Listening Center

Great Book!

When I used to teach , we always had a book listening center in my room, where the kids would put on head phones and listen to an audio version of a story and follow along in the book. The kids loved it! I thought I would try this with R. I checked them out at the library, and she enjoyed them, and asked to do it over and over again. She figured out quickly to turn the page when the bell rings. I think its nice when Riley can hear other people reading a story other than me too, try it out!

December Activities

My Mom gave me a cute choo choo train advent calender this year, where you open a box each day and there is an activity to do with your kids. So, this will take over for the month of December. Here are 2 of the activities we've done so far.

We made cards for all our Grandparents. I just got out some old die-cuts, we glued them on and she colored on them. Then we practiced writing her name inside...definitely a work in progress!

Today it said to make a star for the tree. Do you remember doing that tissue thing in school, where you wrapped a square of tissue around your pencil, dipped it in glue, and made a beautiful design on some construction paper? This was a 2 year old version, we just cut up some paper and she dipped it in glue and put it on the star. I also made sure to talk to her about what the star meant to Christmas.

Cookin' with Mama

She is Loving this lately. It sometimes gets a little frustrating, like when I turn my back and she dumps more flour in. I try to stay patient and remember that she was just trying to "help" I think this is one of those activities that makes me feel really close to her, like we might be cooking together in the kitchen as mother and daughter for the rest of our lives. I love it.

Finger Paints

A little messy, but way fun for the little ones. Nothing interesting to add, its just a great activity for a rainy day. I did use this opportunity to teach her how to rinse the brush off, before using another color. This also went up on the door, so I could show her how proud I was of what she drew.