Finger Print "Rain" Art

Even though it's only April 4, we've already had several "April Showers". The weather overall has been fantastic this spring, but even so this mama has been around the block enough to know it's important to have several rainy day activities in her toolbox! :)

Most kids love to paint, and if mine aren't closely supervised things nearly always dissolve into finger/hand painting. Imagine their delight when I squeezed out the paint and encouraged them to make finger prints all over the paper!

We started with a blank sheet and made several finger prints in different orientations and colors. We talked about how the blue ones looked a bit like raindrops. Then I drew an umbrella on a fresh sheet for each of them and encouraged them to create their own rainy day scene - complete with fingerprint raindrops! Both girls loved this, and afterward we switched back to free painting which they also enjoy. It was fun to see them plan their project in advance, get started and make edits along the way. We will definitely do this again!

What are your favorite rainy day activities?

Entertaining Kids at the Grocery - scavenger cards

If you're like me, the thought of inviting kids along on a shopping trip can set your nerves on edge! If someone had told my 16 year old self that sneaking out of the house for a solo grocery trip would be a rare chance for some alone time, I would have thought they were crazy. With EmDee's work schedule, the girls and I do most everything together and that solo trip really IS a rare one. I've found that involving the girls in our errands always makes things go more smoothly. So does avoiding meal and nap time, but that's a post for another day! ;)

Tis the season for seed catalogs, and we always seem to receive more of them each year. I've started crafting with them, and this is one of my favorites yet. I had the girls search for their favorite fruits and vegetables, along with some that I picked for them. Once the produce had been located, Sweetpea and I cut them out and Sweetpea and Sugar Plum glued them onto squares of cardboard from a cereal box we'd finished.

Once the cards were dry, the girls hole punched a corner, and we added the cards to one of our Dandelion teething key rings! Aren't these adorable? We can add or subtract to include produce that is actually on the grocery list, and the girls each get a ring. They are responsible for locating their produce, and if the trip is going well they get to help load their items into the cart as well.

I'm thinking of upcycling a grocery ad or two to include some more items from our shopping list.

What tricks do you use to make shopping with kids go more smoothly?

*disclaimer* Dandelion sent me several of their corn based teething rings to compost, and a few extras for the girls to play with. (isn't it cool that their corn based bioplastics will compost?!) I'll keep you posted as to how the composting is going, and in the meantime, the girls love their keys and grocery cards!

Measuring and estimating with cookie dough - YUM!

For those of us who homeschool or want to supplement our child's learning, the idea of adding one more thing to our already busy family life can seem daunting. In order to maximize our learning and make the best use of our time, I try and integrate learning into our daily activities as much as possible. Opportunities to introduce new concepts and practice problem solving are everywhere!

Today we were baking rainbow sparkle cookies (otherwise known as my fake out snickerdoodles) and took the time to discuss how to divide the cookie dough evenly, so that all the cookies would cook correctly. Sweetpea is still a bit young to fully grasp fractions, but this was a good introduction. We cut the chilled dough in half, then half again. We counted how many dough balls we had. Everything went into half again, more counting...and so on until we had the sized dough balls that we wanted.

After we started rolling dough balls and covering them with colored sugar and cinnamon we talked about how the balls had to be two inches apart. How do we estimate two inches, and what does that look like anyway? We got out a ruler and thought about it a bit. We decided to measure Sweetpea's fingers, to see how many together made two inches. It turned out we needed three fingers between cookie balls.

Our cookies came out colorful and evenly spaced. Sweetpea is obsessed with estimating now, and the idea of how big something is. She thinks it is hilarious that a foot used to be determined by the size of the kings actual foot.

What have you been learning lately? Do you teach in the kitchen?

Nature Walking

Sweetpea was captivated by the dragonflies and tadpoles at the edge of this pond during a recent trip to our favorite park. I loved the look of the clouds reflecting off the surface of the water.

We followed the stream that leads off the pond and I let the girls walk along the edge, this time watching the bugs that were skimming along the top of the water. What a wonderful opportunity to get them excited and investigating! And who would wander by next but a duck family out for a quick drink.


They didn't seem to mind that we were nearby, and the girls stayed still and quiet, just watching.



Is it any wonder this is our favorite park?

5 fun ways to practice counting and number recognition

We've been working on number recognition through play lately - and Sweetpea is really learning! I'm not sure she would tell you we've been practicing, but I hope that she would tell you we've been having fun.

Here are some of the games we've been playing:

Hopscotch: good for muscle control and coordination, added a step where we say the number our rock lands on. Another option is to choose the number you're going to try and land on.

Go Fish: I found some fairy playing cards in the dollar spot at Target and Sweetpea was so excited to play with them! We played the first few weeks with an "open hand" where we could see each other's cards and talk about which cards were matching, and what numbers were on each card. We are now to the point where we don't look at each other's cards, and only occasionally will she ask me to confirm a number.

Memory: We made our own cards for this, which was a fun project I'll share soon. I love memory for practicing any number of concepts in addition to card location - colors, numbers, words, patterns, etc.

Board Games: Our favorite for practicing numbers is The LadyBug Game. Here are some things I love about it - first, the number is printed big and bold on the card, and below there are the same number of squares (or aphids, depending on the type of card) so while kids are learning to associate numbers with counting they can count if they need to. Also, there are several entertaining characters in the game- ladybugs, aphids and a praying mantis. Sweetpea wanted to learn more about them, so we did some investigating online. Now when we see ladybugs, praying mantis and aphids in the yard or garden she recognizes them and we can talk about what we learned!

Taking advantage of everyday opportunities to count and identify numbers: obviously it's possible to overdo this, but when we are looking at signs, birds, flowers, etc or reading books I encourage Sweetpea to count the number of various things and to identify numbers.

How do you practice counting and number recognition? I'd love to hear what's working for you!

Helping children write and recognize letters

Sweetpea can sing you her ABCs without a hitch, but she has struggled somewhat with letter recognition and writing - probably because I'm not quite sure what approach to take in teaching her...so recently I came up with an idea that is working well and I wanted to share it!

We love to craft in the problem solvin' house, and there's nothing like glue {and even better, glitter!} to get Sweetpea jumping up and down excited to create. Now that the weather has warmed up, I've moved the messy crafts outside onto a drop cloth. Mama can breathe a bit easier and our craft sessions inevitably last longer this way. It's also nice to be able to rinse off in the baby pool afterward!

While Sweetpea has been dripping and smearing glue and glitter to her heart's content, I've been making letter sheets like the one above. One sheet for each letter, and once they dry I put them in a plastic sleeve and into our new alphabet binder. The sleeves are perfect for two reasons - they help contain the glitter, and they allow Sweetpea to trace the letters as she practices. Using a dry erase marker allows her to practice over and over on the same sheet, and she can "feel" the letter with her finger and with the marker as she traces. I've also been adding pictures that she can hopefully identify, and as she practices making her letters we think of as many words that start with that letter as we can.

Mail Time! Make your own mailbox...

Sweetpea has a little ride on toy that she loves to play with. It has a little compartment in the front and lately she stuffs it with her drawings and "delivers the mail". I saw this cute mailbox craft idea at No Time for Flashcards and thought she would enjoy it.

First we found a box that was the perfect size. I remember when I received this amazing and sweet gift from Sheri at Earth Mama Angel Baby that I knew this box would come in handy for a craft some day. (more on what was inside soon, one of these days when I'm a little more coherent)

I cut a slot in the lid and we used the box to measure the size of brown wrapping paper we needed to cover our mailbox.


Once we had the size about right there was much coloring and sticker application.

We then carefully wrapped the box in the paper and wrapped the lid as well.

Are you as fascinated with the process as Sugar Plum was?

Turned out our paper wasn't quite wide enough to wrap all the way around the box. Oops - there is a definite "back" to this mailbox. Interestingly enough I took pictures of this entire process and forgot to take a good picture of the finished product...

Here Sweetpea is "delivering" mail from the little compartment in her ride on toy to the mail box.

And now it's time to ride off into the sunset!

Playing Store - more play learning ideas

I mentioned last week that one of our favorite uses for the big cardboard box was playing store. I'm glad Sweetpea thinks this is so fun, because it's a great way to practice counting, vocabulary and grammar, and her manners.

Everything we use to play store are things we have around the house. We pick toys from the toy box to "sell" and they get displayed on top of the box. Then we need money, of course. For that, some small paper from a note pad will do the trick.


We decided to get fancy and decorate it to look like "real" money. (at least she got the color right!)


Now we're ready to play! We take turns being the customer. The customer gets Sweetpea's play purse filled with the money we made. Once all the money is gone, we switch places and start over.

Anyone in the market for a hairbrush or some mega blocks? :)

I mentioned before that this is a great learning game. Here are some of the things we are practicing while we play:

1) Vocabulary - we practice using the words of the toys and phrases that you would use in a retail environment. (Hello, how are you today? What can I get for you? Would you like to buy some...)

2) Grammar - it's a good chance to practice using correct verb tense and personal pronouns, for example.

3) Counting - we count the items purchased and we count the money when we are paying each other. It also gives us a chance to talk about the value of certain things, though I think this might be a bit over her head at this point - when she is the clerk nearly everything is $2!

4) Manners - we practice how to greet each other politely, when to say please and thank you, and appropriate ways to say goodbye.

What kind of play learning games do you play with your children? I'd love to hear about the games you use!

10 uses for a big cardboard box - the best toy ever!

We've all come down with some pesky colds and have stayed home this week keeping our germs to ourselves. Thankfully, we have the best toy ever on hand to help keep Sweetpea entertained throughout the day. What is the best toy ever, you ask? Why a huge cardboard box, of course. Here are a few things we've been doing with said box this week:

1. Playing store
2. Playing house
3. Decorating said house inside and out with markers and stickers
4. Playing hide and seek
5. Pretending to be a Jill in the box
6. Pretending the box is a boat and sailing the high seas
7. Putting chairs in the box and pretending it is a bus or train
8. Putting a sleeping bag and pillow in the box and pretending to camp under the stars
9. Getting in the box with a flashlight and making silly faces
10. Pretending the box is a library and "checking out" books to read

What kinds of things do you do with the big boxes that occasionally show up at your door?

Play Learning - More than a memory!

Sweetpea received this adorable memory game for her second birthday. While she loves the cards and frequently asks to "play" with her Dora cards, she really isn't ready to play memory as the instructions would indicate. Until we can follow the directions more closely, we've been playing with these sweet cards in other ways:

• With about 16 cards lying face up, we match like cards
• Group cards by like colored backgrounds and practice color recognition
• Make up names for each of the characters and create short stories with them (who is this, Sweetpea? That's princess Dora! What is princess Dora doing today?)
• Create slightly more intricate stories with sets of created characters
• Create designs and towers by stacking and arranging the cards around the table
• Practice counting the cards or the cards with specific characters on them