Peek-A-Boo

Peek-A-Boo is not just a game that is stereotypically fun for baby. It is a great way to teach baby about object permanence. This game helps baby to grasp the idea that objects exist even if she can't see them. This can really help reduce the distress of separation anxiety.

I did this activity a lot with my oldest, Brayden. He loved it. At seven months old, he started doing it himself. He would cover himself with his blanket and then say "ahh. ahh" Then he would pull down his blanket with great pleasure.

AGE RANGE

You can start to play this as early as you want to, but don't expect baby to really enjoy the game until somewhere around 5-6 months old. I wouldn't really recommend it prior to three months old because it can really overstimulate the newborn.

SKILLS DEVELOPED

• Understanding of object permanence.

SUPPLIES

• Peek-a-boo-er (mom)
• Peek-a-boo-ee (baby)

ACTIVITY
Okay, we all know how to play peek-a-boo. In case not:

• Lay baby on the floor or another surface you feel comfortable with.
• Cover your face with your hands (or something else).
• Remove your hands and say "peek-a-boo"!

I do peek-a-boo a little differently. We always play peek-a-boo on Monday's. Why? Monday is laundry day. I hate folding laundry. But I have found it to be a lot more enjoyable if I play peek-a-boo with my baby while I fold my laundry.

• Put my laundry on my bed.
• Put my baby on my bed (I don't leave my baby on the bed unattended).
• Hold up whatever I am folding in front of my face. As I hold it up, I fold it without exposing my face.
• Say, "Where is Mommy? Where's Mommy?"
• Pause.
• Put the item down and say, "There she is! Peek-a-boo!" This brings out the giggles in my baby.
• Move on to next item to fold and repeat.

This is great because I am able to enjoy folding laundry and I also do peek-a-boo over and over again. Babies (kids) love repetition.

VARIATION
For the older baby, cover a favorite toy with a blanket and say, "Where did [toy] go?" Hold your hands up like you are unsure. Then pull the blanket off and say, "there it is!" As your baby gets older, you can let her pull the blanket off.

SIBLINGS

This is a fun activity a sibling can do with baby.

PHOTOS
Here is seven month old Brayden playing peek-a-boo with his towel:

And six month old McKenna smiling at me after I peek-a-boo'ed her:

Talk With Your Child

Alright, alright, I know this seems like a silly suggestion to some of you. Of course we talk to our children. But, as a kindergarten and first grade teacher one of my biggest issues was that my students did not know how to communicate. They had very limited vocabulary, babyish speech habits, and could not answer a question or relate an event. This spilled over into their behavior, their social skills with other students, and of course their academic work, particularly in phonics and reading.

The intelligence of children is intimately connected with the quality and extent of their exposure to language. -Montessori from the Start

If you are a quiet person like me, start talking! I nannied for a toddler back during my quiet, shy early college days and honestly we didn't talk a whole lot since she had nothing to say besides baby jabber and I felt silly talking to myself. Her parents were also not the talkative type, they did tons for their daughter and showed her lots of affection, they just weren't very verbal people once they got home from their jobs each evening. That girl ended up in speech therapy to get her talking clearly when she was about 4 years old. Nobody is around, get over any silliness you feel talking "to yourself" when you're at home with the baby and just start getting into the habit of talking and listening to your child.

Therefore, it is imperative to talk to your baby often throughout his day, naming objects, discussing actions, relating events, and describing people and their apparent feelings. -Montessori from the Start

Talk, talk, talk--adult talk, not baby talk. Talk to her while you're walking in the park, while you're riding in the car, while you're fixing dinner. Tell her what you're doing while you're doing it...This sort of constant chatter lays a verbal foundation in your child's mind. She's learning that words are used to plan, to think, to explain; she's figuring out how the English language organizes words into phrases, clauses, and complete sentences.-- The Well Trained Mind p.27

So how do we do that specifically?

• Tell your child what you're doing or about to do--"Mommy is putting on her coat, then I will put on your coat so we can go to the store."
• Name things-- "here's the kitty" (point) "would you like the ball?" (hold the ball up)
• Read Aloud--even if you read college textbooks aloud as you nurse your baby or as your toddler plays in the bathtub, it is language! More traditional books like The Snowy Day board book are great too :)
• Sing--children often memorize songs naturally so songs are a fantastic tool for language introduction and show the beauty of words put to a tune. Tobias "sings" in the car along with me all the time. I can't understand a word he's saying but it's awfully cute and he's having fun!
• Listen--when your baby or child babbles at you in nonsense toddler language simple smile, nod, and exclaim "oh really?" "isn't that interesting" "hmmm" in response. This encourages the use of verbal words to get Mom's attention and to communicate things.
• Name and Describe Feelings--when your child is tired and cranky, say "you are tired because it's your nap time. Let's go in your room and read a book to settle down for sleep."
  

In The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems, Tracy Hogg suggests that rather than ignore your child's cries or placate them quickly with false words of reassurance ("the shot won't hurt at all", "the dark isn't scary") we should instead identify the emotion they are trying to convey. If your baby is crying from hunger, you would say something like "oh, you must be hungry, it's hard to wait for food sometimes". If your toddler is at the store with you and grumpy, say "I know you're grumpy and it's hard to behave when you're grumpy. We'll be home soon and then we can play a game or watch a video". Avoid an accusatory tone or trying to play down the emotion. Whether it is valid or not your child is feeling it. If you ignore it you miss a valuable opportunity to give your child the coping skills they need to manage the uncomfortable emotions that are bound to occur sometimes. Language is power. If they can name their feeling and why they feel that way they have the power to manage that feeling so it doesn't overwhelm them.

Resources
Montessori from the Start by Paula Polk Lillard and Lynn Lillard Jessen
The Well Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise
The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems by Tracy Hogg

Matching and Sorting

I made Matching and Sorting cards for my 2 year old. You can change the words to fit your needs. When we did a unit on the ocean, I made pictures of things you can find in the ocean. Again, I "laminated" the cards with packing tape. Then we made an ocean scene using the cards and correctly placed the items (seaweed on the bottom, crabs on the bottom, boat at the top, fish swimming, etc).



For Young Toddlers (12-18 months)

1. Have them find animals ("Can you find the dog?" "Where is the tiger?")


2. Locate animals by sounds. (Which animal says meow? Which animal says moo?)


3. Find fruit. (Where is the apple?)


4. If your child knows colors, ask them to locate pictures by color. (Point to the red fruit.)

For 2+:

1. Match pairs of items. Put in piles.


2. Sort (Put all farm animals together, zoo animals, ocean animals, insects, etc)


3. Match animals and their coverings (fur, feather,scales)

Older/more advanced:

1. Play Memory.
2. Use dry erase marker to write the beginning sound/letter, ending sound/letter, or try to spell the word. If you laminate with packing tape, it will wipe off. (You can use dry erase or Vis-a-vis markers).
3. Discuss adjectives and verbs, and try and think of as many as they can for each picture. Again, a great way to use the 5 senses (what would it smell like? feel like? sound like?)
4. Use the cards to make up a sentence. For example, ifthey have a bear and a fish: The fuzzy brown bear tries to capture the slippery fish for dinner.
5. More difficult sorting (mammals, reptiles, categories of food like meat, grains, and dairy, herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores, etc).

Pouring

Materials
-3 small cups
-1 cereal bowl
-water
-lentils, beans, rice, or cereal

Preparation
-fill the small cups halfway with the lentils (or beans, rice, etc)

Activity
-place the bowl in front of your child and pour one cup of lentils into it to demonstrate. Explain verbally as you do so.
-hand your child a cup of lentils and help him pour it into the bowl
-give the 3rd cup and allow your child to try to pour it himself
-repeat as many times as you like
-repeat with water as well. You should start with a small amount of water at first so it's not too heavy. If your child is very young or uncoordinated you may want to only use 1/4th a cup of water. My son is 15 months and he managed to pour half cups of water fairly accurately with just a little accidental spilling.

Extension
1) discuss concepts of empty and full
2) use a smaller container to pour into or a larger container to pour out of (like a pitcher). You can even use a funnel.
3) children 18 months and older can pour a half cup of water from a pitcher into their own cup. As they get better at it fill the pitcher with more water than the cup can hold and they will have to learn to stop pouring before it spills over.

*If/when your child spills have him help you clean up. When Tobias spilled the water I handed him a dry washcloth and we mopped up the spill together, he thinks this is tons of fun and it teaches him to be responsible for his own activities and messes.

Skills
fine motor skills
practical life skills

Resources Used
Tot School Blog
Montessori from the Start by Paula Polk Lillard and Lynn Lillard Jessen

Fall: Nature Walk

At preschool this week, Brayden's theme is Fall. He came home with this fun bracelet, so I thought I would share it.

AGE RANGE
Probably one and up. I would think a one year old could find interest in putting this bracelet on and collecting things.

SKILLS DEVELOPED

• Science
• Exercise

SUPPLIES

• Masking tape
• Baggie or basket (or something to put things in)
• Place to walk

PREP

• Dress child appropriately for the weather

ACTIVITY

• Put masking tape around your child's wrist. You want the tape "backwards" so that the sticky side is facing up. You don't want the tape to stick to your child.
• Go for a walk and find things in nature. For the lighter and smaller things, have your child stick them to his nature bracelet. For the heavier and larger items, have your child put them in the baggie or basket or whatever you brought along.
• Take them home and talk about the items found. For the older child, you could look up the items he found and read about them.

PHOTOS

Being Thankful:Fall and Winter Fun

I saw this activity in the Disney's Family Fun magazine (November 2008). (Great investment, by the way!) I'm going to give credit where credit is due, so thank you Zeppo Family from St. Charles, Missouri!

This family decided to keep a Thankful Box out all year. Throughout the year, they write down things they are grateful for and drop them into the box. On Thanksgiving Day, they open the container and read the blessings out loud. Then they use the strips of paper to make a paper chain to hang on the Christmas Tree.

*If you start now and each family member does one a day, you'll have plenty for a paper chain for the tree! We are starting this week!

Materials Needed:

• Oatmeal canister, shoe box, or some container to put the strips of paper in


• Pen/pencil


• strips of paper

1. Decorate your container.


2. Cut a slot in the top to put the paper in once written on.


3. Keep a stack of paper handy.


4. Write one thing per family member each night. We chose after dinner, so we can sit and chat as a family. I'm sure we can come up with one blessing a night!

For my 2 year old, I'll let her draw what she's thankful for during the day and she can share it with the family at night. Then I'll "translate" on the bottom of the paper. :) I'll write new things that the baby can do too, since I'm sure she's thankful for things like new teeth and mobility.

Pompom Fun

This is by far one of my children's favorite activities to do. I often have them do this activity at the kitchen table while I make dinner.

AGE RANGE
12 months and up. This is for toddlers and older. You child just needs to be able to tell two different colors apart and be able to sort them. She doesn't need to be able to say the name of the colors, just recognize that they are different.

SKILLS DEVELOPED

• Sorting
• Colors

SUPPLIES

• Pompoms in various colors. For the young toddler, use no more than three.
• Containers to put the pom poms in (one for each color and one to hold them all). I just use tupperwear.

PREP

1. Gather your pompoms.
2. Gather your containers.
3. Gather your children.

ACTIVITY

1. Put the pompoms for your child to sort into a container, all mixed together.
2. For younger toddlers, put one pompom into each container. For examle, if you were doing red, blue, and yellow, you would put on red into one container, one blue into another, and one yellow into another. For older children, you can let them start it out of you want.
3. Have your child sort the remaining pompoms into the containers.

VARIATION

• Use pompoms the same color and have your child sort by size.
• Once your child is good at colors, use shades of the same color (light purple and dark purple).

PHOTOS

Here are the pompoms ready to be sorted for Brayden and Kaitlyn.

Brayden working on his sorting

Kaitlyn working on her sorting

I used to store the pompoms in a bag. This wsa good for storage, but it took a long time to sort everything out in the beginning.



Now I keep them in little bags inside the big bag. At the end of the activity, everything is sorted, so it is easy to keep the pompoms stored this way.

TIPS

• Don't use too many pompoms. When you first start this activity, use just a few of each color. Add more as your child's attention span increases. What I show here for Brayden and Kaitlyn would be too many to start out with at first.

CREDIT

I got this idea from The Toddler's Busy Book (see Book Review: The Toddler's Busy Book for more on this book).

Fall: Texture Sort

Now is the time you'll find lots of gourds at the grocery store for really low prices. We purchased a bunch of them for around 50 cents a piece.

Age Ranges: 1 (with a lot of assistance), 2+ year olds more independently

Prep:

• Gather materials
• Decide on the specific skill(s) to teach
• Make picture/word cards with a specific attribute (bumpy, orange,etc)--optional

Materials Needed: Gourds, picture/word cards (optional)

Activity:

1. Gather a large group of gourds and pumpkins together. We went to the store and I let my daughter choose them.
2. Talk about how they feel (bumpy, smooth, rough, have ridges, indention), shape (round, oval, flat), colors (brown, orange, yellow, green), size (large, small) , how heavy they feel, etc.
3. Show them the picture/word card, or give them a category. "Let's find all the solid colored gourds. Let's find the striped gourds. Let's put all the striped gourds in one pile, and solid colored ones in another."
4. Use words like "sort," "category," "attributes," "similar" as this is a great way to build vocabulary. It also helps for future test preparation. When taking benchmark tests and SOLs, the testing language is very specific, so it's imperative that children know the terms used in the Standards.
5. After they have sorted, have them count the number of gourds in each pile.
6. Identify which group has greater, fewer, or equal amounts of gourds. (Again, using "greater" and "more" interchangeably so both terms are understood.)

This activity helps practice with specific standards here in Virginia:

Virginia Standards of Learning for Kindergarten:
Math: K.15 The student will sort and classify objects according to attributes.
Science:
K.2 Students will investigate and understand that humans have senses that allow one to seek, find, take in, and react or respond to information in order to learn about one’s surroundings. Key concepts include
five senses and corresponding sensing organs (taste – tongue, touch – skin, smell – nose, hearing – ears, and sight – eyes); and
sensory descriptors (sweet, sour, bitter, salty, rough/smooth, hard/soft, cold, warm, hot, loud/soft, high/low, bright/dull).

K.4 The student will investigate and understand that the position, motion, and physical properties of an object can be described. Key concepts include
colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, and black);
shapes (circle, triangle, square, and rectangle) and forms (flexible/stiff, straight/curved);
textures (rough/smooth) and feel (hard/soft);
relative size and weight (big/little, large/small, heavy/light, wide/thin, long/short); and
position (over/under, in/out, above/below, left/right) and speed (fast/slow).

Shape and Colors Soup

Sometimes I think the best learning experiences happen naturally as we play with our children. Of course, a little guidance is needed to make sure these experiences happen fairly regularly :) The other day I was playing with the 3 year old I nanny for and came up with the idea to make "Color Soup". We then repeated the activity with shapes instead of colors.

Materials
-different colored blocks (or different shapes)
-bowl/pot
-spoon

Preparation
-Write up a recipe for your soup, listing the ingredients and then the steps for preparing it
-include pictures with the instructions and use different colored crayons if your child cannot recognize the color words.

Activity
-Show your child the recipe and tell them you are going to make pretend Color (or Shape) Soup together.
-Read aloud the recipe or have your child help read it
-Have your child find the correct color/shape of blocks to put the correct "ingredients" in the bowl.
-Stir the ingredients.
-Pretend to eat.

Skills Practiced
-recognize shapes
-recognize colors
-pre-reading/reading
-follow directions
-sort objects

Countdown Chain

If your preschooler is like mine, he just can't wait until XYZ happens. You might find yourself avoiding telling him about something exciting that is coming up because you know you will hear, "How many more days until XYZ?...But that's a long time!" over and over each day. Your preschooler is starting to understand time, which isn't always a good thing :)

If your toddler is like mine, she has no idea XYZ is going to happen. You want her to be able to enjoy the anticipation of something fun coming up. Anticipation is half the fun! (unless you have a preschooler asking you how much longer over and over).

The countdown chain is your answer to both issues. It gives the preschooler something tangible to look at. It also helps him more concretely understand time. It gives the toddler a reminder that there is something to be excited about.

You can use the countdown chain for anything: birthdays, holidays, start of school, the next visit to grandma's...whatever you want to countdown to.

Last fall, my mother-in-law made a countdown chain with Brayden (then 3) for Halloween. She made it in black and orange. On the orange strips, she wrote things like "Hug your mom" and "tell your dad you love him." Over the weekend, Brayden and I made a countdown chain for Halloween, and I decided to take that concept one step further.

AGE RANGE
My guess is that your child needs to be at least 18 months old to enjoy this. Kaitlyn was 18 months old last year for Halloween and just didn't care. Even now at 2.5, she isn't terribly excited over it, so don't feel bad if your child isn't as excited as you envisioned. At 3, Brayden liked it and at 4, he absolutely loves it.

SKILLS DEVELOPED

• Colors
• Sorting
• Chores
• Fine motor skills (if you let your child create the chains--you could also let your child cut out the strips of paper)
• Time concept

SUPPLIES

• Paper (whatever colors you want)
• Pen
• Scissors (or some other tool for cutting)
• Stapler (or glue)

PREP

• Cut pieces of paper one inch wide by about 6 inches long. Cut one strip of paper for each day there is until your main event (what you are counting down to).
• Gather supplies

ACTIVITY

1. Sort your paper into colors (I had Brayden sort them).
2. Decide on a category for each color of paper for an activity. We did "fun chores" for Red, "Halloween activities" for Yellow, "loving acts" for Brown, and we left Green blank so we could decide something fun that day. Since we keep Sundays for worship in our family, I put green on each Sunday.
3. Have your child help you decide things to do for each piece of paper. Write the activity on the piece of paper.
4. Arrange your papers in the order you want them in.
5. Staple or glue your first piece of paper into a circle.
6. Hook your second piece of paper through your first circle and staple or glue it closed.
7. Continue making this chain until you are done.
8. Each day, have your child remove one chain. Perform the activity listed on the paper. This is a great way for your child to count down to an activity. You can channel the excited energy into chores :)

PHOTOS

Papers sorted into color categories

Daily activities written out

Up close of daily activities

First link done

Completed chain

"Smelly" Jars

My daughter calls this activity "Smelly Jars." She was certainly the inspiration for this activity. She loves to smell different spices, extracts, and pantry items. It's one of her favorite activities now!

Materials:

• Glass jars (like baby food)
  
• cotton balls


• Different extracts and spices


• Picture cards
  

Prep:

• If you want to keep the jars for a while and "reuse" them for a few weeks, use something that has an airtight seal. We used glass baby food jars.


• Choose your smells. Look right in the pantry, spice rack, or fridge to see what's available. We used things like vanilla, peppermint, vinegar, garlic, lemon, orange, fish sauce (ew!), lime, almond extract, rosemary, and sesame oil. Anything pungent will do. Remember, Sometimes stinky= fun.


• Put a small amount of each scent on a cotton ball.


• Print cards for them to match the scent.


• Laminate the cards if you want to reuse them. I "laminate" with packing tape. :)
  

Activity:

1. Go through each smell with your child. It's helpful to start with one or two.


2. Show them the picture that matches each scent (ex: peppermint plant with mint smell, the picture of the lemon with the lemon scent, etc).


3. Show your child how to place the card in front of the smell that "matches" the picture.


4. As time goes on, you can have your child do this on their own. My daughter will do this when I'm cooking so if she gets stuck on a smell she can't place, I can help her. It's so much fun to watch her expressions! (She's even come into the kitchen while I'm cooking and said, "Phew-wee...garlic!" It was neat to see how even at 26 months she was recognizing smells in her environment, too.)
   

In Virginia, one of the Kindergarten Science Standards of Learning (SOLs) deals with the five senses. This could be a fun way to introduce the sense of smell. It was also a great way for us to introduce the concept of matching and concentration. She really focuses in and concentrates to try to identify the different smells and then match it to the corresponding picture.

Cause and Effect Games

I know many of you with babies are really wanting ideas for things to do with your baby. My first bit of advice is to not underestimate the simple things you do daily. Remember that for a newborn, everything every day is a new learning experience. Repetition helps learning, so for the 6 month old, those same old things every day that bore you are helping your baby to learn. So don't discount all of the things you do with your baby; they are great learning times. Having said that, here is an idea to do with your older baby.

AGE RANGE: Most babies 6 months and up. Some 5 month olds might enjoy this. My four and two year olds still get a thrill from this.

SUPPLIES:

• Container to hold objects (water, sand, toys--whatever it is you want to hold)
• Object to put in container (water, sand, toys--whatever it is you want to use)

PREP:

• Get container
• Prep object if needed
• Get baby

ACTIVITY:

Get baby in position for learning cause and effect. Let's say we are in the tub. Fill the cup up with water, then dump it out in front of baby. Do it over and over again. Narrate as you go: "Look, the cup is empty! I am going to fill it with water now. Look! Now the cup is full! Now I am going to dump it out. Wahoo! Look at it fall out! Now the cup is empty again!" Hold your baby's hand out feel the water run over it.

Remember, repetition! I know this doesn't sound very exciting, but it is something simple to help teach your baby about cause and effect. Like I said, Brayden and Kaitlyn still love filling things up and dumping them out. It seems to be a game that never grows old :) As your baby gets older, she will start to want to fill and dump all by herself.

Scooping-Water Play

Materials
-2 large bowls or pots
-a variety of spoons (including measuring spoons)
-a towel or bath mat

Preparation
-fill one bowl halfway with water
-set up activity in bathroom, kitchen, or outside where it's safe to get wet

Actvity
-let your baby or toddler play in the water :) Show them how to scoop water from one bowl into another using the spoons. This is a good preparatory activity for children who are almost ready to feed themselves using a spoon.

Quick and Easy Number Books

This activity literally took all of 5 minutes to make and complete, tops!






















Ages: 18 months+ (This is the age Charis started learning to recognize numbers)

Materials:

• Paper (I used computer paper and cut it in half)
• Marker
• Do-A-Dot markers or stickers
• Stapler

Prep:

• Decide what numbers you are interested in teaching. We started with 1-10. Looking back, I could have done 0-10.
• Label the cover as ____'s Number Book.
• Label each page with a number.
• Staple together. I included a back page for her to decorate, too.

Activity:

1. Practice counting 1-10, or whatever you decided.
2. You can start with hand clapping, snapping, tapping, jumping, etc. to illustrate that the number means a specific number of times/things. Gather 1 stuffed animal, clap 2 times, jump 3 times...whatever you decide to physically illustrate the point.
3. Then go through each page and add a sticker/dot for each number.

Comments:

With Charis, we made 2 books. The first book we made and I physically helped her dot one time, dot 2 times, etc. It was such a new concept for her. The second book was "hands-off" for me. Instead we looked at the number, and I would say, "This is the number ___" or "What number is this?" and then we'd clap how many times she would stamp. Then I would let her do it.

You can also build slowly with this activity. It would be great to use with Val's Number Squares activity as you are teaching numbers. Add a page every few days, one a week, etc.

I leave one number book hanging on the fridge and put the other in her stack of books to look at during her reading time. She loves to look at the book she made, and it's a great way to practice.

Color Scavenger Hunt

All credit for this activity goes to the awesome author of 1+1+1=1 blog, the home of Tot School. This is a fantastic way to reinforce colors with any age child and to allow older and younger siblings in on the fun. I did this with a 5 year old and a 3 year old.



Materials:
-sheets of paper with each color word written on it in crayon
-camera

Preparation:
-write the color words on each sheet of paper in the appropriate color of crayon

Activity:
-Explain that we're going to do a scavenger hunt for colors.
-Tell the child(ren) to search all over the house for things that are blue. If you want you can set a timer for 2 minutes so they search more quickly.
-Collect all of the objects and place them around the paper with the word BLUE written on it.
-Take a picture of the items all together. If your children are responsible enough you can allow them to each take a picture of the items. The kids I did this with loved the idea of using the camera :)
-Repeat with all colors. You can even spread this out over several days or weeks if you'd like to do a more in-depth color theme.

Extension:
Create a Color Book out of the pictures. The kids will enjoy being able to see their favorite blue, yellow, or red toys in the pictures and can practice recognizing both the colors and words. This can work as a good quiet activity for church or the car, especially if the pictures are put into a scrapbook so the pages can't be bent easily.