blank
blank

Compassion

Monday, January 31, 2011

Book Basket ~ February/March 2011

Photobucket

At the end of each month we want to give you a 'heads up' of the books that will be used in the two upcoming months for several of our features: Little Books for Little Cooks, Now I Know My ABC's, and Once Upon a Book. These lists are to help you out so you can be looking for the books at your library, digging through your stacks in search of them, or order those 'must haves'!

Here are the books that we are planning to use during the months of February and March 2011. If you subscribe in a reader, you can click HERE to view the books.

 Little Books for Little Cooks

Now I Know My ABC's

 

Once Upon a Book

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Treats 4 Your Tot

Photobucket

Here are some more cool giveaways for tots/moms of tots, check them out below and let us know if you win something we told you about!!!!

Bolded are items we personally own and love!  If you are hosting a TOT friendly giveaway you are free to leave a link in the comments section!

Friday, January 28, 2011

Get Real with God ~ Conspiracy’s

Get Real with God

Have you ever been convicted of something or had a strong passion about something but never had the exact Biblical Proof to back up that conviction or passion? For example, when I was a teenager, I KNEW that I had to be a stay-at-home mom and have a houseful of children, but I didn’t know that the Bible spoke specifically to that until a few years later.

It’s happened again recently…I’m so excited to share with you the proof I found for another conviction I have!

“This is what the LORD says to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people: “Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread. He will be a holy place;for both Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.”

Bind up this testimony of warning and seal up God’s instruction among my disciples. I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my trust in him. Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.”

Isaiah 8: 11-19

I have often felt the Holy Spirit gently tell me not to worry about the cares of this world. More specifically: end times concerns and governmental concerns and safety concerns. People try to suck me into conversations about the government doing this and that, what they are putting in our food, our water. God’s told me to trust in HIM-alone. But never before have I seen it so clearly written out in scripture. Clearly, specifically, even in words I can relate to in this day and age-Conspiracy. I know you hear them too, the latest one I heard about is “them” micro-chipping babies. Ridiculous! I could get myself all worked up since I’m having a hospital birth in a few short months, but clearly God is the one I am to fear and dread, not “them.”

God is so good, so sweet, so ever-loving to be completely clear about these things. You can read farther in the verse and see that there were children there too, God even knows how we momma’s worry about our children.

My encouragement for you today is to trust in the Lord, When you feel anxiety rising up because of events around you, turn off the radio, put down the newspaper, close your laptop and turn your thoughts toward God. It’s safe there.

“Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”

Psalm 62: 1-2

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Once Upon A Book: Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Photobucket
image
 
by Jan Brett
 
Summary: Goldilocks enters the Bears' home uninvited and eats all of their food! She continues to snoop around the bears' house and makes a mess in the process. Eventually the bears return, and find Goldilocks sleeping in baby bear's bed! This story is a perfect way to discuss manners and trespassing.
 
Bible Verse
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14-15)

Math

We used our Bear Family Counters to count and make patterns.

 


Three Bears Size Sorting Game

This was Jonah's favorite activity and we've played it over and over for a week straight! I gathered items from all over the house for this activity. I found things that I had a small, medium, and large size for each item. I made a small, medium, and large bear as a sorting mat. Since Goldilocks made a big mess, Jonah had to help sort the items for "Baby, Mama, & Papa" Bear.


Supplies: Small, Medium, and Large Size of each item to sort. Some items I used...


Letter Sounds:
I chose to focus on the Letter P for Porridge, based on what my son needed to work on, feel free to focus on the Letter B for Bear. We made a bowl and talked about the Porridge that the bears ate. Next, I had him cut/paste different food pictures starting with the "P" sound on the bowl. For review: He pointed to the picture, repeated the word, and the made the "P" sound as I called them out.

"P" Food pictures I used: pumpkin, pasta, pretzel, pickle, pizza, popcorn, potato chips, and pancakes. I simply printed these from my clip-art on my computer.

Craft

We made a simple bear...complete with a bowtie!


Fine Motor Skills

Jonah used a Giant Push Pin to "Punch" along the lines of a Letter P. (Tape the paper down on the carpet or use a small carpet square on the table) After he was finished we held the letter up to the light so he could see the holes. Another way to view the letter is to hold up a flashlight and project the letter on the ceiling--"Letter Stars" in the dark!


Snack

Bear Pancakes for breakfast and Teddy Grahams for afternoon snack.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Little Hands-on ABC’s & 123’s ~ Cards & Counters

little handson Abc 123 The simplest hands-on way I've found to practice counting is using cards and counters.  Line up the number cards from 0 to 9 and have the child place the counters under each card while counting aloud.

Cards and counters are a great way for a child to practice one to one correspondence while counting. Cards and counters are also valuable for teaching and reviewing odd and evens and patterns especially if using alternating counters as Bear did here.

The number cards in the photo above are from the Add It game found on Confessions of  a Homeschooler.  But number cards are easy to make and can even just be written on Post-it notes.  It doesn't have to be fancy.  If you don't have a printer, it doesn't matter.  Just use whatever you have - even those fridge magnet numbers work, or the foam numbers from the bathtub.

Counters can be anything - rocks, glass stones, erasers, pompoms, cheerios.  Whatever you have accessible.  However, it is fun to make it seasonal or go along with your theme.

We used leaves in the Fall.
 
Snowflakes in the winter.
 
Packing peanuts to represent snow blocks for an Arctic theme.
 
Rocks for a rock theme.
 
Oyster crackers at snack time.
Now go and get counting!
 

Little Hands-on ABC’s and 123’s is a bi-monthly feature that focuses on practical and simple ideas that you can do at home to help your tot develop their letter and number skills.

Julie Signature Button

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Play With Me ~ Construct-It Early Builder Set

This month our Play With Me toy is a building toy ~ the Construct-It Early Builder Set from Guidecraft.

image

Our boys love building…and so apparently do our girls! This toy has been played with daily since it was pulled out of Mommy’s Hidden Stash. Check out all of the pieces that are included in this set:

image

Children can simply match a nut to a bolt, use the tools to make little creations, or even make complicated structures with mom and dad’s help! Other than building, here are a few fun and creative ways to use the set with your little ones!

Pattern the nails/screw into the pieces…

image

Make a grabber with the pieces and then go on a hunt around your house. Have your little one try to pick up only things that are a certain color…or a certain shape…or start with a specific letter sound!

image

Make a hat for a princess {or prince}!

image

Get LOTS of fine motor practice threading nuts and bolts and hammering.

image

Other ideas to use with the Construct-it Early Builder Set:

  • sort the pieces by color
  • sort the pieces by size or shape
  • match the correct colored screws to the same colored nut
  • follow mom’s step-by-step instructions to create something
  • refine fine motor skills by dropping dried spaghetti through the holes
  • pound the pegs through the base rectangles with the supplied hammer
  • experiment and see what pieces fit through a paper towel tube

The Construct-It Early Builder set is available through the Guidecraft website and also available from Amazon. If you have an older child, they might also enjoy the

Much thanks to Guidecraft who provided this toy for us to use and review as a part of the Guidecraft Mom Bloggers team.

Monday, January 24, 2011

What’s in the Tub? ~ Transportation Sensory Tub

sensory tubs

Next month our theme at Totally Tots is transportation.  Here are some ideas for you to use next month with your little one to explore the theme up close and personal.   

IMG_4793

 What’s in the Tub?:

  • dirt
  • play sand
  • small rocks
  • rice that was dyed blue
  • two pieces of cardboard, taped to the container to divide the play areas
  • race track cut out of construction paper
  • go and stop sign
  • cars and trucks
  • construction vehicles
  • boat

IMG_4791

My son helped me put our transportation tub together, and he had definite ideas on what he did and did not want in the tub!   Once we had the tub put together we had fun playing.  Here are some of the things we did:

  • We talked about the color of the signs, and that green means go and red means stop.
  • We worked on listening skills with the go and stop signs.  I would hold up a sign and say stop or go and he would have to follow my directions.  
  • We counted backwards from 10 to 1 before starting a race.
  • We practiced counting with the rocks in the construction area.  I called out a number and he would count and pick up the correct number of rocks.

What’s in the Tub? is a feature that focuses on fun sensory tub ideas to go along with the monthly theme at Totally Tots.   Click here to see past sensory tub ideas.

 Cindy

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Treats 4 Your Tot

Photobucket

Here are some more cool giveaways for tots/moms of tots, check them out below and let us know if you win something we told you about!!!!

Bolded are items we personally own and love!  If you are hosting a TOT friendly giveaway you are free to leave a link in the comments section!

Friday, January 21, 2011

In My Heart ~ Romans 5:8, 6:23

Hey Man {Romans 5:8, 6:23} is #3 from Seeds of Faith. image

Full Page Verse Printable… image

Verse Mini Book {which could also be cut into mini flash cards to have kids put the verse in order}…  image

Copy Work Tracers {print & cursive}  image

Copy Work Sheets…  image

Full Verse Coloring Pages… image

Seeds Family Worship printables here!

Visit the main Seeds Family Worship Printables page here.

Visit Seeds Family Worship to learn more about their ministry here!

Simple verse cards from Seeds, and also a verse memorization checklist can be found here on their site!

image