Road Trip Surprise Envelopes

By Arielle (mommy)

I am determined to keep my kids occupied on an upcoming 13 hour road trip to Colorado.  My kids usually want to watch tons of movies, so I'm hoping this will help cut back the screen time.  Plus I just think it's super fun.  I'm pretty sure the process will keep me busy and entertained as well.

Along with these envelopes, Lil and O will each have a binder with things like crayons and a notebook  that they can use to make the things in the envolopes even more fun.

I made little envelopes of them to open on the trip, I'm not sure how often I will have them open a new envelope but I'm thinking one per hour.  I made more than enough and each envelope has a trivia question for them to answer to earn the contents.  

The contents:

Pipe cleaners: for making sculptures, numbers, letters, and pictures.  

Tin foil: for making sculptures, and wrapping things up.

Post it notes: to write on, and stick to things.  

Counting stickers: for counting out and sticking top pre-made number cards.

Complete the picture index cards:  I drew simple things on each card like a circle on one, an line on another, a zigzag on the next.  This will be fun for the kids to use their imaginations and finish each drawing I've started.  I also included some card holders for the. To put their cards into.  

Links: small for Lil, big ones for O (his didn't fit in the envelope).

Foam stickers: to make words and pictures with.

Colored dots: for counting, outlining their names, drawing faces on, etc.

Paper clip sorting: they can clip the colored clips to the correct colored papers.  I also gave Lil a set of numbers to put the correct number of clips on.  They could also use these to make necklaces.

Rainbows:  for O a foam rainbow to put together.  For Lil yarn or all colors to make a rainbow (or a picture of anything with, along with some tape to tape her creation to her journal.

Mini coloring books

Travel: random travel themed stickers, bookmarks, paper cut outs, foam airplanes, paper airplanes, they can use their imaginations. 

Circus bags: one for putting a special snack in, one to hold any creations they make.

Mad libs: just fun for the whole family

Foam stickers:  they can use these to draw people in their journals.

Folder books:  I cut up some cheap folders to make little books that are durable and have pockets on the inside.  I also included some stickers.  It will be fun to see what they create.

Candy necklaces: this envelope is a special reward.

Legos: just enough for each of them.

Wicki sticks and color slides: waxy sticks for making sculptures, colored slides for looking through to see the world in different colors.

Ribbons:  I included many different types of ribbon and an empty spool for each of them.  They can wrap the ribbons around the spool or tread it through the hole.

Gold stars and small colored paper

Mini books

Sticker charts: this could just be a fun fine motor activity as they put the stickers in the charts or we may actually use them to reward good behavior.  I haven't decided yet.

Gold stars: oops, duplicate!  Hope they like that one.

Clay:  hopefully I won't regret this one.

Face puppets:  they can use these for writing, drawing, copying the faces, or puppet shows

I included some ideas of how they might use the activities, but really there is no telling what a 4.5 year old and a 2.5 year old will do when given these items, and that is going to be my entertainment. :)

5 Senses of Christmas: Sensory Pool

Arielle (mommy): to explore the sense of touch in a festive way I decided to create a sensory experience using wrapping paper, ribbon, and various ornaments.  I admit it's not really pretty, it looks like a bit of a mess, but the kids had a blast in it!

I get a little stressed out by sensory tubs.  Whether they are rice, sand, water beads, Cheerios, it doesn't matter.  They stress me out because of the huge potential for messes.  That's why I decided to use a kiddie pool.  I loved using the kiddie pool so much I think we will use it for painting and other messy projects while it's too cold to go outside.

O had a great time just playing in the paper and touching everything.  Lil had a blast wrapping ornaments in the paper scraps and tying them with ribbon.  Then she put the gifts under the tree.  This kept them both (quietly) busy for almost an hour!  

Gingerbread Cookies and Gingerbread Playdoh

Arielle (mommy):

We have so many different gingerbread stories including several versions of the Gingerbread Man, The Gingerbread Baby, The Gingerbread Pirates, the list goes on.  This is my first Christmas staying home with the kids and I'm so excited to be the one to get to share these fun stories with them!  

Of course after reading one of these stories the first thing we wanted to do was make our own gingerbread cookies!

We didn't make ours from scratch, we used a Krustease box mix, but we had fun mixing, rolling, and cutting out the doh.  

O was taking a nap, but Lil had such a good time rolling the dough and using the cookie cutters I knew we had to make gingerbread Playdoh.  We used this recipe.  It smells amazing!  

I found a shape gingerbread mat here and some more here (they had tons of other great gingerbread printables), printed them, laminated them, and put the kids to work!  

We're Potty Training!

Cynthia (Nanny):
We've entered the wonderful world of potty training. Potty songs, a candy jar, Disney princess pull ups. We're trying it all! Big Sister is beginning to get the hang of it, while Little Sister is not quite ready yet.
What are your potty training secrets to success?

ABC Photo Book (and the second child effect)

Arielle (mommy):

When I was a little girl I loved looking through my baby album.  Sure it only had a few pages filled out, but I enjoyed it all the same.  Sometimes I did wonder why my baby book had fewer pages filled out than my older sister's, and my mom always said it was harder to find time to do things like that with two kids than with one.  This made sense then, but now that I have two of my own I truely get it.  When I talk to my other mom friends this seems to be he case with them too.  We joke that with the first child you want everything to be perfect and with the second you are just easier to please.  

My point is not a pity party for the second born.  Subsequent children have the benefit of more easy going, experienced parents, and have someone to play with from the second they arrive on earth.  What I have decided personally though is that there are some things I did with Lil that I want to make sure I do with O too.  He may not grow up to relish looking through his baby book, but I know as he grows, I will enjoy looking back.

One thing I did with Lil when she was O's age was create a personalized ABC book with her featuring her posing with all of her favorite things from A-Z.  Not only is it a great memory book of that stage in her life, but it is also a great tool for teaching her letters and helps with speech.

To make the book I gathered pictures of Lil with family members, and then took pictures of her posing with her favorite objects.  I used some pictures we already had (some of her younger months) also.

I found a Groupon for a photo book from a company like Vistaprint or Picassa, and created the book on my computer.  Because of the Groupon, the total cost was under $20.

Today I'm going to start taking photos of O and his favorite things to create an ABC book for him.  I need everyone to keep me honest, I will post it here by 2014.  I'd love for others to accept this challenge with me and share your results!

Toddler Talk

Arielle (mommy):

Very few things make me feel more helpless than when O is frustrated, crying, pointing, trying to tell me something, and I just can't understand what he's trying to say!  At 22 months his vocabulary is growing and he's working on learning to use it to get his needs met.  

Today O's therapist came over to work with him on speech.  He doesn't necessarily have an issue with speech, but he has a diagnosis of "failure to thrive" which qualifies him for occupational therapy (to help with eating) and speech is related to all of that.  Basically the therapists visit him and help make sure he is on track in all areas developmentally.  

I thought it might be helpful to share some of the ideas and information I learned about speech today (and during my 8 years as a teacher) for 1-3 year olds.  

*For the first three years use the rule of thumb a word per year.  1 year olds say one word at a time, 2 year olds say 2 word phrases, 3 year olds use three word phrases.

*By two, children can be expected to say 50 words.

*If your child has certain object words he or she is comfortable with, model adding one word on.  Ex.  O is comfortable saying "ball", so I can model saying "yellow ball" or "small ball" or "my ball."

*Look at books with real life pictures of objects to help build your toddler's vocabulary.  We used Pompoms and had O place them on different pictures and repeat the word after us.  Ex. "Put the pompom on the nose.  Say nose."

*Give your child foods to eat with a variety of textures in order to strengthen different muscles in the mouth..

*Help your little one use an electric toothbrush when brushing teeth.  This can help by stimulating the oral muscles.

*Discontinue pacifier use by 6 months.

*Switch from a bottle to sippy cup by one.  Better yet, have your child use a regular cup.  Also give opportunities to use a straw as well.

*Take pictures of objects around the house to make photo cards to use for naming familiar objects.

*Say words correctly and annunciate the sounds.

*Let your little one explore orally by blowing bubbles, blowing feathers across a table, blowing paint across a paper, and blowing bubbles into water through a straw.

I think the important thing to remember with speech and other milestones is not to get too hung up on what kids should be doing and when.  They really grow at the pace God wants them to.

I'm looking forward to hearing ideas that have worked for others to get their toddlers talking!

Fall: Apples Everywhere!

Arielle (mommy):

For the past week and a half I've been showing my kids apples everywhere we go.  We noticed them at the grocery store, in books, in games, in songs, and in their favorite tv shows.  

We found a great youtube video my HarryKindergarten all about apples.  I used to use HK youtube videos when I taught kinder.  He has great videos that teach counting (by 1's, 2's, 5's, 10's), months of the year, days of the week, seasons, weather, money, exersize, and really most everything you'd want to teach a 5 year old (or younger).  The apple music video did not disappoint.  Lil and O both loved the tune and the beat the song had.  The song includes a lot of good information about apples which I appreciate as well.

You can watch "I Love Apples (kid's song)" on youtube or on http://www.harrykindergartenmusic.com/song/57

Lil love Curious George and I just knew there had to be an episode about apples.  I found episode 2 of season 3 called "Meets the Press."  After I figured out it wasn't about CG taking a trip to his local news station, we watched it on Netflix.  This episode was cute and informative as CG goes to an apple orchard and accidently learns first hand how apple cider gets made.

I also did a youtube search for the episode and found it there as well.

We were having so much fun finding apples everywhere I figured I'd be able to find a game for my iPad and I was right.  We found a free app called "Quack's Apples."  Lil enjoyed helping Quack get his apples into the river by pointing sticks in the correct direction.

Last week we read several apple books we have that are worth mentioning.  Amelia Bedelia's First Apple Pie is a great book to read aloud just for fun (though it did have good information on different types of apples and instructions on how to bake an apple pie).  How Do Apples Grow is a good scientific book.  I Am An Apple scientific too but much simpler and easier for little ones to comprehend.  Ten Apples Up On Top is a great book for incorporating counting into the apple theme.

About Me: Family Photos

Arielle (mommy):

One thing I have done to help O learn family members' names/titles is to create for him a wallet with laminated photos of the family.  He enjoys pulling out the pictures (I also made him a fake drivers license, credit card, and money) and saying the names of the people in the pictures.  I wrote the names on the back too so he can make the connection between the written and spoken word.

I made a purse for Lil with the same thing and she pays more attention to the labels and it has helped her learn to read write the names.

Preschool on Wheels

Arielle (mommy):

Today I was talking to my friend (and MommyNannyGuru contributor) Liz and she mentioned making a mobile preschool because she had a new baby and no longer has enough rooms to have a dedicated learning space.  She had the brilliant idea of using an old laundry sorter!  Right away I knew I had to make my own preschool on wheels because I have a laundry sorter taking up space in my closet.

I started by taking the learning posters I had in my dining room and hooking them to the sorter.  

I looped rubber bands around the metal and then used binder clips through holes I had punched in the posters.  I could have skipped the rubber bands if I'd had larger binder clips.

Because I used binder clips I was able to put more than one poster on each side, and I can just flip to the poster I want.

After the sides were covered, I found two large plastic bins, filled one with math and science supplies and one with literacy materials.  Next I got two of the bars that came with the laundry sorter and put them on the middle bars.  I was able to rest the kids' lap desks on those, and on top of the lap desks I put a bin with some workbooks and the books we have made.  When the lap desks are being used, the green bin still fits nicely.

The kids can use the lap desks and if I need them to see the posters they are easily visible from their spots.

Thanks again Liz for this great idea!  We are excited to have our dining room walls back!

Guru moment:  Liz pointed out that her 1 1/2 year old likes to get take apart her calendar when they are not using it, so she rolls her cart into the office when they aren't using it.  This is an excellent benefit!  Rolling the cart back and forth is also a great cue to her little ones when school time starts and when it is over.

Fitness with Little Ones

Arielle (mommy):  I had not intended to do a post about finding time to exercise as a mom but it is something I struggle to fit into my schedule and I know it is even more difficult for working moms.

Yesterday my friend/ health and fitness "guru" Veronica came over (during naptime) to try out some of her new Pound routines with me.  Pound is a high energy workout that combines cardio interval training and drumming.  Though Pound is a worldwide sensation, Veronica (of VBanks) is the only "Pound Pro" here is San Antonio.

(Photo from http://www.poundfit.com/)

As Veronica and I were working out, O woke up (of course) walked in, stared at us for about 10 minutes, then when we got on the floor to work on abs, O took it as the perfect opportunity to join me.  After Lil got up (I'm not even sure she napped) she also joined in as she copied our moves.  

Naptime doesnt always pan out the way I hope.  This gave me the idea to post some tips on how to find time for fitness as a mom who doesn't have a lot of free time.

(If you are in the San Antonio area and are interested in Pound you can contact VBanks at 210-445-2929.)

My top 10 mom fitness tips:

1. Wake up before the kids and do a quick workout.  (I usually fail at this one)

2. Do short bursts of activity when you can (maybe 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes during nap time, and another 10 minutes after the kids go to bed.)

3. Play outside with your kids and run around with them, chase them, kick balls, etc (this also has the added bonus of tiring THEM out.)

4.  Have dance parties throughout the day.  (Turn up the music and dance with the kids for a few songs, getting your cardio in and again getting some of the kids' energy out too.)

5.  Work out with the kids.  This is great gross motor fun, helps build locomotor skills, and practice with crossing the midline (You can do stretches, jumping jacks, lunges, squats, and other calisthenics.  My husband does push-ups and Lil loves to do them along with him.)

6.  Use the kids as resistance (lift them, play airplane, let them sit on you to make your workout more challenging.). This is great fun for little ones.

7.  If you have a baby or toddler who likes to be carried in a baby carrier, you can wear them to do Yoga or other low impact workouts.  (Baby may even fall asleep)

8. Load up the stroller and go for a walk or run.

9.  Get a child's bike seat or trailer for your bike and take the kids for a ride.

10.  Do things like squats and calf raises when you are cooking, watching tv, or brushing your teeth (moms are excellent mulitaskers.)

One of the best things about incorporating kids into your exercise routine is that it teaches them that working out is fun and just a part of daily life.  This will help them stay active throughout their lives as well.

Now I just need to take my own advice. :)

What's in the diaper bag/backpack?

Arielle(mommy):

Today has been a crazy busy day!  I told Cynthia I wasn't sure I could post today because we have been out of the house all day!  Cynthia usually has great ideas and this was no exception as she suggested I post something about keeping kids busy on the go.

For me keeping kids busy and keeping their needs met is what keeps them happy.  It all comes down to what's in the diaper bag, or in Lil's case her backpack.  

In O's diaper bag:

Book

Pencil bag (with cars)

Pencil bag (with Popsicle stick puzzles)

Ziplock bag (with change of clothes)

Sunscreen

Two diapers

Wipes

Roll of disposable diaper trash bags

Toy phone

Snack cup 

Juice pouch

In Lil's backpack:

Book

Pad of paper

Pencil box (with stickers, paper, pencils)

Snacks (in a formula dispenser with 4 sections)

Juice pouch

Pencil bag (with CVC clothespin game)

Ziplock bag (with change of clothes, comb, hair ties, chap stick, and sunscreen)

Wipes

Guru moment:  What are some things you or your child can't live without when you are on the go?

Learning/Play Spaces

Our classroom/playroom is a work in progress but here are a few pictures of what it looks like so far: 

Direct teach area: This is where I teach morning meeting, story time, or lessons where I want to display something on the easel. The calendar and pattern chart are cornered off from the rest of the room. To me, by creating nooks, it helps focus attention on different activities. 

Bookshelf: The girls have a great collection of books. Their parents really value reading and learning and it definitely has rubbed off on the girls. They love reading! It's never too late to start collecting books. Try half price stores our even garage sales to start of your collection. 

Dramatic play: They have a play kitchen and two pretend vanity tables. With twins, you really do need two of everything! 

Posters: I found these 5 posters on shapes, colors, letters, numbers, and opposites for about $5 at a teacher supply store. 

Display wall: I strung a clothesline from one corner to the other to make displaying the girls work easy and visible.

There are still other things I need to add in the room. I'd love to get ideas from your child's play room.  

Arielle (mommy):

One of my favorite places for the kids to work is at lap desks on the floor (you can buys these at Michaels or Hobby Lobby, and many other places).  

I love that they have three compartments.  We use one for markers/crayons/scissors, one for trash, and one for finished work.  They really love having their own work space (O really loves to share Lil's also).

Some of our other work spaces are our easel (where we make graphs and do group projects), our play kitchen, our learning tub shelf, and our library area.

Fun Friday: Learning Tubs

Arielle (mommy):

Learning Tubs are a great way to let young kids explore concepts they have already learned.  This is an unstructured time that is perfect when I need the kids to work independently (during meal prep, cleaning, or when mommy needs a break).

I fill the tubs with manipulatives such as blocks, magnetic building toys, puzzles, cars and trucks, counters, musical instruments, learning cards, unifix cubes, games, etc.  I rotate the options every month to keep it fresh.  As we approach different themes or holidays I will coordinate the bins along with what we are learning.

We use learning tubs every day as part of our exploration and discovery.  As we have mentioned before, unstructured play time is crucial for preschool children.

I found my toy bin shelf on Craigslist for $25, so the storage for learning tubs doesn't have to be expensive.  You could also use a small bookshelf with plastic bins, canvas boxes, or wicker baskets.

Cynthia (nanny):

The twins enjoy stringing wooden beads, they can use these for counting and making patterns.  This is also a good fine motor activity.

Mr. and Mrs. Potato offer a wonderful opportunity for imaginative play.

A Daily Schedule

Arielle (mommy):  When it comes to creating a schedule and sticking to one, I often fall short.  Cynthia is much stronger in this area so I asked her to share her schedule for the twins.

Cynthia (nanny):  When creating the twins' schedule, you might think I'd have to rely heavily on my experience as a classroom teacher as far as when to schedule different subject areas. On the contrary, since this is my first experience with two year old twins I knew my experience might not give me much of an advantage over someone with little to no teaching experience. 

The beauty of working in a home setting is the flexibility to let the kids take charge of their own learning, but also hold them accountable to your expectations. I prefer to do math in the morning followed by phonics(word work) after that due to most kids' ability to focus better in the morning. I also try to plan for a structured activity followed by a less structured out free choice activity in which the kids are still learning but more self directed. 

When creating your own schedule just remember that no schedule is set in stone and can always change based on how your children grow and change. Let me know if you have any specific questions. 

6:45-7:30 Cynthia arrives/Morning grooming routine

7:30-8:00 Breakfast

8:00-9:00 Morning Educational Shows

9:00-9:15 Music and Movement activity

9:15-10:00 Math/Phonics game/Story

10:00-10:30 Free choice play time

10:30-11:15 Science lesson/Art/snack

11:15-11:30 Clean up/Prep for lunch

11:30-12:15 Lunch

12:15-12:45 Free choice play time/Nursery Rhymes

12:45-1:00 Clean up/Prep for nap

1:00-3:30 Story/Naptime

3:30-3:40 Wake up/potty break

3:40-4:00 Story time

4:00-4:15 Learning Tubs

4:15-4:45 Free choice play time/snack

4:45-5:00 Clean up/Prep for dinner

5:00-6:00 Dinner

6:00-7:00 Music and Movement/Free choice play time

Sensory Bins: Digging for Worms

Today we have a post from our good friend Liz!  We have asked her to be a contributor to Mommy.  Nanny.  Guru.  Liz is a former kindergarten colleague (now sahm) whom we miss collaborating with because she has a fresh approach to everything and an abundance of creativity.  We are so excited to have her unique perspective joining us!  

Liz:  While the boys were napping today I decided to throw a sensory bin together just using whatever I could find around the house.  What I came up with was a digging for worms activity.  I cut up blue and green pipe cleaners for the worms & mixed them into a tub filled with decorative rocks and beads.  As the boys dug the worms out of the rocks they sorted them onto blue and green napkins.  Then we counted how many of each color & made a blue green pattern with them.  And of course the boys had to start loading their trailers and tractors up with rocks & worms.

P&G Supports Early Reading

Leap Frog makes learning products that kids love learning with.  They teamed up with Procter and Gamble to support Early Reading.  This is a great opportunity to get some free Christmas gifts for the little ones in your life.

This offer is not available in all stores, here in San Antonio HEB is participating, use your zip code to see if there is a location near you.

You have to spend $30 before coupons, so if you have coupons for these products, you could spend even less!  

This offer expires on 9/30 and it takes 12-14 weeks to get your toy in the mail.  Good thing we have plenty of time before Christmas :)

Fun Friday: Outside Play

We love to plan and give the kids opportunities to discover through structured activities but unstructured time is when creativity flourishes most.

So even though we show lots of activities, we realize that a good portion of a young child's day should be free play and exploration.  

Little children find inspiration in the simplest objects and always discover new ways of using things.  These ideas don't always occur to us adults with our preconceived notions about what a purpose of an object is.  We see objects and know what they are used for, kids see objects and decide how they want to use them.

Arielle (mommy): We went to the park today and my kids showed me this over and over. 

Lil used rocks as sidewalk chalk, O saw Lil, grabbed a sunscreen stick out of our diaper bag and used it like sidewalk chalk.  

Lil accidentally spilled water near her chalk drawing and then decided to use the water to make handprints on the concrete.  

Our friend brought soccers and cones to the park, Lil took the cones, set them up and made up her own game called "Hoppy Loop."

They didn't need me giving them any suggestions, their games were better than any I could have thought of.

Cynthia(Nanny): We had planned to spend some time outside playing with the girls' new water table, but as I began filling the table a leak had sprung! Oops! 

When I assembled it there was one tiny itty bitty part that wasn't staying attached so I figured, "eh, we can do without it." Well, that insignificant part was part of the water stopping mechanism. Great. 

So the only thing I could think of to bide time was snacks! Little sister (1 minute younger) was happy to sit in the nice breeze and eat her morning snack. Big sister (one minute older) was not too happy about the water table not working. 

So after the tantrum, we went inside for some free choice play time while I unpacked a box. (The family just moved into a new house) Free choice turned into an Imagination Station! 

Sometimes boxes can be more fun       than a room full of toys! ;) 

Sensory Bins: Colored Rice

Arielle (mommy): Sensory bins are a great activity to explore measuring, pouring, Sense of touch, and to just have fun digging!  Today we are enjoying colored rice.

 Lil used the measuring spoons to fill the cups.  I also gave her colored paddles she could look through to see how the colors changed.  

I could see right away that O is still a little too rough to play with a box of rice.  As I envisioned him dumping 4 cups of rice all over the dining room floor I decided to replace his rice with Pom poms.  

His occupational therapist gave me the idea of using these along with an empty Lemi Shine container (it's a dishwasher rinse aid).  The container is great because it has a little hole at the top that the Pom poms can be pushed through and you can take the lid off to dump them out.  

Making your own colored rice is easy and the kids love getting involved as well, it's a great time to teach about colors and changes in matter.

What you need:

Rice

Vinegar

Food coloring

Zip lock bags

Cookie sheets

Pour in as many cups of rice into a plastic bag as you like for each color (I did two cups for each color).  For each cup of rice add a teaspoon of vinegar.  Add as much food coloring as you need to cover the rice and get it the color you want. 

 Zip up the bags and let the kids shake them up until the rice is colored.  Pour the rice onto cookie sheets to dry for about an hour.

Cynthia (Nanny): As Arielle mentioned sensory bins are a great way to allow children to learn through their senses as well as explore math and science concepts. Another benefit to this activity is it works to promote language and vocabulary development. 

As the girls worked to fill and pour the rice I asked them what it feels like and how they were using the measuring cups and spoons.

To add some shape name practice, I threw in some foam shapes that the girls could bury in the rice and then find and name the shape. Plastic letters or small toys could also be added into the rice bins. 

Guru moment:  A great conclusion to the activity would be to give the kids dust pans and brushes to let them clean the rice off the floor.  They will like the challenge and it will be less work for us!  

We want to hear from our reader "gurus"!  What ideas do you have for making this activity even better?