live in and why we feel pride when we hear names like Terry Fox, Anne with an E and Gretzky! I love this book and have since I first read it during teacher's college in Thunder Bay, if you can be happy about being in Canada during a very cold Thunder Bay winter you can be happy about it anywhere.

There are so many more wonderful books, and authors if you have a favourite book by a Canadian author leave me a comment to share it with everyone!

Art Is Messy!

Ribbon Painting!

I've been waiting to do this art project for ages, I have used yarn with awesome results in the past but didn't have any handy. I was prepared to do a project myself a long side my son , but as it turned out he was able to do it with no help! I must warn you , it was messy!

1. Gather your materials. You will need paper, paint, a plate for the paint and ribbon , yarn or string.
2. Cut a short piece of ribbon for your child, the younger the child the shorter the ribbon, the longer it is the harder it is to control.
3. Pour some paint on the plate .
4. Dip your ribbon in the paint and then touch your ribbon to the paper. I was shocked at how my son caught on fast, of course the ribbon went into his mouth a bunch too.
5. Add another color!
6. Keep going until the mess becomes too much or your little one has had enough! We stopped when paint made it onto the eyebrows!
7. Just a note about art activities like this- something I always try to do is allow my son to pick out his own paint colors, today he picked orange and yellow and I added in pink since he has been having a hard time recognizing pink , so this was a fun time to reinforce it!

Song!

I thought this song about pigs in the mud was fitting after such a messy art project!

Three Little Pigs

Three little pigs rolled in the mud,
Squishy , Squashy felt so good,
The farmer took one pig out,
Oink oink oink, the pig did shout!

Continue with 2, 1

No little pigs rolled in the mud,
They all looked so clean and good,
The farmer turned his back and then,
All the little pigs rolled in the mug again!


Books!

" Action Jackson" by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan is a great book not only about Jackson Pollock but also about how an artist goes through the artistic process, their influences and what their life is like. This book is perfect for older children but my son loved looking at pictures and Jackson Pollock's dog! I would suggested this for anyone with budding artists!


" Painting with Picasso" by Julie Merberg and Suzanne Bober is a sweet little board book and only one in a series of "Mini Masters" by the authors. This book and all in the series will introduce your child to famous art work in their own home or stroller because they travel well too!

Halloween Books Part II

More Spooky Reads!

I think any holiday especially one as awesome as Halloween ( that's my sweet tooth talking) is a fantastic catalyst for reading. Use your child's excitement to get some learning in ! Here are three more fun Halloween Books.

"Dem Bones" by Bob Barner is sort of two books in one. The superficial layer uses the words of the ever popular old time spiritual with fun Halloween inspired skelleton illustrations. There is also a second layer that has longer text for older children that goes into the anatomy of the bones the song sings about. Great way to keep a Halloween theme strong while teaching about the human body!

" Maisy's Halloween " is a cute board book for toddlers that follows Maisy's search for the right Halloween costume. There is something about this little mouse that children just love, it's also a cute introduction about the fun we have dressing up for Halloween.

" Big Pumpkin" by Erica Silverman is a staple in most preschool classrooms. It's a cute story about a witch who is desperate for pumpkin pie but her giant pumpkin is too big for her to pick up! Luckily she enlists the help of a ghost, vampire, mummy and bat and with a little teamwork they save the night! The rhyming text is almost like a song and kids love it!

Letter of the Week ! U u !

Umbrella U !

Living in rainy weather it's only fitting to use umbrella for our U craft, after making it it started raining and we dug out our umbrella and took a stroll in the rain .

1. Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of construction paper, scissors, some crayons, glue and some blue craft foam.
2. Start by drawing a big U and the top of an umbrella. Don't cut them out yet.
3. Have your child color the U and umbrella with crayons. Don't forget that when they are coloring you have the opportunity to teach them about colors!
4. While they are coloring cut out some rain drops out of the blue foam. I like using foam for stuff like this because little hands do well with it, and it adds some texture to the craft.
5. When they are done decorating their umbrella hand them the other page and have them draw puddles, or clouds or if they are little anything is great, my son drew a boat and a dinghy! At least that's what he told me :)
6. Cut out the U and the umbrella.
7. Glue on the U.
8. Add the umbrella
9. Add glue for the rain drops.
10. Add them on!
11. All done!

Books!

" Cloudy with a chance of meatballs" by Judi Barrett is a fantastic book for Pre-K and up, if your child has a long attention span I would try it earlier , but the text is long and complicated for most toddlers. My son won't sit for more than a few pages if I am lucky. The story follows one Grandpa's tale about the town of Chewsandswallows where the weather comes in the form of food! All was well in Chewsandswallows until the weather took a turn for the worse! I loved teaching with this story, and kids love it too!


" Weather" by Pamela Chanko and Daniel Moreton is the perfect little non fiction book about weather for toddlers and young preschoolers. It's short and has big interesting photos depicting different weather. Don't be fooled, it looks like nothing, but trust me little guys will ask you to read it again and again. It's important that children get read a variety of things, not simply fiction, so don't be afraid to get your child a simple little non fiction book like this one!

" The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" by My First Taggies Book is a fun little book with the ever popular tags which add an extra level of sensory experience for your little one. The pictures are cute, the rhyme familiar and I liked traveling with this book when my son was little, because of the tags it was a double duty, book and touch toy!

I'm Going Batty!

Handmade

Bat

It's October so let's get ready for Halloween! For families that choose not to participate in Halloween this craft can still be useful, simply leave out the red fangs and change up the color scheme.

1. Gather your materials. You will need black, red and orange construction paper, glue, some crayons, scissors and googly eyes.
2. Start by having your child draw a bunch of fun nightime things on the orange paper, stars, a moon, even and owl would be great! If you can help or little one is still young, or skip it like we did. I added the stars etc... after we were done just for y'all.
3. Trace your child's hands on black paper.
4. Have your child color the hands with a white crayon.
5. While they are coloring draw a bat head Don't worry about making mistakes we'll use the opposite side.and cut out small red fangs.
6. Cut everything out.
7. Put two globs of glue on your orange paper for the hands.
8. Pop the hands on, don't worry about what sides are up, one of ours is upside down , but make sure they meet in the middle .
9. Add the head
10. Glue on the fangs. I usually add the glue then help direct him where to put them, saying things like " Can you point the triangle down" but if I wasn't blogging it I wouldn't be so concerned with how it "looks" . A good tip is to talk about what you are adding saying " Fangs are big teeth, where should the bat's teeth go" .
11. Add the eyes! If your child is still eating things, you can draw eyes on with a white crayon instead.

Song!

5 little bats

5 little bats went on a flight
by the light of the moon one night
Mama bat said squeak squeak squeak swack!
but only 4 little bats came back.

4,3,2,1

No little bats went on a flight
by the light of the moon one night
Mama bat said squeak squeak squeak swack!
and 5 little bats came flying back!

Books!

"Stellaluna" by Janell Canon has long been a favorite when teaching about bats. I will warn you it's a little long for fidgety toddlers but they will still enjoy it even if you skip a few pages. The story follows a little bat who looses her mother and is adopted into a family of birds. She never really feels like she belongs even though she is happy. and likes her bird family. That's not the end though, there is a surprise reunion and Stellaluna saves the day before the end of this book!


"Where is Baby's Pumpkin?" by Karen Katz. This lift and flap book is the newest addition to our Karen Katz collection. My son adores these books. I read this in the check out line 3 times and he was asking for more before I could get my groceries in the fridge. I like this book because it's a cute and gentle introduction to halloween and all the creatures that go along with it. Also there are fun textures to many of the illustrations which help keep little hands busy!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom !

Coconut Tree

( minus the coconuts)

The classic book "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault was the inspiration for this craft. You may be wondering where the coconuts are and I do have an answer, I totally forgot to make them. So if you want some coconuts on your tree, while painting the truck use some cardboard to make coconuts and paint them the same brown as the trunk.

1. Gather your materials. You will need a paper towel roll, some newspaper, glue, masking tape, some extra cardboard, some pre cut letters, and green and brown paint.
2. Start by having your child paint the newspaper with the green paint. I have my son paint 6 small pages ( they were half of a regular page each) , I just kept going until he lost interest.
3. Let those dry.
4. Paint the paper towel roll brown and let dry.
5. Once dry layer the news paper so some of the painted sides face up and some face down.
6. Roll and secure the bottom with masking tape.
7. Cut along the newspaper until the masking tape. Do this 4-5 times .
8. Put glue on the masking tape
9. Stuff the newspaper, masking tape end first into the roll.
10. Glue the pre cut letters on, don't forget to ask your child what letters they are, or label them for the little guys!
11. Oh and if you remember to add the coconuts, now would be a good time to do that!

Books!

" Chicka Chicka Boom Boom " by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault is one of my absolute favorite books ever. Many alphabet books are great tools but this one not only entertains it never gets old. It's text is musical , it's premise is brilliant in it's simplicity and kids love it. My favorite line is " Skit skat scoodle doot. Flip flop flee. " I hope I am conveying how much fun this book is to read out loud. I have never had a class who didn't like it and if you don't have it, you should!
" Chicka Chicka ABC" is a fantastic board book and shorter version of the longer book. My son loves this book and it's the perfect amount of text for a toddler, the illustrations by Lois Ehlert are so bright and bold that even very young babies will respond to it! A must have for all bookshelves.