Month: January 2017

I Week!

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I was so happy with the items on our agenda this week, continuing our Letter of the Week journey. The letter I happens to lend itself to games that were right up Travis’s alley. So we started with…

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Ice/Igloo: The perfect words for games in the middle of winter, we kicked off the week with icy cold fun, building an “igloo” from ice cubes. When he tired of that, Travis loved watching the ice cubes melt. He would scrape them over a baking sheet, pour the melted water onto a towel, and then return to the task over and over. Endless entertainment!

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After we discussed what real igloos are, we made a life-size one from couch cushions and white blankets that he could wriggle inside of.

Our ice games didn’t stop there. We’ve painted with frozen paint before, but this time we turned ice cubes themselves into the paint brushes. Simply freeze Popsicle sticks into the cubes of an ice cube tray, and sprinkle powdered paint on paper.

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Let your ice “brushes” thaw just a little before applying over the powdered paint; Travis loved watching the colors swirl and mix together.

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In addition, we released toys that had been frozen in ice during bath time…

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…and made ice luminaries and ice towers, projects so fun that they merited their own blog posts.

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Imagine: This word well applies to every week in the life of a two-year-old, but this week I stressed the point whenever we imagined during play. One game that hones imagination is to pull out any hats around the house. As your child dons each hat, have him or her imagine who they are. Travis liked being a “soldier” in a fedora, and also pretended to be the Snowman from the classic video of the same name. We also enjoyed playing with a king’s crown.

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Insects: Travis adores bugs, but this week I taught him that insect is a “fancy” word for bug. We played with the bug kit he has at home, but also took a field trip to the local children’s museum, where he could see cockroaches, stick bugs, and more.

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Indoor: I week was the perfect chance to stress the difference between indoor and outdoor voices. Travis latched right on to the concept, and loved waiting just until we were outside of the library to switch from a whisper to a yell.

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Focusing on the words inside/indoor was also a great way to make indoor winter fun feel special… We set up an indoor beach on a yucky rainy day! We went all out, with palm trees on the wall (use brown construction paper for trunks and green crepe paper for fronds), beach towels, and even bathing shorts worn over pants. I pulled out beach toys and added Hawaiian music in the background as the finishing touch. And of course this was another great game for the imagination.

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Instruments: I made a big pile of our all instruments, and we got in exercise marching around. We also enjoyed the instruments in the sound room of the children’s museum while there on our insect visit.

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Ink: Travis loves stamps and ink pads, so this theme word made for messy enjoyable play. We also talked about how ink can be found in lots of useful things, such as pens and printers.

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Iguana: We paid a visit to the resident iguana at a local wildlife rehabilitation facility. Of course, if there are no iguanas near you, it’s the perfect week to read a book about one.

I Spy: A fantastic game for honing observation skills, I suggest starting out with the book I Spy by Edward Gibbs to teach your child the basics of the game. The book features a hole on the last page, through which Travis said “I spy” about all the objects in our living room. Continue the game on car rides all week, for a great way to keep backseat passengers entertained.

As if that wasn’t enough, here were some extras…

Fine art: My intended project was to make a homemade rhythm instrument from an empty Earth Balance butter tub and rice. Travis helped pour the rice in, after which I glued on the top and let it sit overnight. But when it was time to shake, he just wanted the rice, and peeled apart the glued-on top. So much for that project!

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Instead, we put icing on sugar cookies, fitting in our fine motor skills that way.

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Food: Ice cream was the obvious choice. We headed out for vegan ice cream at a local restaurant for a super special treat. For healthier fare, try making a recipe from Italian or Indian cuisine.

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Books: Travis loved three picks from the library: The Indoor Noisy Book by Margaret Wise Brown, The Little Island, by Golden McDonald, and Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni.

Songs: Check out an online clip of Ice Cream from Anne of Green Gables, or – of course – Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Math: Travis loves playing with the ruler on his toy tool bench, pretending to measure things, so this week I introduced the vocab word “inches.” We got out different pieces of Duplo and had fun marking off how many inches each piece was.

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That’s all for this time, we’ll see you in Week H.

Ice Towers

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It’s an arctic 20 degrees outside, so – acting on a suggestion from Kiwi Crate’s app – we made ice towers!

I thought Travis would have the most fun if the towers were different colors, so we filled various Tupperware and plastic cups with water, and then swirled in watercolor paint with a brush. Now it was time to set them on the balcony to freeze!

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As luck would have it, it snowed overnight, so when we brought in our ice the next morning, we also shoveled a bucket of fresh snow.

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Now it was time to play with it all. I put out 2 disposable foil pans to catch the mess. The ice “towers” unfortunately hadn’t frozen all the way through, so we had very short little ice circles, but lots of cold colored water. When we shoveled in our fresh snow, it immediately took on beautiful hues wherever the colored water ran into it.

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We added Duplo animals to play in our wintry landscape.

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Because the paints ran together and soon turned a muddy brown, I took the watercolors back out so Travis could paint on the ice more vividly again.

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Next time I would let our Tupperware containers freeze longer so we had taller ice towers and mountains, but Travis didn’t seem to mind! As someone who used to dislike winter, it’s projects like these that remind me to find joy on even the coldest days.

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Great Granola

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Little ones can enjoy this granola in a number of ways – stirred into non-dairy yogurt for breakfast, sprinkled over fruit for dessert – or just eaten out of the bowl as a crunchy snack!

Ingredients:

  • 1 and 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 3 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup diced dried apple
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  1. Combine the oats, pecans, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
  2. Whisk together the canola oil and maple syrup, and pour over the oat mixture, stirring to coat.
  3. Spread the mixture in an even layer on a baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees F for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through. Remove from the oven and place the baking sheet on a wire rack to cool. Stir in the apple and raisins before storing in an airtight container.

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Mac and Cheese in a Mug

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Yes, your toddler can make pasta nearly him- or herself alone! This comfort food recipe is just right for a winter lunch or dinner.

In an oven-proof mug, have your child pour in the following: 1/2 cup uncooked elbow macaroni or small shell pasta; 1/4 cup shredded Daiya cheddar cheese; 1 tablespoon flour; and 1/2 cup non-dairy milk.

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Now give the mug a big stir to combine the ingredients!

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Adults, place the mug on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes – the mixture should be bubbly on top.

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In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon melted Earth Balance butter and 1 tablespoon fresh bread crumbs. Spoon over the mac and cheese, then return to the oven for a final 5 minutes.

Let cool at least 5 minutes before serving. Travis was so proud to have stirred the ingredients together, and couldn’t wait to try the recipe – especially because of the novelty of eating from a mug!

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You can double the recipe and use two mugs; reheat the second portion of mac and cheese in the microwave the next day.

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Ice Luminaries

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ice-luminaries-7The purpose of this winter project was to make beautiful glowing ice lanterns. They were beautiful… but as you’ll see, we found numerous ways to enjoy the game beyond that stated purpose. Read on!

To make the luminaries, fill balloons with water and knot off securely. I used a funnel to fill the balloons since our faucet taps are too big for stretching the mouth of a balloon onto them.

Travis impishly discovered that the project was fun already, threatening to pop open the balloons and get water everywhere, testing just how hard he could squeeze them.

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Luckily, the balloons were strong! Once he’d had his fill of fun, I popped them into the freezer to freeze overnight.

The next morning, it was time to reveal the ice bulbs we had made. Cut the knot off each balloon with scissors, and you’ll be able to peel down the rest of the rubber, leaving a globe of ice behind.

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When you place the ice in a jar with a battery-operated tea light behind them, they create an ethereal glow. (In retrospect, we ought to have waited until after dark to remove from the freezer!).

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Travis enjoyed the luminaries for a time, but then he just wanted to play with the ice! I thought I’d show him how salt makes ice melt faster, so we placed the ice globes in an old baking sheet and poured salt on top.

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Travis easily spent the next 45 minutes with the game – pouring more salt, scooping at the resulting slushy mixture of water and salt, shoveling out the chunks of ice that remained, and so on.

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A delightful morning of icy enjoyment. How have you and your child made winter mornings fun recently? Please share in the comments!

Robot Racers

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Our cute suggestion of the month from High Five magazine was a cozy indoor craft for a winter day. You’ll need two empty tissue boxes for the robot bodies… so save your empties from any winter sniffles! Ahead of time, I cut the tops off the boxes, then gave to Travis to decorate.

He loved the first step, which was to cover the boxes with either aluminum foil or duct tape. Because the mechanics of wrapping boxes is difficult for a two-and-a-half year old, he played with the materials while I did the actual wrapping up.

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Next it was time to add eyes and stickers! Travis decorated one very randomly, and I made our other robot have a bit of robotic order with patterned stickers.

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As a final touch, we added chenille stems (those frilly pipe cleaners) as arms or antennae.

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Make a ramp out of anything you have that will serve – pillows, cardboard pieces, or an old baking sheet all make good options. Place a tennis ball underneath each robot, and let them race to the bottom! We had fun varying the height of our ramp to see how it affected the way the robots raced.

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Thanks for the cute idea, High Five!

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