Once Upon a Baby Brother Giveaway

I'm hoping to win this book to share with my girls, but would be excited if one of my reader's won it!




What I like about Once Upon a Baby Brother is the unique spin the author takes to share how the main character deals with having a baby brother. The illustrations are just adorable. You'll have to visit Brimful Curiosities to read her wonderful review and to enter the giveaway!

Happy Reading and Good Luck!

Jen

The Baby Times! 9th Edition: I Love You Songs

I must admit, I have shared the I Love You Barney song with my children quite a few times. I've had to stop singing it once the girls became way too cool for Barney, but now my little man enjoys it. Besides this love song, I like to sing a song about love that my mother sang to me when I was a tot. I'm not sure of the title, but it starts like this- I love you a bushel and a peck... All of my kids enjoyed this song and my girls will even let me still sing this one to them. Please excuse my singing, it's not the best, but I do have a cute video of me sharing this song with little man.



Do you have a special LOVE song that you like to sing to your little ones? And please admit if you sing Barney, too.

Enjoy your day!

Jen

Creative Chalk Games

Sidewalk Chalk- fun for learning numbers and letters and for playing simple outdoor games.  Besides the traditional hopscotch, I thought that it would be fun to play a couple of different games with the kids.  The girls enjoyed trying something different and it tied in a little bit of math, too! Try out some of the fun games below with your kiddos.

Bulls eye- Directions: Using your chalk,draw a bulls eye.  Put a 10 in middle, a 5 in the next ring, and 1 in the last ring. Using a small stone (or bean bag), toss 3 times to get the highest score.  Add the total of the 3 throws.  The person with the highest score wins.  Sunshine enjoyed creating her own version of the game. She added a spot for 100 and one for 1,000.  Practice other math facts by having different numbers in the rings- 2, 4, and 6 for example. For younger children have 1, 2, and 3.

Positive/Negative Bulls Eye: For older children, you can make a bullseye, but have 1 and -1, etc. to practice adding positive and negative numbers. Draw a number line to show positive and negative before playing the game.

House- Directions: Using your chalk, draw a house with a door, two windows, a roof, and a chimney.  Write numbers one to 5 on each shape.  Toss the stone trying to get each part of the house in the least number of throws as possible.  Also can play like the game above- add the numbers to get the highest score. 

Awesome ideas from Family Fun! (Can't wait to try out some of these!)
Beyond Hopscotch
Chalk It Up!

Make your own sidewalk chalk:About.com-sidewalk chalk

Other ideas:
-chalk and water painting using spray bottle or large paint brush
-new 3D chalk available with glasses
-share abstract art and create own abstract creation with chalk

Do you have any fun ideas to do with sidewalk chalk?  Be sure to comment and share your creative ideas.

Jen

Wordless Wednesday: We Love Camp!

Investigating Pond Life

We love our pond!

Meet Mr. Newt

Little Man Loves Camp, Too

Momma Relaxing

Mmmm! Watermelon

Relaxing at the Lake

Little Man and Momma

My First Time at the Beach

Looking for Elk

Beautiful Dragonfly

Sweet Peanut

Toad!

A Tadpole, Mom.

Gotta love a Daisy.

Sad to Leave!

Camp is Fun, but Exhausting!

Even for Little Man

Can't Wait to go back to camp! It's so peaceful and always a good time!

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

For More W.W., be sure to visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Enjoy your Day!!

Jen

The Baby Times! 8th Edition: Black and White

When little man was born, my girls were very curious about what he could see or how far away, etc.  I had mentioned once that babies like black and white, so my daughters picked up on this and would start looking for toys that had black and white patterns on it. Patterns having 100% contrast are the easiest for baby to see, so at first baby does prefer to look at black and white images according to research.  Below are a couple of books that my little man has been enjoying.  The first one, my six year old picked out for her baby brother!

"An ideal book for little eyes and ears." -School Library Journal

Accordian style fold out book -can stand by itself.

Resources for Free Black and White printables:

http://baby.zorger.com/

http://www.fun-baby-games-online.com/free-printable-bw.html
Need to sign up for free enzine to get access to free printables.

http://sleepingbaby.net/jan/Baby/mobile.html
Directions and printables for making a mobile.

New research also shows that babies can see color starting around 2 weeks, so black and white isn't the only items that we should share with baby. Colorful toys can be used as well to stimulate babies eye development. I have a set of large colorful blocks that my son seems to enjoy- they are cloth with different pictures or activities on each side. He's figured out how to pick them up with his little hands because he'll pull on one of the activities. Isn't fun to watch our babies grow and change?

Enjoy your day!
Jen

Resource:
WHAT CAN MY BABY SEE?

By Russell D. Hamer, Ph.D.* Revised by Giuseppe Mirabella, Ph.D.

 The Baby Times! - Past editions