Good Sleepers - Sleeping Tickets

As my son gets a bit older (3.5 years), some days I find it harder to get him to stay in his bed for nap time. That throws off our WHOLE evening. He wants to crash right at dinner and then he's up WAAAYYY to early - 5am! 

So, I stole, borrowed, or implemented this idea from his school, however you want to look at it. He's in an older 3's and younger 4's room where almost all the kids are still nappers. If the students are sleeping or quiet the entire nap time, they get a sleeping ticket. At the end of the week, they can turn their tickets in for a prize. Something small like stickers, bubbles, cool pencils, etc...

Start off by putting your kiddo's name on the sticky part of a sticky note and cut away the bottom. I write their name at the top. (In school, the student's name goes on the ticket but here I just have my two so we are going to reuse them.) 

**Update** - This is a smashing idea! The kids love it and they have been champion sleepers! I am soooooo excited that my husband and I are sleeping in our bed the whole night! 

I made some easy tickets in Word. 

You can snag mine or make your own.

Find the PDF download on my TeacherspayTeachers site

I snagged some of my regular magnets and stuck their names to it. If you notice, this is all above the ice/water dispenser so no little figures can get to it, take them away or add to them :)

 Let your little one add their own sleeping ticket to their clip - it lets them take ownership!

 Each kid is in charge of their own tickets.

 The extras are clipped together above so we can take one as we need it.

 Being independent is helping create kids and students who make the right choice and see how they actions affect themselves and others.  We talked about how important it is for children to rest, be able to recharge they batteries, and be ready for an afternoon of play. This is your time to have conversations with your children and provide vocabulary about how their bodies use energy and need to get more by eating and sleeping.

 Steps stools work perfectly to help with independence.

 Ignore the headphones, he's being silly this morning :)

 I found a few fun clips while I was at bed bath and beyond. Theses are perfect for the kids and I can have my clips back for our daily family reminders ;)

Remember this is fun and your kids will think its fun, also. Include them in whatever you can and explain what you are doing and why. You'd be surprised how fast children pick up vocabulary when they are included in the conversation!!!! If you choose anyway to get your child ahead, choose involvement and conversation! It goes a long way!

Guessing Bags

My children love guessing games! 

"What toy has four wheels, a lightening bolt, is red, and holds the number 95?"

(Lightening McQueen, of course) 

Just an example but you get the idea. 

Here's what we have started doing in our home. 

Grab a paper bag, only because the child can't see through it. A cloth sack works well, also. 

Find items that your children know as everyday items. 

We used a book, one of our favorites! "Where's My T-R-U-C-K?" By Karen Beaumont

Fold the item up inside. 

They can shake it, practice listening. Lift the bag, practice words like heavy or light. 

Give them a few clues and let them guess. 

I write the clues down and as I give them and then write down the responses. It's fun to go back over it to see how many guesses they needed (counting skills). 

We did the same with a few few other items that were "hot ticket" items around out house. Remember, you want your child to be challenged and successful. So, don't pick something that's unfamiliar, out of character. Think of day to day items that they enjoy or use. 

All of these things are great opportunities to build vocabulary!!! Teach how to have a conversation and responding to your child in a way you would what them to respond to you. 

Beans! Sorting, Counting! Busy Bag Idea

Grab an old sheet and let's get started! 

We use this old blue one for everything! I'm sorry if you have seen it in other posts and upcoming posts! It's just so handy to have around the house! 

I purchased three bags of dried beans at our local store. Buy whatever colors strike you as fun. I also focused on getting different sizes. 1 bag of large white beans, 1 of black beans, and 1 pinto beans. 

I get out just about anything that can scoop or move beans. 

We gather containers, funnels, measuring scoops, table spoons, everything that's fun! 

Let them scoop and dump, make piles, spread them around (within reason).

This is a great sorting activity! Help provide your kids with vocabulary such as largest, smallest, big, bigger, biggest.... 

please excuse the yucky picture, I bet you can get the gist

We got silly and starting making food troughs for our animals and pools for them to swim. 

Do whatever your kids want with this, just talk with them. It's so important to teach conversation skills and teach them the vocabulary by modeling it for them!!! I can't tell you the number of 5th graders I teach that lack, what we think is basic vocabulary, and the ability to hold a full conversation. Many don't even respond "How are you?" if they are asked the question first. 

All I can stress is TALK with your children! YOU are their first and MOST teachers!!!!

Spice Up Toddler Lunches

We had gotten stuck in a rut with the same or similar lunches everyday. We (the kids and I) needed something new. 

Mashed Potato Boats with Pirates (red potatoes with cheese and olives)
Hearts and Stars (lunch meat and cheese on crackers)
Life Boats (clemetine slices)
Fish and Oysters in the Sea (frozen peas)

This is a hand-me-down book given to me. I hadn't really used it until my 3 year old started being a bit picky. He's willy to try most foods but says he doesn't like any of them. It was time to do something new, fun, and engaging. 

We hosted a get together and had some left over food. So let's get creative. 

I used my small cookie cutters to make cut outs for my two eaters. 

I did cheese up for my kiddo who may not eat the meat and meat up for the kiddo who avoids cheese these days. I would like to say it worked but nope. She ate it all and he only at the crackers and meat leaving the cheese to his sister. 

I microwaved small red potatoes and the cut off the top, scooped out the middle, mashed it with some butter and salt and pepper and then refilled them. 

Add a cheese triangle with a toothpick, then an olive as pirate.

My two love frozen peas. They were the oysters and fish in the sea and the clementine slices were the life boats with the mashed potato pirate ship started to sink (be eaten). 

Easy AWESOME Funfetti Dip

 Need an easy dish to take to a party? 

Funfetti Dip

Enough said!

I was headed to an adult party so I took vanilla wafers but used graham crackers and animal crackers as dippers. 

Start with a box if cake mix. 

The original recipe called for a 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt and 1 cup of cool whip. I thought it was missing something so....

I used:

- 1 cup cool whip

- 1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt

- 1 brick of cream cheese

Next time, I'm skipping the yogurt and 

beginning with the cream cheese. 

Beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Mix in the cool whip. 

Finally, add the cake mix. 

Of course the kids helped me!! We tasted each ingredient as we added it then tasted it all mixed up. 

It was do much fun to help their vocabulary using food and kitchen utensils. 

Delicious!!!  Beware it only keeps for a day or so. The baking soda in the mix reacts and makes it feel a bit carbonated after a few days. 

Easy & Cheap Stools - Great for Playroom or Classroom

 I teach 5th grade. For those of you who do guided reading, you may already know that those kidney tables are NOT big enough for fifth graders. I needed something else that didn't take up so much room and could accommodate  more than your typical number of guided reading students (5). 

Snagged the idea from a great blog! 

Stuff Students Say and Other Classroom Treasures

She even has a video to help! 

At your local hardware store, you should find buckets for about $2 a piece! 

Purchase spray paint that is meant for plastic, less chance of chipping. 

I used to cans for six buckets - 3 coats each. 

Take the handle off. It just gets in the way. I used my to hang student work from the ceiling in my classroom. (I tied fishing line to both sides of the white handle. Then, I ran ribbon around the bottom just above the "hook" part and stapled it together. In the classroom I use clothes pins to attach student work to the ribbon! It's really fun!)

Find a color that works for you! Red was great! Very empowering for my students.

Choose a fabric that works for you.  

I used a 12" square pillow. Bring the corners together underneath and staple them together. As you go around staple the fabric to the bucket on opposite sides. This way you are able to get a more uniform finish. It took me a few time to get it right. The good thing about using a nail gun is you can pull it up when you don't like the placement or tension. 

I am now carrying this idea into my play room. I will find smaller buckets and smaller pillows to cover. This will be great to add some fun color to our home! 

Reading Picnics

A great way to get out to the house and still have some quiet time:

Book Picnics!

My two love the read and this is when they have some great individual think time. Little man begins reading to himself and our little lady normally sings to her favorite books or starts to point out characters! Both are wonderful comprehension strategies. Letting kids revisit books helps them think about what they have read, helps to introduce strategies for retelling (a great way to read a book), and point out parts of the picture that tells the story!

If you know anything about The Two Sisters, CAFE or DAILY 5 (most educators do, for those who don't it's a great way to help children learn to use reading strategies independently and begin thinking about literature), they encourage children to read books three different ways: read the words, read the pictures, and retell the story.

We began inside, however both children were having a hard time sharing books this day. So I gave each a book blanket that they could use to spread out and have their own space to read.

 That didn't last long and both were reading on the same blanket, but sharing the books.

We have a ton of different books. I try to rotate them throughout the house, stacks will end up in her room then move to his, down to the play room, and in the book box in our car - keeps them entertained while on our way. This way we have many times to revisit them, during the day or for bedtime.

We love all sorts of books! Try the BabyBug magazine (made by Cricket) for little ones. It is built with durable pages that are hard to distroy and cute poems, songs, and stories to do with your little ones. We also love sharing various languages with our kids, try grabbing a few books from other cultures. Babies love to look and read about other babies - there is quite a bit of research behind that thought, not just me chatting. Add some books to your collection that have babies as the main characters. My two are drawn to those! Don't forget some of our favorite authors and titles. Expose your kids to your childhood favorites and soon they will love them also!

 As children revisit text, they are able to tell us more, connect illustrations to text, and pick out important details that make the story. 

I took a step back and let them have their space. WOW, they really know how to enjoy a book. I need to learn to let them and not always get involved or "in the way". Both kids were telling me or pointing at things me in their books that was memorable or exciting. 

Remember, after kids are exposed to books repeatedly only will they have the stamina to read and THINK about they are reading independently. Talk about the books with your kids so that they build their vocabulary and have the words to retell stories to you.