Sunday June 21th /  Dedicated to Daddy!
Today is daddy's day! Here a list of activities to do with and for good old dad. Remember to treat daddy well and take lots of pictures!
Toddler

Let's all shave like daddy!
You need whip cream in a bottle like rediwhip.
Craft Sticks

This is best done outside! or try it at the sink looking in the mirror right next to daddy shaving! Daddy can really shave or pretend too. Toddlers may or maynot like to have the whip cream on their face but try it. Then they mimic daddy with the craft stick and "shave" too. I suggest whip cream and not shaving cream but toddlers will for sure get it in their mouths! This is also a great photo oppurtunity!!

Preschooler

Sit your preschooler down and ask them questions about Daddy. Record their answers or video it.
Where does daddy work?
What does he do there?
What is daddy's favorite thing to do?
When did mommy and daddy meet?
What is your favorite thing to do with daddy?
How old is daddy?
What does daddy like to say?
What makes daddy happy?
What makes daddy sad?


Toddler and Preschooler

Craft:
Cut paper the size of a wallet photo. Have your kids color a picture for daddy that can fit in his wallet and he can have where ever he goes! Draw pictures or even write a poem!


What other ideas did you do to make today special?
ALL SUBMISSIONS WILL BE CREDITED TO AUTHOR!!

Monday June 22nd / Teddy Bear Picnic
If you go out in the woods today
You're sure of a big surprise.
If you go out in the woods today
You'd better go in disguise.

For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain, because
Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic.
-Teddy Bear Picnic Song(not the whole song)

You need:
One Blanket
Teddy Bears
Tea Party Set
Snacks
Water, Tea, or Juice

I suggest setting up the scene without the little ones and then inviting them out to the party. If that is not possible have them help you set up the party!

Lay out the blanket, set up the bears, and put out snacks. If you happen to own the CD "Teddy Bears Picnic" be sure to play it in the background.

Sit down, pour yourself some tea and chat about the day. Ask you children to help the bears eat. Give each bear a name. Have the bears talk to your kids and ask them all about themselves. Have the bears talk to each other.

Teach them the song "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" and do the actions.

Tuesday June  23rd / Toddler Peek-A-Boo

Parental Note: Object Permanence is established between 8-10 months of age. This is when babies start to look for objects that have disappeared or gone out of view. They will continue to test or play with this new idea all through their toddler years.

There are many ways to play peek-a-boo

-Simply hide behind your hands
-Put a blanket over your head
-Hide toys under the blanket
-Even flip books are a peek-a-boo game
-Make your own flips with a post it notes and a book
-Hide under the covers



Tuesday June 23rd / Solid or Liquid AKA Gloop AKA OObleck


Preschooler

You need:
cornstarch
water
plastic bowl
OR cookie sheet

This mix is about 2 parts cornstarch to 1 part water. But that is not exact. Watch the video! The substance is very entertaining to play with, and very messy for little ones. I suggest outside.

Questions to ask:
Can you stir it fast? Can you stir it slow? What happens when you go fast? What happens when you go slow? Try to make it into a ball (go fast). Tap your fingers very hard and fast on top, what happens? Tap your fingersslow and gently on top, what happens?

This substance acts like both a liquid and a solid.



Wednesday June 24th / Don't Throw Out Those Scratched CD's

Do you have a bunch of old CD's laying around? How about a spindle? Try giving them to your toddler.

You need:
CD's
Spindle

Your toddler will enjoy the challenge of trying to get them back on the spindle. It is like stacking to them. My toddler spent a LONG time putting them on, taking them off, putting them on, and repeat over and over!

Wednesday June 24th / Flour Tag

This is for preschoolers. My toddler had no luck with the socks at all.

This started as a game of tag from my memory of a game we played at camp when I was a camp counselor. My three year old had a hard time with the concept of tag and turns. So, we ended up just running around and hitting things with the flour socks. It makes a fantastic powdered effect. He loved it!

You need:
old socks
flour

Take old socks, they will get stretched out, so don't use good socks! Fill them with flour. I used about a cup. If you play tag, the players tag each other using the socks (GENTLY). It leaves a flour mark like a chalk mark.


Thursday June 25th / Ordinary Item / Kleenex Box

Toddler or Preschooler

You need:
Empty Kleenex Box
Small Toys

Toddler:
Give your toddler the box and put toys in. They will take the objects out and put them back in. Show them two objects such as; rubber duck and small car. Tell your toddler which object you want them to get out. See if they can do it without looking!

Preschooler:
Gather a few items that your preschooler plays with and don't show them. Put in one object and have them try to guess just by feeling it (no looking). What it is. Tell your preschooler to put something in the box for you. Close your eyes. When they give you the box back put your hand in and describe the object as you feel it to your child. Use all your descriptive words: smooth, rough, small, has wheels, bumpy, feels like hair, has tiny shoes, etc. Take turns putting objects in the kleenex box and see how long it takes your preschooler to start to describe the objects to you!


Friday June 26th / Odinary Item / Paper

Toddler and Preschooler
Ok, Have you seen the famous YOUTUBE video of baby Ethan ripping paper and falling over laughing? Well, after we played with paper this week I let the kids watch this video. They have asked to see laughing baby Ethan everyday this week.We have 10 ideas for playing with paper...

Challenge:
How many sounds can you make with a piece of paper?
Remember to listen to the sound with each new action.

*roll it up and use it as a megaphone
*rip and tear it
*crumple it
*flick it
*blow under or over it, to get it to flap
*smash it under your feet
*rub it on your head
*fold it
*throw it at something :-)
*smooth it out again

Keep going! How long can you and your child be entertained by a single (or a few) pieces of paper?

Extension: Paper airplanes? Fancy Origami?



Saturday June 27th / Fishing For Letters

This all started with buying those littler nets for the kids. I bought them to take to the cabin so they could catch snails, minnows, and other things in the lake. Then we got home and they wanted to bring them into the tub. Originally I was going to have them fish for our rubber ducks and fish but I decided fishing for letters woud be a better idea.

Toddler and Preschooler

You need:
Foam letters
Small nets (Mine cost 59 cents)
bath tub

Fill the tub, add letters, show your kids how to "fish" for the letters. Now ask them what they caught! Tell them all the letter names. see how many letters they already know. Literacy, water play, learning and fun all rolled into one!


      Remember to READ 15 minutes a day to your child!



We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. -George Bernard Shaw

Sunday June 14th /  Create Your Own Rainbow Crayons
Toddler and Preschooler
This is an activity that your child can't really do alone side of you but can play with after you make it. Hot wax and small children really do not mix!
You need:
broken and old crayons
round tin can or muffin tin
candy molds?
oven

1. Remove all paper from crayons

2. Sort by color or mix 'n' match colors

3. Put muffin tin in oven (about 6 minutes, check often)

4. Place in freezer

5. Flip over and rub hot water over muffin tin, crayons will fall out.

6. Make pictures!

You will either have a very large crayon with one color or a "rainbow" color crayons.

Now make beautiful art work and hang it up!

Monday June 15th / Young (Mad?) Scientist / Shadows
Toddler and Preschooler:
Ok, Did you know shadows actually fall under science? I was surprised to find shadow play in numerous science books this week.

You need:
a dark room
cardboard
sticks
tape
scissors
flashlight
two or more people

First cut out your shadow puppets. They can be any shape, size, etc. You can make vampires, stars, monsters, ghosts, trees, bears, (it is limitless). Make your own patterns or use one you find online. YOu should use cardboard because it won't flop over.

Attach cardboard to your stick.

Have one person hold the flashlight.

Move your puppets in front of the light.

Science is all about exploring and finding out how things work! Ask your child lots of questions to get them to think about your activity.

How do you move to make it bigger and smaller? Why can you see it on the wall? What is a shadow?
Light rays are straight, so the closer the closer the puppet is to the light, the larger it is on the wall.

Can you make your shadow puppet move? Can you make your shadow puppet dance?

How would it move if it was happy? sad? excited?

Want to get real fancy? Set up the flashlight and have you and your child hold up puppets and have them talk and/ or act out a story. You could cut out characters from a book, read the book, and then have the shadow puppets act the story out!


Tuesday June 16th / Let's Get Movin'

Toddler and Preschooler
How many exercise videos do you own? Do you happen to own any "How to.." dance videos? Country western line dancing maybe? Well, take them off the shelf and dust them off, we're ready to move it!

You need:
videos
Open space!

We watched a few different types of videos this week. I started with the yoga one for fun with them. This wasn't wildly successful with mine, but I would certainly try it before deciding with yours. Then we hit the library and got a selection  of country western line dances. This was a hit!! They had such a good time and I got a great work out too! Lastly they watched break dancing videos. They actually screamed in excitement when the kids spun on their heads! My toddler has been asking to "spin head" "spin head"! (No, she can't actually do that, but we pretend)



Wednesday June 17th / Nature Walk / Stick it!

Toddler and Preschooler
The weather has been so beautiful here! It is time to get outside and enjoy it. Before you go on your next nature hike grab a piece of contact paper.

You need:
One sheet of contact paper
Things you collect on your walk

You have two options. You can collect things and stick them as you go on your walk. Or you can collect different objects and stick them when you get home. I was worried I would drop the contact paper and once if is filled with dirt it won't stick anything else. Things that will stay are small and light objects like flowers, leaves, etc. You may have to discuss and show your child that larger things will fall off, like big rocks.

You can also put these on a piece of construction paper and put the contact paper over it.

Now display it! You can talk about your walk for many days to come and all the things you found.

Thursday June 18th / Coffee Dough Masters

Do you love the small of coffee? Do your kids love to play with play dough? This activity combines these two things!
Toddler and preschooler

You need:
1/4 c instant coffee
3/4 c warm water
2 c flour
1/2 c salt

1. Mix water and coffee in a small bowl
2. Combine Flour and salt in a big bowl
3. Add the water and coffee into the flour and water
4. Instant Dough!

5. PLAY

6. Bake finished products sculptures at 300 degrees for 30-45 minutes

7. If you would like to preserve your sculptures, apple shellac


Care Giver Info / Adjectives, Adverbs, & Suffixes

When children perform a "slow" walk or skips "lightly" adjectives and adverbs become more than an abstract concept. When they are given the opportunity to demonstrate physically action words such as; stomp, pounce, stalk, slither or descriptive words such as; smooth, gentle, enormous, word comprehension is immediate and long-lasting. Even suffixes take on a greater relevance when children act out the difference between scared and scary.
-Jump into Literacy: Active Learning for Preschool Children
Rea Pica


Friday June 19th / Odinary Item / Paper

Toddler and Preschooler
Ok, Have you seen the famous YOUTUBE video of baby Ethan ripping paper and falling over laughing? Well, after we played with paper this week I let the kids watch this video. They have asked to see laughing baby Ethan everyday this week.We have 10 ideas for playing with paper...

Challenge:
How many sounds can you make with a piece of paper?
Remember to listen to the sound with each new action.

*roll it up and use it as a megaphone
*rip and tear it
*crumple it
*flick it
*blow under or over it, to get it to flap
*smash it under your feet
*rub it on your head
*fold it
*throw it at something :-)
*smooth it out again

Keep going! How long can you and your child be entertained by a single (or a few) pieces of paper?

Extension: Paper airplanes? Fancy Origami?

Saturday June 20th / Baby Doll Bath Day

Toddler and Preschooler
This started because I was cleaning out the baby bathtub for a friend who's pregnant and ended a few hours later with a great new activity! Both kids loved it. I loved my son telling the baby doll "Ok, we are going to wash your hair now, ready? 1 (pour water over her head) 2 (repeat) 3 (repeat). Ok baby, we're all done, that wasn't so bad was it?" I laughed really hard, Has he ever heard THAT before??

You need:
Baby bathtub or a plastic bin
PLASTIC baby doll
water
wash cloths
baby soap
cup for hair washing

Take the tub outside, fill it with water. Tell the kids they have to give the baby a bath! Give them wash cloths, soap, and anything else you use in the tub. You can show them what to do or sit back and watch to see their perception of bathtime! Your choice on the type of doll, I chose our plastic one that could get wet.

My toddler kept telling the doll, "ALL CLEAN!"




BONUS Activity!!

Rotating Toys

Go Have you ever tried to sell your childs old toys? As soon as you take out the toys they haven't seen in a long time, they become interested again. This actually works with toys they see everyday too. Just move them to the middle of the room and talk about them for a few minutes and interest is renewed.

Well, put this to work for yourself. Put a portion of your childs toys away in a closet or in plastic bins and store them out of sight for awhile. Rotate new toys in every few weeks and take some out.




    Remember to READ 15 minutes a day
                       to your child!


"Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do. Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do."
-Mark Twain

Sunday June 7th / Cuties Cookin' / Butterfly Sandwich
Toddler and Preschooler

You need:
Bread
Cream Cheese or Peanut Butter or Marmite
Banana, Raisens, Pickle, Veggies

Directions:
1. Cut the bread diagonaly
2. Spread cheese (or other spread)
3. Decorate or have your child decorate the wings
4. Put wings together and add antennae with carrots or green peppers
5. EAT!


Monday June 8th /Teddy Bear Swing

Toddler and Preschooler:

I have to tell you. I laughed at this idea and worried it might look a little too much like we were "hanging" the teddy bear... It was fun, no one cried, the kids laughed, whew.

You need:
Teddy Bear
Rope

Drap the rope around a tree limb.
Make a large loop to insert the bear and other stuffed animals.
Place bear in loop.
SWING the bear in their very own Bear Swing.
Try as many other animals and dolls as you like.
You may need to adjust the loop size so they don't fall out.


Tuesday June 9th / Life Size Game Board

Todddler and Preschooler

You need:
Sidwalk chalk
Large Space

Make a game board in your driveway!

First draw the spaces

Now fill in spaces with things you have to do.
Ideas: Jump up and down 4 times, Mooo like a cow, say the ABC's, Sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Give Mommy a kiss, whisper "I Love You" to your sister, Run around the car, Touch your ears, etc.

Decide how you will move forward.
Ideas: Use large dice or draw a card from a deck of cards (I suggest using only 1-10)

Now play the game! You are the game pieces and you need to actually move through the game. You can use a rock to hold your place while the other person takes their turn or you have to run around the car.
Show them how to drop them in. Help them examine each coin. Who is on it? How much is it? What is teh name of this coin? They will love the noise too!


Wednesday June 10th Music / Number Sense / 5 Little Monkeys

Toddler and Preschooler
Sing the song and do the hand motions.
It helps your child with numbers.

5 Little monkeys jumping on a bed (hold up five fingers, bouncing)
one jumped up and bumped his head. (hold one finger up and tap on head)
Mom called the Doctor and the Doctor said
(hold fist to ear with thumb and pinky out like a phone)
"no more monkeys jumping on a bed." (shake pointer finger)
 "Five minus One equals Four"(hold up five fingers and use one beat for each word, taking away one finger leaving four)

4 Little monkeys jumping on a bed
(same hand actions as above for all the rest, but use the correct number of fingers)
one jumped up and bumped his head.
Mom called the Doctor and the Doctor said
"no more monkeys jumping on a bed."
"four minus one equals three"

3 Little monkeys jumping on a bed
one jumped up and bumped his head.
Mom called the Doctor and the Doctor said
"no more monkeys jumping on a bed."
 "three minus one equals two"

2 Little monkeys jumping on a bed
one jumped up and bumped his head.
Mom called the Doctor and the Doctor said
"no more monkeys jumping on a bed."
"Two minus One equals One"

1 Little monkey jumping on a bed
one jumped up and bumped his head.
Mom called the Doctor and the Doctor said
"no more monkeys jumping on a bed."
"One minus One Is None!" (make a "O" with your hand)

Thursday June 11th / Drama / Artsy Fartsy / Create Fairy Houses

True Fact:
There is an island off of Maine called Monhegan Island where visitors build fairy houses and leave them for others to find. This is a link with pictures of some of the houses. You and your child can look at the houses before you go and build your own.

http://www.spokaneoutdoors.com/fairy.htm
http://www.fairyhouses.com/feature1.html

Toddler or Preschooler:
Take your child out for a walk to a woodsy area or look for a spot in your own garden, under a tree, or in some special secret spot. Gather up materials. Build. Make a simple house or spend hours on it, your choice! While you are out in the woods, see if you can find other fairy houses.

You need:
What ever you can find! Creativity is key in this activity!
Leaves, twigs, grass, acorns, rocks, stones, pinecones, etc.

You can also try to find other fairy houses orplaces that look like they might have been fairy houses before.
This is an activity that has no age limit!

Care Giver Info / Songs

When children learn, create, or dance to songs, they experience flow and phrasing. When the songs have lyrics children must ponder the meaning of words. And because those words are important to them, they have much more relevance than vocabulary lists or a spelling test.
-Jump Into Literacy: Active Learning for Preschool Children
Rea Pica


Friday June 12th Let's Get Messy / Body Painting

Toddler and Preschooler

You need:
flour
water
food coloring

We did this activity in the bathtub this week. We had small baby plastic bowls with different colors and they dipped their whole hands into them and smeared colors all over arms, legs, and tummies. It became a "paint the walls" session as well but I didn't care because it was very fun. At first we just spread it. Then when the intial excitement was over, we painted shapes and pictures.

Here is a second recipe:
2 tbs solid shortening
1 tbs cornstarch
food coloring
make up sponges

Mix, add color, apply
If you want to add glitter, I am sure they would love it!



Saturday June 13th Large Motor / Texture Dances


Idea #1 Bubble Wrap
Line your hallway floor with bubble wrap.
Run across it, stomp it, dance, find as many ways to pop the bubbles as you can!

Idea #2
Roll out a sheet of contact paper with the "sticky side up".
Run, walk, and dance across it with barefeet.
Tape the edges down so it does not roll up.


BONUS Activity!!

Another Free and FUN Field Trip Idea

Go to the pet store!
Some allow you to touch and pet the animals.
Even if they do not, your child will be able to get a very close view of reptiles, birds, fish, cats, dogs and rodents.
It is like the zoo, but cheap, quick, and less lines! :-)

Your local Humane Society is another place to go and see animals.
I can't do this one because I would end up with too many animals!






      Remember to READ 15 minutes a day to your child!



"Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play."
-Heraclitus