Hh is for Hippo....

Isn't this hippo adorable? I saw this craft from DLTK and just had to have an Hh day with little man.  Plus he has really been into hippos lately since he got a super cute hippo bath set for Christmas. 

We actually only made the face, because the bottom didn't print for me for some reason. 

I also found a cute hippo song to sing from the same site.



Peanut also decided to join in on the fun and sang this song to little man...

I can spell cat..  C-A-T
I can spell hat...  H-A-T
I can spell bat... B-A-T
But I can't spell hippopotamus!!

Hippo mini- poster: And then I search online for actual pics of hippos on google images and let little man pic out his favorite images.  I printed and cut them out or him and he glued them on to paper.  Hh is for hippo is in the center of our mini-poster. 

Other activities we did we Hh-
bingo dabber letter
hopping
Hh is for happy- If your happy and your know it, clap your hands....

And here is the bath toy, he's been enjoying.  It has also been great for color recognition- hand Momma the yellow hippo, etc. or what color is that hippo? 

Bruin Whistling Hippo Bath Toys

Wish I had taken a trip to the library before doing an Hh day, but sometimes I'm just throwing things together at the last minute based on his interest that day.  Anyways- these books look adorable for a Hippo day.....

Disclaimer: I didn't receive any compensation for mentioning the above product.  It is my son's toy and he loves it, but other toddlers may not!  Also, haven't read the above books, but would like to in the near future.  :)

Valentine's Day Plans

I've been sick the last couple of days-found out today that I have strep throat, so I've had plenty of time to Pin.  Do you use Pinterest? One of my boards that is getting quite full is my Valentine's Day section.  There are so many adorable ideas out there!  I can't seem to stop pinning them, so I thought that I'd come up with a plan- a Valentine's Day bucket list of things that I must do....  things that I think will bring happiness to myself and to others!

#1 I MUST make a cute wreath for my front door!

Not sure what I'm going to do yet, but here are a couple of possibilities....



www.nikkiinstitches.com



She's (kinda) Crafty

#2 Dessert on Valentine's Day, we will be having!

                                            from Ramblings of a Crazy Woman

I bought heart gummies that I'm going to attach with tooth pics for the antennae and I already purchased the cupcakes. My kids are going to LOVE this- can't wait!

#3 I fell in love with this the two garland crafts (below) a couple of weeks ago-

I hope that I'll follow through on making one of them.

I guess it depends how hard it's going to be to make the wreath!

But I love, love, love these.......



Make and Takes

brown paper packages


Well, that's all I'm going to share for now. I have a few more things up my sleeve for the kiddos and hubby.

If you want to see more of the goodies that I've pinned, be sure to follow me over at Pinterest and check out my Valentine's Day board! 

Happy Pinning and Crafting!

Jen





Dinosaur Spinner Game

After reading a post from Activity Mom on number spinners, I got the inspiration to play a spinner game with little man.  I found a clear spinner in my teacher materials and added different color dino stickers to match colored dinos from his toy bin.  We took turns spinning the spinner and collected dinos to match the color on the spinner.  When we were finished, we counted each color of dinos that we collected.  For example, little man had 3 orange dinos when we were finished, so we counted them together. 

Skills
fine-motor- spinning the spinner
color recognition
counting
language skills
social- taking turns

Enjoy playing and learning with your little ones today!
Jen

40 Yikes!

Today I've lived 40 years- ugg!  It's hard to believe; I'm such a big kid at heart so it feels a bit weird.  Please don't let this offend anyone 40 and up, it's just how I feel about being me.

Last night I got my hair done- my present to myself. Hope this helps me feel better about being 40 today. 

This morning- cream cheese crackers and toast for breakfast, compliments of Sunshine.

A beautiful poem from Peanut....

Magnificent
Outstanding
My Beautiful Mom
My Awesome Mom
You are 40, even though you look 30

Enjoy your day,
Jen

Boys' potty time

Little man has been enjoying his new potty book!

The front opens up like a toilet seat cover-super cute. 

There are real-life pictures of big boys going potty. It takes your little boy through the steps with lots of encouragement. Reward stickers are also included.

Little man looks so cute tonight in his big boy undies holding his new book!  He is a little young, but has shown so much interest in the potty, so I'm going with it! 

What potty books have been successful for you?

Jen

Disclaimer: I didn't receive any compensation for this review.  The opinions are my own and may differ from others.

Ii is for ice cream and ice cubes....

Oh, I've been finding so many AWESOME ideas on your blogs and on Pinterest! Thank you, thank you, thank you.... I love this community.  Today I am excited to work on letter Ii today, because you have inspired me to do so!! 


 Here is where I found my ideas for today's letter fun with little man.....



Ii for icecream from Preschool Playbook...

   Ii is for ice cubes from H is for Homeschool....



Our snack today is going to be....

ICE CREAM- Yeah!! with sprinkles on top, of course. I'll see if little man can scoop it out and then I'll let him put on his colored sprinkles. 

I scream, you scream, we all scream for Ice cream!!

Other ideas...

*ice cream playdo cones

    review colors and poem

Ice Cream Colors

We have ice cream, the best in town,
Let us begin with chocolate brown.


Now, let us scoop us some bubble-gum pink,
It is sweet and yummy, the best, some think.


Here is ice cream minty and green,
It is the creamiest I have ever seen.


Yellow ice cream is lemony and tart,
We like its taste from the very start.


Scoops of blueberry would make my day,
Look at all this ice cream, hip, hip hurray!


Red ice cream is a strawberry delight,
All these scoops are a heavenly sight.

Vanilla white is a popular flavor,
It tastes very good to an ice-cream craver.

Purple ice cream really gives me a kick,
Good and yummy till the very last lick.


Ice cream, ice cream, what a cool sensation,
We love ice cream in any combination!


(This could also be made into a flannel board story.)
~Submitted by Cheryl's Sweethearts ChildCare

Enjoy your day!  What are your letter Ii ideas? 


Jen









Wordful Wednesday: Alpaca Experience

We took a field trip to an alpaca farm today and boy, were we in for an awesome surprise.....


baby girl alpaca-born 1-18-2012

We were able to experience the birth of a baby girl alpaca!

Welcome to the world, cutie.  My kids are just so excited to be able to have had this learning opportunity today.  You can't get that from a text book.

Fun facts about alpacas
Enchanted learning: alpaca activity


Enjoy your day and Happy Wordless Wednesday!


For more WW- be sure to visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Jen

Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

Martin's Big Words- book review and Video

Blessings for a great day,
Jen

Wordless Wednesday: Dinosaur Fun!

and to read ....

Happy, Happy Wordless Wednesday!
Be sure to visit 5 Minutes for Mom, too.

Jen

Snowman Glyphs

Do you need a fun way to teach your child how to follow directions?  Well, glyphs are a perfect way to teach this important skill.  A glyph is a pictoral way to show data.  The snowman glyph below is a fun activity to do as a family.  Collect data, create your snowman, and then compare!


Snowman Glyph





Here is another glyph activity from my daughter's 2nd grade cyber-teacher...
Snowman Pattern

Using the Snowman printout above-Follow these directions to make your snowman.
 

•If you were born in the months January, February, March or April you will color the scarf pointed to the left.
•If you were born in the months, May, June, July or August, you will color the scarf pointing straight down.
•If you were born in the months September, October, November or December you will color the scarf pointed to the right.

•If you are a boy, color the snowman's scarf red.
•If you are a girl, color the snowman's scarf blue.

•If your last name begins with the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G or H you will color the Top Hat.
•If your last name begins with the letters I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P or Q you will color the Knitted Hat.
•If your last name begins with the letters R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y or Z you will color the Stocking Cap.

•If you are are girl, color your hat Red with Blue Stripes.
•If you are a boy, color your hat Yellow with Black Stripes.

•If you like to build snowmen, color the nose Orange.
•If you do not like to build snowmen, color the nose Purple.

•If you like Hot Cocoa, draw arms on your snowman.
•If you don't like Hot Cocoa, draw a flower on your snowman.

Peanut's snowman....


This activity can be adapted for younger children with simple directions and less detail. 

Hope you enjoy your day!
Jen

Ff is for fish, fingers, and feet!

Squishy paint between your toes!  Sound like fun? Maybe not to you, but to my little one- he just loved it! We have been focusing on the letter Ff this week.  Yesterday, we made a fish and did a letter Ff activity.

  Today we painted with our feet and fingers!  Little man decided to get his face involved as well.  It does start with the letter Ff, so how could I say No! 

and of course after painting with your feet, you just have to read....

Enjoy your day,

Jen

Wordless Wednesday: Homemade Party Hats!

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

For more W.W, be sure to visit 5 Minutes for Mom and Dagmar's Momsense!

Jen

Cookie Monster Birthday Party!

Little man turned 2 or as he would say.. "twooooooo" last week! We threw him a Cookie Monster/Sesame Street themed birthday party.  All of the toddlers/preschoolers seemed to have a great time!  I kept it small, because I wanted them to enjoy each other and not be so overwhelmed.  Also, I knew we would be having a lot of family over the next evening as well.

Here are a couple of pictures and ideas if you are interested in throwing your own Cookie Monster party....

I baked the cupcakes and printed out clip art that I pasted to card stock. Then I attached them to toothpicks to put in the cupcakes.  For favors, I used cookie crisp cereal that I wrapped in small bags. (see the Sesame Street cups) Also, I wrapped little Sesame Street books for each child that I found at the dollar tree.

Love this Cookie Monster balloon that I found at the local party store!

For Games and Activities...

We played feed Cookie monster a cookie. (our version of pin the tail of the donkey) I made the Cookie Monster above with poster board and construction paper.  The cookies I already had from a great Sesame Street Learning Kit that I had purchased on Time for Tots. (kit shown below)

We also sang C is for Cookie and danced to Sesame Street music.  Lots of Sesame Street toddler toys for play and coloring pages, too!

Yeah, my little man turned 2!  Hi five for Mommy!

Happy 2nd Birthday to my little man! Boy have these two years flown by! He brings so much joy to our household.

Enjoy your day!

Jen