Ice Cream and Popsicle Patterns

I came across some foam ice cream and popsicle stickers in Target’s dollar section.  They were too cute to pass up.  I thought they were perfect for summer and was sure to put them to good use.

 **If you can’t find them at Target anymore, it would be simple to cut out similar foam shapes.**

I created pattern cards as one activity using the popsicle stickers.  Beforehand, I began both color and shape patterns on cardstock.  I then gave J the pattern cards and a bowl of the extra stickers to continue each pattern.  

With the ice cream cones, I created different color combinations for him to mimic.

After already creating my pattern cards, I thought it would be really cute to have made multiple dips on each ice cream cone for him to mimic.  Opportunity missed on that one!

Btw, J just set the stickers in place so that we could redo the activity again.

Button Snakes

Back when I was pregnant, I put together a basket of go-to activities that I could quickly pull from to keep J focused when I was busy with his little brother.  When I saw the button snake here, I knew I wanted to include it.

It was so easy to make, taking maybe 5 minutes, even with my sad skills using a needle and thread.

You need: colorful felt, scissors, ribbon, a button, needle and thread

What you do: 

1. Cut the felt into squares (or fun shapes)
2. Cut a small slit into each square (to fit your button)
3. Sew one felt square near the end of your ribbon
4. Sew a button onto the other end of your ribbon
5. Your done!

This was great practice for J.  He had really never tried button until this.  I made a beginner level button snake (using an extra large button) but was surprised at how quickly he caught on.

I recently made another button snake with a smaller button to increase the difficulty.  This time I cut the felt pieces into different shapes so that the pieces could also be used to sort or create various patterns as he builds the snake.

We’ve also used this activity in our airplane travel and it works great, lightweight and keeps him occupied.

Becoming an Artist: The Dot by Peter Reynolds

At our last library trip, we happened across the cutest story! 

The Dot, by Peter Reynolds, is a story about a little girl who thinks she can’t draw until her teacher proves her wrong.  She’s inspired to keep trying and eventually inspires others too. 

This was the perfect book for J.  He is such a perfectionist that he often chooses NOT to do something if he thinks that he won’t be able to do it “right”.  This book fulfilled its purpose and inspired my little guy to become an artist!

After reading the book, we decided to create our own art museum of dots.  I pulled out markers, crayons, map pencils, water colors and cardstock.  J was thrilled.  He was confident.  He became an artist and loved it!  He even wanted to sign his work, just like the little girl in the story.

After all his pieces dried, we hung them in his room.  We now have an in-house art museum featuring my favorite artist.

Seeds Family Worship resources

I’ve found some great resources to help as we memorize the scriptures found in the Seeds Family Worship cds.  I thought I would share them for all those enjoying the cds themselves!

Chord Charts for all songs.  My husband’s really getting good at playing these songs!  This just adds to J’s excitement, hearing the songs both on CD and on daddy’s guitar.

Memory Verse Checklist (provided by Seeds Family Worship)

Memory flashcards (provided by Seeds Family Worship)

Activities in their monthly newsletter (you’ll find an example in the link)

Videos – Seeds Family Worship offers both videos of live performances AND videos with lyrics.

Flashcards/Posters with pictures (also found here at Totally Tots; also has tracer pages, copy pages and minibooks)

If you know of any other resources, please share!

Seeds of Character

Remember our love for Seeds Family Worship? (if not, just check out this link) Well, it continues to grow!

J has always loved the Seeds Family Worship cds.  Ever since turning 3, his interest in them has grown even more.  He is singing along more. He is asking a ton of questions about the scriptures on the cds.  He is making comments that tell me he is listening.

What is the Rock eternal?
What is mighty?
What is endures?
Don’t be afraid. Jesus is with you.

Hearing these questions and comments from my toddler is all the encouragement I need to keep playing these cds! We have been listening to them for about a year and a half now.  I imagine we will be listening to them for many many years to come. Even my husband has one of the cds that he plays on his way to work. 

Well they have a new CD out!!  I know.  I’m late in sharing the news.  It’s been out for months.  A new baby kinda kept me distracted for awhile  

I ordered their new cd, Seeds of Character, and we LOVE it.  Yet again, they have created beautiful music set to Divine lyrics.  

Here are the scriptures you and your little one will learn with this cd. 

1. More Than Conquerors (Romans 8:37)
2. The Wages and The Gift (Romans 3:23 & 6:23)
3. The Life (John 14:6, I John 5:11-12)
4. The Fruit (Galatians 5:16 & 22)
5. Delight (Psalm 1)
6. Teach Them (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)
7. The Perfect Example (John 13:12-17)
8. Children and Fathers (Ephesians 6:1-4)
9. Put On Love (Colossians 3:12 & 14a)
10. The Character Song (Romans 5:1-5)
11. Give Thanks (Psalm 105:1-5)
12. The Only Way (The New Testament Song)

 And don’t think these songs are just to teach your little ones.  God uses them to help me all the time.  My absolute favorite from the Character cd is “Teach Them” from Deuteronomy 6:4-7.  It is beautiful, and of course the perfect verse to have running through your head as a parent.  It is helping me reevaluate all the things that fill up our time each day, the conversations we’re having, the example I’m setting, etc.  “Teach us well,” keeps ringing in my ears.  I love how God uses these cds to teach and encourage me too.  

Don’t forget to use our discount code ENGAGINGTODDLERS to get 20% off your order.  This code is good until December 20, 2011.  And remember gets an extra cd, so start thinking of who you want to give an amazing gift to!

Check out their website here.

Create Your Own Number Book

I remember making one of these in kindergarten.  Ok, honestly my memory doesn’t work that far back but I do remember seeing the one I made in kindergarten.

J’s is not quite as fancy but it served the same purpose and he is just as proud of authoring his very first book.  We even added it to his bookshelf and he often picks it out for us to read together!

PREP: I prefolded and stapled the pages together. (My teacher used a hole punch with rings to connect the pages.) I had a sheet of number stickers from an old workbook with both the numbers and objects to count.  This made the prep-work simple since all I had to do was pull out one sheet of stickers.  I did quickly add some stickers of like objects, cut into strips for him to count (a strip of 3 smiley face stickers, 4 stars, 5 balloons, etc.) and some individual stickers of a group of objects for him to count (a bouquet of flowers, a basket of eggs, etc).

ACTIVITY: We went through and wrote one number on each page.  I then gave him the sheet of number stickers and he matched the stickers to the correct page.  He then counted the items on each sticker to place on the correct page. We gave his book a title, “J’s Number Book” (genius I know!) and he had his very first book.

We did this activity at home while I fed baby brother.  It required very little physical help from me.  My job was basically to encourage.  This would be a great travel activity.

Beads and Dot Markers

This week is all about finding multiple uses out of these beads from Melissa and Doug. 

Here’s our last activity using Melissa and Doug’s Lacing Beads.  This is a quick one, but one that kept J entertained for awhile.  Basically I just reused yesterday’s activity, but used dot markers instead.  I set out a few of the multi-colored lacing beads for him to create with the dot markers.

J loves dot markers.  They are a hit everytime I get them out. 

 

J started just playing around on the yellow, orange and red square and decided to cover the entire thing with red dots

Beads and Pompoms

This week is all about finding multiple uses out of these beads from Melissa and Doug. 

For this activity I brought out the magnetic pompoms which are always a winner in our house.  Check out this post to see how I made them. 

J used the pompoms to recreate the multi-colored beads.  This is great practice with shapes, colors, and size.  We started with the circle beads since they were the easiest.  He tried starting with the outside color and working his way into the center.  Of course judging the size correctly was difficult and he ended up with empty space between each circle.  I showed him how to start with the center and work out.  Even this simple step added a level of difficulty to the activity since now he had to remember which comes first, second and third. 

We moved onto the square beads next.  These proved more difficult for him to create on his own.  His squares kept looking like circles which frustrated him.  I try to sit back and let him trouble-shoot on his own since that is part of the learning process.  This particular time he eventually asked me how to make them look like squares.  I showed him how to make the corners first and then fill in the rest to create squares.  This provided the perfect opportunity to emphasize the 4 corners and 4 equal sides of a square.

**If you don’t own this set of beads from Melissa and Doug, you could easily draw your own design on cardstock to have your little one imitate.**

The circles were easily within his ability and the squares pushed him a bit.  We didn’t even attempt the star beads because that was too far out of his ability level. A little frustration during an activity can be good (like he had when creating the square beads).  It helps them learn how to deal with it appropriately, keep trying, and even ask if they realize they truly need the help.  Too much frustration however would most likely mean the activity is too advanced for them.  I knew that would be the case if I had asked him to recreate the stars.

Bead Patterns

This week is all about finding multiple uses for lacing beads like these from Melissa and Doug.

 

Since J is into patterns right now, I thought he would find this entertaining.  I set out the multi-colored beads and had him imitate the color pattern using …. you guessed it, his cars.  Of course you could do the same thing using blocks, magnetic pompoms, or even the solid color beads in the same set. 

Counting Beads

I’m always trying to think of different uses of the same old toys.  This set of lacing beads from Melissa and Doug has found many uses, all of which have been winners for J.  This week I’ll highlight some of the ways we’ve used these beads. 

J set the number beads in the correct order and then created a “graph” of sorts by lining up the corresponding number of cars beside each bead.  In hindsight, I should have set out cars that were all similar lengths.  There was no planning involved in this activity though.  I just needed something to hold his attention long enough for me to feed his brother.  It worked