Educational Learning for Toddlers : Week Two

New Words for Week Two are:  BAT, MY, LOG

Combine these 3 new words with last weeks words CAT and DOG.

Remember to refer back to Week One for refreshing your memory on some of these projects we made in that week.

Supplies Needed for Learning Projects:
    Index Cards, Child's First Book, Foam Book, Foam Letters


Child's First Book:

1. Make sure to write 3 new sentences in your Child's First Book.
2. For the word MY, I wrote:  I Love/  I Love My/  I Love My T-Rex (or any other dinosaur, my daughter's favorite is Parasaurolophus and she can read it every time.)
3. For the word BAT, I wrote: I Hit/ I Hit The Ball/ I Hit The Ball With My Bat.
4. For the word LOG, I wrote: My Mom/ My Mom Sat/ My Mom Sat On A Log.
5. Remember to leave enough room for pictures.
6. Make sure you keep going back to read the first two pages to them too.
7. I found at Target in the office supply section an early creative story tablet called the Primary Journal. By Mead.  You could also use this book for a book too.  There is a spot on top of each page for pictures.  I like the one I made because it was softer and the pages were thicker.

Index Cards Project:

1. Write the words MY, BAT, LOG on index cards.
2. One the other side glue a picture of that word or have your child draw one. 
3. When you show the picture to your child have them say and spell the word.
4. Remember you can also put the words on index cards to tape them up around the house.
5. You can laminate them too.
6. Putting your cards on a ring, help to keep them all together.

Key-chain Index Cards:

• Don't forget to write the 3 new words on your key-chain cards.

Remember To Keep Teaching Your Child Their Words Everywhere You Go.

Teaching Your Child To Write Words:

• You can log onto this website, to print out pages to help your child with their writing skills.
• It takes time for your child to learn how to write, so please be patient.
• Write the words down and have your child trace over the top of them.
• Have them try to write them on their own.

Little Foam Books:

• On your second little foam books, glue or stick the foam letters that spell this weeks words.
• Write My on first page, Bat on second page, Log on third page and repeat. 
• Your child should now have 2 little foam books, week 1 and week 2.

Great Starter Books:

• Cake, Cake, Cake, Pie by Sally Kahler Phillips
• Hot Dog by Molly Coxe
• Cat Traps by Molly Coxe
• Mouse's Hide-and-Seek Words by Kathryn Heling
• Moo, Baa, La La La! by Sandra Boynton

Remember to see if your child can find their words they are learning in the books you read. Anytime you come across any of their words make sure to point it out to them so they can help read.


 Great ways to have fun learning:

•  Scrabble Junior: Buy Scrabble Junior Cheez-It crackers by Sunshine.  Pick out the letters you need for your five words and have your child spell out the different words they are learning.
• Go Fish: Cut out playing size cards out of card stock or heavy scrap paper.  Some heavy scrap paper have nice designs on them. Write each letter from the 5 words on each card.  You can now play a short game of Go Fish! After each week your pile of cards should grow bigger.
• Refrigerator Fun: Write each letter from the 5 words and glue them onto a piece of cardboard.  Place a magnet on the back of each cardboard piece and stick them to fridge.
• Hide and Seek Letters:

1.    Write each letter onto a post-it note and stick them up around the house and then let your child try to find the letters he needs for each word. 
2.  Try to get them to find a letter that's starts a word.  For instance:  They need to find the C in cat or the B in bat. 
3.  Once they find the first letter they must then spell that word.
4.   They continue searching around the house for the next letter like a in cat or bat. And so on.

Educational Learning for Toddlers : Week Two

Dinosaurs Week

Here are the quick links for the Dinosaurs Week:

Supplies List

Crafts & Activities

Songs & Poems

Dinosaurs Week

Dinosaurs!!! Week Two September 13-19

Right now Target has a lot of Dinosaur Items in their dollar section. These maybe on clearance now or soon well be.


Crafts:

Dinosaur Mosaic: 

Supplies Needed: Dinosaur Picture (coloring book or printout), Regular or Sticky Back Foam Pieces, and Cardboard.

1.   Glue the picture to a cardboard piece. 
2.  Cut little squares from different color foam. 
3.  Have child glue or stick the foam onto the picture. 
4.  Use can also buy already to use kits from places that sell crafts. 

Dinosaur Feet: 

Supplies Needed:  2 pieces of cardboard, ribbon,paint, markers or crayons.

1.  Draw 2 Big Dinosaur Feet onto pieces of cardboard. 
2.  Cut out the feet and cut 2 slits in the middle off to the sides, on each feet for the ribbon to go through. 
3.  Let the child decorate the feet. 
4. After it dries, Loop a ribbon through the feet area long enough for the kids to fit their feet and tie off.
5.  Now they can slip their feet through the ribbon and stomp around the house.

Paper Plate Dinosaur: 

Supplies Needed:   2 Paper plates, paint, glue, gogglie eye. 

1.  Take a paper plate and cut out a stegasaurus. When cutting out the stegasaurus, you will not have enough plate for the tail. 
2.  Cut the tail for another paper plate and glue it onto the other plate. 
3.  Let the child decorate his own stegasaurus. 
4.  A gogglie eye can be used for his eye.

Make your own Dinosaur Puzzles:

Supplies Needed:  Dinosaur picture, cardboard, glue, paint, marker or crayons. 

1.  Print off or Tear out picture from coloring book and glue it onto a  piece of cardboard.
2.   Have a child color the picture and laminate the picture.  Can paint glue over the top of the paper to do this. 
3.  Then when the glue dries cut the cardboard up into pieces like squares for the child to put back together.

Paper Mache Dinosaur Egg.

 Supplies Needed: Balloon, growing dinosaur, newspaper, flour paste, paint.

Flour Paste Recipe: 1/2 cup white flour and 2/3 cup of water. Mix well.

1. First we put the dinosaur the grows in water into the balloon. 
2. We then filled the balloon with water. 
3. Next cut newspaper into 8 inch strips about an inch wide. 
4.  Dip the newspaper into the flour paste and apply to balloon. 
5. When the balloon is completely covered, let it completely dry. 
6.  When the egg is dry, the child can begin decorating it. 
7. We waited til the end of the week to pop the balloon. 
8.  When we popped the balloon a huge dinosaur was waiting for us. 
9. This project can get very messy I suggest doing it outside or on tile.

Coloring :

      www.coloring.ws/dinosaur.htm ,     www.coloringbookfun.com/dino
      http://familycrafts.about.com/od/dinosaurcoloring/Dinosaur_Coloring_Pages.htmsaur,

       http://www.ivyjoy.com/coloring/dinosaur.shtml  This website also has great links for learning  about          dinosaurs too.

Other Crafts:  Pictures Shown Below:

Pasta Art:

Supplies Needed: Different sizes and shapes of pasta, paints/markers construction paper and glue.

• Place different pasta in bowls or on paper plates.
• You may have your child paint or marker the pastas. Let them dry on wax paper.
• Have your child glue the pasta on the construction. Tell them they can make whatever they want like faces, houses,cars, etc.

Imagination Art:

Supplies Needed:  Construction paper, glue and whatever you have around the house.  Suggestions included: Popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, paints/markers/crayons, buttons, string or yarn, cereal, pom poms, gogglie eyes, cut out of your children's hands and feet out of construction paper, paper clips, stickers, stamps, feathers, rubber bands and bottle caps.

• Let your child's imagination begin. 
• Have your child glue different objects onto construction paper into any design they wish.

Canvas Art:

Supplies Needed:  Canvas, Paints, paintbrushes or let them use sponges, fingers, rubber balls, marbles.

• Let your child paint away on their canvas, just like a true artist would.
  

Activities:

Dinosaur Excavation Kit:

•  These can be purchased at target in dollar section, hobby lobby or dollar tree. 
•  They hide dinosaur bones inside a block of rock like material for the kids to use special tools that it comes with to find all the bones. 
• It gets very messy so I suggest doing it over newspaper and on tile or outside.

Fossil Dig:

1. Print out pictures from this website and cut them up in squares.
2. Make sure to keep each dinosaur bones with each other. 
3. Place one set of bones into a tub of rice. 
4.  Let the child search through the rice for all the bones. 
5.  When they find all the bones the child can then put the bones together to form their dinosaur. 
6.  I suggest printing out 2 copies of each dinosaur, that way when you cut one up the child can still see how to put it together. 

Dinosaur Grow Capsules:

•  These can be found at Target and the Dollar Tree for $1. 
• When the child takes a bath they can watch their dinosaur grow in a container filled with water.  This way they don't get lost in the tub.

Visit a Zoo or Museum: 

• Right now for those who live around Chicagoland, they have life-size dinosaurs that move and make noise. 
•  Some of these dinosaurs the kids can make move and have them make noises.
•  These can be found at Brookfield Zoo.
•  They will be there through October. 
•  http://www.brookfieldzoo.org/.

Cave Painting:

• Take a large cardboard box and cut out a door, let the child draw little cave paintings inside and outside the box. 

Hot Lava Game:

• Place a red blanket inside and over a bucket or trashcan like lava. 
• Have the child try to throw dinosaurs or bean bags into the hot lava.

Dinosaur Egg Hunt:

• Place little dinosaurs in Easter eggs and hide them around the yard. 
•  Let your child go on a dinosaur egg hunt.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dig: 

•  You will need chocolate chip cookies, and skewers for this game. 
• Let your child take the skewers and dig out the chocolate chip out of their cookies.

 

Dinosaur Egg on a Spoon Race:

• Give each child and/ or adult a spoon, plastic egg or hard-boiled egg and have a race.

Hot Dinosaur Egg: 

• This game is just like hot potato. 
• You can use an egg or bean bag.

Dinosaur Egg Stomp:

1. Tie a piece of yarn onto a balloon. 
2. Then tie the other end of the string around a child's ankle. 
3.  Then the kids try to stomp on each other balloons and try to pop them.
4. Make sure the piece of yarn is not to short or long. 

Wooden Dinosaurs: 

• Can be found at dollar trees, walmart and craft stores.
• The child just paints their dinosaurs whatever they wish
• Has a hook on back for hanging.

Snacks/Food

• Dinosaur Eggs:  Boiled Eggs
• Dinosaur Bones: Pretzel Sticks
• Chicken Wings (Meat Eaters), Vegetable Platter(Plant Eaters)
• Brontosaurs Burgers
• Popsicles with gummy dinosaurs (make your own)
• Create a Saur gummies by General Mills
• Dinosaur Cereal
• Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets
• Dinosaur Sandwiches(they have dinosaurs sandwich cutters at Wal-Mart in the bread section)
• Dinosaur Cookies (can make these with cookie cutters)
• Diego Great Dinosaur Rescue Gummies by Kellogg
• Jello Dinosaur Eggs filled with dinosaur gummies (use jello mold for making easter eggs)
• Dinosaur and Shark gummies at Hyvee

Remember to check out my books, videos and TV suggestions on supply list for week two.

Dinosaurs!!! Week Two September 13-19

Entire Supply List For Week 2 : Sept. 13-19

Theme for Week 2 is DINOSAURS!!



For those who live around the Chicagoland Area, Brookfield Zoo has a Dinosaur Exhibit going on through October.  They have Life-Size Dinosaurs, which the children can make them move and make noise with a touch of a button.  Check it out at: http://www.czs.org/czs/Brookfield/Events/Dinosaurs-Alive!.aspx


Also for those who live in bigger cities, check your local museums around your area which should also have Dinosaurs.

Most of the supplies needed for this week can be found at Target, Hobby Lobby (don't forget coupon for % off), Wal-Mart, dollar stores and most craft stores.

 Target is now marking their school supplies down by 30% now, so now is a great time to stock up on things like:

• Markers
• Crayons
• Ruler
• Construction Paper
• Glue
• Paint
• Index Cards
• Tape
• Anything else needed for crafts

Supplies needed for Crafts and Activities:

• index cards (3x5)
• foam book (per child)
• foam letters
• paper plates
• ribbon
• 2 large cardboard pieces (8x10) (need 2 per child)
• balloons
• newspaper
• flour
• rice
• print out 2 of each dinosaur on this website
• dinosaur mosaic art kit (found a hobby lobby or dollar tree)
• excavation kit (Target in $1 section or dollar tree)
• dinosaur coloring pages (print out or buy coloring book)
• paint (we used green and yellow)
• growing dinosaurs (the kind you put in water and they grow bigger)(dollar tree)
• plastic Easter eggs
• small dinosaurs
• chocolate chip cookies
• large poster board
• dinosaur foam stickers
• different color foam with a sticky-back (for mosaic art work)

Supplies Needed for Wacky Wednesday:

• Balloons
• Straws
• Paper Plates
• Feathers
• Paint- Gold
• Cup and Spoon
• Hard- Boiled Eggs or Plastic Eggs
• Yarn
• Cardboard
• Glue
• Print out Dinosaur Award or Certificate or even t-shirt iron-ons

Supplies Needed For Thirsty For Knowledge Thursday:

• Index Cards
• Foam Book (about 4x6 book, can be found at hobby lobby and dollar tree)(per child)
• Foam Numbers
• 5 Sheets of Card Stock(per child)
• Yarn
• Hole Puncher
• Pictures of Things in Sets of One or Two
• 2   8x10cardboard pieces 
• Glue

Supplies Needed For Bake Day Saturday:

• Bananas
• Strawberries
• Oranges
• Skewers
• Pick Your Own Easy Bake Recipe from:  http://www.eborecipes.com/Recipes/R124.htm    You can use these recipes even if you don't have an easy bake oven.  Its fun for the kids to measure, pour and mix things.

Supplies Needed For Snacks And Dinners:

• Create-A-Dino Gummies by General Mills (found at grocery stores)
• Dinos and Shark Gummies(found at Hy-Vee)
• Diego's Great Dinosaur Rescue Gummies by Kellogg
• Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets(Aldi's, Krogers, Hy-Vee)
• Dinosaur Sandwich Cutter(Walmart in bread section)
• Ice cube tray
• Fruit Juice
• Jello (Easter Egg Molds are great with this one)
• Chicken Wings (Meat Eaters)
• Variety of Vegetables(Plant Eaters)
• Hamburgers (Brontosaurs Burgers)
• Hard-Boiled Eggs

Suggestions Of Books For Story/Learning Time:

• Dinosaur Dinners by D.K. Reader by Lee Davis
• Dinosaur's Day by D.K. Reader by Lee Davis
• Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff
• The Usborne Little Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs
• T is for Terrible by Peter McCarty
• Dino Hockey by Lisa Wheeler
• Dancing Dinos go to School by Sally Lucas
• The Day the Dinosaurs died by Charlotte Lewis Brown
• How do Dinosaurs play with their friends by Jane Yolen
• How do Dinosaurs say good night? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
• How do Dinosaurs eat their food? by Jane Yolen
• How do Dinosaurs clean their room? by Jane Yolen
• How to Dinosaurs get well soon? by Jane Yolen
• Digging up Dinosaurs by Aliki
• Dinosaur Eggs by Jennifer Dussling
• Dinosaurs! A spot-the-difference puzzle book by Steve Parker
• What did Dinosaurs eat? by Elizabeth Macleod
• Find out about Dinosaurs by John Cooper
• Fossil DK EyeWitness Books by Dr. Paul D Taylor
• Dinosaurs (My World) by Dr. Alvin Granowsky
• Triceratops by Lara Bergen
• T-Rex by K.S. Rodriguez
• The Magic School Bus in the time of the Dinosaurs by Joanna Cole
• Readers Digest Pathfinders, Dinosaurs, by Paul Willis
• Encyclopedia Prehistorica Dinosaurs by Robert Sabuda and Mattew Reinhart (pop-up book)

Suggestions Of Great Videos And TV Shows:

• All Land Before Time Videos
• Diego's Great Dinosaur Rescue
• New Show on PBS called Dino Train
• Dinosaur
• Magic Tree House The Busasaurus
• Dinotopia
• Dink, the little dinosaur
• Check your TV guide for all dinosaur shows, they have been having a ton lately.

Entire Supply List For Week 2 : Sept. 13-19

Educational Learning for Toddlers : Week One

Week One: September 6-12

Learning New Words!

My four-year old daughter knows how to spell and write over 50 words in just under 3 months time.

First weeks words are: CAT and DOG!

Make sure to check back for next weeks words and lessons!


Supplies Needed for Learning Projects:
     Index Cards, 1 large foam sheet or 2  6x8 foam sheets, yarn, 5   8x10 sheets of card stock, hole puncher, little foam book, foam letters.


Making Child's First Book:

1. Cut one large foam sheet in half or have 2  6x8 foam sheets.
2. Fold 5  8x10 sheets of card stock in half.
3. Place foam sheet on top and bottom of the card stock.  This will make the cover of the book.
4. Punch 3 holes on sides: top, middle and bottom.  Make sure to go all the way through the layers.
5. Thread yarn through the holes and knot them.
6. Write your Child's name then First Book. Example Belle's First Book. Or make up your own title. 
7. Have Child decorate outside of their book.
8. On the first page of my book I did the following: 

                A cat

             (leave enough space for picture)

                A fat cat

            (leave enough space for picture)

              A fat cat sat on a mat

           (leave enough space for picture)

Make sure not to write it to small and print clearly.

I stuck with only 2-3 letters words starting out. This worked well for my toddler.

 9.  The next page I wrote:

            My dog

         (picture)

          My moms dog

        (picture)

          My moms dog sat on a log with a hog.

       (picture)

One doesn't have to follow the exact sentences I used. You can write any sentences you prefer. Just keep it simple.

I made sure I repeated sentence one in sentence two and sentence one and two into three and so forth.  My child starting learning the other words I hadn't taught her yet because she kept saying the same words repeatedly.  By using words similar to the words learning like cat, bat, mat it easier for them to learn because they are so similar.

 10.  After writing the sentences and reading them to your child, let them draw pictures of each sentence.  Not only will they see the words, but they will have their own pictures they made to help them out a little.  This also makes the book their own.

I read the book to my child in the morning and at night.  Just keep to two new pages a week for easier learning. 

Let your child try to sound out the word and see if they can spell the word just by listening to the word slowly.

I am not an expert in this, but this is what worked for my toddler.  I didn't want to overdo it and I wanted to make learning fun. 


Index Cards Project:

1. Write the words Cat and Dog on index cards. 
2.  On the other side have your child make a picture of the word or glue pictures of a cat and dog cut from magazines or Internet or pictures of your own pets. 
3.  When you show the picture of the cat or dog to your child have them try to spell the word.  This will take time to learn the words at first, so give them a couple days.
4. You could write the words on index cards and tape them to doors or walls so the child sees the words throughout the day. 

You can even have them laminated if you want.
I bought index cards that were hooked together with a couple rings, so they all stayed together.

Key-chain index cards:

1. Cut index cards to your desired size.
2. Punch holes in the cards.
3. Put a small ring through the holes.
4. Write your words on the cards.
5. Can laminate them it your want, so they last longer.
6. Place keyring on your keys.
7. When your standing at the checkout you can practice the words with your child.

When to teach the words:

1. Throughout the day. Ask your child "Do you remember how to spell...?" If they remember make sure to praise them, act all excited.  They will feel great and want to learn more.
2. When driving in the car, ask them to spell.
3. When going for a walk bring it up.
4. When waiting at the doctor's office.
5. While waiting in a line.
6. While waiting for the bus.

Teaching your child to write the words:

 On a plain piece of paper write words Cat and Dog.

1. Have your child trace over your words.  You can write each word in dots so the child can connect the dots. There is a great Internet site with print-ables.   
2. Your child will not write perfect at first, this will take time and practice.
3. Have the child try writing the words on their own.
4. Buy Learn to Letter with raised ruling made by Mead, to help your child learn to stay in the lines when writing.  These can be found at Wal-mart, Target, K-mart, most any place that sells school supplies.
5. In the dollar section of Target they have Reading Readiness workbook with reward stickers.  This workbook is great for children just starting to learn.

Little Foam Books:

1. I bought little foam books, which can be found a Hobby Lobby, dollar tree stores, Walmart or craft stores.
2. On the front of each book I stuck big foam letters spelling out the 2 new words for the week.  I made a new book each week.  So the first weeks book I had cat and dog. Then the second week I had a whole new foam book with the next two words.
3. Inside I wrote the words Cat on the first page, Dog on the second page, Cat on the third page and so forth.  This way they could practice one word on each page.
4. Take this book with you when you and your child are in the car.  Make sure your child knows what to do with the book.
5. You can make your own little books just like you did the reading book above.  Make sure you put writing paper inside instead of card stock.

Great page to go for handwriting worksheet print-ables

Great Starter Books:

• The Fat Cat Sat on the Mat by Nurit Karlin
• Big Egg by Molly Coxe
• Otto the Cat by Gail Herman
• Sleepy Dog by Harriet Ziefert
• Curious George The Dog Show by Monica Perez
• Clifford Makes a Friend by Norman Bridwell
• Biscuit Finds a Friend by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

 While reading the books to your child, point out the new words they are learning about. They will think its great that they are helping you read.  Every time they see their words have them say it and let them bark or meow to make it fun for them.


Find a coloring book with cats and dogs in it or print out a couple pictures for your child to color.
http://coloring-page.net/coloring.html

http://www.nickjr.com/printables/index.jhtml

Videos/Games for Learning Words:

LeapFrog:

• Talking Words Factory
• Learn to read at the Story Book Factory
• Let's go to School
• Math Circus

Game Systems for Leapfrog:

• Leapfrog Word Launch Learn to Read it System (My daughter has this and loves it)
• Leapster  (Check clearance sections at Target and Walmart for these systems, I picked mine up for $10)
• Leapfrog Tag Learning Systems (Check out my sister's site http://www.coupongeek.net/ and get great discounts on this system.  I picked mine up for $15.  Also in the clearance sections at Target and Wal-Mart you can find the books between $7-$10. They also have tag jr systems for ages 24 months - 4 years.
• Leapfrog Scribble and Write (Great system for kids learning how to write.  They get to trace over the letters, to help them learn how to write them.)

WordWorld:

•     Rocket to the Moon
•     Lucky Duck
•     Flying Ant
•     Welcome to WordWorld
•     A Kooky Spooky Halloween
•     Castles in the Sea

They have great stuff animals on this site too!  Each letter has magnetic sides that stick to other letters to form words just like in the movies.  These learning stuffies can also be found a Toys R Us for around $10.

A great game for ages 3-6 is Boggle Jr.

Hooked on Phonics is a great learning kit for kids of many ages.  (You can find these kits at Waldenbooks/Borders for under $20. Even more of a discount if you have a coupon )  (Sometimes they have great sales on these kits.  Just check my sisters site http://www.coupongeek.net/ or http://www.slickdeals.net/ for deals and coupons.)


If you have a cat or dog let your child help feed, water, bath and comb them.

Remember to check back for next weeks words and lessons!!!


         

Educational Learning for Toddlers : Week One

Cowboys and Indians: Crafts, Activities, Games, Food, Books, Songs and Videos

Week One:  September 4-12      Cowboys And Indians

Made sure you check out my educational blog that goes with each lesson for toddlers each week!!!!

Supplies for Crafts:  Different Size Foam pieces, Western shaped foam pieces, glue, glitter, glitter glue, cowboy hat, hole puncher, beads, yarn, feathers, paper towel tubes, rubber cement, toothpicks, 2 small paper bathroom cups, construction paper, markers, paints, rice, stickers, large round tubed pasta pieces, oatmeal container, wooden dowels, jar candle, leather piece, leather string, paper bag, poster board, rocks, gold paint, crafts sticks, scissors, straws, hot glue gun, glue sticks.

Crafts: Pictures for Crafts Shown at End of Posting.

Horseshoe Game:

• Materials Needed:  Foam Sheets, Western foam shapes, foam stick, glitter
• Instructions: 

1.  Make 4 Horseshoe shapes from foam sheets.
2. Make one star shape from foam sheet. 
3. Cut circle in middle of star shape for the pole to insert into. 
4. Insert foam stick about 8 inches long into middle of star.
5.   Decorate horseshoes and star with cowboy shape foam pieces like horses, stars, badges, cowboy boots and hats.
6. Can use glitter to really sparkle it up

                                                                   Cowboy Hat

•  Materials Needed: Felt or Foam Cowboy hat, western themed foam stickers, gliiter and ribbon.
• Instructions:  Decorate the hat with foam stickers and glitter. A piece of ribbon can be used to hold the hat on.

                          

                                                                Moccassins:

• Materials Needed: Felt, yarn and hole puncher
• Instructions: 

1.   I took the felt and wrapped it around my child's shoe. 
2.   I then punched holes in the top piece and bottom piece to tie them together. 
3.   After knotting the yarn all the way around, I removed the shoe and had my child try it on.  
4.    If its too big, pinch the back together and punch holes through it and tie and bow in the back.

 There are several different designs I have found at fabric stores like Hobby Lobby, that are great for this project. Remember to print out a Hobby Lobby coupon for 40% off one item. http://www.hobbylobby.com/, http://www.couponcabin.com

                                                          Bead Necklaces:

• Materials Needed: Leather string or yarn, and beads.
•  Instructions:
• Let the child build their own necklace by threading beads onto the string.

                                                       Feather Hat:

• Materials Needed: Foam pieces, yarn, feathers, glue, glitter and beads.
• Instructions: 

1. Place a piece of foam around your child's head to get their size. 
2.  Cut foam piece about 2 inches wide.
3.  Punch holes in the foam piece where you need to tie it together with yarn.  Can punch a couple different sizes if you want it adjustable. 
4. The child can now decorate the feather hat. 
5.  You can cut 2 little slits one above the other to insert the feathers into the hat.  Glue would be best to keep the feathers in place.  You can use glitter or beads on the hat. 
6.  At the end of the yarn you used to tie it together they can string beads on it.
7.  Could also make some wrist or ankle bracelets using same idea.

Rain Stick:

• Materials Needed: Couple paper towel tubes, paint, toothpicks, rubber cement or glue, two bathroom size paper cups, rice, paints or markers, glitter, stickers and jewels.
• Instuctions:

1.  Before the child starts this an adult will need to insert glued toothpicks at different levels and angles into the tube.
2.  Cover the tube with contruction paper, wrapping paper or another tube.
3.  Glue the sides of one bathroom cup and insert it into one of the openings. 
4.  Then let the child pour in a bathroom size cup of rice.
5. Then glue the sides of another cup and insert in the other opening.
6. Let the child decorate the outside with paints, markers, glitter, stickers, and jewels.

Pasta Necklace:

• Materials Needed: Large round tubed pasta, paint, yarn and wax paper.
• Instructions:

1.   Let the child paint each pasta piece they want for their necklace. 
2.  Place the wet pasta pieces on wax paper to prevent from sticking. 
3. When the pasta is all dry, they can thread yarn through the pasta and have a beautiful necklace.

                                                                      Drum:

• Materials Needed: Oatmeal container or other container, glue, construction paper, leather pieces, beads, markers or paint, glitter, feathers, 2 wooden dowels and beans.
• Instructions:

1.  Glue construction paper around the container for decorating it, let dry. 
2. Can decorate it with leather pieces, beads, markers, paint, glitter or feathers. 
3. Wooden dowels can be decorated for the sticks for drumming. 
4. I put beans inside the drum for a little extra noise. 

Tom Tom:

• Materials Needed: Paper towel tube, feathers, wooden dowel, beads, yarn and paint.
• Instructions:

1.  Cut the tube down to about 6 inches long. Use the left over tube for top and bottom of tubes. 
2. Place the tube onto the leftover tube and trace 2 circles to cover the opening. (Make sure not to make them too small).
3.  After cutting out the circles cut a hole in the center of one of them for the dowel to go into.  If one wants they can use a thicker cardboard for the circles. 
4. Glue the dowel into the hole and then glue the circle onto the tube. 
5. After it dries, place rice into the tube and glue the top on.  Make sure the glue dries before shaking, otherwise the rice will stick to the glue. 
6. After everything is dried, they may now decorate the tube and dowel.  They can use paint, beads, feathers, stickers and glitter. We glued a bead on top of the tube and glued feathers into it.  Then at the end of the handle we tied and glued some yarn and put beads and feathers in the beads.

Candle:

• Mateials Needed: jar candle, leather material, leather string and beads.
•  Instructions:

1. We found a jar candle we liked and took some pieces of leather to fit around the jar. 
2.  After cutting the leather piece to fit around the candle, cut little strips to look like fringe. 
3. Glue the fringe around the candle. 
4. Then glue a leather string around the jar long enough to put beads on the end. 
5.  Great gift idea!

Gold:

• Materials Needed: Rocks, gold paint, sand, strainer.
• Instructions:

1.   Find rocks around your house or neighborhood  paint them gold. 
2.  Place the gold in with some sand and other rocks and let your child use a strainer and pan for gold.

Photo Frame: 

• Materials Needed: Photo frame with matte in it (can be found a dollar tree)or foam photo frame, glitter or puff paint, jewels, markers or crayons, stickers and stamps, black and white picture, magnet.
• Instructions:

1. Have your child use glitter glue or puff paint and decorate the matte. 
2.  Can use a foam picture frame to decorate instead.
3. You can also make your own by having 2 pieces of foam and cutting out the center of one and glueing it on the other one. After placing the picture in it can be cover by a thin piece of plastic  By placing a magnet on the back it can be hung up on the fridge or file cabinet or anything else metal.

Vests:

• Materials Needed: Brown paper bag, markers or crayons, glitter or jewels.
• Instructions:

1.  Cut the paper bag to make it look like a vest for the child to wear and decorate it.
2.  Could put a star on it to make it look like a sherrifs badge.

Wanted Poster:

• Materials Needed: 8 x 10 black and white picture of child , poster board, markers or crayons and glitter.
• Instructions:

1. Print out a 8 x 10 black and white picture of your child and glue it to some poster board and put wanted and whatever you wish for the reward. 
2.  You can have your child decorate it.
3.  You could have a little jail you made with a big cardboard box you both decorated. You can get Big cardboard boxes from places like Sears, Lowes, Menards, places that sell big items like stoves and fridges.  You can call ahead to these stores and ask for them to save you one.

God's Eye:

• Materials Needed: 2 craft sticks, yarn in 2 or 3 colors, glue, feathers and beads.
• Instructions:

1.  Glue the two craft sticks to make an X. Let dry.
2.  Tie yarn to the center of the X.
3. Loop yarn under the first stick, then over and around the next stick, then over and around the next, and so on. 
4. Make sure the rows are not on top of each other.
5.   Change colors when an "eye" has been made in the center. 
6. Tie the two colors of yarn together.
7. Keep weaving. 
8. Stop when there is about 1/2 inch of the craft sticks showing. 
9.  Tie the yarn tightly onto the craft stick. 
10.  If you wish, decorate the ends of the craft sticks with yarn, feathers, or beads. 
11.  This craft idea was found in the book, "Hispanic-American Crafts Kids Can Do!" by Fay Robinson. This decoration comes from the Hutichol Indians of Mexico.

Mayan Weavings:

• Materials Needed: 5 drinking straws, colorful yarn.
• Instructions:
  
• To make a loom, thread a piece of yarn through each straw. Leave 2-3 inches of yarn sticking out of each end.



• Line up the straws and tie the pieces of yarn together. 



•  Cut another of yarn about 1-2 feet long. 



•  Tie one end to a straw.



• Weave over and under each straw until you get to the other side of the loom.



•  Then weave over and under the other way.



• Push the woven yarn together. 



• Continue weaving until you have about an inch of yarn left. 



• Choose another color.  Tie 1-2 foot piece of yarn to the end of the last piece. 



• Cut the ends short. 



• Continue weaving. 



• If you wish, choose new colors or create a pattern. 



•  When you have reached the end of the straws, tie the yarn around the end of one straw. 



• Untie the big knot of yarn at one end of the loom. 



• Carefully pull out each straw. 



• Then tie the knot again. 



• This craft idea was also found in the book, "Hispanic-American Crafts Kids Can Do!"  by Fay Robinson.  This decoration comes from the Mayan Indians of Guatemala.



•  Can be used as a bookmark if wanted.

Feather Painting:

• Materials Needed: Feathers, paint, paper.
• Instructions:
• Take a feather and dip it into paint and use the feather instead of a paintbrush.  The painting comes out with some cool effects.

Mosiac Foam Art:

• Materials Needed: Coloring book, different color foam pieces, glue
• Instructions:

1.  Find a picture in a coloring book or print one out and instead of using paints and such use foam pieces. Someone could also draw their own picture for this project too.
2.  Cut foam pieces into tiny squares or other shapes and glue them onto the picture.  They also sell foam with a sticky back so no glue is needed. 
3.  I have found that places that carry crafts also carry mosiac art kits which everything is already done for you. (I know hobby lobby carries them.)

Activities:

• Plastic Cowboy and Indian Toys
• Use a broom or a long stick (decorated dowel) to pretend to ride a horse (could have horse races)
• Find a place near you, that has horseback riding
• Play Cowboy and Indians, use facepaint, dress-up with the cowboy hat, red bandana, indian headress and buy or make a bow and arrow, make a tent indoors under the table or a tee-pee, play the the drums and tom-tom just made. Could also have outlaws that rob banks and such too,
• Have a bonfire-cook over fire like they did back then.
• Camp-Out have lanterns, set under the stars and enjoy nature.
• When its dark play flashlight tag
• Take black and white pictures just like back then.
• Hide and Seek
• Tell ghost stories around the campfire.
• Pin the badge on the sheriff
• Theres a snake in my boots/hat game where they try to throw plastic snakes into a boot/hat to see who gets the most.
• Watergun fight, could also put up items on a ledge and try to squirt them down.
• Indian tribal dance
• Pan for Gold!
• Coloring Pages

           http://www.printactivities.com/ColoringPages/Horse_Coloring_Pages/Horse_Coloring_Pages.html

           http://www.coloring-fun.com/cowboy-coloring-pages.html

           www.coloring-fun.com/indian-coloring-pages.html



Snacks or Foods to use:  Could serve these items in a pie tin .

• Smores
• Chili
• Corn on the Cob
• Hot Dogs
• Baked Beans
• Watermelon
• Little Chicken legs
• Cactus Drink(Green kool-aid or pop)
• Gummy handcuffs

Songs:

• Home on the Range
• Do your ears hang low
• B-I-N-G-O
• Old McDonalds Farm

Games:

• Marbles
• Jacks
• Phase 10 for kids
• Go Fish
• Old Maid
• Memory (could make your own by finding cowboy and indian pictures and glueing them on cardboard pieces.

Books: Local Libraries or Stores

• Gallop by Rufus Butler Seder
• Little britches and the rattlers by Eric A Kimmel
• Duck Tents by  Lynne Berry
• Cowboy and Octopus by Jon Scieszka
• Cowboy Ned and Andy by David Ezra Stien

Videos/TV

• An American Tale: Fievel Goes West
• Home on the Range
• Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
• Little House on the Prairie
• The Lone Ranger
• Rifleman
• Bonaza
• Wyatt Earp Movies

Cowboys and Indians: Crafts, Activities, Games, Food, Books, Songs and Videos

Tidbits/FYOI- For Your Own Information

Renewing Contracts/Contract Ended

When renewing contracts with people like At&t or Directv, make sure to get a great deal.

At&t ask them if they will wave the upgrade fee of $18. When dealing with them when you have a problem, I've found it best to email them first. This way you can get out what you want to say and get results done. When your phone breaks and you have insurance, they will offer you a couple differet phones if they don't have yours anymore. Simply tell them that you would like to see what phones are out there and if you could call them back with the phone you want. Just pick the phones that have the same features as your current one. You could do this ahead of time if you want it right away.

With Directv tell them you have been with them for so long and you want them to give you a good deal. Tell them you would like $10 off your bill for the next 12 months, 3-12 months of free showtime, startz, cimemax all three. You would like to have an upgraded box to the DVR. Sometimes they will give you buy one get one free or a certain amount off too.

Becareful when your waiting to talk to someone when on hold with anyone because they have people listening on the other end. They don't talk to you, they just listen to you conversions. this call will be monitored is what they will say.



At great place to go to check out cell phones and what people think of them is http://www.phonescoop.com/


There is a new item out there that most people don't know about. Its micro SD cards with predownloaded music albums on them. They have the full album on them. These fit in MP3 players, cell phones, computers. They also have the device for sale to go with them for $20. Most Walmarts sell these in the music section of their store.



There is a great new show out there during the week at around 3 o'clock. Its called The Doctors. They discuss everything from diets to buying a bed. There are 4 doctors that talk and answer questions. One is an ER doctors, OB Doctor, Plastic Surgeon, Surgeon. Check it out, you'll be glad you did.



Here's a litlle tidbit for everyone that shops at Target. Target marks their electronics down on Mondays and their other items on Tuesday. I always check the back isles for great sales.


A great place for free music ringtones, video, games, theme, and wallpaper backgrounds for your cell phones is http://www.zedge.net/


Another great place on the internet is http://www.goozex.com/. You can pick up or trade your games for all systems, even very old ones. You just pick your game you want to trade or get and you will get a response from someone who wants it or give you. You must have trade points, which are $1 to get trade or game. You will be given points for your game you trade to get another game you want. Or you will have to buy points to get the game. 100 points is $5. You can sign up through this website and get free 100 points and with your first trade, You get points and so I. You can only do with refer a friend to get the extra first trade points. You are responsible for the shipping costs, which you can use the media mail. Its a great website, been using it for a couple years now. If you have any questions just ask.

http://www.goozex.com/referral.asp?idr=572750219267




Here's a tidbit:

If you get a bunch of free samples from different websites, they make a great way for your overnight guests to use stuff they forgot, like shampoos, medicines and such. You can place them in a basket and set it in the guest bathroom or in the guestroom itself.

My sister uses her free samples from the internet, CVS, Walgreens, etc. and puts them in a basket and gives them out as gifts for birthdays and such.

Check out her website http://www.coupongeek.net/ Her websites are also in the upper right hand corner of this blog site. She has lots of great deals.

Another website I love http://www.slickdeals.net/. They have lots of great deals for eveyone on there.

Tidbits/FYOI- For Your Own Information

Activities to do with your Toddler/Child

There are a lot of times parents or grandparents ask themselves what can I do with a toddler?

I've asked myself this question lots of times and have compiled a lists of things to do with your toddler.

Toddlers love to be involved with the things your doing. They like to copy and be just like you.

Toddlers can:

Fold and hang up clothes.

Help with cleaning house. They like to dust, sweep, mop, vacuum, clean windows. Just becareful not to give a child Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. They give kids rashes, they are very harmful for them. Make sure not to give them any harmful chemicals either. They do make little kids clean-up kits with brooms, mops, vacuums, etc. My daughter has these and they are just the right size for her.

Help wash dishes. Even rinsing the dishes, just becareful and not give them anything glass or sharp. Could even give them a little pan with water.

Clean-up. This works great if you sing a clean-up song with them or make it a game.
Here are some great clean-up songs to sing with your child:

Let's Clean Up To the tune of "Farmer In the Dell"
Let's clean up today Let's clean up today We've had our fun Our day is done. So, let's clean up today.

It's Time To Cleanup (Tune: Frere Jacques)
Are you helping, are you helping Pick up toys, Pick up toys Let us all be helpers, Let us all be helpers. Girls and boys, girls and boys

Clean-up Song Improvise a tune:
Clean-up, clean-up Everybody get some toys. Clean-up, clean-up All the little girls and boys. Clean-up, clean-up Everybody do your share. Clean-up, clean-up Everybody, everywhere.


Help cook or bake things like cookies or cakes. A good time to get cake mixes is after a major holiday like valentines day or Christmas. They discount the cake items and they don't expire for over a year.

I bought my child an easy bake oven and she loves it. You must supervise them at all times. Their little hands could get stuck in the oven because if nobody helps them. It comes with a push device so that their hands won't ever touch it. A good website to go on for recipes to use with the easy bake oven is http://www.eborecipes.com/

Play games like:
Hi-Ho Cherri-o
Go-Fish
Hide and Seek
Monopoly Jr.
Yahtzee Jr.
Memory (They have all sorts of charaters now like Disney, wow wow wubbzy, etc.)
Cooties
Boggle Jr. (Great game for them to learn how to spell)
Dominoes (They have ones for children like Dora)
Operation
Sliders (This is fun for the whole family)

Puzzles are great for toddlers because they teach them problem solving. I wouldn't go no bigger than 25 pieces. Easy to start off with 10 pieces and work your way up. Wooden ones are great for the really young toddlers.

Toddlers love to color or paint.

You can go on several websites. and print out coloring pages. When they have school supply sales in August, I always pick up extra crayons and paints or other items while they are inexpensive and have them throughout the year. When your dealing with younger toddlers the jumbo crayons work best for them because they don't break as easy. And a good thing to get is Washable paints. They sell paint shirts or jackets in the craft section which are a big help. My sister buys canvas pieces for hers to fingerpaint on and then she hands them out as gifts for peoples birthdays or special occasions.

Free coloring pages for printing:

http://www.coloringpages.net/
http://www.nickjr.com/ (They have ones for Dora, Diego, Backyardigans, etc.)


Outdoor activities:

Nature Walks. You could point out the things in nature like trees, birds, flowers and ask questions. Like what color, what flower they like, things like that. You can let them take pictures and develop them for a craft for to put in photo album. If you take a bag with you on your walk, your little one can pick up things on the walk, like acrons, leaves, sticks, wild flowers (watch for bees). Then when you get back you can talk about each item and make a craft with it. I took clear shelving paper and made it the size of a placemat, (double it because you have to fold it over), and let them stick their treasures on it. You then fold it over and it becomes sealed to use as a placemat. (You can also use string and such for it too.)

Find a local flower garden to visit

Make a flower or vegetable garden in your backyard for them to help with. Stores carry little kids garden stuff like: Rubber boots, tools, kneeling pads, gloves. They have kids seed starter kits for them to watch their seeds grow before planting them in the ground.

Find a playground in your area or others. One of our local playgrounds has a big private ship for the kids to play on. When we go there we make a day of it. We bring along a picnic lunch and play the day away. Finger foods work great like: Budding meats, cut-up watermelon, grapes, string cheese, bread, gummy snacks, strawberries, carrots, celery sticks cookies(make sure nothing that melts like chocolate), bring juice boxes, wipes. Make sure to bring sunscreen for them.

Check for local soccer groups. Usually the age they take a toddler is 4. This will give them exercise and a chance to play as a group.

Check your local YMCA, colleges or facilities like this for activities they might offer. Ours offers soccer, crafts, movie night, parent time for times when you need a date with your spouse alone, ballerina and karate classes. On Easter or Christmas or other holidays they have fun times like Under Water Easter Egg hunts, Night at the Movies.

They love to play with sidewalk chalk, help clean your car with you, outdoor paint.

In the Car Activities:

Sing Songs. They sell CDs that are just for toddlers. Simple songs that we all know like BINGO, Farmer in the Dell..

Coloring

Portable Game system like V-Smile Pocket. (My daughter has this system and she started playing it when she just turned 3. They are very simple games and a lot of fun. They have 2 kinds out now for them. One is like the DS (touch screen) and the other just buttons. They keep the kids entertained for hours. They also have a new system called the V-Smile Motion, which is like the Wii for Toddlers. They have to move the controller or pretend to jump over logs and such. Cartiages run about $25 for them. The advantages is that you can still use the games that the V-smile pocket has which run about $15 to 20 in the games except they don't motion. Use can use the V-smile motion cartiages in the V-smile pocket too.

I see with my little eye game


Indoor Activities

Set up a Supermarket. JCpenny has a great deal on one right now. Called the Supermarket Deluxe.
http://www3.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?DeptID=62371&CatID=64243&GrpTyp=PRD&ItemID=15f92ee&attrtype=&attrvalue=&CMID=6237162948&Fltr=&Srt=&QL=F&IND=1&CmCatId=623716294864243

Take a big cardboard box and make a house. If you don't have one call your local stores and they may have one to hang on for you.


They also have cardboard box houses that you can color. These are great for parties with kids too. They get to play in the house and color it at the same time.


Make a puppet theater. You can take 2 tension rods and place a curtain on each one and hang it the curtains on the doorframe. Puppets can be made from socks, or sticks, or 2 pom pom with eyes and attached with pipe cleaners like Oobi.


Buy an indoor tent for kids and have a camp night. You could have sleeping bags, flashlights, make smores in the microwave, watch a movie on a portable DVD player. Or if you don't have the money to buy a tent, then put a sheet over a table and have a tent this way.


Play Dress-Up. I buy costumes after Halloween when they are on clearance or at garage sales or goodwill or Salvation Stores. I hung a Shower Rod up on the wall and hung her costumes up with way. I bought pretend make, necklaces, shoes. We even made our own.


Crafts!! Are a big thing for Toddlers to do. If you get all the stuff ahead a time you won't be stuck trying to figure out what to do on a rainy day. You could set up some shoeboxes with a theme and use this theme all day long. Like animal day, doctor day, teacher day, dinosaur day, winter day themes. I usually get my stuff on discount after holidays.

Need on supply:
Safety scissors
Glue sticks/Glue Glitter/GlitterGlue
Crayons/Paint Beads
Construction Paper Stamps
Foam Items Stickers
Felt Items Lids from milk cartons/pop/water
Google Eyes Paper
Pom Poms
Pasta pieces for necklaces
String/Yarn

Target has a lot of things in there $1 items in the front of the store



Teach the kids how to write their names, alphabet, numbers, tell time


Take a Bath with light up stuff that they use in pools. Shut off all the lights and let them play in the dark with a tub full of bubbles and lights. They also have crayons or paint for use in the tub too. They have instruments to play in tubs too.


Toddlers like fish so a great thing to get is a Beta fish that can live in a bowl of water or in a little kids fish take. They don't need filter water or heat. They do have plants to put in with them that they love to eat and help keep water clean. Another thing to get is a Sea Monkey kit and they can watch them grow from a little egg. Plus they can put them in special watches or necklaces to take with them.

Great movies for toddlers to watch is:

Baby Einstein
they teach everything from music to shapes

WordWorld
all the characters in the movie are spelled out. The dog is a dog spelled out to say dog. Teaches the kids to recognize the words that go with the item.

Max and Ruby

Mickey Mouse ClubHouse

Peep

Curious George

Oswald (my nephew loves this one)

Handy Mandy

Dora/Diego

Blues Clues

Lazy Town (teaches kids to exercise, eat right)

Jack's Big Music Show (there is a lot of singing on here and great singers)

Activities to do with your Toddler/Child

Great Books for Toddlers

There are so many books out there and people sometimes wonder what books are good for my toddler?

When looking for books for toddlers, make sure that they aren't too long or too short. I stick with 3-4 sentences a page. Books that get them involved like touch -n- feel books, Singing and motion books, scanimation books.

The Authors listed below have other great books similiar to the ones listed.

The following are a list of great books my child and others have loved:

Gallop : A scanimation picture book by Rufus Butler Seder

If You Give A Pig A Pancake by Laura Numeroff.

Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin Jr/Eric Carle

Max's Bedtime by Rosemary Wells (Max and Ruby Books)

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

We're going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury Motions and Actions for Song: http://www.songsforteaching.com/tickletunetyphoon/goingonabearhunt.htm

No More Diapers for Ducky! by Bernette Ford and Sam Williams Great for Potty Training!!!

Look and Find Books by publications international, ltd Great for Travel

Opposites with Oswald by Lauryn Silverhardt

Chika Chika Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr, John Archambualt, Lois Ehlert My Daughters Favorite Book and authors

Great Magazine for Toddlers is High Five. Great gift for toddlers to get for birthday and they get mail too.

Great place to order books :http://www.amazon.com/

Your local library has these books too. If they don't have any of these books, they can get them from another library for you.

The Library is a great place to go for books, movies(even new releases), story hour and craft hour. Its best to get a child of any age into reading because its a lot easier to get them to keep reading.

The Libraries around us have story hour and craft hour for the kids and my little one loves it. Most Libraries have a section in the newspaper or online about upcoming events for the area. Check it out and get your little one into loving the library.

Great Books for Toddlers