Tot Spot: Build a Snowman!

Source: whattheteacherwants.blogspot.com via Candice on Pinterest

I printed out this snowman that I found on Pinterest and placed it between two sheets of contact paper and then I cutout the pieces.  The whip-up time was about ten minutes total and that's because I had to COLOR the pieces in so we can start practicing identifying colors. 

Now, we have this..

This was super fun and TOO easy to create!  You can't beat that!

Any new idea's for involving your toddlers (between the ages of 12-24 months) in Christmas crafts?  Idea's are very welcomed here, as we are always looking for awesome age appropriate activities to try!  :) 

Happy Holidays!

Candice S

Tot Spot: Montessori Sensory Basket

I read How To Raise An Amazing Child the Montessori Way at the beginning of the year and fell in love with quite a bit of Dr. Montessori's methods for teaching small children and the emphasis of importance she placed on supporting the learning environment from birth and beyond.  Simple techniques are discussed, as well as ideas's for extremely simple sensory play examples using items from the home.

  Creating a nature basket is an idea that is recommended for babies.  I have found that most of our learning toys, textures, and objects laying around the house have become favorites for our basket.  About once a month I change out the books, toys, and textures so we can explore something new.

Sensory Basket

Straws with a small, medium, and large cup used for nesting.  My 18 month old loves nesting cups and placing objects (straws) inside of them so this idea was super simple and he LOVES it! 

Pom Pom Game.  A recycled tub of butter becomes a game by stuffing pom pom's inside the hole, which promotes coordination.  Mark's attention span is astonishing while playing this game.

Texture Swatch/Sample.  A sewing swatch with a picture on it for Mark Jr. to feel, see, and explore.  The picture is of Mommy and Ni Ni (Sister)

Nesting Caps.  Various bottle cap sizes to use as a nesting toy.  **Beware of smaller bottle caps as babies enjoy placing these in their mouths.

V Tech Record and Learn Photo Album is definitely one of our favorite items.  You can record a personalized story and change out the photo's as often as you'd like.  This product also plays music and explores sights and sounds... 

I included some our Sock Puppet's for role play.. and to use while reading the following stories!  Mark loves using these and growling..  "Rooooaaarrr"





What are some of your favorite activities to do with your toddlers?

Candice S

Tot Spot: Creative Play with Upcycled Cardboard Box

Harmony started Kindergarten this week so I have been planning toddler/tot curriculum and activities for Mark Jr.  We are just enjoying each other right now, trying to keep "happy" and "calm" without Big Sister to play with.  I have saved this box for a few weeks now because Mark has really enjoyed tossing it around and playing with it so I decided today, that we would make it into a car because his favorite toys are firetrucks and cars. 

"Vrrrooooommm vrooooom", Mark Jr. loves to say.


You start by cutting the flaps off of the sides of the box with a razor blade.

Trace the shapes with things around the kitchen, such coffee tins and cookie cutters.

You can use scrap cardboard to cut out the steering wheel and then attach it with wire, a tact, or use a paper clip.

If you want to get super creative then you can even make straps and attach them to the sides of the box so your little one to walk around with their new car zzzzoooooooming all over the house!


There are so many fun things you can do with recycled materials!  My 16 month old loves his car, but I can tell you that as cute as the steering wheel is.. it isn't going to last five minutes!!  I love it!










Have a great weekend!

Candice S

Guest Post on MoneySavingMom.com

Crystal, at MoneySavingMom.com has provided me with the opportunity to be a guest blogger and post how to make homemade baby wipes. 

MoneySavingMom.com is an amazing resource and tool for tips, couponing, frugality, and home management.  Check out my guest post, here.

Happy Thursday!!

Candice S.

Jumbo Toddler Crayons

The last time we made jumbo crayons was when Harmony was about 2 years old, so we have quite a bit of small piece of broken crayons that can be repurposed. 

Sort the crayons by color, or have your super smart/super sorter toddler/preschooler assist.

Take the paper off of each crayon.

Put in a muffin tin or mold.

Bake on 350 for about 10 minutes or until the crayon pieces have melted into one beautiful crayon!

I want to get some molds to make various shapes.  Any good idea's on where to get these molds from?

Have a rocking Tuesday!

Candice S.

Linking to: 

 Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative :)

Birthday Fun

I cannot believe that my baby has turned a year old.  I feel like the last year went so very fast, much faster than I remember it going when Harmony was a baby.  We had a small get together and celebrated with presents, songs, games, water balloon fights, and cake!  I wanted to share some photo's from the party.

Mark Jr., my big one year old!

The Redhead, Ms. Harmony

Happy First Birthday!

Umm, YES!  What a MESS to clean up!  But I think it was well worth it.. and I feel that someone else might have thought the same thing.. :)

Happy Tuesday!

Candice S

Free LeapFrog Book's

You can order a free ABC Junior Leapfrog Book, which is geared toward infants to toddlers.  

They also have the option to order a free Ozzie and Mack Tag LeapFrog Book that is from their new Tag Reader's product line made for toddlers and preschooler's.

It takes about 6-8 weeks for shipping.. I received our Ozzie and Mack book about 6 weeks after we ordered it.  We LOVE it so much that I'm Santa is going to bring the Tag Reading System that includes the pen.  Harmony can read by herself by taking the Tag Reading Pen and pressing it to each word allowing her to recognize letters, words, sentences, and play games with the book.

How awesome is this promotion from LeapFrog?  And, it's FREE!  Wooohoo!

Candice S.

Wordless Wednesday =)

Harmony Paige
Born July 14, 2006
6 lb. 13 oz. 19 1/2 inches long

4 Years Old- November 2010

Mark Andrew Jr.
Born March 25, 2010
7 lb. 12 oz. 19 inches

8 Months Old- November 2010

These picture's make me smile and give me a million reasons to be thankful this Thanksgiving.  =)

What are you thankful for?

Happy Holiday's!

Candice S.

Children and Infant Books

As promised, here is an updated book list for Wednesday.  We usually check out about 20 books so I'll add more as we read!  :)

Thanksgiving Poems, By: Myra Cohn Livingston

Had excellent Thanksgiving Poems, which were geared towards an older crowd but it was fun going over the meaning of them with Harmony.

Hello, Good-Bye, By: Arlene Alda

Fun book on opposites so Harmony could guess what the opposite would be as we read.

Papa, please get the moon for me, By: Eric Carle

We have read this one about five times already, since getting it last night.  Harmony apparently has selected a favorite!

Hello, Florida, By: Heather Tomasello

For Mark Jr.  It was definitely adorable!

Baby Einstein's Language Nursery, By: Julie Aigner-Clark

At the end there is a mirror and Mark was cracking up when he saw himself!

Blueberries for Sal (CD-Read Aloud), By: Robert McCloskey

This was a great read aloud story!  I have never actually read the book, but it was excellent!  We enjoyed it!

Have a great day!!

Candice S.

                            

Preschool Books, Phonics, Tracer Paper, Supplies List...

I have found two wonderful things.  First, I have been using this website First-School that has FREE printable worksheets, themed lesson plans, games and toy printables, craft ideas, math/reading and basic skills lesson plans and worksheets, and additional learning resources.  This website is amazing for additional help for toddler, preschool, and kindergarten lesson plans and printables.
You must go check it out!

Teaching Resources:

First-School

Basic Preschool Supplies List

Themed Lesson Plans

Progressive Phonics: For FREE E-Books, Printable Books, Phonics by Age, and Worksheets

Reading A-Z for 30 Free Books

The next website is great for Thanksgiving especially if you have a curious little investigator.  It allows you to be the historian and follow a set of facts, pictures, and fun so you can learn about Thanksgiving.  If your children are computer literate and are of reading age, you can have them do this themselves.. or, like Harmony and myself, we are going to sit down together and learn about the first Thanksgiving together.  I will adapt this to fit our preschool needs, as she is young and will have a shorter attention span.  I plan to entice her by asking her to "click" on an object while I am reading and to make sure that I ask her a lot of questions.

Please, Visit and have fun!  ...  The First Thanksgiving.

Last but not least, traceable paper that you can PRINT!  Woohooo!  Now, listen.  If you are trying to reduce on paper usage or you are a recycling nut like myself, then you have probably drawn a lot of "dots" so your children can practice tracing and writing letters, numbers, names, and addresses.  ..But, I couldn't help but get excited as I walked onto a fun creative resource found on the First-School website.  You have the opportunity to put in say, line 1: Harmony and it will show up in the first traceable row so she can then use the second, third, and fourth row copying or tracing.  LOVE IT!

Create Free Tracer Pages

Have a great day!!

Candice S.

Preschool Planner 11/01/10 =)

Happy Wednesday!!

I have been a busy bee planning, cleaning, planning, teaching, trying to catch up on my own academic endeavors.. just plain ol' busy!  :)  I wanted to share a rough draft of our preschool week.  This is most of the stuff we have accomplished this week.  Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday is our normal preschool day's but with Halloween on Sunday, I was too tired trying to get paper's turned in, etc. to plan our week Sunday night.  I usually sit down Sunday Evening's and find some fun stuff for Harmony and I to do.  You can also easily incorporate developmental activities with your babies, like my 7 month old, as you are teaching your preschooler.  I do not have a play room so we utilize our living room.  I also pick a theme for the week, as this week is FALL and a letter.  I haven't figured out how to incorporate shapes (as Harmony knows all) or numbers quite yet.  There are a lot of areas that we are just trying out for now to see Harmony's learning and tolerating speed.  Four year olds are super busy so she tends to give me an allowance of 30 minutes before she starts climbing the walls.  

Enjoy and check for updates at the "Kids Corner" section of Rattles and Redheads.

Candice S.

11-1-10PreschoolPlanner Sheet1

Wordless Wednesday =)

Love these picture's!

Mark and Harmony- she looks so much like her brother!

Mark and.. well, Mark  :)

Harmony and I being silly.

Enjoy!!!

Candice S.

Sprout Online . Com :) You have to sing it!

Sprout Online has crafts, recipes, videos, and all sorts of activities that you and your youngsters can participate in together.  Harmony and I have so much fun (when we have time) getting new fun idea's from Sprout and playing their online games, etc.  They have an array of fun resources for learning with your kids.

This is "My Refrigerator", which allows us to save our favorite crafts, upload our crafts where they can show them on some of Sprout's shows.. like, The Sunny Side Up Show, The Goodnight Show w/ Nina and Star, and Caillou.  Those three are Harmony's favorite, must watch, shows!  :)  You can also share recipes, crafts, print out AMAZING learning tools, and so much more!  *I am the one doing the "clicking", as we feel Harmony isn't quite ready for computer usage yet.   

 Go take a look...it's fun, creative, and it's FREE! 

Candice S.

It's Fall Baby.. Even Though It's 85 Degrees Outside!

We have had a busy week, yet again.  This week we had so much fun!!  We crafted our heart's out, baked cupcakes (which are gone..), homemade pancakes, I started my next round of classes, picked our pumpkin, had doctor's appointments, and did some fun Fall inspired crafts!

Remember this post about this fall tree craft from last Monday's Craft Share??  I love how these recycled TP rolls converted into pretty fall trees.  Those are our finger prints!  The brown tree to the right has Harmony's handprint.  :o)

Love the Apple Stamping.  All you is cut an apple in half and put some paint on it and stamp it down on paper.  Pretty, right?  .. Oh and I NEVER EVER EVER buy paint.  I make my own that is safe for consumption, just in case, and it is oh-so-easy to clean up or off of anything.

Homemade Paint and Finger Paint:

1 Tablespoon Flour
1 Tablespoon Water (or less up to you)
Add in food coloring

Harmony learned the letter "D" in school and is working on some fun fall projects.  One of her questions have been, "Mommy, why doesn't it feel like fall?  If it were Fall then the leaves would change color, right?"  ..Of course, I reply with something like..we don't live in Massachusetts anymore honey, this IS SW Florida.

Mark Jr. also had his doctor's appointment this week, which has led me to pursue some research on a variety of topics for my, "The Intuitive Parent" series.  Mark Jr. is healthy, active.. and weighs a whopping 20 pounds and is 27 inches in length!  My boy is growing up so big!  He's six month's old by the way, and so very active that we are now in the pursuit of baby proofing our home.

Recipe for yummy pancakes, thanks to My Wooden Spoon:

1 Cup of Flour
1 Tablespoon of Sugar
3 Teaspoons of Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
1 Egg
3/4 Cup of Milk (but I actually used around 1 cup or more, you be the judge of thickened consistency)
2 Tablespoons of Vegetable Oil

I added 1 teaspoon of Vanilla and banana's!

::Blog Share::  I Can Teach My Child's Blog

I Can Teach My Child's Blog has a TON of awesome learning and developing idea's, crafts, and activities that you can do with your kids so please go take a peek.  :)  Here are two really adorable idea's to do for with and for your child that I was really rather impressed with.

My Body Book
Apple Garland- Fruits of the Spirit

Enjoy and Happy Crafting!

Candice S.