Include Yourself in Photos

May 16, 2019May 16, 2019Leave a comment

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Today’s activity for your six-month-old is more for you, parents, a reminder to take pictures not just of that adorable baby, but also of yourself!

For the longest time, I had a policy of zero pictures of adults on this blog; I wanted the focus to be on the kids.

That policy had to change slightly once Veronika was born. Since a newborn can’t support herself, and many blogs demanded her presence in my arms, bits of me began to creep into pictures.

But the more I thought about it, the more my insistence on kids-only seemed silly. We love to stage manage our children for pictures, but then we get left out of the memories!

This past weekend, on a family vacation, I made a point: To include myself in the pictures. To be part of the memories.

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Don’t worry if you haven’t had time to shower, or put on makeup, or if your shirt has milk stains and paint stains. These are all badges of honor of this crazy, joyful time that is parenting young kids. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So after more than 1,300 blog posts, here I am!

Include Yourself

Collagraph Prints

May 16, 2019Leave a comment

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Collagraphy (not to be confused with calligraphy!) is a print-making technique that uses textured elements applied to a rigid surface to make a picture. It’s a fun art process that will engage your preschooler with texture in new ways.

Before school, Travis and I glued various items from our craft bin onto a piece of cardboard. Sponges can be cut into smaller sizes and applied.

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We also added craft sticks, foam pieces, and buttons.

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Corrugated cardboard works especially well; try using the reverse side of a coffee cup sleeve for this!

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I asked Travis what kind of scene we should make, and he decided a spring garden. We glued down all our elements to make flowers, a tree, a fence, and “pebbles” on the ground (these were the buttons).

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By the time he was home from school, the glue was dry and it was time to paint! I set out cups with different colors. For the first round, we stayed true to nature: a yellow sun, green flower stems, red blossoms, etc.

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Press a piece of white paper over the print, making sure to press down hard on all your 3-D elements.

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We lifted up the paper for the big reveal. Travis was astonished and loved it!

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He immediately wanted to make a second version, but with different colors to see how it turned out.

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We’d run out of yellow for the sun and sky, so instead painted these parts black. As we lifted off the paper, I said it looked like a black rain cloud. But Travis said, “It’s a turtle with a smile!” Talk about glass half-full, what a wonderful answer!

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Then he decided it would be silly to make an all-black print, very Rorschach test of him.

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In sum, this was a a fantastic art project and we would definitely do it again.

Early Explorers Space

May 15, 2019May 22, 20191 Comment

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Travis’s penultimate package from his Early Explorers subscription was all about space and – forgive me for saying it – he had a blast with this one!

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The activity booklet this month was heavy on tracing (letters, shapes, names of planets), but I considered that a good thing, since it reinforces lessons Travis is getting in preschool. We might have liked to see a more detailed space craft or science project, though, since the topic lends itself so easily to both.

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Space Craft:

The craft was actually playing with the included keepsake this month (see below), a set of space-themed stamps and ink pads. The activity booklet included a blank page simply for “stamp fun.” Travis was thrilled seeing the images, including Jupiter, an astronaut, a solar system model, and more.

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Once that page was filled, he needed more paper!

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I loved watching his creativity as he stamped and then cut some of them out to play with.

Space Science:

As mentioned, it was a bit of a disappointment that the booklet didn’t feature a scientific experiment. But for “science,” we headed out to look at constellations. We also headed out one night to glimpse the International Space Station, You can check out when it will be in your area here. Travis got to stay up late (a treat!) so we could catch an 8.34 fly by. Looking, looking…

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We think we saw it!

Space Keepsake:

These were the space stamps, of course! See my notes above in the craft section.

Space Field Trip:

Although not recommended as a further activity, it seems only natural to visit a planetarium near you during this unit. Since Travis had done so recently on a school field trip, though, we headed to a fantastic local museum all about aviation, and focused on the final stretch of the museum: space travel.

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Travis has never shown much interest in this section before, but now he was enthralled. He got to simulate landing a space shuttle, see a real moon lander, explore a model of a future space station on Mars, and more.

Space Further Activities:

First, we checked out NASA’s website to see what astronauts are currently up to. Travis is captivated by the rovers on Mars!

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Then, we found a blog post on Little Passport’s website about World Space Week. First we made a comet: attach aluminum foil around the tip of a craft stick to form a ball.

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Cut metallic-colored ribbon into pieces about 6 inches long; attach to the stick.

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Travis loved making his comet soar!

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Then we designed an alien. Let your kid’s imagination run wild here!

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Travis’s alien was green; he started with its belly, and said it had a belly ache which made it a mean alien – oh no!

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I took him in front of his Little Passport’s map and had him close his eyes and point (you could also do this with a spinning globe). His finger landed on Africa, and his challenge was to describe Africa to an alien who’d never been to Earth. This might be easier for younger kids if you default to having them describe their hometown.

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You can also bring space into your home with fun decorations. We traced stars and moons using a cookie cutter on construction paper, and also added glow-in-the-dark stars.

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I sent a secret loving message on one section of wall. Travis made a “comet” and the “big dipper” in his area!

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For some final learning, we went to the library for a books about space (he loved one about Mars, and another about the gas giants), and also found links online to learn more about comets and meteors, including this kid-friendly video.

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As I said, what a blast!

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Name Familiar Sounds

May 15, 2019Leave a comment

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Whenever I come across auditory activities for a baby, there’s a part of me that feels bored with the idea; I prefer activities that are craftier or cuter, I guess! But then I remember: if I don’t tell Veronika the name of a sound, who will? Everything at this age is new, including what might feel ho-hum to a grown-up.

So all that said, today Veronika and I focused on sounds. We started inside, finding familiar, noticeable noises. Some good candidates included: the tea kettle;

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The laundry machine;

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and running water.

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She was fascinated by my phone when I programmed it to make an old-fashioned telephone ring.

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Give your child time to absorb each sound, and name what it is, and some descriptive words about it.

Next, we headed outside for further exploration. The first thing we noticed was the wind rustling leaves. It was beautiful to pause and hear the whisper and whoosh together.

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We also paused to hear the splash of a fountain.

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My girl was listening intently!

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Other sounds included barking dogs, footsteps, and chirping birds. She got to hear several modes of transportation, including cars and a train roaring by.

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There was even a helicopter making noise overhead.

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What else did you hear on your exploration? Please share in the comments!

Button Toss

May 15, 2019May 15, 2019Leave a comment

This fun game (another winner from Highlights magazine) involves crafting on the front end and then becomes a sport with some math involved by the end!

To put it together, you’ll need 3 boxes, ideally of different sizes and heights. Paint each box a different color, for the best contrast.

We also squirted on some puffy paint because, puffy paint.

Note: If you don’t have paint, you can wrap them with wrapping paper instead. Glue the boxes together in any configuration and let dry.

To play, I cut out paper circles and marked each with a different score for each box. The easiest was worth a 1, the second was a 2, and the hard one was a 5. (Note: Big kids can skip count by 5s, labeling the boxes 5, 10, and 15).

In an empty egg carton, add paper circles numbered 1 through 12 (or 5 through 60, if skip-counting).

Each player now needs 2 buttons – one to toss and one as a score piece.

Travis took his first toss – a lucky 5!

I helped him count his button five spaces forward through our scoreboard.

He loved the challenge of the game, and the challenge of counting his score each time.

The first person to 12 (or 60) wins!

Peace Hug

May 14, 2019May 14, 2019Leave a comment

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After a busy weekend away, I felt like I was scrambling today. Not just to complete today’s to-do list, but to catch up on the past four days, too. And I know we’ve all been there.

It was the perfect day, in other words, for a peace hug.

What’s a peace hug, you might ask? Babies (and older kids) can pick up on your mood when you’re stressed, or tense, or anxious, and one of the best tricks you can have up your sleeve as a parent is a way to calm yourself down. You can do this simple hug after you erupt, if it comes to that, but ideally you’ll do it before and prevent the stress eruption in the first place.

Feeling my stress rising, I simply took Veronika to my chest on the couch and sat.

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Listen to your breathing. Listen to your baby’s breathing. Feel your chests rising up and down together.

It might take as long as five minutes, but gradually you’ll feel yourself relax. Keep hugging. If baby falls asleep, then the peace hug has worked even better.

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Consider this peace hug offering my belated Happy Mother’s Day wish to all my readers! I remain so grateful for your readership.

Sitting Up Ball Games

May 14, 2019May 14, 2019Leave a comment

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By six-and-a-half months old, your baby is probably a sitter – which means it’s time for some ball games together! Veronika can hold a ball easily, but today we got more sophisticated with her ball play; consider this her first little sports lesson!

First, we played a basic rolling game. I rolled an easy-to-hold baby ball to Veronika.

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Her natural inclination was to pick it up and keep it to herself for play, of course.

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But I encouraged her to roll it back, using the word and gesturing. When she dropped it, it rolled toward me accidentally, but I praised this like she’d done it on purpose.

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In this way, we kept up a little back and forth that she soon loved.

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The next goal was to teach her to pass a ball between her hands. For this game, I used large fluffy pom-poms; these have the benefit of feeling yucky if your baby puts them up to the mouth, and I wanted Veronika to focus on her hands.

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I handed her the ball first. She loved the novel texture!

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Next I showed her how to pass it from hand to hand, then gave it back to her and encouraged her to do the same. As with the rolling, this really happened by accident, but each time, I praised her success! From right…

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…to left!

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Next, I held out my hand and asked her to hand me the ball. I had to sort of take it, but then could “pass” it back to her, talking to her about what it meant to “pass”, too.

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These games are both great ways to build up linguistic concepts and motor skills all in one!

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How do you and your baby play with balls? Please share in the comments!

Maraca Craft Challenge

May 14, 2019Leave a comment

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Last month, Travis’s Highlights magazine challenged him to make robots with only a few simple items. This month, the challenge was maracas!

I laid out: empty plastic water bottles, dried beans, tape, and craft sticks. “How would you make these into a maraca?” I asked him.

“Let’s add beans first,” he decided right away.

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He began dropping in the beans one-by-one. When I added a few faster to a second bottle, he admonished, “No, copy the way I do!” My teacher for the day!

Next, he needed to figure out how to use the craft sticks. He requested a piece of tape and soon had a handle.

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Then he decided a double-handle in the shape of an X was sturdier.

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Finally, the caps were reattached, and we could shake up a storm! I loved watching him puzzle through this challenge. What does your child’s maraca look like? Please share in the comments!

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Super Healthy Cookie

May 14, 2019Leave a comment

Healthy Cookie (5)

Much like the Oatmeal Energy Balls we made a few weeks ago, these cookies are designed to give your kids a boost! They’re perfect for after school or after sports practice.

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup flaxseed
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 (6-ounce) bar dark chocolate

First comes the fun part: place the bananas in a bowl and mash with a potato masher until very smooth.
Add the coconut oil, oats, flaxseed, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder.
Chop the chocolate bar into pieces, and stir in.
Drop the dough by tablespoons onto baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes, until lightly browned on the bottom.

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Humpty Dumpty Goes Round the Garden

May 12, 2019Leave a comment

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The actions are getting bigger when I play with Veronika and nursery rhymes! As the mash-up in this post’s title suggests, here are a couple we’ve been having fun with lately:

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First comes the classic Humpty Dumpty. For this one, I sat on the floor with my knees bent, and Veronika on my tummy.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

All the king’s horses and all the king’s men

Couldn’t put Humpty together again!

As you say the rhyme, tilt your baby off your tummy on the word “fall”. You’ll want to do this on a soft rug, or have a pillow near you. Or even try it outside in the grass!

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For the second, we did an update on Round and Round the Garden.

Round and round the garden

Like a teddy bear.

One step, two steps,

And tickle him under there!

When she was little, I would circle on Veronika’s palm. Now her whole belly gets a circle.

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Walk your fingers two big “steps” up baby’s torso.

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Then end with a tickle under the chin!

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joyful parenting

Month: May 2019