A couple months ago, Travis pulled pranks on family members with fake bug tricks. Today, it was my turn to pull a prank on him! For this one, simply use a chopstick to poke a deep hole into an apple.
Insert a gummy worm candy (Surf Sweets’ sour worms are vegan), and leave out where your unsuspecting victim will come across it.
Needless to say, this got a big laugh, an instant mood changer! Of course Travis then wanted to eat lots more worms.
Check out the full line-up of bug pranks here.
I came home from the grocery store with a few small paper bags today, the kind that’s just right for produce. Veronika immediately wanted to play with them, so we turned them into easy shakers!
First up was decorating with markers. Whenever she colors now, she names the color of each marker with such pride. “Black! Green! Yellow cap!”
After this narrated decorating was through, I filled the bags with a little bit of unpopped corn kernels. (Dried beans or rice would work well, too). Secure with a rubber band. I added a ribbon on the first bag for a decorative touch, but she was more distracted by the ribbon than anything else, so we stuck to rubber bands on subsequent bags.
We also learned by trial and error not to fill the bags too heavy with the popcorn. Lighter was much easier for her to shake.
She got the hang of holding on to the top part (above the rubber band) for the best sound.
And then there was just lots of exuberant shaking.
I thought we might put on music, but I didn’t even get a chance! She just loved the cha cha cha noise these made. “Loud!” she said happily, and resumed shaking, often with one in each hand.
You might read the title of this blog and think it’s about storing books in an easy-to-reach spot for your child (which, yes, is a great idea). But nope, I mean it more literally; a large enough box is just right for reading books in the box.
Veronika loves reading her “magazines” (Hello from Highlights) and I wanted to create a cozy spot where she could do so. To wit, I had a big box from a diaper delivery that was perfect for this activity.
First, we needed to decorate it, and Veronika leaps at any chance to pull out her crayons!
I thought she might like a cozy blanket and pillow nestled inside, along with a few books.
It turns out she wanted nothing to do with the blanket. But soon was ensconced and rapt with her “reading”.
Sometimes she wanted to turn the box on its side, more like a cave to crawl into and read.
Sometimes it was more like her little reading boat.
Add a snack if you want, or simply let reading be the draw. Whatever the case, she loved her little reading box!
My kids love tofu, even when it’s served plain, but this easy salad is a flavorful spin to keep things fresh.
Ingredients:
This is delicious on its own, but also great tucked into or served alongside pita bread.
Sometimes the simplest activities are the best, and sometimes you just need to have a Saturday morning dance party. So there’s nothing more to this idea than that!
With Veronika a little aimless this morning, I put on some music. To make her laugh, we twirled and danced but then I said, “Fall down!” and showed her how to plop to the ground.
The first few times, we sat down together.
But then she got the hang of it. Twirl, and twirl, and twirl, and…
…fall! This game will get giggles every time. Silly props like scarves and hats are not required of course, but certainly add to the fun.
TGIF! We pulled out lots of toys and items from around the house in connection with each lesson today to keep things feeling fresh.
9-9.30: ELA. After a workbook page on animal rhyming words (dog/log, cat/hat), Travis designed a “habitat” for a few stuffed animal friends.
This led to lots of stuffed animal play early in the morning, but I was happy to pause and go at a slower pace. He also did a page on the letter Z, and about 10 minutes on Lexia. (Little sister was busy, meanwhile, with bottles and lids).
9.30-10: Math. Travis’s workbook page had him skip counting by 10’s to 100, using pictures of dimes. That meant we pulled out his old collection of foreign coins!
Both kids loved looking at all the different types, colors, and shapes of currency. Travis was fascinated finding the year on the oldest ones. Veronika simply loved the fine motor challenge of fitting them in the slot of the piggy bank! A big win for everybody.
10-10.30: Snack/recess.
10.30-11: Author Spotlight. We dabbled back into the suggested Mo Willems curriculum for the week. Travis watched the story Waiting is Hard, but then protested about writing about it after (character, setting, etc.). He did record a message to his teacher saying his favorite story this week had been Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.
We finished with a STEAM extension: Elephant and Piggie puppets! Lacking the suggested paper bags, we glued the templates to paper plates instead, with craft sticks for a handle.
We then acted out a story on the back patio!
11-11.30: Science. Travis learned about how pollination works through this hands-on activity from Highlights magazine. Bury a wrapped candy (we used lollipops) in one bowl and cover with a cheesy puff snack (like Hippies).
Place a second wrapped candy in a second bowl, and cover with apple slices. I invited Travis to dig for the lollipop, and he eagerly began searching down through the puffs.
When he lifted his hands, they were covered in cheese dust – pollen!
Now he dug for the second lollipop and we saw how the apple slices we covered in the “pollen”, just as pollinators like bees and butterflies transfer it from plant to plant. Of course then it was time for a lollipop.
11.30-1.30: Lunch/free play.
1.30-2: Board Game. We played a favorite game with one caveat… Mommy got to go first! The idea was to reinforce the lesson of waiting from the earlier Mo Willems’ story. Travis was thrilled to take this pause together while baby sister was sleeping, insisting on two rounds.
It was an early start to the weekend after that, getting outside to the playground. One week to go!
With just two ingredients, this easy recipe elevates store-bought vegan chick’n. I like to use Gardein, but swap in your favorite kind if preferred!
Ingredients:
If your kids like a little spice, add a dish of their favorite bbq sauce on the side for dipping!
Here’s a novel painting technique, the complete opposite of other options you might have tried with your toddler, like watercolor! I had a few packet of powdered dry paint leftover from a Holi celebration, and thought they might make the perfect art material for Veronika.
To make a “paintbrush” for this activity, clip a cotton ball into a spring-type clothespin.
Sprinkle a little powdered paint onto heavy watercolor paper. We used two to three different colors per sheet. Now simply use the cotton ball to swirl it around!
Veronika was really into the dusty piles of paint, although not nearly as interested in the cotton ball “brush” as I thought she would be.
But eventually the powders were swirled all over the paper.
We then spritzed hairspray all over the picture to set the paint, which was arguably her favorite part of the activity! Brush off any extra powder, and let the “painting” set.
The resulting artwork has a beautiful swirled look. We cut out little rectangles and folded them in half to send to family members as greeting cards in the mail!
I’ve been saving a collection of empty bottles and lids for a while now (think smoothie bottles, sparkling water, peanut jars etc.). Basically anything with a lid that a toddler can twist off. Today, I finally pulled out the collection and there were so many ways that Veronika and I could play with them!
We started with the obvious: placing all the bottles in front of her with the lids off, so she could mix and match and figure out which lid belonged where.
She was remarkably adept at this, I think because she knows some of these bottles by sight (like her favorite smoothie!). Sometimes she picked up a lid that was too big or too small, and I loved watching her puzzle through why it wouldn’t twist onto the bottle she’d chosen.
Next, we did a little learning. I lined up the bottles from big to small, pointing out the size differences to Veronika.
Older toddlers can solve this challenge all by themselves, but for Veronika at 19 months old, it was enough to introduce vocabulary about size.
We then filled the bottles with items from around the house that would range in volume from quiet to loud. Our items included: pipe cleaners (the quietest), a pen, craft sticks, and buttons (the loudest!)
She loved shaking these…
…so of course we had to put on some music and have a jam session. Then she wanted to get at the items inside the bottles, so the lids were twisted off once more.
Once the lids were off, we had fun rolling them on the floor! You could even have bottle cap races if your kids are a bit older.
Finally, we did an art activity, tracing all of the lids on a piece of heavy watercolor paper. (Older toddlers can practice their own tracing).
I asked Veronika what shape she saw. “Circle!” she said proudly.
We used watercolor paint to fill in the circles. I mostly was the one painting, filling each circle with a different color, while Veronika was more into the cups of water!
But the resulting artwork looked quite neat.
Just a girl busy with her bottle and lid collection!
How do you play with bottles and lids? Please share in the comments.
We deviated from the curriculum today, with Travis losing interest in Mo Willems-themed activities. Luckily I was able to engage him with the following:
9-9.30: ELA. After a page on the letter Y in his workbook, y as in yellow prompted us to redo an old color wheel activity, which of course turned into messy water and food coloring play. So a good way to start the day! He also did about 10 minutes on Lexia.
9.30-10: Telling time. Travis filled out a summer workbook page with clocks showing the time at :00 and :30 intervals.
10-10.30: Snack/recess. This may have involved walking on pillows.
10.30-11: Art. Upon learning it was Corn on the Cob Day, we made a quick art project! Travis made a big blob of glue roughly in the shape of an ear of corn, then loved dropping in unpopped corn kernels.
We added marker for brown silk strands on top and green husks. We continued the fun late day by shucking and roasting real ears of corn!
11-11.30: Math. Travis only wanted to do Star Wars addition problems. I encouraged him to write a “math story sentence” to go with one problem, to much protest, so we switched over to…
11.30-12: Music. Travis’s teacher posted a wonderful sing-along of Lift Every Voice and Sing in solidarity with those demonstrating across the country right now. I spoke to Travis about the protests in an age-appropriate way, and asked him what the song meant to him. This was a little tough for him to grasp, and we zeroed in on the concepts of fairness and love.
I was proud of his heart to share with his music teacher.
12-2: Lunch/free play. And social time with a friend on Zoom!
2-2.30: His teacher asked the kids to think about summer goals, a great prompt! Travis settled on learning to ride a bike, and then wrote a sentence for it and drew a picture.
2.30-3.30: Outside. We finished the day with a gorgeous walk to count critters! And then enjoyed that roasted corn of course.
joyful parenting 