Educational Playtime

Summer Vacation Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:00:04 PDT

This summer we took our kids on a trip to Sea World. Education does not take a vacation with preschoolers around. They are constantly learning so it's best to make the most of every situation. I found a book called Baby Whales Drink Milk by Barbara Juster Esbensen, and we read about different kinds of whales, that they breathe air, and, of course, that they drink milk. My kids love learning about animals (especially the 4 year old), and starting the learning before you leave is a great way to help them remember what they learn while on vacation. Creating a themed day is nice too. We took along with us gold fish snacks and Punkin wore a shark shirt. We discussed what we would see at Sea World for about a week before we went and read the book many times. After each of the two days we spent at Sea World, we reminded the kids about all the things we saw while we were there. This helps them remember. As a teacher, I always remember to "tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them and then tell them what you told them." Of course, you have to find fun ways of doing this with such little ones, but it's the same concept: if you want your kids to remember that awesome vacation...review it with them. "We had such a great day didn't we? Let's see...what did we do? We rode the bus with Shamu on it to Sea World, we watched Shamu jump, and we went to feed the sea lions! What was your favorite part of our day? Was Shamu big or little? How big was he? Oh wow! That is really big!"

Set the stage!

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 20:51:01 PDT

Peanut loves being on stage. She is constantly putting on shows for us in the living room. She gets the bathroom stool as her stage and tries to do a ballet on it or does a puppet show for us. We set our own stage for her puppets by throwing a blanket over the end table. She then tells us stories with her puppets.

Puppets and creative drama are a great way for your little one to learn to tell stories. Telling stories will help them write, have great reading comprehension and understand the structure of a story. Remind your little one of the parts of a story: beginning, middle and end by asking them what happened next? Did the big bad wolf come? Was there a problem? How did the piggies get rid of the wolf? How was that problem solved in the end? Help your child make up his or her own story by asking questions to help them create a complete story line.

New baby in the house!

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:38:00 PDT

We've had another child. I know I'm so far behind on updating you all...Anyway, we have a 4 month old in the house: Pinkie Pie. She is the sweetest little thing, and I must say she makes for lots of new learning experiences for big sister and brother. Punkin had a few days of carrying around his own doll and feeding it (just like mommy does...), burping it and rocking it.

Both my 2 and 4 year old are learning to be more gentle as well as other new concepts. They are learning about germs and why we can't put our hand in our own mouth and then touch the baby's hands. We've been discussing why baby Pinkie Pie doesn't need a time out for hitting her big sister, and unfortunately we've also experienced two week long visits to the hospital which really opened up new things to learn. (Pinkie Pie stopped breathing multiple times--apnea-- and we spent two different week long visits in the hospital observing her and deciding it is the reflux that causes the apnea.) Thank God she is doing MUCH better now, but you can see why postings have been sparse for a bit.

Anyway, our new addition Pinkie Pie will be showing up in posts in the future as we all learn and grow together!

JBF Sales

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:35:19 PDT

One of my favorite places to shop for the kids is the Just Between Friends sale in my area. I absolutely LOVE buying nice things second hand since kids grow so fast! www.jbfsale.com. I have found great clothes and toys! Of course, I look for great educational toys and books. Kids grow out of things so fast as I'm sure you all know so you can find lots of things that are barely used, and it's a great way to clean out your closet and make a little money in the process. Consigning is the BEST! Hope you have a JBF sale or something similar in your area; it's the greatest!

Melissa & Doug Deluxe Dinosaur in a Box Jigsaw Puzzles

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 11:38:39 PST

I know it's been a while since I posted, but I had to share this puzzle with you! My 2 and 3 year olds LOVE these puzzles. My son is earning them with a chart when he goes poopoo on the potty :) It's been a perfect motivation for him. He's earned a box of vehicle puzzles, one with farm animals and one with pets. Now we are working on the dinosaurs.

The puzzles are wooden so they last much better than cardboard. There are twelve pieces in each puzzle and each box has 4 puzzles, but they are marked on the back with a different shape for each puzzle making it easy to sort them. My little ones are entertained daily by these puzzles, and we all know how great jigsaw puzzles are for little ones' development!

Rainy Day Blues

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:18:59 PDT

We've had a lot of rain lately, and we can't get outside :( So what do you do with a 3 year old and an almost 2 year old inside all day? It's best to keep them busy!

Here are some great games to get the little ones moving inside!

Lilly Pads: Have your little one throw socks or wash cloths all over the living room. Then put a toy frog in the middle. Have them jump out on the Lilly pads to save the frog.

Simon Says: Surely you can already play this game :)

Follow the leader: Great exercise for you and the little one.

Dancing with mommy or daddy! Get out there and cut a rug to your little one's favorite tune. Jump, sway, wiggle, rock, stomp and tip toe to the beat of the song. We love Imagination Movers tunes!

Kids need some get up and move time in order to develop their muscles and burn off some energy so get up and play even on a rainy day.

balloon story

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 08:49:48 PDT

So we went out to eat last night. Peanut begged for a "bwoon" (balloon)toward the end of the meal which the hostess gave her on the way out the door. I tried to tie it on her wrist to lots of protests so I told her to hold on tight or it would fly away. Of course, it did just as we were maybe 1/2 way to the car. It was her first time to lose a balloon so I felt that she could go ask for another one this time. Daddy took her back in to ask. She came out with a nice big smile and a red balloon. As soon as we got to the car, it popped for apparently no reason at all. Wow. What a sad day. We are push over parents I guess because we couldn't stand all the sadness, and we went to Party City to get her a Mylar balloon. When will she learn she doesn't always get a new balloon?....well, not yesterday obviously :)

Free Schwan's food!

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 12:38:33 PDT

If you aren't yet a Schwan's customer, you can get $10 worth of food free! Go to www.schwans.com/free

A new little one on the way

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:04:55 PDT

Sorry about the lack of posts lately! I'm so sorry, but I have a good excuse. I'm Pregnant! I'm quite sure I will do a much better job keeping up after the first trimester. I'm due March 23rd so I'm about 8 weeks now. We are really excited to be having our 3rd child.

Letter A activities

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:55:00 PDT

Do you have a child who's starting school soon, or maybe you're planning to home school? It's never too early to give them a head start. School starts in only a few short weeks, which means you still have time to help them get prepared. To help you out, Kid's Activity Calendar is giving away a pretty nice kit of activities around the letter 'A'. This pack includes Fun alphabet snacks that start with the letter A, Letter A coloring sheets, Letter A search worksheets, Letter A trace sheets, Letter A flash cards, and Game or outing of the week focused on the letter A. You can download them for free from http://www.kidsactivitycalendar.com/letter-a-sample.htm

My favorite toddler instrument

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:46:00 PDT

I really like to play with rhythm sticks with the kids. They are just so versatile. You have to watch. I don't let the youngest kids walk around with them because they put them in their mouths and might fall down. You, of course, have to be careful about hitting too, but I usually have no problems with that because they are busy doing the activities I've asked them to do. We go down to the workshop together and hammer, saw (making the noises ourselves and using one stick at the saw and one as the board), drill holes (pounding the sticks on the ground vertically) and sand wood (rubbing the sticks together). The kids can help come up with loads of ways to play them. tapping them together normally or vertically or on our toes or tummies. We tap them on the floor, like hammer or tap jus the ends together. The kids really get into making new ideas for how to play.

I put all of our instruments away when I am not playing with the children with them. I never leave them where they can get them and treat them improperly. We discuss how to handle them carefully and how they are for our special music time for making music.

Maracas

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 18:34:39 PDT

These are "maracitos" by Edushape. They are small maracas just perfect for little hands. Like all our instruments we play with them under supervision and put them out of reach so I have no issues handing them to even a 6 month old. They make a nice loud shaking sound. They're colorful, and they've lasted quite well! Another of our favorite instruments! Make sure to get two! The youngest of children especially learn best with an instrument in each hand. Besides, this way they can tap them together if they like. The crevices on the handle can be hard to clean, but that's a good reason to keep them special for music time with mom, dad or grandma/grandpa. That way no food particles will be stuck in those little holes.

Another drum!

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 06:46:17 PDT

Here's the other drum we keep around. We must have at least two with the two kids :) They love this one just as much as the wave drum. It's a Lollipop Drum. It makes a nice sound. It's not too expensive, and it has lots of pretty colors to attract the little ones. Remember play the big beat (slower) and the little beat (faster) for your child as you play with rhythm instruments together. Your child will probably be able to feel and play the little beat sooner, but keep letting them hear the big beat as you tap it out on the floor or your knees, and eventually they will play it too.

Wave Drum

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:36:28 PDT

As you know we love making music in our house so I thought I would share some of our favorite instruments with you. Kids love drums so we made sure we had one for each of our kids. This is instant entertainment. This type drum is called a wave drum. It's fairly inexpensive and provides two ways to play. You can listen to the beads rolling around inside making wave sounds or beat it with the mallet which is my kids favorite thing. They love watching the beads bounce around inside. Just turn on some music and watch you kids love learning and playing with rhythm

play dough molds

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:07:03 PDT

I love setting Peanut up with some play dough at the kitchen table while I make dinner or do dishes, and she loves it too. We have the Play Dough ice cream maker which she received from a friend from her birthday, and some other molds. She loves the ice cream maker, and play dough it comes with is so cute. The only thing I don't like is getting all the play dough out of it at the end of play time so we don't have dried play dough there next time, and she has a hard time pushing the lever down herself and so needs help from me. It does have tons of molds all over it for her to make fun shapes. I have found that our own cookie cutters will entertain her quite a while though too. Also, one of th plastic knives from her tea party set is great. She feels like a grown up getting to cut with a knife.

Things Kids say :)

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:46:23 PDT

My little guy has heard "eh,eh, no no baby" a lot apparently. He has started saying it to me, my husband and Peanut. He says, "eh,eh no, no baby _____." In my case, "Eh, eh, no, no baby mama." LOL :)

Puzzles!

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:26:02 PDT

My kids adore puzzles! Punkin is the quickest little puzzle worker you've ever seen. It's one of his favorite activities. His favorite is a helicopter puzzle that plays sounds and lights once all the pieces are in place. Puzzles are a wonderful way to teach your kids all kinds of new skills. They learn spacial awareness and hand-eye coordination. Puzzles teach the kids logic and thinking skills as well as how to make and test inferences. Not only that they give you a jumping off point for discussions on colors, numbers, animals or shapes.

Of course you will want to start your baby or young toddler out with wooden puzzles, but Peanut has just moved up to using the $1 store 24 piece jigsaw puzzles. She loves them!!!
We spend lots of time discussing the puzzles and helping her make connections, guesses and fitting pieces together. We talk about how the pieces with flat edges go on the outsides. We look at the pieces we already have together and the picture on the box. I ask her what we are missing. What does Pooh need here? Oh, he needs his ear? Can you find a piece with Pooh's ear on it? We only do the jigsaw puzzles when Punkin is in bed so as not to lose pieces to the little guy, but it's one of Peanut's favorite activities.

My new Etsy store

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:25:45 PDT

I have opened a store at Etsy! I'm so super excited. I have been making my little peanut bows and socks for a while now, and I have tons of left over ribbon so I started making them as shower gifts and birthday gifts for little girls, and now I've opened a shop.

ribbons4aprincess.etsy.com

Enjoy! Please visit me there, and I'll post something fun to do with your kids really soon. I've been working this week teaching 6-8 year olds Musical Theatre so I'm a bit behind, but I'll get all caught up, and share something fun this week!

An adorable giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:24:33 PDT

OK it has nothing to do with education, but it's a really great give away with another blog I follow. Aren't these just the cutest shoes? One of my favorite blogs: A Princess and her hair, is having a giveaway with See Kai Run shoes. The shoes have flexible soles for growing feet, and are so cute; I just love them. OK so, click the Princess and her hair link above to enter for a chance to win a pair of shoes for your little learner.

Chores

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:08:23 PDT

Does your preschooler have a chore yet? Chores can help kids learn they are an important part of the family. Give them something they can handle and be in charge of "remembering" (with a little help). Peanut's job is to feed the fish and water our tomato plant. She remembers with help from mommy or daddy, and she feels important because the plant and the fish are depending on her for their food and water. She also learns that she must take care of her own responsibilities.

A colorful walk!

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:50:12 PDT

Peanut just learned to pedal her trike by herself! What fun! We took two little strolls/rides down the street and back yesterday. She was so cute :) Punkin walked along with me and worked on his colors as we went. Colors seem to take a while to learn. They are so abstract, but if you find something that interests your child, it makes the learning easier. Punkin loves cars. He loves to find Grammy's car, Mommy's car, Daddy's car etc. He names each one every time he sees it, so we took the opportunity to name the colors of each car as we went. We saw a red car, a silver car, a blue one etc. Punkin spent the entire time looking for a yellow car. Seems odd to me he has chosen to learn to say "yellow" first. I would think that's one of the harder ones to say, but whatever. He continually said, "yellow car?" So cute!

Mary Mary quite contrary

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:00:01 PDT

Dealing with a contrary toddler will make you want to pull your hair out. I spend lots of time trying to trick Peanut into doing what I need her to do. If I say do you want _____. The answer is always no! She constantly changes her mind. I have learned to give choices rather than leaving the question open ended or even asking if she will or wants to do one thing. It seems to be best to say: "Do you want to go potty or go to bed now?" "Which of these two books do you want to read first?" (giving her the choice of all the books could take 10 years for her to pick). I try not to ask if she needs to go potty when I need her to go (like if we are about to leave somewhere or before bed). I say, "I'm going potty." (which makes her say, "I want to help!" She then goes first) or I say, "I'm going potty. Who goes first? You or me?" The answer is always "me!"

So what are some of your tricks for dealing with a contrary preschooler?

Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann and Elizabeth Kann

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:47:34 PDT

One of our favorite books right now. We read it pretty much every night. Pinkalicious teaches self control and satisfaction with oneself. It's a really fun story which leads us to discussions about not throwing fits, how beautiful God made our Peanut just the ways she is and how it's healthy to eat a variety of foods. Peanut loves pink just like Pinkalicious does so she has a great time watching her eat pink cupcakes, wear a pink princess dress and turn pink!

I spy bag

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:00:03 PDT

I bought the kids each an I Spy bag from Gramma's I Spy Bag. The kids had a great time with these. Punkin got his only under close supervision since it says 3 and up, but he knows when he's missing out so we went ahead and got him one. The little treasure bags entertained the kids for about 45 minutes to an hour. Hooray!

I paid the extra amount to get their names put in for them to find the letters one at a time. Of course, Punkin isn't ready for that yet, but he'll grow into it. Peanut had a great time looking for certain objects. I found it easier for her to just tell me what she found rather than asking her to find something specific in the car since I couldn't reach to help her. It does take showing the younger 3 and up child how to use the bag before handing it over in the car, but you also don't want to wear out it's novelty before a long trip.

Traveling Games

noreply@blogger.com (Creative Mommy Teacher) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 07:08:33 PDT

Well, we just got back from our big family trip to Arkansas. We had a great time and found some great strategies for keeping the kids occupied and happy in the car.

The kids, of course, are now 1 and 3 so these strategies are for little ones. We couldn't use some of the standby car games like I Spy or License plate games. We brought a whole host of entertaining toys.

First of all, I had made a metal lap tray for each child at my MOPS group (Mother's of Preschoolers). We took a metal cookie sheet, cut some cute cloth for the back and hot glued it all around the edge leaving one side open to stuff in some stuffing filler and then glued it down too. You do need to cut the cloth keeping in mind how much stuffing you will want so it will fit. Of course, you could just use the pain cookie sheet too. I didn't do the most beautiful job ever, but it worked. I borrowed some fridge magnets from my Mother in law, and the kids spent several hours of driving playing with the magnet games on the metal trays. We had the Leap Frog alphabet magnets and barn. The kids were really interested since we don't have these at home. They live at Grammy's house. Also, Sonic was giving away little gear magnet toys. I think it may be the end of them soon, but we got a few kids meals with those gears, and they entertained the 3 year old for quite a while. Once we went to sonic, and they gave us some other toy since they were out of the gears. We asked to see if they had any more, and they went and got them off of their own fridge for us. :)

More fun car ideas coming soon....