Jell-O Gelatin Pan for Play-Dough?

     This afternoon, my oldest kept telling me how bored she and her younger sister were. So I decided to take my daughters into the kitchen to make some of our favorite homemade play-dough.
     They had fun a lot of fun helping me, but they had even more fun looking for "tools" to use to play with the dough. They dug through my cupboards, looking for things that they could use. They had found some of their small plastic forks, some cookies cutters, cups, etc. but my oldest daughter found my ole' Halloween plastic gelatin Jell-O pan. This pan turned out to be the best, and most popular thing for my girls to play with. I thought they'd want to play with the cookie cutters, but I was wrong.

     I had a lot of fun watching my daughters playing with their play-dough and this pan. My kids wanted to shove the dough inside the openings of the pan, but had a hard time pulling the dough out with their tiny hands. So I decided that it would probably be best to turn the pan over to do some "stamping". It worked wonderfully, and was a lot easier for my girls to manage the dough that way. I could tell that they really liked pressing their dough onto the pan, then peeling it off to see their creation on the back. Somehow, they thought it was the best thing in the world.

      I am so glad that we did this, because we were all entertained for over an hour with this activity. I think we'd still be sitting there, if it wasn't for having to clean up to get ready for dinner.

Summer Fun

     Family activities really seem to have taken over, this Summer. Every weekend for the last month, my family and I have been busy! We have been to family reunions, birthday parties, and even on a family vacation to Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm. When I thought I had just finished my laundry.... Wham Bam! I would be on another family adventure.

     The trip to Cali was rather long, especially for two little girls that are 2 and 4 years old. However, they did much better than I had imagined. We spent 3 glorious days in the most perfect weather--- it was not hot nor cold. We dedicated one day to each of our destinations-- Disneyland, Knott's, and the beach.

     My kids loved meeting Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy at Disneyland. They also enjoyed meeting Lucy and Linus at Knott's. They had a blast riding the rides, and enjoying some of the tasty treats at these theme parks too. My  favorite part was watching my kids running along the beach, playing in the cool sand, and collecting their many tiny seashells.

     It has been four days, since we got home. We are all still very tired, and worn out from the trip... but it was well worth it! If you have never been to these awesome places, I would highly recommend that you go. You'll have the time of your life. For those of you, who have been... What memories did you create?

Playing Outside

     I am so glad that the weather has been so nice, lately. My kids and I have spent a lot of time outside, especially since we live so close to several parks. My daughters love going outside, and getting some much needed fresh air.

    
    Brooklee and Saydee enjoy finding different things around the park to add to their "collection". My girls collect rocks, pine cones, sticks and just about anything else that nature has to offer them. It is always fun to see what they will find.

     I have a few good reasons as to why I encourage my kids to find these things:

1) My kids like finding nature's gifts to us, like I had mentioned above.

2) It gives me a chance to teach my kids about the things that they have found.

3) It helps release some of their built up energy, by "getting their wiggles out".

     I would like to encourage parents and educators to take their kids out on a nature hunt, and talk about the things that have been found. Thanks for stopping, and seeing what my family and I have been up to.

Newspaper Clipping Names

     I have an awesome idea to share with you today. It's an activity that will help your kids learn how to spell their names. It's called, "The Newspaper Clipping Names" activity! I have done this particular activity a lot, when I taught preschool. It's a really simple activity to do. All you need are some newspapers, a pair of scissors, a pen or marker, and it wouldn't hurt to have a piece of paper with each child's name written on it. This will help serve as a reminder to your kids, in case they forget what a certain letter looks like. 

     To start, ask your kids to look for letters in their name inside their newspaper. Once they have found a letter, ask them to circle it using their pen or marker. Repeat this until all of the letters have been found.

     When all of the letters have been found, and circled. You and your kids may go through, and cut each letter out. After all of the letters have been cut out, make sure to ask your kids to spell out their name using these newspaper clipping letters.
     Below is my daughter's name made out of her clippings. She had such a great time doing this project that she asked to do it over and over again. Just like my preschoolers that I had taught years before. 

Building with Shapes

     One activity that I have always found was is building with shape cutouts. I could always pull out my shapes, and my kids would be as excited as ever. This activity was a hit with my preschoolers. They would beg me to pull out my shapes, just about every single day.

     I am so excited that Brooklee is finally at this fun age of wanting to create things, and build things. I decided it was time to pull out my shapes, and let her build anything that she wanted. Of course, she wanted me to help her. Together, we made a big triangle out of little triangles. We built a tower, and even a train.

Brooklee was so happy that she started singing, and making up words to a train song. I could really tell that she was enjoying herself.

     To make these shapes, I jtook some construction paper and cut out some basic shapes of the paper. I then took some clear contact paper, and "laminated" the pieces.  That was it. Really simple.

If you need another shape idea, I have a printable matching shape game that you could use too. You can find it by clicking here.

Playing in the Shaving Cream

     During my senior year in high school, I started volunteering at a local Special Needs Preschool. The teacher, Mrs. Hill, asked me to over-see her art center that day. She explained to me that she was going to let the kids play car wash-- with laminated pictures of cars, squeegees and shaving cream. I thought that this was a pretty cool idea. I had never played with shaving cream before, and it was actually a lot of fun. Since then, I have used this idea with many of my classrooms while teaching.
     These sensory activities are very important for children, especially for those who have a difficult time touching and feeling things that are "messy". I know what you're thinking, "I don't know very many kids, who don't like getting messy!" I thought the same thing, when Mrs. Hill told me that there were some students that did not want a single thing to do with any of her sensory activities. It wasn't until I started playing with these kids that I saw how hesitant and anxious they were about touching the shaving cream.
     In order for me to get these kids to join the activity, I had to show them how fun playing with the shaving cream was. Some kids eventually put their hands in the stuff, and others just played with their squeegees. Mrs. Hill was fine with that. Her focus was on inviting each child to participate, and continually expose the child to similar activities.
     Why must we encourage children to participate in sensory activities? Think about it. Throughout these young kids' lives, they have learned through their senses. Young children are not used to sitting still, and listening to a lecture. Children learn by experience, and by doing. It is our job, as the parent or teacher, to talk to each child about the task at hand. This will help them learn new words to describe what it is that they are experiencing. Something as simple as, "eww, that's slimy", can help a child build upon his/her vocabulary.
     At any rate, I decided to pull out some shaving cream to let my kids play with today. This time, I let their imaginations grow wild. I did not provide them with laminated paper. I just handed them a dab of shaving cream on top of some Tupperware lids (hoping to contain the mess, a little), and of course a few toys. It was so much fun just watching my daughters play. Saydee wiped shaving cream all over herself, while Brooklee decided to roll a ball in the shaving cream. The best part was watching the expressions on their little faces, as they started digging and squeezing the shaving cream in their tiny hands. It was priceless!

Dying Easter Eggs

     Dying Easter Eggs is one of my favorite Easter activities, and I am very proud to pass on this love to my daughters. With just the three of us, I usually use a box kit to dye my Easter Eggs. This year, I decided to use my classic DIY Easter Egg dye that I would use while teaching my preschoolers.

To dye eggs without an Easter Egg Dying Kit, you will need:

-Vinegar
-Water
-Eggs (Hard Boiled)
-Food Coloring
-Spoons and Cups (one for each color)
-Some Paper Towels

Step #1: Boil your eggs, and make sure to save your hot water from boiling.
Step #2: After the eggs have boiled, pull them out and place them nicely on a paper towel to dry.
Step #3: Pour 3/4 cup of boiling water into each cup.
Step #4: Pour 3 tablespoons of vinegar into each cup needed.
Step #5: Add approximately 10 drops of food coloring into each of their cups. (The more drops added to each cup, the more vibrant the color will be on each egg.)
Step #6: Place the eggs in their cups, and leave for a few minutes. (The longer the egg is in its cup, the darker the egg will become) Continually adjust your eggs using a spoon, this will help even the color around the egg.
Step #7: Once the egg has reached its desired color, pull it out and place it on a paper towel to dry.

     The best thing about this dye recipe is, crayon can be added to the egg to help resist the dye just like the typical Easter Egg Dying Kits that are sold in stores. This recipe definitely helps save a few dollars, but I have found it really helpful when dying eggs with multiple children. I have used this method several times, especially while teaching upwards of 25 children.
I wouldn't recommend dying Easter Eggs as a whole group activity, but I would most definitely suggest doing it in small groups for center time. That way, the teacher can monitor each child and clean up any mess before it "gets out of hand". I would also recommend having the children wear smocks, or old clothing sent from home. This will prevent their nice clothes from getting stained.

     Thanks for stopping by. Please let me know if you decide to do this activity with your kiddos, and how it turned out for you. I always enjoy hearing from you. Thanks again! 

Name Painting

     One important task that a child must learn to is recognize, and write their own name. Allow the child to see their name spelled regularly. At first the child might believe that everything that starts with the first letter in their name, is their name. The more the child sees his or her name, the more he or she will realize that there is something different and special about their name... It is spelled differently than the other words that might start with the same letter.
     I would like to share an activity that might help any child begin to recognize the letters in their name. For this activity, I printed my daughter's name out onto a few pieces of paper. I put some tempera paint in a Styrofoam bowl, and then made sure to grab some paper towels (just in case there was any mess).

The goal of this project to help the child practice writing his or her name, by tracing it. Brooklee loved dabbing her fingers along the lines, just so she could see her fingerprints.

The key to success is to always practice, practice, pratice... and don't forget to make it fun!

Fun Math Games for Kids

     I love using visuals to teach children, especially when it comes to math. When I taught preschool, I would always use empty egg cartons and cereal to sort and count. The treat would always draw children into the activity, but there was one rule: the child couldn't eat the cereal until the learning activity was over. Today, I would like to share with you just how I taught math using an egg carton and cereal.

     For the counting activity, I would cut out and place numbers 1-6 (one number for each hole in the carton). Once the numbers were placed, I would ask the child to look at each number. Then count out the same number of cereal, and place them into each carton hole. To make it a little more challenging, I would mix up the numbers. For example: Instead of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; I would change it to 5, 3, 4, 1, 6, 2. If the child did well with both challenges, I would add more numbers to the carton. For example: instead of 1-6, I could add 7-12. Then ask the child to count, and place cereal to match the written number.

     Another great way to test a child's math skill is to have them sort their cereal. I would always ask kids to sort by color. If he or she mastered this concept, I would ask the child to sort the cereal by size. To make it a little more challenging, I would switch the cereal out for one that has different shapes (i.e. Lucky Charms) and ask the child to sort the cereal by their shapes. This is a terrific way to test your child to see where they stand in learning their colors, sizes, and shapes.

     These small math activities could be used in any math center, or just as a fun activity to do at home with your spare time. Kids really enjoy these activities, especially getting that tasty reward at the end!
   

Grocery Shopping with the Kiddos

We all know that grocery shopping with kids can be difficult, 

especially if you're shopping alone with the little ones. I have an idea that just might help!

Before going to the store, most of us will look through our sales ads. Why not cut out the items that you want to buy, and glue them onto some paper to make a "grocery list collage"? Make sure to make a list for each of your children, and then invite them to find those items listed on their grocery list at the store.

My 3 year old, Brooklee, loves to be "Mommy's helper". She enjoys putting groceries in the cart. Here is the last grocery list that I made especially for her.

My local grocery store has child sized carts. The last time we went shopping, we only needed to buy a couple of things so I let my daughter push one of them. She absolutely loved it! There were shoppers and clerks comment on how sweet it was to see such a cute little grocery shopper. Brooklee was smiling from ear to ear, and was so proud to help.If your grocery store offers these to their customers to use, I would suggest you let your kids push one around.

DIY Playdough

 

I'm about to share a money saving recipe for all of you teachers and parents out there. I hate spending a lot of money on cases of play-dough, only to have the colors get mixed together and dried up.

This recipe is so easy, and very safe... so safe that you and your kids can make it together. Not to mention, it is safe enough to eat. {I wouldn't recommend it though, because it tastes horrible.}

To make this DIY play-dough, all you need to do is:

Mix together 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of salt, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, and one cup of water. Once you have mixed all of these ingredients together thoroughly, you may divide your dough up. As you can tell, I separated my dough into 4 equal parts. Place the dough in separate Ziploc-baggies, and added food coloring into each bag. "Zip" the bags up, and then "mash" the food coloring into the dough. This was especially fun for my kids, because they both got to help "mash" the food coloring into their own dough, without making any mess.

Once the color is mixed in, it is ready to be pulled out to have fun with. Remember to keep your Ziploc-baggies. That way when you are finished, your dough won't dry out.

I hope you enjoy using this recipe. If you decide to use this recipe, please let me know how it turned out. I would love to hear from you.