Patriotic One to One Correspondence Activity

I set this activity up for Charlie for Memorial Day, sorry I didn't post it sooner..but you'll still be able to use it for anytime, and all the other patriotic holidays to come, like 4th of July!

I just adore activities that totally fit in with holiday or unit themes and this one did exactly that, as well as helped my daughter gain knowledge. Best of both worlds!

You'll need:
- A blue ice cube tray (preferably with star shaped sections like ours, just to be more patriotic)
- Red pom poms.

One to one correspondence is about one object fitting in one space. So for this activity, it was one pom pom fitting in one ice cube tray space. So my daughter placed each pom pom in a different star section.
This was great for fine motor skills too. Could use fingers or tweezers/tiny tongs. We had just done an activity with tiny tongs before this, so she went for her fingers.

Very Hungry Caterpillar Flashcards

I know almost every mom and baby is a fan of the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. When I found stickers from the book I just knew I had to get some. I got a few packs, some for my daughter to use in her sticker book (which delighted her) and some to make these flashcards with.

So, the stickers can be purchased from Dollar Deals. The only other things you'll need are index cards, a Sharpie, clear contact paper, and scissors. I'm currently out of contact paper so ours don't have that on them in the picture. It's not mandatory, but it definitely makes them more durable. It serves as a laminate.
I placed one sticker per index card and then used the Sharpie to write the word or phrase I wanted the card to convey.

We've got:
- Apple
- Pear
- Plum
- Orange
- Watermelon
- Lollipop
- Pie
- Cake
- Caterpillar ON muffin
- Caterpillar IN strawberry
- BIG caterpillar
- Little caterpillar
- Butterfly

I just adore these flashcards! They help to teach what on, in, big, and little are andto how they're opposites. They also just help with sight word recognition and of course are a fun addition to your Eric Carle collection.

Now all it takes to use the contact paper to laminate them is to cut pieces for the front and back down to size, sandwich the card in between, and then cut off the excess with scissors.

Baby's Breath Playdough

It's the softest playdough we've ever made and the texture that the baby's breath creates throughout it is so fun for kids to experience during play.

First, I started off by using a pair of scissors to cut off some of the baby's breath from my flowers.

Then we got out our other ingredients and set them on the counter. 

1 cup of all purpose flour

1/4 cup of salt

1 cup of water

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp vegetable oil

My daughter poured them in the pot and added just a few little drops of neon green food coloring. You could see in the picture of the playdough how it ended up a very light green, just like we wanted!

She mixed and mixed until it was all smooth.

Stopping along the way to see what it feels like midway through the stirring process. Great sensory idea, all her own idea!

While she was stirring I cut the baby's breath from the earlier photo down a bit.

Then I put the pot of playdough mix on the stove over medium heat (WITHOUT the baby's breath in it yet). I stirred it constantly with a wooden spoon until it formed a ball. Then I put the playdough in a bowl and began to knead it, adding in the baby's breath with my hands as I went. You knead until it isn't sticky anymore. And you're left with an awesome play dough that you're kids will really enjoy!

Broccoli Orange Juice

Here I am with another great juice recipe! You can view the rest of any juice recipes you may have missed here. 

Today's juice is Broccoli Orange Juice! Broccoli actually has therapeutic properties that protect the skin from the effects of UV light and reduce the risk of cancer in general. Oranges have a lot of choline in them which is very important for kids since it helps with learning and memory (they key here is always getting knowledge) as well as sleep and muscle movement.

All you have to do to make it is juice a little over half a head of broccoli (stalks included) and 2 oranges. Preferably organic!

Balancing Banana on Head. Fun Game From Book

This fun and FUNNY game will surely get any little girl or boy up and moving! And all you need is a banana!

Here at our house, we love Fancy Nancy books and my daughter was just recently given a new one called "Fancy Nancy and the Fabulous Fashion Boutique".

It really is a cute little story, I highly recommend it. Now, in this book Nancy and her friends walk around balancing bananas on their head to help them walk like models. My daughter thought it was so funny I knew we just had to try it out for ourselves.

So we did!

You just place the banana on the child's head and help them try to balance it while they walk around. I tried it too, and it really does make you walk straighter! I might starting practicing this at home! So not only is it silly and sure to get some laughs, bring a beloved story to life, and get the kids up and moving, it's actually beneficial! Best of all worlds!

Z is for Zebra Craft

Crafts can often be a big help when you're teaching something to a toddler or preschooler. It's a hands on way to bring the information learned to life. If your child is a visual learner crafts can be especially helpful to make a new subject or lesson click. 

For this craft, we were doing letters of the week. This is obviously a craft for the letter "Z" and I choose to make it Z is for Zebra! 

I cut out a capital letter Z from some thick white paper. I also cut out some small strips of black paper, small enough to basically fit on the letter Z. Your kiddo can help with the cutting if they'd like!

I set the Z and the strips out for my daughter, as well as some glue. I helped her make dots of glue all over the letter Z and explained that she'd put the black strips on those spots. She then did just that! Squeezing the bottle of glue, and placing the small strips of paper down on those precise spots was great for her fine motor skills.

Lemonade Stand Water Play

In the summer when it's hot out and the sun is beating down we love to engage in some water play to cool us off while we have fun! This water play activity not only lets kids play with water of course (which they LOVE) but it has sensory play to it and most importantly pretend play! It's so important for kids to start pretend play at a young age. Pretend play helps develop imagination and act out real life scenarios. There's usually lots of other skills learned during as well.

Note: before I start sharing the how-to's I'd like to add that this particular water play could also be part of a yellow themed week or day to help babies and young toddlers learn their colors.

So here's what it looks like!

You'll need:
- a plastic bin (preferably clear)
- yellow food coloring
- water
- lemon essential oil
- a ladle
- artificial lemons (a few, can be found at Dollar Tree)
- Styrofoam or plastic cups
- my daughter also wanted me to add some measuring spoons, so of course I did

Fill up the bin with the desired amount of water. Add in some drops of yellow food coloring (be careful not to add to much or it will turn the water orange). Stir that around until all the water is yellow. Add in a few drops of lemon essential oil to scent the water to add in the extra sensory element that will really bring the play to life.

If you want to add even more texture for more sensory elements you could add in some real lemon zest too.

Next, add in the ladle, lemons, and cups. You can set it up with the cups to the side like I did too. I also had a little plastic yellow bowl/cup thing that I added in.

As you can see my daughter got right to scooping and pouring the water and making me cups of lemonade!