School Time Adventures

As a parent one of the hardest things we do on a daily basis is to choose our battles. Do you argue about the pots and pans being used as indoor sleds, do you complain about the paint that spilled outside the designated paint area, do you allow your baby crawler to open the bathroom cabinet to get out the q-tips to play with EVERY single day and the list goes on and on.

When I saw all the couch cushions and pillows in one big pile I thought, "Do I need to argue about this or just give the lecture?" I decided to give the usual lecture of, "Remember what you take out you need to put away!" "Okay Mama," River responded. Then about 2 mins letter he says, "Look, I made T the tiger! And I made a small t like the cross Jesus was on." With that kind of excited declaration, I was really happy I decided to not stunt his creative play with the couch cushions.

So if you are interested in doing a fun letter reinforcement activity

all you need are..........

couch cushions and pillows

creativity

The washers... the top row are the smaller washers (5/8 I think) 
and were a little thicker

                         the bottom row were a little bigger (more surface area) 
but were thinner

Once River started to tap it was apparent that my idea of having 2 washers on the ball and heal of the shoe wasn't going to work, they began to come off. The smaller/thicker washer worked much better than the larger/thinner one. You only need to put one washer on per shoe. The sound of the washer hitting the pavement wasn't as loud as a real tap shoe would be but it was sufficient. River loved stomping around but had no desire for me to show him some basic tap dance steps. So was it worth a dollar, you bet!

I was racking my brain for a safe way to play with a "real" hammer, nail, and tacks. I wanted to find something that River would be able to hit a nail into and make it stay. The solution: A small box with packing peanuts inside, duck taped closed.

So this is what we used....

the small box, hammer, nails, tacks, and rubber bands

He hit the nails into the box (no, he didn't hit his fingers. I taught him the correct way to hold the nail and swing the hammer)...but the nails actually went too far inside the box, so the tacks were a better solution. 

 River was able to slightly push the tack in and then finish pounding it into the box without the tack disappearing inside the box (plus there was no need to hold the tack while swinging the hammer, I will admit at times I was a little nervous).

He loved putting the nails, tacks, and screw hooks into the box!

Then once he had the tacks in, he could put the rubber bands 

around the tacks to make whatever kind of pattern he wanted.

This activity kept him entertained for at least 1 hour... 

be able to use a hammer, play with tacks, to build and create.
It was one of our favorite hand-eye-coordination activities that we have done!

If you are like me Easter eggs hang around the house for a little while. So I thought why not make a tiger with an orange egg.

This is what we used...

* 1 orange egg with a 1 piece of candy inside

* 1 black pipe cleaner

* 2 googly eyes

* brown, pink and white paint

* a plastic fork..for the teeth

* tacky glue

River and I discussed how to make the tiger by looking at T the tiger. He didn't want to make stripes. So he just painted half of it brown.

We then added the eyes, ears, and made a little triangle out of the pipe cleaner to dip in the pink paint for a triangle nose (because T the Tiger has a triangle nose, Mom), and then added the whiskers. "Mom we made a cat!" River replied. "Well, a tiger and a cat are similar aren't they." I replied. We then discussed how they are part of the same feline family.

Breaking the plastic fork was probably our favorite part, to get the sharp 2 tiger teeth. The tail we just stuck in the back of the egg in a hole.

Ta-Da!

Now when we sing the T the Tiger song we will use our tiger-shaker-guy to say, "T-t-t".

In exactly one week River will be going to the Dentist (to do some dental work) so I thought focusing on T the Tiger, who taps and taps his troublesome tooth would be a good idea.

-A large toothbrush made out of cardboard, painting various colors using a toothbrush

(you can buy 2-6 toothbrushes for $1 at the dollar store)

-A large mouth with teeth with constuction paper, using toothpaste to spread onto each tooth

-A tiger made out of orange easter eggs, with painted black stripes, and a black pipe cleaner tail

-We will be using a hammer and large push-pins to make a tapping noise. (A fun hands-on project)

-We will dig around the kitchen and house to find items that will make a great tapping noise together.

-In the "Amazing Action Alphabet" mini-books there is a mini book of "T". It is the second lesson, so it's very basic and shows pictures of different "t-t-t" sounds.

-Various books about going to the Dentist....