Tot School Summer Randomness Week 2

Little Sweets is 24 months old

I've decided not to do theme's this summer.  We are still going to try to do tot school activities, but we will probably do some review with activities we've already done as well as add some new activities.  Here are pictures from this weeks activites.

Coloring Rigatoni Noodles

Little Sweets helped mommy color some rigatoni noodles.  We put a few drops of food coloring in a bag.  Then put noodles in the bag and shook the noodles up. Then we let the noodles dry on a paper towel.  We will use the noodles for sorting activities as well as lacing activities.

Lacing Noodles onto Pipe Cleaners

Little Sweets loved putting her rigatoni noodles on pipe cleaners.  She matched the color of the noodles with the color of the pipe cleaner.  This was the perfect lacing activity for her.  The other activities I've done with her seemed to be too difficult.  I am glad she enjoyed this activity. 

Pouring

My Little Sweets loves to pour.

Putting Noodles into a Cheese Shaker

Little Sweets worked on her fine motor skills as she put the noodles into the little holes.  We had to break the noodles in half because she didn't like them sticking out of the container.  Afterwards, she stood up and shook the container.

Color Matching Game

I made this game for Little Sweets so she could practice identifying her colors and sort pictures by color.  It was super easy to make.  I printed out the color names from the computer, glued them to the corresponding piece of construction paper.  Then I laminated the construction paper so we could reuse it.  I also put pieces of velcro on the mat and on the back of the pictures.  Little Sweets had trouble with the velcro so I let her place the picture on the mat without using the velcro.  

Tot School- Summer Randomness Week 1

I haven't really been keeping up with an organized tot school time this summer.   Here are some pictures of fun activities we have been doing during the day.   

Little Sweets playing with her alphabet game.

Little Sweets playing  a shape matching game I made for her birthday party.  The shapes have velcro on them and she has to match the shapes together.  She also identifies the shapes while she plays this game.

Dancing with friends at her birthday party.

Little Sweets pouring rice into a bottle.  We used the bottle as a maraca.

Working on her gross motor skills as she plays on the swingset in our backyard.  I can't believe she can climb the ladder to the slide all by herself. 

Little Sweets at the botantical gardens. 

Little Sweets loves the fish at the zoo. 

Little Sweets has been into trains.  We took a train ride at the zoo.

Little Sweets playing with her baby doll.  She is really into playing with dolls.  She loves to feed, dress, push them in her stroller and put them down for naps. 

Little Sweets playing in the sprinkler.

Little Sweets washing her baby in her sensory tub.

Little Sweets ran through the sprinkler as we watered the garden.

Little Sweets working on her fine motor skills as she sorts her beads by color. 

Fun Frugal Dora Birthday Party

2 Years Old Already!!!!

My Little Sweets just turned two.  We had a Dora Party to celebrate.  It was a ton of fun. 

We went on a fun Dora Adventure for Little Sweets' birthday.  Basically the story was that Swiper swiped the goodies from the goody bags.  Little Sweets got a note in her goody bag that said that Dora had found their goodies and that she wanted them to meet her at Marshmallow Mountain.  Dora sent backpack and map to help the girls get to Marshmallow Mountain.  The girls had to go down the slide and collect shapes.  The slide was wet so they had to get something out of backpack to dry up the water.  They found a towel and we wiped off the slide.  Then they went to the forest, where they ran into Swiper the Fox.  They told Swiper not to swipe their shapes.   After they left the forest (a small patch of trees in our yard) they went to the front door where they had to match up their shapes to the shapes on the door.  When they came in the front door there was a birthday cake on the table that had Dora on top of a marshmallow mountain.  The goody bags were also set out for the girls. 

Here are some pictures from the adventure.

The girls getting the shapes off of the slide.

Oh, no, it's that sneaky Swiper.  He wants to swipe our shapes!

 

Swiper, No, Swiping!!!!

The girls matching up their shapes so they could get in the front door.

Dora at Marshmallow Mountain with the Goody Bags

We also danced to Dora music and a CD we had with Bible songs. 

The girls also made music with maracas.  Some of the girls used homemade Maracas that we made by filling plastic bottles with rice and popcorn kernels.  Here is Little Sweets making the maracas. 

Ways we saved money:

We used the Dora items that Little Sweets owned for the party/adventure.  (She had backpack,  a Dora figurine, and a Dora CD.)

We made a homemade game to go with the adventure. 

(The Shape Matching Game)

We also made homemade maracas.

I made my own birthday cake.  I am no Cake Boss, but I think it turned out okay for a 2 year old's birthday.  Plus I was able to incorporate it into the adventure.  ( If you use coupons you could buy cake mix and frosting for around $1.00)  I've done it before, but unfortunately I haven't been keeping up with the coupons so I did pay full price, probably around $6.00.  It was still a lot less than the $35.00 cake I bought last year.

I did buy invitations which I am sure you can make on the computer for less money, but I thought they were cute so I bought them. 

I also bought Dora napkin and cake plates, but I got pink dinner plates, cups, and a table cloth from the dollar store.  I wanted to have some Dora items, but saved some money by using the pink paper goods too. 

We also saved money by having the party at our house.  I looked into having it at a local park, but it cost a lot to rent the pavilion.  Overall, it was just easier to have the party at home.

Tot School Week13 - Numbers

Little Sweets is 23 months old

This week we did not get to many of the activities I had planned. The four day week  threw us off and we had to rearrange our errand schedule.  Here are some of  the number activities we did get to. 

Number  Puzzles

Little Sweets worked on her number puzzles.  I helped her identify the numbers as she played with the puzzles.

Number Sort

Little Sweets sorted foam numbers.  We also identified the numbers while she sorted. 

StArt Activity Number Tree

After sorting the foam numbers Little Sweets glued the numbers to a tree.  This went with the story Chicka Chicka 123.  To learn more about this activity go here. 

Splash Pad

The park next to us has an awesome splash pad.  Little Sweets had a great time running through the water.  The park is a ton of fun.  I wish I had  more pictures, but my camera ran out of batteries. 

For more tot school posts go here.

stArt- Chicka chicka 123 project 2

I used this book for another start activity, but I love it so much that I had to use it again.  It is the perfect book to read since we are working on numbers this week.  After we read the book we made a number tree and glued foam numbers to the tree.  Little Sweets sorted the foam numbers into muffin tins before we did the art activity.  We talked about what each number was as she sorted and while she placed the numbers on the tree.  Little Sweets also colored the trunk of the tree.  ( I didn't have brown construction paper, but it worked out perfect because she loves to color.)  Here are some pictures from the activitity. 

For more stArt activities please go here.