Toddler Theme: All About Me

Mia's third birthday is coming up in the next month and she's changing so fast these days.  I'll admit, this All About Me toddler theme might be just as much for me as it is for her.  It was fun taking the time to celebrate the little person she is right now.  To kick off our week, we pulled out a bunch of Mia-centric books -- her baby book, an ABC book I created for her, and her My Very Own Name book from I See Me (they offer such cool personalized books and this one is a favorite gift).  She really enjoyed seeing her baby photos and often claimed they were her sister Millie.  It delighted her to find out that she was a baby once...but not anymore because she's a "big girl now." <insert mom tears>

There are so many fantastic All About Me interview forms out there -- just search on Pinterest -- but I thought I'd share two of my favorites.  The first one is an editable PDF download available from Paper Nook (get it here).  I've actually saved off a copy for both girls and I plan to fill it out annually...it goes up to age 18.  The second is a fun printable from Tiff at A Day In My Life blog (find it here).  It's two pages and she's included a section for their signature, handprint, favorites, a photo, and interview questions.  We worked on filling this out all week...a little bit each night before dinner.  One of my favorite, and unexpected, answers was her reply for favorite book.  She told me it was "Jesus" and when I questioned further for clarity, she ran and got her special storybook Bible.    

We also used this theme week to start covering some locational identity items.  She's still a little too young to memorize her address but we worked on recognizing which button to push in the elevator for her floor (we live in a high rise).  I also created an Elevator Safety Plan with her in the event that the doors ever close before Mom or Dad make it on.  Yes, it's already happened once.  Ha!  If you're wondering what that plan looks like, I taught her to look for the elevator button with the star on it and to wait there for us to catch up.  The star is a universal symbol for the main floor so it's easier to remember to look for that rather than a 1 or an M or L...or whatever other designation is used.    

Next, we dove into a little learning about where we live -- Denver, Colorado (we'll cover the U.S. in a few weeks).  One afternoon, we did some iPad research and discovered that our state flower is the Columbine, our fossil is the Stegosaurus, and our state flag has a big C on it.  We got out that paints and tried to recreate the flag for ourselves.  Flags are good for painting because they are usually pretty simple in design and you can talk about shapes.  And lastly, we took a field trip to Four Mile Historic Park to explore what life was like for Denver's earliest settlers.  The Four Mile House is Denver's oldest standing structure and served as a stopover for travelers on the Cherokee Trail.  The park is perfect for an afternoon picnic and lots of toddler exploration.  There are chickens, goats, and horses.  Lots of cool structures to explore as well -- an old schoolhouse, a teepee, a miner's tent, etc.         

A summary of all All About Me week activities with links:

ACTIVITIES: Made an All About Me poster (check out this printable from Paper Nook or this one from A Day In My Life blog)

ART PROJECT: Painted the Colorado state flag

OUTINGS: Visited the Historic Four Mile House to learn more about early life in Denver

BOOKS: Read through her baby album and several other books made specially for her

BIBLE STORY: Jesus loves the little children and the song "Jesus Loves Me"

BABY BONUS: Made a 1 year handprint to save for the baby book and then finger painted with the rest of the paint

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).