- Go through own toys and clothes to donate to a shelter or needy child.
- Pick out nonperishable food items, either in cupboards at home or in the store, to give to a food bank.
- Visit with and/or sing to the elderly at a nursing home, especially in an Easter outfit!
- Color pictures, make cards or crafts, or take photos to send to servicemen/women overseas, a nursing home or hospice center, or sick kids. Check out http://www.colorasmile.org/ and http://www.makeachildsmile.org/featured_kids.shtml.
- Make and drop off a handmade toy somewhere in town for someone else to find (http://thetoysociety.blogspot.com/)
- Pick out toys, books, or baby clothes at a consignment shop or thrift store to give to shelters for kids or mothers in need.
- Pick out a new gift for a child in the hospital.
- Deliver meals on wheels together.
- Sponsor puppies to be trained as assistance/guide dogs.
- Pack toiletries or other items for disaster relief efforts.
- Make cookies or other baked goods for a blood drive, for the firemen, or to give to an elderly or ill neighbor.
- Pick flowers (even dandelions) to give to an elderly friend.
- Be a foster family for your local animal shelter.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Thursday 13 - Service Activities for Toddlers
Just thought I'd summarize the terrific answers we got to our first Aloha Friday question: What types of volunteer, service, or random acts of kindness activities can a two-year-old participate in?
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
WFMW - "A" Adventures
Review.
Song: The Alphabet Song. Mommy printed each song on a page with pictures, so I can pick out the song I want to sing out of our songbook. I like pointing out some of the letters as we sing, especially "WXY and Z!" And I'm starting to move my fingers to sign the alphabet like Mommy does.
Book: Avalanche by Michael J. Rosen. We read a number of alphabet books, but this was my absolute favorite! I especially liked the outer space pictures.
Food: Alphabet soup. Not terribly exciting. Apple chips. Not my favorite, either. Apple Jacks. Now THOSE I like!
Computer Time: Fisher Price alphabet game - fun because I can play without having to use the mouse!
Physical Activity: Color Twister
This is the day Mommy brings out the big bin of alphabet and color and shape stuff for me to play with. Plus we put together our very own Teeny Tiny alphabet book. I helped color, and then I decided it needed some glitter glue. That was just the perfect touch, Mommy says.
Lapbook (& Ants).
Song: The Ants Go Marching. My favorite song of the week! I love to march around the house and go "boom boom boom" with my foot! I don't always make it through all ten verses, but we did a couple of times. And it's good exercise on a rainy day!
Book: Ant Cities by Arthur Dorros - we just looked at pictures. The Ant and the Elephant by Bill Peet - there were too many words in this book, but Mommy just told me the story as we looked at pictures.
Food: Ants on a log. I had fun making these - but I only ate the peanut butter and cream cheese, not the celery or raisins...
Computer Time: Archibald's Adventure - I had fun watching as Mommy showed me how to play.
Science: Ant farm. We filled a jar with dirt and ants. You can see more at this science post.
Physical Activity: Marching like ants
On the second day, we are putting together a lapbook for each letter. I get to play with it during the week, and then I'll get to look at all my lapbooks on review days, too.
We're keeping things simple for now. Here's what we did:
We have the folder set up backwards from what you would normally think a folder should be. This way, you can punch holes along the back left page and put it in a binder nicely - the front page is a little smaller and opens to the right.
The first page is a block letter "A" with fingerprint ants on it. Mommy says it was much easier to do this last year when I was little and let her move my hand around. I wanted to do it myself this time - and I DIDN'T want to do three fingerprints in a row. So this is as good as it got.
On the inside of the front page we stapled a gallon ziplock bag to store some of the "A" activities we did throughout the weeks.
On the next page we had a letter book, with pages of things that start with "A." Then our sign language cards. I really like flaps, so these are taped with the A card on top, then you lift it up and the apple card is underneath. And on the backs of each card is a diagram of how to make the sign.
And I have a Bible verse card. For "A" we did "Go to the ant" verse from Proverbs 6:9. This is a flap card, too - if you lift it up, there are ant pictures pasted underneath. And I had a counting pocket. Inside were apples numbered from 1-15, so we could pull them out, put them in order, and count.
On the back page we glued a coloring page of an "A" ant.
Mommy says to let you know - if it seems there is too much coloring, try changing the medium you color with. Watercolor paints go a long way - I colored a LOT of pages very fast with my watercolors.
Excursion 1: Aquarium.
Book: Curious George Goes to the Aquarium by Margret and H. A. Reys. I LOVED this book! But then, I love anything George is in...
Food: Goldfish crackers.
I really wanted to drive 3 hours to a big aquarium, but instead we just checked out the fish at Wal-Mart while running errands. We almost bought a fish bowl to put plastic fish in, but we couldn't find plastic fish anywhere. And the real ones weren't for sale that day (thankfully, Mommy says).
Bible Story: Adam (& Creation & Animals).
Song: God Made Adam
Book: Colors of Creation by Thomas Paul Thigpen - this is my absolute favorite book! Mine is in Mozambique, so we just read it online. In Our Image: God's First Creatures by Nancy Sohn Swartz - Mommy says she paraphrased a little bit due to theology, but this was a fun book and fun story.
Food: Garden of Eden food! Acorn squash glazed with apricot jam, almond butter, dried apricots, asparagus.
Computer Time: When God Made Everything online book, Animal Sounds game
Science: Switching lights on and off, candles (God said "Let there be light.")
Physical Activity: Naming the animals we saw on a walk outside
We talked about creation and Adam and Eve on our Bible story day. I played a creation matching game. Mommy laid out 8 cards in the order of creation, and I had to match my 8 cards to those.
And we made a mobile of the days of creation. Each day was a different color, kind of like my favorite creation book.
We decided to use up the paint that was left on our plate to make this rainbow. Mommy helped a lot, but I told everybody "Esmé paint it!"
Science: Alligator & Airplane.
Song: Alligator Pie
Book: See You Later, Alligator by Bobette McCarthy. Snip Snap! What's That? by Mara Bergman - one of my absolute favorites! Freddie Goes on an Airplane by Nicola Smee. I Love Planes by Philemon Sturges - my ABSOLUTE favorite book of the week!
Food: Airplane tray. Sadly, no alligator pie...
Science: Flying airplanes
Computer Time: Barney's Airplane song
Physical Activity: Jumping on the trampoline like an astronaut
You can read more about our airplane adventures on this airplane post.
Social Studies: Australia.
Song: Kookaburra Song
Book: Big Talk by Miriam Schlein - one of my favorites. Wombat Stew by Marcia K. Vaughan. Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne. Australia: Enchantment of the World by Ann Heinrichs - we looked at pictures while talking about Australia.
Food: (Veggie)meat pie
Science: Eating gumdrops - see this science post.
Computer Time: Kookaburra video - there are several other kookaburra videos, too.
Physical Activity: Prep and take a walkabout.
I got to play with some Australian outback paper dolls. I liked matching up styles for them to wear, since I am such a fashionista myself...
Excursion 2: Airplane.
We ate lunch while staking airplanes (see airplane post). I LOVE airplanes!
Kitchen: Apple.
Song: Apple (to the tune of BINGO)
Book: There are STACKS of books on apples. Here are some that I enjoyed: Ten Apples Up On Top! by Theo L. LeSieg. The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall. How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman. The Apple Pie that Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson. Johnny Appleseed by Jane Yolen.
Food: Apple shakeups snack. Mommy peeled up some apples, and I cut them with a table knife. Then we put them in a ziplock bag. I put in some spoons of brown sugar and cinnamon, too. Then I shook it all up! I didn't eat any, though...
I did eat the sugar cookies we made. I helped roll out the dough, use the cookie cutters (A, apple, airplane, and angel), and decorate them. Cept Mommy said they flopped cuz they didn't keep their shape when they baked. But they were yummy, anyway.
Science: Lemon juice on apple - see this science post.
Computer Time: Checked out some apple sites with Mommy: http://www.bestapples.com/kids/games/, http://www.applejuice.org/fungames.html, http://apple-corps.westnet.com/apple_corps.2.html
Physical Activity: Apple blossom blizzard. We went outside and checked out the orchard in our back yard. There were some pretty apple blossoms! We got to do a blossom blizzard, too. Not with the apples, though - the pear blossoms worked much better for a blizzard. I like tissue paper blossom blizzards, but real blossom blizzards are much better!
Mommy hid some wood apples in my alphabet macaroni tub. I got to find them and paint them!
My coloring page for the day was an apple. After it was colored, we glued it to cereal box board. We had to wait for it to dry. Then Mommy cut it and punched holes in it, and I got to sew it up. I got real good coordination...
I made this really cool apple print wrapping paper. Mommy showed me how to paint stems and leaves on the apples after we printed them.
Miscellaneous A Stuff.
Act of Kindness. Write a letter to an aunt. We picked my Auntie Ann, cuz her name starts with A. Here's my letter:
I haven't met her yet - she lives in Cambodia. But she gives the nicest gifts. So we picked out a present for her, and we're gonna wrap it in the apple print paper I made. But I can't tell you what it is - it's a secret!
Calendar. Since we're in April, which is an "A" month, we started keeping a calendar. Every day we put a new sticker on the day (or sometimes we have to catch up and put several stickers on the days we missed). And I'm learning the days of the week and stuff, with a little help from Starfall.com.
---------------
If you have a post or link related to "A" Activities for toddlers, link up here!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Not Me! Tuesday
I especially wouldn't do that when I have an eye infection. I would never get an eye infection. It's no fun. I never do anything that's no fun.
I would never discover the tampon box and unwrap all the tampons.
I would never strip all the flowers and petals off the wildflower bouquet I helped pick, especially inside the house where it would make a mess. I never make messes.
I would never put my dummy into my mouth using my toe. Toes are for tiptoeing, not for coloring and eating and putting dummies into mouths.
I would never stomp in puddles with my favorite purple shoes. I might get them wet and ruin them, and I would never ruin my favorite shoes.
I would never drag my stool over to the stove and climb up it to help Mommy flip pancakes on the stove. First of all, because Mommy said not to. I always listen to her. And secondly, I am not into being helpful. I don't constantly look for ways to help.
Seeing as I never help, I wouldn't help Mommy make the salad for lunch. So of course I would never chew up a carrot and spit it into the salad instead of grating it like Mommy does.
I would never play tennis inside the house. I might break something. And I would never break anything. Especially not when I'm wearing my favorite diaper outfit.
Oh - I don't wear diapers any more. I did not pick out my own underpants last week and insist on wearing them every day. I don't whine every time Mommy tries to put a diaper on me. I never wet my pants. Never. Especially not when I've just been on the toilet.
I never mess around with people when they ask me questions. So I would never hold up two fingers when someone asks me how old I am and tell them I'm "dee." Or "four." Cuz I know I'm only two.
I would never take out the trash bag roll and unroll it all over the floor. If I did, I would never leave it there as evidence for Mommy to take photos of.
I would never throw a fit after swimming class because I can't take a "bath" in the hot tub. I love my showers! Oh yes - I just sing for joy in the shower after swimming class. I would never want a hot bath.
I would never eat ice cream while sitting in the car. It is messy, and I hate making messes. And Mommy would never let me eat ice cream. At least not in public. Especially when I'm coming down with an eye infection.
Here's to feeling all better soon...
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Protector
God is our refuge and strength, a tested help in times of trouble. And so we need not fear even if the world blows up, and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam; let the mountains tremble!"
-Psalm 46:1-3, TLB
I'm thankful for a God and a Pappa who protect me even in the middle of big lakes... There's something reassuring about a handhold in times like these.
-Psalm 46:1-3, TLB
I'm thankful for a God and a Pappa who protect me even in the middle of big lakes... There's something reassuring about a handhold in times like these.
For more "protect" photos, see PhotoHunt.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Aloha Friday
We got such great responses to last week's Aloha Friday question about service activities for toddlers - thanks, folks! - that I'm gonna do it again... Seeing as it's around Earth Day, I've been thinking about the following:
What household "trash" items (e.g. toilet paper rolls) should you keep for crafts or other activities with kids? And how do you use them?
Thursday 13 - Why Coupons Don't Pay
Esmé's Mommy here. Notice anything odd about the photo below?
Other than the purple dress shoes with tshirt and denim shorts? The bunny bag well after Easter? The butterfly carrying the magnifying glass instead of being under it? Take a look at the eye.
Yep, that's my mascara. Waterproof mascara. Most of it has been washed off already, but she doesn't want soap in her eye for some reason, so I can't get the rest off.
Exhibit A that NOTHING is out of Esmé's reach. NOTHING. And a screw-on lid is just part of the fun.
We'll get back to that.
You know those claims from people who buy $200 worth of groceries for only $5? The ones who know all about stacking coupons to get things for free and then get cash back afterwards?
I've been listening to them too much. Today I decided to play the online coupon game. I checked out the "terrific" matches available at 3 local stores. And here are 13 reasons I should never play this game:
- It takes time. Lots of time. There is a reason this Thursday 13 list is being published on Friday.
- It makes Internet Explorer crash. Over and over. I keep having to install this Coupon Printer software. Again and again. For practically every coupon I print. And when it crashes, I have to start all over again.
- It costs printer ink. Now, some coupons print out a nice neat little coupon, but many fill up the whole page with lots of color and one little coupon at the bottom.
- Oh, and when Internet Explorer crashes and your coupon doesn't print, you go back to try to print it again. And a coupon prints, only it says: "Sorry, you've exceeded your household limit." So you've wasted your printer ink, and your time, and your paper, and you don't even get a coupon.
- You have to walk 10 miles looking for the things you want to buy. Even if you're semi-organized and have the coupons sorted by categories or aisles (which I don't), you have to go back through the whole grocery store when you can't find what you're looking for.
- You can't ever find what you're looking for. I was trying to find a specific soda. I looked in the chilled drinks section. Nothing. The soda aisle. Nothing. The health food aisle (yes, you do get healthy sodas, I'm told.). Nothing. So I've gone through the store three times and never found the product.
- When you do find the product, usually the store brand right next to it is even cheaper, even with the coupon.
- Even worse, you buy the product, and then find it cheaper in the next store. Because you're shopping at multiple stores to get the maximum benefit from your coupons, right? So you know exactly how much you got ripped off, instead of living in blissful oblivion.
- You know those double-it-up coupons? The store coupon that will double the manufacturer's coupons? They are made of floating material. I lay my coupons down in my cart several times, and each time that specific coupon floated away. I recovered it a few times, but when I got to the checkout counter, it wasn't there. And the oh-so-nice clerk informed me that she couldn't help me with another one. No coupon, no double discount. So there went half of my meager savings on the few products I could find.
- And then you come across a super deal. The prize of all coupon deals - the clincher to coupon success. The coupon is a $5 coupon, but the specialty cereal is on sale for only $3.94. Score! This one is on the house, baby! So you get to checkout, and the oh-so-nice clerk informs you that you cannot use a coupon that is more than the value of the product. The computer just won't accept it. It is completely unacceptable! So here, take the coupon back and go use it somewhere where the cereal costs more. There went my entire game plan, out the window.
- You have to squeeze those diabetic snack bars that cost almost nothing into your packed cupboards somehow, even though you have no diabetics in the house.
- You forget to buy all the regular things on your list, like bread and garlic.
- You finally get through the second store. Your toddler is cranky. The third store has another prize deal - a $5.99 candle, a $2 store coupon, and a $4 manufacturer coupon. FREE! I CAN'T afford to miss out! And then I think - the computer might not accept the coupons. And WHERE on EARTH am I going to burn a sweet-smelling candle when my toddler can reach ANYWHERE? It's just not worth it.
Though if any of you find a coupon for mascara with a child-proof top, please let me know.
More Thursday 13 participants can be found here.
Thanks to Samulli for the Thursday 13 header.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
WFMW - "A" Activity Trays
I've been having a hard time deciding how much detail to share of our alphabet school each week. The alphabet posts have generally taken the most time to put together and get the least comments - most of my "known" readers aren't into all the details. Yet these posts also get the most hits on my blog, so I'm guessing there are a few anonymous readers out there.
So here's what we're gonna do. Only one post each week devoted specifically to "school," as we've been doing in the past. I'll give you an outline of what we're doing, including some photos and a little feedback on how things worked. The idea is simply to pass on ideas, not to provide a "curriculum" or to keep track of all the sources and links. If you want a specific link, let me know via email or comment and I'll try to get it to you.
We're spending two weeks on each letter, so for organizational purposes, I'll go through our activity trays one week, and then the themed activities the second week.
So here are the "A" activity trays that worked for us this week!
Sensory Tub. We filled a small tub with alphabet macaroni, and put in a few measuring cups and spoons for good measure. So we got practice figuring how many 1/8 cups filled a 1/4 cup, etc, as well as practice "hiding" our hands and feet in the tub. I also used the tub to hide various objects for crafts - plaster planes and wood apples for painting, etc. And Esmé also liked picking out the Os, Ws, Vs, and As. (And I found the macaroni in the Mexican section of the grocery store, not the pasta section...)
Shake 'n Sniff. I put a teaspoon of allspice into an apple-shaped shaker and paired it up with a coffee filter for Esmé to sprinkle the allspice onto. I refilled it a couple of times and replaced the coffee filter, too. And the first time I realized I needed to include her little broom and dustpan with this activity, so she could sweep up her mess afterwards!
Counting. I had two activities for counting. The first was a tray of 15 acorns, to be counted out into cups of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Counting didn't actually happen unless I was involved, but she liked carrying the little acorns around.
The second counting activity was 15 crocheted angels in an angel bag. These could also be counted in rows of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 to make an angel tree.
Play Doh. Play doh is a very important part of our school! It does take my involvement, as I get to roll it out. I've been collecting cookie cutters from thrift stores - so for A week we had an angel, an apple, an airplane, and the letter A.
Matching. I had two sets of matching games out - one that included "A" pictures from a Memory game, and the other a 3-part card set I printed - though we are only using two parts for now - not matching written words yet! Though I might need to do so soon. Esmé does the matching right the first time, just to show me she can do it, and then she just messes around with me and mismatches everything... (Those Memory card holder boxes work great for this - 12 cards is about the max I'd use for Esmé.)
Color Sorting. I made an apple tree and an orange tree out of felt, and cut 10 of each fruit from felt, also. I mixed them up and let Esmé put the correct fruit on the correct tree. She did perfectly the first time through, and then just like with the matching activity, she starting messing things around. Her favorite part was alternating the fruit to put back on the tray for the next time through.
Magnets. Esmé loves magnets, so I've started collecting these from thrift stores, too. My best investment was a set of five photo frame magnets. We looked through a magazine for "A" pictures, ripped them out, and stuck them in the frames. The magnets are in a bowl on her activity tray shelf, and she has a little magnet board to put them on, or she can carry them to the fridge and use them there.
Rubber Stamps. I've started a collection of rubber stamps from thrift stores, too. I put "A" stamps on a tray with ink pads and strips of paper to make bookmarks.Esmé enjoys this if I am playing along with her, but it does get rather messy.
Stickers. Esmé generally loves stickers, but for some reason just putting them on a tray with paper wasn't very appealing to her. So I colored a few "background" cards, and that went over much better. We did an airport scene, an apple tree with apple stickers, and outer space with astronaut and alien stickers. She also liked putting stickers in her new journal, as well as drawing in the journal several times.
Cutting. I printed out a bunch of small apples for Esmé's lapbook, and had a few strips left over. So I stuck these in a cup with her scissors, and she enjoyed cutting the strips.
A Triangle. I took three craft sticks and put velcro on them so they could be connected in a triangle shape or in an "A" shape. She enjoyed these as long as I was helping her with them.
Inserts. Nothing "A" about this - I lost my creativity here. But it was one of Esmé's favorite activities - inserting toothpicks into the holes on a salt shaker. She pulled this down a number of times to do by herself.
Coloring Tray. I put an apple mug of crayons on a tray - yes - I'm looking for mugs to correspond to all the letters now! Then I had a coloring page for each theme during the week, so I could swap the pages out as they got colored. (I haven't given Esmé crayons much because she eats them, and she stayed true to form, but I tried to ignore it this week, and I think she's slowly getting over her fetish. She at least managed to do some coloring between the bites.)
Pouring. The last activity tray on her shelf was the pouring one - a small glass pitcher and a small glass. Not particularly "A"ish, but I'll be adding a sponge or towel to this in the future, so maybe those can be A themed! She loves this, it is always messy, and it is put on the shelf empty, so when she wants to use it, I take it to the kitchen and fill the pitcher. A little control that way...
We also had a couple of bins of toys. As I mentioned last week, I've cut down a lot on the toys, but she's definitely enjoying the ones she has more now. Not everything is "A" themed - I left out her doll and wagon. But I did include a bin of A stuff - angels, apples, airplanes. And here is the ark with animals...
And I left some other art stuff out for free art time, like her easel and white board. So I can be blessed with spontaneous designs such as this one. Doesn't it just feel like spring?
So there you have it - the A activity trays that worked for this 24-month-old! Next week we'll go through the A-theme adventures we did, too.---------------
If you have a post or link related to "A" Activities for toddlers, link up here!
Wordless Wednesday - Dandelion Days
Watering dandelions...
Searching for blowy dandelions...
Gettin' ready to blow...
Searching for blowy dandelions... Gettin' ready to blow...
Posts
.jpg)
