Raising Rooster

cultivating minds while harvesting sanity

Thoughtful Themes: Halloween

This week we focused on Halloween and pumpkins.  It was a really easy one to plan for and I only needed to check out a few books because our home library has MANY holiday books. 

This is what my Tot School shelves looked like for the week:

Some of my personal favorite Halloween books are:

Now I will break it down for you into what I placed in the four tubs this week!

 

Red: Fine Motor Sorting

Last year I purchased a bunch of little Halloween erasers from the Dollar Spot at Target.  At that time we just work on sorting them by picture. This year, we used the same materials, but added on fine motor practice.  My daughter had to use her tweezers to sort and/or pile up the little erasers. As a teacher, I hated this erasers because they work terribly.  However, they are great  small toys for toddler activities. I look forward to using them next year for patterns and simple math activities. And the best part, you get like 60 of them for $1!

Yellow: Sensory with Play Dough

As you may have seen in a previous blog, I enjoy making my own play dough.  I love the texture, smell, and colors I am able to create when I make my own.  In this tub I simply place a few colors of play dough, some fall cookie cutters, a rolling pin, and a play dough knife.  Super simple but something that my daughter could play with independently and clean up on her own!

 

Green: Build a Jack-o-Lantern

This was her favorite tub of the week and honestly a last minute idea.  She is always begging to use glue, so I decide to create a tub around that.  I used orange construction paper and cut out a bunch of pumpkin shaped pieces. By layering the paper and folding it in half, I was able to make 6 pumpkins at a time.  Then, I used black paper to cut out circles, triangles, and squares for eyes and noses. I also used the black paper to cut out a variety of mouths. The last color I used was green to make stems and leaves.  

I placed all these pieces in the tub along with 2 glue sticks.  I did work with her to create the first pumpkin. We talked about what all of the pieces could be and where they would go.  After that, she made TONS of pumpkins independently. I actually ended up adding to this tub later in the week because she was begging to make more.  She was so proud of her creations that our whole fridge is now covered in pumpkins!

 

Blue: Do-A-Dot Art

Another simple and independent one here!  I googled free printable fall dot art and printed out about 10 pictures. I placed these pictures, which I copied on card stock, into the tub along with 5 fall colored dot markers.  Limiting the number of colors prevents it from being too overwhelming. I also reviewed how to properly use the markers along with the importance of putting the caps back on well before returning the tub to the shelf.

Bonus Activity:  Pumpkin Hammering

Reagan loves using any of the tools that she sees either my husband or myself using around the house.  So getting to use a wooden hammer and dad’s golf tees was very intriguing. I helped her the first time to start some small holes, but then she was happy to pound away on her own! 

And that is it!  We absolutely did other fun activities like painting and carving pumpkins, visiting a pumpkin patch, and cooking delicious pumpkin flavored treat together.  Yet, I am not going to focus on all of them in these weekly blogs or it would get way too lengthy!

 

So…..please let me know what you think of this new format!  Is it something that you find helpful, or not really your style?  Would you consider setting up an area such as this in your house?

Thoughtful Themes: Transportation

This last week we focused on transportation.  Reagan LOVES trains, always wants to talk about the vehicles we see on the road, and is constantly asking about airplanes!  So spending a week focusing on transportation just seemed to make sense. Below are some of the books we checked out from the library this week:

Craftivity #1: Stop Light to go with Red Light, Green Light by Yumi Heo.

My dear friend taught my daughter a song about stop light colors that goes:

Red means stop,

Green means go,

Yellow watch out,

You better go slow!

My daughter was obsessed.  Asking me to sing it all the time, and singing it herself!  That is where the idea for the stop light came from. And, it was a great opportunity for my daughter to practice cutting and gluing.

I simply traced 3 circles, using a white crayon, onto black construction paper.  Then, my daughter helped me cut the strips of red, yellow, and green paper into tiny squares.  Finally, she glued them into the proper circles on the black construction paper. Project complete!

Craftivity #2: Name Train to go along with The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper

This is a book that has been around forever, and is still loved as much today as 50 years ago.  It teaches such a great lesson! My daughter actually liked this book so much, she slept with it in her bed for the whole week.  Our activity for this one was making a train that spelled REAGAN we have been working a lot on her name and the letters that make it up.  This activity gave her practice in identifying the letters and placing them in the correct order. 

I printed the train engine clip art onto colored paper and wrote the letters of her name on scraps of construction paper.  Reagan was able to help me glue everything in the right order and add the cotton balls to look like smoke. I used a black marker to add the final details.

Honestly, these were the only 2 bigger projects I did with my daughter this week to go with our theme.  Since she goes to preschool 3 days a week now, I only do “tot school” at home with her on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  We absolutely read the books multiple times, pulled out all of our transportation puzzles, vehicle play-doh stamps,  lacing car cards, and cars to use in sensory bins; yet no other planned activities.  

 “Thoughtful Themes” posts are probably going to be shorter, but hopefully they still inspire you to try something new with the little love in your life!

Festive Fun: Fourth of July

With our country’s birthday just around the corner, I thought a holiday post was in order.  Since our family spends this holiday at the lake, I will keep this one brief.  

I decided to only select 2 books this week and do a craftivity to accompany each story.  The two activities this week should take less than 30 minutes each. The two books are Daniel’s First Fireworks by Becky Friedman and The Night Before the Fourth of July by Natasha Wing.

 

 

Daniel’s First Fireworks by Becky Friedman

This one was an easy choice!  We don’t watch a ton of television at our house, but my daughter LOVES Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.  We watch one episode of this before bed every night. I hate to admit, but I actually love this show too.  It teaches great lessons and the song are annoying catchy.

A few weeks ago my daughter heard fireworks and they really scared her.  This book/episode really helped me talk to her about being scared and what to do when you feel scared.  We haven’t made it to the Fourth of July weekend yet, but I’m really hoping this book and our conversations have prepared her at least a little.  It could be a rough couple of night for sleep, so wish me luck!

For our activity, we made a fireworks painting with straws.  I took 6 cheap bend straws that I had in the pantry and taped them together.  She simply dipped them in blue and red paint and stamped them on white paper. Super easy and she loved it!

The Night Before the Fourth of July by Natasha Wing

I love the “Night Before Books” for pretty much every holiday.  This is a cute story about a family planning for the Fourth written with rhyming lines.  It is age appropriate for toddlers and something that they can relate to. It is also very similar to how our family celebrates.

To go along with this story we make a festive necklace using a shoestring, blue beads, and cut up red paper straws.  All things I had at home already. This activity went extremely well! We talked about patterns and my daughter worked on her fine motor skills while threading.  She is very proud of her necklace and will be wearing it to our Fourth of July parade.

I hope everyone has a fun, safe Fourth of July and is able to enjoy some quality family time!  

 

Thoughtful Themes: Fun on the Farm

As you probably know, I was previously a teacher and I LOVE thematic units!  When kids get really interested in a topic and learn about it through a variety of activities, it sticks.  So this week we read, learned about, and explored farms.

So where do you start…..BOOKS!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I check out a TON of books.  When I picked up my batch of farm books this week I had about 25.  These are just the books that came up when I searched for juvenile picture books about farms.  Many of them I have never read before.

So what do I do with all of these books?  I read them to my daughter. Do I complete an activity with each book?  Absolutely not! However, while reading them, I think about which ones lend themselves to a fun toddler activity.  This is where my teacher brain takes over. I think of ideas while reading these books with my daughter the first time, then I create activities to go with a few of them.  These selected books I will reread with my daughter prior to our learning fun.

 

This week the three books I decided to focus on were Mrs. Wishy-Washy’s Farm by Joy Cowley, Blue Goose by Nancy Tafuri, and I Spy on the Farm by Edward Gibbs.

Mrs. Wishy-Washy and Mrs. Wishy-Washy Farm

I read both of these books with my daughter and decided they were perfect for sensory play. The stories are both about farm animals getting dirty and Mrs. Wishy-Washy having to give them a bath in her big tub.

Prior to reading these to my daughter, I hid some of her little plastic farm animal in a garden container that I hadn’t gotten around to planting.  But really you could hide them in dirt anywhere around your house or in a little tub of dirt. When we were done reading the books, I told her I was worried that some of her animals may have been naughty and gotten dirty too.  

We went outside, and sure enough, they were a mess!  I got her a “tub” full of soapy water, some brushes, and a towel. I asked her if she could clean her animals just like Mrs. Wishy-Washy.  She loved taking care of her animals and mama got to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful day!

Blue Goose by Nancy Tafuri

This book was new to me, but as soon as we started reading I knew it was perfect for an art lesson!  Basically, it is about some animals that decide to paint their gray farm to make it colorful. It teaches primary colors and how to mix them to make secondary colors.  

We haven’t used our easel to paint in a while, so this was the perfect opportunity.  I made the very simple chart you see pictured below and decided to make the painting a messy adventure.  I painted her left hand the first color and her right hand the second color. She stamped them each separately on the paper.  Then, we predicted what color we would get if we mixed them together. Now the fun part! I let her rub her hands together to see what color it would make.  We stamped the result and filled in the color word. Have a pack of wipes ready!

 Super simple, but fun AND educational. After finishing the chart I gave her some free time to just paint whatever she wanted.  I do love structured play, but I also think creativity is really important!

I Spy on the Farm

If you have never read an “I Spy” book by Edward Gibbs, I highly recommend.  My daughter loves them. Very simple and interactive! After reading this book with my daughter we played a little I Spy on our front porch.  Such a simple game, but it really makes your toddler observe their surrounds and think about what you are describing.

After playing for a little bit, we got out our sensory tub.  For this activity, I filled the sensory tub with birdseed and hid farm puzzle pieces under the seed.  You could also use dried beans, oatmeal, or corn. I chose bird seed because we had a bag in the garage and we could use it to feed the birds AFTER our sensory play.  As I said, I’m very thrifty and try to entertain my daughter using as little cash as possible. I would describe one of the animals I hid in the seed and she had to “spy” the animal I was describing.  If you don’t have a farm puzzle, you could hide little plastic animals you have lying around the house.

Other Farm Related Activities/Toys

These are all things that we already owned that were farm related.  I searched through our toy room and found:

  • String a Farm Lacing Toy – I love these for toddlers who are just learning how to thread objects.  They are sturdy and the string has a really nice wooden tip.
  • Fisher-Price Little People Farm Animals – This linked set is a little different than mine, but the same idea.
  • Farm Puzzle – I pretty much love everything Melissa & Doug sell.  Very quality toys!
  • Around the Farm Game – I personally love board games, so I’m trying to instill that same love in my daughter.  This game is very simple, but it starts the process of teaching a toddler how to play a board game.
  • Wooden Farm Set – Back to my love of Melissa & Doug!  This is a nice wooden set my daughter loves playing with.

***Please do not feel like you need to buy any of the books, toys, or puzzles that I linked in this post.  I simply put the links there in case you wanted to see what they looked like or want to buy them. They are not required to complete most of the activities listed.  As for the books, you should be able to check them out from the library if you aren’t interested in adding them to your home library.***

Farm Field Trip

This week my daughter and I visited a strawberry farm for a U-Pick Strawberry event.  It was the first time I have ever been strawberry picking, but it will be an annual tradition now.  It was so fun, cheap, and delicious! My family goes apple picking every fall, but I honestly think strawberry picking is better for toddlers because it is low to the ground.  See if you can find a farm near you that offers this activity, I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Hope you enjoyed this week’s Thoughtful Theme.  Let me know if you have any feedback, I’d love to hear from you!

Fun at your Fingertips: Rainbow Rice

 

Sensory tubs are a must at our house! Not only because my daughter loves them and they are great for development, but they are a sanity saver! Nothing keeps my daughter occupied and happy as long as sensory play. It is also great to use for a variety of learning topics, so one big batch can create months of learning fun!

The current batch that my daughter is playing with I started back in February when I hosted a Valentine’s Day party. Rainbow rice is cheap, easy to make, and cleans up extremely easily.

I recommend getting most of the supplies at a dollar store. Personally, I go to the Dollar Tree. I bought 5 bags of white rice, 1 package of gallon Ziploc bags, and a roll of parchment paper. The only other thing you will need is liquid watercolors. This is something I always have because I use it for a variety of craft projects. If you don’t have any I recommend buying a set on Amazon. I promise you will use them for other things too. I bought the Colorations 6 pack which cost about $25. Some people use food coloring mixed with vinegar, but that can be smelly and doesn’t produce as bright of colors.

Once you have all of your materials, you can make your rice in less than 15 minutes and even let your child help! Pour one bag of rice into a gallon bag and add a ¼ cup of liquid. I mix the liquid watercolors with some water to compose the ¼ cup. For brighter colored rice use more watercolor and less water, and for a lighter shade use more water.  My go to ratio is 2 Tbsp of watercolor and 2 Tbsp of water.  There really is no science to this. Now the fun part! Zip the bag and shake away. My daughter loves helping with this step. You want to make sure the rice is completely covered. 

Once it is thoroughly coated, pour it onto a sheet of parchment paper to dry. It takes about 1-2 hours to completely dry.  Often, I make this right before nap time with my daughter so it is dry, and is ready to be enjoyed when she wakes up!  To help with the drying process I stir it around on the paper occasionally.

After it is completely dry, I pour it into our sensory tub. I bought one large shallow tub with a lid from Menards. It cost around $5. When I switch out the rice for a different medium, I put the rainbow rice in 2 small containers with lids that I bought at the Dollar Tree. That way they are easier to store and I only need one large tub.

It will look this beautiful for about one minute until your child mixes it all up!

This kept her happily playing for over an hour!

Tips for Play:

  • Provide spoons, cups, bowls and just let your child explore! My daughter loves just scoping the rice and pouring it from container to container.
  • Hide objects in the sand for your child to find. They can be foam letters if you are working on the alphabet or plastic animals if you just want something fun for them to find. I have even hidden puzzle pieces.
  • To add more fine motor, give your child tweezers or tongs and see if they can use those to find objects.

Tips for Maintenance:

  • Always place the tub on a large tablecloth while your child plays with the rice. Rice will find its way out of the tub no matter how much you tell your children to keep it in. When playtime is done, simply pick up the table cloth from the corners and pour it back in. This way you don’t lose any rice and clean up is easy!
  • If some rice gets off the table cloth, just vacuum it up.
  • After a week of play, store it in a small tub or Ziploc bag. It keeps for months so no need to throw it away. Like I said, by current batch I started back in February.

Have you ever tried making rainbow rice? Did this motivate you to give it a try? Please let me know if it was a success for you or if you have any question!

Teaching Your Tot: Where do you start?

Rooster Reading

 

This is a simple, and hopefully free, step: GET A LIBRARY CARD! I honestly could not create and teach my daughter half of the things I have without my library card. I know that everyone is going paperless and turning to technology in many facets of life, but kids need to physically hold books in their cute little hands.

I probably check out over a hundred books a month for my daughter. Now I know some of you are cringing at the thought of searching through the library for specific books while your toddler is running up and down the aisles pulling out books and throwing them on the floor. This does not have to be the case! Truthfully, I VERY rarely look for the books myself. Most libraries have a system online where you can select the books you want on their website, the librarian pulls all of the books you choose, binds them with a rubber band and labels them with your name. MAGIC! Think of it like grocery pickup for books and it is FREE!

As I post more you will see how I structure my week with a theme, but it all starts with the books! I used to feel bad for the poor librarian that sees the 30+ books I have selected for the next week’s theme, but the guilt has gone away. I tried to imagine how I would feel if I was the librarian looking for all these books. Are there any other things she could be doing that are more important than finding books that will make a child learn to love reading? Now I may not be a librarian, but I was a teacher. One of my favorite things about teaching was seeing the joy that a good book brought to a student. So now, when I bring my jumbo reusable shopping bag into the library and load it with all the books that the librarian so kindly gathered, my only thought is of how much fun my daughter and I will have reading these books and doing activities to go along with them.

So, your first “homework assignment” is to get a library card. If you already have one, great! The next step is to check out your city’s library website. Look for their online catalog and search away!

Below I took some screenshots to show how easy it is to request books online. Some of you may have done this when requesting a book from another library through interlibrary loan. However, I have discovered that many people don’t know you can select all of your books this way to save yourself from hours of searching!

Here I selected my theme of butterflies and narrowed it to just juvenile picture books. When I see one I want, I simply click place hold.

Then you submit your request and can continue looking for more books to place on hold!

I hope this helps you find more books to read with your little and will be a very helpful skill if you choose to use some of the same books as me in the future!

Happy reading!