Toddler Approved!

Time Management for Families

2013-06-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

This post contains affiliate links.

We officially kicked off our summer vacation at the end of last week with an ice cream celebration, a water balloon fight, a few trips to the swimming pool, and a popsicle party on our front steps.

I start getting antsy when there are too many empty spaces on our calendar, so over the weekend I started planning the next few weeks until we leave on vacation. I may have over planned a bit...

My first priority right now is moving back into the part of our house that was just remodeled. We reorganized the space we had and made our master bedroom and bathroom smaller and added a new kids bedroom. Now I need to sort through piles in our garage to decide what to bring up and what to donate. It is going to be a big job!

My second priority is hosting our Virtual Book Club for Kids Summer Camp that starts this upcoming Monday. We have some super awesome sponsors lined up and cool giveaways too... so I've spent a lot of time planning activities and getting them ready to share with our readers. (If you missed our pre-camp planner, you can sign up here to get one- here's a sneak peek below)

My third (and most important) priority this week (and all summer long) is spending time with my husband and kids! I feel like far too often things like cleaning and returning emails and doing laundry somehow get in the way of this more important priority. That needs to change this summer!

This week I am excited about this ebook bundle focused on Time Management for Families. If I can figure out how to apply what I learned from each ebook then I will be on time more often, I will slow down and be present more, and I will get more done during the day... just to name a few! Doesn't that sound awesome?

You can get this bundle for almost 60% off this week only.

With your purchase, you’ll get all five of the following ebooks:

Tell Your Time by Amy Lynn Andrews

Honoring the Rhythm of Rest by Daniele Evans

28 Days to Timeliness by Davonne Parks

Creating a Schedule That Works by Marlene Griffith

The Homemaker’s Guide to Creating the Perfect Schedule by Amy Roberts

During the year I always think, "oh, I'll have time to do that this summer." Well, summer has arrived and I don't really have any more time than I did during the year. This month I am hoping to take charge of my time and live smarter by using the ideas I learn from these fabulous Time Management for Families resources.

You can click here to g et yours today!

What do you waste the most time doing? What makes you late or unproductive? What do you want to spend more time doing this summer?

Here are a few of my favorite tips for slowing down and keeping it simple this summer and enjoying every moment with your kids.

What other tips would you add?

Click here to sign up for our Virtual Summer Camp planner and newsletter. Camp starts in one week!

Disclosure: I am a Bundle of the Week affiliate which means that I receive a small commission on every ebook bundle that is purchased from my site.

Simple Fun with Ice Cream {Gail Gibbons Virtual Book Club for Kids Blog Hop}

2013-06-17T00:54:00.000-07:00

This post contains affiliate links.

Our June Virtual Book Club for Kids author is Gail Gibbons!

We've read a few of Gail's books before, but Ice Cream: The Full Scoop was a new book to us, so we decided to check it out. We are huge ice cream lovers so we really enjoyed all of the details in the book.

Our favorite part about the book was the illustrations. There are tons of them and they are very colorful. My toddler used them to help her think of questions and my son and I just had fun absorbing all of the facts. The book is rich with information, so you may want to read it in small chunks. We only read 2-3 pages at a time with my toddler and then did a lot of talking about what we read while making observations.

After we read the book, we decided to have an ice cream themed weekend and do some ice cream themed activities. I am going to share four of the simple activities we tried with you...

1. {Pretend Play} Playdough Ice Cream Shop

I loved this ice cream play idea from Sun Hats and Wellie Books, so we simplified it a bit using materials we had around the house and it was a hit!

The kids made ice cream cones from brown construction paper and used pom poms for cherries and sequins for sprinkles. They loved getting to use our actual grown up ice cream scoopers too.

If I were a cooler mom, we would've made our own playdough too... but instead we just grabbed what we had from our cupboard. They had fun making and selling their ice cream all weekend long.

2. {Kitchen Chemistry} 5 Minute Ice Cream

I was totally proud of myself for attempting this activity. I've never made homemade ice cream without a machine and did not believe this would actually work. We used this 5 minute ice cream recipe from How Stuff Works, though I have many other cookbooks with more complicated recipes.

Follow the tutorial above for specific details. We made sure to wrap our large baggie in a towel as we shook it. Once it was wrapped up, we tossed it back and forth and played catch. Now I really want to try one of these Ice Cream Ball Ice Cream Makers.

The recipe took more like 7-8 minutes to actually work, but we were impressed that it actually solidified. Next time we will need to make more since the kids really seemed to like it and we will use heavy cream to make it a bit more rich. :) If you have a favorite homemade ice cream recipe, feel free to share it in the comments!

I let them add sprinkles and mini chocolate chips and they were in heaven with their little treat!

3. {Learning Colors} Felt Ice Cream Cones

Next I cut out some felt ovals and triangles in different colors and the kids placed them on felt sheets to make their own felt ice cream cones.

This was a simple activity to use as I talked with my toddler about colors, sizes, numbers, and placement (ex. the blue scoop is on top of the cone). My son also turned his cones into ice cream monsters. He practiced counting and we worked on simple addition and subtraction word problems using the scoops (ex. Sarah had one scoop and Josh three scoops. How many scoops did they have all together?) We used sequins as sprinkles again and just had a good time exploring with the felt pieces to create different masterpieces.

4. {Family Field Trip} Going to the Ice Cream Shop

Our last ice cream themed activity included a family field trip to go get ice cream sundaes at a local creamery. Yum! Not only did we enjoy a treat, but we practiced skills like sharing, waiting turns, asking/answering questions, and listening. We also practiced our table manners.

What is your favorite Gail Gibbons book? If you have blogged about it, we'd love for you to link up your post in the linky below! We can't wait to see all of your amazing ideas!

There are a few rules for this blog hop that we ask you to follow, so make sure to read them:

Link up only posts inspired by Gail Gibbons that share children's book inspired crafts, activities, recipes, etc. Any other posts will be deleted.
Visit other blog posts on the linky and comment on or share the ones you love!
Add our Virtual Book Club button to your post if you'd like.

Here's the button you can grab if you are participating!

PS- If you missed any of our other Virtual Book Club Posts you can find them below:

June- Mo Willems

July- Don and Audrey Wood

August- Kevin Henkes
September- Lois Ehlert
October- Amy Krouse Rosenthal
November- Tomie dePaola
December- Jan Brett
January- David McPhail
February- Dr Seuss

March- Julia Donaldson
April- David Shannon
May- Leo Lionni

You can also find loads of Virtual Book Club ideas organized by author on our Virtual Book Club for Kids Pinterest Board that we just started and will continue to be adding to!

Come sign up for our Virtual Book Club Summer Camp if you want to fill your summer with books and learning fun! Just click on the image below to register for five FREE weeks of camp!

Virtual Book Club for Kids participating bloggers;

Toddler Approved - Rainy Day Mum - Adventures in Reading with Kids - 3 Dinosaurs - Royal Baloo - The Educators' Spin On It - Inspiration Laboratories - Pleasantest Thing - Edventures with Kids - Two Big Two Little - Playing With Words 365 - Kitchen Counter Chronicles - Outlaw Mom - Mommy and Me Book Club - Crafty Moms Share - No Twiddle Twaddle - The Good Long Road - Ready. Set. Read 2 Me - Reading Confetti - Mama Smiles - Juggling with Kids- Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas - Creekside Learning - Creative Family Fun - The Usual Mayhem - Teach Preschool - PlayDrMom - CraftoArt - Here Come the Girls - Being a Conscious Parent - Smiling like Sunshine - Crayon Freckles - Train Up a Child - Smile Play Learn - Enchanted Homeschooling Mom - Coffee Cups and Crayons - Having Fun at Chelle's House- Love, Play, Learn - Juggling With Kids - Motherhood on a Dime - Growing Book By Book- This Reading Mama - Fantastic Fun and Learning

Disclaimer: This post contains affilate links.

Click here to sign up for our Virtual Summer Camp planner and newsletter. Camp starts in one week!

10 Fourth of July Crafts and Activities for Toddlers

2013-06-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

My twin sister and I are planning a 4th of July brunch for some friends... all who have little kids. I've been looking back through our previous Toddler Approved 4th of July posts for some ideas.

Here are 10 Fourth of July crafts and activities for toddlers that were simple and fun that you might also enjoy trying out this year.

Patriotic Color Ball Fun

Paper Plate Flag

Patriotic Footprint Flags

Toothpick Fireworks

4th of July Ball Painting

4th of July Shakers

Firework rocket craft

Stringing Stars

Firework Candy Rocket Pops

Pebble Flag Painting

Have you ever tried any of these? What other favorite 4th of July crafts or activities have you tried with your toddlers or bigger kids?

Using Puppets for Language Development {Get Ready for K Through Play}

2013-06-12T00:54:00.000-07:00

Over the next eight weeks I will be participating in the Get Ready for K Through Play series. Each Wednesday I will be sharing a fun and playful idea to help your child get ready for kindergarten. If you miss any, you can find all of the posts from this series here.

If you are like me, you have a lot of creative ideas (or have seen a lot on pinterest), but you don't have very much time to actually execute them.

Fortunately, when it comes to helping your child develop his language skills, you really don't need special tools or complicated crafts or activities. Today we just used a cardboard box, some paper, and some puppets... and we accomplished a whole lot.

This week for the Get Ready for K Through Play Series we are talking about language development.

Some of the language skills that kids are learning as they enter kindergarten include...

Sharing ideas using complete sentences
Reciting short poems, rhymes, and songs
Narrating a personal experience
Retelling stories and asking/answering questions

All of these language skills can be introduced using puppets!

This week we did three things to help us develop our language skills...

1. We created a simple puppet theater from a cardboard box.

We used clear tape, large drawing paper, scissors, abc stickers, and a diaper box. I had grand ideas for something cooler... but guess what? Simple is just as fun.

While we cut and taped the box together, we talked. I modeled how to speak in complete sentences and we practiced some turn-taking skills. I didn't stop my son mid-sentence and say, "start over again, that wasn't a complete sentence" but I subtly would change short phrases he said into sentences as we talked...

2. We made some puppets.

The kids are counting down the minutes till we get to see Monsters University, so they made dixie cup Monster finger puppets. We used ripped construction paper, googly eyes, dixie cups, and Elmers glue. The puppets were simple and silly which was perfect!

While we created we talked about the characters we were making and we retold some of our favorite parts of Monsters Inc. and asked/answered some questions. Most of the questions were pretty basic (what color eyes are you going to use?).

3. We performed.

Our Monster puppets performed, as did all the other random puppets we had around the house. The kids are currently obsessed with some sticky lizard party favors they got, so they turned the lizards into puppets too.

The trend in each show was for the puppets to have a conflict and then end up having a war or a fight (reading too much Star Wars lately, maybe?). Sometimes they didn't fight and instead they retold a favorite story or scenario from a movie... We talked about sharing, friends, problems with parents, and even going to college.

If your child needs help developing his language skills, start by having him act out part of his day, sing a favorite song, or retell his favorite book. Or you could act out a recent conflict with a sibling or a happy experience with a friend. Encourage your child to have their puppet use sentences instead of just single words or phrases. You can do this by modeling how first... before you do any explaining/teaching... so get down on the floor and play too.

Since the goal of this series is to Get Ready for K Through Play... just have fun together being silly and acting out your favorite goofy experiences in a playful way.

Make sure you grab an attentive audience. My seven month old was mesmerized by the puppet show.

How else have you used puppets for language building?

Do you have a favorite puppet craft that you've made? Come share it in the comments!

Make sure to check out these language activities shared by the other Get Ready for K through PLAY! hosts:

Developing Kindergarten Language Skills from Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

Create a Story Box with Free Printables from Mess for Less

Language Experience Stories from Coffee Cups and Crayons

Play to Promote Language Development from Mama Smiles

Participating Blogs: Coffee Cups and Crayons, Mess for Less, Rainy Day Mum, Mama Smiles, Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas, Toddler Approved (that's me!)

Get Ready for Kindergarten Through Play Series

2013-06-11T23:59:00.000-07:00

My five year old graduated from his Kinderprep program today and is SO EXCITED to start Kindergarten in the Fall.

To help him stay prepared I have teamed up with five fabulous bloggers to bring you the Get Ready for Kindergarten Through Play series this summer. If your little one isn't ready for this yet, just pin it and file it away for a few years down the road. It is going to be fantastic and filled with fun and playful learning ideas!

The Get Ready for Kindergarten Through Play series will focus on activities that develop the thinking, social, emotional, motor and learning skills your child needs to be successful in school. The series will run for eight weeks and we will share new posts every Wednesday from June 12th through July 31st.

Here's the schedule:

Week 1 - Language

Week 2 - Social & Emotional Skills

Week 3 - Independence Skills

Week 4 - Math Concepts

Week 5 - Books, Reading & Literacy

Week 6 - Fine Motor & Writing Skills

Week 7 - Alphabet & Phonics

Week 8 - Ready to Learn Skills

Each of the five bloggers will share a different post based on the different themes each week. My wonderful partners include Megan from Coffee Cups and Crayons, Vicky from Mess for Less, Cerys of Rainy Day Mum, MaryAnne of Mama Smiles and our organizer, Bern from Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas.

You can find even more learning ideas on our Get Ready for K Through Play Pinterest Board.

I hope you find that this series is useful to you and your child... either now or in the future! I will be linking all of the posts on this page, so pin this post if you want to find all of the posts in this series in one place.

Week 1: Language

Developing Kindergarten Language Skills from Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
Create a Story Box with Free Printables from Mess for Less
Language Experience Stories from Coffee Cups and Crayons
Play to Promote Language Development from Mama Smiles
Using Puppets for Language Development from Toddler Approved

Thank you to My Cute Graphics for the use of the superhero kids graphic.

June Virtual Book Club for Kids- Gail Gibbons

2013-06-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

This post contains affiliate links.

Click here to sign up for our Virtual Summer Camp planner and newsletter. Camp starts in less than 2 weeks!

Have you read any books by Gail Gibbons?

This month for Virtual Book Club for Kids we are spotlighting her books! One of the main reasons I love hosting Virtual Book Club every month is because it gets me out of my book comfort zone and allows me to explore new things with my kids! I am the sort of person who is content to read the same book over and over and over again... and so are my littles... which isn't bad, but it's nice to try something new too.

Gail Gibbons probably has a book on almost any subject you can think of and she is the leader in publishing nonfiction children's picture books. As a classroom teacher I loved using her books... so I am excited to read some new ones this month!

We chose Ice Cream: The Full Scoop as our book to spotlight this month and it just arrived! I am still trying to decide what we'll be sharing with you... but it will definitely be yummy and fun! :) We are also participating in the LOVE Books Summer Exchange over at The Educators' Spin On It again this year and so I think our LOVE books package will also be featuring Ice Cream: The Full Scoop by Gail Gibbons.

Have you read it? Do you have any favorite ice cream themed crafts or activities?

Will you be participating in Virtual Book Club for Kids this month?

All you have to do is...

Pick a Gail Gibbons book to read with your child or class (several are shown above in my collage)
Comment below and let me know that you are participating!!
Do any activity, craft, cooking project, or other book inspired activity that goes along with the book your chose.
Share what you did with us starting Monday, June 17th! We will have a linky up for three weeks where you can share any blog posts (if you are a blogger) or you can post what you did at the end of the linky post in the comments or on our Facebook wall.

We always love seeing the variety of ways that children, moms, teachers, and other caregivers and professionals explore and create using books as their inspiration!

Here are a few of the Gail Gibbons books that we are looking forward to reading this month:

From Seed to Plant

The Reasons for Seasons

The Moon Book

The Vegetables We Eat

Tornadoes!

Weather Words and What They Mean

Now it is your turn to share! Which Gail Gibbons book do you love the best... OR, which one looks like a fun one to read... OR, which one is based on a topic that your child is currently interested in? I could name several.

For more updates and to see posts by participating bloggers, head on over and "Like" our Virtual Book Club for Kids Facebook page or follow our Virtual Book Club for Kids Pinterest Board.

Here's the button you can grab if you are participating!

PS- If you missed any of our other Virtual Book Club Posts you can find them below:

June- Mo Willems
July- Don and Audrey Wood
August- Kevin Henkes
September- Lois Ehlert
October- Amy Krouse Rosenthal
November- Tomie dePaola
December- Jan Brett
January- David McPhail

February- Dr. Seuss
March- Julia Donaldson
April- David Shannon
May- Leo Lionni

Here are several of the bloggers that are participating in this year's Virtual Book Club for Kids:

Can't wait to see what you share next Monday!

Cork Color Match and Sort

2013-06-10T00:05:00.000-07:00

Our newsletter Simple Toddler Fun goes out each month and shares some easy activities that you can do with your toddler. I am always on the hunt for toddler activities that can be pulled together quickly.

Recently I was looking through pictures from last summer and remembered the cork Name Bugs we shared over at Melissa and Doug's Camp Sunny Patch.

I remembered that I still had a bunch of corks in my craft cupboard, so I got them out for a quick and simple color match and sort activity with my toddler.

I needed something that was fast to put together and would keep her hands busy while I fed the baby and finished making dinner. This activity was a hit... and so easy!

The biggest reason this was a hit was because corks were new to her... so they were extra awesome to explore. Checking out a new tool can be a totally different sensory experience and is great for encouraging language/conversation.

Supplies: variety of sized corks, markers (we used dot markers), and an empty egg carton

Directions:

Using the dot markers I stamped the end of each cork and each egg carton spot with a variety of colors. It took me a minute or two to get everything marked and then we were ready to play!

I tried to make sure that each cork had a corresponding color spot in the egg carton.

Then I just tossed the colored corks in the lid of the egg carton and encouraged my toddler to match the colors!

We talked and talked while we matched. We discussed color names, the concepts of big/little, and directionality (up/down/inside/on top). Sometimes I sat next to her while she worked and some times I just chatted with her from across the kitchen.

We talked about making sure that each cork got its own house (spot in the egg carton) instead of just piling on top of another cork. :)

After you match and sort with corks, try making cork bug creations or name bugs... or both!

Do you have any corks lying around? Here are a few other cork crafts or activities to try...

Itty Bitty Cork Stamps via Lil Blue Boo
Cork Monsters via Parenting
Cork Necklaces via The Naptime Nook

Are you looking for a creative way to spend your summer? Sign up for the Virtual Book Club Summer Camp!

Mom and Tot Craft Time: ABC Sticker Animal Art

2013-06-07T09:44:00.001-07:00

My two-year-old is obsessed with stickers and animals. This ABC Sticker Animal Art activity was a simple way to combine her favorite things while exploring the ABCs a little bit.

You don't need to drill toddlers and preschoolers on their ABCs with flashcards, just grab some stickers, markers, and paper and create this simple ABC exploration activity.

Supplies: markers, ABC stickers, crayons, and large paper

Directions:

To start off this activity I drew my daughter's current favorite animal- a giraffe. You could also just use a coloring page or have your child draw her own picture. The picture doesn't have to be perfect... just make it something that your little one loves!

Then grab the ABC stickers and have her start adding them to her animal!

While your toddler pulls the stickers off and sticks them down you can talk about the sticker colors and the letters she is choosing. We talked about words that the letters started with too. The conversation was open ended and filled with commenting and labeling... I wasn't quizzing her. I did say things like, "Wow! You put the letter A on the giraffe's nose." I didn't say things like "What letter did you put on his ear?" If you notice, the first statement gives the information... the second statement asks for information. This activity was related to exploration and teaching... not checking to see what she knew, so I skipped the second type of questions.

After awhile of doing this activity, she was begging me to teach her more. "What letter is this mom?" "Does this letter go in my name?" It is amazing how much learning can happen when you keep activities simple!

In order to help her do this activity as independently as possible, I pulled the stickers off a little bit for her so that they were easier to grasp and then re-stick. After awhile, she got used to the pulling and sticking and was able to pull them off without my help.

We had so much fun with the stickers that we moved into making a number mouse sticker craft next. We could've done this activity all day. Even my five-year-old wanted to join in because he liked chatting with us about the letters and numbers while adding them to his picture.

How else do you use stickers for learning?

10 Ways to Learn and Play with Water

2013-06-06T00:39:00.000-07:00

Schools are out (or will be soon) and temperatures are rising! Playing with water is always on the top of our list when we have free time, so we are excited about these activities we are sharing with you!

In addition to doing simple water activities like a toy car wash or drip painting, I love to find more unique ways to teach simple preschool and kindergarten concepts through water activities! Narrowing this post down to just 10 ideas was hard, so you can go to our Toddler Approved Pinterest board over the next week or so to find ones than I didn't include in this post but that are equally as awesome.

Our 10 Ways to Learn and Play with Water post is part of a series that I am participating in with several other kid bloggers. Each post in the series shares 10 ways kids can keep learning now that school is out!

Below are our top 10 ways to learn and play with water! Come share any other favorites in the comments.

These water activities help teach or review one of the following specific skills... learning colors, identifying shapes, recognizing letters, reading or making simple sight words, counting, and doing simple math.

Learning Colors

1. Use a simple coloring mixing station with corn starch and water to introduce color names and teach color theory. [No Twiddle Twaddle]

2. Grab some water guns and create some water gun art while talking about color words and making predictions about which color combinations will make which colors. [Fun Mom Online]

Identifying Shapes

3. Go on a Water Balloon shape hunt in your backyard. This is a great way to keep water balloon fun going for a little longer. Practice saying the shape names and work on matching them to the correct buckets. [Mess for Less]

Letter Recognition

4. Grab a watering can and water a chalk Alphabet Garden (or change it to numbers or words) .

5. Squirt Letters using a water squirter or a spray bottle. Having a cool new tool makes this even more fun! [Stay at Home Educator]

6. Make some alphabet ice blocks to beat the heat and make your name, sight words, or just practice matching similar letters to one another. You can even study some science as the ice melts. [Play at Home Mom]

Counting and Simple Math

7. Play roll and splash counting games with a bunch of friends!

8. Write some simple addition or subtraction sentences on balloons and do some water balloon math. [No Time for Flashcards]

Reading

9. Use a water gun to do a Sight Word Water Gun Spray activity or just shoot chalk letters [Train Up a Child]

10. When you're in the pool, grab some sponges to play Swimming Pool Scrabble. It is a fun way to practice your strokes while learning to make words.

In addition to all of these activities focused on basic preschool and pre-k skills, Jamie from Hands On As We Grow is sharing her Top 10 water experiments for kids... in case you haven't gotten your fill of water fun yet!

Here is the list of the kid bloggers that are participating in the top 10 series. Their topics are listed at This Reading Mama.

Stop by and check out these Top 10 Ways to Keep Kids Learning while school is out!

Saturday: Creative World of Varya | Craftoart | My Buddies and I

10 Camp Mom Cooking Activities for Kids

2013-06-03T00:57:00.002-07:00

This post contains affiliate links.

We love cooking and baking with our kids! The kitchen is a great place to teach skills like measurement and addition while also helping your kids practice reading and learning new vocabulary words!

Today we are going to share 10 Camp Mom Cooking Activities with you!

Camp Mom is something fun we do each summer at our house. We do crafts and activities (indoors and outdoors) with our friends... kinda like our own summer camp. Some of our activities are also tied to children's books. Since this is our fourth year hosting Camp Mom, we have loads of fun resources to share with you.

These 10 ideas that we are sharing are simple and easy and can help you create your own Camp Mom cooking classes in your house this summer!

Pick one activity a week to try or try and do one or two each day. I love how much fun we can have together in the kitchen!

1. Decorate Chef Hats

Start off your Camp Mom cooking classes by decorating your own chef hats. I bought paper chef hats from amazon and then we decorated them with stickers and markers and practiced spelling our names. You could also make homemade chef hats using this DIY chef hat tutorial from Anders Ruff.

2. Yogurt Pops

These are so simple and easy! You can find my quick instructions for yogurt pops here. We make these all year long and use yogurt, juice, and even baby food for the baby! If you want them in cooler shapes try using these Tovolo Rocket Popsicle molds instead of dixie cups.

3. Omelets in a Muffin Tin

Camp Mom can happen during any part of the day. Making muffin tin omelets is such a yummy way to start the day. Kids can choose what they want in their omelets and you can even throw in a little discussion about liquids and solids as you put these together and then bake them.

4. Oreo Asteroids

These ice cream treats were inspired by the book Twinkle, Star of the Week that came in our BabbaBox. You can find the oreo asteroid tutorial here. They are super yummy and kind of addictive. My son's favorite part was crushing the oreos!

5. Banana Boats

Banana boats are a classic camping treat... so perfect for summer. They are also messy, which makes them extra awesome. You can find the instructions to this delicious camp mom treat here.

6. Utensil Hunt

We love going on hunts! Learning the names of the different kitchen utensils is kind of a big deal if you are going to spend time in the kitchen. For this utensil hunt we just created some utensil puzzles with paper and then hid the utensils around our backyard. The kids had to find them and match them! You can read all of the details here.

7. Peanut Butter Boppers

This is a recipe I learned as a young girl! It is simple and delicious, so I had to pass it on. We had fun practicing measuring and counting too. Check out the peanut butter boppers recipe here.

8. Ladle Relays

Water activities are always a hit...especially with cool utensils! Grab a baby pool, a bucket, and some ladles. Fill up the pool and then have your kids fill up their ladles with water and walk across the lawn and dump the water into a bucket. Encourage them to work together as a team to fill up the bucket or give them each their own bucket and see who can fill their bucket up first!

9. Banana Pops

Frozen treats just make summer a little bit sweeter... especially if they are covered in chocolate! Making banana pops is a super fun process with a delicious ending.

10. Bagel Pizzas

Bagel pizzas are a favorite lunch or dinner each week at our house! My four year old can make them almost independently. All you need are bagel halves, tomato sauce, cheese, and toppings! We cover the pizza halves with sauce and cheese, then add toppings, and then cook the pizzas in the oven at 400 degrees until the cheese is melted. Yum!

Once you've made your bagel pizzas you could also try making this pizza collage craft.

While you are eating or waiting for your snacks to cook (or cool), you can check out these books below that we enjoyed reading along with these activities:...

What are your favorite things to cook with your kids?

Have you ever held a cooking class for your kids or their friends?

If you try any of these activities or have any of your own awesome cooking activities to share, add them in the comments! I would love to pin some of them to our Camp Mom pinterest board!

5 Awesome Summer Resources for Kids!

2013-06-01T22:26:00.001-07:00

This post contains affiliate links.

At our house the summer is filled with traveling, adventures, reading, and having a lot of fun!

Today I want to share five awesome summer resources with you so that you can make this summer the best one yet!

1. Virtual Book Club Summer Camp

This summer we are bringing you a FREE Virtual Book Club Summer Camp!

Camp starts on Monday June 24th. You can read all of the details here.

Basically... we provide the book suggestions, supply lists, activities, and tips, and you use the FREE resource that we provide to help create an awesome summer filled with book themed fun! Kids will barely even know that they are learning!

You can sign up here and join hundreds of other families at Virtual Book Club Summer Camp!

2. Camp Mom

Each summer we do our own Toddler Approved Camp Mom where I turn into the Camp Counselor and create fun and simple activities to fill the sections of our summer days when we aren't at the pool, playing with toys, or just sitting outside eating popsicles.

This will be our fourth year hosting Camp Mom. Over the next few weeks we'll be sharing round ups of Camp Mom activities from previous years so you will have loads and loads of FREE resources to use as you plan your summer! Then in mid-July we'll kick off this year's official Camp Mom where we will share simple summer crafts and activities for toddlers and preschoolers!

If you want to make sure you don't miss Camp Mom, sign up for our free monthly Toddler Approved newsletter for updates and info.

3. BabbaCo's Summer Survival Pack!

BabbaCo has a 3-Month Summer Survival pack filled with summer activities that will just arrive on your doorstep and keep you busy all summer long. We get these boxes each month and LOVE them! It is so nice to have something to pull out when we have some down time that I don't have to create myself!

Use Code: Summer33Off to get $30 off your boxes if you order between now and June 7th. (Typical cost is $90/3 months, you get it for $60/3 months)

4. Reading Bucket List

No Time for Flashcards shares a fabulous Summer Reading Bucket List that we plan to use this summer. I love that it is simple and will help us be creative about what books we read and where we read them!

5. We Teach Summertime Learning E-Book

The We Teach Summertime Learning E-Book is a fabulous and FREE e-book for parents and educators that shares ideas for keeping summer learning fresh, fun, and fabulous. It comes out this week, so check We Teach for more details.

I am hoping to make this summer our best yet by keeping things simple and relaxing while also finding creative ways to embed learning activities into each day! I hope you find these five resources useful as you plan your summers!

Hope to have many of you join us at Virtual Book Club Summer Camp in just 24 days!

Toddler Alphabet Game: ABC Slam!

2013-05-29T00:24:00.000-07:00

This post contains affiliate links.

My 2 year old is suddenly more interested in alphabet letters and sounds, so we've started exploring them a bit more frequently.

One of the best ways I get my kids interested in learning about the alphabet is to engage them in open-ended activities where they can explore the letters in an exciting and active way! No drilling or quizzing allowed... just fun!

This week we used some empty playdough containers and some pool noodles and we created a toddler alphabet game called ABC slam!

Supplies: markers, paper, tape, scissors, empty playdough containers or cleaned out yogurt containers, and pool noodle

Directions:

I started off by writing the alphabet letters on a piece of white cardstock and then cutting them up into little rectangles,

Next I taped a paper letter onto each playdough container.

Then we spread the lettered playdough containers all over the kitchen and family room.

Once they were spread out I showed my daughter how to hit them with the pool noodle to make them SLAM off the table or countertop and onto the floor!

She did a lot of giggling while we sent the empty playdough containers flying! I also narrated her actions while she hit the containers. "Wow! You just sent letter J flying across the room. Jump starts with J." "Letter C is right there. Your name starts with a C! Can you make letter C go flying?"

After a few rounds my daughter was the one narrating for me and asking me loads and loads of questions. I thought she would get bored but she kept saying, "Mommy, what letter is this?" (for every letter) or "Look, I hit the C in Catie!" or "Is this J for jump?"

We took turns picking up the playdough containers and spreading them around on the countertops and couches so that we could hit them again... and set them back up.

My daughter was pretty proud of herself and all the ABC slamming that she did!

No only did I expose my daughter to a few letter names and sounds, but during this activity we also worked on hand-eye coordination as we slammed the containers!

Do you have any favorite active or silly ways that you learn the alphabet letters with your kids?

We love Alphabet Sticky Walls, Alphabet Bug Spray, and Driving through the Alphabet.

In addition to active games, we LOVE watching the LeapFrog: Letter Factory video. It is amazing how quickly kids can learn new skills when concepts are put to music.

Making Short Vowel Words

2013-05-28T03:00:00.000-07:00

This Making Short Vowel Words activity is one that was set up for my preschooler, but could easily be modified for a toddler.

Using new and different tools is one of my favorite ways to get my kids excited about learning. Anything can be made a little more interesting if it is presented in a unique way.

Last week I got out a few new(er) tools and set up a making words activity for my preschooler.

Supplies:

white board marker
foam letter stickers or letter magnets
muffin tin
tongs
surface to draw on with a whiteboard marker

Directions:

I started off by putting a different consonant foam letter in each spot in the muffin tin.

Then I drew two circles with the white board marker and put a foam vowel in the middle of them (see above)... stuck to the board.

Next I handed my son the tongs and encouraged him to pick up one letter at a time and place one on each circle.

I explained that it didn't matter which beginning or ending letter he picked. Once the letters were set up we practiced sounding out the word he created.

We had a good laugh as we read the words and many were not real words... but were silly nonsense words. I didn't make him only create actual words... and I think that made the game the most fun.

Picking up the letters using the tongs was a bit of a feat at the beginning and then he got better and better at it. Using tongs is always a great way to work on strengthening finger muscles and developing fine motor skills.

Making and sounding our nonsense words is a great thing because it helps you really see whether your child is picking up on (and applying) the phonics skills that he is being taught.

As you practice working to make and sound out nonsense words, you can help teach your child strategies for decoding unfamiliar words.

Toddler Modification:

Instead of making short vowel words you can use this activity to help your toddler explore alphabet letters!

Draw 4-5 circles on a white board (or washable mat like I used). Then set up the foam stickers in a muffin tin.

Hand your toddler the tongs and encourage her to pick up letters and put one on each circle on the mat. As she picks up each letter you can label the letter by telling her what sound it makes or what letter it is or a word that the letter starts with.

You can also write the alphabet letters on the whiteboard (or mat) and have your child pick a letter from the muffin tin and drop it on the matching letter. You could do this with numbers too or with having your child make her own name using letters and tongs!

Do you have a preschooler who likes to make words? Here are a few other early reading activity favorites...

Word Family and Color slam

Word Fun with Chalk Painting

Pipe Cleaning Rhyming Sticky Wall

5 Ways to Explore with Kids this Summer

2013-05-24T00:35:00.000-07:00

This post is sponsored by Galileo Camps.

I like to keep things pretty relaxed during the summer, but I also like to provide plenty of hands-on learning experiences for my kids at home and out around town.

We are getting ready for summer, so I've been thinking about a variety of different ways that we can learn and explore while being active outdoors.

Here are 5 ways I plan to explore with kids this summer:

1. Do simple backyard science experiments.

Backyard science activities don't have to be hard and exploring doesn't mean you have to leave your neighborhood. Our favorite activities are baking soda volcanoes, milky color explosions, and ramp drip painting. We also made a bouncy ball with borax recently and we will need to do that again. It was awesome. Buy vinegar and baking soda in bulk and you could fill up hours of time doing experiments or just doing fizzle painting.

2. Participate in lots of water play.

You can explore using water in a lot of ways! Making a car wash, doing chalk painting, spraying the car, doing ice painting, or putting out the fire with a hose are just a few of our favorites. Water painting is awesome too. We love anything that keeps us wet and cool during the hot weather and also sneaks in a little learning while we are having a whole lot of fun!

3. Put together some recycled materials challenges.

Tinkerlab is my favorite site for inspiration. We've made hockey sticks from magazines, paper bag books from paper bags, and pour paint rockets from bottles. Just look at the recycled materials you have and and challenge your kids to create something. You will be amazed by their creativity.

4. Attend local summer camps and do some related extension activities. We are headed to Camp Galileo.

If you live in the San Francisco Bay area, you'll want to check out Galileo Camps. They have awesome weekly themes and create an environment of exploration and innovation. My son is counting down the days to go to the Space Odyssey themed week. After camp we plan to do fun learning activities that tie in with the space theme. If Camp Galileo isn't near you, find another awesome day camp and use it! Don't let the camp counselors have all the fun... make sure to join in the creativity by extending the summer camp excitement into your evening activities!

5. Check out local science museums, zoos, and nature preserves.

One favorite thing to do in the summer is find free or inexpensive parks or nature preserves to visit. We've gone on color hunts and bug hunts while we roam around. Zoos and local science museums can be great too and you can often find dramatically discounted prices.

We could probably do just these activities all summer long, again and again, and my kids would be incredibly happy.

How do you plan to explore with your kids this summer? Come share your ideas in the comments!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Galileo Camps. Galileo Camps will be compensating me for this post. All posts reflect my personal opinion and endorsement and are not swayed by compensation and/or free products. Please note that this post reflects my opinion and preferences and you might not share that same opinion.

Bookmaking for Kids

2013-05-22T08:48:00.002-07:00

I'm a big fan of making books with kids! Bookmaking is great way to encourage reading and writing in a fun way.

Today I am sharing how to make Accordion Envelope Books over at Life Your Way. These can easily be adapted for kids of all ages. Stop by my post and share your favorite bookmaking ideas. Go here for the full tutorial.

Other favorite books we love to make are paper bag books and stick journals!

What would your kids want to write about? Have you made books with your kids before?

Splat! A Disappearing Number Game for Kids

2013-05-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

Each month we host Virtual Book Club for Kids and spotlight a new author. This month we are featuring books by Leo Lionni.

We love finding an opportunity to discover a new book, so this month we selected Leo Lionni's book
Colors, Numbers, Letters (3 Books in 1) to read. The book is a new one for us and perfect for babies and toddlers. My five-year-old even enjoyed "reading" it. Colors, Numbers, Letters is a wordless picture book that is full of cute illustrations while teaching about simple early-learning concepts.

Wordless picture books are amazing because they give kids an opportunity to use their imaginations to help tell the story. I love listening to the words my daughter puts together to create her own stories. I also tend to use language that is more developmentally appropriate when we look at wordless books and I use better descriptions when I am "reading"... so overall, the language my kids hear is much richer!

When we discussed the book, my son said we needed to do a related activity with colors and numbers.

At first I thought we really should try and come up with a mice themed activity since the characters in the book were mice... but since I like to let my kids take the lead in creating activities and allow their interests to dictate what we do... our activity ended up being a little different than I expected!

The kids and I invented our own game called Splat! Splat is a fun way to play with colors, numbers, and water!

Supplies: chalk, pool noodles (or other small items), surface to write on, cups, and water.

Directions:

This game evolved as we played, but the basic goal of the game was to match the correct number of pool noodle pieces to the chalk numbers on the ground.

The kids worked together as a team to collect the correct number of pool noodles and put them next to the matching number. The noodles also had to correspond with the correct color (green noodles with green chalk numbers, red noodles with red chalk numbers). My toddler is just learning her numbers, so we only focused on numbers 1-4. My five-year-old helped her read the numbers and worked with her to count... and recount the pool noodles to make sure there were enough.

I liked how we only used 2 colors and 4 numbers because that was the perfect amount for my toddler. Any more would have been overwhelming.

Once the pool noodle pieces were matched to the chalk numbers, the kids yelled SPLAT! and then they threw water at the number to make it disappear. Sometimes that also involved rubbing the chalk number with their hands too.

After they doused one number, they refilled their cups using our little pool (this was a great balancing activity... look at the concentration as they walk across the lawn).

Then they would start all over again!

It made me so happy to see the kids taking turns and working together and helping each other. I emphasized that it was a team building activity and it was so cool to see how seriously they took that and how well they cooperated.

Using water to learn is a favorite activity around here, so I'm sure you'll see a few more early learning water activities next month. Do you have a favorite water learning activity that you've tried?

What is your favorite Leo Lionni book? If you have blogged about it, we'd love for you to link up your post in the linky below! We can't wait to see all of your amazing ideas!

There are a few rules for this blog hop that we ask you to follow, so make sure to read them:

Link up only posts inspired by Leo Lionni that share children's book inspired crafts, activities, recipes, etc. Any other posts will be deleted.
Visit other blog posts on the linky and comment on or share the ones you love!
Add our Virtual Book Club button to your post if you'd like.

Here's the button you can grab if you are participating!

PS- If you missed any of our other Virtual Book Club Posts you can find them below:

June- Mo Willems

July- Don and Audrey Wood

August- Kevin Henkes
September- Lois Ehlert
October- Amy Krouse Rosenthal
November- Tomie dePaola
December- Jan Brett
January- David McPhail
February- Dr Seuss

March- Julia Donaldson
April- David Shannon

Virtual Book Club for Kids participating bloggers;

Disclaimer: This post contains affilate links.

5 Favorite Father's Day Gift Ideas

2013-05-19T17:00:00.000-07:00

We love to give creative gifts! I have an entire gifting board on pinterest filled with gift ideas for family and friends.

Today I am sharing five of our favorite Father's Day gift ideas with you. There is a little less than a month till father's Day, so you have plenty of time to work on these!

Don't let dad's gift get pushed to the wayside in the busyness at the end of the school year and start of summer vacations.

These gifts can be adapted for your family a bit based on favorite treats and activities.

Here are our five top favorite gifts. Click on the links for more details!

DIY Father's Day Gift for Your Superhero (the photo above is our version)
Giant Father's Day Candy Gram
Father's Day Activity Jar
Father's Day Tie Bag Scavenger Hunt
Car Play Shirt (the photo featured above is my attempt for my dad's gift)

Do you spend a lot or a little bit of money on gifts for Father's Day? What do you like to give?

Simple Independent Play Activities for Toddlers

2013-05-17T01:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we discussed some simple tips to help your child play independently.

Today I am sharing some of my favorite simple independent activities that my kids have enjoyed as toddlers.

For me to be able to use them with my kids, independent activities need to be easy to set up, low on the messy scale, and adaptable. When I'm working on making dinner I don't want to have to keep leaving the stove either, so I typically don't use independent activity ideas that end with me scrubbing walls with a magic eraser or cleaning glue off the kitchen table.

Here are nine of my favorite independent play ideas.

I'd love for you to share your child's favorite independent activities in the comments as well. We can never have too many!

1. Looking at books

I call this independent reading time. It may sound overly simple, but it is actually amazing how many kids don't know how to look at books independently by the time they come to kindergarten. Being able to sit and look at the pictures in a book is an important skill!! We have a simple little reading nook set up with a basket of books next to it and we go and look through them. When we are practicing, we both choose our own book to look at and sit nearby one another looking at the pictures. Sometimes I have my son model for my daughter how to look at books quietly. We rotate the books so that there are new and interesting ones to look at.

2. Stickers

Stickers are my favorite independent activity. I can sit next to my daughter and answer emails while she does them, work on the dishes, or prep materials for my son's school teacher. Since she is still working on learning how to pull stickers all the way off by herself, I lift each sticker up a little bit to help her out and then she can do the rest. Sometimes I just stick a bunch of stickers on the edge of the kitchen table so she can easily grab them and stick them herself... or her big brother helps her. I give her scraps of paper, boxes, homemade books, easel paper, etc. and she just adds stickers and creates. The reusable stickers are great because they can be moved around a lot!

3. Playing and building with {plastic} spice jars

Just open your spice drawer or put a few spice jars out in an accessible spot. This works the best if I just leave the drawer slightly ajar... so my toddler thinks she is being sneaky. Kids at my house are always really creative when they are playing with objects they don't think they are supposed to play with :) Before you put these out make sure the lids are tightly screwed on! Spice jars are fun to stack, roll, shake, etc.

4. Toy Puzzles

Trace a few toys onto cardstock and then have your child match the toys to the outline. I like to use this activity when I am putting laundry away in the kid's rooms because I can join in occasionally and mention what different objects are called. I always love finding simple ways to teach new vocabulary words (or reinforce old ones).

5. Laundry hamper play

If I leave a hamper filled with clothes anywhere in the house it is guaranteed that all the clothes will be dumped out and the hamper will be used as a tunnel or basketball hoop. If you can't beat them... join them, right? I love to fill up a hamper when I need to get something done and it doesn't take long before the kiddos are tossing clothes and peeking out of the hamper and I have a free twenty minutes. I have several of these collapsible hampers and they provide loads of fun.

6. Sticky Walls

Contact paper with the sticky side facing out is such a great versatile way to let your kids create. I tape the contact paper to walls, doors, windows, or tables and then vary the materials that we stick to the sticky wall (pom poms, pipe cleaners, ribbon, tissue paper, etc.). You can find some sticky wall activity ideas here.

7. Sticky Sorting

Sticky sorting combines stickers and sorting. I just grab a roll of art paper, some markers, and foam stickers and can quickly set up a sticky sorting station. The one pictured above was a shape sorting activity, but I also do color, number, alphabet, animal, and flower sticky sorts. For shape sorting my daughter found a shape on the floor and then stuck the foam sticker to the corresponding bigger shape on the wall.

8. File Folder Activities

I like to use file folder activities to work on visual perception skills, though you can use them for much more than that. These take some prep-time to create, but then can be used again and again and again! Someday when I have more free time I will make more. They are great for airplanes, church, etc. I love using velcro to help materials stay stuck... which leads to less frustration for the little ones.

Shape Town, Big Movers, and our Butterfly discrimination folders are among the most popular ones on our site.

9. Sensory bin scavenger hunts

I like to hide things inside sensory bins and then have the kids find them! Sometimes we use cool tools for digging in the sensory bins and sometimes we just use our fingers. We also vary the size of the sensory bin and the materials we use. Having a task to do is a great way to get kids started playing with sensory bins... and then usually you can't get them to stop playing. Sensory activities are my one exception to the mess-free independent activity line up. I like to put a plastic tablecloth on the floor (which I remember), play on top of it, and then shake it out in the garbage or recycling when we are done exploring.

Now that I've shared our favorite independent activities with you, do you have any favorite independent activities? Please come share some in the comments!

Simple Tips for Helping Toddlers Play Independently

2013-05-16T00:15:00.001-07:00

We are entering into a new stage at our house where my five-year-old likes to spend hours playing Legos in his room. Meanwhile, I have the toddler and the baby hanging out with me while I am trying to manage household chores, preschool committee responsibilities, church assignments, and playing with them a little bit (or at least paying attention to them) all at the same time. The baby is just happy to chew on a toy or roll around, but my toddler needs a little more guidance.

I am slowly putting together a repertoire of activities and ideas to help my toddler play independently while I am trying to get other things done in the same room or close by.

Today I am going to share some simple tips for helping toddlers play independently and then tomorrow I am going to share a few simple activities that I have taught my toddlers to do independently.

Although I would love to just say, "the dishes can wait, my kids are only young once" and play all day with them... there comes a time when the dishes or laundry actually have to get done AND little ones need to learn to either join in and help with chores or just go play! I know this only because I have seriously had a dish line take up the entire counter and there is no better way to kill creativity than to have a disaster of a kitchen or a house! I wish that I could just clean at night after the kids are in bed and play all day with them... but the reality is that I am too tired most nights or have preschool or church meetings (or just want some down time), so I've decided to make independent playtime work.

There are loads of great tips and resources online to use as you try to have fun and include your children as you work on household chores.

Here are a few of my favorite cleaning ideas with kids...

Use these 10 Ways to make cleaning fun for kids via Inner Child Fun
Find opportunities to make you toddler your little helper via Mama Pea Pod
Create a DIY chores board game via Life Your Way
Play a family cleaning game

I'll be honest with you though... sometimes it is just easier to get the kiddos occupied so that I can organize and do jobs that I need to do without any helpers! I can only fold and refold laundry so many times before it drives me bonkers.

This is where independent playtime comes in!

Here are eight tips for helping your child play independently...

1. Sit down and play next to them before you attempt to get anything done.

After I've connected with my toddler through play, she often feels so comfortable and confident that she will play independently for 20-30 minutes without any prompting from me. Play matters! Spend time in uninterrupted play with your child for a little bit before trying to get your stuff done.

2. If your child needs prompting, help your child practice playing independently while you are with them.

Don't be too fun and don't engage with your child too much. Just model how to do it by quietly playing by yourself next to them. Model how to drive cars around or new and interesting ways to build towers with blocks. Model how to make a mistake and fix it yourself, model how to make dolls converse, model how to pick up and start something new, etc. Your kids are watching and they'll probably copy some of the ways you play.

3. Afterwards, give specific positive comments to your child related to how they are playing independently.

For example: "Ryan, I love how you are working so hard to build that train track all by yourself." They will recognize that doing things independently is a positive thing and want to do it more! Avoid just saying "good job" or saying they are a "good boy" since those comments aren't specific and don't help reinforce the specific things you'd like them to continue doing. Also avoid constantly praising or interrupting play! Often kids are playing nicely by themselves and we ruin it by jumping in. I love the reminder that play is the work of children. We don't like being interrupted when we work... and neither do they! If there is a natural opportunity to praise or comment, go for it. If not, wait till the creative playtime is over and don't interrupt the magic.

4. After a little while of practicing, take brief breaks from playing next to your child (2-3 minutes max) and go do a quick task while staying in the same room with your child.

Increase the length of adult task time over time. Some kids will play for 20 minutes + all by themselves from the beginning... and others will have a longer adjustment time and need to start with shorter practice periods.

5. Keep independent practice times short and successful.

Start by doing 5 minute independent play periods, then 7 minutes, then 10, and onward. Try to end practice times before they start to go downhill. My five year old now begs for independent time because it doesn't happen all the time and because it is the perfect length (after lots of trial and error).

6. Independent doesn't mean unattended or abandoned.

I am almost always in the same room or the room next to my toddler when we are both doing independent activities. Don't sneak out of the room or away from your child. Be very clear and let them know that they are doing their work and you need to do your work for a few minutes. There is something really cozy about being in the room together both creating and doing our own thing.

7. Have special activities or materials that kids can only use during independent time.

Or let them choose a special toy/activity to do in a special location only during independent time. Make it feel different and they will think it is cool. I like to let my daughter choose a special toy from her brother's room and bring it downstairs. She seems to think she is being sneaky (even though I tell her brother ahead of time), and has so much fun playing with the new toy. I also love these independent time tubs by I Can Teach My Child and I also shared some special activities in this quiet time activities post.

8. Take time to just observe {and put down your camera}.

I regularly just put aside my chores or assignments and watch my daughter play independently. I love to see how her play develops, listen to the conversations she has with her animals, and notice which toys she is most interested in. By taking time to observe, I can tweak independent time and make it more fun for her by adapting our activities to fit her interests and newly developing skills. I also learn a lot about my own parenting skills by listening to the conversations she has with her dolls. :) I also have to remind myself not to snap photos. Some moments just need to be enjoyed and observed, not photographed.

I'm sure many of these tips are ones you already know. This list is definitely not complete. What else would you add?

If you are looking for some great toys to foster independent play, I shared four favorite toys for semi-independent play that you might want to check out.

Don't forget to come back on Friday and join in the conversation as I share a few simple activities that I have taught my toddlers to do independently.

Alphabet Car Racing

2013-05-14T00:48:00.002-07:00

Race cars are constantly zooming past my feet at our house. I get so frustrated when I accidentally step on them! Ouch!

This week I decided to embrace the chaos and use the cars (and trucks... and trains) to do some alphabet exploration activities with my daughter!

Alphabet car racing is such a fun way practice matching and identifying letters. It is also a simple way to just talk about letter names and sounds while also having a good time... and moving our bodies!

Supplies:

Cars
alphabet stickers
large drawing paper (we used easel paper rolls)
markers
a sharpie
painters tape

Directions:

First I tape the easel paper rolls onto the floor and then I drew a big race track on it! I made four lanes so that we could focus on four letters at a time. That's about all my toddler can handle.

Then we painted the lanes (I mostly did that while my daughter drove her cars around).

And then we added matching alphabet stickers to the lanes and cars. Each car had a letter on it which corresponded to a lane with the same letter on it.

Then my daughter had to match each car to the correct lane and drive the car around the track... trying to stay inside the lines!

This activity was not only great for practicing letter names and matching, it was also a fabulous gross motor exercise because we used our whole bodies as we moved around on the floor driving the cars around the big track. There was also a lot of hand-eye coordination involved as we tried to stay in the lines of the track while the cars went around and around.

My daughter had fun driving her cars around by herself and then I joined in and drove my own cars and my son drove his own cars too. We just had to watch out to make sure there weren't too many car crashes ;)

Stickers are easy to take on and take off, so you can work on a few letters and then switch them around and try new ones. Easy peasy. You could also just match colors or shapes instead of letters by just using different stickers.

For older kids:

Use upper and lowercase alphabet stickers so they have to match the uppercase letter with the lowercase letter
Match sight words or short vowel words instead of letters (you can use sticky labels instead of stickers)

Do you have any car lovers at your house? Do you have any favorite ways that you learn using race cars or trucks or trains? If so, come share your ideas in the comments!!

Here are two of our favorites:

Be a Fly on the Wall in Your Own House {A Parenting Challenge}

2013-05-11T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hi! I'm Kristina, mom of three crazy kiddos, and I'm starting a new series on parenting. I'm not a parenting expert, but I'm trying really hard to be a better mom every day. I'd love you to join my challenges, share your tips and advice, and work together with me on a quest to be a better parent. I share tips I find in our newsletter too as well as on my Becoming a Better Parent pinterest board. Come learn with me!

A few weeks ago we were playing at a park surrounded by beautiful houses. My kids were happy and playing nicely, so I just stood admiring the intricate detail on each house while I watched them play. Suddenly I heard the meanest voice coming from one of the houses. The mom or grandma or babysitter (or??) was clearly yelling at a child to do something or STOP doing something and she went on and on and on.

I was shocked and a little embarrassed that I was hearing this exchange. The person clearly probably had no idea that she was yelling that loudly or that her mean words were echoing so far. I couldn't tell what the yelling was about and I have no idea what was going on, so my point in writing this post isn't to judge, but it made me stop and think.

If someone were a fly on the wall in my house (or outside my house listening in), what would their opinion be of me? What would they hear?

Or for that matter... what do the people inside my house already think of me?

If moments of my day were recorded and played back at me, would I be proud that I had handled the situations well, or would I be hanging my head in shame... mortified by what I said?

If I am being honest, I definitely have many "hang my head in shame" moments.

Just this week my 5-year-old hit my toddler with a plastic baseball bat and I came unglued. I think we were all a little traumatized after I flipped out and I definitely didn't help calm anyone down... especially my hurting daughter.

I definitely have moments when I get inappropriately angry as a parent, but they are happening less and less as I use the strategies I've shared with you before.

As Mother's Day approaches and I think about what it means to be a mom and what I love about being a mom, I have also reflected on ways that I wish I were a better mom. The words that I say and tone that I use are definitely some of the things I think about daily.

My challenge to us all this next week is to be a fly on the wall in our own homes. Listen to the words you say and the way that you say them.

Also listen to how your kids talk to each other and their friends. They are often a reflection of you.

I find that when my kids are being bossy, snippy, judgmental, critical, or unkind it usually ties to my behavior over the previous week and how I've been treating them.

After this little weeklong challenge, let's check back in and chat.

I guarantee we'll all have some thoughts about ways to be kinder, more thoughtful, and more in control of ourselves as parents. I'd love for us to learn together and share our ideas.

I'm not a parenting expert, but I do know that words matter.

I also know that "kindness is the essence of greatness" and I don't just want to be a semi-good parent... I want to be a great one. I want to be a parent that my kids want to spend time with, confide in, and feel comfortable around.

The words that I say and how I say them will make a big difference in helping me to become the person I want to be.

Do you ever regret things that you say to your kids (or spouse)? Have you had any "hang your head in shame" moments recently like me?

I'd love to hear your parenting goals and struggles too. Please share any thoughts in the comments and let's work together to be better parents this year.

You can find our favorite parenting resources under our Best of Parenting tab.

I'll be screen free tomorrow enjoying my family, so have a fabulous Mother's Day weekend!

Word Fun with Chalk Painting

2013-05-10T05:59:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be honest with you... I don't love chalk. I always seem to end up sitting in it or getting it all over my hands or finding it dragged through my house.

My co-blogging buddy EJ always comes up with the coolest chalk activities though, so I've been trying to change my attitude a bit.

This past week my 5-year-old was learning about short u words and my daughter was exploring the alphabet, so we decided to do some chalk painting to help us have fun with letters and words!

Supplies: For chalk painting all you need is a surface to write on (dark pavement is great), chalk, paintbrushes, and a cup of water.

Directions:

First write out the words or letters you are studying on a flat surface using chalk.

Then read the word (or letter), say the word (or letter) aloud, and then trace over it with a paintbrush dipped in water.

My toddler loved watching her ABCs disappear and my 5-year-old did his best to trace every letter.

This activity gave us opportunities to talk about... concepts of print, letter formation, decoding strategies, and beginning/ending sounds.

You can also have your child write their own letters and/or words!

We also played a game where I would call out the word and my son would have to find it and paint it.

Since my daughter is just learning the alphabet letters, I would just say the letter names and sounds when she would choose different letters to paint. If she painted A I would say, "Look you painted A! What sound does it make?"... or "A is at the beginning of the word apple."

This simple chalk activity can be played again and again.

We also use it to introduce new words before we read books with those words.

Do you have any other favorite ways you learn with chalk?

Here are a few of our favorites...

Sidewalk Simon

Number Walk

Alphabet Bug Spray

Watering an Alphabet Garden

Virtual Book Club Summer Camp

2013-05-09T00:23:00.000-07:00

Summer is right around the corner and we are SO EXCITED to announce a special project we've been working on!

This summer we will be joining with Rainy Day Mum and The Educators' Spin On It to host a Virtual Book Club Summer Camp!

Virtual Book Club Summer Camp is going to be five incredible weeks filled with book-related themed activities and crafts.

Each week we'll share with you the theme for the week, a supply list, book suggestions based on the theme, loads of links to fun activities and crafts you can try, and several posts sharing new content created just for Virtual Book Club Summer Camp by your Virtual Book Club Camp Counselors (me, Cerys, and Kim)!

Our goals for Virtual Book Club Summer Camp are...

Get outside and get moving (inspired by the books we read, of course!)
Read a lot and try out new-to-us books and authors
Craft and create using simple and inexpensive materials that we already have around the house
Help our kids develop an even deeper love for reading
Embed science, math, language, and cooking skills into our book-inspired activities
Encourage you to get creating and reading with your kids this summer!

Virtual Book Club Summer Camp will start on Monday, June 24th and end on Friday, July 26th.

Don't miss out on any info or updates. You can sign up below to receive our Virtual Book Club Summer Camp News & Weekly Planner.

More details will be coming soon! I hope you will be joining in! Leave a note in the comments if you'll be participating with us this summer!

Are you familiar with the Virtual Book Club for Kids? If not, you can check out our Yearlong Virtual Book Club for Kids series and get caught up. All year we've spotlighted a new author each month and we've done book-related crafts and activities. It has been so much fun! In May we are featuring books by Leo Lionni.

*Brands may contact us regarding sponsorship opportunities at toddlerapproved (at) gmail (dot) com.

Thank you My Cute Graphics for the use of the sun image above.

Color and Word Games {Toddler Approved This Week}

2013-05-07T00:31:00.000-07:00

This post contains affiliate links.

This post is quickly becoming one of my favorites because it is fun to see what activities we actually accomplish and it is even more exciting to sift through all of the awesome things I pin and decide which to try out.

Last week it was HOT and gorgeous where we live! I spent a lot of time outside running with our double jogger (while my five year old rode his bike alongside). We didn't get much time for crafting or activities, but we managed to sneak a few things in.

Here are a few of the ideas we tried out inspired by several of the posts I shared with you last week...

Instead of making these May Day baskets, we did some May Day salad spinner art baskets.

We tried out Teach Mama's Building words with Letter Lids activity which then led to loads of other letter lid activities... including a few we'll share with you this next week. We used our Melissa & Doug Alphabet and Number stickers which we love!

We did lots and lots of Lego building inspired by Lego Quest Kids.

We did an Indoor Alphabet Hunt inspired by the Outdoor chalk alphabet hunt shared by Gratefully Growing in Grace. Instead of using chalk on pavement outdoors, we wrote with markers on the ram board that is around our house (mainly because the baby was sleeping and it was hot outside). You could do this on butcher paper and tape it to your floor.

The kids loved hunting again and again for the letters. The toddler matched the letters to the words and then my five year old read the words. They were a great team!

Lastly we did an Indoor Colors and Shapes Game inspired by the chalk colors and shape game shared by Tiny Sidekicks. Once again the baby was sleeping and I was enjoying the A/C so we opted to do an indoor version. :)

I drew colored shapes on large art paper and taped it to the ground and the kids came up with all sorts of ways to play games with this shape path. Their main goal was to walk from one side to another on the same shape or the same color.

We also spent some quality time talking about colors this week using art supplies. Stacking colored lids is way more fun than painting sometimes... and provides loads of opportunities to talk about patterns and colors too!

We enjoyed Screen Free Week all last week during the day and I think we'll be doing that for the kids from now on as much as possible. I underestimated them. I realized that I turn on DVDs due to sheer laziness on my part sometimes and they don't need to be on. The kids are so much happier and pleasant without them too. I am also much nicer and patient when I avoid screens when they are awake... so I'll try to do that more often. Sometimes it is unavoidable... since it seems most of life requires the computer, but I don't need to be online as much as I am.

Last week we also attended a wedding and so I had to throw in a picture of my littlest guy. He is now six months old. The time sure flies!

This next week we are going to be focusing on some simple preschool skills- listening, hand-eye coordination, cutting, and pretend play.

Here are some of the activities and crafts we'll be trying out this next week...

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Threading via Here Come the Girls
Invitation to Scoop and Pour via The Sugar Aunts
Giant Connect the Dots via What Do We Do All Day?
Five Playful Ways to Work on Listening and Following Directions via Playing with Words 365
Pretend Hair Salon for Dolls via Inner Child Fun
Easy DIY Books for Young Writers via Imagination Soup
Aliens Love Underpants craft via Rainy Day Mum

We also plan to read a few related books...

I can't wait to get started on a few of these projects today!

Did you try out any new activities last week? What were your favorites? Please share any links in the comments!

Simple Lego Challenges for Kids

2013-05-06T01:11:00.000-07:00

My five-year- old is in this pretty awesome stage where he just wants to play and build with Legos all day. I love seeing him so creative and excited!

I discovered this awesome Lego Quest website a few weeks ago filled with Lego challenges.

Using the site as my inspiration, we created some simple Lego challenges for my kids last week and set up a little Lego challenge area in our kitchen.

First I cut up a bunch of cardstock into rectangles and then I added black circles to try and make them look like paper Legos.

Next I wrote a top secret challenge on each Lego card.

Then I stuffed all of the challenges (face down) into an envelope and hung the envelope up on a wall where my son can get to it easily.

The first challenge he picked was to create a bird house.

His response was, "That's lame. I want a new challenge."

My response was, "What do you picture when you think of a bird house?" He described a basic bird house and I said, "you're right, that is lame. If you were a bird, what sort of house would you want to live in that was cooler than that? I'd want to live in one with a bird water slide and maybe a hot tub."

Right away the wheels in his brain got turning... and his imagination started working! He excitedly told me a few ideas and then ran off to his room. When his dad got home my son showed him his challenge and he wanted to join in too.

They ended up going with a simple, colorful design, but there was a whole long list of what the bird was going to be able to do inside the house. Our next step is to create a Lego challenge journal where my son can write and draw about his creations.

This activity can easily be adapted for toddlers using Duplo.

For toddlers I would pick more open ended challenges instead of specific ones (ie. make something just using red Legos, or make something tall or something that can move).

Toddler Approved!

Time Management for Families

With your purchase, you’ll get all five of the following ebooks:

What do you waste the most time doing? What makes you late or unproductive? What do you want to spend more time doing this summer?

What other tips would you add?

Simple Fun with Ice Cream {Gail Gibbons Virtual Book Club for Kids Blog Hop}

After we read the book, we decided to have an ice cream themed weekend and do some ice cream themed activities. I am going to share four of the simple activities we tried with you...

1. {Pretend Play} Playdough Ice Cream Shop

2. {Kitchen Chemistry} 5 Minute Ice Cream

3. {Learning Colors} Felt Ice Cream Cones

4. {Family Field Trip} Going to the Ice Cream Shop

What is your favorite Gail Gibbons book? If you have blogged about it, we'd love for you to link up your post in the linky below! We can't wait to see all of your amazing ideas!

10 Fourth of July Crafts and Activities for Toddlers

Here are 10 Fourth of July crafts and activities for toddlers that were simple and fun that you might also enjoy trying out this year.

Have you ever tried any of these? What other favorite 4th of July crafts or activities have you tried with your toddlers or bigger kids?

Using Puppets for Language Development {Get Ready for K Through Play}

This week for the Get Ready for K Through Play Series we are talking about language development.

This week we did three things to help us develop our language skills...

1. We created a simple puppet theater from a cardboard box.

2. We made some puppets.

3. We performed.

How else have you used puppets for language building?

Do you have a favorite puppet craft that you've made? Come share it in the comments!

Get Ready for Kindergarten Through Play Series

Week 1: Language

June Virtual Book Club for Kids- Gail Gibbons

Have you read any books by Gail Gibbons?

Will you be participating in Virtual Book Club for Kids this month?

Here are a few of the Gail Gibbons books that we are looking forward to reading this month:

Cork Color Match and Sort

Do you have any corks lying around? Here are a few other cork crafts or activities to try...

Are you looking for a creative way to spend your summer? Sign up for the Virtual Book Club Summer Camp!

Mom and Tot Craft Time: ABC Sticker Animal Art

My two-year-old is obsessed with stickers and animals. This ABC Sticker Animal Art activity was a simple way to combine her favorite things while exploring the ABCs a little bit.

How else do you use stickers for learning?

10 Ways to Learn and Play with Water

Schools are out (or will be soon) and temperatures are rising! Playing with water is always on the top of our list when we have free time, so we are excited about these activities we are sharing with you!

Below are our top 10 ways to learn and play with water! Come share any other favorites in the comments.

Learning Colors

Identifying Shapes

Letter Recognition

Counting and Simple Math

Reading

In addition to all of these activities focused on basic preschool and pre-k skills, Jamie from Hands On As We Grow is sharing her Top 10 water experiments for kids... in case you haven't gotten your fill of water fun yet!

Here is the list of the kid bloggers that are participating in the top 10 series. Their topics are listed at This Reading Mama.

Stop by and check out these Top 10 Ways to Keep Kids Learning while school is out!

10 Camp Mom Cooking Activities for Kids

Today we are going to share 10 Camp Mom Cooking Activities with you!

These 10 ideas that we are sharing are simple and easy and can help you create your own Camp Mom cooking classes in your house this summer!

1. Decorate Chef Hats

2. Yogurt Pops

3. Omelets in a Muffin Tin

4. Oreo Asteroids

5. Banana Boats

6. Utensil Hunt

7. Peanut Butter Boppers

8. Ladle Relays

9. Banana Pops

10. Bagel Pizzas

While you are eating or waiting for your snacks to cook (or cool), you can check out these books below that we enjoyed reading along with these activities:...

What are your favorite things to cook with your kids?

Have you ever held a cooking class for your kids or their friends?

If you try any of these activities or have any of your own awesome cooking activities to share, add them in the comments! I would love to pin some of them to our Camp Mom pinterest board!

5 Awesome Summer Resources for Kids!

Today I want to share five awesome summer resources with you so that you can make this summer the best one yet!

1. Virtual Book Club Summer Camp

2. Camp Mom

3. BabbaCo's Summer Survival Pack!

4. Reading Bucket List

5. We Teach Summertime Learning E-Book

I am hoping to make this summer our best yet by keeping things simple and relaxing while also finding creative ways to embed learning activities into each day! I hope you find these five resources useful as you plan your summers!

Toddler Alphabet Game: ABC Slam!

This week we used some empty playdough containers and some pool noodles and we created a toddler alphabet game called ABC slam!

Do you have any favorite active or silly ways that you learn the alphabet letters with your kids?

Making Short Vowel Words

Last week I got out a few new(er) tools and set up a making words activity for my preschooler.

Toddler Modification:

Do you have a preschooler who likes to make words? Here are a few other early reading activity favorites...

Word Family and Color slam Word Fun with Chalk Painting Pipe Cleaning Rhyming Sticky Wall

5 Ways to Explore with Kids this Summer

Word Family and Color slam

Word Fun with Chalk Painting

Pipe Cleaning Rhyming Sticky Wall