Beads on a string

My sister told me about how well this activity works with her students but I thought my two year old was too young. Also I was concerned about the choking hazard- do watch out for that. But today, my two year old found the container full of beads and brought it to me thinking it was candy. I explained that they were beads and she was anxious to give this activity a try. So we did.

Sorry these pictures are terrible. We'll pretend I'm a decent photographer for now. Anyway, I took a shoelace and tied a knot at the end. Then I showed her how to put the beads on the shoelace. She loved it and insisted on doing it "all by ahh self!"

It's a great way to build fine motor skills. And keep your kid occupied for a bit.

Random thoughts

Wow! Things have been BUSY! I guess the holidays can do that to you. And my kids are still sick. My one year old just threw up again this week. Go figure.

As soon as life calms down I have a bunch of new things to try out and post about.

My sister who is a special education teacher gave me a new book about activities to do with toddlers. I'm so excited to try some new things out from it.

For Christmas, I got a cookbook about hiding vegetables in your kids food. You know, the one by Jerry Seinfeld's wife Jessica. As much as I (sort of) try, my kids really don't get enough vegetables. I'm really excited to try some of these recipes out. And of course blog about it.

And one day a week I will be babysitting some kids for a neighbor so I will have some new test subjects for some of these foods and activities. And rumor has it, one of these kids will not eat vegetables. We'll see what we can do about that.

As a final thought, I found this blog and laughed so hard I cried. So if you need a good laugh and you have a few minutes, give it a try. Also if you either like or dislike snuggies or wooden blocks with words on them, you may find this mildly amusing:

http://itjustgetsstranger.blogspot.com/2011/12/snuggie-texts.html

Rotating toys

We have too many toys at our house. With Christmas coming up, it's just going to get worse.

Awhile ago I got tired of picking up toys. All day. Everyday. All the time. So we packed them into totes and put them in our garage.

Lately I've been busy trying to make some homemade gifts for my family. And I've been working on things for my Etsy shop too. And as much as I have loved the non-stop showing of the Strawberry Shortcake movie at our house, it was time for something new.

So we pulled out one of the totes.

It's been fun to watch my girls re-discover their old toys again. And it's kept them busy.

When they get bored of these toys we'll rotate in another tote of toys. Or Christmas will come and it will be time to pack up more toys into the garage. Either way, it's been good "toy control" at our house.

And it's been fun for my girls.

Shapes

I'm so far behind. On everything I think.

Today my two year old and I worked on sorting, counting, and colors. I cut out a bunch of shapes in red and green paper.

She got so excited and named all the shapes and the colors. She even decided all on her own to make a snowman. They must be working on that at church with them because we haven't talked about snowmen at home.

They were talking on the radio this week about a study that said simple toys such a blocks are much better for kids than any electronic learning toy because it allows them to be creative. We got my two year old a Leapster 2 from Leapfrog and gave it to her a few weeks ago. Maybe we should have just stuck with blocks. Or shapes cut out of paper.

I just quit my job.

My kids are just too sick. My 1 year old woke up with a fever this morning. I can't keep finding subs for my shifts or people to take the kids until they get better. And I sure can't listen to my 1 year old scream while I'm at work because she doesn't feel well.

So... on to the next adventure. And more blogging about kid activities. Because now we're going to be spending a whole lot more time at home!

Winter colds

I think my girls picked up a combination of every cold and flu symptom there is.

I think it comes from working at a child care place and bringing my kids along. This morning I went into my kids' room and found a puddle of vomit in my one year old's bed from last night. That, along with her terrible coughing, fever, runny nose, and probably a series of other ailments she can't tell me about has made her really fussy and clingy. Sadly, my two year old just went through this same thing a few days ago.

I suspected my 1 year old was starting to take a turn for the worst yesterday. I was working with the older kids (2 and over) and my poor little one year old just cried and cried from the baby room. I know my kid and knew that it was more than a separation anxiety for her that was making her upset. The people working in the room just kept telling me that it was fine and if I came and held her that it would just make it worse because she learns that crying will get her held by her mom. It's kinda frustrating when you know your child and you know that there is something wrong. Ugh. A few times I just ignored them and held her anyway. It's my child, after all. Today while I'm at work my girls are going to be with their grandma. I'm just hoping my 1 year old gets better by tomorrow (wishful thinking, right?)

Celebrating religion

We're not Jewish.

But you wouldn't know that from our decorations this month.

We have a Christmas tree up, but somehow we missed getting a nativity scene anywhere in our house. Or pictures of Christ.

My husband is concerned that we are not emphasizing Christianity enough in our home. I'm a huge proponent of teaching a variety of ideas and world ideas, but somehow I missed our own religion.

What Christ centered activities do you guys do with your young children?