Letter Detective

Stevie and I went on a search for the letter Tt on a Triscuit box today. I gave him a washable marker and asked him to circle the letter Tt's. I had to hold part of the marker for this one. His 2 year old hands aren't ready for drawing small circles yet. He liked it, but wanted to write the letters on his legs too. Artists!

Picnic in the livingroom

Tired of the same old pb& j at 12pm at the kitchen table. Try a picnic blanket, juice boxes, food, etc in another room. Two year olds are easily amused. Great fun. We do it often.

On Colors

Good book for color awareness. . . . Lunch, by Denise Fleming. I'll figure out how to make a list of these someday. You can use pom poms that match the colors in the story and make a mouse. Kiddo can put the pom poms on the mouse, just like the mouse in the book. I'll try this and take a picture. I welcome any other ideas for colors. I'm hoping that this site will be an exchange of ideas, not just me giving info and sharing. I have a lot to learn.

Pom Poms

If you are a mom of a 2-5 year old, you may have already have discovered the wonders of pom poms. Those little fuzzy balls that come in all colors and sizes (choking hazard for little ones). If you don't have some in a project box, go and get them. They're cheap ($1.00 at Target) and you and the kiddos can sort them, count them, make pictures with them, etc. Hours of fun.

Theme Day : Soft

Today I hosted a theme day at my house. The theme was "soft." Soft food, soft music, story about a soft bunny, and soft art work. We read the story Fluffy Bunny, hopped like bunnies, and painted bunnies using cotton balls (soft, get it). I think the kids liked it. I did. Stevie enjoyed taking his bunny apart after it was all over. Good times.

Mem Fox Phase

I've been really getting into all the Mem Fox children's books after reading her book on literacy, Reading Magic. In her book, Fox writes about the importance of reading each day with you child. Mem Fox is big on predictable text and rhyming. Me too! Reading books that are predictable, exciting, and have rhythm and rhyme helps little kids learn to read. It also helps them love reading and develops their confidence. One of my favorite recent mommy moments was watching my little dude take a book from his bookbox and start "reading" it. It was a book of nursery rhymes and he was having a ball with Hickory Dickory Dock. I'm keeping his bookbox in the playroom for that reason. I want the message to be loud and clear . . . . READING IS FUN. That's why his books are with the other fun stuff.

Letter Hunt

A few days ago, Stevie and I played a game called "letter hunt" in the playroom. His job was to find objects in the room that start with the /b/ sound. I picked the letter b because it's a letter with only one sound. I forgot how many kids confuse the /b/ with /p/ because they sound so similar. Oh well, it was still a blast and Stevie seemed to really enjoy it. I had to pick out some objects (too many toys in the room to choose from), say the name of it, and Stevie would tell me if we could put in on the /b/ blanket. Here's a pick. He was quite proud of himself when it was over. I think I got the idea for this game from the book, 365 Games Smart Toddlers Play (S. Ellison). Either that book, or a mommy blog. The 365 book is awesome. Especially if your idea well is a little dry like mine. It really helps to see what other parents do with their kids. The book also groups activities by age . . . a plus in my book.