and there's more--literacy lava 4!

Literacy Lava 4 is here!

The fourth issue of Literacy Lava, a digital magazine (in pdf format) is available for you to read, download and use, share with others, or print and keep.

As usual, Literacy Lava 4 is erupting with great tips for parents, and suggestions for literacy activities to share with kids.

In this edition, you'll find:

• ideas for nurturing creative thinking;

• ways to use magazines with your kids;

• ideas for raising book-loving boys;

• advice for what to do if your child is not into writing;

• thoughts on how to encourage your child to love reading;

• ways to encourage inquisitiveness through hands-on learning;

• ideas on how to help children make connections through story extensions;

• an article on how to have children tell stories through movie-making.

And, the Online Extras and Activity Page for kids is not to be missed!

I'm grateful to have been a contributor for this issue along with numerous incredibly talented and creative educators. Many, many thanks to Susan Stevenson of The Book Chook for putting it all together!

Check it out: Literacy Lava 4!

new for us friday: ziploc bag ice-cream

I've wanted to try this little mix of cooking and science for awhile now, so with Friday being a half day for Maddy, I thought it was the perfect time.

If people really knew how much of an ice-cream family we are--how many half-gallons of ice-cream we keep in our freezer at any given time--they'd know that this New For Us Friday was crazy exciting for us.

Who cares if it's the middle of the winter? We eat this sweet treat any time of the year. . .

• Ziploc Bag Ice-cream: Dozens of recipes exist online for Ziploc Bag Ice-cream, but I did a little searching and found one that seemed to repeat the most and decided to try that one first.

Our Ziploc Bag Ice-cream Recipe is here to download if you're up for trying it out.

Maddy adds her ingredients.

Really, Ziploc Bag Ice-cream is just that--ice-cream made in a Ziploc Bag. It takes a few ingredients and a lot of shaking, and I was totally pumped to try it.

In the morning, as we walked Maddy to school, I said to everyone, So we're going to try something new today. Guess what we're going to make when Maddy gets home from school? She has a half day, so we need to do some celebrating.

Cora said, Muffins! Yeah! I love muffins!

I said, We all love muffins, but this treat is super cold and creamy.

Owen guessed ice-cream immediately, and I said, Yep--we're making ice-cream. But this will be a crazy recipe because we need mittens and music to make it. Why do you think we need mittens and music to make ice-cream?

Because it's cold! Soo, so cold! Owen screamed.

No one could guess why we needed music, so I said they'd find out later--and they did.

Later, when I yelled, Okay, everyone grab a pair of mittens and meet me in the kitchen! I heard three kiddos running at me, mittens in hand.

Because everything I read suggested no doubling of the recipe, Maddy started us off. We read the recipe assembled all of the ingredients, and Maddy placed her first sandwich bag in a measuring cup to keep it sturdy.

She poured in the wet ingredients, sealed the bag, and placed it into the second sandwich bag.

Then she added ice and salt to the gallon-sized Ziploc bag, put on her mittens, and headed for the living room where the music was blasting. She jumped, shook, and wiggled her little body until Owen and Cora joined her with their finished bags.

Cora adds some sprinkles. . .

Everyone shook, jiggled, and tossed our bags of ice until the ice melted and our hands were tired.

. . . Owen sports his gloves and is ready to shake!

Because Owen and Cora's were still pretty soft, we threw theirs in the freezer to harden a bit, but Maddy's ice-cream seemed ready to go.

I split hers into three bowls, grabbed some spoons, and Y-U-M! It worked! Sure, it wasn't as sweet as the stuff we buy, but it was cold, creamy, and sweet enough. And we made it ourselves.

As we ate, I asked:

• what made the ice melt in the bag?
• how did the milk and half-and-half become so cold?
• what did we add that made the ice-cream sweet?
• what did they like about their homemade ice-cream, and what would they do differently next time?

Everyone said it was great, but Maddy--even though we used chocolate milk and added sprinkles to the mix--said she'd like hers to be sweeter next time: I think it needs another tablespoon of sugar, Mom. I'd like mine sweeter.

Hmmmmmm, wonder where this chica pequina gets her sweet tooth?

Super cool NFUF at our house!

And thanks a ton to Mama Feelgood who all the way back in July recommended that we try Ziploc Ice-cream.

Finally, we got to it, and I'm glad we did. We're always looking forward to trying new things around here, so hit me with your ideas!

farm-full of rich vocabulary words

I always cringe when I hear parents talking in baby voices and using baby words when interacting with their not-so-babyish children. Or other people's not-so-babyish children, especially once those kiddos are out of Baby Bjorns and are walking, jumping, feeding themselves, and hanging up their own coats at preschool.

I usually bite my tongue, but what I want to yell is something along the lines of C'mon, Buddy. Are you serious? Vocabulary is a critical component of reading success! Get crazy--use bigger, better words--they can handle it! And they'll love you for it later!!


Part of what I love about the rich literature available today is stumbling upon a well-written book that plays with words--one that goes beyond "nice, good, bad".

One of our old-time favorites, The Farmer, by Mark Ludy is a great piece of literature on so many levels, but I've had vocabulary on my mind ever since reading an article on Word Consciousness early this week, so that's what Maddy, Owen, and I talked about when Maddy chose this at bedtime tonight: vocabulary.

• Farm-Full of Rich Words: The Farmer is an incredible story about a generous and hardworking farmer who loves his animals and his farm, and even when times are tough, the farmer remains steadfast in his devotion to God and in his kindness to others.

Not only does the story provoke thoughtful discussion, the illustrations are gorgeous. The colors are vivid, and the characters--people and animals--are developed through careful detail and expressions.

The whole work comes together in a really amazing way that makes it hard not to fall in love with the farmer, his animal pals, and okay, even the Frump Family who turns around in the end.

So tonight, when Maddy chose the book, she said, I know you like this one, Mom. She was right.

We read the story, like we usually do, and we searched on each page for Squeakers. But instead of sliding by some of the more challenging words, tonight I stopped--briefly--to chat about them.

The Farmer makes me want to dance.

After the farmer re-plants his crops, I read, 'He is patient. He perseveres. And when soft rains fall, he kneels in thanks.' I said, The farmer 'perseveres'. He worked really hard after the fire; he re-plants his crops, and he doesn't give up. He perseveres. What do you think 'perseveres' means?

Maddy said, Um, maybe that he's a hard worker?

Owen added, That he is a hard worker, and he's not crying.

I said, You're right. The farmer is a hard worker, and he's not crying or giving up. He's determined to get his farm growing again. He's working hard even though things are tough. When you persevere, you work hard even though things are not easy, and you don't give up.

Maddy said, Kind of like he's determined?

Yes. Woo-hoo! You got it.

We also talked about "pleasant", the "mature" garden, and "bounty". We didn't talk long; I tried not to break the flow of the story, but we talked long enough.

This was also not our first reading of the book--we've had it for years and years, so their familiarity with the text also allowed me more time to stop now and again.

Tomorrow, and for the next few days, I'm going to try to use these words in our every day conversations so that Maddy, Owen, and even Cora can add them to their working vocabulary. We'll throw around a few high-fives and woo-hoo's when they use them. And I'll probably even do a little dance.

fyi: This kind of word consciousness, or being aware of new words, new ways of using words, and talking about those super-cool words we run across every day, is an integral component of language development and one of the predictors of success in reading comprehension.

When children are word conscious, they "are motivated to learn new words and able to use them skillfully" (Lane & Allen, The Vocabulary Rich Classroom: Modeling Sophisticated Word Use to Promote Word Consciousness and Vocabulary Growth, in February 2010's The Reading Teacher.)

And really, why wouldn't we want our kiddos to play with words and to develop their vocabulary? Vocabulary knowledge has long been identified as one of the best predictors of reading comprehension, reading performance in general, and school achievement (Lane & Allen citing Davis; Thorndike; Beck, McKeown, & Kucan in the article mentioned above).


another fyi: Not only do I have a secret crush on Mark Ludy (I seriously Googled him years ago because after falling in love with The Farmer; I was convinced he'd be a perfect match for one of my good pals, but he was already married), but now I also love him because his website rocks, he and his wife and three kids run a coffee house in Colorado, he blogs, and he spends time chattin' with people about writing, art, following your dreams, and faith.


What's not to love?

(And thanks to Amazon.com for the photos from the book!)

quick trick: rainy day picnic

Surprise, surprise--another rainy, gray winter day here in Maryland.

So after we got home from Owen's soccer practice, I got busy packing our picnic basket. Then Owen and Cora got busy setting up our favorite blue and white striped picnic blanket--right smack dab in the middle of the living room floor.

It might not have worked outside, but at our house, today was the perfect day for an old-school, Rainy Day Picnic.

Okay, so it's not as much a Quick Trick as much as it is just a little something that usually brightens our spirits on rainy--or cloudy, or foggy, or snowy day--but I still thought it was worth sharing.

• Rainy Day Picnic: For my kiddos, any time juice boxes or packed lunches are involved, it usually qualifies as a good day. Today was a good day.
  

For Rainy Day Picnics, I bring out the fancy ole picnic basket that my husband and I received as a wedding gift for those impromptu, romantic, weekend picnics that we never actually had.

even Baby Cheetah made it to today's picnic

I pack (of course!) juice boxes, sandwiches, and snacks, and napkins, and after the blanket is spread out, I walk the big walk (two rooms away), from the kitchen to the living room, I plop the basket down, and I unpack our lunch.

We chat, eat, and pretend we're somewhere warm--the beach, the park, wherever. When Cora was too teeny to sit still on the blanket, I moved her chair to the floor so that she wouldn't run around, but now that she's weeks away from three, we are footloose and chair-free.

And that's it. Not only do Rainy Day Picnics add a little sunshine to our day, but the clean-up can't be beat: the trash is back in the basket, and I shake the crumby-blanket. Woo-hoo!

magnadoodle messages

With little ones who are learning letters and acquiring new words every day, we really need to capitalize on any and every possible chance to get them to write.

Whether it's letters or lists, with paint, water, or fingers, any time children can write meaningful messages is time well-spent.

Occasionally, our family goes on Magna Doodle kicks, when the Magna Doodles are out, hanging around, constantly carrying messages or funny drawings. We were on one such kick last week before our trip.

• Magna Doodle Messages: We have two large Magna Doodles and three tiny ones that are perfect for long car rides or for smaller messages, but Maddy and I played with the two big guys who were lurking around the living room last week.

We had been talking about dogs--a hot topic around here--and I wrote on the Magna Doodle closest to me, 'I wish we had a dog.' Then I said, Psssst. Maddy, I have a message for you.

She came over and read my message then grabbed the other Magna Doodle and took it to the other couch. She cleared the screen, then wrote a return message to me. That message is pictured above.

Maddy and I communicated via 'Magna Doodle' for a few minutes, before we got roped into something else by Owen, Cora, or my husband--I can't remember.

one of my Magna Doodle messages to Maddy

Some messages required immediate action to show that she understood what I wrote, and some messages just required a short answer in return. But all of the writing was simple, meaningful, and fun. Plus, I got a few good hugs out of it, and that's never a bad thing.

fyi: Maddy's doing a lot of letter-reversing, and as hard as it is for me not to yell, WOW, Great try, Honey, but all of your letters here are backwards, I bite my tongue. Instead, I'll read what I can and say, Okay, please read this line for me. Or, Oh, I love when you write stories. This one is about a (whatever main words I can read). Would you please read the rest?

At this point, we want our little ones to write, write, write. We don't want them to be overly conscious of forming letters so much that it interferes with getting their ideas on the paper. We don't want them to be afraid to take chances with their writing.


From the time little ones begin writing up until about grade two, reversals in their letters is an appropriate, although sometimes frustrating, developmental stage. This behavior shouldn't to be confused with dyslexia, which is a specific learning disability, neurological in origin.

In fact, "Writing letters and words backwards are common in the early stages of learning to read and write among average and dyslexic children alike. It is a sign that orthographic representations (i.e., letter forms and spellings of words) have not been firmly established, not that a child necessarily has a reading disability" (Adams, 1990). For more really helpful information on dyslexia, please see an article from March 2007 The Reading Teacher: Dyslexia and the Brain: What does current research tell us?

new for us friday: disney magic

New For Us Fridays are back, and what better way to is kick 'em off than with our trip to Disney?

Last week, our family had the incredible opportunity to be a part of the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, which will probably trump all of the NFUF's from here on out.

As our first family trip to Walt Disney World, it was completely and totally incredible. I can only briefly touch on the highlights of the experience for us, what I learned (you can't take the teacher out of the girl, no matter what), and what we will never forget.

Here goes:

• The Hotel: Disney's Polynesian Resort. After literally re-booking flights that would take us to sunny Florida since our flights out of Maryland were canceled, the Polynesian was a perfect landing spot after a long travel day, and it couldn't have been a more ideal place to stay for our first trip to Disney.

The welcome sign at the Polynesian. Ahhhhh.

Being on the monorail line made getting to the Magic Kingdom easier, and every single time Owen saw a monorail arrive or depart, he did a dance. The rooms were gorgeous, the people there were helpful and kind, and they have a sushi bar.

• The People: We had the opportunity to hear some incredibly inspiring speakers, ones who are using social media to do great things.
  

• Maxine Clark, Chief Executive Bear of Build-A-Bear Workshop: Aside from loving her because she runs a top-notch company that we all already adore, I loved that Ms. Clark couldn't speak highly enough about educators, and (gasp!) recognized me and reads teachmama. Happy, happy day.
  

Me with Chief Executive Bear, Maxine Clark

She stressed doing what you love and loving what you do; she stressed dreaming big, putting your heart into everything you do, and letting children inspire you. She mentioned sharing your ideas with people who you believe will add value to your thoughts. And she emphasized the importance of creating a business plan. She blogs, and sheTweets. She gives back to the community in more ways that I can count. She totally rocks.

• Kathy Ireland: Gorgeous, yes, and so together in every way possible. She is the creator of the billion-dollar company, kathy ireland, and she told us to ignore the noise of negativity and focus on moving toward your dream. She emphasized the importance of family time but also time for yourself. She was one of the most eloquent and graceful speakers I have ever seen, and she addressed every person's question by first asking the person's name. And she remembered every single name as she answered each question. Amazing. She's on Twitter.

• Guy Kawasaki: co-founder of Alltop--among other companies--and smarter than a whip. He shared his ideas on using Twitter as a marketing tool, along with using smart brief, StumbleUpon toolbar with Firefox, objective marketer, and twitterfeed to help promote yourself. His energy and love for all things Twitter and social media was contagious. On Twitter, he's @guykawasaki.

the backdrop for conference speakers

• Chris Brogan: social media king and New York Times best-selling author, Chris is a great speaker who emphasized the importance of relationships, community, and love in the social media world. He is a proponent of concise blog posts, which I'm totally not doing in this biggie. . . (find him in Twitter as @chrisbrogan).

• Marissa Jaret Winokur: actress and Tony Award winner for her role as Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray. Funny and charismatic, her work ethic, drive, and frankness about weight struggles and mommy-stresses were endearing and inspiring. (@MarissaJWinokur)
  

• Mary Ellen Hooper: comedian and mom of two, Mary Ellen Hooper had us on the floor with her hysterical reflections of marriage, parenting, and life. And she blogs.

• The Events & Extras: Nothing compares to the way Disney throws a party. From the decorations to the food to the surprises, it was incredible.
  

• Tailgate party after the media event at ESPN Wide World of Sports: Walt Disney World Resort President Meg Crofton unveiled some things new to Disney: Summer Nightastic (return of the Main Street Electrical Parade!), a 3-year Fantasyland expansion (more chances to interact with Disney Princesses!), and the addition of the Disney Dream to the Disney Cruise Line. Mickey, Minnie, and the whole gang stopped by, the kids danced to a dj, and everyone left with a smile.
• Epcot Evening: Dinner prepared by Robert Irvine of Food Network's Dinner: Impossible (it was awesome!), we saw a concert by All Star Weekend, and an appearance by Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato. Okay, so Cora was asleep in her stroller, but the rest of us were jammin'.
  
• Dinner and dance party in Hollywood Studios: More characters, great food, more dancing, and a special chance to have Toy Story Mania! all to ourselves.
• Oh, my gosh, the Gifts: Disney generously gave all attendees many gifts, but most importantly, they gave us a Media FASTPASS which got us on any FASTPASS ride at any time. On top of seven day park-hopper tickets, this was more than we could have ever expected for a very minimal conference fee.
  

• The Big Thank you: I am grateful and honored to have been a part of this event. Thank you to:
  

• Disney World, Leanne and Laura;
• Resourceful Mommy Media, Amy Lupold Bair;
• 5 Minutes for Mom, Susan and Janice (and also for some of the pictures posted here);
• Mom Bloggers Club, Jennifer James;
• Mom Select, Maria Bailey;
• all of the crazy-cool moms, dads, and kiddos we met during the event.
  

Full Disclosure: I was invited to attend this event, and after paying the conference fee, my family received three nights at the Polynesian Resort, 7-day Park Hopper tickets, entrance into each event, several meals, gifts, memories, and the experience of a lifetime. Plus it gave us an excuse to run away from two more feet of snow.
My opinions are solely my own and are influenced only my my three sweet kiddos and my incredible husband who rolled solo with three kids in the Magic Kingdom one whole, long and rainy morning.

early literacy computer games

Many friends have contacted me about my thoughts on using the computer to support our little ones' early literacy skills.

They've asked what sites we use, what sites I recommend, when to begin computer use, and how much computer time I give my kiddos.

I'm no techie expert, but I'll admit that my kids probably hit the computer for 10-20 minutes a day on average. I started Maddy on the computer well before she was two, and information on great sites for the little guys will be posted next week. (I promise. . . it's already started!)

And here are just a few of the literacy-focused sites that Maddy, Owen, and Cora frequent during their computer time:

• Starfall: This site totally and completely rocks. It is ad-free, it has simple graphics, and it creates games based for nearly every literacy skill. I LOVE IT.
  

On Starfall, we especially love. . .

-the ABC's: Cora loves to click on 'C' and then go back and forth clicking wherever the sparkles are to advance the screen;

-Learn to Read: Kids can literally begin at #1 and go from Play to Book, but Owen loves Car Race, Soap Boat, and The Big Hit;

-It's Fun to Read: Maddy loves the Music and Art Gallery sections, and so do I. Reading skills are stuck into interesting information about musicians and artists, and kiddos can listen to short pieces of music and and view artwork from the masters. I want to dance when I see this site.

-Extras: My kids have made a million Pumpkins and Snowmen, and they have grown a zillion flowers in the Garden Shop. When I say we've spent time on this site, I'm not kidding.

• PBS Kids: With familiar characters, meaningful games that work literally all subjects, and an easy-to-navigate site, Maddy, Owen, and Cora all have their favorites here. I can't even begin to speak to the resources on this site for parents, either; it's something totally worth spending time exploring. Here are our current fave's on PBS Kids:
  

-SuperWHY!: I've sung the SuperWHY! praises before, so I'll spare you, but really, this section is fantastic for early literacy skills, as is the show itself. Maddy and Owen love the Golden Crown Spelling Bee, the Storybook Creator, and Rhyme Time Bingo.

-Curious George: We love Day at the Beach here. It is simple, it is easy, and Cora can play solo or with minimal help.

-Martha Speaks: This section has a great game that helps little ones learn mouse control, and right now Cora is addicted. If you click on the picture of a pizza, you'll get to Skits Cooks. By following simple instructions on the screen, kids can 'create' a pizza by moving the mouse back and forth, up and down, and in circles by 'adding' different ingredients. I want to hug the creator of this game.

-Dinosaur Train: Tons of science information here really worth checking out. The Games work hand-eye coordination in a simple and non-threatening way, and the Field Guide is just incredible.

-Word World: Maddy and Owen love the Pig section to make funny foods with Pig, they love trying to solve the riddles, and like the show, this game itself focuses on making word learning and reading fun.

-PBS Kids Island: This part of the site is a little more involved, and it requires a parent creating an account. But after you take the time to do it once, it's ready for any time you play (and it's free!). It's the kind of deal that players can earn 'tickets' with which they can redeem prizes to store in their tree houses.

Owen, more than Maddy right now, is totally into this; he has about a hundred cyber toys in his toybox. It's hysterical. There are tons of resources for parents and caregivers, and you can even link to the research (woo-hoo!) that supports the games and activities. PBS is really working hard to make 'raising readers' easy for everyone, and I love them for it!

I know I've diverged slightly from literacy sites, and I know that it seems as though we don't stray very far from two major stops. But these two sites--Starfall and PBS Kids--contain tons of games and activities worth checking out, and they are ad-free and safe, which is totally important in my book.


Need more?

• I'll hit you with our favorite sites for little, little guys next week; or
  
• check out some of our favorite math-focused computer sites; or
  
• check out my Tech-Savvy pal, Leticia's site for more detailed information on technology and our little ones.

Ps: Yes, I totally took the graphics from Starfall and PBS Kids without asking permission. My apologies!

hide-and-seek: abc style

Today was my first day back to reality after our incredible trip to Disney, our escape from two more feet of snow, and a fantastic conference (which I'll share about on Friday).

So, I wanted to take it easy this afternoon, but I also wanted to make sure that Owen and Cora remembered that there was indeed an alphabet, with uppercase and lowercase letters, and that those letters belonged in a special order.

They were rammy. I was tired. So after lunch, I tried to channel some of their energy into a Hide-and-Seek ABC Game, and (yeeesss!!) the stars were aligned.

They bought it big-time, and after dinner, they begged for more. (I'm not even kidding.)

• Hide-and-Seek ABC's: I pulled out our bag of alphabet letters which is from reading a-z, but if you need uppercase and lowercase alphabet cards, they are here to download.
  

I said to Owen and Cora, Okay friends. Who's up for a game of hide-and-seek?

They both were. Really, find me a kid who's not up for this game at any time of the day.

I said, Awesome. Head up to Owen's room. We're playing hide-and-seek before rest time, but we're not hiding. These silly alphabet letters are going to do the hiding, and you're going to find them.

Can you see that sneaky letter 'F'?

So I told them to hide out in Cora's room while the uppercase letters found hiding spots, and I tucked them into pretty easy spots around Owen's room.

When they returned, like people possessed, they searched for the letters. And my only instructions were that when they found a letter, they had to call out its name. I told them I wanted to hear letters being shouted as loud as they could.

When they found the letters, they dropped them in front of me.

And when they couldn't find any more, I said, Okay, now let's put them in order to make sure we found them all. Someone find the first letter of the alphabet and put it here.

Owen led the task of putting them in order, but I made sure to hand Cora cards so that she was involved, too.

When all of the letters were in order, we sang the Alphabet Song to check their work.

I said, Awesome job. Now head back into Cora's room so that the lowercase letters can find hiding spots, and before I finished the sentence, they were outta there.


I hid the lowercase letters, just like I did with the uppercase letters, and when they found them they called them out. Cora had more difficulty with this, but she got lucky enough to find 'c' and 'o' and 'z', which she confidently screamed upon finding them.

After all of the letters were found, we played match-up and put the lowercase letter on top of its uppercase partner. I originally suggested turning the cards over when we matched them, but Owen said he wanted to 'see all of the letters'. Fine with me!

Our downstairs hide-and-seek ABC's. . . a little messier,
so finding letters got pretty tricky.

After we sang the Alphabet Song to check their work (really, the letters were in order, but you can't sing this song too often!), I collected the cards. Both Owen and Cora insisted that we play again, but I promised that we'd play after dinner. It was late, and I knew Cora needed to rest.

So we played again with Maddy after dinner, and the intensity of the game tripled.

They ran faster, they screamed louder (gah!), but they also laughed harder.

And Maddy and Owen begged to each hide half of the lowercase letters, which they did, which resulted in endless searches for letters that they just hid but couldn't find five minutes later. Thankfully, we ended up finding all of the letters in the end.

A game like this is good for any aged little one, from Cora (2 years) to Maddy (who just turned 6).

Here's why:

• they get to practice putting the letters in alphabetical order;

• they have more practice recognizing letters that give them difficulty (b/d; p/q; etc);

• it still helps to see uppercase and lowercase letters matched;

• confidence grows when kiddos see a letter they know and they can YELL it out;

• alphabet games can only help because knowing the letters of the alphabet is one of the basic building blocks of literacy.
  

fyi: If you want some other alphabet cards, here's a previous post where I linked back to some other types of alphabet cards.

Happy letter hunting!

more counting and cooking with cora

Cora has always wanted to help me make dinner,
literally since she started toddling around, she's been my shadow come 5 pm.

For a while I tried to fight it; I had her watercolor, draw, or play games while I cut, mixed, and prepared our meal. And sometimes I still do that if I know there's absolutely nothing she can do to help.

But most days, I have her help me--in any way she can:

• Cora Counts in the Kitchen: Usually if I'm cutting veggies, I'll have her do something as simple as counting with me. On the potato day, we started by counting all four potatoes, then we counted as I cut.
  

And then I had Cora count as she put the pieces in the bowl.

We never count too high. If there are a ton of pieces, we'll count to ten, and then we count to ten in Spanish. . .

. . . then ten or twenty in English again.

Sometimes we count as we cut peppers. . .

. . . and then bag them.

And when we make muffins or cupcakes, we count as I fill the the tin--and here's another chance to demonstrate how we move from the left to the right!

Just another teeny-tiny way of sneaking in some learning while doing every day things. . .

indoor fun with kids-- the round up!

Many of us are rolling onto week numero dos of being stranded in our homes with our kiddos, and in an attempt at keeping us all from going into convulsions at the sound of 'snow' from here on out, I thought I'd pull together some old school, teachmama 'indoor activities' that may help to get everyone through the next two feet of that cold stuff.

Good luck. . .

For the holiday:

• Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt: This was our post from last year, when we could see the ground outside and before we all began to bow down to the plow drivers. Maybe you could modify the hunt slightly and make it work for you.

With things you have around the house:

• Sensory Box: C'mon, everyone has an old box sitting around, just waiting to become a Sensory Box!
• Nuts and Bolts: Raid the tool cabinet and get your little ones to play with these things--they'll help their little fingers develop.
• Hole Punch Happy: You have one. Get it out. Let your kids punch something other than each other.
• Shape Tracing: Maybe you don't have licorice, but you probably have yarn. Or something like it. Print out these shape sheets and work on tracing, shapes, and colors with your little, little ones.
• Marshmallows and Toothpicks: This one might be tough, since marshmallows are a hot ticket item over here in the DC Metro area, as a necessary partner for the many cups of hot chocolate that are being consumed. But maybe you've got 'em, and maybe you have toothpicks. Make them friendly, and you have an activity for at least part of the day.
• Braid Basket: All you need is some string and something to tie them on for your kiddos to learn how to braid. So easy.
• Piggies and Ponytails: Who knew that these could entertain little ones for hours (okay, maybe not hours. . . ) but for a good long time and work their fine motor skills?
• Cut Cards: Give them scissors. And give them time. But make sure you're in the room.
  

Easy, Worthwhile Games:

• Action 1, 2, 3: Print out these cards, get your kids to personalize them (draw pictures or cut pictures out of magazines)--or just skip personalizing them and play the game. It gets them movin' and groovin'.
• Magazine Hunt: You have old magazines. Print these cards out and make your kiddos Magazine Detectives!!
• Indoor Snowman: I know, I know, everyone's sick of snow. But here's an easy snowman kids can build inside, and you don't even have to put on their snowpants for the 800th time.
• Indoor Number Hunt: I shared this idea with my friend, Ellen, and her super-cool familia and readers. It's really just an indoor take on our backyard hunt, but it's really a keeper.
  

Letter and Word Games:

• Alphabet Spin 1 and 2: Matching uppercase and lowercase letters. This game has spinners. And most kids I know love spinners.
  
• Mix it up: Grab your magnetic letters, throw in your magnetic numbers, and let your kids sort it all out.
• Alphabingo!: Lowercase letters and cute little animals. Fun, fun, fun.
• WORDO: Bingo + sight words = wordo!
• Tic Tac Toe 2.0: A new take on the old game. . .
  

Just more plain fun:

• Letter Writing: Kids miss their friends? Don't let them call their buddies; have them write letters to their pals!
• Digital Books: Try these on for size. My kids seriously love Carl, and this song is too catchy.
• Color Jars & Size Hunt: Do try these two activities, but make them inside games. . .
• Paint Bags: If you have any kid-safe paint left in the house, throw it in a ziplock and get your kids 'writing'.
• Cooking: We all love to bake when we're stuck inside (or at least eat baked goods, right?), so why not have your kiddos read the recipe?
• Bugs: Find your box of fake ones (we can't be the only ones with these. . . ), then count them, sort them, have fun with them.
  

That's it--hope the links work, hope that this helps a bit, and please--please!--if you have other super ideas, feel free to share them or link back.

And hang in there! Before we know it, we'll all be complaining that we're sick and tired of long and lazy pool days. . .

candy heart patterns

For the last few days, we've been doing a lot of hanging out by the fire (which is what you have to do when you have no electricity in the house).

We've also been breaking our backs trying to shovel three feet of the world's heaviest snow on record, we've been doing a lot of sledding, and we've been crossing our fingers that we can still make it to Disney mid-week.

One of these mornings we spent a little bit of time with a game that Owen has waited weeks to play:

• Valentine Hearts Game: That's what Owen's been calling it; it's really a very simple pattern matching game that he played at his preschool Valentine's Day party last year, but he loves it.
  

the Valentine heart game prep

I kept this really simple--I cut large Post-It Notes into fours and cut small squares from a few tablets I had around the house (so that I had pieces of pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple paper). I glued them to the paper and slid the paper in a plastic sleeve.

And kiddos can use gumdrops or Valentine heart candies (or really anything) to match the patterns.

Cora is telling me her pattern: blue, pink, blue, pink, blue. . .

Maddy and Owen really liked this because of the candy they ate after they completed a whole pattern. It was way too easy for them, just matching the colors of the candy to the squares, so I had them tell me how the pattern would continue--and that added more of a challenge.

I also had them create their own patterns once they finished, and I think they liked that second only to eating the candy.

But for Cora, it was a great opportunity to help her practice beginning the pattern on the left and moving to the right (like the left to right and return sweep that is also covered with grid games). I ended up putting a tiny heart sticker at the top left of the pattern page so she knew where to start.

It was also good for her to work on completing a task--finishing each pattern--not just plopping down a candy here and there.

Matching the colored candy to the squares continued her work with color-identification, which was a little more difficult because these were pastels, but she did fine.

So that was that--a super-easy, super-sweet pattern game to distract us from the cold, to buy some time before we could head out on our new sleds, and to sneak in a little bit of learning on an otherwise dark and snowy morning.

quick trick: time to grow up

This is a serious Quick Trick-stretch.

But my hope is that this little Quick Trick it will prevent other parents from making the same mistakes that we made just two days ago, when we were hit with three feet of snow.

Okay, and it's also just an admission that we kind of messed up, had our priorities all mixed up, and are trying to be better grown-ups starting today.

You can check it out over here at DC Metro Mom Blogs.

Happy shoveling. . .

our happy face and flowery valentines

There's something about creating homemade Valentines that makes my heart skip a beat.

So as long as I'm able--and my kids are willing--I hope to help them with their Valentines for their pals each year.

Last year, we made simple, glittery, Foamie-clad Valentine cards while we jammed to Laurie Berkner, so this year I thought we'd do something different.

I saw these cute Flower Valentines in Family Fun Magazine (I swear I don't work for them--but I'd love to!).

Anyway, I couldn't live with myself if I sent Owen to school with the same ones. So for him, we created Happy Face Valentines, and they are way too cute.

• Flower & Happy Face Valentines: These are pretty simple to make; they just require cutting out shapes ahead of time and picking up inexpensive lollipops.

the patterns

I made a verrrry simple pattern that includes both the Flower Valentine and the Happy Face Valentine, and it's here to download if you'd like.

The Flower Valentine has three parts: a pinwheel, a small circle, petals, and leaves.

The Happy Face Valentine has a small circle and a large circle.

We used old cards (seriously, the possibilities for cards are endless!), some cardstock, and some wrapping paper for the parts but construction paper for the big circle, petals, and leaves.

For the last few days, every now and again, Maddy and I would trace and cut. If I folded construction paper and cut right over the pattern, I could cut out six or more at once.

They were done in no time.

Today, I used a sharp knife to make a hole in the middle of each so that they were ready for assembly this afternoon.

Maddy assembles her Flower Valentines

Then Owen signed his name on the large circles, enough for his school buddies and teachers, and Maddy wrote her name on her petals.

Cora wrote her 'C' on a few petals, but then she was finished.

When the names were written, we assembled.

The Happy Face Valentines just required the lollipop, small circle, and large circle.

The Flower Valentines required a lollipop, then the pinwheel, small circle, petals, and leaves.

I put a tiny piece of tape on the last piece of all the Valentines to keep them from falling apart, but if the hole is small enough, it's pretty stable.

Maddy's finished Valentines!

Maddy and Owen complained like crazy after writing their names when they hit the ninth or tenth times, but knowing they could have a lollipop while they assembled their 'cards' was reason enough to plow through. (And I loved the name-writing practice I forced upon them!)

I was thinking about taking the letter stamps--at least for Cora to stamp her name on her cards--but I never got around to it. With two feet of snow coming tomorrow, we've all got snow on the brain.

But it sure was nice to spend time in a sunny, happy-faced, lollipop flower garden for a bit today before we're surrounded by winter once again.