Toddler Lessons for Friday - Music

Today is MUSIC day.

Today's toddler activities are all about sounds and MUSIC. Kids love music - listening to it, dancing to it, singing songs, and making their own music.


Craft for Kids
Music Shaker
Today we are making a musical instrument - I'm calling it our "music shaker".

We are using:

• streamers or ribbons
  
• 2 paper plates
  
• white glue
  
• beans, rice or pebbles
  
• 2 or more jingle bells (optional - we didn't have any)
• supplies for decorating - pens, stickers, glitter etc
  
• duct tape
  

Glue or tape a few ribbons onto the bottom of one of the paper plates (we are using duct tape to make it more secure).



Place the beans, rice or pebbles into the "ribbon" plate.


Glue the other plate onto the "ribbon" plate - we are also duct taping this plate onto the "ribbon" plate - I have a 1yr old - there is no way I want this thing to come apart and have my 1 yr old get hold of those little glass pebbles!



Allow to dry, then it is ready to be decorated!




Game/Activity for Toddlers
Xylophone
Today I am going to attempt (haha!) to teach my toddler how to play a song on the xylophone.




I found free sheet music at http://thesongswesing.wordpress.com/ . (After all those years of private piano lessons) I actually managed to remember how to play - boy, my parents will be so proud!!!


Books for Kids and Babies
The books on our bear chair today are all about MUSIC and sounds - "Wheels on the Bus" a Mother Goose story (Studio Mouse), and two Baby Einstein books, both by Susan Ring, "Music on the Go" and "Music around the House" (Scholastic).



Toddler Songs & Video
Our favorite song at the moment for both my 3yr old and 1yr old (she does the most perfect "E.I.E.I.O") is "Old McDonald had a Farm"

Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee i ee i o
And on his farm he had some chicks
Ee i ee i o
With a cluck-cluck here
And a cluck-cluck there
Here a cluck, there a cluck
Everywhere a cluck-cluck
Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee i ee i o

Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee i ee i o
And on his farm he had some cows
Ee i ee i oh
With a moo-moo here
And a moo-moo there
Here a moo, there a moo
Everywhere a moo-moo
Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee i ee i o

Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee i ee i o
And on his farm he had some pigs
Ee i ee i o
With an oink-oink here
And an oink-oink there
Here an oink, there an oink
Everywhere an oink-oink
Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee i ee i o

Add in other animals that you teach on the farm like :
dogs - woof-woof
cat - meow-meow
sheeps - baa-baa
horses - neigh-neigh

Remember, teaching your baby or toddler should be fun for both of you - it is a rewarding, enriching experience to be able to spend time together and help them learn something new. Have fun!

Toddler Lessons for Thursday - Letters

Today is LETTERS day.

Today's toddler activities are all about the alphabet. We are so close to being able to sing the whole alphabet song all the way through - still need a bit more practice! One place we practice is when we wash our hands - the experts say you should wash your hands with soap for as long as it takes to sing the alphabet song all the way through, to help get rid of the germs. Talk about multi-tasking.


Craft for Kids
Alphabet Book for Kids
We are going to start our alphabet book (it will be an ongoing exercise as we continue to revisit this theme). The idea is to have one page per letter. I will write the upper case and lower case letter onto the page and then have my 3yr old copy them. We will also look through old magazines and cut out pictures that start with that corresponding letter (e.g. apples for "A", a car for "C", etc)

We are using:

• construction paper (8 pages)
  
• crayons and pens
• single hole punch
• yarn
• old magazines (for pictures relating to our letters)
• scissors
• glue

We construct our book first. I am folding the construction paper in half, hole punching along the spine and tying the yarn through the holes to hold our book together.




Now we can start to work on our alphabet





This was a great rainy-day exercise for my toddler. I know we need the rain here in Fort Worth, Texas, but a whole week's worth?? Please share it around, we really want to go to the park. :)


Game/Activity for Toddlers
Magnetic School


We have this awesome Magnetic School from Parents (it was a gift so not sure of the $). It consists of cards, with a picture and the first letter outlined on them, and magnetic letters. The idea is to match the letter to the correct card.






We talk about each letter, the picture on the card and how the letter relates to the word on the card. It is great for letter recognition, and learning words.



Books for Kids and Babies
The books on our bear chair today are all about LETTERS - "Baby Animal abc's" illustrated by Shelley Dieterich (WJ Fantasy, Inc), "baby, look, abc" illustrated by Charlotte Stowell (Parragon), and "Do Your ABC's, Little Brown Bear" by Jonathan London (Weekly Reader Publishing).




Video
Goes with the song of the day! (US - I know they sing "Zed" - that's Australian! just sub in your "Zee")




Toddler Songs
What better song than the "Alphabet Song"

A B C D
E F G
H I J K
L M N O P
Q R S
T U V
W X
Y & Z
Now you know your ABC's,
next time won't you sing with me.

Remember, teaching your baby or toddler should be fun for both of you - it is a rewarding, enriching experience to be able to spend time together and help them learn something new. Have fun!

Wednesday - Seasons

Today is SEASONS day.

With the weather becoming cooler this week I thought it would be the perfect time to talk about SEASONS to my 3yr old. She wants to know why she can't swim in her pool anymore (brrrr)!


Craft/Game/Activity
We are combining our craft and activity today. Our craft is going to be a leaf rubbing, so we need to collect some leaves for our rubbing. Even though our leaves haven't quite turned in color yet (although you can see slight color changes around the area) it is still a good time to get outside, enjoy this beautiful weather, and collect some pretty leaves.



Well, it started to rain, so we weren't outside for very long - just long enough to get our leaves and the mail.

We have collected about 5 different sized leaves.


Place the leaves vein side up on the table. Arrange them however you would like.


Place a piece of paper over the leaves.


With a selection of different colored crayons, pick out the first color. Gently crayon over the entire leaf - the result should be an outline of the leaf and the details of it's veins! Continue with the other leaves using different colors (or the same color if you prefer).



OK - it is little difficult for a 3 yr old to do anything gently, so here is a better method - pull the paper off a crayon and use the length of the crayon to rub (roll) over the leaves - much better results! Oh, and it also helps if you hold the paper steady for them.




We are going to tape our four pictures together, and glue our leaves on, just for an extra special Autumn picture ("Daddy's going to love this!").


We are using craft glue to glue on the leaves.



Oh, and why not a few butterfly stickers to finish it. What a pretty Autumn picture!




Books
The books on our bear chair today are all about SEASONS - "What Shall I Wear?" by Marcy Kelman - a Baby Einstein Playful Discoveries book (Scholastic), and "Rainy Day Friends" by Nancy Parent (Paradise Press).




Video
Found this cute educational video about the seasons:




Also had to include a little Vivaldi!:



Songs
Today we have two songs about the seasons:

The Leaves of the Trees
(to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus")

The leaves of the trees turn orange and red

orange and red, orange and red

The leaves of the trees turn orange and red

All through the town.

The leaves of the trees come tumbling down

tumbling down, tumbling down

The leaves of the trees come tumbling down

All through the town.

The leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish,

The leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish

All through the town.

(by Irmgard Guertges)

The Leaves are Falling Down
(to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell")

The leaves are falling down

The leaves are falling down

School is here and fall in near

The leaves are falling down.

The leaves are falling down

The leaves are falling down

Some are red and some are brown

The leaves are falling down.

The leaves are falling down

The leaves are falling down

They tickle your nose and touch your toes

The leaves are falling down.

(by June Haggard)

LOVING this cooler weather - we had a fun summer, but there is something so nice about the seasons changing - ready to get all snugly, drink hot chocolate and play at the park! Have fun!

Tuesday - Shapes

Today is SHAPES day.

My 3yr old is getting really good at recognizing the basic SHAPES, so now it is time to start teaching them to my 1yr old. Start shape recognition early and it will all fall into place for them much easier as they begin to start talking (and saying) the names of the shapes.

Craft
Today we are going to do a fun printmaking activity that you can use to discuss geometric shapes with kids. We are sacrificing 2 dish sponges for our stamps, or you can buy sponge squares or Miracle Sponge Sheets and cut out your own shapes or you can buy preformed shapes.




Use sponges in a variety of different shapes. Besides circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles, you could also do a hexagon (6-sides), octagon (8-sides), diamond, oval, and any other shapes you want to show them.

Pour your paint into a shallow container (we are using margarine lids). Use a different container for each color of paint. You might also want to keep a bowl or water on hand to clean sponges and fingers!

To paint with the sponges, dip the sponge into the paint. Dab it around to cover the sponge completely and wipe off any excess paint. Now, simply press it onto the paper to make a unique print.

Discuss the different shapes and point out other places you may see these shapes.

My 3yr old also experimented with the sponge by "painting" with it - it's always good to let you little ones experiment with the different mediums you use - this encourages their creativity, and gives them confidence in their own abilities.

You can do sponge printing on other products besides paper. You can use fabric paint to make personalized clothing, towels, or bedding. Use latex paint to decorate furniture or even to personalize your walls. Be creative and have fun!

Books
The books on our bear chair today are all about SHAPES - "I See Shapes" by Marcy Kelman - a Baby Einstein Playful Discoveries book (Scholastic), and "Spot looks at shapes" by Eric Hill (Putnam).





Video
Here's a great catchy tune about shapes (gosh, I know I sing this at least a couple of times in my head a day! LOL - this is what happens when you have kids.)




Game/Activity/Song
This is a great interactive song that gets the kids thinking about and recognizing shapes quickly, and participating in the song (therefore hopefully retaining interest). Cut out some shapes (basic for younger kids, more advanced shapes for the older ones). Sit everyone in a circle. Hide the shapes behind your back, then as you sing the song bring out one shape at a time (as cued in the song).

What Shape is this?
(Sung to: "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush")

Do you know what shape this is,

What shape this is, what shape this is?

Do you know what shape this is

I'm holding in my hand?

Have fun!