Toddler Theme: Snow & Mountains

This week we explored snow & mountains.  Luckily for us, we woke up to snow Monday morning.  Lots of it!  We headed straight to our neighborhood sledding hill to take advantage of the fresh powder.  Mia even made a tiny snowman.  Later in the afternoon, I mixed up a couple of squirt bottles of snow paint (water with a few drops of food coloring) and let Mia paint the snow in a big grassy area.  CAUTION: This stuff will stain (you know, coats, mittens, sides of houses) so just be mindful of that.  As an alternative, you could soak some old, dried up washable markers in cups of water overnight and pour that into squirt bottles.

Living in Colorado, I realize we may have a bit of an advantage when it comes to exploring the concept of mountains.  I took the girls on a short hike that led to an overlook point.  All I was trying to impress upon Mia is that mountains are land formations that have risen upwards from the Earth.  You can make this same point on any hill, overlook, or trail that gives them the vantage point of being up higher than the land around them.  Doesn't actually need to be a mountain.  My favorite easy trails close to Denver are the Evergreen Lake Trail & Maxwell Falls Trail in Evergreen, Trading Post Trail at Red Rocks Amphitheater & Park, and Fountain Valley Trail at Roxborough State Park.  Also this week, we tried the Colorado Trail starting at the Waterton Canyon Recreation Area and saw a whole herd of bighorn sheep!  What are your favorite places to go for a hike with a view where you live?  Share the name(s) & location(s) in the comments.  Maybe we can come up with a good list to help each other out.

If your kids are a little older, you could talk about the different mountain climate zones: montane (5,600-9,500 feet), sub-alpine (around 9,000-11,000 feet), and the area above the treeline known as the alpine tundra (starting around 11,000 feet).  Rocky Mountain National Park's page on the National Park Service website has some brief but informative tidbits if you want to learn more together (check it out here).  Another fun angle on the mountain theme is to focus on the animals that make their homes there.  Black bears, mountain lions, moose, elk, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, mule deer, golden eagles, pika, marmots.  Do they have any special features that make them specially suited for mountain life?  Here are some of the animals we've seen on our mountain adventures (clockwise from top left): moose, elk, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep.

 

If your kid is really into Frozen, then they may appreciate a "Build a Snowman" play dough station.  I set up a platter with baby carrots, button, sticks from one of our walks, and a large chunk of white play dough and let Mia make her own snow creations.  Lately, she's been into mimicking the things she sees me do and I frequently catch her pretending to drink "coffees" out of an old sippy cup.  To make her more official, I cut a coffee sleeve out of felt (just a quick hand sew along the edge) and then some miscellaneous felt shapes in different colors.  She glued a few hearts on her sleeve and felt ever so cool sipping her hot cocoa during our afternoon story snuggle time.  I included a link to a tutorial & pattern in the summary below.  And lastly, we made a mountain range collage with an assortment of shapes I pre-cut out of black, brown, and green construction paper.  You could provide cotton ball "snow" as well.

We made a super special theme lunch one day, too -- Snow Mac!  After breakfast, we bundled up and went outside to collect a bucket of snow.  We let it sit on the counter all morning and checked on it periodically.  You'll never believe this, it turned into water!  So then we transferred it to a pot (this is when I did the old mom switcharoo to clean tap water) and waited for it to boil and make steam.  We used the pot lid to catch some of the steam and it turned back to water droplets on the lid.  Neat!  And totally an early science lesson on the states of matter and also precipitation.  Oh, and Mia confirmed that macaroni & cheese tastes waaay better when made with snow.

A summary of all Snow & Mountains week activities with links:

ACTIVITIES: Built a snowman, Went sledding

ART PROJECTS: Made a mountain range collage with cotton balls and triangle cutouts, Painted the snow with colored water in squirt bottles, Setup up a "Build a Snowman" play dough station, Made a hot cocoa cup sleeve with felt (here are instructions)

OUTINGS: Walked an easy "mountain" trail (i.e. a trail with an overlook view), You could also go on a sleigh ride if there is one available in your area

SNACK: Sipped Hot cocoa with extra marshmallows, Made "snow mac"

BOOKS: This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers, The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren

BIBLE STORY: God gave Moses the 10 Commandments up on the mountain

BABY BONUS: Snow sensory play

If you'd like to share a photo of your kid doing theme week activities, you can email it to me (email button in the left menu) or tag me on your Facebook photo or use the hashtag #weeklytoddlerthemes on Instagram (if you are private, just make sure I'm following you or tag me in the photo).

Toddler Theme: Art

Those of you that know me personally, know that I like making things.  All kinds of things -- sewing, paper art, digital art, photography, cooking.  I'm probably more of a crafter but I appreciate art & creativity, so Art week is fun for me.  We do art projects all the time, but during this theme week, I focus on some classic art & artists.  A very, very early intro into art appreciation.  The first thing we did this week was look at some famous art examples on the iPad.  Mia decided to stop napping so during afternoon cuddle time one day, we Googled artists like Picasso, Seurat, Mondrian, and Elliot Erwitt and looked through their work.  Mia liked Elliot's photos of dogs a lot.  Like a lot a lot!  Check him out.

Our first art project was a Mondrian-inspired collage.  Squeezing glue is a fine-motor skill that I've been working on with Mia and she surprised me how well she could do this on her own.  All I did was pre-cut squares & rectangles of varying sizes from red, blue, yellow, and white paper.  I did help her place the first piece in a corner so that she would get the idea of what we were doing, but that's it. You can see her finished work in the header picture.

This next art project was perfect as a "here, do this while I make dinner" project.  I made a couple of big open scribbles on plain paper then challenged her to tell me what they were.  My mom used to do this with us in church so that we'd be quiet (I'm on to you, mom!), but it's a really great creativity exercise.  And I always think the results look like Picasso's surrealist works (check out some examples of his work here).  That one on the left, I thought for sure Mia was going to think it looked like a snake but she flipped it over and said it was a mouse.  I added the eye and paw details while she colored it in.  If you want to learn more about Picasso (and other artists too!), check out his page on Artsy.  There you can read a biography, view his works, and also check to see if any of his work is on exhibit near you.  Neat!

We did a little q-tip pointillism for our last masterpiece.  I printed out a couple of artwork coloring sheets (I linked the website below).  The first one was A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges-Pierre Seurat.  I gave her an assortment of paints and a handful of q-tips and showed her how to make dots on a little section.  She worked very meticulously for about 20 minutes and required a second handful of q-tips.

I've been wanting to give Mia a camera for a long time and decided to go for it this week.  I had an old point and shoot laying around so I locked down all of the settings and made sure that the shutter sound effect was turned on.  You gotta have the sound.  Ca-chick!  She took about 200 pictures of her fingers over the lens but surprisingly, she captured some neat ones.  There were a couple of me taking pictures of her little sister.  And my favorite was a picture of her toes and Mater the Tow Truck.  We did also make a trip to one of our local art museums, The Denver Art Museum.  I have to caution that art museums are real tough for toddlers so only do this if yours has lots of fun interactive areas.  The DAM does have plenty, but I got this pouty face every time we had to walk through a gallery to get to the next interactive exhibit.  Sculpture gardens would be a great alternative.

And if your toddler has a little sibling, then you might like this baby "art" project.  Put a few blobs of paint (in our case, glitter paint) in a food storage bag and seal it.  That's it.  Let them squish it around for as long as you can get away with it. 

A summary of all Art week activities with links:

ART PROJECTS: Created a Mondrian-inspired paper collage, Practiced q-tip pointillism (Seurat printable coloring sheet here), Played with a camera, Used our creativity to turn scribbles into Picasso-inspired profiles, Colored masterpiece coloring sheets (check them out here), Made an art gallery installation with all of these art projects

OUTINGS: Visited the Denver Art Museum, Took camera on a nature walk

BOOKS: My Mom Snaps by Kari McGrath, Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, Andy Warhol's Colors by Susan Goldman Rubin, Counting with Wayne Thiebaud also by Susan Goldman Rubin, The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

BABY BONUS: Made a food storage bag "painting"

So I was thinking...I really loved seeing the Valentine's week photos many of you posted to my Facebook page.  I'd love to periodically post a Follower Feature with photos of you & your kids doing the toddler themes.  If you'd like to share a photo, you can email it to me (email button in the left menu) or tag me on your Facebook photo or even use the hashtag #weeklytoddlerthemes on Instagram (just make sure I'm following you or tag me in the photo).

Toddler Theme: Love & Valentine's Day

This week, our theme centered around Love as we prepared for Valentine's day.  Mia enjoys having  time to color & draw everyday so I created a minimalist Valentine's card with that in mind.  I printed them out on blank 4x6 index cards.  Did you get some of those yet?  I linked the printable in the summary list below.  Each day I gave her a few to color and by the end of the week, I had a nice big stack.  Since she's still working on some of her fine motor skills, we also made a paper heart chain.  I prepped a stack of paper strips the night before, but I let her help with the folding and creasing.  You'll have to help your kid with the assembly part because it's tricky to fold over the ends of one strip while also lining up the next strip, but stapling is fun!  And fine motor skill building.  Bonus!

Mia's not really one for obvious signs of affection so I made up a game to help illustrate the concept of physical love -- Animal Kisses.  It's simple, all you do is come up with an animal and a sign of affection for your child to act out.  How does a monkey give kisses?  What would a snake hug be like?  Show me how a Tyrannosaurus rex blows kisses.  It's pretty hysterical and you can play this game anywhere.  Another simple activity we did is create a We Love/I Love chart together (I linked a printable below).  This could be a good one for one parent to do with your kid while the other is preparing dinner.  Get the whole family involved in this similar/dissimilar exercise.  I asked Mia what things she loves and then I talked about whether or not it was on my list of loves.  We agree on our love for cheddar garlic grits and daddy, but she's on her own with the bug love!  Oh, and if your kid is into letter recognition, then you might like these Brach's alphabet candy hearts I found in the seasonal aisle at Target.  

Love week wouldn't be complete if we didn't practice showing love by doing nice things for people.  The way to Mia's heart is through her stomach so it resonated with her to take a surprise lunch to dad at work.  She also enjoyed helping me make homemade pop-tarts for friends.

Wanna try?  They're really easy to make.  All you need is ready-made pie crust, jam, an egg (optional), powdered sugar, lemon (optional), milk, food coloring & sprinkles (also optional).  Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.  Unroll your pie crusts (KISS Tip: put down parchment paper first for easy counter & pan cleanup).  Using a sharp knife cut the 2 circles down to rectangles.  Give the side scraps to your kid and let them make worms or whatever (i.e. keep them occupied while you assemble).  I can usually cut the 2 larger rectangles into about 16 smaller rectangles.  This will then yield 8 small pop-tarts.  Put a spoonful of jam in the middle of half of the rectangles, then brush the edges with the egg.  The egg isn't totally necessary since you're pressing the edges later but I like to do it.  Old habits.  Place another rectangle over top and then use a fork to press the edges.  Poke a few holes in the tops, too.  Transfer them to your cookie sheet and bake for about 12-15 minutes.  The glaze is just a mixture of powdered sugar, a touch of lemon juice, and enough milk to get a slightly runny consistency.  You can add food coloring if you'd like.  Let the pop-tarts cool completely before glazing but add sprinkles right away before the glaze hardens.  Enjoy!  I mean, give them to your friends to show them how much you care.

A summary of all Love week activities with links:

ACTIVITIES: Played the animal signs of affection game, Made a We Love/I Love chart (here's a printable), Practiced letter recognition with Brach's alphabet candy hearts, Did something nice for someone else (check out this great list of ideas!)

ART PROJECTS: Colored "i heART you" valentines (get the 4x6 printable here) for friends & family, Made a paper heart chain

OUTINGS: Took a surprise lunch to Dad at work, Heart scavenger hunt around the house or neighborhood

SNACK: Made homemade pop-tart treats for a friend

BOOKS: Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne

BIBLE STORY: Jesus loves the little children (the song, too!)

Happy Valentine's Day, friends!

Toddler Theme: Simple Machines

Most of our weekly toddler themes are going to be really basic.  Like Colors or Feelings.  Under the Sea or Up in the Air.  But this week I wanted to share a seemingly difficult toddler theme -- Simple Machines -- and show you how easy it is to introduce your toddler to some advanced science concepts.  First a quick refresher...A simple machine is a device that changes the magnitude or direction of a force.  There are 6 types: Wheel & Axle, Screw, Lever, Wedge, Pulley, and Inclined Plane.

We did our biggest exploration into Simple Machines at the playground.  Think about it.  A playground's target audience is the toddler crowd.  Little people still honing their gross motor skills but looking for a thrill (a force amplification, if you will).  Slides & ramps are inclined planes.  Does your playground have a spiral slide?  Good, because a spiral slide provides the perfect model to explain a screw (it's just a slide, er inclined plane, wrapped around a cylinder).  If you're lucky enough to have a seesaw on your playground, then you've got a lever.  And even if yours doesn't, I bet it has a sandbox and you can use a shovel as a lever.  Mia brought her own wheels to the playground and we had fun racing the cars down the slides.  I should mention that not once did I stop Mia and try to give her a simple machines vocabulary lesson.  Instead, I conscientiously tried to help her solve her toddler problems with the use of a simple machine.  Here's a perfect example.  She's still scared to climb a ladder to get to higher playground platforms, but our playground has this spiral pole (screw).  I showed her how to get on and shimmy herself around in circles.  It was slow progress but she eventually made it up to the height of the platform and jumped across.  Classic simple machine application.

We also made a trip to our local science museum, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and played in the Discovery Zone.  Mia made ball chutes with magnetic half pipes on the wall and played with gears on a huge pegboard table.  The museum also has a kid-powered machine that sends colored golf balls whizzing around on tracks.

At home, we made a cardboard car ramp to mimic the fun we had with the cars on the slides at the playground.  I used washi tape to make it look more official.  We got out the Duplo set and made 2 cars.  We put a wheel base on hers but not mine.  You guys, I didn't win a single race.  Not one.  Those wheels & axles sure are important!

A summary of all Simple Machine week activity ideas with links:

ACTIVITIES: Watch Rube Goldberg machine videos on YouTube (like this one), Play games like Mousetrap or GoldieBlox & the Spinning Machine, Pretend play with a tool set (screw, hammer as a lever), Take something apart with your older child and try to find simple machines

ART PROJECTS: Make tire track paintings by running your favorite cars & trucks through paint and then over paper (You could also do the same but make the tracks in play dough), Play with the Playdoh press...it's a lever  

OUTINGS: Simple machines scavenger hunt around the neighborhood, Free play at the Science Museum, Go sledding, Check out all the simple machines at your local playground

BOOKS: Rosie Revere Engineer by Andrea Beaty