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. 

Play Ball!

A trip to the park today lead to a wonderful new game for us! 

Play Ball!!! 

Beside one of our parks is a sports complex with 6 ball fields, room for youth football, and tons of space for picnics and such. We needed to, literally, run some energy off so we started pretend baseball. 

It was great to practice naming shapes using the bags and home plate.

We got creative with the rectangle for the pitchers mound and squares for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd - our fields pick them up after each game.

It was a blast to stand at home, let little man pitch to me and run the bases. He took turns "batting" and running the bases!

Realizing that each ball field was numbered we quickly went on a number hunt. It is an awesome way for Little Man to practice spotting numbers rather than letters and to have fun counting. We had a blast giving the kids the vocabulary to have fun on the fields. Fun conversations came afterward about running, bases, baseball, home-runs, etc. !

Homemade Crayons - Reuse Old Crayons

Need a way to use the nubs on crayons or maybe your little one decided to break every crayon your household owns? Here's a great way to make 'new' crayons and have a blast!!!!

We started by sorting crayon into similar colors and a few with mixed to make some funky crayons.

We then placed the muffin tin in the sun. Normally on an 85 degree day they would melt in an afternoon. However, it was only 72 here this day and it was taking a bit long. Our crayons were soft  and started to melt but we wanted to be able to use them that afternoon.

We decided to pop them in the oven, which is what I remember trying as a child. - oh growing up with a crafty mom was AWESOME!! 

 

Try to get your oven as low as you can go. I was able to set mine to 100 degrees.

 We left them in for about 20 minutes, until they were liquid and glossy on top.


 

Make sure you let them cool completely or you will have finger prints and dents.



To get them out, we had to turn the pan upside down and bang on it a bit. It also helped to try and lightly twist the muffin tray like an ice cube tray.

Use this as a conversation starter to talk about the sun. You can discuss how the sun heats the Earth, warms the water in pools, lakes, etc, warms the soil so plants can grow. Have fun talking about color sorting, matching light blues and dark blues or opposites on the color wheel (blue vs orange). Anytime you can help build your child's vocabulary, you are only helping them be more successful!!!! Give them the words and let them practice what those words mean. When they get to do - they learn!!!! 

I am not sure about no stick spray and the wax in the crayons. If you try it, let me know what you think.

Window Blocks - Window Clings

I loved finding this idea!!! I wish I could remember which blog I saw it on first! - Totally snagged this one and it's a KEEPER!

I found foam sheets in rectangles and circles at the dollar store. I picked up one pack of each totaling $2. 

I know an expensive activity ;) 

This is going to be my next busy bag contribution at our next exchange (not scheduled - but too easy to pass up!!!)

When foam is wet it sticks easily to windows and walls, like window clings. We have two little ones that LOVE their water table and playing in the kiddie pool. Dipping and splashing in water is always a plus. I set them up outside, let them dip and splash all they wanted and it didn't matter if they were getting the windows or themselves wet. 

We call this Window Blocks. 

Cut into various easy shapes. I did this during nap time one day in about 4 minutes. I didn't worry about making cuts perfect or look beautiful. Didn't think it matter very much.

Use a small container to dip the foam pieces in to get wet and make the stick to the window.

Have fun! Build towers, castles, houses, trees, etc....

Sort by shapes

Sort by colors

Just stick them on and build. It doesn't matter, have fun!

Practice giving your little ones words to add to their vocabulary. Talking with your kiddos and explaining what they are doing and with what they are working will always help your child grow.

Store them how you wish, zlip-loc, a sak, a plastic container. They dry VERY fast in the sun. I leave them out for a minute and then gather them up for the day.

Painting Pasta

This was an AWESOME and cheap activity to do with the kids. It was so easy to put together and little man loved creating painted noodles with me.

I found a box of noodles on sale.  I didn't think it mattered if the noodles were nasty as we were only going to be silly with them. I think I ended up paying $.78 for the box.

We talked about cold water and boiling water. "How do we know when the water is boiling?" It was a great intro to steam and evaporation. Now little man talks about my coffee being hot when he can see the steam.

Cook the noodles until al'dente. This way they suck of the color and don't fall apart in your little one's hands.

drain - use right away! pasta as you know can get sticky and not as easy to work with

The kids and I (really my 2 1/2 year old) decided with what colors he wanted to play. I split the pasta into four bowls.

Add some oil to keep the noodles from sticking together. '

I only added a splash to each bowl.

Use your favorite food coloring and get creative.

I wanted brightly colored noodles and have an abundance of food coloring so I opted to use quite a bit. Use what you have.

Use a fork to get you started mixing the colors, because the noodles are still hot. You can rinse them in cold water first to make mixing easier, HOWEVER, it stops the cooking process and then they don't suck up as much coloring.

Because we love noodles in our house, I found little man eating them several times. Nothing wrong with it - other than a blue and green mouth afterward :) Use a cookie sheet to keep your table a bit cleaner and the oily pasta in one spot.

Have fun playing with textures, picking out only certain colors, practicing dexterity - one noodle at a time, and just spreading them around and mashing them together. 

We made little birds' nests, then talked about the types of birds that we have in our yard that may use our colorful nests.

Squish!!!!!

If you have ever read "I love you Stinky Face", then you may recognize the "slimy swamp monster that CP turned himself into. If you haven't read the book, it is a must in our house! It's super adorable and just sweet to read at bedtime.

Get a few days of life out of the pasta by keeping it in an airtight container. Since it's only in oil, it's ok to keep on the counter but it will spoil after some time.