Toddler Time: Coloring on Foil
For this activity, I just taped a piece of aluminum foil to the table and let Little Brother color with his crayons on it. He’s had lots of experience coloring on regular paper and I wanted to try something different……
Monster Finger Puppet
These little boogers are fun for kids of all ages! There are so many fun ways you can use this puppet glove: color recognition, one-to-one correspondence, songs, and monster-tickles…just to name a few! All you need is a gardening glove…
Toddler Time: Simple Color Sorting
We’ve been casually working on our colors with Little Brother. Right now everything is “yellow”. Big Brother did the exact same thing, only everything was “blue”! Sorting is an important concept for young children, though this is our first deliberate…
Encouraging Independence: Going Down the Stairs
Stairs are recurring parts of my nightmares. I am terrified of my children falling down the stairs…especially the half of our flight of stairs that isn’t carpeted. But much to my dismay (and a racing heartbeat), stairs are an inevitable…
Turntable Art
I love free stuff. I happened upon this PhonoViewer on the “free-take it” shelf at church. It came with tons of “records” as well. I honestly don’t really know what a PhonoViewer is…and apparently I won’t be finding out because…
Homemade Musical Instrument
Both of the boys have had so much fun playing with their musical instruments. This is really multiple instruments in one…it acts as a maraca, a tambourine, and a drum. Talk about versatile! A word to the wise: Don’t let…
Baby Sign Language 101
Somehow during the blog transfer, this post was deleted. So I thought I would post it again since it was one of my first posts! It made me kinda sad watching it…Little Brother was so tiny! Has your baby ever…
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” Sensory Play
Big Brother’s favorite book at the moment is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. We read it at least twice a day. If you’ve ever read this book, you know how long it is…it is quite the time investment! I think the…
Encouraging Independence: Eating with a Spoon
Learning to use a spoon is a dirty job. There’s no way around it…this skill set requires on-the-job training. As much as it makes you cringe to think of the impending disaster that awaits you, your little one, and your walls…
Toddler Time: Matching Socks
It’s been months since we’ve worn socks! I’m not complaining…it just means that I don’t have to pair them up after washing ’em! Pulling out the {unused} socks made for a quick and easy matching game. I’ll be honest…Little…
Toddler Time: Freeze!
We all loved playing this game! Not only is it lots of fun, it’s great for encouraging your toddler to follow simple directions. Just put in your favorite CD and have the pause button ready… In case you’re wondering…we were…
Toddler Time: Balancing
Little Brother came up with this activity all on his own! He drug out my big red plastic bowl, turned it upside down, and stood on top of it! At first I thought he was just silly, but then I…
Strategies for Speech and Language Development
Guest Post by Julie Hi! I’m Julie from over at Breezy Acres Farm. I am a wife to a graphic designer/photographer husband and mom to two preemies. Ori, age 2, was born at 33 weeks and Calla, age 1, was…
Painting at the Pool
Forget the fancy water toys when you head out to the pool…take your paintbrushes instead! I decided to take 2 of our paintbrushes and a couple cups to keep Little Brother occupied (instead of chasing him down while he tries to…
Toddler Time: Beanbag Toss
This activity didn’t go exactly as planned (does it ever???). I had intended it to be a practice in underhand throwing for Little Brother. He had other plans (as you’ll see). Here’s what you’ll need: a big bowl (or bucket) and…
Toddler Time: Opposites
Introducing your toddler to opposites is great for both cognitive and vocabulary development. This activity can be done anytime…it is so simple and requires little to no materials. Just list out some opposites and let your child act them out….
Weather Song
Please excuse (a) my terrible singing voice and (b) our sloppy, beach-like attire. We just got back from the waterpark. And I was too lazy to put shorts on Little Brother.
Who needs a water table, anyway?
My mom, in all her brilliance, came up with this great idea for keeping Little Brother occupied while still having loads of fun. It’s a cooler (or as some might call it, an ice chest). Filled with water. With cups…