St. Patrick's Day for Toddlers

Since green beer and corned beef aren't the most kid-friendly holiday treats, here's how we will celebrate the luck o' the Irish at our house this year.

1. Early next week, we will decorate a leprechaun box.  This will be an empty shoe box covered with green paper and shamrock stickers and gold glitter. The legend says that if you leave the box open under the moon on St. Paddy's Eve, the leprechauns must fill it with treasure (fake gold coins, candy, small toys).  But because they are sneaky little stinkers, they hide the box. If you find the treasure before sundown on St. Patrick's Day, you get to keep it. If you don't find it, the leprechauns get it back. So fun!

2. For breakfast, the kids will be thrilled to see that those sneaky leprechauns turned our milk green (green food coloring).

3. For a snack, we will shape refrigerator breadstick dough into shamrocks (three hearts joined in the middle with a stem) and sprinkle them with lots of green sugar and a little cinnamon.

4. As a bonus, I might dip Ken doll shoes in washable green paint and leave tiny footprints on our hardwood floors. It is also fun to make little messes in the house for the kids to find when they wake up - overturned chairs, grass clippings, toys dumped out, etc. Blame the leprechauns.  This adds some magic and mystery to the holiday.

I got most of these ideas from Family Fun magazine when Avery was a toddler. http://familyfun.go.com/st-patricks-day/

Recognizing Letters

Grant can tell you the names of almost every superhero and the real identities of some of them, too. But I haven't worked with him much on recognizing the letters of the alphabet. When Nate, who is five months younger than Grant, came over and pointed to a fridge magent and said, "Q," I decided it was time to learn.

This week, I started with the letters of the kids' first names. At the library I found this great series of "sound box" books from The Child's World Press. We checked out My "g" Sound Box, My "n" Sound Box, and My "a" Sound Box. In the "g" book, a kid named Little "g" fills a box with items that start with the letter "g." Each book is a little different, and some of them are kind of clever and funny. I read the books to the kids during lunch when I had a captive audience trapped in high chairs. It worked well.

Today, we made artwork to hang up as a reminder of the words that start with the same letters as their first names. Here's what we did.

Supplies:

Large cardstock

Scissors

Glue

Pictures of items that start with the letter

Fun items that start with the letter (noodles, glitter, feathers, etc)

I cut out a large "G," "N," and "A" from colored scrapbook paper. I chose green for Grant, aqua for Avery and for Nate, I couldn't think of a color that started with N, so he got blue.

I googled "letter g pictures," and found a free preschool worksheet to print out. I cut out the pictures. I also put out some dry pasta of various shapes (G - grains, N - noodles, A- angel hair pasta).

I put some school glue in repurposed applesauce containers and gave the boys small foam brushes.  They brushed he glue onto their letters and glued on the pictures and the pasta.

Avery took this craft to another level. She got the idea to turn her giant letter A into an angel. She made the angle hair pasta into strands of hair, drew a face, and cut out paper wings. She even added a wand for fun. (As a side note, this made me extremely happy. As a crafty mom, this was the moment I had been waiting for since Avery was born. I love to see that originality and creativity coming out! Woo hoo!)

A good time was had by all. Now we can look at them on the wall and review letter sounds. Yeah!

Snow Painting




This empty bottle of hand soap was
the best because it was huge and the water
came out easily without squeezing.

Supplies:

Empty plastic bottles (ketchup, mustard, hand soap refills, etc.)

Water
Food color

I am a person who loves change. I often envy people whose companies relocate them every couple years. That would suit me just fine. But since we are firmly planted here in Northern Illinois, I rely on the change of seasons to keep things interesting. When the first snow falls here in Chicagoland (sometimes as early as October), you will find me outside reveling in it as soon as possible. And now that I have two little ones who feel the same thrill, I don't have to go out alone.

But the end of January has come, and the snow has been on the ground for a couple months now.  I've noticed that the specialness of winter is wearing off for me and the kids, too.  Avery and Grant still like to play outside, but only for a couple minutes. Grant gets about as far as our swingset before saying, "I want to go inside for hot chocolate now."

Grant and Avery on the swings.

But I firmly believe that the crisp winter air is good for us. And I don't want to spend 15 minutes bundling them up only to come right back inside 10 minutes later.  So I had to brainstorm some tricks for keeping the kids entertained in the snow for at least 20 minutes.

I read this simple idea for painting snow long ago and decided it was time to try it. I pulled out three empty ketchup bottles and one big empty hand soap bottle that I have been saving for such an occasion. I filled these with tap water and tinted each with food coloring. (I skipped yellow because that whole yellow snow thing is pretty gross.) And out we went to paint the snow.  The kids had a great time, but the "paint" ran out too quickly. If I would have been more prepared, they might have painted the snow for hours.

Avery, snow artist

Nate mixing paints

Grant painting lines in the snow

Pop Bottle Penguins (Pre-schoolers and older, please!)

I wasn't sure whether to post this craft or skip it. From a mom's perspective, making these things was miserable. Nate was peeling off the eyes and cotton balls as fast as I could stick them on. Grant wanted to put the eyes on the back of the bottle and the feet on the head.  I did not have enough hands to supervise the two 2-year-olds. Avery, my 5-year-old, did a great job, though. Thankfully, she was able to work very independently. She loved making her penguin, and the boys loved their finished products. They did turn out so cute, so I  decided to post. Just take my advice, this craft is not for toddlers. For your sanity, save the idea until your kids are in pre-school or older. 

Supplies for one penguin:

1 empty 2 liter pop bottle or smaller water bottle

1 black sock (child or adult)

Cotton balls

Craft glue

Glue dots (optional)

1 baby or toddler sock for the hat

1 pair of goggly eyes

Orange construction paper of foam sheet

Step 1: Stretch the large black sock over the bottle from the cap down.  If you want to, use hot glue to secure the sock to the bottom of the bottle.

Step 2: Pour craft glue onto a plate.  Have your child dip cotton balls in the glue and stick them to the penguin's belly area.

Step 3: Place a glue dot on each goggly eye.  Let your child stick them to the face area above the belly and below the bottle cap.

Step 4: Cut out a diamond-shaped beak and a hot-air balloon shape for the feet from the orange paper or foam.  Place a couple glue dots on each of these.  Let your child stick them in the correct places.

Step 5: Tie a knot in the toe-end of the baby sock. Have your child put the baby sock over the black sock on the pop bottle cap for a hat.

Step 6: Display out of reach because the finished penguin is kind of mess-up-able.

A Christmas Craft for Toddlers

Reindeer Handprint and Footprint Craft

'Tis the season for making cutesy crafts for relatives near and far.  Over the years, I have made many different Christmas projects with Avery and Grant. Those experiences, plus Avery's very wise preschool teachers, have taught me a few things about crafting with the very young.

Most importantly, I like kids' crafts to be about the experience.  This, as I learned from Avery's teachers, is called "process art."  It is art that focuses on the creative process rather than the end product.  I don't want to hand them an outline of a Christmas tree and some green paint.  There is no creativity or learning in that type of project.  I look for craft ideas that leave room for personality and freedom of expression.  I find that those are the projects that I, as a mom, tend to hang onto because they have value and meaning.  They tell me something about my child at that moment in time.  I throw out the coloring pages and assembly crafts that have no personality.  I keep the odd-looking scribbles that Avery explains in detail are her and Grant at the beach (and I write on the back what she told me).  And call me cheesy, but I am a sucker for hand print crafts.  Nothing can bring me to tears like the size and shape of those precious little paws.


However, I have noticed that my kids like to make things that looks like something.  They tend to get frustrated and bored by their own paint smears and scribbles after a while.  They want to paint a Christmas tree or Santa Claus, but they lack the ability.  So, I try to find or invent projects that strike a balance between a creative process and a pleasing outcome.

Also, because I craft with three kids around the age of 2, I try to find crafts that toddlers can do independently or with minimal help.  This is the hardest part.  At the very least, I want them to tell me where to put the eyes or the ornaments or the truck tires as I glue them on.  That reflects what they understand about the world, anyway. 

I had all this in mind today when I found the Reindeer Handprint and Footprint craft online. I did this with my three two-year-olds this morning.  It took about 20 minutes from start to finish, including singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer together twice.  We all had fun, and the final products are cute and full of personality and keepsake value.

Nate's reindeer

Grant's reindeer

Layla's reindeer

Step 1: Gather your supplies.  You will need brown and green construction paper; small amounts of white, black, and red paint; glue; scissors; and a pencil for tracing around hands and feet.  If you are smart, you will do this before you mention the words "art project" to your kids.  Mine were impatiently waiting while I scurried around and got the stuff ready.

Step 2: On brown paper, trace around both hands and one foot (don't detail the toes) of each child.  Cut these out.

I labeled the back of each print with the child's initial so I wouldn't mix them up if things got crazy.

Step 3: Give your child the piece of green construction paper and some white paint.  Ask him or her to finger paint a "snowstorm" on the paper.  If you child loves to finger paint, give them several pieces and let them go crazy with it.  If you have a child who doesn't like messy fingers, give them a paintbrush, a circle stamp, or even a used wine bottle cork to paint the snowstorm.  Choose your favorite for the reindeer's background.

Grant likes to finger paint.

Layla HATES messy hands. I should have given her a paintbrush!

Step 4: Glue the footprint and handprints on the page.  If you're feeling bold, allow your child to do this independently. For this craft, I helped because I wanted to create a keepsake that would be recognizable.

Step 5: Dip your child's index finger or thumb in black paint.  Help them place the two eyes.

Step 6:  Dip your child's index finger or thumb in red paint.  Help them place the nose.

Step 7:  Hang this cute little critter where your child can enjoy his or her own artwork all season long.  Make more than one and give them as gifts.  Merry Christmas!

Frozen Fun

Winter is here! We had our first snowfall this week and daytime temperatures below freezing. But my little ones refuse to hibernate.  So we suit up in coats, hats, boots, and mittens, and head outdoors for short periods of time. 

Earlier this week, I noticed that Grant was fascinated by the ice that had frozen in the buckets and toys. So, I took my cue from him and decided to set up a toddler science experiment. I brought out plastic cups of cold water.  I let the kids add food coloring.  Then, I brought out a container of little junk that I found in the craft drawers and toy box - plastic and wooden beads, yarn, plastic screws, a Matchbox car, an Ironman figure, plastic polar animals, and an Oscar the Grouch figure. The kids picked out items and put them in the water.  Then, we left the cups outside to freeze while we went for naps.

(Lest you get the mistaken idea that everyone was on their best behavior during this little activity, you should know that the cups of water got spilled twice, and Nate dumped about 300 tiny beads into our frozen grass, which we then had to pick up one by one without gloves.  Yelling was involved.)

Today, I prepped the kitchen for some icy water play. Water play is probably the favorite activity in our house. I love to do it because my kids love to do it so much. They will play cooperatively and quietly for about an hour. It's like magic, I tell you.

Water play can be a little messy, but it's not as bad as you might think. First of all, it's only water. Now, repeat that with me, "It's only water." Really, it can't do much damage. It doesn't stain. It isn't sticky. There are no crumbs.  As long as you clean it up quickly, water spills are not a big deal.  Over the years, I have come up with some tricks for making water play a little less messy.  I cover my kitchen island with old bath towels and keep extras on hand for quick clean ups. I also put old towels on the floor under the kids' chairs. The kids wear smocks, but they usually have to change clothes afterward anyway. Sometimes, I have put baking sheets under the bowls to catch extra spills. Then, I set out large Tupperware containers, measuring cups, scoops, ladles, spoons, and a variety of containers. That's how I set up the kitchen for our ice experiment.

Notice the many large towels on hand.

I brought the cups of colorful, frozen water inside to the kids, who were filled with anticipation.  They immediately observed (see, it is science!) that the ice was stuck in the cups.  We talked about how the ice was stuck because it was too big.  Then, we talked about how to shrink ice.  Avery came up with warm water (problem solving!).  Grant understood this because the ice we put in his hot soup always shrinks and melts in the warm liquid.

I filled a large pot with warm water and let them go to work.  Avery liked scooping and pouring the warm water over the ice block.  Grant went the more direct route of submerging the ice block in the pot of warm water.  As the ice melted, they were excited to extract the treasures from it.

 

 









It was so much fun to watch their little minds at work.  They were planning, and thinking, and testing, and discovering.  We talked about how we started with water, changed it o ice by making it cold, and turned it back into water by adding heat (In Science lingo, that's a states of matter lesson).  Both Avery (almost 5) and Grant (2) were fully engaged in the activity for a solid hour.  Like I said, water play is magic.


When Avery's ice was gone, she suggested that we do an activity she learned at preschool.  It's a science activity called "Sink and Float."  She told me how to set up the area and label the signs (I did not do this like Mrs. Brindel does, but she was okay with that.)  She showed me how to test the different items to see which ones sink and which ones float.  We used this opportunity to explain to Grant what sink and float meant.  He was only a little interested and went right back to pouring water on Ironman.  But Avery finished the experiment and counted to see which category had more items. I'm glad she showed me this game.  I will definitely try this with the boys sometime.

 

We ended the activity by setting more cups of cold, colored water on the back stoop.  The kids were so sad to stop playing, but this way they know we will play with ice again soon. 

Happy winter!

Make Your Own Children's Museum

My kids love to visit children's museums. Our family favorites are Kohl's Children's Museum in suburban Chicago and the Discovery Center in Rockford. But those fun places are about an hour away from our house. When we have a chance to go to a museum, the kids spend most of their time in the imaginative play centers.  These are the areas set up to look like baby nurseries, kitchens, pizza parlors, grocery stores, and construction sites.  And really, there's not a lot to these sets ups.  They use kid-sized elements to replicate grown-up life.  With a little creativity, it's pretty easy to set up an imaginative play center at home.

Avery's favorite imaginative play at home is the baby hospital or pediatrician's office. We gather her baby dolls, baby blankets, baby bottles, bowls, spoons, wash cloths, Ace bandages, Q-tips, cotton balls, ice packs, heating pads, and a pretend doctor's kit. We lay out the blankets as hospital beds and put a baby on each bed. We also add clipboards and a phone for extra realism. We bathe the baby's and dress fake wounds. We take temperatures, blood pressures, check heartbeats, give shots and medicine. It's a lot of fun for a wintery morning.

We have done the same thing with a veterinarian's office, a grocery store, and a restaurant. It is especially fun to set this up after your kids go to bed and surprise them with it in the morning. It starts the day off in a fun way and gets their imaginations working early. I don't play with them the whole time, but I get them started and jump in from time to time to add new ideas. I might answer the phone and tell the "doctors" about new cases arriving. I might start cleaning a baby's cut and let the kids take over. I might examine a baby and notice a new injury or a fever. This helps kids come up with story ideas that they can use later on their own.

The pictures below show our most recenct baby hospital.  The kids in the photo are Avery, Grant, and our neighbor, Layla.  They all had a blast imagining and playing all morning.