Toddler Theme: France & Bastille Day

This was a pretty busy week with our family visiting from out of state, but we still managed to sneak in some toddler theme exploration.  And this week we added another country to our Children of the World series -- France.  It's perfect timing for learning about France, too, because they celebrate French National Day, or Bastille Day, on July 14th.  This date commemorates the start of the French Revolution.  Coming on the heels of American Independence Day, it gave me a little bit of a reference point for explaining to Mia the significance of this holiday as well.  

As a fine motor skills building activity, we worked on building structures with marshmallows and toothpicks.  Once Mia got the hang of it, we set to work building an Eiffel Tower-shaped structure.  We also attempted an Arc de Triomphe but ran out of marshmallows.  I'm not going to name any names (cough, Mia), but someone was eating on the job.

Another day, I surprised Mia with build-your-own crepes for breakfast.  My crepe making skills are sketchy at best, but World Market sells a pack of pre-made ones that you just heat & fill.  I set up those, strawberries, bananas, and Nutella, and then let her assemble her own.  I gave her crepes (she went back for seconds) a little dusting of powder sugar just for good measure before she devoured them.  I filled all of the leftover crepes with ham and shredded Gouda cheese and we saved them for lunch.           

Lastly, we learned a couple of words in French.  This is our first country in the Children of the World series where English is not the native language, so we first had to discuss the idea of other languages. I'm not totally sure she grasped that concept, but we did have fun practicing how to say hello and goodbye -- bonjour & au revoir.

A summary of all France & Bastille Day week activities with links:

ACTIVITIES: Tried to build a replica of the Eiffel Tower with marshmallows & toothpicks, Read about France in our Maps book                  

ART PROJECTS: Watercolored the French flag, the Tricolour

OUTINGS: Went to the French bakery for some bread and treats

SNACK: Filled our own crepes with fruits and Nutella

BOOKS: Henri's Walk to Paris by Leonore Klein, Eloise in Paris by Kay Thompson, Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans, Oops! by Jean-Luc Fromental & Joelle Jolivet

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: U.S.A. & Independence Day

This is one of those toddler themes that is made easier by exploiting community activities and store offerings.  And in all honesty, I stuck to just those things for our explorations this week.  Keeping it real simple over here!  We celebrated our independence by watching our local fireworks and learned the Pledge of Allegiance during that dreaded wait time between snagging a good seat and the start of the show.  

Our friends live in a suburb of Denver and they invited us out to watch their Independence Day parade with them.  The Target Dollar Spot is loaded with all kinds of red, white, and blue goodies and I found a 3-pack of mini American flags (KISS Tip: Pick up a bunch of glow sticks and light up toys from the Dollar Spot and then pull them out when you are at parades and fireworks shows so you don't end up paying 10x the price there).  On our drive to the parade, Mia and I examined the flags --  counting the stripes and some of the stars, discussing colors and shapes, etc.  We also talked about flag etiquette and why it's so important to honor the flag.       

I'd say Mia is pretty familiar with life as a kid growing up in America, but I also used this week to focus on the U.S.A. as part of our ongoing Children of the World series.  We pulled out our beloved copy of the book Maps and studied our own country's page.  We also watercolored our own flag using our miniature versions as a model.  And we cheered for our ladies in the red, white & blue in the World Cup Semi-Finals & Finals.  U.S.A!  U.S.A!   

A summary of all U.S.A. & Independence Day week activities with links:

ACTIVITIES: Learned the Pledge of Allegiance, Learned a little about our flag & etiquette, Played a Red, White & Blue color-sorting game

ART PROJECTS: Painted a watercolor of our flag

OUTINGS: Watched our local Fourth of July fireworks, Went to see an Independence Day parade

BIBLE STORY: Moses freeing the Hebrews from Egypt

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).