WFMW: Menu Planning

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Esmé's Mommy here.

I have this love/hate relationship with cooking.  When I'm in the groove, I enjoy trying new recipes and experimenting in the kitchen.

More often of late, though, I find myself cringing in the kitchen, gritting my teeth and forcing myself to come up with some sort of meal.  Sometimes I feel like I'm barely holding on to my sanity.

I'm not sure what it is.  The hard, hot labor.  The fact that my daughter will hardly eat anything, no matter how much thought or energy I put into it.  The repetition of it - having to come up with something every couple of hours.  And unlike cleaning, where you can enjoy the results afterward, after I've cooked I feel fat and have a mess to clean up.  It just seems like a no-win situation with no end in sight.

I've done all the pep talk - how I'm blessing my family and all that.  It doesn't work.

I've tried several menu-planning sites, including Menus 4 Moms (with some free options) and Saving Dinner.  And they are both great, especially for jumpstarting my menu planning and giving me an easy grocery list.  In fact, I still look at the Menus for Moms options every week.

But not all of the recipes work for us.  We're vegetarian, with vegan preferences.  We need EASY.  And FAST.  And I have a very picky daughter.  Plus, we're not home every day of the week, so if I go straight off the shopping list, we have TONS of food and it starts to go bad before I get it all cooked.

And the planning part is what I enjoy of cooking!  It's the execution I hate.

I've tried doing a simple menu.  Rice one night, pasta, the next, soup on Fridays.  Boring.

So here's what we're doing now that seems to be working:

• I keep a shopping list on my iPod touch (ShopShop) and keep it updated as we run low on staples (including routine breakfast items) that I know we use all the time.  (I don't have a master list of staples, because, you know, I just KNOW what I use.  If I had a master list, I'd have to take time to do an inventory of staples all the time, and I need another task like a hole in my head.)
• I've got four (different-colored) plastic 10-pocket folders.  One folder for each week of the month.  The idea is to use the first 7 pockets for 7 menus.  The last three pockets have excess dessert, entree, and side dish recipes.
• I'm signed up for a few recipe mailing lists, so I'm regularly viewing new recipes.
• As I see recipes I want to try, I print, copy, or cut them out.  I find a "reasonable" spot for each recipe in one of the folders.  (For me, reasonable is having one balanced meal per day, no more than 3 desserts per week; not having soup two days in a row, etc.)  If there are no openings for the recipe, it goes into one of the back three pockets.
• Each week, the day before I go grocery shopping, I pull out the next week's folder.  I make sure there is a balanced menu in each of the first 7 pockets - if I'm not going to be home every day, I'll skip a few days.  If I need more recipes, I'll look through the back 3 pockets and/or look up more recipes.
• I do a quick scan of each recipe and add all non-staple ingredients to my shopping list.  It REALLY DOESN'T take long.  I just have to make myself do it.
• I'm flexible with the recipes.  I may do them in different orders, make one meal for lunch and one for supper, etc.  Or I may make something entirely different, just using the same set of ingredients.
• If we love the recipe, it goes right back in the pocket for next month's rotation.  I make personal notes on it for the next time.
• Some recipes are worth keeping but not necessarily something we want each month.  So I'll stick it in the applicable back pocket to rotate in another month.
• If we don't like the recipe, I throw it out.

So we've got a personalized menu plan!  It's customized based on what WE like.  It's sort of organized.  It lets me incorporate all those new recipes that add a little spice to my monotonous cooking chores.

WFMW: Bible Story Animations

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Esmé's Mommy here.

I'm always on the lookout for Bible story video clips to illustrate whatever Bible story we're studying.  It's nice to introduce the story through several different mediums.

So I was happy to discover this link to a bunch of 3-5 minute Bible story animations at GraceLink.  And they're free!

I'd used GraceLink before to print out quality Bible stories with great illustrations in pdf format, so be sure to check those out, too.  The Beginner lessons are great for tots...

"E" Adventures

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Hey everyone! We are finally enlightening you about our exciting "E" adventures! Though it seemed we would be everlastingly stuck on this letter, we've decided it's time to write it all up and move on, now that I'm 27 months old and all....

Review: Eyes & Ears.

Song.

• Head and Shoulders - cuz it mentions "eyes and ears" in it...

Book.

• The Ear Book by Al Perkins.

Food.

• Ears and Eyes. Mommy made a salad with all the face parts on it. We talked about making a baked potato head, but didn't get to it. Sides, I don't eat tatos, anyways... (unless they are in chip form)

Computer Time.

• Monkey Faces at PBS Kids. I LOVE Curious George! Here I got to put all the parts of his face on!

Science.

• Life without ears and eyes - I put on an eye mask to check out what it would be like without eyes. I drew the line at ear plugs, though. I HATE stuff in my ears...

Physical Activity.

• Blind man's bluff - only I cheated a little!

Adventures...
In addition to our alphabet and number reviews, we focused on "eyes" and "ears." First I colored all the face parts to "Elizabeth" - and then I stuck them onto her face.
But some of those parts stuck better onto my own face!
Then we made BIG ears by printing out clipout ears and pasting them onto paper plates and cutting them out. We used a pipe cleaner to join the ears together. But I didn't wan't to wear them, so guess who we got to do the honors?! (Don't show him this photo...)

Lapbook: Esmé.

Song.

• Who Am I? - I couldn't find this online, but it goes like this: "Who am I? Who am I? Someone special to Jesus! I am Esmé. I am Esmé. I am special to Jesus!"

Book.

• All By Myself by Mercer Mayer.
• And we watched a couple of Eloise DVDs. My hero! Give me a few years, and I'll be just like her! (Note to moms: you probably don't want Eloise as a hero for your daughter. Seriously...)

Food.

• Eat the alphabet. We had alphabet macaroni in spaghetti sauce...

Computer Time.

• http://www.starfall.com/ - We did the "E" activities.

Science.

• What Hatches? book - we made this and put it in the lapbook.

Physical Activity.

• Exercise of all kinds! I'm on tumbling class break, so we make up our own tumbling routine - with LOTS of somersaults and splits.

Adventures...
I LOVE drawing eyes! I drew lots of them - some right onto a big "E" and others we cut and glued on the "E" for the first page of our "E" lapbook.
On the inside of the front page was stapled the ziploc bag for our miscellaneous "E" stuff.
On the second page, my "E" book was the one from First School this time.
There was also my Bible verse card about Elijah - it flipped up to show birds underneath.
We put in the What Hatches book above, as well as an Elephant book that we did for Elephant adventures below.
We also taped in our sign language flash cards so they would flip up - "E", "Eat", and "Eight."
And for counting, we put a slit in a nest picture and taped it in. Then we made a bunch of clip art eggs with numbers on them to put in the nest.
We pasted an elephant coloring page on the back of the lapbook.
As well as the lapbook stuff, I did some things with my name... Mommy wrote my name on a paper, and then I did Do-a-Dot art on it.
Here's a fun one: stamp a bunch of baby e's on a piece of paper, and then cover the e's with Do-a-Dot markers!
We also talked about writing my name with masking tape and then doing watercolor paints over it - taking the tape off after it dried. But we never got to it...
Excursion #1: Elephant Car Wash.

Adventures...
This excursion didn't take us from home... We washed Mommy's car with a hose (like an elephant) and a bucket and cloths!
(Note to moms: Don't plan on doing a detailed cleaning, or you'll end up with half a clean car or worse when kiddo insists on taking a nap or some other such thing.)
No photos - sorry! Too much water going on here...
Bible Story: Elijah & Mt. Carmel.

Song.

• My God Is So Big

Book.

• The Man of Fire from the online Bible for Children.

Food.

• Bread sticks - like the ravens must have brought for Elijah!
• We talked about making an altar from candy rocks, but we're trying to cut down on sugar, you know...

Computer Time.

• Just the online book mentioned above...

Science.

• Mommy showed me how easy dry paper goes up in flames, and how difficult it is to get wet paper to burn.

Physical Activity.

• Piled up rocks outside.

Adventures...
First we colored a page with wood and stones (I told Mommy how to color it). Then we put it on a baking tray and I helped Mommy pour some yellow and red paint on it. We put a marble in the paint, rolled it around a bit, and that page exploded in flames!
Science: Elephants.

Song.

• One Elephant

Book.

• Peanut Butter and Jelly by Nadine Bernard Westcott.
• Horton Hears a Who! by Dr. Seuss.
• Jumbo's Lullaby by Laura Krauss Melmed. One of my favorites!
• Nellie's Knot by Ken Brown.
• The Trouble With Elephants by Chris Riddell.
• Just a Little Bit by Ann Tompert.
• Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss. This goes with our Egg adventures, too!
• Elympics by X J Kennedy.
• Ella the Elegant Elephant by Carmela & Steven D'Amico.
• Ella Sets the Stage by Carmela & Steven D'Amico.

Food.

• Elephant ears. Mommy thought these were yummy! Me - not so much. Even though they had the necessary ingredients of sugar and flour in them. The dough would've been better!
• Peanut butter & jelly sandwich.

Computer Time.

• http://www.totlol.com/ - We watched LOTS of elephant videos on here.
• Elephant puzzle at http://www.first-school.ws/.

Science.

• We made the elephant book that we put into our lapbook...

Physical Activity.

• Elephant walk - put your hands in front of your face like a trunk and pretend to be an elephant!
• Plus we acted out some of the "Elympics" activities out of the Elympics book.

Adventures...
We made another paper bag puppet from Mommy's WalMart clearance stash! I love those things - especially taking them apart afterwards...
And we made handprint elephants. Of course! Handprints look exactly like elephants if you strategically place the eyes...
And we put up our African animal wall stickers (that Grandma gave me) in the bedroom! So now I can look at elephants whenever I want...
Social Studies: Earth.

Song.

• He's Got the Whole World

Book.

• You're Aboard Spaceship Earth by Patricia Lauber.
• Earthsong by Sally Rogers.
• The Whole Green World by Tony Johnston.

Food.

• English muffin "earth" pizzas - if you squint really hard, you can see the continents!

Computer Time.

• Dora Map game
• http://www.earthskids.com/toddler_fun.htm - lots of stuff to explore on this site!
• Journey to Ernie - click on Ernie on this site.

Science.

• Pretend to be an earthquake - got that one downpat!
• Energy bag - put something heavy in a plastic grocery bag and twist the handle lots of times. Then watch the energy as it unwinds!

Physical Activity.

• Diggin' a hole to China! We still got a long ways to go, though... That's why we're NEVER gonna get done with "E" school at this rate.

Adventures...
Mommy and I put together a new planets puzzle that included Earth. It was tough, but that's why you have mommies to help.
We made a paper doll chain to represent children all around the earth. There are hearts between each doll! I drew one eye on each of the dolls. (Why does Mommy call them Cyclops dolls?)
Mommy gave me a map of the earth and showed me where Ouma and Oupa live, and where we used to live, and where my Aunties and Uncles live. I drew lines from all those places to where I live!
We made earthworms from foam beads and pipe cleaners, with google eyes. Cept I think they look more like caterpillars!
And we made earth ornaments. First we dipped the shatterproof ornaments into white, green, and blue paint.
Aren't they pretty?
Then I decided they needed some touchup painting.
Here I am smudging the paint all over - ready to sing He's Got the Whole World In His Hands!
Excursion #2: Entertainment & Eating.
Adventures...
We went to Music on the Half Shell - free every Tuesday night in Roseburg! Great entertainment, especially while eating. Plus there are swings and slides close by!
As far as eating out - this is all I got to show for it... Maybe another time...
Speaking of eating - we also stopped by my Mozambican cousins' place when they were here - and look what I got! A whole kitchen set for myself! Lots of eatin's gonna be happening here...
Kitchen: Eggs.

Song.

• Humpty Dumpty

Book.

• The Egg by M P Robertson. Mommy wasn't too fond of this book about a dragon, but it was one of my absolute favorites!
• Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. Check out the online video, too!
• Chickens Aren't the Only Ones by Ruth Heller.
• An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Aston & Sylvia Long.
• Guess What is Growing Inside This Egg by Mia Posada.
• Good Morning, Chick by Mira Ginsburg.
• Tillie Lays an Egg by Terry Golson. One of my favorites!
• First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. Of all the "E" books, this is the first one I picked out - I read it to MYSELF lots of times.
• The Most Wonderful Egg in the World by Helme Heine.
• The Talking Eggs by Robert D. San Souci.
• A Nest Full of Eggs by Priscilla Belz Jenkins.

Food.

• Egg bread - cut a hole in a slice of bread with a cup, then fry an egg inside the hole. This looks like an EYE!

Computer Time.

• http://holidays.kaboose.com/spring/easter.html - several egg games here.

Science.

• Egg in a bottle - we tried this experiment several times, but the egg never went inside the bottle. We tried burning paper towels, and we tried boiling water, but nothing worked. If we ever get a bigger bottle - like a Snapple bottle, we'll try it again...

Physical Activity.

• Egg toss - OK, not really. But here I am challenging Pappa to a game. He made me put the eggs back in the fridge. Bummer - it would have been great fun!

Adventures...
We dyed boiled eggs, of course! First we colored them, and then we dipped them in food coloring dye.
I also got to poke toothpicks into a styrofoam egg. We talked about doing fancier things with these styrofoam eggs, but nothing quite clicked...
I mixed paint in a used egg carton - Mommy showed me what the different color combinations made. Here I am using my grand pallette!
And we made some egg carton critters, using pipe cleaners and google eyes...
Miscellaneous
Books.

• The Story of the Exodus by Alice Joyce Davidson.
• The Empty Pot by Demi. A lovely story...
• "Eat!" Cried Little Pig by Jonathan London.
• The Eagle & the Wren by Jane Goodall.
• Edward the Emu by Sheena Knowles. One of my favorites!
• Edwina the Emu by Sheena Knowles. So of course this was another favorite!
• Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct by Mo Willems.
• The Elves and the Shoemaker by the Brothers Grimm, Bernadette Watts.

So that's it for our EXCELLENT adventures!
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If you have a post or link related to "E" Activities for toddlers, link up here!

WFMW - "D" Adventures

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Last week we gave you the "D" activity trays. Now here are the "D" adventures that worked for this 26-month-old during our two "D" weeks.
Review: Dogs.
Song.

• Bingo

Book.

• Go, Dog. Go! by P D Eastman. One of my favorites and the reason we chose "dog" as the theme today, because it is chock full of review stuff like colors and opposites.
• Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner. My ABSOLUTE favorite book of the week! It's actually about a cat, but Mommy had it earmarked as "dog" since it has chihauhuas in it. I kept arguing about which ones were cats and which were "hauhuas."
• The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy by Jane Thayer. One of my favorites - I actually own this book!
• Doggies by Sandra Boynton.
• I'll Teach My Dog a Lot of Words by Michael Frith. Another of my favorites that I own.
• Dog's ABC by Emma Dodd.
• Where's Spot? by Eric Hill. One of my favorites, but we made a lapbook based on this one, too - see the Adventures section below.
• Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell.
• I Got Two Dogs by John Lithgow.
• Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day.

Food.

• Puppy chow - this recipe was a bit oversweet. We modified it some to begin with and only made 1/4th of it, but would strongly recommend some desweetening if you choose to try it. But it was fun making it and shaking it all up!

Computer Time.

• Bingo video clip - BINGO song on video
• The Perfect Pet - a story about the perfect pet for me...
• Pick a Pet - a game where you have to decide what different pets do.
• Clifford the Big Red Dog - lots of dog things to do on this PBS site!
• Martha - and more dog things on THIS PBS site! The Pizza game has some good mouse practice for kids like me who haven't quite figured the mouse thing out yet.

Science.

• Feather hat - since Go, Dog. Go! was the theme book of the day, we made a funny hat to go with the book. Actually, the hat was already made - we just added feathers to it. We tried to fit as many as possible on without them falling off - it was a challenge to get them to stick into the hat. But doesn't it look stunning on me?!

Physical Activity.

• Ball - fetching practice!

Adventures...
We made alphabet dominos! I helped color out all the pictures. I don't have all the sounds figured out yet, so Mommy had to help me put them together, but I had fun naming the pictures.
And remember that cat paper bag puppet we got from WalMart on clearance? It came with some dog puppets, too. So we made these. My friend Gabe was visiting, so each of us made one. I love taking them apart afterwards!
Another "and"! We made a special dog lapbook! It's just like the Where's Spot? book, only better cuz we made it ourselves and don't have to return it to the library. I LOVE tab books, so this is perfect for me...

Lapbook: Ducks.
Song.

• Five Little Ducks - one of my favorite songs! I like practicing to quack like the mamma duck.

Book.

• My "d" Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure. My favorite sound box book so far, since it had lots of dolls in it!
• The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen, adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. My ABSOLUTE favorite book! I am all about emotion in stories, and this story gets me every time! Poor ugly duckling! Mommy's note: I was surprised again at how well Esmé sat through this book - all the words - and requested it over and over. The illustrations were lovely. There was one math error in the book that I had to correct while reading.
• One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root.
• Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey. We got the Scholastic DVD for this book from the library, too.
• Giggle, Giggle, Quack by Doreen Cronin. Mommy liked this book! I didn't quite get what was funny about it, but I liked the animals...
• Duck & Goose by Tad Hills. This is about a duck and goose who find a ball and think it is an egg, sitting on it and waiting for it to hatch. I had a hard time sitting still and listening to this - I kept insisting it was a "BALL" all the way through!
• Little Quack by Lauren Thompson. A definite favorite and great counting practice. I used to own this book until I tore it all up...
• Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld. This is DEFINITELY about a RABBIT! I don't know WHY we're reading this in "D" week...
• I'm a Duck! by Teri Sloat. A happy book!
• Duck on a Bike by David Shannon. Another fun book...

Food.

• Deli sandwich with dirt dessert - a bun with veggie deli slices and cheese, and a cup of chocolate pudding topped with crushed oreos. Though you couldn't pay me to eat that dirt.

Computer Time.

• http://www.starfall.com/ - the "D" activities. I love starfall!
• Five Little Ducks video - to go with our song...
• Debbie Duck and Debbie Duck Park stories on BBC's site.
• And of course Debi Derryberry's Baby Banana site - with a mama duck...

Science.

• Floating duck - I played with my rubber duck in the bath - and Mommy showed how when it was full of air it floated, but not so much when it was full of water. And I like squirting that water!
• Feed the duck - I colored a picture of a duck and then glued it onto a cereal box with LOTS of glue. Then Mommy cut a small hole near the open mouth of the duck (and oh how I tried to help cut that hole!). Then I got to feed the duck through the hole with my goldfish crackers. Though it was more like duck - 1, Esmé - 1, duck - 1, Esmé - 1...

Physical Activity.

• Duck Duck Goose - not quite the conventional game with only Mommy and me playing, but fun anyways! A little more like Ring Around the Rosies...

Adventures...
Before we started on the lapbook, we did a duck feet painting. The idea is to take two spatulas, dip them in orange paint, and slap them onto your paper like duck feet. Mommy says it didn't look like anything special - she was expecting something more like duck feet prints. But it was fun to slap and paint! And we did it outside on a brown shopping bag.
Now to the lapbook. The first page was a block "D" - we were supposed to paint it with dandelion prints, but can you believe the dandelions were out of season already?! So we tried to use daisies, but they were WAY flimsy. Flexibility, flexibility... Mommy pulled out the qtips and we made dots...
As always, the inside of the first page had a gallon ziploc bag stapled onto it to collect all the miscellaneous "flat" stuff we did throughout "D" time.
And here's what went on the inner page...
Our "D" sounds book - I colored this first.
My "D" sign language cards - Mommy taped in our premade flashcards which included the letter and "drink."
We made a dog comparison book - big and little dogs, dogs of all colors...
We used a Daniel Bible verse from this page (the rest of the page was used for our Daniel adventures...
And we used daisy numbers for counting practice.
The back was a dinosaur coloring page.
Excursion #1: Dogs, Denny's.
Adventures...
We visited the dogs at the animal shelter. This little daschund just kept calling my name! I wanted to take him home so bad!
(Of all the options, Mommy says... She prefers the big dogs to the little yappers. But it turns out we weren't going to take ANY of them home, so I'll just stick with me little hot dog...)

And we ate at Denny's. Here I am with the ingredients to my secret restaurant recipes. I ended up getting pizza, and I insisted on goldfish crackers for a side.
Bible Story: Daniel.
Song.

• Dare To Be a Daniel - this is an oldie hymn that's lots of fun marching or saluting to...

Book.

• Daniel and the Lions, Falvo Fowler, ed., from GraceLink. We had the printed version, but you can find it online, too. It's one of my absolute favorite stories - I can tell you the next sentence before you read it! Here's our dialogue... Mommy: Is Daniel scared? Esmé: NO! Mommy: Why not? Esmé: Angels shut lions' mouths!

Food.

• Animal crackers including lions.

Computer Time.

• Daniel and the Lions online book - from Bible for Children site.

Science.

• Wax decree - first I wrote a royal decree on note paper with a purple marker. Lots of EYES (making sure all my "I"s are dotted) on that decree! Then Mommy helped me put it in an envelope and lick the envelope shut. Then we lit a candle and dripped wax onto the envelope to seal it even more. I stamped it with my rubber ducky stamp!

Physical Activity.

• Den - In addition to marching to our song, we created a "lions" den using chairs and a blanket. I didn't have any lions, so we put all my other stuffed animals inside. Then Mommy read me a story while I sat in the den.

Adventures...
Mommy glued my lion coloring page onto cardboard and cut the lion out. She punched holes onto both sides of the mouth and put in a piece of yarn so I could practice tying the lion's mouth shut! It's still rather complicated, but I'm working on it!
Then we made doily angels. You fold a foil doily into half. Then you make a cone out of a piece of paper and glue it onto the doily. Then you glue and/or staple a pompom onto the top of the cone for a head. The ones we made don't have hands - that's why I have to help keep the lion's mouth shut.
My secret? Use LOOOTTTTS of glue! Then Mommy has to make it disappear while the glue dries.
Science: Dinosaurs.
Song.

• I'm a Mean Old Dinosaur - Mommy's note: if you roar too realistically, you'll have to follow this up with LOTS of tickling!

Book.

• Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff. An ABSOLUTE favorite book! Check out the Scholastic DVD, too. (Mommy's note: a couple references to "million years" that left me a little uncomfortable, but overall a fun book.)
• Dinosaur vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea. This was a favorite! It gave Mommy some ideas about toothbrushing - now there is a toothbrush monster who chases after me every night so I don't fight so much and giggle more during the toothbrushing session!
• Dinosaur ABC. I kept asking for this book, but never sat all the way through it.
• Dinorella: A Prehistoric Fairy Tale by Pamela Duncan Edwards & Henry Cole. Mommy liked this because there were LOTS of "D"s in the book.
• Good Night Dinosaurs by Judy Sierra.
• Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs! by Sandra Boynton.
• Tadpole Rex by Kurt Cyrus. A favorite book of mine.
• The Berenstain Bears and the Missing Dinosaur Bone by Stan and Jan Berenstain. Another favorite of mine. I kept saying "bad dog!"
• Ten Terrible Dinosaurs by Paul Stickland.
• How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends? by Jane Tolen & Mark Teague.
• Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs by Byron Barton.

Food.

• Fossil cookies - we put dinosaur tracks into sugar cookie dough with my plastic dinosaurs, then baked the cookies! Yummy! Mommy's note: I buy lots of sugar cookie dough when it's on sale and freeze it; then I can just grab some out for a quick project like this. It may not be as healthy as homemade, but supposedly it's safer for those sneak bites of raw cookie dough that inevitably happen. In fact, Esmé loves the cookie dough but hardly touches the baked cookie.

Computer Time.

• Land Before Time site.

Science.

• Official dinosaur names - we played with these dinosaur cards from 1+1+1=1's blog...

Physical Activity.

• Flight of the Dragonfly - we ran around and acted like dragonflies (using our dragonfly puppets) to the tune of Flight of the Bumblebee.

Adventures...
We made a dinosaur diorama! First you take a box and you paint the inside. Then you paint your feet and hands...
Then you paint some egg cartons to make mountains...
Then you wait for the paint to dry (or not). Then you move in your dinosaurs and make them do crazy things!
If you'd rather have it look professional, here are some dinosaur diorama templates.

You can use your dinosaur finger puppets in the diorama...
And here's a host of more dinosaur crafts that we didn't have time to do...

Social Studies: Doctors/Dentists.
Song.

• I Am a Doctor.

Book.

• Doctor Ted by Andrea Beaty & Pascal Lemaitre.
• The Crocodile and the Dentist by Taro Gomi.
• Dancing by Denys Cazet.

Food.

• An apple (a day...)

Computer Time.

• Sid the Science Kid Dental Hygeine videos
• Crocodile's Toothache by Shel Silverstein (only if you have a warped sense of humor...)

Science.

• Thermometer - Mommy showed me how to use the thermometer.
• And a diaper/pad test - this was a little impromptu. I opened up some pad samples of different brands - I called them diapers - so Mommy decided we might as well test them before we threw them away. Here I am pouring water on each one by the 1/8th cup to see which one absorbs the most. It was a lesson on what goes on inside my diapers, too...

Physical Activity.

• Dance - check out this great post on dancing to music from Munchkins and Music... Here I am dancing with my cousins' dancing doll in Portland.

Adventures...
We played paper doll doctors...
And I played doctor with my dolly! I took the temperature of her eye...
...and checked her throat...
...and bandaged her leg.
Excursion #2: Ducks.
Adventures...
We went to a duck pond and fed bread to the ducks.
They were nice and friendly.

So was this old little nutria...
Kitchen: Donuts.
Song.

• Donut Song.

Book.

• We didn't have any books for this theme, but we had SO MANY for the ducks and dinosaurs and dogs that I didn't miss it at all...

Food.

• Donuts! We made them using premade biscuit dough. I separated the dough and punched holes in it using a bud vase.
• Then I was on sugar duty! In addition to stuffing sugar in my mouth, I helped powder the donuts after they were fried.
• And of course, I helped eat them (though the sugar was the best part).

Computer Time.

• The Door game - you have to guess who's at the door in this Fisher-Price game.

Science.

• Salt/sugar taste test - Mommy gave me a plate of sugar and a plate of salt. I had fun tasting them over and over...

Physical Activity.

• Marching with my drum (see Adventures section below).

Adventures...
As well as making donuts, I also made a drum using a hot chocolate container. I put stickers on it and Mommy showed me how to put a shoelace through it so I could hold it around my neck.
We tried to make a balloon drum, too, by putting a balloon over an open container, but it didn't work. The balloons kept breaking instead of going around the containers.
Miscellaneous.
Book.

• Ella Sarah Gets Dressed by Margaret Chodos-Irvine. Mommy says this story could well be about me - I would love to dress up like Ella Sarah. Or just wear nothing all day.
• What Daddies Do Best by Laura Numeroff.
• The Story of Jesus and His Disciples by Alice Joyce Davidson.
• Dreams by Ezra Jack Keats.
• Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! by Dr. Seuss. A little long for me, but I did sit through it a couple of times.
• One Two Three Jump! by Penelope Lively. About a dragonfly and a frog...

Adventures.
We made daisy chains in the yard.
And told stories in the dark.
And had tea parties with our dolls using our bunny dishes.
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