Category: Fun and Learning

After reading this book, I’ve been thinking of ways that my children and I can get more nature time outside. I’ve decided to start a weekly nature walk/park visit and I’m inviting you to join me! Unfortunately, you probably have to live in Florida to participate, but if you don’t maybe you can start a group in your area?!

Here are the details:

When: Friday mornings, starting at 10 a.m.
Where: Various nature parks located in and around Gainesville, Florida
Who is invited: Moms and kids who want to have fun outdoors. I imagine the age range for kids will be from 0-5, since most older children will be in school.
What to bring: Water, bug spray. Maybe snacks or a picnic lunch? You might also like to bring a camera or a journal for your children to record their discoveries.
I’m not planning on strenuous hiking here, and the pace will likely be slow to allow for the participation of little legs. The point is to enjoy some time in the sunshine, exploring our world. Many of the parks also have a playground, so we will likely spend some time there as well.

Here are the details for our first adventure:

When: Friday, September 25, 2009 at 10 a.m.
Where: Alfred A. Ring Park, 1801 NW 23rd Boulevard (Parking at Elks Lodge).
Driving Directions: From NW 13th Street, turn left on NW 23rd Ave. Park at the Elks Lodge, which will be on the left.
Things to note: Park includes bathrooms, picnic tables, small playground. Walking trail is mostly dirt, so strollers are not advised.

So strap the baby on your back and load up the kids. Hopefully I’ll see you there! Everyone is welcome, so invite your friends! (Let me know if you plan to attend so I can keep an eye out for you.)

In my web research (doesn’t that sound more official than blog reading?!) I’ve seen some fun ideas for using felt. One day I decided to try making felt pizza, using this pattern I saw at Serving Pink Lemonade.

All you need are scissors and felt. I drew some circle templates in a publishing program on my computer, printed them off and started cutting. This project only took me about 30 minutes of prep time (done while watching an episode of LOST).

The Ant Bug really enjoys this. Our pizza included crust, sauce, cheese, ham, pineapple, green peppers and black olives. The first day she played with it for over an hour, making every family member their own personal pizza.

I just noticed that there is also a great pattern for a felt sandwich at Serving Pink Lemonade, so I’ll be cutting that out next!

While we’re on the topic of food, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is a great book to read along with this activity. There is also a movie inspired by the book which hits theaters next week.

Another day the Ant Bug and I pulled out the felt again and got creative. We cut out various shapes and started making creatures. Here are just a few of our creations, complete with googly eyes.

What can you and your child make with felt?

President Monson is celebrating his birthday in August, so I thought it would be a great idea to learn a little more about our living prophet this month. I found this great lesson at Family Home Evening Planner and pretty much just followed their plan. The Bingo game was a hit (maybe because we used Smarties to cover our squares?!), but we also learned a lot about President Monson.

A favorite game at our house is “Where’s the Prophet?” I printed off a picture of President Monson and glued it to a piece of cardboard from a cereal box to make it more sturdy. Hide the picture (we usually hide it someplace close and simple, like behind our backs or under a nearby couch cushion). Then sing these words to the tune of Are you sleeping?

Where’s the prophet? Where’s the prophet? (hiding the prophet)
Here he is. Here he is. (show the picture of the prophet)
His name is President Monson. His name is President Monson.
We love him. We love him.

This is a great simple game for the little one’s to help them recognize our living prophet. I originally saw this idea on Sugardoodle.net here and here a few years when I was serving in the nursery. My nursery kids loved it, and now we play it regularly at home, usually after Family Home Evening.

On another note, I just had to share this funny mama moment. The Ant Bug has been singing “Are you sleeping?” quite a bit recently. She has changed the words a little bit in her version:

Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping?
Brother John? Brother John?
Mommy bells are ringing. Mommy bells are ringing.
Ding, ding, dong. Ding, ding, dong.

I’m not sure what a mommy bell is, but it makes me smile every time she sings it.

Superheroes and Princesses shared a great idea for a book and corresponding activity that we had to try out.

The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown

This delightful book takes something regular (like grass, an apple, the wind) and describes why it is important. Here’s an excerpt:

“The important thing about an apple is that it is round. You bite it, and it is white inside, and the juice splashes in your face, and it tastes like an apple and it falls of a tree. But the important thing about an apple is that it is round.”

After reading this book, the important thing is that you let you let your child make their own important book with things that are important to them.
A few excerpts from the book the Ant Bug created and illustrated:

“The important things about a girl is that she has long hair. She grows very big into a mom. But the important thing about a girl is that she has long hair.”

“The important thing about a chair is that you sit on it. You can also eat on it and you can also play Playstation games and play computer games. But the important thing about a chair is that you sit on it.” (If you read our family blog, you might have noticed a Playstation trend with her.)

“The important thing about a piano is that you play songs on it. You look in a book to look at the notes and play what they are. But the important thing about a piano is that you play songs on it.”

It was interesting to me to see the things that she chose to write about. I think she mostly looked around the room we were in to seek inspiration. We might have had a whole different set of answers if we had done this book outside!

Want to hear my secret weapon for dealing with summer heat? Add ICE!

Let’s Explore shared a great activity for occupying children in the hot summer months–let them dig for buried ice treasures! Here is our take on this activity.

First, you’ll need to bury the treasure. I used small plastic animals, but you could use anything you have around your home–buttons, sea shells, marbles, beads, etc.

Select your container (plastic food storage containers for us) and start freezing. Do it in layers, so your treasure gets dispersed throughout. Once it’s ready to go, gather your excavating tools.

You can see from the picture above that we had a variety of tools. The most useful tool was the bowl of warm water, from which we filled medicine droppers and a water bottle. So in the end I guess we did a lot more “melting” than “digging” but it was still a fun activity.
My girls loved freeing the animals. The Ant Bug has been begging to do this activity again, so I think we have a winner here!

It’s been four and a half years since I became a mother. My memories of those early months of motherhood are really just a blur of breastfeeding and diapers and all my energy spent getting to know this strange new creature who was my daughter. The transition from full-time-working-woman to full-time-stay-at-home-mother was a challenge I was happy to undertake, but I found myself wondering “What do I do with this baby, all day long, for an entire day, day after day?” So here are some ideas for the one-year-old and under crowd that worked for me.

Sing, Sing, Sing
Sing to your child. It doesn’t matter if you are a great singer or not, your baby will love to hear your voice. Sing in the car. Sing in the bathtub. Sing while you’re preparing dinner. Sing while you’re snuggling. Sing before sleep. Primary songs top the list at our house, but we’ve also accumulated quite a list of favorite traditional children’s song: Down by the Station, If all of the Raindrops, You are my Sunshine, Puff the Magic Dragon, etc.

(If you are interested in seeing our complete song list, leave a note in the comments or email me at nurturemama2{at}gmail{dot}com and I’ll send a copy your way).

Read, Read, Read
There are so many wonderful board books available. Make reading (with regular trips to the library) a part of your daily routine. Don’t worry if you only get through a page or two in each sitting–it’s still worthwhile!

I’ve posted before about our favorites by Sandra Boynton and Eric Carle, but here are a few more that are well-loved in our home.

Two great articles on early literacy:
Developing communication skills in your baby or toddler
Helping your child learn to talk

I really miss my days of living at Wymount and being able to step out my door and take a walk around the Provo temple and up into Rock Canyon!

Other places to explore: grocery stores, pet stores, museums, parks…the list can go on and on! Be creative. Talk to your child as you go and show them what a fascinating world you live in.
Give your child the opportunity to “touch and feel”. A pile of leaves, cold winter snow, a sandbox, soft grass. Just watch closely because at some point they will likely do a taste test!

Explore the Inside World
Make your kitchen safe for exploring. Moms spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and so will your child. Have a few places like this that are safe for your baby to explore.

Plastic dishes are really quite fascinating things! So are measuring cups, spoons of all shapes and sizes, pots and pans. There’s no need to go shopping with a kitchen full of toys.

Stimulate the Senses
Try finger painting with colored yogurt. Let them sniff the spices you use when you bake. Listen to stimulating music. Sit on the front porch and watch and hear and smell a summer rainstorm.

Most importantly, just hold your child close and let them see your smile and feel your love. That’s the best thing to do everyday!