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For ages I’ve been wanting to make those fantastic looking “busy bags” that are all over the blogs, pinterest, and the wide world of the web. But between homeschooling, keeping housing, ministering to our church, and keeping my toddler out of the toilet water and electric outlets and glass dishes, I never seem to find the time for making those crafty little inventions—until I had an “a-hah!” moment organizing my Christmas gift list.
One of our Christmas traditions is to let the kids make gifts for each other rather than buy them, so when I got to wondering what on earth my kids could make Littlest for Christmas, I suddenly had an epiphany of all my pinterest board ideas getting made for me by my incredibly crafty minions children! Voila! What a wonderful gift to Littlest and to me!
And really, they were more than willing, even super excited about the idea. I bought up felt in a variety of colors, some stiff felt and some soft felt. Then, the only other major supplies were a Sharpie marker and a few good scissors (as in new, sharp scissors not kid safety-scissors). My kids are pretty handy with scissors and were closely supervised, so I let them have at. But do proceed with caution.
The felt was very easy to work with. I drew our designs right on the felt and let the kids do most of the cutting. All working together, it took us a little over an hour to make all of these. Very do-able.
We made…
a pizza with toppings
a face with funny facial features (several different eyes, mouths, noses, and hair) (original idea found here)
plus a few motor skills activities with threading and buttons
We are all super-excited. The kids can’t wait to play WITH Littlest in his new quiet games. I can’t wait to have a few quiet activities he can do during our school time. And we knocked out two projects in one swoop: a Christmas gift and my busy bag wish list.
Curious about our other homemade gifts? The “big” kids will be making our own story stones for each other. Can’t wait for Christmas!
The struggles I’ve had with Littlest this year have seemed tremendous. He’s into everything, and exceedingly perturbed that I would dare to put an end to his escapades. But in spite of his perspective of a “restricted childhood,” he’s gotten to participate in some things I didn’t dare try with my other two at this age. Like coloring and writing with crayons and pencils, and fingerpainting!
I’ve also found that pom-poms are a real winner with him. The more activities I can find with pom-poms the better I’ll be. The other day, he played contentedly for about half an hour with pom-poms, cupcake liners, and my cupcake tin. (Oh, the bliss!)
Middlest had as much fun with this activity as her little brother.
Another winner was pushing pom-poms into a whiffle ball. Any other good pom-pom games? We’re on a roll. (Just wait until I give him pom-poms and a paper bag! I’ll be #1 Mom, for sure.)
There are some amazing ideas on Pinterest and the other fabulous blogs on the internet. But sometimes, the best ideas are so simple.
Of all the super cool ideas I’ve been trying with Littlest, the hands-down favorite was the day I handed him a paper sack. That’s right, folks. A plain old paper bag has been the biggest hit.
For days in a row he has played contentedly with that same paper bag, putting different toys inside and taking those same toys back out. One day, it’s cars; the next, it’s blocks; then, it’s counting bears. One sack=days of fun.
So let me just encourage you—before you stress out that you don’t have a Pinterest-worthy idea ready for your littlest learners, bring out the tupperware. Empty your spice cupboard. Get out the fruit loops and a spoon. And by all means, don’t forget the plain old paper bag!
Disclaimer: I received these products for free in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Last fall, I had the opportunity to review Music Together’s Family Favorites CD and teacher book. (Read my previous review here.) It soon became an unexpected favorite and often requested part of nearly everyday. I’m not exaggerating! Now that Littlest can get around and make his wishes and whims known, he’ll often head for the CD player motioning his baby sign for “please.” I know exactly what he wants:
We all dance together, beat out the rhythms, and sing along to our “family favorites” (pun absolutely intended). We’re not just having fun and bonding, though that alone is valuable; we’re learning about rhythms and harmonies, language and cultural diversity.
So when I had the opportunity to do a follow-up review with some of Music Together’s Singalong Storybooks, made to accompany our favorite songs, I was absolutely giddy!
Music Together has taken some of their most popular songs and illustrated them as read-aloud, sing-along books, available as both board books ($8.95) and hardcovers ($12.95). We were given Hello Everybody, She Sells Seashells, and One Little Owl for review.
The day these arrived was like Christmas at my house. The kids were so excited.
There are several aspects to these books that I love. For one, there are so many interactive ideas and suggestions provided within the books themselves. (A free download of the accompanying song is also provided.) Sing the story, read the story, sing and let your child complete the phrase, make up your own verses to the song as you read, count the objects, find the characters and objects, and more. And because the books were written to our favorite, already memorized songs, the story-line and the experience went with us throughout the day, even after the books were closed on the shelf.
Each book comes with suggested activities for using the story with your child.
In addition to rhythm, music, and language, these books are great for reinforcing counting and addition, colors, and even identifying seashells!
One of our fun activities was to dramatize the “One Little Owl” song, inspired by the pictures from the book. Pictured here is the verse “The poor old tree said, ‘Oh, no!…All these things are sitting on me.”
The various ideas gave me a chance to interact with each child at their own level with the same book. My one year old enjoyed hearing me sing the song and point out the characters as we read. My four year old loved to count the animals on each page and finish the song for me when I paused. My six year old was all about making up his own additional verses to the songs.
Middlest’s favorite book
Oldest’s favorite book
Littlest’s Favorite
One other aspect that I love, especially for my Littlest, is the language development that comes from hearing the story in song. During one of our “Baby Story Times” at our local library, the librarian mentioned how songs slow down our speech and make it easier for babies to hear certain sounds and words. Adding the pictures and story to this experience of singing makes this a very powerful teaching tool. And I’m not the only one to recognize this; these books have won long lists of awards from various organizations.
Mom’s Choice Award
NAPPA Honors Award in Educational Tools
National Parenting Center’s Seal of Approval
Academics’ Choice Smart Books Award, and more!
Then, there’s the fact that these books are just plain fun—beautiful illustrations and quality books that are enjoyable all by themselves. With literally shelves upon shelves of books at our house, these are favorites that all of my kids (including the littlest of all) keep coming back to again and again.
Now, Music Together is even more of a favorite. Not only do we have the catchy tunes with lots of rhythm and movement, but now we have the added element of a fun story with pictures. It’s learning and fun that keep us coming together for more.
Disclaimer: I received this product for free in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way for a positive review, and all of these opinions are my own.
I have been casually searching for learning ideas for my littlest. When I stumbled upon Flowering Baby, I was instantly intrigued.
Flowering Baby is a curriculum of “whole child development” activities for children birth to five years old. The curriculum is about $30 for each year’s worth of lessons (organized by age: birth to one, one to two, two to three, and four to five).
I received the “One to Two” curriculum for free for this review and was able to begin at month 13 with my little guy. Each month includes titles of books to read to your baby, a classical composer to listen to, some finger-play/nursery rhymes to listen to, as well as an assortment of activity ideas that include everything from language skills and muscle development to painting and exploring.
Each month lists all books, music, and supplies needed. Most titles are available at a library or can be substituted with books from home. And the supplies are simple things that I usually had on hand.
We’ve been using this product for a couple of months, and I have loved this curriculum for two reasons. First, I love having special one-on-one time with my little one because, honestly, it’s easy for him to get forgotten in the rush to get the big kid’s lessons out of the way. Or, I tend to occupy him rather than really play with him. This curriculum gives me a very focused 15-20 minutes with him, just him! I actually send the big kids away and focus just on him. We both enjoy this time immensely.
Second reason I love Flowering Baby are for the ideas. Even as an “experienced” mother of three (that’s a joke, by the way), I often get in ruts and don’t immediately think of ways to challenge and build his little skills. Flowering Baby gives me ideas (about 25 lessons a month) and inspires me with my own variations on those ideas. It helps me to realize what he is probably capable of attempting, something that’s easy to lose track of as time flies by. Many times, I would read the plans and think “oh, he can’t do that yet” only to be amazed that he actually could (and loved trying)!
Also, Flowering Baby is teaching me! The language lessons, especially, have taught me practical things like how to talk to my baby, what to talk about, what to point out in a picture, etc. Motor skills were also surprising lessons for me, like teaching my baby to kneel rather than his default sprawl position that is hard on his little hips.
Then, there’s the fun—hide a toy; teach direction words by placing a toy under, over, beside, etc; “fold” laundry together; find faces in books and magazines; get a mirror out and look at our faces together; and so much more!
My little laundry helper. He also likes to “help” unload the dishwasher.
Just a note, I did not follow this as a step-by-step lesson, though you could. I looked through the ideas several times during a month to get ideas for our next time together and then put it away. I knew which books to read, and he quickly found his favorites. All of us enjoyed the classical music selections, which we listened to using the free Naxos app on my ipod (comes with several free playlists that coordinate with this curriculum).
Littlest’s new favorite book
And because I can only take so much mess, I modified some of the ideas to fit us. For instance, one activity was to practice pouring rice or beans. I had nightmarish visions of what this would look like, so I instead opted for our pouring lesson to be at bath time with water in the tub. Instead of painting (I tried this at Christmas for grandma gifts and am still in need of therapy), I opted for crayons.
But customizing this curriculum was really what made it a winner for me. Their ideas bred so many other ideas. If the lessons called for feeling different textured squares, I instantly thought of textures throughout our day—when we went on nature walks, when we were standing outside the restaurant waiting to be seated, or wherever we were. I loved that the lessons helped me to focus and weave in his learning during the whole day.
Littlest enjoyed creating with crayons (much sooner than my older kids did).Our sensory bottle made from adding a beaded necklace and water.
Is it worth the $30? If you’re trying to justify $30 on your little one, I’d ask you to price some of the toys in his toy box. Most likely, a couple of those (that he probably doesn’t even play with) would easily have cost you $30. And you will get a lot more out of this purchase than a new toy that he will probably quickly lose interest in anyway. Honestly, I wish I’d had this as a new mom to use with my other two children.
Also, keep in mind that this is not a list of ideas to keep your baby busy so that you can do something else. These activities require you sitting down with your baby. Many of them require you to closely supervise your baby as he explores.
Want to check it out for yourself? The website has great samples to preview for each age. The Flowering Baby curriculum is sold on CD or as a downloadable PDF (I printed mine and bound it myself to have a hardcopy). You can purchase the curriculum at the Flowering Baby store or on Currclick.com.
I’m looking forward to continuing with this curriculum, and I’m looking forward to more special “baby” moments with Littlest throughout this year.
Disclaimer: I received this product for free in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way for a positive review, and all of these opinions are my own.
We’re wrapping up our short tour through the core of what I do with my kiddos: first grade, K4, and today you’re getting a sneak peak at baby’s schedule.
I’ll be honest, I try to do most of our school while Littlest is out of the way. So during his morning nap is when we get the bulk of our lessons done. And, to stretch that nap a little longer, I give him his independent play time right before his nap.
By noon, he’s rarin’ to go! He has his lunch, and play time is on. Thankfully, the older ones are wildly eager to play (legos or outside if it’s a pretty day). While they reunite with all of their toys, Littlest and I have our one-on-one time. I love getting out our Music Together cd with him, and he’s usually jamming before the music starts.
I use this time to work on his skills, too, an early homeschool routine. We stack tupperware lids, pull greeting cards and lids out of cooler bags and then stuff them back in again, bang spoons to the beat of the music, balance cups on our heads, pull small toys out of muffin tins or cups, play hide-a-toy, etc. (Pinterest has great ideas, too. Check out the baby pinterest ideas I’ve been collecting.)We also play the typical baby games: stacking blocks, peek-a-boo, and walk along the edge of the couch. Our playtime lasts the length of the cd. By then, he’s worn out and ready for his bottle.
Littlest’s favorite activity right now is putting things in this empty tupperware. It was a double-winner to play with a muffin tin, too!
We cuddle up for a bottle and snuggles, and then he’s off to bed once more by around 2 p.m. usually. Sometimes, if I have a noisy household chore like vacuuming, I’ll put him in my wrap, and we’ll do the chore together. He loves this, and I must admit that it makes housework a lot more fun with a snuggle-buddy. Then, he naps for another couple of hours, waking up all ready to empty my tupperware cabinet once more.
Practicing with a spoon
I’ve loved having this time with Littlest. He’s the first baby I’ve had since staying at home, and I so enjoy an all-day routine with him. And though I’m sure I can come up with lots of ideas on my own and with the help of Pinterest, I will admit that I have been curious about the Flowering Baby curriculum that includes daily activity ideas as well as story and music suggestions from an “early childhood development” perspective. Especially since Littlest will be joining our school routine next year as a whopping 18-month old! (Can’t believe how time flies!!!)
But now, for your input. What are your best tips for keeping your baby busy? And would you invest in a product to give you some additional ideas?
The other day, I actually had the rare privilege of a library trip all by myself (well, sort of all by myself; the littlest tagged along, of course.) Naturally, I planned on picking up a few books for the kids. Once I got there, however, I had this overwhelming sense of—being overwhelmed! Where was I going to start? How on earth was I going to choose?
In the end, I stumbled upon some really cool finds, and I wanted to share my treasures with each of you, then let you comment with a few suggestions for me!
My first book to rave about is The Turn-Around Upside Down Alphabet Book that I picked up for Middle-est. It totally appealed to her artistic, kinesthetic learning style. Each letter of the alphabet is captioned on all four sides, describing a different picture that the letter makes. Hard to describe, which is why I took pictures.
This book is an absolute blast! It won’t be replacing her all time favorite (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom), but it was a fun alternative for our preschool learning.
