Two Feet High and Rising

Spoon Sort

2011-03-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

This was a quick and easy sort I created within minutes. I was working on making some other food trays and E was playing around with some of the things I have stored away.

He pulled out the pom poms and started spooning them into some bowls. I made a joke about the purple ones looking like grapes and things began to snowball. Soon, the red ones were cherry tomatoes, the tiny green ones became peas, yellow turned to corn, and the pink ones were cherries.

I went downstairs and grabbed something that I knew would be perfect for this activity and a tray was born.

Shape Sorter

2011-03-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything for T for quite some time and I wanted to mention one of my favorite basket toys to use with him. We have a bucket very similar to the one pictured below. It is a basic shape sorter but also has nesting cups.

Long before starting tray time with E, I used to sit and work with him on this toy. With both boys, I only presented circles and squares to start with to give them a better chance of success.

Online Food Games

2011-03-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

I found a few food games online that E has been playing the last few weeks.

Sid the Science Kid has a game where you have to pick food and put it on a plate for Sid. The goal is to pick a food from each group. At first it was hard, but E soon realized that the foods light up to match the colors on the plate.

Sesame street also has some food games and videos that E enjoyed. The nice thing about this site is you can search within each section for selections tagged food.

Pasta Necklace

2011-03-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

Continuing with our food theme, I had E make a pasta necklace this week. This simple and classic activity is great for working those little fingers.

E liked the necklace so much that he wore it for quite some time after making it. For the next few days, I would take the noodles off and have him practice making the necklace again.

Felt Board Food

2011-03-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

The felt board/pocket chart I received for Christmas came with a set of pictures and words all pertaining to a farm theme. I pulled out the food words and pictures and made a quick reading activity for E.

I simply put the words in the pocket chart and added the pictures to the board on the top. Then, I had E try and match the pictures to the words below.

He did a great job using first letter clues to figure out where everything went.

Sorting Food Groups

2011-03-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

Today, I tried to explain to E that there are different food groups. I used terms like different food families and he seemed to catch on somewhat. That's what I thought until he later told his father that pie was a food group.

Nonetheless, we are continuing with the idea even if I simply succeed in making him aware that there are different groups of food and we need a bit of each in our meals everyday.

I found a food group game (go figure) at a consignment sale a while back and decided to use the game pieces to make this tray. We used my veggie platter to sort the pieces into different groups. It helped that the pictures in each group had matching background colors.

We sorted them together and talked about the names of the groups as well as the foods within them. We put the junk food in the middle and talked about how we should only have a little of these things and how they should be eaten after we have eaten from the other groups first or on special occasions.

Food Books

2011-03-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

I went to the library this week in search of some books about food. I wanted to find some fun books that were more than then pictures of food and descriptions of food groups. These are a few of the fun books I found.

These are two books that E really liked. The pictures are all of food made into very creative pictures. We had fun reading them as well as trying to name what food each picture included.

This is a cute book with very simple text and pictures.

This book is a classic and for good reason. Beyond the wonderful text and pictures, there are so many teaching points one can gather from it. We have been reading it this week and I plan on exploring it further next week during tray time.

E is currently 35 months old.

Pancake Flip

2011-03-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

In keeping with our food theme this week, I made a pancake game for E. He loves pancakes and always wants to watch me make them. Seeing his interest in wanting to flip the cakes (which obviously I never let him do), I made one of his trays into a griddle and let him have his hand at flipping.

I attached a piece of black felt to the tray to help make it look more like a griddle. It ended up being necessary for E. Without it, the pancakes slid all over the tray and were difficult to get under with the spatula.

As for the pancakes themselves, I simply cut out circles, shaded them brown and laminated them. To make the game a bit more challenging, I added sight words with dry erase marker. I did this so I could change the words later without having to make more pancakes.

I had E flip the pancakes and say the sight word before turning over the next one. He really got into and kept telling himself to hurry before they burned. After he flipped the ones on the griddle, we added more I had in waiting and kept on in this way for some time.

Play Grocery Store

2011-03-11T13:34:00.000-08:00

This is simple but great idea my mother in-law gave me. She saves old food boxes and turns them into store items for her grandchildren. I decided to copy her.

I cleared a shelf in my pantry low enough for E to reach and then I added old boxes, containers and a grocery bag so that E could use it as his store. He enjoys picking out items and is thrilled when a new item is added to the shelf.

This kind of activity is lends itself well to learning experiences. For instance, E likes to try and fit all the items in his one bag and I was able to teach how to accomplish this. I showed him how to pack the larger items first and then fill in the spaces to maximize his space.

E also likes to "check out". We pretend to scan (and count) the items and he gets to practice how one pays and says "thank you".

Other times, we name the items and pretend to eat. Or, I request he go to the store and pick up certain items for me. He has even asked for a mixing bowl and spoon lately. I see him gathering ingredients and making various recipes.

Early Readers

2011-03-09T17:22:00.000-08:00

Last year, my wonderful in-laws called me to let me know that the school district they both worked for was giving away their old reading series books. They asked me if I would be interested in them and of course I said yes.

E is starting to show an interest in reading and already knows a few sight words and so I dug through the books that I had stored away and found these to go along with our topic of food this month (there were so many). Don't get me wrong, the literature isn't gripping or artful in any way, but these books definitely have their purpose with kids who are just learning to read.

Here is an example of what a lot of these books look like. Very simple and rhythmic text make these books perfect for building E's confidence in reading.

Finger Working Food

2011-03-08T13:19:00.000-08:00

I pulled out E's basket of cutting food to work his fingers and fine motor skills.

I also added white pom poms to different sized cups (different sized openings) and had him practice pouring without "spilling the milk".

Blender Math

2011-03-08T12:50:00.000-08:00

This month, E and I are going to tackle the topic of food. We started by using some fake fruit that I recently purchased at Target (decor section). I decided the pack of fruit could be used for an activity that would work on E's counting and reading skills.

I had E pretend to make smoothies with them. I got out my blender (blade removed for safety) and wrote up some recipe cards. I added color words to help E.

He would read the cards, add the right fruit, and then "blend" it all together.

I was glad the fruit I bought ended up having different types of apples and pears. It made the identification of fruit and reading a bit more challenging.

E really enjoyed this tray. In fact, he wanted to make a smoothie for Daddy when he got home.

E is currently 35 Months

Ice Cube Game

2011-01-23T18:28:00.000-08:00

E is still obsessed with the Hot Chocolate Game I made for him before Christmas and so I have been looking for ways to build upon the same concept.

So, while playing Don't Break the Ice after Christmas I thought to use the pieces as ice cubes in a new game. In this one, rather than working on adding and subtracting, we worked on equal sharing (early division).

I found 4 see-through cups and made a die with multiples of 4 on each side (4, 12, 16, 20). E rolls the die, counts out the number shown and then divides them among the cups equally.

We simply practiced saying "1 in here, 1 in here, 1 in here, and 1 in here. Now, 2 in here, 2 in here, 2 in here, 2 in here, and 2 in here." We did this until all the cubes we had counted out were placed in cups.

At the end of each turn, we counted to make sure all the cups were equal (or matched as E says). We then pretended to drink our drinks, dump the ice out, and do it again.

Several times E would have a pair that were not equal and it was a good chance for me to talk with him about how we could fix it. By the end of the week, he was starting to grasp that you have to find the cup that has too many and move some ice to a cup that has too few.

E is currently 31 months old

Scarves for Snowman

2011-01-20T18:17:00.000-08:00

Now that Christmas break is over and illness has cleared out of our house, we are finally back to our normal schedule. Currently, we are doing some winter activities.

I received this pocket chart/felt board for Christmas and I was so excited. I made a snowman with a set of different colored felt scarfs to go with him. I then created snowman sentence strips that mimic the rhythm of Brown Bear, Brown Bear (see second photo for words I used).

I also made color word cards and had E practice putting the right word in the blank spot as we changed the snowman's scarf.

Santa Sight Words

2010-12-10T12:25:00.000-08:00

E has started recognizing a few sight words. As such, I was looking for a fun sight word game that would fit into our Christmas theme. I couldn't find one that I liked, so I decided to make one on my own.

I stumbled across some Santa Sight Words and thought it would be fun to make a house with a chimney that he could drop the cards down as he practiced them.

I took a box and wrapped it in wrapping paper. I, then, took the scraps (flaps of the box) and made a door, windows, roof and chimney. The smoke is a white piece of felt taped to the inside of the chimney.

I cut out the Santa Sight Words and we said them out loud as we dropped them down the chimney. E would then say "Be careful, St. Nick!". It was too cute.

Check out more of our Christmas ideas by clicking here.

E is currently 29 months old.

Tree Cards with Corn Syrup Paint

2010-12-06T18:00:00.000-08:00

E had so much fun with our Thanksgiving cards that I wanted to do something this month for Christmas. I decided to have him make these tree cards.

I had seen this posting on painting with corn syrup and had been wanting to do it. Since the corn syrup paint would dry shiny, I thought it would look good as ornaments on Christmas trees.

I painted some trees on cards using Crayola Washable Paint (all I had) and let them dry overnight. The next day, I mixed corn syrup and food coloring and had E dip his brush in it and dot the trees.

The ornaments dried just as I had hoped. They were raised and shiny and E loved them.

Hot Chocolate Math Game

2010-12-03T11:54:00.000-08:00

This game was extremely easy to make and provided lots of entertainment for E. It was, by far, his favorite this week.

I took a large mug, a small cup, and a scrap of brown felt and made it into fake hot chocolate. I wrapped the small cup in felt and taped it in place. I then slipped it into the mug. Luckily, my cup fit perfectly inside my mug. I added a bag of marshmallows and a homemade die (made out of a lacing bead) to the tray and we were ready to play.

Day 1, we simply rolled the die and practiced counting marshmallows as we placed them into the "hot chocolate". E got to eat one after each of his turns (perhaps why he liked the tray so much).

Day 2, I made up a new game (on the fly) to make it a bit more challenging. This time we took turns. E rolled the die and counted out his marshmallows (without eating). Then, I rolled and had to either add or take away (eat) marshmallows to make the new number. We continued to go back and forth for quite some time.

I was amazed at how well this went. E was very focused and actually got the concept. He really liked the marshmallows and wanted to eat them. It made him really think about whether he had to add or he could eat.

When he would add, I noticed him checking back to see how many he had and then counting on to the new number. I really encouraged this. This is a great skill for him to learn and was excited to see it happening so naturally.

As for subtracting, he would set aside the number he was supposed to keep and then look at me while pointing to the leftovers and ask "I eat these, Mommy?". I had modeled this a couple times and thought it would be a stretch to expect it of him, but he surprised me.

I never dreamed the game would go this well. I was going to be happy simply counting out marshmallows for the week. The fact that it became much more made any guilt about marshmallow consumption melt away in my fake hot chocolate.

E blowing on his hot chocolate.

If you want to see some more of our Christmas activities click here. I will be posting some new ideas soon.

E is currently 29 months.

Advent Calendar

2010-12-01T19:19:00.000-08:00

Last year, my in-laws got E the Little People Nativity Scene. I loved that he was able to play with the characters and we could talk about them in preparation for Christmas.

This year, I had my eye on the Little People Nativity Advent Calendar that matched the nativity scene. I talked myself out of buying it so I was thrilled when my in-laws surprised E and T with it for Thanksgiving.

E and I started officially using it today, but I introduced it a few days ago and tried to explain how it all works.

We started off by taking all the pieces out and talking about who and what they represent. Then, we practiced our numbers by putting them all back in the right spots. I love that the numbers are on the back.

Now that December is here, we are going to keep it hung in E's room and remove one piece each morning after he wakes up. This morning he jumped out of bed and proudly placed Mary on top of the stable (the pieces have velcro on the back and can be placed in the nativity scene at the top of the calendar). I asked him if she should go inside and he said "No. She go on top, Mommy".

He can't wait to get to number 25 which is baby Jesus. E has been planning His birthday. He thinks Jesus would like a Mater and Lightening McQueen party and a cake with sprinkles.

Placing Presents

2010-12-01T18:11:00.000-08:00

This was a tray I added this week to practice placement/direction words. I bought a tree at the dollar store along with some presents that were meant to be ornaments.

I wrote the words "right", "left", "front", and "behind" on pieces of white card stock and folded them to make them stand. I placed the cards in the appropriate spots around the tree as E and I talked about each word.

I wrote letter clues on the bottom of each present (F for front, R for right, etc...). E took the presents, read the letter and then placed them in the correct spot.

E loved this activity and asked to do it many times. I am planning on taking the placement cards away later in the week to see if he can do it without the words.

Baby Basket Time

2010-11-21T13:09:00.000-08:00

We have continued with Baby Basket Time this week and are still loving it (big brother included). E and I have even come up with a song that we start with each time.

E has been singing the Farmer in the Dell a lot so we changed the words to...

It's Baby Basket Time

It's Baby Basket Time

We'll do each one and have some fun

It's Baby Basket Time

I changed out most of the toys, but kept a few the same. I added some finger puppets, a mirror, soft blocks, color book, and a phone.

I tried to keep it simple for myself. I didn't make a big point to plan what I would do with each one. I really just explored each one with T. By the end of the week, however, some sort of routine emerged with each.

For instance, the sock puppets were used to sing Old McDonald Had a Farm. I would sing with them on my fingers and dance them around as T watched. Then, I would let T pull them off my fingers and into his mouth they would go.

Mailing Letters

2010-11-21T12:44:00.000-08:00

This week, we took the cards we made last week and mailed them to family members. E had made five cards so we picked 5 people to whom we wanted to send the cards.

We (I) wrote a note thanks to each person and then E worked on signing his name. He then stuffed the cards into envelopes.

I wrote the names and addresses of the people he picked on address labels. I also wrote return address labels with his name on them. We worked on placement of the labels and talked about their purpose. E loved seeing his name on the labels and had fun trying to find his loved ones names as well (practicing those pre reading skills).

Finally, E put a stamp in the corner, sealed the envelope (he loved licking it), and walked them to the mailbox. We got several calls of appreciation throughout the week and E loved it.

Clip Schedule

2010-11-16T19:03:00.000-08:00

E is a kid who likes structure. I try and provide it without being too scheduled. Our sleeping and eating times are routine and Tray Time is usually done during T's nap. But, I don't want to make his daily schedule too concrete considering he is still 2.

We do, however, use E's Clip Schedule. It is something I made after a frustrating day of being asked to do the same thing over and over again.

I took an old oatmeal container and stripped the packaging off the outside and wrote down the things I would like to encourage E to do each day.

I wrote things like Tray Time, Music Time, Help Time, Mommy Time, Play Time, etc. I then took clothespins and placed them in the middle of the can.

After E does an activity, he clips it and leaves it until the end of the day. He is not required to do all the activities in one day. In fact, I think we have only done this once or twice.

The goal for me is to give E motivation to try different things throughout his day. I don't force him to do something. It works more like a list of options.

At the end of the day, E will often take it and sit with Daddy. He tells him about the things he has done that day. It helps him remember everything and gives him a chance to included his dad on the activities of the day.

E is currently 29 months old.

Theme - Thanksgiving

2010-11-14T11:28:00.001-08:00

This week, we continued doing some fun Thanksgiving activities.

We worked on patterning with a handmade felt board. The "feathers" are actually colored craft sticks and stuck surprisingly well in between the pieces of felt.

I would make a pattern on the right side of the turkey head and then he would replicate it on the left.

I have a felt board on my Christmas list, but made do this week by making my own.

I flipped over an old resume paper box to make it stand. I took velcro tab and attached it to the box and then stuck a large piece of felt to it.

I cut out a large circle for the body of the bird and and a smaller oval for the head. The details from the turkey face were cut from scraps.

The following is a color word activity I found on Making Learning Fun. E did well with this one. He recognized a few color words and then looked at beginning letters to help guide him in selecting the others.

We got the print out for this number book (called turkey sticks) from childcareland.com.

I brought in craft sticks to help make counting above 10 more concrete. I counted out 10 sticks with him and then bundled them together.

After that, we would lay the bundle down and say "Here is 10, let's keep counting. Another stick makes 11, then 12...". I will be doing this much more in the future.

This last activity was one made up by E. I brought in nesting blocks to use during our Tray Time. The first day, E played with them as expected. He built a tower, took it back down, and worked on putting them back inside one another.

Day 2, E asked me to get the turkey from his Little People farm set. Maybe he was bothered by the fact that I had added a tray that did not go with our Thanksgiving theme. Whatever the case, he had a blast creating new ways to play with the blocks and the turkey.

He hid the turkey...

and he made "houses" for the turkey to sleep in...
and he made stairs for the turkey to climb.

To see all of our Thanksgiving activities click here.

E is currently 29 months.

Thanksgiving Cards

2010-11-11T18:03:00.001-08:00

We decided to get a bit messy the other day and make some Thanksgiving cards.

I painted E's hand and he stamped it onto a few blank cards I had at the house.

I took markers (after the paint had dried) and added details to one turkey and then let him finish the rest.

E asked if he could use some eye stickers that we had left over from an old project. These turkeys make me smile.

Baby Basket Time

2010-11-10T11:35:00.000-08:00

This week we started, what we are calling, Baby Basket Time.

T is currently 5 months old and not ready for Tray Time, but for a while now, I have been trying to decide what I could do to make sure I am giving him the attention he needs.

I filled a basket by going around the house looking for age appropriate toys and books. I tried to find things with which I could sit and spend time "teaching" T to play. I remember how I used to do this with E naturally, but with the second child I am finding the need to be more intentional.

E's routine is established and it is sometimes easier to default to his activities rather than start building routines that are appropriate for T.

I decided that sometime before each nap and bedtime (roughly 3 times a day), I would sit and go through the toys and books one by one and investigate them with T. I talk to him about the toys, make up songs, point out things of interest, or simply show him the possibilities of what he can do with them.

After we are done, everything goes back in the basket and is left alone until the next time.

E is joining us for now (by choice). He sits next to T and has been told he can look at each item after T is done with them. I am finding it is good for him to learn new ways that he can interact with his brother as well as practice patience.