Homemade Valentines

This year for Valentine’s Day I decided to use a technique that we used last year for our  St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock. We created our own unique paper with this “painting method.” All it took was a little vinegar, cardstock and various shades of pink and red tissue paper. 

Lil’man placed tissue paper on the white cardstock and then would “glue” it down using the vinegar.  It was nice and soggy. 

 

Then we set it aside to dry.  Once it was completely dried, Lil’man pulled off the tissue paper. The tissue paper left it’s color behind to create this wonderful water color or tie dye effect.  

Next, we took our colorful paper and added some special notes and stickers.

 

Lil’man was very excited about the Valentine’s he created and can’t wait to give them to some very special people.

What are you kids doing for Valentines this year?

Wonderful Website- Word World

Before I get into the website, I just want to say my son and I love this show!  We discovered it on PBS and were quickly hooked.  We loved the show so much that we went ahead and invested in a few DVDs.  (If you’ve never seen the show and would like to learn more then you can visit here.) With that being said, I have no idea how I’ve never been to their website.  My son and I have been missing out!

The Website

This website has a lot of great features for FREE.  They don’t have a ton of things, but what they do have is worth the visit.  Two of my favorites:

Duck’s Alphabet- This activity will teach letters and sounds.  It takes your child through one letter at a time.  Each letter has several activities your child will do to teach letter recognition and sound correspondence. Plus, if you create a user name and password you will be able to track which letters your child has completed.

eBooks- Love these books!  You child has the choice of 5 books.  Each book has audio reading and highlighting. LOVE! Plus, you child can go back over the text and click on words individually for them to be repeated.   The books also have other interactive tasks throughout!  Oh, and don’t miss the Caregiver’s Guide at the beginning of each book.  It will give you some things you can do to help work on comprehension.

You child can also play an interactive flash game at PBS Kids.

Make sure you go check out this Wonderful Website!

 

A Mommy Talks Review:  I was not asked to write a review for this website.  I just loved it and wanted to share it.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Potty Training- The Day I Lost it!

STOP MOVING!  I was hot and getting hotter with every squirm.

If you recall from this potty post, I briefly stated that we returned to pull-ups after trying cloth training pants…the story I’m about to share was the major factor in that decision.

The boy had been very successful, at the time, keeping his pants clean.  Dry was a whole other ball park.  But if I had to choose between the two I much prefer clean.

On this particular day, after sitting on the potty the boy was enjoying his usual 30 minute room time.

As his room time was coming to an end, I may my way back to his room.  I quietly open his door, in hopes to not disturb his play.

He was deep in thought, as he squatted in front of his Mega Bloks trying to determine which piece he would place on top of his new created tower.

As I pushed open his door further to witness his fun, I was stopped dead in my tracks.  The aroma overcame me. 

No longer did I look at the scene before me with joy in my eyes.  My mood quickly change like the fumes had put me under some spell.

In a stern voice, I startled Lil'man asking to know if he dirtied his pants. (Like I didn’t already know.)

He respond nonchalantly with a yes. Though unintentional that comment irked me.

Why didn’t he care! Frustration set in.

I began scooting him towards the bathroom when in dawned on me…he was in training pants.

No tear away sides.  This was going to be interesting.

I quickly removed his jeans and pulled back his training pants so I could peak at what I would be dealing with.

I slowly began to inch his pants down in hopes as not to make a mess.  However, the boy wasn’t helping.

With every pull, he shifted.  Don’t move. With every inch, he wiggled. Stop. I don’t want a mess.  With every drag, he turned. STOP. Moving. With every tug, he twisted. STOP MOVING!  I was hot and getting hotter with every squirm.

THUD!

It was too late.  My fear came true. His poop had hit the floor.

And still he wouldn’t stop moving.  Evidently, this he had to see.

STOP MOVING! I cried out in desperation.

SQUISH!

STOP! STOP! and then a sigh.  Long and low.

There it was…his pretty poop covered foot on my bathroom rug.

And that was how my relationship with training pants came to an erupt end. 

I applaud all of you, who have more patience than I do.

Tot School- Catch Up

Lil’man is 37 months.

 

MIA. Yep.  This blog was on the back burner last week.  I didn’t post anything.  I may have posted at the end of the week, but unfortunately my computer was hit with a virus.  Fortunately, my virus protection caught it and after running a few more test (which took forever!) everything looked good.

 

Since I was a slacker last week, I’ll be posting pictures from both our Snow & Ice unit, as well as People Who Keep Us Healthy.   Below are just some of the things we did. You can see other activities in action from these units by visiting Amber at The Belly of The Whale.

 

Language Arts: During both units we did a spelling puzzle. These puzzles were a little more challenging because both had two of the same letters.  This required Lil’man to look at the picture and make sure it looked right.

Snow & Ice

People Who Keep Us Healthy

During our Snow & Ice week we created this I for icicle.

 

Here are the books that we are read during our Snow & Ice Week:

Math Concepts:  During our Snow & Ice week Lil’man did a Roll & Build Snowman to work on his number recognition. 

He also rolled his dice and added that many icicles to a house.

This past week we worked on shapes during our People Who Keep Us Healthy week.  The day we were learning all about the dentist, Lil’man had to match the correct toothbrush to each child.  As you can see in the picture below each toothbrush had a shape and each child had a shape.

Books we read during our People Who Keep Us Healthy unit:

Social Studies: We had a lot of fun pretending to be a doctor and a dentist this week.  Make sure to swing by The Belly of the Whale to see some fun science activities.

 

Extra: Lil’man really enjoyed making our Snowball treats for our family night.  And we all really enjoyed eating them.

Lil’man also enjoyed creating our tooth collages.  He especially liked the “Sad Tooth” collage because of all the pictures of the sweet treats.  I had to go over several times that just because Lil’man likes to eat them, doesn’t mean his teeth are fans.

 

My Favorite: Here is my favorite shot from the last 2 weeks.  The boy asked his dad if he could have a drink of his hot coco.  He then guzzled the rest down.  The picture below doesn’t captured all the chocolate mess that was left on his face, but you get the point. 

So, there you go.  Don’t forget, you can download all the Snow & Ice and People Who Keep Us Healthy printables (not all seen here) for FREE  at 2 Teaching Mommies.

Next Week we will be focusing on the Polar Lands! I hope you’re able to come back and check it out!

Don’t forget to see what others are doing at 1+1+1=1!

Potty Training- The Light Went Out

It was the beginning of the end.  My potty problem was solved.  All that I had to do was put my potty plan into action.  If only, it had been that simple.

When we first started cloth training pants, I just knew it would turn my diaper wearing tot into a potty using boy.  He hated to be wet. 

So, of course the cloth training pants were going to SPARK a potty revolution.  As soon as they got wet, my boy wouldn’t be able to stand it.  He would much prefer to use the potty.

I could see it.  The light at the end of the tunnel.

You can imagine how stunned I was when the light went out.  There my boy was having a good ol’ time in soaked pants. 

Soaked pants didn’t break me, but I was definitely left dazed and confused.  I just didn’t get it. My sure fire spark just fizzled out like it never had a chance.

I wasn’t going to let damp clothes deter me from the task at hand. I quickly remedy the situation by bringing in the old reliable- plastic pant covers.

My hero! I was saved from extra loads of laundry.

Unfortunately, even my hero couldn’t save me from The Day I Lost it!

[stay tuned]

Tot School- Winter

Lil’man is 37 months.

 

Happy New Year!  I cannot believe that it is already 2011!  Last year just flew! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.  We had so much fun and loved spending time together as a family.

 

I can’t believe it, but we actually did some Tot School this week.  We learned all about Winter.  Below are just some of the things we did. You can see other activities from this unit by visiting Amber at The Belly of The Whale.

 

Language Arts: We practiced spelling clothes that we wear in winter.

 

We also did some more writing practice.  The boy decided that he wanted to give the more advance sheet a try.  I was impress with how much his writing has improved.  He doesn’t stay on the lines completely, but he doing a much better job at trying to trace them.

 

Here are the books that we are reading:

Math Concepts:  We did another Color by Number this week.  This time we did the Snow Kid that we found on Making Learning Fun.  The boy has gotten so much better at coloring.  At first he was just coloring on top of the number as always, so to encourage him to color in the whole space I outlined it.  And it WORKED! He went back and colored in all of it!  I think this is the best picture he has ever colored.

 

 

Science: This we did a little science experiment.  We observed an ice cube and then watched it melt.  We tested to find out if an ice cube would melt faster in warm water or in no water.  I had the boy tell me which ice cube he thought would disappear first.  He said the yellow.

 

Feeling and Smelling it.

 

He even had to taste it!  Oh, and his hypothesis was correct!

 

Extra: We had a lot of fun these last 2 weeks.  Daddy had quite a few days off, so we got to do a lot of fun family activities together.  We played in the snow and created snow angels.

 

We checked out a cool light exhibit!

 

And we finally got a chance to check out the child size gingerbread village.

 

 

My Favorite: This picture captured the true side of my boy.  He is usually so silly and singing all the time.  He can be so LOUD!

That was our week.  Don’t forget, you can download all the printables (not all seen here) for FREE  at 2 Teaching Mommies.

Next Week we will be focusing on Snow! I hope you’re able to come back and check it out!

Don’t forget to see what others are doing at 1+1+1=1!