Toddler Theme: Tropical

I credit my mother for instilling such a strong desire to learn within me at a very young age.  That desire has fueled me well beyond my school years and even inspired these toddler theme weeks.   I can only hope that I am able to create the same fascination with learning and exploration in my own two girls.  When Adam & I asked her to watch Mia & Millie while we went to Hawaii for a week, I should not have been surprised that she wanted to do her own toddler theme while we were gone -- Tropical week.  

Of course, Colorado had a blizzard right after we left but Nana & the girls were all comfy inside pretending they were on an island.  They dressed up in grass skirts, leis and sunglasses and danced to traditional Hawaiian music on Pandora.  We sent back lots of tropical animal photos & video clips to support Nana's efforts, and they researched them further in books.  Mia specifically enjoyed researching whales, the largest mammal in the world, and the life cycle of the sea turtle.  On the days that Adam & I visited Volcanoes National Park (and sent back photos like the one below from Kilauea's crater), the girls were learning about mountains and how some were formed by volcanoes.  They also watched the Lava animated short film that is included with the movie Inside Out to get a better visual before creating their own volcano with baking soda & vinegar.

Nana made the girls super special tropical juice drinks with paper umbrellas and she created a palm tree island made with kiwi, banana, and orange slices.  One afternoon, they cut up a pineapple and talked about how it's suited to grow in tropical environments.  They also did two fun art projects together.  The first was a puffer fish painting using a fork to make the spines.

The second project was a rainbow fish mosaic created by gluing together lots of paper scraps.

When we got home, I let Mia look through all of the rest of my photos and she was an excited wealth of information about lava, craters, and how volcanoes form.  She even taught me a few things.  Hopefully she stays curious and finds herself driving all over the Big Island one day in search of her beloved volcanoes, too.  And in that moment, Nana's legacy will have passed on to yet another generation.  We love you Nana!

A summary of all Tropical week activities with links:

ACTIVITIES: Learned about lava & volcanoes and then crafted a baking soda & vinegar volcano, Researched the tropical animals Mom & Dad saw on their trip, Played dress up with grass skirts and flower leis

ART PROJECTS: Made a fork-painting puffer fish, Created a mosaic rainbow fish collage

SNACK: Tropical mocktails garnished with Swedish fish and paper umbrellas, Celery sticks with peanut butter and goldfish crackers

BOOKS: The Magic School Bus Presents Volcanoes and Earthquakes by Tom Jackson, How Mountains are Made by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld, Blue Whale Babies by Matt Reher, Sharks by Gina Cline, This is an Ocean by Gina Cline, The Life of a Sea Turtle by Gina Cline, National Geographic Kids United States Atlas

BIBLE STORY: Jonah & the whale

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: Valentine's Day

We prepared for Valentine's Day and the Lenten season this week as we learned about love & mercy.  I'm noticing more and more squabbles between the girls as Millie becomes more independent so learning about mercy is entirely appropriate right now.  Add to it that Pope Francis has designated this year as the year of mercy and he wants us to focus on it during Lent (which started Wednesday), and I'd say the timing was down right perfect.  We talked about what mercy is (in simple terms: not punishing someone even though they deserve it) and how we can show it to little sisters that knock down block towers and run off with our cheese snacks.  And as an extension, we started picking one person to pray for as a family before dinner each night.  We're planning on carrying that exercise out all through Lent.  Interestingly, we learned about the difference between grace and mercy one night because we couldn't think of a person to list in our prayer for mercy (Millie was really good that day and I must have been on top of my mom game. Ha!).  Grace is receiving a blessing even though we don't deserve it.  We all need grace so that opened up a lot of people to pray for!

We read the Parable of the Prodigal Son as an example of mercy & love and that got Mia thinking about taking care of someone/thing.  She has been really into nurturing her stuffed animals the last few months.  She calls them her babies and always makes sure they are swaddled & warm.  To capitalize on this, I took her shopping for her very own plant to care for and love.  She picked out a succulent and we planted it in a tiny pot deemed "cute" enough.  I showed her how plants have to be cared for and shown love daily so they can grow.  She started showing an interest in helping with all of my other plants too, so I got her a special spray bottle to water them each day.  This was a bonus because not only is she learning about nurturing, consistent love but also honing fine motor skills.  Using a spray bottle builds dexterity that will help with handwriting later on.  As an easy themed way to practice sight words this week, I filled a bowl with candy conversation hearts.  I wrote a few of the phrases largely on some sheets of paper and let her find the candy heart matches.  We also pulled out a few high powered magnets and learned about magnetic attraction. 

This week's big activity, though, was creating Valentine's for friends...of course!  Mia wanted to make necklaces for her girlfriends so we found some letter charms and glow-in-the-dark beads at Hobby Lobby.  After we had her list of recipients, we came up with words to spell out for each necklace.  Mia found all the letters and laced them in a pattern -- letter bead, glow-in the-dark bead, repeat.  I made a simple little card for her to decorate and attach the necklaces to.  It says, "You're charming, Valentine."  You can download the card printable here if you want to make your own charm necklace Valentine's. 

For the special guys in her life, Mia selected little notebooks and we attached a card that says, "It's been noted, you're one cool Valentine."  And for all of our new neighbors, we potted succulents with cards that read, "Our street would succ without you."  We're punny, we know!  Ha!  

If you need something last minute or for a younger child, you can check out last year's Valentine's Day theme week for our really simple art-themed valentine.  My super easy homemade pop-tart recipe is in that post, too!  Happy Valentine's Day!

A summary of all Valentine's week activities with links:

ACTIVITIES: Potted succulents and learned how to take care of something,  Explored magnet attraction and repulsion, Practiced sight words by matching written phrases to ones on candy hearts

ART PROJECTS: Practiced the alphabet and made letter charm necklace Valentine's for friends (download the 4" x 6" card printable here)

BOOKS: Love You Forever by Robert Munsch, One Love by Cedella Marley, All My Kisses by Kerry Brown

BIBLE STORY: The Parable of the Prodigal Son, Learned about mercy and grace...practiced both throughout the week

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: Construction

Last Sunday evening, I was reviewing my calendar for the week and saw that we had a meeting with our landscape architect planned later in the week.  I'd been meaning to do a Construction theme week and this seemed like a perfect time since we could take advantage of existing activities.  This is one way I keep things simple but it's really effective because it's real life.  I let Mia tagalong to the landscape meeting and she sat on one side of the table with me reviewing the plans and looking over plant lists.  I wasn't totally sure how much she would take away from that encounter, but when we got back home she set up her little table and chairs and reenacted the whole thing with me.  She had her own scribbled "plan" and everything.  The imaginative play is my favorite part of these theme weeks and Mia is at the age where she immediately picks up on things we are doing/saying.  It was really neat to see her initiate this imaginative play all on her own.  When we did our weekly family drive out to check on our new house construction, Mia brought along her tape measure & note pad and walked around mimicking me by taking her own measurements and scribbling away.  I took a few minutes to show her exactly what I was doing and why I was doing it.  I have no idea if she really understands the concept of space planning or if she will remember any of this, but she did spend the rest of the week talking about her new room design.  Another little activity we did is walk around downtown where some big construction projects are happening.  There were all kinds of heavy construction equipment onsite so we talked about what each machine is called and what it does.  I've heard of some communities doing "Touch a Truck" events where kids can see similar big vehicles up close.  Might be a good construction week activity.

We did all sorts of indoor construction projects as well.  We built things with Legos and I put an emphasis on reading & interpreting Lego construction diagrams.  Just a little spatial awareness activity.  And you don't need to limit building activities to kids' toys.  If you happen to be assembling anything for your home (IKEA furniture, etc), let your kid help.  I was very mechanically driven early on in life and my parents always got me involved in these sorts of things.  I see similar abilities in Mia so I make sure I give her opportunities to explore further.  She's been involved with little projects like assembling her easel and her table & chair set but I've also included her as my little helper on household repair & DIY projects.  One afternoon, I set up an invitation to construct a blanket fort.  I laid out a few light blankets, some twine, a bowl of clothespins, and some chairs & stools in our living room. I found yellow caution tape in the Target Dollar Spot this week so I taped off the whole area as a construction site.  Then I told her that I was hoping we could make popcorn and watch a movie together but first we needed a fort.  She was really excited by this and figured out a decent design within minutes.  She did need a little help spreading out the large blanket, though.  Some other construction activities we did this week include playing with our construction vehicle toys in the sandbox at the playground (or you could make a sensory bin), role playing with our pretend tool kit, and spending some time playing the Little Builder app on the iPad.  And have you seen this reflective vest in the IKEA Family section?  It's only a couple of bucks and perfect for construction dress up.

Instead of doing an art project this week, we did a construction project.  Home Depot offers building workshops for children (check for them here) and if you are local to Denver, there is a really cool place called The Craftsman & Apprentice that offers them, too (offer listing here).  We did our own because I really wanted to impress upon Mia the ideas of project planning, sequential events, and order of operations.  I settled on a string art project because it's simple yet calls for some hammering and the finished project can be used in her room in the new house (the first rule of good design is usefulness!).  The first thing we did is look up string art projects on the internet so she could see what a finished project looked like, a goal to work towards.  Then I gave her a wooden star from the craft store and some blueprint paper.  Blueprint paper is THE most important part of this whole project.  Make your own with blue construction paper and a white crayon.  I drew a rectangle border and then a title box with "Mia's Plan" on a few sheets.  Then we traced her star and she planned where she wanted to put nails.  

After some careful consideration, we decided that it might be best to paint the star before hammering in the nails.  I gave her a paper towel tube to store her rolled up blueprints in while she painted.  Super official.  Once the paint was dry, she marked the spots for her nails and I showed her how to hammer them in.  This is tricky and we had to work together on this.  Watch your fingers!  Haha!  Lastly, we wrapped colored embroidery floss around the nails to create a fun pattern.  A really good fine motor exercise, too.  What do you think?

A summary of all Construction week activities with links:

ACTIVITIES: Played with building blocks, Also spent some time playing the Little Builder app, Construction vehicle sensory play in the sandbox, Built a blanket fort

ART PROJECTS: Made string art by hammering nails into a wood plaque and then wrapping string around all the nails

OUTINGS: Took a walk in heavy construction areas around town to scope out all the big equipment

BOOKS: Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker, Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty (or try Iggy Peck, Architect), That's How by Christoph Niemann, A Year at a Construction Site by Nicholas Harris

BIBLE STORY: Solomon building the temple

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: Colors

It's officially Fall and the leaves are starting to change colors here in Colorado.  It made me think that it was about time we did a whole Color theme week.  Mia knows her basic colors so we focused on some more advanced topics like lighter vs. darker, transparent vs. opaque, color mixing, and even a little about complimentary colors.

You've probably noticed by now that one of my favorite learning activities is the scavenger hunt.  Mia is an active kid so it's my way of tailoring her learning experiences to her personality.  A color scavenger hunt is particularly fun because you can create a rainbow with your findings.  Last year, we made this collage with all of Mia's colored findings.  This year, she's really into scribbling in her notepads so I made her a whole page list to check off instead.

For a little extra fun one day, we took a walk through the alleys of Denver's RiNo neighborhood.  Street artists have been covering buildings & walls with their beautiful murals.  So many colors!  This week there happened to be a whole street art event, Colorado Crush, and Mia actually got to see several artists in action.  

We had to have a little conversation on the way home about how those artists had permission to paint on the walls, but in general, we shouldn't paint on our walls.  Haha!  Instead, she and I rolled out a long piece of art paper and worked on a colorful mural collab.  I started with some overlapping abstract shapes as an invite to create with me.  One day we used markers, another day paint, and another chalk so we could talk about their color textures and also saturation.  There were some lessons in color mixing too -- "Look mom, brown!"  Last year's Color week project was the creation of this pretend makeup kit using little travel containers and a thin layer of nail polish (watch Target Dollar Spot for bags, brushes, and even travel containers).  This week, I picked up a few more travel containers so we could add to her "eyeshadow" collection.   

Have you heard of Mr. Printables?  It's a really great website with lots of free learning printables and they have a few that are perfect for Color week.  The first one is a color wheel.  You can print it in color or not for a bigger challenge and it's great to use for a little independent sorting activity.  I had our color wheel laminated so that I can use it over and over but especially so that I can use it during snack time.  I gave Mia a bowl of Fruity Cheerios and she sorted them into piles one afternoon.  Once she had them all sorted, I taught her a little about complimentary colors (the ones opposite on the color wheel).  We wondered if the Denver Broncos knew their blue & orange colors were complimentary.  Something tells me they do know...clever!  Mr. Printables also has these color overlay cards (shown below).  You can submit the printable file online to Staples.com and they will print them on transparencies & cut for you.  I like to outsource when I can.  Mia played with these on a white table top and I kept Millie simultaneously busy with a mess-free paint bag (poured red, blue & yellow paint into a food storage bag and sealed).  I chose the primary colors intentionally because as Millie mashed and squished the paint, she helped us see that red and yellow make orange, and so on.  

As a last special treat, I took Mia out on a very rare one-on-one date to the nail salon for pedicures.  Knowing how excited she gets about my nail colors naming each one of them off as she rifles through the little box, I just knew she'd love this experience.  They had a whole wall of nail colors -- "Wow, look at allllllllll the colors!"  And then she chose an iridescent white polish.  The irony!  

A summary of all Color week activities with links:

ACTIVITIES: Went on a colorful scavenger hunt, Played with Mr. Printables color mixing transparencies (find them here), Sorted cereal with the Mr. Printables Color Wheel (find it here)

ART PROJECTS: Made a colorful mixed media mural, Made a pretend makeup set with travel containers and nail polish

OUTINGS: Went to Colorado Crush in the RiNo neighborhood to see the street artists in action, Had colorful pedicures done at the local salon

BOOKS: Press Here by Herve Tullet, Pantone: Colors by Pantone, The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr

BIBLE STORY: Joseph and his colorful coat

BABY BONUS: Ziplock bag painting and color mixing, Read Alice in Wonderland: A BabyLit Colors Primer by Jennifer Adams & Andy Warhol's Colors by Susan Goldman Rubin

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: Farms

Fall makes a wonderful time to learn about farms because it's harvest time (Spring is great for seeing baby animals, though).  Check out what's available in your area for berry picking or apple picking for a fun field trip.  Admittedly, we put all of our energy into farm visits this week so I'll share some highlights from our adventures.

Our first field trip was to Berry Patch Farms in Brighton.  They are open several days a week for U-pick berries, basil, flowers, and pickling cucumbers.  They also have a great farm store.  Check their website for specific operating hours and berry picking status.  Strawberries are not available for picking this year because of the rough spring weather, but we were able to pick raspberries.  Mia & I picked a couple of pints together.  I'm pretty sure Millie ate a third pint during this whole process.  Hey, whatever keeps her happy!  Then we picked several cucumbers for pickling and perhaps the best part, Mia was able to pick some flowers.  In the farm store, we purchased some zucchini bread (picking berries is hard work and requires snacks!), tomatoes, garlic, basil, kale, and okra.  

The second farm we visited is Ya Ya Farm & Orchard in Longmont.  Unfortunately, the wacky spring weather and late snow storm did damage here too so apple picking is not available this fall, but the farm is still very beautiful and worth a visit just to explore.  Plus, they sell the best apple cider donuts at the farm stand which is the ENTIRE reason I go anyways.  Ha!  I have so many great childhood memories of apple picking in the fall with my family and it's made me continue the tradition with my kids.  Those sensory memories tied to the taste of apple cider donuts & fresh apple pie and that crisp autumn morning smell on a farm really leave an imprint.  So even though we couldn't pick the apples ourselves, we had a good time making our own new memories at the orchard and we snagged a bushel of apples from the farm stand and the girls were none the wiser.  Plus, local farmers need our support even more during the bad seasons.

We've visited both of these farms numerous times but this was the first time I felt Mia really made the connection with food and where it comes from.  To further this understanding, we made some of her favorite foods with our farm goodies.  Her current favorite meal is spaghetti and meatballs so we took all of our tomatoes and made a roasted tomato sauce.  To do this, I cut all the tomatoes in half and put them cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet coated with olive oil.  While I was doing that, Mia separated out the cloves of a whole head of garlic and we added those to the pan.  All of it roasted at 450 degrees for about 35 minutes (right before the skins blacken).  Once everything was cool enough to touch, we squeezed the tomato pulps into a saucepan, discarding the skins.  Then I fork mashed the garlic and added that to the pan.  You could blend the sauce at this point if you like it smoother.  Lastly, we added a quick pour of olive oil (around 1 tablespoon) and salt to taste and brought the heat up for simmering meatballs.  We also made pickles with her cucumbers using this recipe.  And all those raspberries? ...We turned them into a simple jam with this recipe from Martha Stewart.  Towards the end of the week, we made an apple pie with our orchard haul and surprised daddy returning home from business travel.

I've mentioned Sunflower Farm in a few other posts but all for good reason -- this place is pure magic.  From 9:00-1:00 Monday - Friday, they open up their farm to children & their parents to play and explore as they wish.  All seasons, all types of weather.  There are rope swings & ziplines, hammocks & porch swings, treehouses & rope bridges, and hay bale mazes & sand pits.  Horses, goats, chickens, turkeys, peacocks, cows, llamas, sheep, and many more animals.  Even old tractors and a bulldozer and an airplane to climb all over.  Every time we go there, we discover more things to love about this place.  And we always come home exhausted and dirty and happy.  This time around, Mia rode a horse, explored a teepee, played house with a few friends, and climbed in the treehouse.  We also got to see a baby calf born just this week.  A little tip if you plan on visiting: you need to purchase tickets ahead of time on their website (the day of is okay as long as it's not already sold out).

Some other central Colorado farms that we didn't visit this week but we love are Four Mile Historic Park, Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield, and Littleton Museum.  

A summary of all Farms week activities with links:

ACTIVITIES: Played farm with plastic animals and farm set

OUTINGS: Visited 3 local farms: Berry Patch Farms to pick raspberries & veggies, Ya Ya Orchard to pick apples, and Sunflower Farm to see the animals

SNACK: Made apple pie, raspberry jam, roasted tomato sauce, and refrigerator pickles

BOOKS: Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle, The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies by Beatrix Potter, The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

BIBLE STORY: The Parable of the Sower

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: Mail

This week, we learned about Mail.  It's a fun and simple theme week along the same lines as the Markets week.  These types of weeks are good for introducing some of the world's systems to young kids.  Library week is another possible week that just popped in my head.  Hmmmmm...  Like I was saying, though, these weeks open the door to lots of pretend play.  We did a little of that this week after we made our own trip to the post office.  I'm old fashioned and really, really (really!) like sending mail so we end up at the post office weekly.  They know us there and our favorite mail carrier gave us a fun mail coloring book.  Maybe you could ask for one at your post office.  While Mia worked on her new book, I created a mail-themed sensory bin for Millie using bubble wrap and pieces of sticky packing tape.  I'd be lying if I said that the bubble wrap was solely enjoyed by Millie, though.  We all got in a few snaps.  Another easy activity is a mailbox scavenger hunt.  Since we live in a high rise, all Mia knows about mail boxes involves large mail rooms with rows & rows of locked boxes.  This week, we set out to identify different kids of mailboxes across Denver.  Here's one we found that is outside of the building.  We ran across some that are boxes right at the street's edge.  And get this, we found some doors with mail slots in them!  

You can't have mail week without sending some mail so we wrote a letter to a pen pal.  Last year, I created a Flat Mia (based on the book Flat Stanley) using Bitstrips to make this little cartoon Mia character.  Once it was laminated, we sent it out across the country to visit friends and family.  They took pictures of Flat Mia on adventures and reported all the fun to us.  It's amazing how long her journey was but she finally made her way back home to us and we're preparing to send her out on a second journey.  If you are interested in being a host family, let me know via the comments or email! We're hoping that one day she will visit all of the states.  She's got 10 under her belt now.

Our art project this week was simple.  We made more artwork note cards similar to the ones we made during Manners week.  Get the full instructions in that post.  We were overdue for a stash replenishment, so I might start doing this quarterly.

Here's a little Mail week-related Mom Bonus for you.  Have you ever wanted to make your own font?  Well you can pretty easily and it's free!  Here's just one I've created.  So addicting!  Go to My Script Font and try it out for yourself.

A summary of all Mail week activities with links:

ACTIVITIES: Mailed out a letter to a pen pal, Sent our Flat Mia out on a cross-country adventure

ART PROJECTS: Made note cards with kid art

OUTINGS: Went to the post office to send out packages and buy fun stamps, Did a mailbox scavenger hunt

BOOKS: The Jolly Postman by Janey & Allan Ahlberg, Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown, Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell

BIBLE STORY: The 12 apostles spreading the good news about Jesus

BABY BONUS: Sensory play with bubble wrap and sticky tape

MOM BONUS: Created my own handwriting font (try it yourself here)

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: Markets

Our toddler theme this week was Markets and I had a blast.  I mean Mia -- Mia had a blast.  Alright, we both did!  My little sister and I used to spend hours playing store as kids.  In fact, we would ask for cash registers every Christmas.  You know, the ones with the laser barcode scanners and all the pleasing beeps.  Mia is the one with her own cash register these days and she similarly loves to play store, so we blew this week up.  Maybe I went overboard and didn't keep it simple, but hopefully you'll find some ideas you can implement, too.

You could use this week to focus on markets only (that's what we did last year when Mia was younger), but this year I also included an exploration into money, the fuel of commerce.  Up until this point, Mia only knew that daddy went to work to make the "monies," Papa gave her some to put in her new purse, and you're not supposed to put it in your mouth.  Living in Denver, we are lucky to have a wealth (ha, I'm funny!) of money learning opportunities -- The U.S. Mint and Federal Reserve both have branches here.  Tours of the U.S. Mint are free but require an advance reservation.  Mia is not quite up to that tour just yet, but we did the next best thing by checking out their virtual tour one afternoon (find it here).  Then one morning, we went to see the Money Museum at the Federal Reserve.  It's free and available on a walk-in basis.  It's not very big, but it's effective.  There is a display of the history of U.S. currency and also an exhibit that challenges you to spot the counterfeit bills.  Mia's favorite was the Currency Design Studio where she designed her own dollar, er, $1 million dollar bill.  Millie wanted to make one, too.  We also got a free bag of shredded currency on our way out.  "Mom! This smells like monies!"

Mia's always learning about sharing and borrowing but usually only as it pertains to toys and reckless little sisters.  This week we put that notion to work on a global and monetary level by participating in microlending.  Microlending is exactly what it sounds like, small loans.  We're talking $25 loans.  Kiva.org helps connect willing microlenders with borrowers across the world.  I was first introduced to this concept back in business school and I gave it a try.  My loans have consistently been paid back over the years and I turn around and reinvest the money with someone else.  It's amazing to know that my tiny loan has helped purchase a milking cow in Cambodia, built a pub in Uganda, bought startup products for a salon in the Philippines, expanded product assortment for a clothing store in Lebanon, and many other things.  My last loan was just repaid so I let Mia pick the recipient for the next one.  I always fund women with children they are putting through school (it's my way of supporting the fight against terrorism) and Kiva allows you to filter borrowers based on gender, country, industry, etc.  Once I applied the filters, I let Mia select one.  She chose to fund Hanan in Palestine as she expands her farming business.  There is so much learning that can take place around this one simple project, so I encourage you to check it out for yourself.  And just this week, I received an email from Kiva and they are giving out free trial $25 loans for first-timers...use this link if you want to give it a try.

   

We spent the rest of the week learning about different types of commerce.  There was the weekly trip to the grocery store and the subsequent adventure at the self checkout.  Then a visit to the local farmer's market to support the food producers directly and get our kitchen knives sharpened.  And lastly, a stop at some local stores to support small business.  Some vendors only sell food and some sell clothing and some vendors don't sell anything at all but instead, services.  A lot to consider when we set up our own stores to pretend play this week.      

My favorite was the musical instrument store she created one afternoon.  As added customer service, she demonstrated each instrument for me before I purchased.  Who wouldn't want to buy a kazoo covered in toddler saliva?  Mia has her own toy cash register (IKEA sells a cute one) but we also have a couple of fun store apps that I thought were worth sharing.  The first is Toca Store by Toca Boca (in the App Store) and I like it because it's set up to be a 2 person experience which really illustrates the essence of commerce -- supply and demand.  The game isn't very fun without both parts, just like markets rely on both supply and demand.  The second app is called Little Zebra Shopper (in the App Store) and it turns your iPad into a little point of sale system that actually scans downloadable barcodes!  They have lots of different printable products on their website that you can assemble yourself but I made a little adaption.  I cut out all the box fronts and glued the corresponding barcodes to the back of each one.  Then I had them all laminated at Staples and cut them apart.  I store all of the now-flat products in a zippered pencil pouch and pull out as a special busy bag.   

To round out our theme week, Mia ran her very first store as a little fundraiser for a friend.  She decided that she wanted it to be a cafe and we asked permission to set up shop in our building's lobby one morning.  Mia was involved in the sourcing & buying, marketing & advertising, merchandising, and sales.  I supplied the baking skills and Daddy, of course, was her best customer doubling her final sales.  We're happy to report that Mia's Cafe grossed $500 and sold out within 90 minutes.  The demand was high!  And our neighbors are very supportive and generous.  Plus, the Mia's Cafe sales team is pretty cute.

A summary of all Markets week activities with links:

ACTIVITIES: Learned about how money is made at the U.S. Mint (see the virtual tour here), Spent hours on store pretend play, Invested some of our money on Kiva.org and learned about microlending

ART PROJECTS: Made marketing and signs for Mia's Cafe

OUTINGS: Visited the local farmer's market, Used the self checkout at the grocery store, Took a field trip to the Money Museum at the Federal Reserve

BOOKS: The High Street by Alice Melvin, To Market, To Market by Anne Miranda

BIBLE STORY: Jesus cleansing the markets from the temple

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: Texture

Squishy.  Scratchy.  Smooth.  Slippery.  We're learning about textures this week!  This is a perfect theme week when you're stuck inside and a really good one to get younger siblings involved.  We pulled out all of our touch & feel books and talked about texture adjectives.  Another fun way to learn about textures is to create texture cards to explore together (the Children's Learning Activities blog has a good write up on making your own set...check it out here).  And then throughout the week, we were on the hunt for textures in the wild.  We found a sticky spider web on a walk and a bumpy wall at the doctor's office.  Millie found this texture by the creek.

The Target Dollar Spot currently has little tubs of sand dough and we played with that a few days before dinner.  Sensory bins would be a really great texture week activity, too.  I've been wanting to introduce Mia to printmaking so we tried a method called monoprinting (quite literally, a print that can only be made once).  I spread some finger paint on a cookie sheet and Mia drew with her finger in the paint.  Then I laid a piece of white paper over the design and peeled it off.  She was pretty excited by the result and it was no time at all before my kitchen cupboards were covered with drying prints.  I might actually frame a couple of them.      

Last year, I setup a tray of household items (beans, feathers, cotton balls, glossy magazine clippings, etc) and let her create a texture collage with glue.  "Sooooo sticky!" 

Textures aren't just limited to feeling, though.  We made special snacks this week to learn about mouth feel and texture in taste.  A really simple one is an experiment where you compare crunchy and creamy peanut butter.  We expanded on this and made ants on a log with squishy peanut butter, crunchy celery and chewy/wrinkly raisins.  Another afternoon, Mia ate Pop Rocks for the first time.  Whoa, those are neat!  You can also hear textures, too.  We identified smooth sounds versus bumpy sounds.  Do you have any favorite texture activities to share?

A summary of all Texture week activities with links:

ACTIVITIES: Went on a texture scavenger hunt, Played with sand dough

ART PROJECTS: Created mono prints with finger paint, Made texture collages with glue and found items (beans, feathers, cotton balls, etc)

SNACK: Made ants on a log with squishy peanut butter, crunchy celery, and wrinkly raisins, Discussed the concept of mouth feel while eating Pop Rocks

BOOKS: Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt, Have You Ever Tickled a Tiger by Betsy E. Snyder

BIBLE STORY: Jacob tricked Isaac by dressing up like hairy Esau

BABY BONUS: Finger painting

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).