Hands-on Heart Activities

 

Last year, I found these hearts at one of my favorite places to shop for learning materials..The Dollar Tree.  I used them for a Valentine Sensory Bin.  This year, I got them out for a baby that I care for.. she's 9 months.  Above, you can see her trying to problem solve to get the hearts on and off of the bears.  Great baby thinking activity and helps to strengthen those itty bitty muscles in her developing fingers. 

 



The 18 month old that I care for above enjoys hiding them in the small rice bin.  Little Man age 3.. enjoys using them in his rice bin as well.  I hide them in the bottom and he goes on a heart expedition!

5 more ways to play with hearts..

Sorting by color.  Cut out three large hearts.. Red, Purple, and Pink.  Have your tot place the heart bracelets on the matching construction paper heart. 

Counting- how many pink hearts can you find?  how many red?

Patterns.. Pink, Purple, Purple, Pink....

Toss... Cut the top off of an old milk carton.  Can your child toss the hearts into the container?

Tracing... Have your child trace hearts on to a blank sheet of paper.  Use different colored pencils.

Happy Valentine's....
Jen

The Toddler Times: Fingers, Elbows, Hips, and Ankles.....

I had no idea that there were more verses to Head,Shoulders, Knees, and Toes! Take a look.....

 Head Shoulders Knees and Toes...

            from Starfall

Enjoy your Tuesday with you little one(s)!

Jen

The Toddler Times: Chores for Little Ones

Isn't it great to see how proud a little one is when they accomplish something?  You can see the joy in their smile and the little sparkle in their eye- as if they are saying- "Yeah, I did it."  Well, little man gets this very cute look when he accomplishes tasks whether it be to finally get that train track attached or the ability to feed the frogs by himself.  This is his chore.  He gets to feed his little buddies their food pellets each day and he loves it!  The other day, I let him help me with the laundry.  I propped him up on the side of the washer and held him in place with one hand.  As he watched the water flow into the washer tub, I had him pour the cup of laundry soap in.  Next, I handed him clothing to throw into the tub. He got the hang of it real quick. I gave him a sticker for being such a great helper.  Another great chore for little ones is to let them help you wash their toys.  I give little man a baby wipe and he washes away! 

Other age appropriate chores for toddlers-
-help put away toys(make into a game, sing a clean up song)
-wash off coffee table with wipe or high chair tray
-clean own face and hands
-pass you books to put away in book case or basket

Remember this isn't about perfection, but about teaching and learning. Most chore charts or articles focus on 2 years old and up.   I think it just depends on the child.  Little man is only 19 months, but enjoys helping in little ways! 

Around the web- resources:
Age appropriate Chore Charts- About.com
Say Yes to Chores- Parents.com
My first chore chart (I like the ideas of pictures- can make own based on needs of child.)

Any other ideas?  Be sure to comment and let us know what you do to make chores fun in your house.

Take Care,
Jen

The Toddler Times: 5th Edition-Water Play

Take one under the bed storage container.
Add water.
A few toys.
And what do you get... Summer time fun for little man!

The big kids wanted to play, too!

Enjoy your day,

Jen

The Toddler Times: 4th Edition- Alphabet Board

Welcome back to The Toddler Times! This week, I had fun making an alphabet board for Little Man.  Usually I display both the capital letter with the lower case, but I loved the fun pictures on these flash cards.  Therefore, this learning board only has capital letters showcased. 

Little man loves it!  He points to the letters and pictures and wants me to talk to him about them.  We also use it to sing the ABC song.

Would you like to make your own ABC board? 
Directions:
1 large piece of cardboard (found this one at ALDI)
1 piece of colorful posterboard
1 set of ABC flash cards (from $ tree)

1. Staple the posterboard around the (I folded it around like wrapping paper.)
2. Glue gun the ABC cards onto the board- I started from the bottom up, so if I ran out of room, the cards could just stick out the top. 

Total Cost: $1.50


I hope that you enjoy your Tuesday! 
Jen

The Toddler Times: 3rd Edition-Starfall

Good Morning! For today's Toddler Times, I wanted to share a great website that I used with my girls when they were preschoolers.  Many of you may already be familiar with it, but what surprised me was that my little man, aged 18 months enjoys it.  It is called Starfall.com. 

Little Man loves the ABC section.  Once you click on the ABC's, you will see ABC blocks.  Click on one of the blocks for an animated video that focuses on the letter and sound.  I think because it is a short video, it holds his attention span.  He tries to say the letter and the sound as they say it.  If you've never been to this site, you'll have to check it out and let me know what you think!! 

Enjoy your Tuesday!

           Jen

The Toddler Times! 2nd Edition

Welcome back to The Toddler Times! This week, I'm going to share another simple sensory activity.  Sometimes the activities are thrown together at the last minute, like this one.  See below.

What did I find lying around the house? Easter grass!  I thought that it would be interesting to see what he would do with a pile of it.

Pulling the strands one by one and then moving it to different areas on the tray was fun for a bit.







Until.... He wanted out of his seat so he could explore elsewhere!

So, this is Mom's idea of sensory play.  Would you like to see Little Man's idea?

Hmmm.  Be sure to see what is going on when it gets just a little too quiet in the house!  





Sisters- watching TV instead of little brother. 
Little brother- sitting on the floor pulling a tape apart.
  
Was I angry at the sight of this- of course not- he was trying to figure things out- what happens if I turn this, what if I pull this, how much of this awesome stuff is in here?  He was exploring and discovering. He was doing science? How could I be mad?  

Why sensory play?  Be sure to read this awesome article written by Amanda Morgan at  www.notjustcute.com.


Have a wonderful day with your little ones!  I'm off to camp to do puppet shows for a bunch of enthusiastic campers!


Jen

The Toddler Times! 1st Edition

The Baby Times has now become The Toddler Times!  Why?.... because my baby is a toddler now...sob, sob.  Every Tuesday I am going to try to post toddler related themes and ways that we can enrich our toddler's lives together. This week's issue focuses on a simple and inexpensive sensory activity.

During our last Target trip,Sunshine girl asked me to buy pom poms for her for her crafts, well little man thought they were for him!

I thought- okay as long as I'm here and he doesn't try to eat them, why not let him play. What a great tactile activity. So I got two containers and filled one with the pom poms.  He then started transferring them from one container to the other.  Next, I sorted them by color.  Little Man only tried to put them in his mouth once. So colorful and round- he probably wondered if it was candy in the bowl!   I called them balls, which he understands is a toy and he didn't try to eat them again.  


More Awesome Ideas on the Web...

Activity Mom
Pom Pom Activities
Baby's First Sensory Tub
Magnetic Pom Poms

Child Care Land
Alphabet and Counting with Pom Poms

What ideas do you have for play with Pom Poms?

Take Care,
Jen