In His Hands: United States

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Next stop:  United States!

OK – so this isn’t technically a trip for us.  We live here.  But it technically is the most challenging country to condense in a short trip, because there are a zillion activities we could be doing.

Music.  For this one, we read a couple of books that inspired some YouTube searches.

• This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie
• America the Beautiful by Katharine Lee Bates

Flag.  Three years ago, we made a fun July 4th lapbook and my favorite US flag craft:

I didn’t want to replicate the same design, so I gave Esmé a simple US dot art flag printable to work on…

Which she quickly made into her own design:

Food.  What’s more American than hot dogs?!  With a side of baked beans and potato salad?

Since Esmé said she’d boycott the apple pie, we went with pumpkin instead.  After all, Thanksgiving is a totally American holiday…

Craft.  There were a zillion ideas that crossed my mind, but I decided none was as American as this, the bald eagle…

To start with, we gathered supplies: two brown lunch bags, a piece of white construction paper, a pencil, a yellow and a brown marker, scissors and tape (or glue).

I cut eagle wings from one of the brown bags and tail feathers from the white paper.  Esmé was responsible for the eagle head – using white paper, coloring the yellow beak, and texturizing by cutting a small fringe around it.  I think she did a fabulous job!

Once it was all glued together (we taped the tail feathers so they could go in either direction), Esmé created “texture” with a brown marker all over the front of the eagle and its wings.

And here it is, ready for flight!

And that concludes our U.S. expedition!  I think we’re heading across the ocean next – but which one?!

“Carrying the cross was too hard for Jesus.  But He can carry the world in His hands.  That means the cross is much bigger than the world!” ~Esmé, age 4

WFMW - "U" Crafts

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"U" week has been an unequivocably unique week! Here are the crafts and activities that worked for this 22-month-old.

Umbrella. Of course I had to get an umbrella for this week! It's a cool yellow one with tigers and giraffes and hibiscus flowers on it! I put it up and protect Dolly from Mommy's water spray bottle while she sings "The raindrops fall with a pitter patter pit..."

And I played paper dolls with an umbrella, too. Mommy got this little creature (Papa says it's ugly for "U" week) from DLTK's site.


Worksheet. Some people don't think little kids like me should have to do worksheets, but I like coloring papers. Mommy says she liked worksheets as a kid because she felt like she was accomplishing something as she finished them.

Arguments aside, she found some that aren't actually letters, but rather writing skills, which she's been wanting to work with me on. And one was for a smiley-mouth curve, just like a "U!" So I got to color on that one. See the smiley-mouth I made?
UFOs. What IS that scary-looking thing on my breakfast plate? Mommy took a wheat hamburger roll, cut a hole in the middle, spread it with peanut butter, put banana and strawberry slices on it, and put a boiled egg in the middle. Man, was that scary! I didn't touch it!

Unicorn. We offer proof that unicorns still live and breathe today, though they may not be very active. All you have to do is paint a piece of paper, roll it into a cone shape and tape it, and put the cone on your SLEEPING cat's head. Take the picture quick, because soon he will be awake and fighting the cone with all the furor he possesses.
Underwater. I put holographic underwater stickers on a paper. They look a lot like Papa's scuba photos! Dolly helped.

Then I played with some glass rocks that look like water. First Mommy had me try to spoon them into an egg tray. That was NO fun at all!
Then she just let me pour them back and forth between containers and stir them with my spoon. That was much more fun!
Then I had the bright idea to put Kitkat underwater, too!
Universe. Black is where the world began! So Mommy and I colored things - stars, circles, and lots of unknown objects - onto a paper with crayons. Then we covered it with black tempera paint.
Upside Down. I don't use a dummy much anymore, but when I wasn't feeling good, I got my dummy and stuck it in upside down.

And Mommy and I made an upside down person. I drew the face, and Mommy drew the stick parts on the wrong side of the face.
Up and Under. We looked at pictures and talked a lot about what was "up" and "under."
Undo, Unzip, Unbutton, Untie, Unfasten, Unbuckle, Unbolt. We practiced a lot of "uns" this week, too! I can unzip and unvelcro and untie real well!

Matching. This wasn't really a "U" activity, but I wanted to share it anyway! We got an original Memory game. Mommy would put twelve cards in the card holder face up. Then she would hand me the twelve matching cards, and I put them into the matching card slots. It was fun!
There are all kinds of ways a kid like me can play games that are for older kids. So open up your options and try them out!

Say "Uncle!" Until next week Wednesday, when we work on wickedly wonderful "W!"


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