Water Fun!

The weather has been crazy these past couple of weeks.   Just last week we had thunder and rain, and today it was very warm and nice out!  We took advantage of the beautiful weather and went outside to play with the water!

I love how he looks so serious when he's playing! :D

We brought out the dish-washing pan, a measuring cup, a little watering can, and a little sand sifter for Little Man to play in the water.  He found a rock and added it to the water, too. 

I added an ice cube I colored blue with food coloring to the water.  He had a blast trying to pick it up out of the water because it was slippery.  He watched while it melted away. 

He had soo much fun he cried when we had to back inside the house for dinner.  He was easily consoled with a plate of warm spaghetti. 

I think we'll bring out the kiddy pool soon. :D

Toddler Time - Coloring

We had a blast working on yesterday's "green themed" lesson plan!  We didn't read "Meet Mr. and Mrs. Green" because it ended up being a bigger kid book.  It looks like a cute one though!

Little Man had a blast watching mommy and daddy jump around like frogs saying "ribbit, ribbit!"  He didn't try to jump on his own yet, but I showed him how to at least move his hands like he was jumping and said "ribbit" and he would laugh. 

The Hubs showing Little Man how to jump like a frog!

He also enjoyed coloring the frog.  I need to get him some fat crayons so he can hold them in his hand a little easier (Easter basket idea!), but he still did a great job.  He liked using the markers to color his hands.  We talked about the frog while we were coloring our printouts.  (I was coloring a frog, too)

He definately enjoyed coloring:  We're going to have to be sure to add it into our lessons more often.

Here are some additional free printable coloring pages that have to do with the upcoming St. Patrick's Day celebration:
-  Leprechaun and pot of gold 
-  "Happy St. Patrick's Day" and Shamrock
-  Pot of Gold
-  Shamrock

Toddler Activities - Flash Cards

Since Little Man has been doing such an awesome job with associating words with pictures (hearing a word and knowing which picture it is) The Hubs and I thought it might be kind of cool to start working on the alphabet.  We're going to use the "I love my munchkin Flash Cards".

My friend Kristan got these flash cards for her son and liked them, so we put them on our Christmas list and got them as a stocking stuffer.

Little Man likes to sit and flip through the pictures: they're easy enough for him to flip through by himself and seem pretty durable.  They do bend a little, so just be aware of that.


They're really cool because they have the letter in bold, a picture of the animal, the name of each animal in English and Spanish, numbers up to ten, colors and shapes.  The best part about these flashcards:  They're on a ring so they can't get lost!

I don't want to be one of those crazy moms who expects their kids to learn multiplication by the time they're in kindergarden, but, like I stated above, his word associate seems really high (to me anyhow hehehe)  so we wanted to start working on them.  Admittingly, he does seem more interested in the picture than the letters right now.  But that's okay.  If we can learn new animals out of this, that is great, too.  We'll also learn on animal noises when we're working on these cards.  Well...all of the animals that make noises (there are turtles, urchins, and x-ray fish).


You can order the flashcard through amazon here: Munchkin Traveling Flash Cards

But I think you can also get them from Buy Buy Baby (I believe that's where my friend bought them) or maybe even Target (I haven't looked but they carry a lot of Munchkin stuff)

So this is the activity Little Man will be working on this week!

 (Note: The link in this post is my referral link.  I was not compensated to review this product.)

Toddler Time - Clean-up Time

 Yippee!  Little Man is learning how to clean up after himself! 

We accidentally started working with him to pick up his toys one night before The Hubs came home.  I wanted to straighten up the living room really quick and Little Man was getting a little whiny.  He was ready for his dinner and then wanted to go to bed.  To distract him, I handed him a toy to put into his basket (we keep the toys in his living room stored in a laundry basket).  He put the toy in the basket and I cheered and clapped for him.  He ended up helping me pick up all the toys in the living room!

We started working on this about every other day for a week.  I'd hand him a toy, he'd put it into the basket, and I would cheer for him.

This weekend we took our cleaning to the next level:  I gave him a pile of his dirty laundry to put in the dirty clothes hamper.  I demonstrated how I wanted him to put the clothes into the basket a few times.  He caught on really quickly and I once again went into hyper cheerleader mode where I clapped and hollered for him.  He ended up putting all his clothes in the basket!  Of course, he got a little off task every once in a while.  I just repeated to him "put the clothes in the basket" and he usually got back on task pretty easily.  While he put his clothes away, I was able to dust and straighten up the rest of his room.  Talk about awesome!

Our plan is to work on little tasks throughout the week so he learns how to clean up a little more on his own.  Our main goal is just just keep it light and fun.  We know all too soon we'll be having battles and waging war for him to clean his room, clean up the dog's mess, and unload the dishwasher.  For now,  we'll have fun learning.  Little Man can be mommy's big helper, and mommy will be Little Man's cheerleader.  

Do you have any fun ways to teach your little one how to clean up?

Water & Marker Painting

Today is my first post for Toddler Time Tuesday!  It's part of my weekly series that I just started.  Each week Little Man and I will be trying a new activity.  It might be working on a new developmental skill, arts and crafts, or doing something fun!

This weeks activity was based off some "idea cards" we got for Christmas.  The cards are called Bright and Beyond - Playtime Activities - Age 1
.  Since Little Man is 1, we have the "Age 1" cards but they have them all the way from "baby" to "preschool".  Some of the ideas seem a little advanced for Little Man right now.  But I'm sure within a couple months we'll get there.  

The simplicity of these cards are awesome.  You don't need to go out and buy a lot of stuff to complete the activities.  You will probably find everything you need laying around your house.  This makes it handy if you need to do a last minute activity or if you're on a budget and don't want to go out and spend a lot of money to keep your child entertained.  

The activity we did was called Water & Marker Painting. 

To do this project just draw shapes or pictures on a paper towel with markers. *  Let your little one dip a paint brush into plain water and then show him/her how to put the wet paintbrush on the picture.  They'll have a fun time watching the colors bleed together.  Although I'm not a childhood education expert, I'd have to say this helps with their motor skills and probably teaches them some cause and effect.  

The best part of this project:  it's very clean! I didn't have to worry about him getting paint on the walls, the floor, his clothes, or in  his mouth.  I'll admit that he did get curious about sticking his hands in the water bowl, and we did ended playing tug-of-war when he decided he wanted to pick the water bowl up off the table.  But hey, it's water.  No harm, no foul.  

I also discovered I need to think of more "boy" things to draw.  After years and years of drawing girly flowers, butterflies, hearts and rainbows I think I need to expand my artistic boundaries and learn how to draw more trucks, and cars. hehe

Little Man had such a fun time doing this activity!  He really caught on fast and learned how to dip the brush in the water and put it on the paper. He definitely didn't want to stop "painting". This will definitely be an activity we repeat again!

*  If you have older children, they can draw the pictures themselves.

Shared with:

ABC and 123
Art for Little Hands 
Hands on as we Grow 
Sun Scholars 
Let Kids Create

Bubbles, Bubbles

Book:  Sesame Beginnings Bubbles, Bubbles board book (Sesame beginnings)
By:  Sesame Street

Why we like it:  Because Little Man learned how to say "bubble" and we get to go outside and play with bubbles when we read it!  wooohoo!  Another awesome thing about this book:  It was $1.00 at Target!  Can't beat that.  We found it in the dollar bins at the front of the store, but if you have a hard time finding it there, you can purchase it though Amazon (although it is more expensive).

Little Man is a huge fan of books.  This is one he brings to me often.  The book talks about bubbles on noses, and toes, rhymes, and adds a little "one-two-three!" to the mix.  Add some real bubbles  and we're talkin' some major fun!  This would be a fun activity outside or in the bathtub.  Little Man will also pick this book up and read it to himself, too. 

Little Man reading his book.  He looks serious - but he's having fun!

(Note: The link in this post is my referral link.  I was not compensated to review this product.  I posted about this book because we honestly love it.)

Christmas Ornament

Made with Love, Little Man

Before we get too far past the Christmas Season (sniff, sniff) I wanted to share the Christmas Ornament Little Man and I made!  We made three, one for each set of Grandparents, and one for us.  They were super easy to make - and very inexpensive!

First off, let me say what a saga this was finding the perfect "canvas" to put Little Man's handprint on! 

First, we went to Painted Earth, a place where you can paint and fire your own ceramics.  They were out of the one we wanted and only had some really, really heavy plate things left.  Not so good for hanging on a tree!  They had some other bulb ornaments that may have worked, but they were about $15 a piece, plus we would have paid $7 each for The Hubs and I to sit down to help Little Man.  No thank you!

Sent The Hubs to Michaels to see if he could find some ornament to put Little Man's prints on..he came back with already glazed ornaments that were too small for Little Man's hands.  Nice try, Hubs. 

Then I decided to try making Salt Dough and bake them in the oven.  I don't know what happened,  but they blew up like biscuits!  Tabitha made some, and hers came out just fine.  Who knows??? Would have been cute though, I even got one of Charlie's little paw prints. 

Then I went to the hobby lobby, and it was closed (see, told ya it was a saga)

Finally to Michael's, where I didn't think I would have any luck because The Hubs already tried looking there.  I really did trust that he looked really hard.  (But really, I think men don't know their way around Michael's like women do....it'd be like sending me into an autoparts strore.  I get it.) 

I just happen to find the last set of wooden cutouts!  Then, because I'm a Libra and can't make up my mind to save my life, I looked at paints forever, then ended up just using leftover paint I already had. Go figure. 

The Cost:
1.  Four ornamates:   $1.79
2.  Acrylic Paint (2): $.79 each (I already had mine)
3.  Glitter Paint: $1.19
4.  Ribbon:  $.79

So if I had paid for it out of pocket it would have cost me $5.35 total.  I already had everything but the wooden cutouts, so it costs me $1.79. 

To make:
1.  Paint entire circle the color you want.  I ended up adding several coats.  (works good with a dark color incase you mess up the handprint.  That way it's really easy to repaint over it and try again)
2.  Paint your little one's hand using a paintbrush.
3.  Stamp their hand on the cutout - making sure not to take too long (they'll wiggle their fingers around too much!)
4.  Wait until it dries.
5.  I painted around his handprint with glitter paint.  You can omit if you wish.
6.  I wrote Little Man's name, age, and the date on the back of the ornament.  
7.  I sprayed a clear varnish around it.  But you probably don't really need to.
8.  Used ribbon to make a loop in the back so we could hang it on the tree.  I guled it with super glue
9.  Made a bow and superglue it to the front of the ornament. 

Little Man had a great time making these.  We did end up redoing the handprint a couple of times.  At first he didn't really get the concept (he's 15 Months) but once we did it a few times he knew to hold his hand out flat.  He would also let me paint his hand and would sit very quietly while I did so.  After I showed him the print on the cutout, he got really excited about it!  For a younger baby, a footprint might be better. 

This will make a very nice keepsake that I know I'll enjoy seeing in the years to come! 

It's the Simple Things.....

Little Man and Grandma

On Christmas Eve we decided to take Little Man to a park.  Although we've taken him to parks before, this was the first time he was able to really walk by himself.  He had a great time walking around the whole park and then found himself a giant pile of leaves to play in.  I doubt he and I would have even noticed the giant pile had my dad not stood at the top of it.  Liam was trying to walk up to see my dad when he literally got stuck in leaves.  So, he plopped down and started playing.  He was soo interested in the sound, and the texture of them.  I've shown him leaves before - but he's never had handfuls and handfuls at his disposal.  He was having soo much fun he could have sat there for hours - and we could have watched him play for hours. 

All you need for this activiy:
1.  Giant Pile of Leaves (a small pile would work great, too hehe)
2.  Change of Clothes (We didn't change him right after the park, just when we got home.  I didn't want leaves in his crib hehe)