Toddler Activities: Chenille Straws - Fine Motor Skills Practice

By Tiffany Rudd

I saw this cute and simple activity on *pintrest a few weeks ago and just knew it would be a hit with Anniston. All you need are a few cheap supplies for a whole lot of fun and great fine motor skills practice!

SUPPLIES:

Colander

5-10 Chenille Straws

If you don't have any chenille straws (also known as pipe cleaners or chenille stems), click on the link above. Oriental Trading has a set of 100 for $3. 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Just sit your toddler down with the upside colander and the chenille straws. Show her how to poke the ends of the straws into the holes of the colander and then let her play! 

Anniston was entertained by this simple activity for 20 minutes, which is huge for a 19 month old. She had so much fun poking all of the straws into the holes and then pulling them all out again. It was fun to see her improve as she went too.

Just FYI:

Motor skills are motions carried out when the brain, nervous system, and muscles work together. Fine motor skills are small movements - like grabbing something with your thumb and forefinger - that use the small muscles in the fingers, toes, wrists, lips and tongue. Gross motor skills are the bigger movements - such as running and jumping - that use the large muscles in the arms, legs, torso, and feet.

*Unfortunately, I can't seem to find this activity on pintrest anymore, so I apologize for not being able to give the original creator credit.

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Elementary Activities: Personal Pizza Fractions

By: Deborah Pace Rowley

When children start learning fractions in 3rd or 4th grade, it is fun to reinforce this principle at home with some personal pan pizza fractions. All you need to do is make your usual pizza crust. Then when it is time to roll the crust out, gather the family around to each make a personal pan pizza of their own. Give each person a small circle of dough to roll out and then top with a selection of toppings. You can set out bowls of pepperoni, sausage, canadian bacon, olives, pineapple, green peppers, onions etc. as well as some pizza sauce and cheese.

Once everyone has created their masterpiece, bake the pizzas. I like to bake our pizzas at 500 degrees for about 7 to 10 minutes. It is super quick and gives them a wonderful hearth-baked taste. Now the fun begins. Give each person a card with a number on it such as 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8. This is the denominator of the fraction. This is the number of pieces that they get to cut their personal pizza into.

When all the pizzas have been cut up, give everyone a second number such as 1, 2, 3,  or 4. This is the numerator. This is how many pieces of pizza they get to have. Let each person create their fraction by putting the numerator above the denominator and then taking that number of pieces. For example if you cut your pizza into 4 pieces and you get 3 pieces of it, the fraction should read 3 over 4.

Once everyone has eaten their first fraction, return to the counter and relabel the pizzas. Now what fraction of the pizzas are left? In our example above Mom ate 3/4 of her pizza so 1/4 of Mom's pizza is left. Let the family continue to choose pieces of pizza and rename the fractions until all the pieces are gone or everyone is stuffed, whichever comes first!!

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Preschool Activities: Counting & Learning Numbers

By Tiffany Rudd

Counting and number recognition are important concepts for preschoolers to learn. They are also very fun to teach and practice!

If your child is new to learning numbers, it is a good idea to start with counting. First, just practice counting to 10. You can count together while you clean up toys or get dressed. Once your child can count to 10, start having her count items. This is a great time to use snacks as a teaching tool.

Snack Ideas: 
      * Any small item (marshmallows, raisins, fish crackers, etc) can be used to practice counting and numbers. First, give her a pile of snacks and have her tell you how many there are. Once she has learned to recognize the number symbols you can show her and number and have her count enough treats to match.

 TIP: Teach your child to move the items to a new pile as she counts. This will help her avoid recounting or skipping items, which is very common at this age.

 Activity Ideas:

      *Choo-Choo Train Counting: Click on the photo to print these fun number trains and read about the fun ways you can use them.

      *Catch Anything: I know I keep sharing this activity, but it is such a fun one for practicing just about any concept. Click on the photo below to print the mitt and the numbers practice page.

Free Printables:

      *My Number Book: This is a simple printable book for tracing and recognizing the numbers 1-10. Click on the photo below to print a copy for your child.

      *Ladybug Game: I created this fun game for my preschoolers this year and it was a big hit. Just follow these simple steps to play this game at home...

Step 1: Click on either photo below to print the game, number cards, and dots.

 Step Two: Cut out the number cards and black dots. You can cut out the dots on the printable, or just fold a black piece of construction paper and cut out your own.

Step Three: Put on your ladybug costume and don't forget your ladybug wand. Of course this step is essential for playing a ladybug game. ;)

Step Four: Play! The goal is to place a number card in the square and then give the ladybug enough spots to match the number. 

I hope these resources are helpful and that you have fun learning numbers with your child!

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Teen Activities: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

By: Deborah Pace Rowley

Are you familiar with this amazing storybook App? Were you surprised that I have labeled it as a teen activity? At first glance, this animated picture book would seem like the perfect story to share with our preschool and elementary age children. And it is. Then why am I encouraging you to share it with your teenagers? 

Younger children will delight in the story’s clever details and all the amazing ways they can interact with the text. But they will miss the deeper meaning behind the story that can launch an amazing conversation with a teenager. If you haven’t already, read my previous post about encouraging a rich inner life here. Then share The Fantastic Flying Books with your teenager and ask a few of these questions:

What do you think Morris wrote in his book before the hurricane? 

What do you think he wrote after the hurricane when he was in the library?   

Why was he in black and white at the beginning of the story? 

What changed his life to color? 

What do you think the story meant when it said there was a book for every person? 

Have you found your book yet? What is it? 

Does everyone have a story to tell? 

What is your story? 

What are your joys and sorrows? 

How do you want your book to turn out? 

After reading this simple but powerful book even more questions will come to you. Don’t miss the 17-minute silent film that inspired the picture book. It is also included in the app. If you don’t have an iPad, you can get the book as a hardcover or watch the silent film separately on iTunes.  The app itself is $4.99. Trust me, it is worth every penny!

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Elementary Activities: Riddles & Brain Teasers

By Tiffany Rudd

One of my favorite types of "books" when I was in elementary school were sets of question and answer cards called "Brain Quest." We owned sets from almost every grade. I'm pretty sure they are supposed to be used in some kind of game format, but I remember just reading the questions by myself and trying guess the answer before peaking.

Apparently I am an even bigger nerd than I thought. :)

Anyway, my point is that kids (especially nerdy ones like me) love riddles, brain teasers, and random facts. Why not take advantage of this fact and build their mental acuity while they laugh and have fun?

There are plenty of websites with tons of riddles and brain teasers for kids. Here are just a few that I found:

thinks.com 

NIEHS Kids' Pages

Hoagies Gifted

You can find plenty of books with riddles and brain teasers for kids on amazon, or at your local library and can even still purchase Brain Quest sets on amazon. I'm definitely going to have to buy a few sets for me....I mean my kids. :)

One fun thing about having a 1st grader this year is that I get to pack lunches and include hidden notes. This past week I taped a riddle to the inside of the lid of Cameron's lunchbox each day and then hid the answer somewhere else in or around his lunch. He thought it was pretty cool and said he even quizzed his friends.

Click HERE to print the riddles and answers I used in Cameron's lunch.

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Parenting Tips: Carpe Diem with a Camera

By: Deborah Pace Rowley

Two of my favorite pictures of Natalie are the ones I have included in this post. In both of them she has just made a big mess: covered in lipstick and covered in flour. I am sure at the time I was frustrated. Now I look at these pictures and laugh and laugh. I think you can tell that this little girl was the cutest little imp ever.

I love how modern day Moms can blog, tweet, and instagram all the memorable and messy moments of their children's lives. I think the ability to document all of these activities, the good, the bad, and the ugly, does help us to seize the day. It gives us instant validation and support from an online community of other moms. But most importantly it helps us to chuckle rather than scream!

Even though it is a cliche, it is good to remember that we will laugh about these moments later. So why not laugh about them now? They make the best pictures in the scrapbooks of our minds.

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Preschool Activities: Learning Shapes

By Tiffany Rudd

On Monday I started sharing my preschool curriculum with you. I'm excited to share the activities, snacks, crafts, and songs my students love the most this year and hopefully help you learn at home with your own children.

At the beginning of each year I usually spend a few days learning/reviewing colors and shapes before we start working on our numbers and letters. Most of my students already know the basics, but it is fun to review and I like to add some more difficult shapes like rhombus, octagon and even pentagon to our activities.

Snack Ideas:

      * If your child is just learning her shapes, make a plate of foods that are all the same shape each day. On Monday only circle foods, Tuesday only square foods, etc. Then, when she has learned them all, give her a plate including foods of all shapes and ask her to name the shape she is eating. Educational and delicious! :)

Activity Ideas:

      * Floor Shape Songs: This fun singing and movement activity is always a favorite. This year my students even talked me into leaving the tape on the floor for a week and repeating the songs/activities each day. Repeat this activity just a few times and your child will have the shape names learned, and have fun doing it! Click the photo below for the full post and a video demonstration.

Arts & Crafts Ideas:

      *Shape People: My preschoolers had so much fun creating these this year. All you need to do this fun art project are shapes of different colors and sizes cut out of construction paper. Because it is early in the year and we are still practicing cutting skills, I opted to cut out all the shapes this time. If your preschool is older and more comfortable with using scissors, just trace the shapes and let him/her cut them out. Then just help her glue the shapes to another piece of paper to create a shape person. Triangle hands or feet, rectangle legs, oval or circle eyes, an octagon or rhombus nose...the possibilities are endless and oh so cute!   

Free Printables:

      * Shape Tracing Review Page: This is a great simple worksheet for practicing colors, shapes, and following directions. Click on the photo below to print this page.

      * Catch Anything: This fun printable includes a placemat for "catching" shapes. Click on the photo below to see the full post and print your own.

      * Learning Placemats: If your child is a little younger, or new to learning shapes, print these shape placemats and review the shapes during meal and snack times! Click on the photo to read the full post and print your placemats.

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Toddler & Preschool Activities: Learning Colors

By Tiffany Rudd

This month I started teaching preschool in our home again. This is my 5th year teaching preschool and I'm pretty sure it is the best mom job ever! I just love gathering and creating snacks, crafts, songs, games and activities that make learning fun. Plus, of course I love teaching and learning with my own kids.

I'm especially excited this year because I get to share my preschool curriculum with you here on the blog! Let's start with Colors...

I titled this post "Toddler & Preschool Activities," because most of my students have come to preschool already knowing most if not all of their colors. So, I usually just start the year with one or two days to review the colors. Two or three years old is a great time to start learning colors with your child and a four year old is ready for some fun review and extension activities. 

Snack Ideas: 

      * Fruit Rainbow: This year I just used some fresh fruit (cherries, orange slices, pineapple, grapes and blueberries) to create a fun "fruit rainbow." We named the colors, talked about the order of the colors in the rainbow, and then of course we ate our rainbow.

      * Rainbow Jello: In the past I've also made rainbow jello. It's a little time consuming to make and allow each layer to set, but it sure is beautiful and fun to eat. Click on the photo below to go to one recipe. When I made it I only did one white layer and did a purple layer as well.

Activity Ideas:

      * Color Tubes: This is always one of the favorite color activities. Click on the photo below to see my post with 3 ways to use these fun color tubes.

      * Outdoor Color Hunt: With my preschool class I often just do an indoor or outdoor "touch the item" color hunt. I call out a color and the class runs to touch an item of that color as fast as they can. Click on the photo below to see the full post on this fun color activity.

      *Catch Anything: This fun printable game is a great way to review colors. Click on the photo below to print the mitt and color review page.

Free Printables:

      * My Color Book: Every year my students go home with a review book they created to help them practice colors, shapes, numbers and the alphabet letters. These books often become some of my own children's favorite books to "read" on their own and even to have read to them at bedtime. Click on the photo below to print a color review book for your child.

      * Learning Placemats: Just a few weeks ago I shared some learning placemats that have been great for helping my toddler learn her shapes and colors. Click on the photo below to read the whole post and print your own learning placemats.

Wow! That was a long post, but I hope it helps as you learn colors with your toddler or preschooler!

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Elementary Activities: Great Apps and Websites to Encourage Young Writers

By Deborah Pace Rowley

I love the potential of the computer to encourage children to write. It capitalizes on the excitement of modern technology to teach one of the three classic R’s...reading, riting and rithmetic! Here is a list of the favorite apps and the websites that I use with my class. 

APPS

iDiary- This app has all the features you would expect from a fun online journal. Cool tools, unique stickers, the ability to add photos and more. The lite version is free but I recommend the full version for $1.99. 

Puppet Pals HD Director’s Cut- This fun app has kids creating a puppet show. The free version is fun for a start but I would recommend the director’s cut that costs $2.99 so your child can have lots more options of puppets including putting himself and his family into the show.

Toontastic- This app has kids creating and animating their own cartoons. There are lots of upgrades but I think the free version works just fine. 

Bookabi- This app is free and has kids putting comic book bubbles and captions on their own photos and drawings. They have so much fun turning their own photographs into comical creations that it is hard to get them to stop! 

Storywheel Lite- The lite version is free and allows kids to collaborate with their friends  or family members to create fun stories based on the objects that they spin on the wheel. The app lets you record your voice and then replay the story for all to hear. 

Poplet Lite- The lite version is free and allows kids to create fun webs that they can use to plan a story and brainstorm about plots and characters and action or whatever they want. 

Scribble Press- This app is probably my favorite for creating books that you can share online with family and friends. It has simple templates that the youngest child can fill in as well as drawing tools, stickers, the ability to upload your own photos and more. Better yet, it is free!

Paper 53- This free app is a beautiful tool for older writers to explore ideas, record hopes and dreams, sketch, draw and create in beautiful customizable notebooks. 

WEBSITES

Storybird- This artistically beautiful site encourages kids and adults to write stories to accompany their amazing illustrations. More illustrations are being added all the time, so check back often for fresh inspiration. 

StoryJumper- This is another fun site that includes great tools to inspire kids. It has story starters as well as lots of stickers, props, and costumes to inspire your imagination and bring your book to life. 

Happy Writing Everyone!

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Welcome Smitten By Readers!

We are beyond excited to be guest bloggers over at Smitten By today! If you're joining us for the first time...WELCOME! 

Between the two of us, we have a total of nine kids that range in age from 2 months to 20 years old...So, no matter what age your kids are, we just know you'll find something here you can use to make parenting and specifically learning with your kids more fun! 

We hope you'll enjoy looking around come back again soon. We have some exciting things coming up! On Friday Deborah will share her favorite apps and websites for encouraging young writers and next week I'll start sharing my preschool curriculum with you weekly which means snack ideas, crafts, and activities to go with each letter of the alphabet!

Don't forget to like us on facebook so you can stay updated on our newest posts ---->

Thanks for stopping by! :)

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