Activities and More

Sweetheart loves art projects. After one project is done she asks for more. I do have Halloween foamies to do. But waiting until next week. I bought a ghost for the kids. Even the 10 month old. I thought she would enjoy foamy stickers. Already did one with her. May have the kids paint theres. Or big kids use markers and Smiles paint. Smiles seemed to like the foamy stickers.  Smiles loves painting and playdough. With playdough she does try and put in her mouth.  I just tell her "use your fingers". She just smiles and laughs at me. I am sure someday she will not put it in her mouth. Thank goodness I have bosses who are open to messy art projects and display them as well.

Yesterday Smartypants and Sweetheart glued their flower buttons on their tree. I first told them 12 buttons. Sinse it was before nap. Though once we got on a roll they ended up doing all the bottons. Smartypants love to stack the buttons. In the end they way he stacked them looked really good. Sweetheart then started to stack as well. I am really proud of these creations.  Now in the next 2 weeks the kids are making one for the grandparents.  I can't wait to see how the next 2 turn out. 
I am thinking for Valentine's to make them again. Just have to make sure we have the sticks. As there will be snow on the ground.  So, a stick collecting we will go in the next few weeks. Who knows what I will do.  I want to do something. Maybe, I will paint their arms and fingers brown and then they can glues hearts of some kind.

The other day I was shopping at Michaels. My friend mentioned there are now ducktape sheets. So, next week we will do a ducksheet creation. I have a feeling this will be popular activity, I will have Smartypants trace and cut. I will have Sweetheart chose her stentils. I will have her try and trace. Then I will cut. I will even have Smiles do her own as well. Then they can put it on foamy board. I am beginning to love foamy board.

I saw this idea on  http://4herreras.blogspot.com/2011/09/velcro-craft-sticks-and-bottle-lidsoh.html
I will be posting pictures of Smarypants creations sometime in the next week.

Be sure to check out time for play on FB. Great ideas. And yet so simple. 

On top of art activites i am working on some fun other activites.

Sandpaper and yarn letter practice Fabric and Duck Sheet Creations

I saw this idea on . http://www.amazingmess.com/2011/09/preschool-basics-yarn-sand-paper-letter.html
Be sure to check out the other ideas of letter ideas at the bottom of the page. I plan to take this one step further and give Smartypants and Sweetheart yarn and have them create a picture themselves.  I will also use this time to have them cut the yarn as well. Thinking I will chose fall colors this time around.
The other idea I saw and liked was having precut straws and have them glue them onto words and letters. For younger children you can do shapes and numbers.   About 8 months ago I had them cut straws and this was a big hit. I will be doing this acitivity again.  I am also thinking having them create a creation with colored straws.  Wonder what they would create with pom poms and straws. The ideas are endless. 

I also saw a familiar idea where you have premade numbers,letters shapes etc. Then use little stickers. I can't wait to try this one. This acitivity would also be good to do when I am making lunch or dinner.

I really need to find a way to keep track of all the activities I want to do. Have a list of ideas and their supplies. I think I will be investing in 5 colored bags which will represent each day of the week. In the bag will be the activity or 2 of the day.

Quick and easy activities before lunch

It all stated last year when I would pick up the oldest from pre-school. We would come home and the 2 older would get into mischief. So, I started coming up with activites they can do while I made lunch. One of the biggest hits was jigsaw puzzles. Smartpants loved doing 24, 48,63 and 100 pieces. Sweetheart mastered 24, 48 and 63 pieces. The $$ store has had great puzzles. I also got several at Goodwill.
Another activity they loved was geobards. I found a great deal at Goodwill. I bought 4 of them at .49. Then rubber bands from the $$ store. 


My new favorite toy for Smarypants and Sweetheart are biggie beads. The beads are big perfect for their fingers.  There is a board to create creations. Smartpants has already made some really cool creations.  Sweetheart likes to scoop and dump. There is even a pincer to pick up the beads. Which is great for eye hand coordination.

We took a break over the summer and now will start doing activites again before lunch. Since the weather has been great. I send the kids out back to play after school.  I noticed Smartpants behavior change once he was able to be outside. Being in Kindergarten time outside is limited.  So, now I am getting ready for rainy days and colder weather. Both kids love love new projects. Now, I am on the lookout seeking new ideas.



Stay tune for geoboard pictures. I will post once I take them out again and they make their creations.

Another fun activity is very simple. Craft sticks and velcro circles.

Foamy Stickers

I love foamy sheets, various shapes and stickers. Tonight while sitting I had the kids decorate the ghosts as well as plain sheets. Foamy stickers as good from toddler and on up.  I plan to have Smiles do a ghost  and foamy sheets as well.  I like to have her involved when ever possible.

Smiles did her ghost and had fun. I had her in my lap and took the wrapper off. I stuck it too her her fingers. I would say put it on the ghost. She tried. I helped her a bit. Now when I say where's your ghost she will look at the window where I taped it. I should mention she Smiles when she sees her creation. So, the way I see it. If I do foamy stickers often she will be able to do it herself in the next few months. Just in time for the upcoming holidays. 

2.5 yr old

5 yr old

Just a few months ago my friend and I cleaned out my garage. I came across tons and tons of foamy stickers. When I am seeking foamies to my garage I will go.

I also did foamy sitckers with the kids I sit for on the weekends.

Fabric and Duck Sheet Creations

On this day Sweetheart created a flower fabric creation. She traced the shapes and I cut what she traced. She put them where she wanted. Smartypants did some tracing. Most of it was just cutting the fabric how she wanted. Then she clued them on the canvas.



here is Smartpants creation.




To mine surprize Sweetheart had no trouble at cutting. I guess she wanted to surprize me. For the last 2 weeks she has been cutting and glueing.

On the same day they both did duck tape sheets. Sweetheart traced. I cut. She put them on the foam board. She traced an apple, circle and I cut various shapes.







Smartypants cut what and how he wanted. He also did a bit of tracing as well.


I really liked the fabric and duck tape creations. I think next time, I will have more options for them and see what they can create.

remember its the process that is imporant not the product.

I am not a big fan of art creations. Where everything is precut and they are told where to put all the pieces. They are limit in the amount of glue and items they used.

I am in the process of saving milk caps and other caps from bottle. Once I have enough I plan to give them a big cardboard and let them create.

Tracing Stencils

Tracing and More Tracing. I found some stencils. Sweetheart had fun tracing circles, an apple, flower and a boat. The next one she traced was a sun, flower and the word flower. Then she traced circles, circles and more circles.  I really liked how she overlapped them.  The last picture are the markers she used.  Paint markers. Just dipped them in water and paint, trace and create away.

Reading, Reading, and more Reading

I love to read to kids. I believe its important to start at a very young age. In one nanny position I started reading at age 3 months. By 8 months he know what books he liked and did not like.  When i would read Jamberry he would sit back and suck his thumb. When read Peach Pear Plum he would arch his back and cry. He preferred rhyming books.

I love rhyming books as well for kids. I am going to provide a list of top ten for each age group. I will start with infants. 
Infants

1. Jamberry
2. Mr. Moo Can Moo Can You
3. Tumble Bumble

This list is on going

Fun Ideas for the Pre-toddler

I have been searching ideas for Smiles. She is a pre-toddler now. I am very blessed to be able to spend lots of time with her.  I plan to do several of the activites from the link below. Then I will post my thoughts as we do them.
http://www.icanteachmychild.com/1-2-years/

Her 2 favorite activities are playing ball. I roll to Smiles and Smiles rolls to me.  Her other favorite activity is pulling scarfs and objects from a box. I bought the toy from
http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/seo/p%7CJJ909~~f%7C/Assortments/Lakeshore/ShopByAgeOrGrade/018moinfant/greatgiftsforkids.jsp?cs=PDP_3_JJ909

Where has time gone? I am going to try and get through each of these activities and give my thoughts on each come this fall.

Fun Letter and More Dice

While at Michaels I came across the small boxes. Then it clicked. I could use these. The first set of boxes have letters on them.  I use the boxes when they are eating. I roll the "dice".  Smartypants and Sweetheart take turns naming the letter, letter sound and coming up with a word with that particular letter. Both kids love this game. Now I want to make more with the following ideas:
Rhyming words
math problems
name the word
one with questions:
tell a funny story
talk about the day
what makes you happy
say something nice about daddy, mommy, sister, brother, nanny, yourself
name a farm animal animal
name a zoo animal
name a vechile
name a sports car

name a water vechicle
name something that flies
name a color
name a beverage
name an something that is red, orange, yellow, blue, black and white, brown,green

the ideas are endless. I even show Smiles the letter. She may not understand, however she does hear Smartpants and Sweetheart. In time she will begin to understand and participate.
Let the fun begin.

Ghost Tree

I saw following project on the following site
http://www.toddlertoddler.com/halloween-ghost-tree.htm

I plan to change it up a bit. I will have Smartypants and Sweetheart cut their tree trunk and then use their feet for the ghost.  For Smiles I will use her arm and hands for the tree and branches. Then use her feet for her ghost or 2.

I love the idea of preseving there handprints and footprints every month. Each of the kids have their own art book. so, if once a month did a handprint....priceless. May do a footprint as well.

I did not get to do this activity last yr, so I am hoping this year we will be able to get it done.

Tools to paint with

If I ask Sweetheart what she wants to do she will say painting. So, I am seeking all different kinds of tools to paint with or to paint on.  Really anything can be used. 
Here is a list
paint brushes all sizes
sponges of different sizes and shapes
toothbrush
q-tips
cars
monster trucks
fingers/hands/feet
plastic bottles (the bottoms...some have a flower pattern)
bubble wrap
yarn
spatulas
plastic animal toys
legos
wooden blocks
sticks all sizes and shapes
rocks all sizes and shapes
potato wedges
apple wedges
forks
any utentil with holes
golf balls
marbles
comb
brush
cookie cutters
eye droppers
straw painting

tin foil
wax paper

Learning letters, words, numbers

This was so easy and both Smartypants and Sweetheart loved this new game.  I found balloon borders at the Dollar Tree. Each border has 8 balloons.  For both I wrote letters in each balloon. They take a clothepin and match the letter. The clothepin has a letter to match. Using a clothepin is for their fine motor. For Smartpants I wrote "at" and "og" words on the balloon and clothpin. Smartypants matches the word as well as says the word.  Sweetheart I did numbers up to 16. The first 8 she had no problem. The second 8 she did great as well. Just have to have her say the number as she puts the clothespins.

I plan to do this activity again in the fall. Plus, have Sweetheart count out objects of each numbers.

August 2012
I am now back. The kids are older and wiser. Smartypants is now 6 and a wonderful big brother and friend. He is always willing to try new activities. He also has become quite the artist. I am very proud to be his nanny. He is a math whiz and an excellent reader. This past April he learned and can name all 50 states. In June I showed him a blank map of the US and I am proud to say he can name all the states.  In just over a month he will be in 1st grade.

Sweetheart is now 4 yrs old and quite the character.  She is a kind, caring sister. She is always willing to share and she looks out for her little sister.  This fall she will be going to preschool 4 afternoons a week. She is very excited to go and can't wait to do to art activities and then hang them up at home.  I am looking forward to spending the mornings with her and and her sister come this fall.

Smiles is growing up so fast and wants to do everything her siblings do. She is very sweet most days.
Her fine motor skills are excellent. One her favorite activities is putting tooth picks into a cheese grater and putting toothpicks into a styrofoam square.

Fine Motor Skills

I am a huge fan of introducing fine motor at a young age.  Infants, toddlers, and preschool children need to develop their fine motor skills so they are able to write, dress and play independently.

I am providing a list of various infant, toddler and preschool fine motor activities and ideas to help them develop foundational fine motor skills they will need! And remember, help them have FUN doing it.

I love playdough for children of all ages.  I just introduced Smiles (10 months) to playdough just the other day. She loved it. Of course, her natural reaction was to put in her mouth. I just encouraged use your fingers. I let her know what I wanted her to do. I would poke the playdough and she would laugh.  With time she will stop putting it in her mouth. It was homemade, so I was not as worried if she did try and eat it.
I used this recipe

Playdough Recipe
Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
1 Tablespoon oil
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
Food coloring by drops

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a pan and stir. Cook over low heat, stirring until a ball forms.
2. Add food coloring and mix thoroughly until desired color.
3. Store in covered container. I used a ziplock baggie.

The following preschool activities support young children's fine motor development and will help to build the strength and dexterity (quick and precise movements and coordination of the hands and fingers) necessary to hold a pencil appropriately.

More preschool fine motor skill activities:

Rolling play dough into tiny balls using the palms of the hands facing each other and using only the finger tips.

Cut out shapes from cardboard (circle, square, etc.) and let your child trace them.
Using toothpicks to make designs in play dough.

Give your preschooler pair of tweezers. Provide two bowls with small items. Challenge them to get all the items from one bowl to another using only the tweezers.
Tearing newspaper into strips and then crumpling them into balls.
Lacing and sewing activities such as stringing beads.
Using eye droppers to "pick up" water.
Play with Legos, miniature cars, small blocks, action figures, and other small toys.
Working puzzles
Rolling small balls out of tissue paper, then gluing the balls onto construction paper to form pictures or designs.
Scissor activities
Clapping games
Connect the dots activities
Trace around stencils
Work on a chalkboard
Paint at an easel
Make crafts using scissors and gluing
Finger painting
Tying bows or tying shoes
weaving
geo boards
biggie beads

I have done many of these activities and I am always seeking more ideas. I think I will have to come up with 2 fine motor skills to use each week. Lately, it has been gluing and more gluing. Sweetheart will cut and then glue away. 



I found this list of fine motor activites for preschoolers
The following preschool activities support young children's fine motor development and will help to build the strength and dexterity (quick and precise movements and coordination of the hands and fingers) necessary to hold a pencil appropriately.

More preschool fine motor skill activities:

http://www.preschoolactivitybox.com/preschoolfinemotorskills.htm

Rolling play dough into tiny balls using the palms of the hands facing each other and using only the finger tips.

Cut out shapes from cardboard (circle, square, etc.) and let your child trace them.

Using toothpicks to make designs in play dough.

Give your preschooler pair of tweezers. Provide two bowls with small items. Challenge them to get all the items from one bowl to another using only the tweezers.

Tearing newspaper into strips and then crumpling them into balls.

Lacing and sewing activities such as stringing beads.

Using eye droppers to "pick up" water.

Play with Legos, miniature cars, small blocks, action figures, and other small toys.

Working puzzles

Rolling small balls out of tissue paper, then gluing the balls onto construction paper to form pictures or designs.

Scissor activities

Gross motor activities: Wheelbarrow walking, crab walking.

Clapping games

Connect the dots activities

Trace around stencils

Work on a chalkboard

Paint at an easel

Make crafts using scissors and gluing

Finger painting

Tying bows or tying shoes

Grandparents

Over the years the grandparents would come and visit. There have been good times and the challenges.In my current position the grandparents are the best. They compliment me all the time. Most of all they respect me as I respect them. I am been told so many times what a wonderful job I am doing.  Both sets are very active in their grandchildren lives. 
I love the fact their is no competion between me and the grandparnets.  They have their time as I have mine time. In a previous position, I felt at the end the Gma could not stand me.  It was uncomfortable when she would come and visit.  I strongly beleive if the grandparent is capable of caring for the children then the nanny should get the time off. I am not saying this to get more time off. I am saying because its in the best interest of the children. They want to be with the grandparents as the the grandparents want to be with them. They don't want to go by the nanny's rule's.  They are there to spoil their grandchildren. They want to do things their way and I am for all this.
So, I thank my current nanny family grandparents for respecting me.
    
    

A Little Bit of Everything

A fun activity we did back in the fall. I gave the kids black paper and gave them colored bandaides and foamies. They had fun making their creations. I can't wait to do this again on the next rainy day. Not that Smiles is older she can make her own creation

Contact paper and string. The kids in the fall made a creation using contact paper and colored string.

The kids used a white foamy board. They used pom poms, colored noddles, foamys and string.

Discovery Bottles

There are so many links and blogs to making a discovery bottle. What is a discovery bottle? Discovery Bottles are soda bottles filled with various items to explore a scientific concept.  The mini water bottles also work well for little hands. Or you can use the 20 oz soda/water bottles. Some of the fillers can be rice, sand, cut paper, gravel, salt, etc. After you close your bottle, hot glue around the lid.  I plan to make colored bottles.  Then some liquid ones as well.  Maybe some shakers as well. The ideas are endless. Here are some links:
http://www.quality-kids-crafts.com/kidscrafts_sensorybottles.html

Be sure to see the blog on discovery bottles for toddlers and older.