"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.

Dinosaur Theme Week

Almost all children love dinosaurs at some point. There are lots of fun things you can to for a dinosaur themed learning week. Here are some ideas:

GROSS MOTOR SKILLS

Pretend to be dinosaurs and stomp around the house. You can give your child a dinosaur name based on name (so Brayden is "Braydensaurus") and have him choose a type of dinosaur to be (flying, swimming, land...).

FINE MOTOR SKILLS

Be paleontologists!

• Put a toy, plastic dinosaur in some water and freeze it. The next day, work on extracting your dinosaur from the ice.
• Extract bones from the dirt. Put some bones in a baking dish. Cover them with sugar, flour, sawdust, etc. Use paintbrushes to find the bones. You could make some bones out of plaster (you can use a plastic dinosaur to make a plaster of footprints), use sticks or rocks (or whatever) along with the imagination of your child, or purchase a kit like the Scientific Explorer's My First Dinosaur Science Kit. Use a paintbrush to extract the dinosaur bones.

SINGING SONGS

To the tune of "I'm A Little Teapot" (add actions if you want to)

I'm a mean old dinosaur

Big and tall

Here is my tail and here is my claw

When I get all hungry

I just growl

Look out kids I'm on the prowl!

COLOR OF THE WEEK

You really could use any color since we don't know exactly what colors dinosaurs were, but common colors applied to dinosaurs are green, brown, and yellow.

SCIENCE

You could use your fine motor skills to apply to science. You can also get a Giant Dinosaur Hatch'em set. My sister gave one of these to Brayden when he was one, and I just hadn't ever used it yet. When we had dinosaur week last week, I got it out and we watched the egg hatch over a day and the dinosaur grow over a day.

GEOGRAPHY

Show your child a map of where dinosaur bones are primarily found.

ART

• Dinosaur coloring pages
• Playdoh: Have your child make a footprint using a toy dinosaur. Let the footprint harden to make a fossil.

LETTER OF THE WEEK

Have your letter of the week be the letter "D." See Letter Picture: D for an idea for a fun activity.

BOOKS

Go to the library and check out books about dinosaurs. If your child really loves dinosaurs, you might decide to buy one to keep around the house: Dinosaur Books. Some I like:

• Dinosaur Roar!
• Happy Birthday, Danny and the Dinosaur! (I Can Read Book 1)
• Danny and the Dinosaur
• Curious George's Dinosaur Discovery

FIELD TRIP

Take a trip to a dinosaur museum.

FUN/FREE PLAY

Get some Dinosaur Figurines and play with them. We own several, and my 4 and 2 year old had a lot of fun with each other playing with the dinosaurs. There was something about it being "dinosaur week" that made playing with them extra fun.

SORTING

You can use your figurines to have your child sort. He can sort them by colors, by his favorite to least favorite, by smallest to biggest, etc.

COMPUTER TIME

pbskids.org has some great dinosaur activities on the Dinosaur Train page: Dinosaur Train

TV TIME

• Watch movies with dinosaurs (like The Land Before Time)
• Watch the new show, Dinosaur Train, on your local PBS station

OTHER RESOURCES

• PBS Teachers
• Gayle's Preschool Rainbow (I didn't get my ideas from this site, but some do overlap)
• Child's Play

Fall Craft: Apples & Thankfulness

I was looking for a way to help emphasize being thankful with my toddler. There's such a natural sense of me, me, me that toddlers have, and I want to help Charis learn how it feels and what it looks like to be thankful for the wonderful people in our lives. Here's what we came up with around here.

Materials Needed:

*Washable paint

*Apples (1-3)
*Paintbrushes or sponge brushes
*Blank cards with envelopes

Ages: 2+

Prep:
*Put down paper on the table to keep paint from getting everywhere.

*Cut the apples. One needs to be cut in half, so it keeps it's pretty "apple" shape.

The other apple(s) I cut in half horizontally, so that the shape of the core makes a star. Then I cut the apple around the star, to make an easy to hold square (like a stamper).

*I put paint in individual jars, for easy access for the brushes.

*Lay note cards out flat.

Activity:

1. Show your toddler how to paint the sliced apples. It works better to paint the slices rather than dip them.

2. Show them how to press the apples on the card. It's okay if they wiggle, it's their creation...a piece of them.

3. After they dry, draw (or if your child is old enough, let them) apple seeds and stems on the apples.

4. Keep the note cards handy. It's a good idea to write a thank you or "I appreciate you" note right then. Explain that when you care about someone, appreciate someone, or want to say thank you, it makes their day brighter to get a card.

We keep the cards in plain sight so I can grab one when the opportunity presents itself.

It's never too early to set the example of being grateful. Make sure you do the same, and tell your child when you send a card or call someone to say thank you, I miss you, Happy Birthday, or whatever you decide.

Number Squares

This is a fun, simple activity for working on numbers.

AGE RANGE

I haven't tried this with my 2.5 year old yet, but my 4 year old did very well with it. This is definitely appropriate for four and up. I would guess that most three year olds could do this. If your child is two, you can try it and see how it goes, but expect to give lots of guidance (which is fine).

SUPPLIES

• Paper
• Pen/pencil (or you can create on the computer and print)
• Stickers (you can use stickers that go along with your theme for the week if you have one)

PREP

1. Make a grid on a paper. Put six squares on the paper.
2. Put different numbers in each grid. Initially, start with only two different numbers.
3. Get stickers out.

ACTIVITY

• Instruct your child to put the correct number of stickers in each grid.

PHOTO

ABC Dog Food

When I was teaching elementary school, I attended a conference by Dr. Jean Feldman. One of the activities that I especially loved (as does my toddler) is Who Let The Letters Out?

This is a great way to teach letter recognition, to review letters that your child knows, and to teach letter sounds.

Materials:

*Bowl (I used a plastic bowl that resembles a dog food bowl)

*Stuffed animal (dog works well)

*Magnetic letters/numbers

Prep:

*Glue a magnet or magnetic tape to the nose of any stuffed animal.

*Pour desired letters/numbers into the food bowl

Activity:

*Let the dog "sniff" and dig his nose around in the bowl. His nose will grab the magnet on the back of a letter.

*Pull his nose out, with a letter stuck to his nose.

*If an "s" comes out, sing "Who let the S out? /s/ /s/ /s/ /s/(make /s/ sound)" to the tune of Who Let the Dogs Out? "M" would be "Who let the M out? /m/ /m/ /m/ /m/!!"

*Repeat for each letter.

*After we finished, my daughter enjoyed having the letters dive back into the bowl, yelling their name or sound. "Here comes O! O! O! Here is the T! /t/t/t/t/"

Extension:

*This can be done with anything you are teaching. Just find a picture of that skill (colors, numbers, shapes, animal names, foods, family members) and put a magnet on the back of it. "Who let Aunt ___ out? Who? Who? Who? Who?"

*For older children, you can extend it and have them sort. For example, if you are working on letters, sort vowels and consonants or capital and lower case letters. Animals, sort by covering (fur, scales, feathers). Family members, sort by side of the family or male and female. The list could go on and on!

Scheduling Learning Time For All Ages

Since Grandma is in town we haven't done any new learning activities this week but I have been listening to Moms Notes Cd's on structuring your child's day and thinking a lot about how to implement learning time into the day.

Here are some tips for getting started at any age:

- Choose a time when your child is fed and well-rested. Right before a nap or a meal is not the time to introduce a learning time!
- If your child is still doing 2 naps then your ideal time will be after lunch. If your child is taking just one nap each day then you will want to do learning time either after breakfast in the morning or after the nap and a snack. If your child has no nap I would recommend right after lunch as a good time for learning.
- Start with short amounts of time, even just 5 minutes if that's all you think your child can handle. Gradually add 5 minutes each week until you reach your goal.

General Tips for Babies:

Location: keep it on the floor, preferably on a blanket so there is some boundary to the activity.
Duration: 15 minutes is a fine goal for any child under the age of one. You may be able to do two 15 minute learning periods each day.
Types of Activities: expect each activity to last around 5 minutes with infants. You can choose a physical activity, a music activity, and then a reading activity to fill up the 15 minutes nicely.

General Tips for Toddlers:

Location: your learning time can be split so it takes place half at the table or highchair and half on the floor. Again, a blanket can help to give a reasonable boundary to the activity and can be a cue to your child that floor learning time is about to start, not just regular free play.
Duration: every toddler is different, you need to gauge your child's interest, ability to focus, and age on a case by case basis. However, I would say that you can aim for 30 minutes for a 2 year old and 45 minutes by 3 years old. If you want to achieve the longer learning time, please understand you need to vary the activities, they cannot do 1 activity for 30 full minutes. You can also feel free to do two slightly shorter learning periods each day.
Types of Activities: If you have a "sitter" then plan for 2 table activities and 1 floor activity. If you have a "mover" then plan for 1 table activity and 2 floor activities. Choose 3 activities from different categories (craft, fine motor, and music or maybe fine motor, physical, story). This will hold your child's interest and allow you to see where your child's strengths lie.

General Tips for Preschoolers:

Location: at least half of learning time should be at the table and half or less on the floor. Remember, you are preparing them for the larger amounts of sitting time in Kindergarten whether in public school or home school.
Duration: 30-60 minutes. As with toddlers, do not expect them to pursue one activity for an hour, plan enough activities to fill the time you have allotted. You can certainly do 30 minutes twice a day if you choose or do an hour altogether. Dividing the learning time between the table and the floor will be very useful if you have a preschooler who is a "mover". *If your child is in preschool every day any additional learning time should be shortened slightly compared to a child who does not attend a preschool outside the home. You don't want to burn them out so young.
Types of Activities: Again, variety is the key! At this age you can truly delve into math, science, social studies, and reading in addition to music, art, fine motor skills, and physical education. Always plan one more activity than you think you will need for the day just in case! Three to five activities should fill up a one hour time slot. Be careful not to let your preschooler jump through activities too quickly but know that sometimes you'll end up with extra time anyway.

Credit
Moms Notes by Carla and Joey Link
The Tot School Blog by Carisa

Letter Picture: D

The other day, Brayden (4) brought this home from preschool. This week, they are learning about dinosaurs and it is also the letter D week. I thought it was really creative.

AGE RANGE

I would say this is for the two year old on up. If you have an 18 month old or so who you think would do well with this activity, go for it!

SUPPLIES

• Picture of a D. They did both uppercase and lowercase. You could do one or both. You could print it or draw it. Here is a link to a block letter: http://familycrafts.about.com/library/color/blcapitald.htm. Or you can make it in Microsoft Word. To do that: (1) Open Word. (2) Go to File>Page Setup. A new window will open. (3) Under Margins, change all margins to .5. (4) Under Orientation, click Landscape. (5) Click OK. (6) Type a capital D and a lowercase d. I would put a space between the two. (7) Highlight the letters. (8) Change the font to Arial. (9) Change the font size to 460. (10) Go to Format>Font. A new window will open. (11) Under Effects, check the Outline box. (12) Click OK. You are now ready to print!
• Construction paper.
• Dot stickers.
• Dinosaur sticker.
• Dog sticker (or any other "D" word sticker you want to use).
• Glue.

PREP

1. Print your D picture.
2. Either cut out or draw lines for your child to cut out a door for each D (D and d).

ACTIVITY

• Have your child put a D sticker (duck, donkey, dinosaur, dog, etc.) in the center of the capital D and one in the center of the lowercase D.
• Have your child decorate the D's with dots.
• If you want your child to cut out the doors, have him do so.
• Have your child glue the doors in place to cover the D stickers.

PHOTOS

Here are two photos of Brayden's D picture.

ADDED THOUGHT

You will notice that this picture is hanging on the fridge. You have probably read this a million times, but display the artwork your children do. I hang the kid's pictures on the fridge as soon as they are done (or as soon as the glue dries). I always make a big deal about it.

If you are the type who hates to hold on to stuff and want to throw it away, don't do it in front of your child :) If you are the type who hates to throw stuff away, you can take pictures of it and just keep a few things.

Fall : Do-A-Dot

Do-A-Dot Art! is a pack of sponge tip paints/markers that are washable. There are multiple packs, multiple colors, and different coloring books designed especially for these markers. I found our set at Michael's, our local craft store. Here's how we started talking about Fall with our 2 year old.

Ages: As early as they can pound on a piece of paper with these markers. :) I just found them recently, but my daughter would have been able to handle them much earlier.

Materials Needed:
*Book about fall (We read When Autumn Comes by Robert Maas)
*White paper
*Do-A-Dot markers (green, red, yellow, orange)


Prep:
*The night before I painted a bare tree for her to put leaves on
*Choose an appropriate book to teach about fall (or apples).




Activity:
1. Read the story, talking about what happens in the Fall/Autumn.
2. Make sure you point out the changes in the trees.
3. Show your child how to dot on the leaves.
4. Let them stamp away! Try not too be too involved. I have a tendency to want crafts to look a certain way (like actually looking like a fall tree when she's done) but sometimes that takes the fun and creativity away from your child. I just try to keep on on the paper (rather than hands, clothes, or tables).




To do this activity with apples:
*Read an apple book. We read Apples, Apples, Apples by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace. It's a great story about a bunny family that goes to an apple orchard to pick apples. There are graphs that older children would understand, and diagrams of an apple. The farmer explains how apples grow, and at the end of the story there is a recipe, a song, and a painting craft. Apple tasting (red vs. yellow vs. green) is very appropriate with this story.
*Use Do-A-Dot markers to make an apple tree.
*We also talked about the parts of the apple (since there is a diagram). We cut open an apple and used the terms in the book to talk about what each part does, which part we eat, etc (skin, flesh, seeds, stem, leaves).

Extensions:
* For older children, you can fold a piece of paper into 4 squares. Paint a bare tree in each square. Label Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. Read Arnold's Apple Tree, a great book about the progression of an apple tree through the seasons. Use the Do-A-Dots or a Q-tip and washable paint to dot the leaves, buds, flowers, and snow on the trees.

*For any age group, use animal stamps or stickers and add the appropriate animals to the pictures. You can make it a counting activity as well "Let's add one squirrel. Let's add 2 birds. Let's add 3 blossoms, 4 red apples, etc."

*You can add pictures of people (from a magazine, stick people, real photos) and dress them appropriately for the season. I took pictures of family and just asked her what they should wear to pick apples ("Should Mommy wear a bathing suit in the fall? Should Daddy have gloves? What is the weather like? So since the weather is ____, then he should wear ___.")

*We went to the grocery store and chose one of each kind of apple to taste. She had a great time helping me choose good apples from each display. We later took them home and tasted. I let her take a bite out of each apple to see which she liked the most and to talk about different flavors and textures (sweet, sour, hard, soft, etc). Then I chopped them up and we used the recipe in the book (Apples, Apples, Apples) to make applesauce.

Fall Books

In honor of the first day of Fall...

I thought it would be nice to have a list of books about Fall. I like to reserve books online at the library and just go in and pick them up. That way I don't have to spend as much time digging for books about specific topics! Included are books about apples and pumpkins.

These titles will be updated periodically, as we come across more great resources!

A Tree Can Be by Judy Nayer
We're Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steven Metzger
**When Autumn Comes by Robert Maas (uses photographs)
**The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons
One Little, Two Little, Three Little Apples by Matt Ringler
**Up, Up, Up! It's Apple-Picking Time! by Jody Fickes Shapiro
**Apples, Apples, Apples by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins by Dianne Ochiltree
**Changes by Margorie Allen and Shelley Rotner (uses photographs)
**Picking Apples and Pumpkins by Amy and Richard Hutchings (Uses photographs)
Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss

** These books have a good amount of educational information included in the story.

Tried and True: Singing Songs

After posting about the Wheels on the Bus today, I realized I haven't done that much with McKenna (almost six months old) during her lifetime. So this evening, I did it with her. She laughed and laughed and laughed. She loved it.

Kaitlyn (approaching 2.5) played with me. She did McKenna's movements for round two. Then once McKenna was down for a nap, Kaitlyn wanted me to do it to her (the same way I did it to McKenna), then she wanted to do it to me (yes, the same way I did it to McKenna). LOL! You really have to be prepared to do everything you have a toddler do :)

Singing Songs

We have had a lot of requests for ideas for activities with babies, so I thought I would start with a simple one: Singing Songs.

AGE RANGEAll ages. Really. All kids of all ages love to sing and do movements to songs. I still love it :)

SUPPLIES

• Adult
• Child

WHEN TO DO IT

All the time, any time. I sing to my kids all the time. We sing while we are driving, we sing while we are playing, and I sing while I am feeding them. I love to sing to my babies while they are eating their food. They are typically quite interested in it and don't try to stick their hands in their mouths or anything.

With my oldest, I found singing songs with actions particularly helpful during the evening. He was a typical baby in that he got fussier in the evening, and my husband was in school and working at the time. He was gone before we got up and got home shortly before Brayden went to bed. I needed all the tricks I could muster up for the day!

SONG IDEA: Wheels on the Bus

There are so many possibilities out there. My favorite (because it is my kids favorite) for a young baby is Wheels on the Bus.

Wheels on the Bus

This was Brayden's favorite. Brayden was my only baby to get fussier in the evenings (McKenna had a witching hour...but I am just talking fussy :) )--probably since he only took 45 minute naps until he was 6 months old. He also hated driving in the car. The Wheels on the Bus saved us every evening and every car ride.

For a baby, lay baby on the floor or another surface you feel comfortable with. For a toddler, have your child face you. Your child might need help doing actions. For the preschooler, have your child face you and mimic your movements.

Verse One: bicycle baby's legs round and round. For toddlers and older, make a big circle with your arm like a wheel

The wheels on the bus go round and round

round and round,

round and round,

The wheels on the bus go round and round

All through the town

Verse Two: Take baby by the hand and have her swish her arms back and forth. You might need to do the same for your young toddler. For the older toddler on up, swish your arms like windshield wipers and have your child mimic.

The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish

Swish, swish, swish,

Swish, swish, swish,

The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish
All through the town

Verse Three: You are already holding baby's hands. Gently pull baby up and down like baby is doing a sit-up if baby is old enough to do this. If not, just move baby's arms up and down. For the toddler and older, stand up and sit down.

The people on the bus go up and down

Up and down

Up and down

The people on the bus go up and down

All through the town

Verse Four: On each "beep," gently tap baby's nose. You can do the same to your toddler and older, or you can have your child beep her own nose while you beep your nose.

The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep

Beep, beep, beep,

Beep, beep, beep,

The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep

All through the town

Verse Five: For all age ranges, put your hands in front of your face with your elbows touching each other. Open and shut the doors when you say open and shut in a peek-a-boo fashion.

The doors on the bus go open and shut,

open and shut

open and shut

The doors on the bus go open and shut,

All through the town

Additional Verses: You can to so many different things with this song. I have sung this song enough times to have an endless supply up my sleeve:

• Babies on the bus go wah, wah, wah (put finger on baby's chin and move mouth open on wah. For toddlers and older, make a wah-ing motion where you roll your hands in front of your eyes like you are crying)
• Mommies on the bus go shh, shh, shh (shh your baby's mouth with your index finger or shh your own mouth for older children)
• Driver on the bus says move on back (take baby's arms and move from one side to the other. For older children, move your arms in a "move back" motion).
• Girls on the bus go giggle, giggle, giggle (tickle all ages. Be gentle tickling a baby and watch for signs baby doesn't like it. If not. Just pretend to tickle)
• Boys on the bus say let's go play (hold baby's hands and move one arm up then the other, or bring them together in front of baby and then spread out in a Y form. For toddlers and older, jump up and down or spin around excitedly)
• Road under the bus goes bump-ety bump (if baby is on a soft surface, you can bounce the bed. You can also put baby on your lap and move your legs up and down. You can also put a young toddler on your lap. For older toddlers and up, jump up and down)

This is just one example of how you can make a simple song into a fun, gross motor skills activity. You can add verses and make up your own actions. I just made these all up, so anything you can think of will be fun. Children are easy to please.

Children love singing and they love moving around. This is a great way to distract a fussy baby or to just have fun with a baby. I know it is simple, but baby does learn a lot from it. It moves baby's body, it exposes baby to music, and it gives baby fun time with the parent, which all babies love :)