Happy Monday Migration

I hope your Monday has been as fun and full as ours. Grandchildren 3 and 6 were here for the day so it was cousin bonanza! We played outside in beautiful mid 70's weather and the leaves were falling by the tree full. It was windy, warm, and smelled like autumn.

After introducing our calendar songs and routine to 3 and 6 the kids wanted to play outside in the sand tub. This is always fun if we can do it under grandparent supervision only. Parents have a tendency to get nervous about sand spilling even though its outside on the deck and then they worry about sand tracking. I try to remind them this is why I have dirt colored floors all through my house and a really good vacuum. It's just easier for everyone if parents are somewhere else.

While we were playing in the sand I told the kids that some creatures do not like snow. They were flabbergasted! The three of them are firm believers that snow is awesome! I explained that not everything can survive the winter so they make new homes in places where it never snows. I found puzzle pieces of a bird and butterfly and brought them outside to play. 3, 5, and 6 took turns digging nests and homes for the pieces to stay warm. 

They also decided to bury the letter N. Why not?

I remembered the animal pictures I found in the Day 18 materials and brought those outside too. These creatures don't Migrate but they do Hibernate which is something we all learned about last week. That's one of the great things about Mother Goose Time materials, they are so versatile. 

Once the majority of the digging was over and we were down to only sand tracking we switched activities to an inside, but still messy, painting one. I thought it was time to break out an oldie but a goodie, coffee filter butterflies. It was a lot of fun. We used water color paint and paint dabber markers. 6 decided to also paint dab her face but that's pretty standard for a year and a half year old. I forgot to take pictures of the finished product but you all know what they look like. After naps and after we waved good bye to 3 and 6, 5 and I decided to play with her butterfly before her daddy came to pick her up. She held it by the clothespin and I said, "It's about to snow!" She ran away, flapping the butterfly up and down and yelled, "Fly to Mexico!" 

Fun, fun day. 

Hibernation

I wanted to introduce the idea of hibernation before we started the lesson from Day 15 of Mother Goose Time and I remembered something my daughter-in-law did for her kids last winter using an appliance box. The box from my basement isn't quite that big but it is cave size for a 2 year old. We checked out the book, The Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson and read it together. Then we decided to act it out. If you aren't familiar with the story here's a summary: a bear falls asleep in his cave for the winter. Other animals come into the cave, start a bonfire, have tea, and sing and dance but the bear snores on and misses it all. The first two animals to join the bear are a mouse and a bunny. Mickey and the Velveteen Rabbit were happy to play along but when we got to the badger, mole, raven, and the others, we had to substitute with Minnie, Daisy, Ernie, Sock Monkey, and Pete the Cat.

5 woke up from her nap with a fever which has lasted for a few days. Her mommy stayed home yesterday and they made their own bear cave. I went to their house this morning until my favorite son-in-law was able to leave work. While I was there we acted the story out again using her animals 

This bat puzzle from MGT was a good way to introduce other hibernating animals.  

5 had no idea what bats were and probably still isn't quite clear but if you asked she would tell you that they sleep upside down. At the suggestion of Mother Goose Time I illustrated this bat fact by hanging 5 upside down and asking her to go to sleep. She was giggling too much to comply. It was great to hear her laugh so much. Each time I would set her down she would say,"Again!" 

I asked her if people should sleep like that and she thought that was a funny idea. But she looked at the baby monitor, saw her sister taking her morning nap and said,"we lay down like 7 Baby."

She had had enough activity and needed to rest for a bit but first she wanted to show me how she looks when she sleeps. The eye covering was her idea. I have no idea why. 

After her little rest used the supplies from Mother Goose Time to Build a Bear Den. This one was a much more manageable size. It would have been fun to go for a nature walk and gather leaves and other things to make a bed for the bear cutout MGT gave us. But 5 was unable to go for a walk so we went to the backyard and gathered dry grass clippings. She drew a face on the bear and laid him in his bed. We decided her bear needed snow to let him know it was time to hibernate. A torn up paper towel was just the ticket. 

When enough snow had fallen I showed 5 the animal pictures provided for the Get Ready to Hibernate part of the lesson. We talked about them and where they hibernate. I hid them around the living room while she counted to ten (of course taking cheat peeks the entire count), and then began to "search" for the pictures. Every time she saw the chipmunk picture she said,"Hey, a chipmunk, just like Chip and Dale!" She decided these animals needed to be in the snow also.        

      

A fun morning. Thanks Mother Goose Time. 

Loving Autumn and Changing Leaves

We continue to play with our leaves from Mother Goose Time. Almost every day 5 wants to hide in them. Yesterday she included her library books to make it even harder for me to find her.

The only way I was able to convince the child to move on from leaf throwing was to ask if she wanted to paint. Day 14 from MGT provided us with a great leaf cutout. I asked 5 why leaves change colors and she told me the leaves are red, yellow, orange, and green and the trees are letting them go and when they are naked (Yes, she giggles when she says the trees are naked) that means they are ready to hold snow. So, we need to work a little more on the why of changing leaves. 5 loves the leaves we collect on our walks and didn't want to use them to make leaf prints so water colors and glitter did the trick. 

A glue wash held the shimmery glitter and since the cutout was a nice quality card stock it it was a beautiful craft and is hanging up in the kitchen of Doodle Bugs house. 

We finished up the morning by making applesauce. My lovely assistant mastered the peeler/corer and volunteered to be the official taster of every apple we used. She's selfless. I had some strawberries that wouldn't have lasted another day so I threw those in the crockpot along with the apples and some cinnamon. Nap time came and went and we had a delicious snack. Have I mentioned how much I love Autumn? 

Tomorrow, Hibernation! 

Autumn

A year ago 5 and 3 were both at our house for a sunny, rake a lot of leaves kind of Saturday. They had a lot of fun and so did their papa. 5 is only two this Autumn and doesn't remember that day but instinctively knew she was suppose to toss and try to cover herself with the leaves we discovered in the Day 7 Autumn package in our Mother Goose Time Preschool curriculum.

As you can tell, we decided we needed even more leaves. I love any reason to let little kids tear paper. I don't know why it's soothing but it is. Is it the sound or the motion? Every kid I've ever worked with or been related to has loved it. 5 is no exception. She would have torn paper all day. 

Two year olds don't understand seasons, let alone the idea that they change. But for the most part they do accept what you tell them. And since we live in the Midwest where the leaves change color, this is the perfect time to learn. 

We also sorted the leaves into color piles and put some on baby sister's seat. Big sister was sure 7 would love how pretty they made it look. 

After a while we got out play dough mats and made an apple tree. We love real life apple picking in the Autumn so why not playtime too? Here you see Sugar Plum slicing some apples for me to enjoy as a morning snack. She has a generous heart. And a fear of bugs. That's why you also see a play dough Itsy Bitsy Spider. We have made a lot of spiders to play with in the hope that the look of terror will cease to dominate her face whenever she sees one. Her favorites are the felt spider she likes to wear on her hand and scare us over and over and over with, and the pom pom spider that actually goes up and down the water spout. I love Pinterest.

Rainy Tuesday

Does everyone love the fall? I can't imagine why you wouldn't. Even rainy days. Even if it means playing inside all day. It's beautiful.

Plus, a rainy day means we get to use our favorite weather dress up outfit. We made paper dolls with students faces at the special needs school I retired from. It helped us teach body parts, "pants on legs, shoes on feet..." and appropriate clothing for different weather types. And it was fun to make the paper dolls and clothes. At school we used velcro to attach the clothes but that was difficult for small items like shoes and mittens so I decided to try felt for 5's picture. It's not as sturdy but still cool. I think it's time to change the tree from green to orange. Maybe tomorrow since we are going to talk about autumn. 

Today we started learning about the seasons in our Mother Goose Time curriculum and Summer was up first. We talked about what we did during Family Vacation 2014, playing at the beach with cousins, riding in Papa's boat, and walking to the snack bar every evening for ice cream. We also played the Rays of the Sun Game. We have used the "my turn, your turn" phrase her entire young life so turn taking makes sense to her which is a big help when learning a new game. This simple to understand game was fun and engaging for a 2 year old, with a rocking horse break in the middle.

 


                                                             

After nap is over we are going to melt crayons on a warming plate using wax paper for safety and clean up. If I can safely take pictures I'll add them later. Thanks for the idea MGT!

Weather Time fun

It's been a busy, fun week getting to know our Mother Goose Time curriculum. I began introducing the idea of calendar and weather time when the girls first started playing at my house while their parents were at work. So these materials have added a lot of fun and giggles to what we already do.

5 is already a big fan of Hide and Seek so when I read through the Snow lesson for Day 4 I saw the suggestion to put the orange bird under tissues or "piles of snow" and I knew we had a winner. This game went on for a long time and has been played every day ever since. It's a great idea for playing with a toddler. I think it will be a go to game both here and when we are need to wait somewhere.

 As you can see, 5 is a cheater. But she comes by it naturally. Have you met her grandmother? 

                                                                                                                           

I found these uppercase dot-to-dot letters at Tot School. She calls them do-a-dot. Is that what they are? Whatever the name they are perfect for bingo markers and since it's orange and letter C month at Mother Goose Time, and every toddler loves markers it was a perfect match.

 

I thought we could also make a rainbow with the dabbers but Tootsie Pop wasn't feeling it. 

She did however want to share the orange love with her sister.

I have the weekend to plan for next week. Seasons!!! Looks like fun!

"The box is here!" said with Navin Johnson enthusiasm

Actually the box came last week but I was hanging out with grandchildren 1, 2, and 4 in another state. As you can see, 5 loves the box. So do I. It's the perfect size for sending silly stuff to kids or for building box towers or baby dolls with dirty diapers. If we are this happy with the outside, imagine our delight with what's inside.







If you are new to Mother Goose Time like I am you may be wondering what comes in this box. I am still unpacking and going through it all but let me show you what we've discovered so far.

There is a Welcome Kit that has materials for calendar time, weather, centers, some basic sign language cards, and more! Look at the colors!  This is so much better that anything I could make myself.  

You also get an alphabet strip and number line, a Teacher's Guide and Planning Journal, 2 different music CD's, Theme Web, a skills overview, which shows how the different activities are teaching skills kids need, and a Gathering List.

Let me tell you about the Gathering List. It is a thing of beauty for planners like me. I think it would be beautiful to a fly by the seat of your pants person too but I don't know. Here it is....

How cool is this?

You see, in that wonderful box each day is already sorted, labeled, and waiting for you to use. Most of what you need is already there. Anything not included is listed here so you can have it on hand. No need to tell kids to sit still and keep that thought while you frantically search for twigs or round things or funnels. They've thought of everything.

Here's what I've done so far...

Have you seen the Pinterest posts showing these oil drip pans that look like enormous cookie sheets from Wal-Mart? They really are under $12. I couldn't believe it. It's almost as long as the door mirror I hung sideways for the grandkids to admire their dress up outfits. I found this fun thing on the bottom shelf of the last aisle of the store, in the automotive department. You won't find it by accident but it's worth the hunt. I keep roll of thin sticky back magnets in the house and that's what is holding up everything you see here. I made the calendar stuff a while back and already had the colored clips but everything else came from Mother Goose Time. There are letters and sight words in the flower pot, an orange bird and a rectangle hanging from line tied between the fence posts because we are learning about rectangles and the color orange. Everything, even the yarn to tie between the posts and the tiny clothes pin came in the box.

I haven't had time to go through it all yet but I will. I'm not sure what these stickers are for, probably something to do with the world map they gave us, but 5 is sure she has it all figured out. She shared some with me and as I am typing this I am wearing Nepal, Sweden, and I think England but she decided that one needed to be on my back. If everyone spent the day with a two year old the world would be a happier place.

Let me explain

I am a big fan of family vacations. The picture at the top of this blog is from Family Vacation 2014. We began this tradition during Family Vacation 2013. Family shirts that show the number in which we joined this family. I'm 2.

In this blog I think I will refer to my grandchildren not by the numbers they are wearing here, but by their grandchild birth order. So 7 will be 1, 8 will be 2, 11 is 3, 12 is 4, 13 is 5, 14 is 6, and you have to look for her in the crook of her mother's arm, 15 is 7. I know it doesn't make sense to have this picture for this blog but that's how I roll. Living on the edge.

I have a blog?!?

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I AM DOING!!!! I just learned how to cut and paste on the computer in 2010 and now I have a blog?!?

Let's be honest, I"m not that interesting. I live in Illinois. In the winter when the corn fields are down you can see the water tower in the village a half hour away. My brother once said someone could pave Illinois and make it a parking lot for the rest of the country. Not much to see here.

But a while back my daughter-in-law Elyse showed me this wonderful box of stuff for kids. It's from a company called Mother Goose Time. Every month they send curriculum designed for playing, learning, and teaching young children.

For months I've been following Mother Goose Time on Facebook and Pinterest. I've signed up for emails and recently they invited me to be one of their bloggers. Which brings me back to my opening sentence. I truly have no idea what I am doing on this site. But kids, little kids, and learning? That I know.

So with the help of my own children (the girls in the family, continuing with the honesty, the boys will be no help what so ever) I will share what my grandchildren and I learn when we open our wonderful boxes.