If you let your kids do stuff...

If you let your kids do crafts, they will eventually start without you one morning.



If you let your kids use tools, like scissors and hole punches, they will learn to cut.



You will also sweep up a mess like this at least once or twice a day.



You will probably also end up eating breakfast mid-project.



But, they will ask you for playdoh instead of TV...



And they will amaze you with what they can do all on their own.

Playing at Home

The school year is back at full swing and that means daddy is back to work and mommy has lots of time with her girls. We have been having a lot of fun with art, and games, and outside time.



Helen has started showing an interest in family portraits in all kinds of mediums... from blocks to chalk! We found most of these blocks at garage sales this past summer. I have always wanted a HUGE wooden block collection!



Don't you just love the "dogs on leashes" detail!

Clare loves to paint, and so does Helen... right now Helen loves to draw a picture with a black marker before she starts to paint.





Spiders!! I found these paint trays at Joann's. They come in packs of 10 or 12 for only a few dollars.

Today's adventure was all about sorting, charting, and counting. Helen liked lining up her beads and counting how many she had!

It's never too late to start again...

Last year, my home preschooling attempts were an utter failure (may have had something to do with the newborn... maybe). This year I am hoping for better results - mainly on my part!

This week we talked about the Letter "W", and I got the impression that my three year old was not impressed.

"What's this letter?" I asked, pointing to the "W" flashcard on our word wall. 

"Oh mom. That's a "W"," responded the too-smart for all this nonsense three year old - who later told me that the upside down "W" is an "M" like monster....

To make things worse, she wasn't even interested in "washing" her play kitchen dishes - my activity planned for the day. Oh well. 

So, I needed a little inspiration, and boy did I get it! 

Keeper of the Home and other Homeschooling bloggers are currently offering a Homeshooling Omnibus - 53 ebooks about everything from organizing and planning your homeschool to actual lessons for your kids. I love this collection because of the huge quantity of toddler/preschool curriculum included. The best part is the price! Only $25! But hurry if you want it - the offer ends tomorrow.

I have already downloaded and looked at quite a bit of the package, and I have already gotten some good ideas on how to expand my techniques and hopefully better engage my daughter.  

Preschool Activities: The Letter S and the Sea

It is back to school time for daddy, so that means home preschool time for the girls and mom!

We keep it simple and relaxed at our house, but I like to feel that I am purposefully doing things with my girls that will help prepare them for more traditional schooling.

This week we are focusing on the Letter "S"  and the "Sea".

I have two great books to recommend:

 

Harry by the Sea

 by Gene Zion

This is a really sweet book about how a hot dog wanders away from his family while trying to find some shade and gets lost on the beach. The topics in the book are ones a small child can relate to, such as being lost or left out and feeling hot. Also, things they will see if they visit the seashore make prominence in the scenery and text: beach umbrellas, sand and sand castles, seaweed, crowds, shells and birds, and food stands. 

It is literally FULL of "S" words:

Spots

Seashore

Sun

Shade

Sand Castle  

Sudden/ly

Seaweed

Sea Monster

Shrieked

Screamed

Sea Serpent

Sandworm

Stripes

Smoke

Sea Slug

Sun Hat

Sunglasses

Suntan oil

Shouting

Stand

Maisy Goes on Vacation

by Lucy Cousins

The Maisy series continues to find it's way into our home. This particular book is an excellent resource for teaching young children about travel and vacations. Maisy packs, rides a train, checks into her hotel, plays at the beach, has a snack, writes postcards, and then gets ready for bed in her hotel room. Again the sights and sounds of the sea are ones that young children can witness and relate to: traveling, playing in the sand and water, and going to bed in an unfamiliar place. I like that several different names for the sea are used: Seaside, Seashore, Ocean, Beach.

"S" Words:

Suitcase

Seaside

Sun Hat

Station (Train)

Snacks

Shells

Shore

Sand Castles

Splash! Splish!

Other activites to try:

• Color a picture of a seaside scene: We pulled a great one out of our Melissa & Doug Jumbo Coloring Pad that depicts a sand castle and star fish by the sea.
• Play in a sand box (visit a park if you don't have one at home!)
• Have a splash day in the yard.
• Examine shells.
• Visit the zoo or aquarium. 
• Trace the letter "S", or better yet draw it with sidewalk chalk along with some starfish and other sea creatures!

Choosing Quality Library Books in a Hurry

Go with an Author you Know and Love.

For me that is Margaret Wise Brown. You may know her from Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny, but check out your library for some of her other fabulous children's books like The Wonderful House and The Friendly Book.

 

Choose a Familiar Title.

You can rarely go wrong with a book based off a children's song, rhyme, or poem you remember from your own childhood. We recently picked up Ten in the Bed by Penny Dale, and it has been an instant hit!

Look for Colorful Pictures and Minimal Text.

When it comes to toddlers and books, a few words goes a long way. Look for simple books with great illustrations versus books with complicated and detailed stories. Books by Lois Ehlert are a great place to start such as Feathers for Lunch or Mole's Hill.

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Don't Shy Away from the Basics.

You may think that it is best to check out "special" books from the library... ones that wouldn't likely end up in your own library, but the basics are ones your children ask for again and again. So, pick up a couple of Dr. Suess Bright and Early readers like Old Hat New Hat along with those fancy picture books. You will be glad you did.

Turkey Hand Print Thanksgiving Cards

It is time for Thanksgiving crafts! Thanksgiving has always been a personal favorite of mine... something about the crisp fall weather, the friends and family, and all that delicious food.  We can't always have the perfect Thanksgiving with all our family due to how spread out we all are, so this year we wanted to share a little Thanksgiving Love with our family we won't be able to see in person.

Helen and Clare both assisted in making these cute Turkey Hand Print cards.  Helen provided the hands (and a tiny bit of help with the gluing) and Clare provided one of her cute little feet to make the turkey's body.

All you need for this super-easy Thanksgiving craft is some construction paper (White, Yellow(or Gold), Orange, Red, Black, and Brown), Scissors, Glue, a Pencil, and a Black Marker. We used blank white note cards  though you could just fold some white paper for the card.

Trace the hands and foot, cut out all the pieces, glue together, and use the marker to draw in the Turkeys' eyes! It is really as easy as that! It was so funny, for some reason Helen was very concerned about the turkeys' eyes, she kept picking them up off the table and trying to put them on the unfinished turkey bodies while chattering about them.

Our mass-produced Thanksgiving cards! So cute!

Toddler Water Play, Part II

As I said before in my post about Helen washing dishes, my little toddler loves to play in the water! As do almost all toddlers I expect. My challenge is to find ways for her to have water play fun that do not A. involve her shaking her sippy cup empty all over the house, B. involve her spilling my glasses of water when my back is turned, or C. anything involving misuse of the toilet!

This week we tried outdoor water play, and while we do not have a fancy "Water Play Table" she had a perfectly happy time with a bucket of water and some miscellaneous outdoor toys and cups.

It was nice to just put everything down in the grass and let her play while baby Clare and I sat nearby and watched.

And the really nice thing about "Bucket Water Play" is that when the water is all gone (She had the most fun spilling the water on herself and the grass!), playtime is up. It has a nice natural end that doesn't involve mean mommy taking the fun water toy away.

We will be doing this activity again! I saw over at PreKinders (a resource website for pre-K teachers) that pouring water from one container to another is an important fine motor skill for toddlers to practice. They have a whole list of other fine motor skill activities that we will have try out soon!

Toddler Play: Washing Dishes

Tired Momma needed a "play alone" activity today.  However, letting the little one play in the sink is not an unsupervised "Momma needs a nap" activity. Helen just loves water play lately (and making a huge mess), so, we just put down some towels scooted her chair up to the sink and let her go for it.

For a solid twenty minutes, she practiced pouring water from one dish to another. I stood nearby folding up the diapers and redirecting the pouring in the direction of the sink. After a being played with, those dishes really need a good cleaning, so she was really doing me a favor!

I love her Green Toys Tea Set it is made in the USA out of recycled milk jugs, and is not too "girly". We also have the Cookware and Dining Set.