Will it slide?
Today we embark on a brand new thematic unit–Penguins! To start us off, we read my favorite penguin book, Tacky the Penguin. Next, we talked about how penguins like to slide on ice. After that, we decided to try our…
A Lesson Learned: Stress and Disorganization
I’m not the most organized person. I used to be. While teaching, my classroom was always very organized. Everything had a place. Even the kids knew where things went. But now that I am at home, I feel like I…
Show-and-Share Saturday: Organizing Toys
Happy New Year!!! As I recently shared, toy clutter stresses me out. If you donated toys like we did, this might be a great opportunity to reorganize the toys you do have. I found a series of short tutorial videos on…
Candy Wrapper Snowflakes
This idea came to me as I was eating one of the delicious Dove chocolate truffles that Prince Charming put in my stocking. Normally, I’m not much of a chocolate eater…but these truffles are delicious. And the wrappers are beautiful,…
Great Deals on Games!
Big Brother is just getting to the age where he loves to play board games. His birthday is coming up in January and I found some great deals on Amazon and thought I would share them with you. U-Build Sorry for…
Flashlight Spot-and-Tell
One of Big Brother’s favorite Christmas presents this year was a Thomas the Train flashlight he got from my parents. He has used it nonstop for the last 2 days. We finally had to take it away on Christmas Night…
Britax Frontier: Product Review
I am a huge fan of Britax carseats!!!! We bought our first convertible carseat from Britax when Big Brother was about 7 months old. We have been so happy with the sturdiness of our Britax convertible carseat that I contacted…
Sent In By You: Puffy Snowman
Sara, a sweet reader and mother of a 2-year old daughter, recently e-mailed me to share a spin-off idea from the Puffy Snowflakes I shared a few weeks ago. Sara used paper plates to make a snowman and then let…
Clearing out the Christmas Clutter
I always love watching our boys open up gifts. The expression on their faces is priceless…a mixture of sheer joy, excitement, and appreciation! My second thought after seeing their many gifts (given mostly by loving grandparents, aunts, and uncles) is,…
Merry (belated) Christmas!
I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas! We certainly did! We are thankful for the time we got to spend as a family, the time spent with our families, and the wonderful gift of our Savior!
I Spy Mats
The very best thing about this gift is that it doesn’t add any more CLUTTER! You get to use the toys/items you already have to make these mats. And your child is learning visual discrimination (a cognitive process)…so it’s a…
Venn Diagram with Letters
Venn diagrams are a great way to visually organize information. And even young children can benefit from the use of Venn diagrams! In case you’re unfamiliar with what a Venn diagram is…it is basically just 2 circles that intersect with…
The Perfect Shaker for a Little Spice Stealer
Little Brother (13 months) has been obsessed with taking my spices out of the kitchen cabinet and carrying them around the house. I still have yet to find my bottle of homemade vanilla. They really are the perfect size of…
A Lesson (Still) Learning: Anger
I know this isn’t the time of year to be angry, but I am. It’s been almost 14 years since we lost my oldest brother in a car accident. I just can’t help but wonder how different things would be…
Show-and-Share Saturday: Mini Clay Pot Christmas Trees
These little Christmas trees from Impress Your Kids are so cute! I love that even Amanda’s little guy (1 year old) participated in the painting! Head over here for the tutorial!
Christmas Present Patterning
Patterning is an important skill for preschoolers…it helps their cognitive development by encouraging them to visually discriminate the differences between 2 (or more) objects, order them according to a pattern, and predict what will come next. Even though we typically…
Puffy Snowflakes
I’m sure much of the country is sick and tired of SNOW…but we haven’t had any so far, so we decided to make our own snowflakes. When I was teaching first grade, we would make these snowflaks every winter and…
Silver Bells Memory Game
This idea is pure genius. I can say that because it’s not mine! I first saw this game on The Activity Mom (who got it from here) and instantly knew it would be a HUGE hit for Big Brother since…