Category: Fun and Learning

Screen Time
It is probably inevitable that in this day and age, our children are going to spend some time each day in front of a “screen”-computer or t.v. If you paid attention to my summer schedule you probably noticed that the Ant Bug has screen time every afternoon. The Ant Bugs screen time gives me one-on-one time with the Sweet Bee to get her ready for a nap, and gives me a little time to myself (I confess, I usually take a 10 minute power nap then).

Here are the sites that she most frequently visits.

Starfall.com: Where children have fun learning to read!
This is my number one recommended site. There are four levels: Starfall ABCs, Learn to Read, Fun to Read, I’m Reading. Everything is presented in a fun, interactive manner. The Ant Bug started using this site when she was 2 years old and she hasn’t tired of it yet. I can’t say enough good about it, so just go check it out.

PBS Kids: Curius George, Super Why, Sesame Street–all the favorites

NickJr.: Dora, Diego, Blue, etc.

Sesame Street

Storyline Online: Actors read childrens books aloud

Spell with flickr: Have fun with letters doing things like this

Bembo’s Zoo: This is just really cool

And two sites where you can make art without a mess:
Crayola.com
jacksonpollock.org

Leave a note in the comments if you have a great site for children to share!

Free Time
As you plan out your summer, I just wanted to make you aware of a few great “freebies”.
Mars Real Chocolate Relief Act: Get free chocolate every Friday this summer (limit of 4 per household–I’ve already received one coupon in the mail)

National Park Fee-Free Weekends: There are 3 fee-free weekends at many National Parks this summer. Check this list for a park you might like to visit.

Don’t forget to check out your local library! Most libraries offer some kind of summer reading program with prizes and activities. Check the calendar for free events. Last week we went to a Music Together class and this week we went to a juggler show. Lots of variety and lots of fun!

For more ideas for cheap summer fun visit Being Frugal is Fabulous.

Here are a few fun activities to try on a long summer day!

Mix the following in a pot on stove:
1 cup cornstarch
1/3-cup sugar
4 cups cold water

Heat, stirring constantly. Once it starts to thicken – remove from heat.
Divide between as many bowls as you have colors (food coloring). Add some food coloring to each bowl and mix. Primary colors are great!
When it has cooled, scoop some of 2 or more of your goop into a ziploc bag. Seal the bag and enjoy squishing and squeezing to blend the colors.
And if squishing the bag isn’t enough, my girls had a blast mixing up all of the leftovers in the bowls. Messy, but fun!

Supplies:
Contact paper
Paper
Paint

Draw and cut-out your child’s initial from the contact paper. Stick the initial onto the paper. Make sure you give the contact paper a good rub so the colors won’t seep underneath it during painting.
Let your little artist go to work painting the entire paper. When finished, let your painting dry, then peel off the contact paper.

Cutting Practice

We printed off these cute paper dolls and the Ant Bug had a fun afternoon cutting them all out. She didn’t really play with them much after she was all done, but it was worth it for the cutting practice!

Sensory Activity: Dig and Find (from No Time for Flashcards)

Supplies:

Your choice of rice, dried beans, unpopped popcorn, oats, etc.-we went with rice.
Small toys or items to find-we used plastic letters and animals
Storing and scooping supplies-plastic containers, spoons, measuring cups, etc.
I loaded up two large containers with rice, hid a few toys inside, and let the girls go at it. Finding the toys was pretty easy, but they really enjoyed scooping and pouring the rice and transferring it between containers.

It got even more fun once the feet were included!

Try not to stress out about the rice all over your floor! Sensory activities are messy, but they are so important for this age. That look of happiness makes it all worth it!

A book, a song, and a craft. That is my recipe for a great “school-time” session with my children. The Ant Bug loves to do arts and crafts but it can be difficult to come up with something to do everyday.

Tiger!

Thankfully, No Time for Flashcards has been a life saver and it has now made the list of my daily must-read blogs. Allie is an experienced childhood educator and she posts daily activities for young children that promote play, discovery, and learning. Most of her projects are relatively simple and can be tailored to meet the interests and abilities of many children. She always includes a few book suggestions that correspond with the project, and she quite often includes a song (with a video clip so you can learn the tune). The two new favorites we’ve added to our musical repertoire are A Slippery Fish and Fried Ham.

Alligator A

One thing I really appreciate about the site is that the majority of her projects require only the basic art supplies I am likely to have in my cupboard (construction paper, paint, glue, scissors, markers, crayons, pipe cleaners, etc). Check out her recommended master list of craft supplies here.

Spotty Spider

Every few weeks the Ant Bug and I go through the site and make a list of the projects that we would like to do. Then I put the recommended books on hold at the library. Whenever the urge to do a craft project strikes our fancy, the Ant Bug just chooses one of the current library books on our shelf and we pull out our craft supplies.

Rabbit R

Great projects that don’t require a lot of planning. Perfect for busy mamas!

Peacock (really, it’s a peacock, not a turkey). It goes with Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you hear?

So the next time you and your little one’s are in need of some arts and crafts, be sure to check out No Time for Flashcards.

After a recent family visit to a nearby wildlife preserve, we realized that we had a lot of great photos of wildlife (thanks to the skills of my husband). The Ant Bug and I decided to make an Animal Alphabet book and it turned out to be a great hands-on learning project.

We first spent a few afternoons sorting through the pictures, selecting the photos she liked best, and then labeling and making a list of what we had.

A is for Alligator

C is for Caracara

O is for Owl

P is for Pelican

For most of the animals the Ant Bug would identify what letter the name started with, then either she (with some help from me) or I would type the rest of the name. We supplemented our collection with photos from visits to the zoo in past years, and few photos from online for those difficult letters like X and U (we went with Xenops and Urchin).

Once we had photos for all of the letters of the alphabet printed (plus a few extra for good measure) we headed to the store where she picked out an inexpensive photo album (30 pages).

We then sorted through the photos and put them in alphabetical order in the book. She added letter stickers and glued on a small label with the name.

This project kept us busy for multiple afternoons and was a fun way to reinforce emerging literacy skills. This is a great book for our collection that both of my girls love to read.

The idea for this book was inspired by a Color book I saw on Make and Takes.

If you would like to make your own, there are lots of options for homemade books: colors, numbers, shapes, emotions–just choose a theme that works for you and your child and personalize it how you like.

Happy book making!

Make Noodle Doodles, of course!

This week the girls and I tried our hand at making noodle art, from an idea I saw at Flip Flops & Applesauce. It’s a pretty simple project that kept both of my girls entertained for more than 30 minutes. Here are the directions:

1. Boil the noodles, for about half the time it says on the package so the noodles don’t end up too soft. Don’t forget to add a little oil so the noodles don’t stick to each other.
2. Rinse the noodles in cold water.
3. Get creative with noodles and construction paper. You can use a table knife to slice the noodles to different lengths.

Sometimes it is difficult to come up with activities that are appropriate and interesting for both a 4-year-old and a 16-month-old. The Sweet Bee still has the overwhelming urge to put everything in her mouth, which doesn’t work so well when it comes to traditional coloring or painting. But this activity was perfect since it was non-toxic and allowed for hands-on creativity at all levels.

It also worked well as our afternoon snack!

Here’s mine: House with a Flower.

Once you’re finished creating, cover your artwork with a strip of wax paper and a heavy book so it will dry flat.

Check out these great suggestions from Kiddio for more activities to do with your mixed age kids. Next up, we’re going to paint with pudding!

I saw this adorable paper turkey and knew we had to have one for our family. I thought it would be fun to use our turkey as a daily record of the things we are thankful for.

We worked our turkey craft into a Family Home Evening lesson on gratitude. Using information from For the Strength of Youth we talked about how the Lord wants us to have a spirit of gratitude always. “Live with a spirit of thanksgiving and you will have greater happiness and satisfaction in life.” Then we discussed the story of the ten lepers and how only one leper turned back and gave thanks.

We sang Count Your Many Blessings:

Then we made our adorable turkey and talked about the importance of this scripture: