Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Toddler Time



My sister gave us this book for Christmas and it is so fun! I've seen other craft books and other toddler entertaining books. But, they are all really too advanced for a toddler. But, this one is not!

I've gone through and written one idea on the calendar for each morning (M-F) for Emily and I to do together. I call it craft time and so far she has been eating it up! Obviously I will not be sharing our ideas every day, but I thought I would share one that we did recently.

We swirled glue around on a piece of paper. Then sprinkled it with colored salt and shook off the extra! Tada! She loved it so much she wanted to do it again - so we did, three times!

Another thing I've started in the mornings is to watch a 30 minute DVD of something educational. So something like this, this or this ~ I hope these habits we start now will serve us well in the future as we hope to homeschool.

Speaking of TV time, we've kind of settled on a routine that works for us. After trying no TV, extremely limited TV and tons of TV, we have found that one thirty minute DVD in the morning (as mentioned above it will usually be something educational) and one thirty minute DVD after supper in the evening which can be something like Veggie Tales or Hermie and Friends. This is working really well and feels very doable.

9 comments:

Susan P. said...

The book sounds awesome, Monica. I remember so fondly the days of "table time" with my two little ones! It is such a precious, sweet time in your life:) If you ever need a great playdough recipe you can look on my site under the recipe section. I taught Preschool for many years and it is the best playdough I have ever used. It not only holds up great and doesn't make a mess you can also make it in different colors (using Kool Aid) to go along with the color you are learning about:) The children also loved that it had a wonderful smell!

Mary Ann said...

This looks great! I miss having toddlers around. They are so much fun!

Have a great day!

Wendi said...

Looks like Emily had a great time! The fun only gets better as she becomes a preschooler. I taught Preschool for several years and remember how much the children loved craft time! I really like the Leap Frog line. I play some of their board games with my preschool nieces and they are not only educational, but fun!

Lisa said...

Great idea. I will have to try that with Bennett. How did you color the salt?

We homeschool my teenager and I LOVE it! We use the Abeka Curriculum. If you aren't familiar with it go to this website and check it out.
www.abekaacademy.org

We will probably send Bennett to public school through 2nd grade. I would like him to learn to read before I begin homeschooling him. We started homeschooling Will in the 7th grade but I would like to start Bennett much sooner.

Thanks for your prayers for my mom. She has a long way to go but is on the mend.

Blessings
Lisa

Anonymous said...

That craft book looks awesome. I'll have to get it for my 5 yo niece; she comes over on Wednesdays.

I like the idea of writing the craft idea on the calendar. I coiuld use that idea too. That way I'll make sure I have the supplies and idea before niece come over.

I love your site and check here frequently.

The Frugal Shrink said...

Monica, Emily is *so* cute!!! I would've loved the daily craft as a wee one. :)

Monica Wilkinson said...

Susan P.- thanks for the great tip on the playdough recipe! My Mom always made our playdough growing up - but I don't think we used Kool Aid, so I'll have to check that out!

Ashli - to color the salt - I mixed in a few drops of food coloring and then put it in the microwave for one minute so it did not clump. You could also spread it on waxed paper to dry overnight. I like your Sesame Street routine - I bet your kids love eating their lunch while watching it! :)

Mary Ann - I thought of you, I know you enjoyed doing things like this. I pray you'll have your own toddlers to care for and do fun things with!

Lisa - see above on how I colored the salt. Thank you for your encouragement on homeschooling! Yes, I've heard great things about Abeka - will keep it in mind. I'm glad to hear that your Mom is progressing slowly but steadily.

Susan - Thank you for visiting! I am so glad you find some encouragement or ideas here that you can use! I know myself and if I don't write it on the calendar in advance or plan ahead, it simply will not happen or it will take all the fun out of it by my rushing around all the time trying to pull it together!

Tessa - Thank you! I am biased, but I think she is pretty cute too!

Anonymous said...

Colored salt! Cool! I'll have to try that. Putting something on the calendar every day is a great idea. The pressure of coming up with something at the last minute often derails project time around here.

Anonymous said...

Dear Monica -- I loved this post and was happy to see the photos of Emily having fun! :) It also reminded me of the kinds of things we did when you and Carrie were little. The mom who mentioned Sesame Street coming on at lunch time brought back memories -- that's when Sesame Street came on where we lived when you were little. Thanks for sharing!

Love Mom