Toddler Book Club: Apples

Fall is almost here and since we went apple picking the other day I went ahead and set up a toddler book club based on apples for my daughter and her friend. 

My daughter's friend is a bit younger than her so we only read the little board book in front "Apple Farmer Annie" it's about a girl who has her own apple farm and sells her apples and talks about things she makes with them. Informative, short, and fun for kids. The other books we had were "Apple Picking" "Apple Pie ABC" and "The Life Cycle of an Apple". The ABC one is great for most toddlers to and the life cycle one you can just look at the picture of the life cycle and discuss that. "Apple Picking" is a longer book, but my toddler loves to hear it too! Plus I think setting out a few books on the subject adds to the cuteness of it all.

I set out some pretend apples and some little red and green apples that we sorted into their colored groups. We also played with apple pie play dough and cookie cutters.

Recipe for Apple Pie Play Dough:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of all purpose flour
• 1 cup of water
• 1/4 cup salt
• 1 TBSP vegetable oil
• 1 TBSP lemon juice
• A few squirts of red food coloring
• Several good shakes of cinnamon 

Step 1: Stir all ingredients together in a pot with a wooden spoon.

Step 2: Put the pot over medium heat on the stove and stir continuously with the wooden spoon until it forms a ball.

Step 3: Once it forms a ball transfer it over to a bowl, let it cool for a bit and then knead it until it is not sticky anymore!

Last, but not least I cut up a real apple and showed the kids the core and the seeds (also known as pips). Then we used the apple halves to do apple printing, which I think I've made a post on before!

Oh, we also ate apple slices dipped in sunflower seed butter. Yum! 

Our Favorite "I Love You" Books

It's no secret that we love books at our house! And what could be better for building a toddlers sense of self, and helping develop a strong bond between parents and children than books about the love you have for them? I gathered up our favorite ones here for you, and am providing links so you can look into purchasing them if you want. 

Now, these are ordered in the way they are in the picture from left to right, not by which one I like the most. I will say that my absolute faves are Yummiest Love and You Are My I Love You.

1. I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt  This is a little board book where a little boy asks him mom if she'd still love him if he was all these different atrocious things, and of course the mother would love him no matter what.

2. Wherever You Are: My Love Will Find You by Nancy Tillman. This book is just lovely and heartwarming. It makes children know that no matter where they are, no matter how old they get, under any circumstance their parents love is with them always.

3. The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. This is a very good book for a child who may be going off to preschool, or daycare, or starting a new activity where they will be separated from their parent for short amounts of time. I've seen many corresponding activities to go with the book to take it a step further too and make kids feel even more secure. The best part is, you can give your little one a kissing hand of their very own to use!

4. I Love You More by Laura Duksta. We just got this book recently and I was so excited to finally have a copy of our own! It's a flip-sided book and one side is a mother describing her love for her son in cute little ways that toddlers and preschoolers will delight in hearing. The other side the son describes how much he loves his mother, again with really cute comparisons using things kids are aware of in their lives. It's very cute to have this book include a lot about the parent child relationship and how the child loves their parent more than anything as well.

5. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney. I think all of you probably know this book already! It was mine when I was younger. The characters are lovable and the illustrations are cute. Kids will crack up about trying to love you as far as they can reach, and hop, etc. after reading this book. And then you can always tell your children that you love them to the moon and back, and they will remember reading this sweet book with you.

6. You're My Little Star by Julia Hubery. This book has a touch and feel soft star on the front cover, and then adorable illustrations throughout. Read this to your little one to make them feel like they are the light of your life, since they are!

7. You Are My I Love You by Maryann Cusimano Love. This is a very close favorite of mine with Yummiest Love. Reading it to my daughter made me tear up a bit and made me laugh a lot too. Every word of it is so true. Phrases like "You are my quiet place, you are my wild" every parent can relate to in the most loving way. Each phrase is better than the last!

8. I Love You Through And Through by Bernadette Rossetti Shustak. This is such a cute book that my daughter absolutely loves. It's got glossy board book pages, and such cute illustrations. It's also educational and teaches some opposites and body parts in a fun way that kids aren't suspecting, all while making them feel loved!

9. On The Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman. This book is by the same author as Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You. It's a great one to read to kids every year on their birthday, or when just reminiscing about when they were born and were babies. It's sure to make kids feel special with the descriptions of how all the animals and the moon were doing things just for them on the night they were born.

10. Yummiest Love by Lisa McCourt. You would never know that the author of I Love You, Stinky Face is the same author of this book, they are very different! I saved my favorite for last. It's the absolute best book I've ever read. It's very humbling and a book that reading to your children makes you feel even more thankful for them than you already are. It makes you feel so lucky to have a little bundle of joy, and I can tell when I read it to my daughter she's feeling all the love that I am. It's just a marvelous read that words can't really describe. I definitely recommend it more than anything.

Toddler Book Club One Snowy Day

We had our first meeting of the Toddler Book Club that I'm hosting last week. It was so much fun. The only thing that didn't go according to plan was that I wasn't able to prepare a themed snack or drink. It wasn't missed though, the fun activities took up all of our time. The book was One Snowy Day by. I'll give a review of the book soon. The character in the book is a penguin, so I found a penguin figure we've got and made some signs for our book club. The first one was a welcome sign, set where we'd be reading, that included the title and author of the book.

 Making the signs was a really simple touch that took only a few minutes and added so much cuteness. Even children who can't read themselves yet benefit greatly from being in an enviornment where lots of words (such as signs and labels) are around. As you can see I laid out a big quilt over the floor to make our reading space feel a bit cozier. After everyone was settled, I read the book. There's only two kids in the book club right now, so it's very easy to make sure they both see the pictures.

Now for my(our) review of the book: it's great! The perfect book to read in winter, preferably after it has snowed. As you'll see, it inspires many ideas for activities after reading. My favorite thing about it for my 2 year old daughter though was that it's a counting book. From 1 to 10 with a fun penguin, awesome!

After reading the book, we moved on to our first activity. Hot cocoa painting craft station!

This is how I had it set up. I had prepped it earlier by using a glue stick to attach white printer paper to colored construction paper. I did this so the paper would be more sturdy, but I ended up loving how it made an adorable border. I provided them each with their own bowls of hot cocoa paint (just some shaving cream mixed together with a packet of hot chocolate). I had the brushes in the bowls, ready to go. Added for cuteness was a little rubber ducky that looks like a penguin with a winter hat on. And of course there was signage!

Once the kids had painted with the delicious smelling paint until their hearts were content, we moved on to our next activity: Sparkling Snow Sensory Math.

I was so excited about this! We're really big on sensory play here, so doing it with others brings us joy. Plus, it really went along with the book. To make the snow just fill up a bin with baking soda and add water in very slowly. I add just a bit and then mix in with my fingers, over and over until it's the right consistency. You should be able to form a ball with it and crumple it again. Too much water and it'll just turn into a liquid! Once you've got it how you want it, sprinkle in quite a few generous shakes of iridescent glitter and mix that in. Finally, to top it all off and make it math fun add in some magnetic numbers!

As you can see the kids dug right in and really enjoyed themselves! I set out another bin since toddlers LOVE to transfer.


 After that I grabbed a big bin of snow (yes, real snow) that I had sitting outside. I put that down on the table where they had painted before. Along with a spray bottle that I had filled 3/4 of the way with water and then added a packet of lemon lime Koolaid to. Bringing snow inside is great because it allows kids to play with it without being totally cold outside. And "painting" it in this way is great fine motor work. Both kids did great with the squirt bottle and practiced taking turns.

 I ended up filling up a cup of water with another Koolaid packet and a turkey baster. This added more colors and another way to practice fine motor practical life skills.

 That was our last activity! Then we read the book again to conclude the book club meeting.