PInterest

Looking for a better way to organize the neat ideas you find on online?  Try Pinterest. It is a virtual pinboard where you can put ideas that you like and would like to share with others.  I recently came across it when I noticed my blog was getting pinned by other people.  I love it!!! Come on over and follow me and you can see what great educational ideas I've found recently and start following. You can check it out here. Don't forget to request an invite so you can join in on all the fun. 

Fun Frugal Summer Ideas

Trying to come up with some activities for the summer?  Here are some fun, frugal, activities we have planned.

• $1 Movies at Regal Cinemas-  On Tuesdays and Wednesdays Regal Cinemas will be playing G or PG movies for kids for $1.  To learn more go here.
• Local Library Summer Programs  Check out what's going on at your local library.  They usually offer free programs for children.  Our local library has music and movement activities, reading programs, puppet shows, and movie nights.
• Barnes and Noble Story Time- You can go here to see if you store is hosting story time.  Our Barnes and Noble also has a fun play area for children which is great for rainy days.
• Parks- Head to the park for picnic and play.
• Local Museums- Visit local museums.  Some charge a fee while others are free.  Many museums have specials.  You can get in the children's museum in Columbia, SC the first weekend of the month  for free if you are a Bank of America card holder.  You can go here for details.
• Zoo- Another great activity is going to the zoo.  We go so often we have a membership.  Our membership is also good at other zoos across the country.  Our zoo has membership nights, children get to go on rides for free, snacks are only $1, fountain drinks are free, and there are planned activities for the kids.  Our Zoo and Garden also offers classes for children for around $9.  For more information about Riverbanks Zoo go here. 
• Water Day-  Get out the sprinkler and squirt guns and have your own water fun at home.
• Local Pool or Beach-  Head to your local pool or beach.

These were just a few fun ideas.  For more great ideas in Columbia, SC check this page out.

Tot School Letters "U", "V", and "W"

Tot School

Letters U,V, and W

35 months

Our Tot School activites have been slowing down now the weather is nice out.  We do a lot of playing outside with friends instead, which I think is very important.  Here are some activities we have done recently.

Little Sweets read her alphabet book.

Little Sweets put the umbrellas in order from largest to smallest.  I got the printable from COHS.

Little Sweets put her umbrellas in numerical order.  You can print this out from here.

Little Sweets extended the pattern.

Little Sweets circled the matching letter.  I got this printable from COHS.

Little Sweets matched the picture with the correct letter.  You can print out picture cards from here.

Little Sweets used her fingerprint to make seeds on her watermelon. 

Tiny Tot School

 Peanut is learning to grab everything and is putting it in her mouth.  Here she is with Little Sweets sippy cup.  ( I poured the water out.)

For more tot schoo posts go here.

 

Review of the book "Daddy Dates" by Greg Wright

I recently received the book Daddy Dates courtesy of booksneeze.com. In this book, the author, Greg Wright shares his experiences raising four daughters. He explains how he built and fostered his relationships with his daughters by taking them on dates. Throughout the book Wright describes how he gets to know his daughters better. He includes a personality quiz and describes fifteen dates a father can take his daughter on.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. The book was entertaining and I really liked how the author gave practical advice on how to talk with daughters.  The author recognizes the impact a father can have on his daughter and the importance of building lasting relationships with daughters. This book is a great starting point for fathers who want to build a relationship with their daughter.

My husband also read this book. He enjoyed some of the content found in the book, but felt the author could have shared the same information in a shorter book. He also thought a lot of the information found in the book is common sense, but agrees that it may be helpful for some fathers.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. For more information about this program please go here.


Tot School Letters "S" and "T"

Tot School- Letters "S" and "T"

34 Months

Sticker Shapes

I printed out the shape of a triangle.  Little Sweets put stickers on the lines.

Stamp Cards

I made cards with circles on them.  Little Sweets stamped inside the circles.

Then she counted the stamps.

She turned the card over to check the number and then traced the number.

Stamp Patterns

Scissors

I got out my fun scrap booking scissors and helped Little Sweets cut paper. 

T is for Tracing

I made these tracing cards for Little Sweets.  They are laminated so she can reuse them.  We are really working on her fine motor skills and learning how to hold a writing utensil correctly. 

Teddy Bear-Positional Words

We used Little Sweets teddy bear during a lesson about positional words.  I didn't post all the pictures here are 2 examples. 

Inside

On top

Letter Bag

Little Sweets and I found toys that start with the letters "S" or "T".  Then she told daddy what each toy was and what letter it starts with.

Preschool Bag Activity- Blog Hop

Matching Game- I made this game from border I bought from the dollar tree.  To learn more about this activity or to join my blog hop please go here.  I'm hoping to meet more mommies who've come up with preschool activities that can fit in ziploc bag. 

Tiny Tot

This is Little Peanut I was going to use the nickname cutie pie, but I call her peanut more often.  She will be 4 months old next week.  She just started holding things with her hands.  She is growing up so quickly.

For more great tot school posts go here.

Preschool Bag Blog Hop Week 2

Preschool Bag Activity Blog Hop

Do you have an idea for an activity that a preschooler can do on their own or with some assistance by a parent, that is cheap, fun, and can fit in a Ziploc bag?  If you do, please link up. 

This activity is super easy to make.  I bought border at the dollar tree and cut one piece up.  The object of the game is to match the cut up pieces to a piece that is not cut up.  This border was little more difficult because Little Sweets had to pay close attention to details, specifically the size of the hearts.

Homemade Tracing Cards

I saw tracing cards at the store and decided it would be fun and cheaper to make my own.  I used Microsoft word to make the letters.  I printed out the cards and laminated them.  Little Sweets used a dry erase marker to trace the cards.  (You can now purchase washable, scent free, dry erase markers at wal-mart.)  These are great because they are reusable.  You may want to work with your child when you first introduce the activity.  I still have to help my little one hold the marker correctly. 

Please make sure you link back if you link up to this blog hop.  Thank You.  I can't wait to see all the great ideas.

Preschool Activity Bag Blog Hop

I spent most of Saturday night making preschool activity bags.   I knew I wasn't the only one to think of such a novel idea so I googled the words preschool bags and came across the blog Walking by the Way.  I was able to get some great ideas from this blog. There are also great ideas at Delicious Ambiguity.  Then today I saw on Money Saving Mom that another blogger had posted a busy bag swap.  What a great idea!!  I wish I had known about the post before I spent so much time making my own bags.  Since I am not the only one who has great ideas for preschool bags I thought it would be fun to start a blog hop.  If you have an idea for an activity that a preschooler can do on their own or with some assistance by a parent, that is cheap, fun, and can fit in a ziploc bag please link up.    The hop will start Thursday.  I can't wait to see everyone's ideas. 

Pony Bead Activities

Patterning

 This activity contains small pieces so please use parental supervision with young children.

I hot glued pony beads onto pipe cleaner.  Then I placed another pipe cleaner in the bag with matching beads.  The object of this activity is to have the child copy the pattern onto the other pipe cleaner.

 Color Matching

I placed a pipe cleaner and pony beads in the bag.  The child is to match the pony beads to the correct color pipe cleaner and to string them on that pipe cleaner. 

If you would like to join this blog hop please link your activity bag idea up on my website then post a link back on your blog so your followers can see other peoples ideas as well.

Tot School Letters "Q" and "R"

Letters "Q" and "R"

34 Months

Q-Tip Art

It was difficult to find letter "Q" activities.  I was going to have Little Sweets paint with q-tips, but since it was raining outside I had to come up with another activity.  I decided to tie the activity to our Bible Story.  The Bible Story we worked on this week was Noah and the Ark.  I cut out and colored the story from the curriculum More Toddlerifc Faith Building Activities.  After I told the story.  I reminded Little Sweets about how Noah obeyed God and how God was faithful in keeping Noah safe.  (This weeks character's trait is obedience.)  Then I made a rainbow with washable markers and Little Sweets dipped a q-tip in water and painted over the rainbow to spread the colors.

R is for Rain Stick

I helped Little Sweets make a rain stick.  She put stickers on a paper towel roll.  I used paper and contact paper to close the one end of the roll.  Then I rolled up a long piece of aluminum foil and placed it in the roll.  We poured rice in the roll and closed the other end with paper and contact paper.  It was easy and fun.

R is for Rainbow Rice

This activity wasn't planned.  Little Sweets had so much fun playing with the rice from the rain sticks that I decided to turn it into another activity. That is what I love most about teaching my little ones.  So many unplanned fun activities come from their interests and ideas.   We placed rice in a Ziploc back and added a few drops of food coloring. Then Little Sweets shook the bag.  Afterwards Little Sweets poured the rice in a large bowl and had playing with it.  She really enjoyed pouring it into other bowls. 

Raindrop Clothespin Letters

I made these last year for my April's showers unit.  You can down load the raindrops here. I glued the raindrops to clothespins and Little Sweets put the raindrops on the picture that matched the letter. 

Rain Boot Matching Game

I also used this game last year.  You can download the printable here.  Little Sweets matched the rain boots together. 

Raindrop Puzzles

Little Sweets matched the number of raindrops with the correct number on the clouds.  I also made this as a printable you can download it for free here.

R is for Rhyming

We went over some rhyming pictures and words that I had from a game I used when I was teaching.

R is for reading

Little Sweets loves to look at books.  She decided on her own that she wanted to read to her sister.  She picked out  a book and showed her the pictures.  This book has songs in it so Little Sweets sang the songs she knew and told her sister about the pictures.  So cute!!

Other Activities

Monkey Joe's

Little Sweets went to a place called Monkey Joe's.  Monkey Joe's has lots of inflatables for kids to jump on.  She enjoyed playing with friends. 

Preschool Bag Activity

Over the weekend I created a bunch preschool bag activities.  This week was Bead Activities.  I am also hosting a blog hop for other bloggers who wish to share their preschool bag activity ideas.  For more about this activity and the blog hop please go here.

For more great tot school posts go here.



Letter "P"

Letter "P"

34 Months

The weather here was beautiful this week so we spent a lot of time outside.  We did manage to do some tot school.  We worked on letter "P" and did some Easter activities.

P is for Popsicle Sticks

There are so many activities you can do with Popsicle sticks.  Here are a few that Little Sweets did.

Popsicle Stick Patterning

I made patterns with the sticks and Little Sweets told me the pattern and used more Popsicle sticks to extend the pattern. 

Popsicle Stick Sorting

Little Sweets sorted the Popsicle sticks by color.



Popsicle Stick Counting

Little Sweets counted the Popsicle sticks and then found the number card that matched.

Letters and Words

Little Sweets and I made letters out of the Popsicle sticks.  I made a word and Little Sweets read it.

Picture Match

This was an easy game I made.  I created the letter board using the computer.  I printed out picture cards to use from this website.  You can create your own using clip art, but I had printed out the cards for another activity so I decided to reuse them.  Little Sweets and I took turns turning over a picture card and placing it on the letter the picture started with. 

Painting

Little Sweets painted several pictures using water color paints.

P is for Princess

Little Sweets spent a lot of time playing with her princess dolls (and Ken).

Easter Activities

Daddy and Little Sweets are doing Resurrection eggs together.

I cut out and laminated the Easter story found in the curriculum More Toddlerific Fun Faith Builders.  I made props to go with the story.

I bought these cards from the dollar tree.  Little Sweets put the cards in numerical order. 

Tiny Tot

Cutie Pie giggled for the first time this week. 

Cutie Pie fell asleep on her belly for the first time this week. 

For more tot school posts go here.