Cat Games, 5 Ways

January 30, 2021Leave a comment

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On some cold winter days, it’s not just the human kids who get cabin-fever, but our four-legged kids, too! To wit, we came up with five ways the cat and kids could play together today, meaning everyone was entertained (for a little while at least!)

Fishing for Feathers

For this first game, I rigged up a homemade version of a classic cat “fishing rod” using materials from our craft bin. Tie a few craft feathers together with string, then loop the other end of the string around a dowel and secure with tape.

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I showed the kids how to dangle these “birds” for the cat.

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At first he seemed surprised to be the center of attention, but soon he was batting at the feathers with excitement. Clearly the kids thought it was a riot!

Laser Tag

This second game is strictly for kids who are old enough to understand that a laser pointer never gets pointed into anyone’s eyes, whether human or feline. Travis absolutely loved wiggling the dot of our laser pointer for the cat (it makes him go wild!).

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Veronika, meanwhile, got to watch and laugh at the show!

Sock It to Me

Forget the cat ball toys you can buy at the store; rolled up socks make instant balls for zero cost! Veronika in particular loved rolling a few homemade sock balls to the cat and back again. “Here’s a sock!” she would say each time.

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If you have fresh catnip, you could even sprinkle some in the socks, first. Then we tried a variation where I tied a long string around each sock. The cat loved pouncing after these if we dragged them on the floor, or batting at them if they were dangled in the air.

Kitty Soccer

Our cat loves to play “soccer” with crinkly Mylar balls, so today we tested out a few other “soccer” toys. Great options for batting around include spring toys (try the Thin Colorful Springs from Ethical Pet) or even just a ball of crumpled paper. Gooooaaaaal!

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Finally, we got extra silly. I gave the kids one toy cat mouse and had them pretend to be cats, pouncing on it or batting it around with their “paws”.

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The cat received a second mouse so he could play right alongside my little humans. It’s highly debatable who had more fun with all these games, the two-legged kids or the four-legged one. Needless to say, the cat took a nice long cat nap after.

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Rainbow Turkey

November 21, 2020Leave a comment

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I love capturing handprints at holidays, and I was so thrilled that Veronika held perfectly still for this one! It’s yet another cute craft to celebrate turkeys for the Thanksgiving holiday.

To make a turkey with a multi-colored feathers, paint your child’s thumb and palm with brown washable paint. I then painted two fingers yellow, one red, and one green.

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Press firmly onto construction paper, as flat as possible, and you’ll have a little turkey! You’ll need to work quickly for this step (hence no pictures) and I recommend having wipes ready to clean off your toddler’s hand right away.

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Once the paint dried, it was simply a matter of adding a beak, eye, legs, and wattle from marker. Don’t forget to add the date on the back of this one; it’s a keeper!

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Walking Through the Jungle

August 13, 2020Leave a comment

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Stuffed animals lend themselves so perfectly to imaginative play. Here are a few ways that Veronika and I turned our home into a jungle with them today!

We started out with a fun nursery rhyme. For each verse, swap in the name of a stuffed animal and the noise it makes. So, for example:

Walking through the jungle,

What did I see?

A baby monkey laughing

At me, me me.

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We repeated for a bear growling and an owl hooting.

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In between verses, we stomped like were on a jungle mission. Here was a slippery snake hissing! Encourage lots of animal noises or motions to mimic each particular animal.

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To continue the fun, stage a classic animal “safari” afterwards. Hide a few stuffed animals and have fun finding them with a flashlight just before bedtime.

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Big brother Travis loved being the animal hider, and guiding Veronika and her flashlight to the right spots in the room.

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Again, make lots of animal noises as you spot each one! We finished with a read of Way Far Away on a Wild Safari and used a flashlight on each page to “find” the animals.

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Today it was definitely a jungle out there.

Shark Awareness Day

July 13, 2020Leave a comment

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Were you aware that July 14 is Shark Awareness Day? Neither were we until Highlights magazine clued us in. I was glad of it, knowing how misunderstood sharks are, plus I knew it was tailor-made for lots of fun activities.

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First up was some learning. I read Travis ten facts about sharks, and then he loved doing a few coloring pages and shark counting activities. He decided his favorite was the hammerhead shark and filled out a worksheet about them. Now he wanted to know more!

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We did a deep dive (and I mean deep!) into videos about sharks. By the end of the day, Travis was a graduate of this ‘Shark Academy’.

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We didn’t forget about little sister Veronika! She was in heaven watching Baby Shark cartoons, and happily shouting out, “Shark shark!”

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Now it was time for shark crafts! First up was a newspaper shark. Cut a piece from a magazine or newspaper in the shape of a shark nose coming out of the water, and glue to blue construction paper. Add eyes from stickers or wiggle eyes, then a black construction paper mouth. Travis liked snipping all the white triangles for the teeth!

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We added a strip of blue craft foam at the bottom for the ocean. I swear it is a complete coincidence that the text in the middle said “Brush up on table manners”. This was so perfect I have nothing else to say.

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Next we made shark puppets. If you have blue craft sticks, simply use those. I painted a few blue in a pinch, and let dry. Attach two sticks together in an X using a rubber band.

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We traced a shark puppet template onto blue craft foam and then cut out and hot glued onto the craft sticks. Push down on the stick with the lower jaw piece to make your shark chomp chomp chomp.

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Travis was mad for sharks all day as a result. He pulled out an old shark toy and staged a shark versus Lego battle.

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This prompted us to add one more STEM activity, constructing a shark from random Lego pieces!

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We hope you have fun celebrating Shark Awareness Day, too!

Animal Home Detective

June 16, 2020Leave a comment

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For his final nature walk of kindergarten, Travis got to play detective! A detective looking for animal homes, that is.

The assignment was not to look for animals themselves, but for their homes. I encouraged Travis to think of options we might see both high and low, big and small. That meant we peeked in the treetops for bird nests, and down by the roots for places a squirrel or rabbit might call home.

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Travis loves finding holes and wondering whether they belonged to a snake or a chipmunk.

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And don’t forget about insects! We found lots of web homes, ant hill homes, and more. Travis was particularly interested today in the vines and leaves, wondering what bugs might call those “home”.

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We paused at one point when we found the perfect rock to sit on and have a snack and draw some of what we’d seen. Travis drew one of the spiderwebs.

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This project is a great way to get kids thinking about why different species have different types of homes, and what each one needs in its particular shelter.

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What animal homes do you spot in your area? Please share in the comments!

Frog in the Grass

June 4, 2020Leave a comment

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Here’s an adorable game to play outside with a toddler, one that involves both imaginative play and observational skills. We used frog toys because the green camouflages perfectly in the green grass, but any green animal toy would work equally well, or even green beanbags. To wit, we also added a snake and a centipede.

Veronika spotted the frog toys before we headed outside, excitedly declaring, “Froggie, froggie!” so I knew she would love the game. Once we were outside, I scattered the frogs in the grass while Veronika watched, curious. Older toddlers can be asked to close their eyes while you scatter the frogs, making it a true hunt.

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“Frog in the grass!” I yelled, once all four had been ‘hidden’. She was confused until I led her by the hand to toddle over to the first frog. Then it seemed like the most exciting errand in the world!

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After that she was off and running, finding a frog in the green grass, bringing it back to the patio, and then returning for the next one.

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Then we also hunted down the green snake and centipede.

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Once everyone safely made it to the patio, I tossed them back into the grass. “Frog in the grass!” I yelled again. This time she thought it was hilarious, and went scampering over.

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You can add animal learning to the game by making the corresponding noises and motions. Veronika loves to say “ribbit”, and I encouraged her to leap like a frog.

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Next thing I knew, she had two of the frogs kissing on the patio, unprompted!

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We’ll have to see if one of them turns into a handsome prince.

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Chicken Littles

April 11, 2020April 11, 2020Leave a comment

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Here’s an adorable craft for your Easter table, even if your gathering is smaller than usual this year due to social distancing. Kids can get involved with several steps, including painting, cutting out shapes for the face, or helping arrange the flowers.

To start, paint empty baby food jars with several coats of yellow acrylic paint. Let dry completely.

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Cut out triangles for beaks and wedges for feet, whether from felt or construction paper. I would have preferred felt, but paper worked in a pinch!

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Use a black sharpie to add eyes.

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Now your chicks just need feathers in their caps, care of little white flowers, of course! These turned out so cute. Chicken Littles (4)

How to… Feed Feathered Friends

February 22, 2020Leave a comment

Travis and I have loved hearing birdsong on recent walks to the bus stop, a sure sign that spring is near. So we loved that this month’s “How To” column in Highlights magazine was a bird feeder for our feathered friends, helping them out while the ground is still quite frozen.

I challenged Travis to think of how he could make a strong base for the feeder from craft sticks. Seven lined up in a row with two across the top and bottom for reinforcement did the trick.

We repeated this arrangement for the roof. For the sides, glue 4 craft sticks together in a square.

I hot-glued everything together (wood glue would also work), and then added a few extra craft sticks for reinforcement where needed.

Note: If using wood glue, consider using binder clips to hold everything together until the glue dries.

Next we gave our bird feeder a coat of paint.

Travis chose black and yellow – oriole colors!

We took a special trip the store for birdseed, following Highlights suggestions for who eats what in which part of the country. We opted for black-oil sunflower seeds, popular with titmice in our region.

It was so warm outside that we didn’t even need our coats when we went to hang this in the sunshine. We can’t wait to watch the birds enjoy their meal.

Chat with Me Panda Crate

December 23, 2019Leave a comment

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Veronika’s third Panda Crate, which seems to be aimed at a baby aged 5 to 6 months, is about language development and babble. To tie this idea into a theme, the crate focused on farm animals and animal sounds, which are often easier for babies to say than actual words. Certainly Veronika fits this trend, with “meow” “woof” “quack” and “baa” in her proud repertoire. So without further ado, here’s what she received in this crate!

One: Mooing Cow

This was a very silly cow stuffed animal that moos when you turn it upside-down. Veronika wasn’t quite sure what to make of this little fellow!

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I tried playing pass back and forth with her, but she was a little scared of the cow! Instead, I encouraged her to moo along, and brought the cow back for later books and games (read on).

Two: Stacking Animals

These wooden animals – a pig, a sheep, a duck, and a bunny – are fantastic. They are just the right size for little hands, lightweight but sturdy, and lend themselves to numerous games. We lined them up in a row…

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…and then I showed her how to stack them flat on their sides, easier than standing them upright.

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When I stacked them atop one another, she was eager to topple the animal tower over! I can definitely see how this toy will grow with her, once she’s able to stack them herself.

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Three: Peek-A-Boo Barn

The farm fun continued with this neat vocab-building toy. Because each of the three barn doors opens in a different way (twist, lift, or slide), you can emphasize these verbs while your little one plays. Certainly Veronika didn’t waste any time getting her hands busy with it.

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She even played peek-a-boo with the duck up top!

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We returned to the theme of animal noises as she played, and I asked prompting questions like, “Where is the horse?” to build her animal vocabulary.

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Four: Pull-Along Truck

This gross motor toy was a welcome addition to the crate. The fabric upper body Velcros around the wooden wheel base, although ours was a bit droopy. That didn’t deter Veronika from zooming it everywhere!

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There’s room for onomatopoeia here, making truck sounds like vroom vroom and beep beep as you play. It’s also just right for loading in the wooden animals and giving them a ride.

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I can’t wait until Veronika is old enough to pull it as she walks, but for right now she was more than happy to push it along at a crawl.

Five: Board Book

As with every crate, this one featured a book about our friend Panda. In this one, Panda says hello to different animals on the farm.

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The book features numbers as well as animal sounds, and we recruited our new friends (the mooing cow and the wooden animals) to act out the story!

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Now it was time to check out this crate’s Wonder magazine. There were linguistic tips for every age, including activities we did when Veronika was 0 to 3 months old (sitting close and cooing back), 4 to 6 months old (repeating single-syllable sounds) and 7 to 12 months old (narrating the day). I liked the tip about praising language use instead of correcting it, which we’re prone to do as parents.

Wonder also had a page about baby signing, featuring 6 signs that Veronika already knows: milk, eat, more, all done, play, and help.

The suggested “Beyond the Crate” activities were mainly ones Veronika and I have done before. First up: Sounds All Around i.e. playing with onomatopoeia. She loves to copy sounds, so I thought of some fun new ones. While playing with her tea set, I added a “pssssh” pouring sound.

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She was soon eagerly pouring for our tea party and shoving the cup in my face for a “sluuurp!” We also love to “beep boop” our light switches and to “choo choo” our trains.

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And of course, animal toys are ripe for onomatopoeia play, so we circled back to the new wooden ones.

There was also a recommended game of Tot Talk (responding to your baby’s babble as if having a real back-and-forth conversation). We do this often, and Veronika loves to monologue at me!

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Lastly, we played In Full Swing, a cute way to teach hello and goodbye as you push your baby on a swing. Veronika is just starting to wave and say hi to other babies, so she loved this game. Add other words like “forward” and “backward”, too.

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For musical fun, the natural song to sing with this crate is Old Macdonald Had a Farm.

Finally, we checked out three recommended books:

Farmyard Beat by Lindsey Craig
Listen to the Pets by Marion Billet
Who? A Celebration of Babies by Robie Harris

Who Says MOOO?

November 15, 2019Leave a comment

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Here’s an easy variation on teaching animal sounds to your little one. Print out brightly colored pictures of a few favorite animals (or cut them from children’s magazines) and have them laminated.

Now you have the perfect “flash cards” for having fun with sounds.

Veronika knows and copies two of these already: cat:meow and dog:woof, so I showed her these cards first.

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She loved the cat image so much she hugged it and didn’t want to put it down.

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The dog got her experimental “ffff” sound, plus silly play.

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When I showed her the cow and asked,”Who says moooooo?” in a loud imitation, she looked up at me in delight. She’d never heard such a long moo. I think she even tried to vocalize it back.

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We also went through a few common animals like horse:neigh, pig:oink and sheep:baa.

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The cards themselves were a delight to her, so we’ll keep these around for lots of play and learning!

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joyful parenting

Category: Animals