Confessions from Toddler School: Nursery Rhymes

This may have been one of my favorite units so far! The activities were so simple and proved to be a big hit with my toddler. He loved all the singing and interactive activities!

Here's what we did this week:

You can get my blank thematic planner here.

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep:

To prepare the activity: 

Sing Baa, Baa, Black Sheep. Gather materials for the art project. Get a bowl of water and add the black dye. Set out all the materials for exploration first.

The activity: 

Allow your child to dip the cotton balls into the black water mixture. This free exploration was Cohen's favorite part! Model placing the wet cotton balls into the brown paper bags. Close and shake to decorate the inside. Cut open bags and lay flat. I let Cohen use this as his activity mat while he continued to play with the wet cotton balls! Plus it got more color on the bag! 

💡 If you are concerned about mess, you can use a clothespin to hold and dip cotton balls

     💡  If the weather permits you can take this activity outside and have child throw the wet \cotton balls at a blank canvas, poster board or even a fence!

Little Bo Peep:

To prepare the activity: 

Sing Little Bo Peep to familiarize your child with the nursery rhyme. Print out sheep and hide around the house.

      💡 Set up during naptime or at bedtime for a little extra surprise!

The activity: 

This activity is just like hide and go seek! Let your child explore to find all of the lost sheep. This activity is also a great way to practice prepositions with your little ones!

Do you see a sheep by the chair?

Do you see a sheep under the table?

Do you see a sheep on the car?

You get the idea! 

Old MacDonald:

Like many little ones, mine loves animals and making animal sounds. So this was a fun activity for us! We played for hours. days. I wish I were kidding. 

To prepare the activity: 

 Print out the barn, animals and peek-a-boo windows and assemble! Laminate ahead of time for durability. 

💡 Don't want to print and assemble? You can use these figurines and a box/scarf/your shirt anything.

The activity: 

While you sing Old McDonald Had a Farm have your child open peek-a-boo windows to choose an animal! Encourage them to make the sounds as you sing together.

Hickory Dickory Dock:

For Cohen's birthday last year his papa got him this amazing learning activity table. And he took to it very quickly! Seriously, if you have a little one who is hungry for knowledge, this thing is AMAZING! For Christmas we even bought the additional activity packs. 

One of the activity packs is nursery rhymes and has been a great addition to our nursery rhyme unit. His hands down favorite is hickory dickory dock. He loves all the animals and has really shown an interest in telling time!

To prepare the activity: Print out the toddler sized clock and animals. Color the clock (3 pieces) and assemble. Use Velcro on the animals and the top of the clock to help with easy acting out!

💡 Allow child to color the clock!

The activity: While you sing Hickory Dickory Dock allow child to act it out with Velcro animals. 

Itsy Bitsy Spider:

To prepare the activity: Find an empty paper towel roll and tape onto a wall. Print out the spiders and laminate for durability.

The activity: While you sing Itsy Bitsy Spider, have child drop spiders down the “spout”.

Humpty Dumpty:

To prepare the activity: Trace an egg shape (or use printable) and draw on the cracks. Cut along the lines to create the egg puzzle. Laminate for multi-use.

💡Make more than one egg puzzle at varying levels of difficulty for extra practice!

The activity: Act out Humpty Dumpty with the egg puzzle. Help your child put Humpty back together again!

Want all of this week's printables and plans?  You can grab them here!

UP NEXT: Emotions! 

Confessions from Toddler School: Colors!

This week was so much fun that I wish we had gotten to more of our activities! However the activities that we did do were so much fun Cohen just wanted to do them over and over again. So I'll call that a win! AND Cohen really knows his colors now! He's a master sorter!

Here's what we did this week:

You can get my blank thematic planner here.

High Five Colors: 

This was a super simple activity that got a lot of use! My little one loooooves high fives! Seriously, it's his jam. So I traced my hands on different colored paper and posted them around the house. I would say "Cohen can you high five the ____ hand?" and he would high five that color. We've been playing this all week and it's been really fun!

Color Sensory Table:

Our sensory table this week turned out a little different than I had anticipated but was still a big hit! When I was dyeing the beans they turned out a little bit speckled and not as vibrant as I had hoped. They looked really pretty though! And as a bonus they will double nicely for an Easter themed sensory table!

We used the colored toilet paper tubes to sort the beans into! 

What you need:

- White beans

- Food coloring or liquid water colors

 (liquid water colors tend to stain hands less)

- TP rolls

- Colored construction paper to cover TP rolls 

- Tweezers, scoops, anything to pick up the beans

Sticker Color Sorting:

We used the left over stickers from our body unit and the stoplight from our car unit (that is still hanging up in our living room) to practice color sorting stickers! If you follow me on IG you may have seen how efficient Cohen is at this now! Proud mama moment for sure. 😄

Lego Color Sorting:

This was another fun, simple and super easy to set up activity! I pulled out pieces of construction paper and dumped out all of his Legos. I modeled putting the colored Legos on the matching paper saying "This Lego is _____ so it goes here". Then he would grab a Lego and I would say "That Lego is ____. Where does _____ go?"

Rainbow Ooblek:

Oh. My. Lanta. 

This was by far the coolest thing I have ever done! I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it went perfectly with our color unit so I decided to give it a whirl. Just look at how pretty this is! Almost too pretty to mess with right!? This was so much fun to play with that even my teenage sister sat down and played with us! 

Cohen was not sure about the changing from a solid to a liquid but he loved squishing the colors!

What you need:

- Cornstarch

- Water

 ** I never actually measure out ingredients (this is how I cook too and it drives my husband crazy). I've made oobleck so many times that I just add water until it's the right consistency.**

- These amazing color Bath Drops

↓

Outings this week:

Ceramic Shop - We took a little trip to my parents ceramic shop this week to do some painting! One, because we could play with colors and two, because we've had our car mobile "in progress" for months now. So you know, 2 birds. 

📙📘📗 Our favorite books this week 📗📘📙

Cohen wasn't super impressed with any of the books this week. Oh, except for Sneak-a-Peek: Colors because it had a mirror in it and he is pretty full of himself! 

But on the plus side, these rainbow color books will work perfectly with next weeks St. Patrick's Day theme also!

Up next week: St. Patrick's Day ☘

Confessions from Toddler School: Dr. Seuss Fail

As I'm sure many of you know, this past week was Read Across America week! And despite my best planning efforts and my love of all things Dr. Seuss it just didn't happen for us. I don't even have a good excuse! 

I just lacked all motivation this week. Originally I had planned to have each day focus on a book and an activity to go with that book but I swear every activity I tried this week was a big fat fail. So if you'd like a good laugh, keep on reading! 😂

Here's what we did planned to do this week:

You can get my blank thematic planner here.

Noise Makers: 

We read Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? This is one of Cohen's favorite books. He likes it so much that this was our "mysteriously disappearing" book of the week! After reading the book we made our own little noise shakers.

What You Need:

- Toilet paper or paper towel roll 

- Foil (to cover ends)

- Tape 

- Filler

- Something to decorate with!

After I got one end taped up, we used beans and coins to fill up our shaker. Cohen then colored with marker and decorated with Dr. Seuss stickers that we found in the Target Dollar Spot!

Stacking Egg Carton Hats: 

This was probably the most successful activity of the week! Which is a little depressing but, you know, it is what it is. After reading Cat in the Hat I used egg carton cups (that we painted together) as stacking practice to make the cat's hat. Cohen really liked this activity and it kept him busy for quite awhile. 

Color Hop: 

We did not do this activity, mostly because when I set it up, Cohen took that as an invitation to go full on destructo-baby and throw the color spots all over the room. 😒 We did however read Hop on Pop and that was a big hit!

Feed the ABC Monster:

So I bought these cute little foam alphabet pieces awhile back at the Target Dollar Spot (yes, I have a problem) and couldn't wait to use them! They were kind of whimsical and Dr. Seuss-esque so I thought they would be perfect for this weeks activities. 

We read the ABC Book and then we fed the letters to our wipe container monster! Have you seen those cute little wipe container monsters on Pinterest? Well ours did not turn out like that. I'm not even going to post a picture, it is that embarrassing and I'd really rather not end up on pinterestfail.

Feet Painting: 

Nope. Just Nope. 

Given our track record this week, we decided to skip the messy art project. 

Goldfish Color Sorting:

After reading One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish we attempted to color sort our rainbow goldfish. Well let me tell you...Cohen did not try to eat a single goldfish. He sorted them all perfectly on his own. And then afterwards he cleaned the entire living room and cooked a 4 course meal. 

Or he shoved all the goldfish into his mouth at the same time and then proceeded to scream for more while his mouth was still full.

You know, one of those two.

📙📘📗 Our favorite books this week 📗📘📙

     

                   

Up next week: Colors 🌈

Confessions from Toddler School: My Body!

Have you ever had one of those weeks that just feels like it is trying to break you? It tests every ounce of patience and strength you have and then some? What am I saying, if you're reading this you're probably a parent, so of course you have! Well that is how this week has been for me. We are deep in the terrible 2s. Waaaaaay early and waaaaaay deep. Cohen has also decided that 4 am is the perfect time for him to practice his wailing. Gotta love sleep regression! 😫

Oh and the kicker? Cohen got his first real injury. After a day of waking up at 3 am (I'm seriously dying over here), Cohen was walking in the bathroom, tripped over his own foot and chipped off over half of his front tooth. It is going to be jagged and discolored until his adult tooth comes in. 😢

If only we were doing our teeth theme! This week is all about the body and learning where our body parts are!

Here's what we planned to do this week:

You can get my blank thematic planner here.

And here's what we actually did:

Body Part Discovery:

This was a super simple sensory table and all about discovering our body parts! You can find these body part cards in my body pack. I glued them onto a yellow background (Cohen's favorite color) and then laminated them! I then scoured the house for any little mirrors I could find. I also picked up some compact mirrors at dollar tree that worked perfectly! 

We would pull out cards and talk about the body part and then use the mirrors to find them on our bodies!

Body Part Dice Game:

You can also find these dice in my body pack. I made a set for parts of the face and a separate one for parts of the body. We used the dice along with the Hokey Pokey (or in our case Hokey Mokey - Cohen's nickname).

Trace/Label Body Parts on Butcher Paper: 

I was a little nervous about how this activity would go! Cohen is not one to lay down or sit still but he actually did really well. I sang Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes while I traced each part and I think that may have helped! We had a lot of fun coloring together! 

If you have little ones I highly recommend these egg shaped crayons! They are perfectly shaped for toddler hands and gives them so much control!

Where is Cohen's _____? (using stickers):

His face says it all! We sang this little song I made up and put stickers on the body parts as we went. And kissed them of course!

 Cohen has a little (body part), 

(body part), (body part). 

Cohen has a little (body part), 

it’s oh so nice smooch!

He was not so sure about the stickers 😂

♫♪ Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes ♫♪:

This song was a hit! He now comes over to me and starts the movements so I will sing for him! It's working!

Labeling Body Parts: 

We also used the stickers to label body parts on this little boy outline! You can also use band aids or a washable marker (if laminated). He was so focused on developing a technique to get the stickers off his finger and onto the paper. Perfect for developing his fine motor skills! And he loves it! He brings it to me several times a day.

I put the first sticker on each body part as we talked about what they were. I chose a different color for each body part and then while Cohen was putting his stickers on he color sorted them himself! I don't think I've ever been so proud!

This outline can be found in my body pack as well! 

Read Aloud Discovery:

This is another on of those books that we had to read so many times that it mysteriously disappeared. We would find the baby's hidden body parts under the flaps and then use the mirror to find Cohen's. 

Outings this week:

Does our emergency trip to the dentist count?

📙📘📗 Our favorite books this week 📗📘📙

Where Is Baby's Belly Button? A Lift-the-Flap Book by Karen Katz

Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins

All of Baby, Nose to Toesby 

Up next week: Dr. Seuss 🎩

Confessions from Toddler School: Valentine's Day

Wow! This week has been the longest and shortest week of my life! In some ways it just flew by and in other ways I swear it's still Monday.

On Sunday I hosted a really cute little Toddler Valentine's Party for my mom group that I started on Facebook! I put out a bunch of these activities and the kids had a blast! Having all the activities prepped ahead of time really helped the week flow more smoothly!

Here's what we did this week:

You can get my blank thematic planner here.

Color Sorting Hearts: 

These Foam Hearts have been amazing! We've used them for so many different activities! Our favorite right now is color sorting. I chose 3 colors red, purple and pink. I set one of each out and then we practice color sorting (check out my IG for a video of this in action). 

I say "This heart is red. Does the red go here (putting it by purple)?" Then I model shaking my head and saying no. I do the same thing by pink. When we get to red I say yes, have Cohen repeat "yes" and then we clap!

When we first started he had no clue and would only last about 2 seconds. But he brings me the hearts several times a day and now we can get all the way through the stack. He shakes his head "no" on his own and says "yes" when we get to the right color!

Repetition works ya'll!

Valentine's Themed Sensory Table: 

This sensory table was a huge hit at our Toddler Valentine's Party!

What we used:

- Pink Dyed Rice

- Small Glitter Hearts

- Heart Slinkies

- Heart Rings

 All of these things were found at Dollar Tree! TGFDT (Thank God for Dollar Tree)!

Giant Sticky Heart: 

I made this heart on the end of our island using contact paper! We had it set up for our Valentine's Party and Cohen adds to it every day! It also spruces up our floor quite a bit. 😂

  

Before

After

Giant Heart Letter Matching:

I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it was so cute! We used the same Foam Hearts as above and a long sheet of white butcher paper (my husband keeps it in stock for his business and we use it all the time). I put all the letters to spell Cohen and his friends names on the hearts and then traced the hearts onto the paper in the right color. 

This game has so many options! Matching colors, matching letters, even as a gross motor twister kind of game! The possibilities are endless!

Admittedly this activity was way above Cohen's pay grade so we used it to continue our color matching!

Torn Paper Heart: 

This was our super easy and relatively mess free art project for the week! I provided some Valentine's colored scrap paper for Cohen to tear (fine motor) and glue onto this cute little heart template I found from Learning with Letty. You can find this free template here. Cohen thought it was more fun to watch me tear the paper (have you seen that video of the baby giggling hysterically while the dad rips paper, yeah, it was like that haha). But just look at how focused he is! 

I love how it turned out so much that I decided to keep it in his little art binder!

Lacing Hearts: 

We used our Foam Hearts again for this fine motor activity! I took a hole punch and made these little lacing boards for Cohen! He loved practicing weaving the ribbons in and out. These are great too for on the go! We've been taking them in the car with us since our car seat is something that can be used to torture prisoners for information... or so he seems to think.

Outings this week:

none - We're still getting over a minor cold this week so we didn't go on many fun baby outings. Our Toddler Valentine's Party was our socialization this week :) 

📙📘📗 Our favorite books this week 📗📘📙

Happy Valentine's Day, Mouse! by Laura Numeroff & Felicia Bond

Llama Llama I Love You by Anna Dewdney

I Love You, Snugglesaurus! by Sandra Magsamen

Cohen is obsessed with anything If You Give A Mouse or Llama Llama so he was super happy with our books this week!

Up next week: My Body 💃