Likely Classroom

Ice Races

2011-01-26T07:44:00.001-05:00

We have been doing this for a while now, but I had the chance to snap a picture the other day.

Materials: ice, spoons, bowls, water
Cost: FREE

Throw some ice cubes into a bowl of water. We have a couple fun ice cube trays from IKEA (stars and fish) but we throw the regular old cubes in there too (they last longer). Give them each spoons and tell them to stir until the ice is all gone.

A couple of times the water has gotten too cold and the ice stops melting -- add a cup of warm/hot water if this happens. Or you could leave it be and just let them wait it out.

Variations: you could do colored ice cubes. you could pile up some snow and have them use a spoon to pour hot water and make the snow melt. You could freeze objects in the ice and stir until they are free! I have seen somewhere a large bowl filled with ice with lots of little trinkets suspended in it --- like fossils. USe warm water to melt the ice away from the objects...

have fun!

yoo hoo??

2010-12-16T23:35:00.001-05:00

anyone there?

really -- is anyone reading this?

So, I have three blogs. This is one of them, and then I have another "side" one and then I have my main family blog that I keep up with. This past year has been a busy one for me -- we moved into a new home, completely renovated it and I had a baby. I decided that my side blogs would have to take a back seat for a while.

I do love this blog and have lots of pictures and posts stuck up in my head but I wanted to take some inventory first before the upcoming year. Is anyone still interested in this blog? I just want to make sure it is worth my time. Do you still want me to dump my brain here? I blog mostly for myself, but I do get some satisfaction in knowing that others are able to use these ideas.

Thanks friends.

Pantry Hotwheel Obstacle Course

2010-03-23T23:04:00.000-04:00

on your mark.

get set.

go.

1. hop the canned food one at a time

2. grind along the oven handle.

3.through the fridge door

4. over to the cling wrap

5. Ride one and jump

6. land and ride the gallon zip locs

7. Fly and land in the big yellow mixing bowl.

8. the end.

Cost: FREE

VARIATIONS: Mix it up and change the course. Look around your kitchen/pantry and see what else you could use in your obstacle course. Have them make up the steps. If they are old enough have them write them out like instructions to a game. You could time each other. You could race action figures instead of cars.

Following Directions

2010-03-15T00:02:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine recently posted something I thought was perfect for Likely Classroom:

A Brilliant Following Directions Activity

Enjoy!

When I dip, you dip, we dip.

2010-02-21T21:06:00.005-05:00

Do your kids like to dip as much as mine?

I decided on a slow Monday to do something fun for lunch for the boys. I was completely out of bread, milk, eggs, cheese so I had to get creative. I had hummous and Baba Ganouj in our fridge from Wegman's and I wanted to give it to them for lunch but I didn't know how well just a scoop of those and some pita bread would go over. So I thought I would make it interesting.

I put eight different dips down the middle of a mini muffin tin. I just used what I had. I don't always have hummous and baba ganouj type stuff at my house but all of the others were things I had on hand.

Dips from top left to right:

1. spicy mustard

2. baba ganouj

3. hummous

4. salsa

Bottom left to right

5. ketchup

6. bbq sauce

7. blue Cheese dressing

8. sour cream

On each side I put items to dip with for each child.

I would have done more if I had them, but I didn't so I just used what I had.

They had mini pita pockets cut in half, baby carrots quartered, thick julienned cucumbers, strips of flour tortillas.

They totally ate it all up. Max got really into mixing flavor combinations and would dip one item into three things. I didn't care because they didn't care. Let them experiment. I think mustard & bbq sauce was his favorite combination.

After the savory tin I brought out the sweet tin, a large muffin pan with sweeter items.

Dips from left to right: peanut buter, fruit dip, homemade peach freezer jam

Items: apples, clementines, whole grain coco pops (I also got these from Wegman's -- have you tried them? They are awesome and only 16 calories a piece! They come in a circle, I quartered them for dipping and they are incredible to watch being made --- look at that link)

Remember, this is just what I had on hand. I know that clementines don't go with peanut butter, but they don't know that.

The main thing is that you are just using up what you have. At first I didn't think I could pull it off, but I kept looking around and kept finding things that would work.

COST: Whatever your food costs --- you shouldn't have to go out an buy anything unless you want to make it special

Variations:

SAVORY DIPS: hummous, mustard, ketchup, ranch, blue cheese, spaghetti sauce, balsamic vinegar, sour cream , chip dips (like onion or dill), guacamole, salsa, spinach dip, artichoke dip, bean dip, bbq sauce, sweet and sour sauce, curry sauces, pesto sauce, honey musard, etc..........

SAVORY DIPPERS: carrots, cucumber, green/red/yellow peppers, broccoli, green beans, snap peas, crackers, tortilla strips, chips, pita bread, cubed or sliced bread, pretzel sticks, you could cube up some cheese or deli meat and put it on toothpicks.....

SWEET DIPS: peanut butter, fruit dip (recipe below), jam, pudding, chocolate sauce, yogurt, nutella, caramel, butterscotch, whipped cream........

SWEET DIPPERS: Apples, bananas, clementines, strawberries, pear, mini rice cakes, pretzels, graham crackers, grapes or berries on toothpicks, sliced pancake or waffle pieces or even toast,

Fruit Dip recipe:

16 oz of sour cream or plain yogurt (or a mixture)

a small package of dry vanilla pudding

1/4 to 1/2 cup frozen OJ concentrate

If you are just going to do a small batch (to do a little dip) just mix a few heaping tablespoons of sour cream or plain yogurt with a tablespoon of dry vanilla pudding and a couple teaspoons of OJ concentrate.

Please add to my list if you can think of anything. I would love to double the size of these lists!

This is a lot of fun to make and serve and eat! You will be pleasantly surprised at how many vegetables your child will eat doing this. With my two year old I sat and watched and reminded him to bite and not just dip and lick off the dip and then dip again. This may need some supervision until they get the hang of it.

Have fun!!!!!

winter busy-ness

2010-01-19T22:47:00.000-05:00

"Boys, please put all of these oranges in this other box for mommy"
"Okay now put them in this box" (conveniently located in a completely different room.)

They were busy for an hour sorting and re-boxing oranges.
I kid you not.
Well, they might have also pretended they were bowling.

More Play out of the Dough

2010-01-08T22:10:00.001-05:00

my sister getting crazy with the play-do over christmas break.

When we were visiting my sister in law Sarah during the fall, Max and his Cousin Benson sat down with some play-do. I over heard Sarah telling them to make little beds for the animals. I thought it was a great idea. You could use any plastic toy really, little people, animals, army guys. You could make beds, nests, a pool, a cave.

Max ended up burying mounds of animals into a giant blob of play-do. That was a fun idea too. He had just as much fun pulling the play-do apart looking for the animals. You could do it with a sibling or a friend and each have a wad and bury little trinkets and let the other one "dig" them out -- like they were archeologists or something.

I love stretching what I already have.

Prize in the cereal box.

2009-12-11T22:31:00.001-05:00

Max: I want to make a firestation!
Mommy: Ummmmmmm....... let's look through recycling!

I grabbed a few cereal boxes from the recycling bin and we recycled them ourselves. And made fire stations from them. great fun. Just take all of the tabs up and lay it flat and inside out, have them color whatever they want to and then reassemble it inside out with tape.

And also, don't forget to put a box on your head while you eat your toast.

To see something else you can do with a cardboard box, check out what we found outside our house!

Trick or Reading

2009-12-02T07:56:00.000-05:00

Mid-afternoon is the hardest time of the day for me. My 4 year old isn't napping anymore (well, on rare occasion) and my 2 year old is snoozing away. It's quiet time and it's mom time (at least a few minutes if I can). We came up with a fun idea one afternoon when Max was asking for treats and Mom wanted him to sit quietly and read books.

1. Lay out a handful of books and put a small treat on each one. We normally use chocolate chips but these pictures were taken back in October so candy corn were aplenty. m&m's, grapes, blueberries, pretzels, goldfish, etc.

2. Child chooses book and eats corresponding treat.

3. Reads Book

4. Repeat until all treats are eaten and books are read.

It's a great way to stretch a treat, stretch reading time

and stretch a few mommy minutes.

I have made a little rule at first that Max must tell me when he finished before his next treat just to make sure he understood that he couldn't eat all the treats first. Now he gets it and he doesn't have to tell me, although sometimes he still likes to tell me which one he is going to pick next.

Variations: You could switch it up and do a different little treat on each book or if you are daring, spread their lunch in bite-size pieces over all of the books. Nothing that would stain books though. or get pages messy --- well, maybe that wouldn't work.... but maybe it could? hmmmm...

Scrooge

2009-12-01T20:49:00.001-05:00

It started with Max bringing me a penny he found and me reaching up on the shelf to put the penny in the change jar. He asked if he could do it. I said sure and took the jar down. He clanked it in and smiled. Then Oliver wanted to do it.

So, since Oliver is out of the put everything in the mouth stage I sat them at the table with the change jar. I gave them all sorts of containers to put them in. The smaller the opening and the taller the container the better. Hence the bud vase and thermoses.

Max sorted coins by color and sizes. I told him to put five in each colored bowl. Oliver lined them in a long long choo choo train. But mostly they just wanted to hear the clank clank into the containers. Metal and glass were the best clanks. And they loved pouring the filled containers back into the change jar or into another vessel...

Of course you can't play this with younger kids. PLEASE don't. Make sure that all participants are out of that mouth-y stage. Also, make rules. No money on the ground and if a "money" falls, tell mom and she will pick it up.

This kept my boys busy for nearly a half hour while I made dinner.

Pig

2009-10-22T12:40:00.000-04:00

2 or more players

This is a fun game that I made up while teaching. Start with a 3 letter word like the above "big". Pass it to the person to your right. The next person can only change one letter and has to make a new word. You can change the first, middle or last letter. Then you set your new word down and pass it to the next person (kind of just slide it on the table to the next person). You can't do the same word twice. Sometimes it helps to have a scribe that is writing down words to make sure they are not repeated.

If a person is stumped, they get the letter P given to them. Then that person starts over with a new 3 letter word. You can also choose at this point if you want to allow the person to change it to a four letter word. Or five letters.... That is up to the group and the age and the skill level.

So the game continues until a person ends up with a PIG and then is dismissed from the game. When a person is dismissed the person to the right starts with a new word.

Words can be changed and anagrammed however a player wishes. Basically, the letters can be mixed in any way as long as only one is changed. For example:

Player1: HEAT
Player2: BEAT
Player3: TALE
Player4: LEAF
Player1: FALL
Player2: BALL
Player3: BALE
Player4: BLED
Player1: LEAD
Player2: DEAD
Player3: DATE
Player4: TAPE

You can also not implement the PIG part of it and dismiss players. Another option could be to try as a group to set a record for number of times anagrammed...or just gather points for every time you create a word, keep track of points and the most points wins. When you are stumped you don't get a point... Or if you create a word that stumps someone else you get an extra point. You can change things however you wish to fit your group. Have fun!

Words in a word.

2009-10-21T09:02:00.003-04:00

In third grade my teacher, Mr. McArthur, would challenge us every holiday with a word contest. He would give us the name of the holiday and we would have to see how many little words we could find within the big word. I LIVED for these word contests and would spend any remaining time after I finished homework in the evening searching for words, dictionary beside me, until I was quite certain I would be the winner. I think I won all, if not nearly all, of those word challenges that year.

I did the same thing when I was a teacher except I had Limber Letters for my students to use. It was great to see them mixing things around, finding words they might have not otherwise found. It makes a HUGE difference to visually see letter combinations. The double "ee" or "ll" for example.. putting those together and looking at the other letters makes it easier to see possibilities.

Have a friend, class, family or neighborhood challenge. Give it as an assignment during school breaks -- it will keep your school aged children busy for quite some time (at least it did me).

Happy letters to all of you! The letters are going fast. I only have about 8 more bags ready for this round of selling and then I will be taking a break...

Mix - Fix

2009-10-20T10:35:00.001-04:00

This is a really fun one to play to practice your spelling words. My students would do this activity nearly every week in preparation for our Friday test.

Mix-Fix

2 or more players

All tiles are placed facing up in the middle of the playing surface (ground, table, blanket).

At this point you can do one of many things:
Hand each person a spelling list to choose words from (something that needs to be practiced)
Hand each person a list of random new vocabulary to choose from
Pick a category to make a word from
Pick a certain letter the word needs to start with
Pick a certain amount of letters the word needs to contain
Give no rules and let everyone do whatever word they want

Each person secretly chooses their tiles and puts them into their hands and shakes them around.

Pass your handful of letters to the person on your right.

At this point you can see who can set their mixed-up tiles down and unscramble the word the fastest and they get a point (if it is spelled correctly). Or you can simply have the person spell the word out and wait for everyone else 9no scoring). Or you can have each person write down the word the received on a paper secretly, then pass around the mixed up letters until the whole round is done and then read the words off to see if they are correct.

Roots of Limber Letters

2009-10-19T10:14:00.002-04:00

Today's game will be geared for the older audiences.

Limber Letters are bagged tiles originally used in a game that my grandmother has marketed called Anagrabber. It is a game geared toward ages 7 and up. She has graciously given me a few boxes of letter tiles to market to other communties besides the ones that she targets (senior centers, mensa groups, etc.). Anagrabber is a wonderful game and our family enjoys playing it. I have copied the instructions below for Anagrabber, which you can play with Limber Letter tiles.

Before having children I used these in my classroom and sold them to my co-teachers left and right! There are a million ways to use them in the classroom! Now that I am home I can find a million ways to use them with my pre-schoolers! I think the funnest thing about them is making up games. Even kids will come up with fun ways to use them.

Also, because there are 300 tiles in a bag, your options are greater. Scrabble only has 98 tiles and Bananagrams has 144. I would love to hear how you think you would use them!

How to play Anagrabber (R)*

Number of players: 2 to 8

Ages 7 to 97

Object of game: To make and keep 6 words during a round of play. Drawing lettered tiles from a bag 4 at a time, players make words and discard any letters they do not use. Discarded letters may be used by other players. A player may "anagrab" (or steal) another player's word by adding one or more letters and rearranging the stolen word to make a different word. Once a player wins a round with 6 words, he or she must make 7 words while other players need only 6 to win. With each win, another word is added to the "handicap" to a maximum of 10 words for experienced players. For a more detailed explanation, see the instruction booklet that comes with each Anagrabber(R) game.

In the picture above, the player has made the word "DINER" using the blank as an "E". The blank remains an "E" even when the word is Anagrabbed to make "DINNER"	The blank tile designated as an "E" can be replaced by a player who draws an "E"; then that player owns the blank, but the word "dinner" remains just as it was.	After the blank tile has been replaced,it becomes wild again. Its new owner is using it now as an "I" to Anagrab "went" and make "twine."
Anagrabbing the word "twine" to make "winter"	A player has made the word "ale" from letters drawn from the bag during his turn. To Anagrab it with an "S" a player would have to make "sale" rather than "ales"	You can't just add an "S" to the end of a word to steal it; that would be too easy. But you can rearrange the letters to make a new word, such as "sale" or "leas" (leas are meadows). Or you could add two letters, such as the "S" and another "E" to Anagrab "ale" as "lease" or "easel". There is no limit to the number of letters that can be added to a word.

Limber Letters

2009-10-14T23:23:00.001-04:00

The Crafty Crow will be doing a Limber Letter Giveaway this upcoming Monday.

I've just revamped the packaging and am pretty pleased with the way it turned out.

I just added a couple bags to the etsy shop as a test run, and also, to let any of you have first dibs. This batch is limited. I will be adding more over the weekend in preparation for Monday. Also, all next week I will be posting games to play with the letter tiles in celebration of the giveaway.

Look forward to that!

smiles,

Likely

Stuffed Bad Guys

2009-09-08T22:21:00.002-04:00

Do you think this little fella looks like a bad guy???

Mothers of boys, why does everything in the house turn into a gun, sword or some sort of fighting something? We don't own a fake gun, fake sword, fake bow and arrow, but we have PLENTY of them around if you know what I mean. Believe me when I say you don't need to buy them. You have a dozen of them in your home already.

The boys are really into good guys and bad guys around here. I guess Max is mostly, he's 4 , and little Oliver just goes around saying "Bad-eyes -- Bad-eyes" and doesn't know what he is talking about. He is, in fact, usually the "bad guy" and doesn't know it and gets pummeled, or sworded or tackled by the good guy Max and doesn't even know what has happened.

Today they both had plastic clothes hanger "bows" and colored pencil "arrows" and were chasing each other around. Max would pretend to shoot, but it didn't really work, so he would pretend shoot it and then just throw the pencil at Oliver. This was all Max's "brate idea" as he calls it.

Well, it's all in fun, but this mama doesn't want her 2 year old with a pencil where it shouldn't be. Not a good habit to let your older child throw things at the younger one. So.......

I thought up something I am sure you have thought of, but I just came up with it today.

Stuffed animal bad guys.

A sheep, a cow, a frog and a puppy.

The good guy pretends he is sleeping and then as he is, I hide the "bad guys". When I am ready I yell, "Oh NOOOO!!!! the bad guys are loose again! Help me Maaaxxxx!!! " And then he gets his hanger and colored pencil and finds the sheep in the bathtub, arrows him and puts him in "jail" on the bed, finds the puppy on mommy's pillow, finds the frog in daddy's closet, and finds the cow in the hamper, takes them all to jail.

Once they are all in jail, the good guy can sleep again. But then, OH NO!!! The bad guys get out again!!!! HHHHEEEEEEELLLLPPPP!!!!!

Rise and repeat.

Cost: FREE

Variations: Your child can be a farmer and the animals get loose while he sleeps and the farmer has to catch them and put them back into their pen ( if you are not into the whole bad guys good guys hanger and colored pencil thing).

hooray! have fun!

Hungry Hungry Oatmeal

2009-09-01T12:07:00.000-04:00

oh, that's where they went.

Kids love putting things into things. Both my four year old and two year old alike. Cut a hole in the bottom of an oatmeal cannister and drop little treasures into the dark hole. Pick it up to find them! Start over again.

Cost: What -- like $2 for the oatmeal cannister? -- but you get to eat the oatmeal! So, really, it's free.

variations: snacks into the dark hole (goldfish, marshmallows, raisins, blueberries), you could count them and drop them as you count. Take it outside and drop sticks or rocks that were gathered, dandelions, weeds. Oooh, that's a good one. maybe a bigger cannister. A weed eater!!! Maybe you make a face on the cannister and the opening looks like a mouth. I am a nerd. But that would be fun.

Unshelving

2009-08-27T21:08:00.001-04:00

I once heard a story about a father who had his child/children go out in a big field to pick up every stone they could find. I wish I could remember the details, but the story went something along the lines of another adult pointing out to the father that they weren't even going to use that specific field but the father replying something to the effect that he wasn't preparing a field, he was preparing children to work.

Gosh, I wish I could remember that story better -- does it sound familiar to any of you?

Well, whatever the details are, it made a deep impression on me. I really believe we need to teach our children to work. Whether it is a specific chore or just giving them something to do and making them stick to it until they are finished.

Well, one day I did just that. I gave 3 year old Max the chore of taking every book off of our bookshelves. He already enjoyed doing that anyway, might as well make it a chore right? So, he unshelved every last book and stacked them all on the couch (with my help).

Putting them back on the shelves we color coded them, which is great for teaching colors and also, it looks really cool. He worked on this for a while but was side tracked when he found out the stacked books looked like stairs and a big mountain for his cars.

In the background of this picture you can see the final product:

Cost: FREE

Variations: Have them clean out the fridge with you. They LOVE this. Have them take everything out of the fridge, you wipe it and clean it and they put everything back again. They can put the laundry in the machine, take the laundry out of the dryer. Have them sharpen all of the pencils in the house, make sure all of the lights in the house work, count the tiles in the bathroom floor, make sure there is a star sticker on every shoe/chair/window/blue thing in the house . You know, silly things that give them a sense of purpose and accomplishment.

I am thinking of an animal

2009-08-18T16:28:00.005-04:00

I suppose it's your typical guessing game but I never thought about playing it with my 3 year old until I heard my good friend, Serena, playing with her 4 year old the other day.

Mommy:"I am thinking of an animal that is black and white and lives where it is cold"
Child: Zebra!
Mommy: No, remember it is so cold and this animal eats fish and walks funny.
Child: A penguin!
Mommy: Yep! Your turn!

Child: I am thinking of an animal that lives in the jungle with stripes
Mommy: A tiger?
Child: Yep! Your turn!

You will be amazed at how quickly a car ride goes by. And I think it teaches great deduction skills. Great pre-reading skills as well. Visualizing things, putting things together in your mind. It is simple, but so great. You will be surprised at how well this works. Since our friend was over visiting we have played it in every car ride -- no fail. It is now a family favorite.

Cost: FREE

Variations: With younger ones say the sound of the animal and have them guess it. You could do different categories as well. I am thinking of a food, I am thinking of a person, I am thinking of a toy, I am thinking of a color, I am thinking of something in the room....(I guess that is kind of like I spy, but oh well, that is fun too). For the older kids you can make it harder -- I am thinking of an animal that begins with the letter R and ends with the letter S and it is not plural. Or I am thinking of an animal that would live in Brazil, or florida or Asia.

My Little Shortcake and the Rockers

2009-08-16T21:50:00.004-04:00

Vintage fisher price meets pottery barn outlet emergency station meets Mickey Mouse
Wooden railroad meets remote control car meets blue tablecloth ocean with pirate ship meets dump truck meets hot wheels
meets teething toy giraffe.

I love the way Andy plays with his toys in the beginning of the first Toy Story. Everyone is involved - Potato Head, Bo Peep, Sheriff Woody, army men, a barrel of monkeys, dinosaurs, etc.

When I was young I would spend hours creating towns for my toys -- Barbie and friends had a mansion in my bookcase, My Little Ponies had a grassy meadow on my bedspread, and Strawberry Shortcake and the gang had their hangout. Stacked books became stairs, washcloths became bedspreads, socks became sleeping bags, shoes became cars (Barbies can sit in them so nicely-- no, I didn't have the convertible) and those white plastic pizza thingamajigs that held the pizza lid up in the pizza box to not smash the pizza made the most perfect little tables. Oh, tell me you did that too, with the pizza things.

I remember playing a little bit with my "land" after it was set up but I must admit that the setting it up was by far the funnest part. I'd have everything just so and my entire room would be a big land of My Little Shortcake and the Rockers.

And then someone would let in the crazy giant land wrecking madwoman/man and all would be lost. Wasn't that the worst? Isn't it the worst? I just feel for my older one when my younger one ruins something he made.

It was either that or it was time to go to bed. I couldn't sleep while the ponies were chomping on the grassy meadow.

Have your children use their imaginations and create a land incorporating all of their toys. Make it work. Create a story to act out. Create scenarios. Get neighborhood kids to come over and help.

Cost: Free (just use the toys you have!)

Variations: a million.

Grocery ads

2009-08-13T23:43:00.007-04:00

Sometimes I don't post my ideas because I don't have a picture of it. I decided I need to just get these ideas out and not wait for the perfect picture every time. Here is an idea I have adjusted from the days in the classroom.

When I sort through the newspaper or mail I like to save the grocery ads. Max and I will go through them and do different activities. Sometimes we go through each item in the ad -- if he likes the item to eat, he circles it. If he doesn't, he puts and X through it. Teaches great fine motor skill (pre-writing) and teaches critical thinking.

Sometimes it becomes a look and find.

Mommy: I am looking for something to drink that is yummy for breakfast with pancakes.
Max: ORANGE JUICE (and then circles it or puts a star sticker on it)
Mommy: What would be something you can put on your bread to make a sandwich?
Max: Peanut Butter! (or jam or lunchmeat....)

COST: free
Variations: Younger ones can just do labeling. Can you find the apples? Can you find the milk? What's that? (point to something and have them tell you). Older kids could be given four or five different colors and be told to circle all the things in a certain food group i.e. fruits and vegs with a certain color, each group being a different color. An older child could be given a certain amount of money and be told to "shop" in the ads for what they would like to buy for that week if they could. Have them find the best deal. You can tell them to circle all the foods they think are good for them and X out all the bad ones (then look over it together and discuss). Find all the foods that start with the letter B. Different colors for different meals - blue for breakfast, red for lunch, green for dinner, yellow for snacks.... what else????

Tricky, tricky

2009-05-01T16:50:00.004-04:00

You know how kids like to have a choice? Like to be in charge? If you are fighting with your kids about nap times, here is a funny suggestion.

My mom told me that when we were little and fighting her about naps she would ask us a simple question. "Do you want to take a long nap or a short nap? --- It's your choice!" she would say. If we complained and whined then we had to take the long nap. Of course we always wanted to take the short nap.

tricky mom.

3 Year Old Tour Guide

2009-04-29T15:17:00.004-04:00

another child -led activity. It is amazing what creative and fun things can happen in a day if you allow your child to lead for a little bit.

We came home from running errands today and Max asked to sit in the driver's seat to "drive". At first I said "no, let's go." And then I said, why not? (Sometimes I really try to conciously think of why I say no to my children -- is it because I am lazy????)

So, up he went and I buckled him in. Oliver and I sat in the backseat. Max told us we were going on an adventure. He vroomed this way and that. I shouted out places to go. IKEA! Ma's house in California! The playground! Grandpa's house! Africa! A carnival! Once we were "there" we said hi to things we would see there and then we were off to the new place.

We did it for about 15 minutes or so. We could have done it longer except Oliver wanted to really go somewhere -- like outside and into the house. I thought that it would be really fun to do on a rainy day --- when you can't go much of anywhere and need a break from the monotony of the day. Jump in the car and go on an adventure -- with your three year old at the wheel. You could even bring props and fun things in with you -- get all dressed up to go out. Just a change of scenery. And boy do they like to be the one in charge!

A happy childhood

2009-04-23T23:58:00.003-04:00

Yet another post on my main blog that the readers of this one might enjoy

Read about why pancake batter and blue tarps = a happy childhood.

Me, the Dinosaur Hunter

2009-03-02T10:18:00.001-05:00

Just thought my Likely Classroom readers would be interested in a post I wrote on my main blog.

Here it is.

Enjoy.

Watering Hole

2009-02-10T16:15:00.003-05:00

Even your youngest can have sink time. Create a safe "playpen" by backing up three chairs around them and give them a small cup and a trickle of water. The minutes will tick by (I got about 20) as you prepare dinner or get some kitchen chores done. I think my sweet Oliver must have drank 27 little cupfuls of water that afternoon. He was soaked head to toe. smiling and laughing, but soaked still the same ---- with the fullest diaper on him that evening I had seen in months. You know, the water balloon kind that weigh 10 pounds.

grand fun.

COST: free

Button Pond

2009-01-28T12:30:00.003-05:00

You may not have a button collection like mine but you can play nonetheless. You can use a wide mouthed jar or dishpan filled with rice or macaroni or beads or shredded paper. You can hide just one object in it or multiple. We hid a plastic goldfish. It could be made into a game and take turns. Make sure the children playing are out of the put everything into the mouth stage. My little 15 month old Oliver LOVES the button jar. We play in it every once in a while but he is HIGHLY supervised. I cannot deny him the feeling of running your hands through a button jar. It has to be one of my favorite feelings. If I could swim in them.....

Pins and Needles

2009-01-22T22:39:00.001-05:00

Do you have Pins? some Yarn? a pillow?

As I was sitting and finishing up some holiday crafting my son Max couldn't keep his hands off of my pin cushion. He kept taking pins off of the magnetic holder and dropping them on the floor. No good with a baby around. So I grabbed a pillow from the couch and turned it over and told him that he could press the pins into it. It started with him just randomly pushing them into the pillow.
Then he started lining them up and called it a train.
And then he said they were flowers in a garden. I love adding a little fuel to his fire so I asked him if he needed some water to help his flowers grow. I gave him a piece of yarn and told him it was his hose. He "watered" the pins and as he did I slowly raised each pin like they were growing. He was tickled with this little game. We watered and grew and then pushed down and watered some more.

As we played this little garden game I thought about using the pins as pegs on a geoboard. Do you remember geoboards in school? I did a spin on it and placed the pins in a certain shape and had him follow the pins, wrapping around each one as we went along. (knot the first one around the first pin) You can see the house in the first picture. We did a few shapes and a few letters together before it was time to clean up and do who knows what.

I love impromptu diversion. Let them lead. You just bring the fuel.

COST: Ummm..... please tell me you have straight pins! and yarn or string! and a pillow?

Variation: use different color yarns and create different artwork. Take pictures before disassembling. For older kids, have them try to place the pins to create pictures like a dot to dot. if you have multiple color pins, they could have to connect them in an order, like rainbow order or something. That way they could create something and a friend or you could complete it. I just had a great idea - what about turning over couch cushions and really getting crazy? You would have to definitely explain that pins don't go into anything, but if you had a canvas-y type couch or the undersides weren't something you would ever use, you could create some real masterpieces. I could see older kids trying to line up the pins in a way to spell their names in cursive using the yarn..... or creating a grid and putting objects into the grid. Make a zoo grid, a jail grid, a collection grid, a snack grid. Okay, I just love lateral thinking. I'll stop now.

More to come soon

2009-01-22T10:47:00.006-05:00

Holy Smokes! I have been getting a ton of traffic from The Crafty Crow. She has featured two of my ideas now and I have yet to update. I have a lot of fun ideas, even the pictures to go with them, I just haven't made this blog a priority lately. I will definitely be posting more very soon. Stay posted and thanks for stopping by!

smiles, Likely

Welcome to the Sidewalk Zoo

2008-11-10T23:29:00.004-05:00

Yet another activity with those darn animals. Hit up your local Ross or dollar store I tell ya! This time we made a zoo outside on the front walk. We made sidewalk chalk cages and I labeled them all as they told me what they wanted to place in them.

We even had a visitor take a little tour. He had a season pass....All the sea creatures were having a grand time together swimming and splashing in Blue Chalk Pond.
And then you tell the little zookeepers that they must gather food for the animals to eat (grass) and bring a little dish of water around so they can drink. And then you throw your zookeepers up in a tree and tell them to make funny sounds.......

VARIATIONS: stuffed animal zoo, draw pictures of animals and make a zoo, cut pictures out of magazines or old workbooks. If you need to stay indoors use masking tape on a hard-surfaced floor to make cages. It's a great activity to teach organizing and sorting. You could have older kids create the zoo and charge a nickel admission to the zoo, just to add an element of entrepreneur-ism to it.

COST: Well, the animals cost $2.00 a tube at Ross (Dress for Less)...... we have about 4 of them. And the sidewalk chalk.... that's cheap too.... We just have these things.

Goodnight Animals

2008-10-20T07:40:00.005-04:00

I came upon a group of raucous children a few weeks ago. They were the children of the choir members and were waiting in the nursery room at church for their parents to finish. Control had been lost. They were bouncing off the walls, pouncing on each other and just being plain rowdy.

I flipped the files in my head to CONTROLLING CRAZY CHILDREN and we started playing some organized games. Simon Says mostly, until it got old, then we sang some fun songs. In a moment of desperation I told them I had a really fun game for them but they all had to lay down and pretend they were sleeping.

And the craziness stopped. They all laid down and although there was some loud snoring, they were still. My mind raced again but I was coming up with nothing. Finally I said,

"Okay, when you awake, you will be snakes"

Then I said "GOOD MORNING SNAKES!"

And they all slithered and hissed, not yelling or hitting.

I then said "GOODNIGHT SNAKES!"

They all went back to sleep.

"GOOD MORNING COWS!"
moo moo moo chew chew moo moo
"GOODNIGHT COWS!"
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
"GOOD MORNING PIGS!"
oink oink oink snort oink
"GOODNIGHT PIGS"
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

This went on and on for nearly 20 minutes. I started taking requests: unicorns, slugs, bats. It's fun to do the rowdy ones like dinosaurs, lions, tigers and gorillas but just make them go to sleep faster and draw out the quiet ones like butterfly, turtle and worms.

I couldn't believe how much fun they had playing this. I have had them come up to me at church asking to play it with me again. I have since played it with other groups and it has been equally successful. A great transitioning activity from very active to quieter and more attentive.

COST:FREE

VARIATIONS: You could do professions (good morning bakers! good morning firemen!) , you could do food you are pretending to eat (time for spaghetti! time for corn on the cob!), you could do sports (good morning swimmers, good morning basketball players!), you could do emotions/moods (good morning grouchy! good morning nice! good morning cheerful!).

And SNAP! The Job's a Game!

2008-09-07T22:29:00.006-04:00

While folding two loads of laundry I found myself frustrated trying to keep my toddler from constantly un-piling my piles. It finally dawned on me to take my own advice and get him to help out.

I made a pile for each person in our family: Mommy, Daddy, Max, Oliver

I held up an item - (let's say it's Daddy's shirt) and asked him "Is this baby Oliver's shirt?" He would answer "No" but really it was more like, "NoooooooooooOO!" with a dip of inflection in the middle and a punch of an "O" at the end. I would follow up by saying, "Then whose shirt is it?" "Daddy's Shirt!!!!!!" he would reply. Then I would fold it and he would put it in the right pile.

We played that game through the ENTIRE two loads of laundry. It was magic. He thought it was so funny when I would say that the baby's shirt was my shirt. I even pretended I was trying to put it on, and that really cracked him up. Did it take three times as long? Yes. But did I teach my child something in the process? I think so.

It's all about a switch in perspective. I was almost to the point that I wanted to give him a timeout but I just made a simple change in my outlook, seeing an opportunity to have fun and learn, and it turned out to be a grand time.

That Mary Poppins was onto something.

Cost: FREE, unless you pay your kiddos for helping with the chores
VARIATIONS: Have your child sort the laundry. I sorted my own laundry in elementary school. You can start them as a toddler sorting whites and darks and towels and colors and by the time they hit school age, they are doing it on their own. I also knew a family where they put a basketball hoop over the hamper in their boy's room, inviting dirty duds to make their way into the hamper in a fun way.

A Little Jam in the Morning

2008-09-02T22:46:00.008-04:00

Aunt Linda gave us the greatest Christmas present a few years back - A Family Band set from Restoration Hardware. Totally retro and totally me. We love it and use it at least weekly, if not much more. The set came with a tambourine, some maracas, some bongos, a rattle type instrument and a couple other percussion instruments.
Over the years we have been adding to our collection. It started off with some normal things like a harmonica and a cowbell (more cowbell! - anyone?) but I have since added some peculiar noisemakers.

After breaking two cosmetic jars and looking at the two metal lids headed for the trash I clanged them together and decided they would make great cymbals. I added two mismatched potlids - free from a yard sale and they are great additions to the bongo drum set.

"Everyting is music!"

- Bjork parody on SNL (remember that one?).

Get funky in the morning and pump up some music --Let the little ones bang bang away creating sound. It may not be lovely sound just yet, but with a little practice... well, a lot of practice....

Playing Olympics

2008-08-18T09:31:00.006-04:00

Not only are the Olympics invading our bedtimes around here, but they are invading our play time too! We spent a morning last week "playing Olympics" with a couple neighborhood friends. We used hand-me-down army combat dudes as our athletes. Barbies could be used too, really any type of figure although plastic would be best for swimming I suppose.
They did gymnastic routines .

And they swam.

and then my memory card was filled up. The athletes ran races and did the long jump. We put on music for floor exercises. It was hilarious to watch these army-type dudes get all gymnastick-y.

We didn't do it, but diving would be fun. Synchronized diving would be even more fun with a friend. Make up a dive and practice it until you can do it perfectly.

Another thing to do it hold your own olympics with your REAL kids and the neighborhood kids. Assign countries, run races, put out a 2x4 "beam", if you have a pool you could run real swim races, you can do long jump, shot put, discus (frisbee).

the kids will love it. Even better would be to have them organize it all. Planning it is half the fun and older kids will really enjoy hosting a neighborhood event like this.

Who knew Canadians were this cool?

2008-08-12T20:30:00.003-04:00

I came across a website that was a list of online kids computer games. I will just start by saying that as a general rule, I do not like video/computer games. Ask any former student of mine.

Some, I would concur with them, are educational, but the majority (at least the ones that they play) are not. So, on this site Max and I messed around and I got him playing a few of them. I originally got on to find a game that would encourage his current love of letters. Well, we weeded through the muck and found a gem.

A Canadian site developed by a kids tv network called tvokids. Maybe you know about it, I didn't. The games are great, have cute artwork and are seriously so funny. Maybe I am a nerdy mom but this one makes me laugh out loud. I dare you not to laugh. I loved this one (the bird's voice is so cute - OH - DID YOU HEAR THAT???) and this one too. Max loved this one as well.

So I mention that it's Canadian because you will hear a couple Canadian-ish things, like zed, which is what they call the letter z apparently. Maybe my Canadian brother-in-law can clarify that for us -- what's up with zed? and you will also hear a bit of Canadian accent, like the word out sounding like oot. Cute little Canadians.

Have fun! Let me know if you find any other favorites!

Tickle Contests

2008-08-07T07:26:00.005-04:00

I grew up with a father who hosted tickle contests on Sunday afternoons. It is a great activity if you need the kids to stop running around the house and just be still. A great transition from noisy, busy activity to quieter...

How it works:

Have your child/children lay on the ground all in a row on their backs. Tell them that the two rules are that they have to stay still and they can't laugh.

Start at the feet. Tickle the bottom of the feet for about 3 seconds. Do the next kid's feet, and the next until all the feet are done. Next do the knees. Tell them to bend them and then you start at the top and run your spreading fingers around their kneecap. Do one knee at a time and then move to the next victim. Next - thighs (that was always my worst) Next tummies. Next armpit. Next neck. I think we may have done ear every once in a while, maybe he blew in it or tickled it with a feather. Do them all for about 3 seconds. Don't do it until they laugh - that's not fair.

You will be surprised at how much kids get into this. Every kid I have ever played this with has loved it.

If you really want to make it a contest then you can say the first one who laughs is out or you can award points for passing a "level". They didn't laugh on knees, armpits and neck so they get 3 points. Highest points win.

It's fun to do it with a lot of anticipation. Start wiggling your fingers and saying "here I come" much before you actually do tickle. Sometimes they will bust out laughing even before you tickle them. It's so funny to see them writhing and squirming and tight lipped to suppress the inevitable laughter.

You can make it last longer by starting at the feet and going up and then working your way down until you lastly come to the feet again. You could also pull out a body part out of a hat and do whatever you pull. Put them in back again after they are picked. Some child may get feet over and over. You could even have the children write the little papers or have them draw a picture of the body part to be tickled.

With a younger child you can even practice body parts wen you tickle. Command at your child - "Tickle mommy's arm" "Tickle mommy's foot" "Tickle mommy's hair" you can also say to them - "I am going to tickle your nose!" "I am going to tickle your tummy!"

A Walk Down Sesame Street

2008-07-30T13:39:00.003-04:00

On our daily walk/jog I try to think of new things to do to make it more interesting. We walk on the opposite side of the street and I push the jogging stroller toward the oncoming parked cars. So, we are actually ON the street. Are you picturing this? Maybe you feel more safe in your neighborhood on the sidewalk, but our neighborhood is pretty low traffic.

For weeks now I have been playing "I spy" on the walks.

Do you see a flag?
Do you see a red car?
Do you see yellow flowers?

Last week it dawned on me that these walks were turning into an authentic learning experience. I started going toward the cars and reading off the license plates to the boys . After a couple of days of this we turned it into a game that we couldn't go any further until Max recited the license plate to me. He is getting good at it. I am walking toward it and stopping now but when he gets better I will go faster and faster until he can say them before I even reach the car and I won't have to stop at all anymore.

We also read addresses on mailboxes, curbs and houses. We read stop signs.

COST: FREE
VARIATIONS: Make a specific thing you are hunting for - flags, flowers, trucks, pumpkins in the fall (when MAx was an infant we went on a pumpkin hunt in the stroller and counted the pumpkins). An older child can walk on his/her own and bring a clipboard and tally the things that are seen. You could even make a scavenger hunt type list for the things you see on a walk. Friends could make lists for each other and walk around the neighborhood. You could have all the number or letters and cross them off on a sheet (license plate bingo style).

Fishing in the sink

2008-07-29T00:56:00.003-04:00

So, yet another sink game. I tell you, the sink is magical. We have come up with dozens of things to do during sink time.

This one is simple. Fill one side of the sink with water and add dish soap to create a place for objects to hide under. Give you toddler a pair of tongs and let them "fish" for the objects and drop them in a bowl on the other side of the sink. You could use all kinds of things as the treasures to be found: army men (could it be a rescue mission?), dice, canning jar rings, large legos, etc. It is a good exercise in fine motor skills and patience. My little Max dropped the first animal 4 or 5 times before he got it into the bowl. After a couple more he was doing great.

Cost: FREE

Variations: You could do this outside in a swimming pool --with the soap. You could do it with a younger child and just have them search for the objects with their hands and then put them in a bowl. Maybe a good and fun way to clean those little hands :)

Twilight Pillow Fights

2008-07-27T22:36:00.005-04:00

During my summers in Idaho as a child we had such fun adventures. One of our absolute favorite memories at Grandma's house was our twilight pillow fights. My siblings (there were four of us) and I would all get our nightshirts on and each get handed an old pillow. After the sun went down my mother and grandmother would just sit on the front porch and watch us go at it out in the yard. We would just nail each other over and over again and surprisingly enough, there were very little tears shed over the course of the years. There were a few rules and there were set boundaries (you had to stay on the grass), but there weren't too many restrictions. We would hit each other so hard we would fall over and once you had fallen you would get attacked by everyone. My mother and grandmother would just laugh and laugh and occasionally they would throw a pillow or two.

We would have our pillow fight for a good twenty minutes to half an hour. Until we were nice and exhausted. Then we would brush our teeth, say our prayers and go to bed.

You might need to set some more ground rules for your families/cousins/friends like no hitting in the head and maybe there could be an optional safe zone where you could go and not get hit.

Gosh, just thinking about this again makes me want to go out right now and nail my brother Travis in the head with a pillow.

Different Strokes for Different Folks

2008-07-08T21:48:00.006-04:00

Do you have a dumpster a yard sale or a thrift store near your house???

Do you want to keep a handful of kids busy and get a project or two done while you are at it?Do you have an "oops" section at your local hardware store paint department?Do you have a swatch of upholstery fabric lying around?

We summoned up a couple helper friends and painted up a storm. Carianne painted a wooden crate I picked up for $5 at Jo-ann's craft while her younger brother, David, and my Max helped paint the chair I found on the side of the road (read about that here). Just make sure the kiddos have small brushes and you'll need to be on the lookout for big drip marks.

You have to get in the frame of mind to just let them go for it. After they finish, you can go over it yourself and give it a good finishing coat.

I used paint that I found at Home Depot for $5 for the gallon (oops paint) and a sample swatch of fabric that I picked up at a going out of business sale at Storehouse. Check your local furniture/reupholstering stores for old out of date sample swatches. Mine cost me $2, but many times they are free.

The point of this is not to get them painting something completely random and clutter-y but something useful and practical. Think about painting projects you already want to do and just get the kids involved somehow.

COST: depends on how much you have around the house...
VARIATIONS: Check behind your local thrift store for things they are throwing away. I found a sewing machine table there once. free. Also, you could do something more simple, like a frame or a small wooden box. If you are painting a room, don't make your kids stay out. Just give them a very small brush and their own very small cup of paint. Lay major drop cloths down, but let them in on the fun. Encourage them to help with your projects.

Ink Pad Jungle

2008-07-06T14:25:00.003-04:00

This was named "Ink Pad Jungle" by the artist who created it.

Her sister's creation: Crazy GeorgeMax's contribution: Curious George and the Looney Bird Earthquake

Some cute neighborhood girls came over and I let them have free reign of the stamps and ink pads while I chatted with their mother. They created some beautiful artwork! I wouldn't have even thought of using the actual ink pads as an art medium. Small little ink pads like those you can find for about a dollar or so in the craft stores. Check the dollar sections. They always have stamps and pads.

Variations: Don't forget about fingerprint animals. Press a finger in the ink and press it on the paper and use that shape to create an animal.

Cost: Under five dollars

Toys that are not toys

2008-06-26T06:36:00.002-04:00

Here is a link to my family blog where I posted a great toy that is not a toy.

shedding some light on the alphabet

2008-06-10T06:43:00.004-04:00

I mounted these vintage flashcards onto the wall of my boy's bedroom with mounting tape. At night as a part of our nightly routine, we use a flashlight that we keep by the side of the bed and we go through an alphabet quiz. I ask Max for a letter and then he points to it with his flashlight. It's a fun way to practice our letters.

Cost: less than five dollars for flashcards, or free is you make you own on the computer and hang them up.

Variation: For older kids you could say a word and they would have to shine the light on the letter it starts with. Or you could shine the light on a letter and they have to say a word that starts with that letter. You could get really tricky and say, What is the third letter in penguin??? Also, we sometimes take the flashlight around the house and do a bit of a scavenger hunt. Where's your toothbrush? Where is the refrigerator? Where is the front door? Where is the baby?

Google-Eyed Play-Do

2008-06-01T22:48:00.004-04:00

I have a jar of Google-y eyes. Packs of them are less than a dollar a the local craft store. They really do make the play-do creatures come to life. Schmeese had fun making funny faces and just sticking 20 eyes on one blob of play-do. He also had fun watching me make the creatures he would tell me to make and then he would be in charge of putting the eyes on.

I keep a very small container of the eyes IN the play-do bag so they are always on hand during play-do time.

COST: Less than $5 for play-do and eyes. Free if you already have them. You can make the play-do as well...
Variations: You could use large beads to add to your creations or sticks and such for arms and legs.

One Hand Two Hand Red Hand Blue Hand

2008-04-30T15:00:00.011-04:00

name that tune:

DUN DUN DUN
DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN

DUN DUN DUN

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNdundundundun
dundundundun
dundundundun

dundundundun
dundundundun
dundundundun
da da da da
da da da da
da da da da da daaaaaaaaaa!!!!

Now, see if you guessed correctly:

This activity is pretty self explanatory but here are a couple details:

The shirt is from good will. I cut off the sleeves and made a painting smock.
I just had him use a water color brush from a watercolor set.

Don't be afraid of painting on the windows, it washes off easily with warm water and a little dish soap.
Use washable tempera paints like the school kids use.
You could cover the floor if you wanted to, but my son isn't crazy messy, so I didn't. The drips wipe up easily.
Put very small amounts of paint on the paper plate palette. This prevents spills and encourages fun mixing. You can always add more, but it's hard to take away some once it's poured.
I didn't plan on Max using his hands at the end but he did and it was fun and the paint came off his hands MUCH MUCH easier that I thought.
Throw on your favorite classical music - it's a lot more fun.

COST: Under $5 dollars
Variations: Obviously older kids could paint something not as abstract. They could draw your family. Draw what they WISHED or IMAGINED they saw out your window. Encourage them to do seasonal art on your windows, or to write things like Happy Fourth of July or Happy Birthday. They could practice their spelling words on the window. How's that for homework? Toddlers could be given only the colors for that upcoming holiday - orange and black, pink and red, etc. to create an abstract holiday masterpiece.

So much fun.

Stone Soup

2008-04-17T09:04:00.010-04:00

Gather 'round, my dear friends.
It's time for Stone Soup.

This whole afternoon project started off as a couple of neighborhood kids wanting to dig somewhere. I told them they could dig in one area of my yard. Then the sisters came over and wanted something to do. They made mudpies in that old muffin tin that rusted out - remember??? and then we started making the soup. The glorious stone soup.

The trick is to get them really excited about all of the ingredients. Put some regular dirt in for color but add pinches of "magic chinese earth" (potting soil) and "buttercup fairy flowers" (dandelions). Raid your vegetable bin for bendable carrots and stalks of celery and wilting spinach. Throw in a handful of dry pasta, cheerios, a tsp sugar.... whatever suits your fancy. Just name it something funky and really go over the top with the drama.

Pretend to taste it and pretend to spit it out and say "NEEDS SOME PICKLE JUICE!!!!" or whatever.. I think you get my point. Just have fun with it.

I got them started and boy did they go with it. After I supplied a few things from the kitchen I told them they now had to find outside ingredients to add. And they had to name them.

It was a lovely afternoon.

Cost: FREE
Variations: Read them the book Stone Soup! It will make the whole experience even more fun. You could most definitely do this inside as well, with no dirt. I used to love "making recipes" when I was young. If you know your neighbors well, it may be fun to knock doors and see what each neighbor could add to your soup. Maybe even like a scavenger hunt. NOW THAT would be fun wouldn't it??? The list could ask for things like stale bread and withered apple and egg shell - things that people do not want... Man, I better stop before I get out of control with the ideas.

DIY dollhouses

2008-03-19T14:42:00.002-04:00

I don't have girls but if you do, check this out

I would have totally loved that as a young girl. A great way to use old catalogs and mags.

Muffin Tins

2008-03-17T21:18:00.006-04:00

So the animals got a totally luxurious private bath at the Muffin Tin Day Spa the other morning.

The muffin tin in the above picture actually rusted that day because the animals soaked for too long.

woops.

I set the muffin tin out on our deck with the intent of re-storing it somewhere besides my kitchen (like for a future mud pie kitchen) because it is pretty much un-usable now. While it was out there, Schmeese found it and started gathering rocks to put in each cup. Totally on his own with no prompting. He did that for like 15 minutes.

Muffin pans are wonderful. I can remember my mother using them with my little sister. She went to the local "teachers lab" where they had an Ellison press and she cut and laminated tiny paper hearts (maybe like an inch by an inch) and she would have my little sister sort them into the muffin tins by color. She has also used colored buttons for sorting. You could use little shapes or letters or numbers.

Cost: Pretty much free unless you wanted to go and laminate the little paper hearts

Takin' it back to the old school

2008-03-14T07:31:00.011-04:00

'cause I'm an old fool who's so cool.

When I taught sixth grade before becoming a mother I realized that my students didn't know JACK-SQUAT about geography. They could possibly name and locate half of the states, but a small percentage of them would be able to find the U.S. on a world map.

Because our area of study was world history I took geography to heart and had a goal to have my students label on a map EVERY country of the world. Lofty goal eh? I had parents tell me, "Really, you think they can do that? Memorize EVERY country of the world and be able to label them on a map?" I would say back to them, "At different points in the year, they will have experienced labeling the entire world. I do not expect them to remember it all at the end of the year but they will at least have been exposed to every continent and every country so that when they hear War in Iraq on the news they have a vague idea, if not know exactly, where Iraq and the Middle East are."

At the beginning of the school year I gave them a large blank world map and asked them to fill out as many countries as they could. I think the most countries correctly labeled averaged between 3-5 or so.

If that.

The US, Canada, Mexico, and then a sampling of China, Great Britain, Brazil, France, Japan. Hardly any variation from those.

It was sad.

By the end of the year when we did the same exercise again they labeled dozens upon dozens - some nearing 100. They were floored at their own knowledge and they felt empowered.

We would do monthly quizzes on different regions. I owe much of their success to this website.

Warning - the site is addictive. After I made that goal for my class I decided that I couldn't have a goal for my class that I hadn't conquered myself. I spent a good solid week on that site a couple weeks before school started and I felt like I had a good handle on the world.

Because of school mandated curriculum and testing, many very worthwhile subjects have been thrown out the window. If your child's teacher is not keen on teaching geography, take matters into your own hands and get your family a little more world-savvy. Buy a world map and display it prominently somewhere in your home. Use that site with your older ones. World map place mats or US states place mats? Puzzles? games?

Toys that are not toys

2008-03-13T14:00:00.001-04:00

Going on a Lion Hunt

2008-03-12T06:06:00.004-04:00

Swabby wakes up between 6:00-6:30 and this mama is usually not keen on getting up just yet. I usually sweep him up out of his crib and bring into me for a morning snuggle. Schmeese wakes up around 7:00 and is rarin' to go. He finds us under the covers and joins the party.

It reminds me of fond memories I have of my siblings and I finding mom (and dad on the weekends) in the morning and joining her, one by one until there are five of us snuggled in the queen sized four poster bed; elbows in faces, knees in tummies, like a family puzzle.

I've been trying to stretch out our days a bit. Enjoy each part of it. Because I don't have school aged children and no particular place to be in the morning I lay in bed a bit longer with them.

And we play bed-games.

The favorite one lately is Lion Hunt (although Schmeese just calls it "Yie-eee"). We all, four month old Swabby included, throw the sheets up and hide underneath quietly and patiently. I turn to Schmeese wide-eyed and asks him what he sees.

Answers I have been given:
"Ummmmm.... Yie-eee????" (Lion)
"Ummmmm... ooh ooh?" (monkey)
"Ummm....... wee-oh weeoh?" (whale)
"Ummmm...goggie?" (doggy)

As soon as he spies the beast we just go crazy. Kick the legs, flail the arms, pretend we are running like mad to get away from the whatever it is. The baby LOVES it (I sort of protect him during the craziness part)

Then we throw off the sheet in relief and pretend that we barely made it.

And then the sheet gets thrown up again and it starts all over.

Variations: This doesn't have to be on a bed. You could play on the couch or the floor with a blanket if you wish. You could also pretend that one of the people playing was the actual animal and the other person had to guess what they saw in the sheet jungle.

Cost: FREE assuming you have a sheet and a bed.

animal wash

2008-03-11T07:40:00.007-04:00

Not just a dog wash, my friends.
We got out our jar o' animals and they got a good washing.

You can get tube-fuls of little plastic animals many places. I happened to find them at Ross (dress for less) for around $3 a tube. farm animals, jungle animals, sea animals. Between my mother and I hitting the Rosses here in MD and there in CA we pretty much have the whole collection.

Since water playing time isn't an option outside now, The Schmeese loves nothing more than standing on a chair in front of the sink for a good half hour.
dipping animals in and out of bubbly water, making them swim,
filling up cups and containers and dumping them into each other,
washing the baby's bottles :)

above is another day with just containers and no animals.

Variations: a Barbie bubble bath, a car wash, an army man underwater excursion- maybe the army men can be pirate men??

Cost: Free - just use the toys you have.

Kiddie Music

2008-02-18T22:30:00.006-05:00

Sometimes, when you have children, you can't listen to whatever you want. Well, you can, but you become more conscious of it and you become hyper-aware of the feeling it creates in your home. Some music that I have in my library naturally lends itself toward little ears. We play a lot of classical music around here as well as folk. We also turn up dancy-tunes. Where I have come to find a lack in my library is in music specifically written for children.

A favorite right now is Renee and Jeremy, introduced to me by my friend, Molly. Here is a song I am loving right now. I don't mind the repetitiveness of it at all because I know how children love repetition. Sometimes I can just sing 'Jesus said Love Everyone" over and over until little lids get heavy.

Jesus said love everyone,
treat them kindly too
When your heart is filled with love
Others will love you.

I am also loving Elizabeth Mitchell, who sings in the group Ida (if you happen to know them - I doubt it though). She has recently released a few children's albums.

There are a few more children's music artists I enjoy, but maybe I will introduce them in another post. Link me up in the comment section if you know of anything great and equally kid and adult friendly.

It's great to get a collection of REAL music geared toward kids instead of barney-esque repetitive ditties.

And can I die over the artwork in this video:

Bentos?

2008-02-12T07:32:00.000-05:00

Egg bento toddler
Originally uploaded by pixelvale

Am I the last one to hear about this craze? Bentos. Apparently a Japanese trend of creating fun artistic lunches. I guess it starts with a bento box which is compartmentalized. There are all kinds of accessories like molds that make your boiled eggs star - shaped and sauce dispensers and tiny cookie cutters to cut cheeses, meats, veggies and fruits, food dividers, fun toothpicks, paper and silicone food holders. There is a whole bento world out there to be discovered.

The picture on the right is of a lunch that a Dad made for his daughter for school. You can click on here to see daily pics of the bentos he makes for his daughter.

here are some more links:

Owl Bento

Kawaii Bento

Bento Boxes

A Perfect Fit

2007-11-16T08:10:00.001-05:00

I'll admit, my shoes are not organized in the bottom of my closet. Maybe yours are. Either way, you can play a simple game with your toddler.Take out of your closet 6-8 different shoes. Hold up a shoe (say the color or style) and tell your toddler to find the other one and place them in a match on the floor.
Very simple but it is fun to watch them "hunt" for the right shoe.
Can you tell what shoes I love?

Cost: FREE

Color me Happy

2007-11-13T13:03:00.000-05:00

Problem: Schmeese needs to learn his colors, has a lot of energy and I need to nurse the new baby.
Answer: Construction paper, scissors, masking tape, marker, walls

Instructions: Get out a piece of paper for each color you want your child to learn. I chose three to start but I will add more soon.
Cut a large square from the paper and label with the word name of the color. Cut the rest of the paper into 3x3 (or so) squares.
Place large squares on different walls or in different areas of your house. I kept them in the same room this first time, but I will make it a little more exhausting next time around.
Put all small squares in a bowl. Roll up masking tape loop and put it on back of square. Hand it to your child and say the name of the color. Schmeese caught onto this so fast that I didn't even have to show him what to do. You may have to demonstrate a couple times for your child however. Have your child return to you every time to get a new color. You don't need to tape loop them all before you start. Just do it as you go.

After about 5 or so of each color make things a bit more difficult. I stuck the colors all over Schmeese's shirt (see first picture). He had a grand time going to each color and checking out his shirt to find all corresponding colors and placing them on the wall.

If you want to use the same squares and start over again, stick all masking taped squares on separate pieces of wax paper for later use.

Cost: Pretty much Free

Variations: More colors. High and low: "Put the blue square HIGH on the wall" "Put the yellow square LOW on the wall". You could do the same activity with shapes, letters, words (for much bigger kids - I am imagining first and second graders categorizing words they read and placing them: foods, animals, household objects, plants.) You could definitely do this outside it the weather permitted. "Run to the red square! Walk backward to the yellow square!"

PS - forgive the cruddy muddy pics. Remember I was nursing?

The battle is over.

2007-10-15T07:12:00.001-04:00

The battle for your dinner prep time is over my friends. That is, if you have Battleship.

The Schmeese loves lining things up and he is really into small little things. I looked through our game shelves the other day and brought up Battleship. I sat down at the kitchen table with Schmeese and showed him how to put all the little pieces in the holes.

It is KEY that you sit down with your child and spend a good ten minutes or so doing something like this WITH your child or else you will have red and white battleship bombs all over your kitchen floor. You can't expect them to just figure it out and play neatly. Well, at least not with mine anyway.

Expect them to be frustrated at first. Schmeese really struggled initially because he didn't understand why some wouldn't go in. I helped to see that they only went in one direction. It was cute to watch his little mind problem solve and work it out. That has to be one of my favorite things about teaching. You can just see and hear the gears in their mind turning.

They are so proud of themselves once they can do it all by themselves.

Schmeese "played" Battleship for a good twenty minutes by himself (after I invested the initial ten) while I prepared dinner. He has done that for about four days in a row now.
I also got a tin of dominoes out and he spent time lining them up, standing them on end and knocking them down.

Variations: Check your game cupboards and see what you come up with. Although toddlers are too young to play most of the games you may be surprised what you come up with. I can see Schmeese putting checkers on all the checkerboard squares or lining up chess pieces. What about cubed Boggle letters? I can def see potential in Boggle too.

Any other ideas?

Cost: free (assuming you have the games)

Brilliant Emily

2007-10-09T14:58:00.000-04:00

I received the following email from a hometown friend named Emily. I LOVED these ideas. Especially the styrofoam and golf tees one. I am so grateful she passed on the brilliance.

Thank you Emily!

I have separated the email into three sections so I can tag each one differently.

Styrofoam and Golf Tees

2007-10-09T14:56:00.001-04:00

Tiffany--

I wish I had my camera with me so I could have taken a picture.
Here's what she did: ( a friend of Emily's) 

Save the solid rectangular pieces of styrofoam packing that come when
you buy stuff like computers, DVD players, etc.

Give your kid a bag of golf tees and a small toy hammer.

Let them spend an hour hammering all the golf tees into the styrofoam.

If they are a little older they can make pictures and designs with
them (kind of a la Light Bright)

I was a little surprised that it held their attention, but this kept
two three year-old girls busy for quite a while this afternoon.

Cost: $0, supposing you have this stuff around the house.

T-Shirts and Squirt Bottles

2007-10-09T14:53:00.000-04:00

Idea 2:
Tie dye t-shirts with squirt bottles. I did this with my kids and
their cousins this summer and they had a blast. Cost level is pretty
low, mess level is pretty high. There is a description and pictures
of it here on my blog.

Letterboxing

2007-10-09T14:09:00.000-04:00

Idea #3
Have you heard of letterboxing? It's like treasure hunting in local
parks and wilderness areas. They post clues online and you go out and
try to find these boxes that contain a log book and a rubberstamp.
When you find the box you stamp your own notebook and leave your own
personal stamp behind in the logbook. I found out that there are a
ton of them hidden around San Antonio and we intend (as soon as it's
not too hot and we're done being sick) to head out as a family and
try this. It sounds really fun, especially for school-age children.
Here's a link to the national letterboxing organization:
letterboxing.org

I love looking at your ideas. Such good inspiration for all us moms.

Emily

50 toddler activities

2007-10-01T15:49:00.000-04:00

Check out this link I came across.

F A N T A S T I C!!!!!!

It's on the sidebar too.

A Favorite Children's Reading Site

2007-09-28T08:29:00.001-04:00

Planet Esme
click above to go to site

I love this site. I have used it for years. It is on my sidebar for future reference. I first was acquainted with Esme Raji Codell through reading her book Educating Esme:Diary of a First Year Teacher. The book was an interesting read although it was littered with swear words (she taught in inner city Chicago and did NOT sugar coat the experience) and she was a bit smug and self-promoting.

Regardless, she has a passion for reading and writing and I could literally spend hours looking through all of her great lists, ideas and recommendations. I also just checked out this book from the library. Great info.

Here is a smattering of some lists that Esme has put together:

Books for Babies-age three
Monkey Stories
Girl Power
Books and Breadmaking
Not too scary Halloween Stories
Hints for reading aloud
Read Aloud Resuscitation

There are dozens more. Check it out! I just adore this site.

Daily Masterpiece

2007-09-27T10:45:00.001-04:00

Do you have markers?Do you have butcher paper?

I received an email when I was teaching in Provo about the Daily Herald ridding themselves of newsprint ends (the picture below), Call your local paper and ask about it.

I have also bought this.

On Monday, tear of a large piece of butcher/art/newsprint end paper and let your toddler go at it. The next day, use the same sheet again. Wednesday, the same.

**Hint to the wise: Markers are MUCH more fun to color with according to The Schmeese. When he is drawing with them I give him no more than 2 at a time and make him put on the lids right after he is done with those colors. Taking off and putting on the lids is half the fun. If your child struggles with the whole lid thing, encourage them and keep saying "you can do it" until they do. And oh how they love to finally "get it". If you let them just go for it with markers, crayons or whatever, you are asking for a MESS and you are also overstimulating your child.

I stood one marker on end and Schmeese was intrigued. At first he had a hard time learning how to make them balance, and then he spent 15 minutes balancing markers in a row. The key is to not let them give up and keep encouraging.

After lining them up, have your child touch the top of each marker gently as you count out loud or say the colors out loud.

Color practice:
Mommy: Schmeese, can you give me the blue marker?Mommy: Schmeese, can you color on the red circle? (this didn't work so well the first time around, but we will keep working at it)Would marker time be complete without making marker wands?Who didn't do that as a child?

By the power of Grayskull!!!!!!!!!!

Hang up your art on a window or wall until the next day. Working on the same big piece of paper all week creates one large masterpiece, saves paper, and saves you the hassle of trying to scrounge around for more drawing paper all week. Below is four days worth of art time.
Be prepared for this when Daily Masterpiece time is over.

Variations: 1)Use different mediums/techniques each day: markers, crayons, colored pencils, stamps, stickers 2)place an eraser, a spoon, a matchbox car, or other small object on paper and have them color around each object on the paper. 3)Draw lines together on the paper and have your child follow the lines with a small car or doll. 4)Draw circles and have your child put objects in each circle (a piece of macaroni, a cheerio, a coin - be sure they are of age to not put it in their mouth though).
**Older children can work on a mural all week long, adding scenery and characters daily - Fairy land, pirate ship, battle scene, princess castle. There is such novelty and potential in that huge piece of paper.... let them go with it!

Other ideas for daily masterpiece time?

Water is free, water is fun

2007-09-26T13:08:00.002-04:00

Out comes a pitcher of water.

Out come the plastic measuring cups.Out comes a dishpan.
Out come the ice cubes.

Don't worry if you get thirsty because you have icy cold water.

And you can ask your mom to play with you because you have already been playing in the water all by yourself for over an hour.

The next day you can add neighborhood friends.

And paintbrushes.
And play "paint the deck".
We don't mind getting wet on
a hot September afternoon.

Do you?

**Be prepared to fill up water pitcher/dishpan/ice cubes at least a dozen times

variations: paint the sidewalk, paint the house, paint the front porch, measure water into different size cups, make ice cube soup, use ice cubes to scribble onto the hot pavement

I am still a teacher

2007-08-23T20:31:00.001-04:00

Betcha didn't know that this book could potentially change your life. I had my husband pick one up for me at Alphabet Station while he was in Utah this summer. Hot commodity. I searched high and low on the Internet to find it and the only place I could find it was temporarily out of stock. It has to be the blue version by the way. Only the blue version will do.

After a two year hiatus I am returning to the classroom to teach. I am planning out units, activities, field trips and management techniques.

And the best thing about it?????
I have one student permanently enrolled.And he is a good boy.

And we can look for butterflies in the zinnia garden and go on a field trip to the ice cream store and we can read the same book over and over and make animal sounds as loud as we want because it is OUR school. And we can invite fun friends over to learn and we can go fun places and do fun things with them because it is really just the two of us.

And when little brother comes in October he can join our school too.

I was once a teacher

I am still a teacher.