By Kristi, on February 19th, 2012
Since our winter has been mild we expect that March will arrive with the roar of a lion. This lion for preschoolers will help you usher in the month. I love that how it implements so many fine motor skills.
You need:
- glue
- construction paper – I used orange and yellow, but your lion can be any color
- scissors
- crayons, markers, or pencil
Draw a large circle on you paper or you can trace a lid or a plate as I did. Tracing is an optional skill you can incorporate.
If your child is working on scissor skills you can make lines across a piece of paper for them to cut fur for the mane. As you can see my lines aren’t perfectly parallel and that’s okay.
Cut strips of paper (fine motor) then wrap them around a pencil or marker to create curls (more fine motor).
Then glue them to the circle in a random fashion (fine motor).
Draw circles and cut them out for the ears. Glue them to the head (fine motor).
Draw circles/ovals for the eyes and a triangle for the nose (fine motor). Make speckles or lines for whiskers (fine motor).
Then ROAR!!!
Well….PURRRRRR. I think our lion is a lover not a fighter.
He may not look fierce but he requires fierce fine motor skills!!
Lions connect to many learning activities and books. Considering it is nearly March, many early childhood educators are looking for lambs and lions to connect to the season and weather. This lion can also be connected to the beautifully illustrated wordless book The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney.
There are many version of this activity on the web, so if you have one on your blog, let me know in the comments and I’ll add a link.
By Kristi, on February 12th, 2012
The HopeFULL Company is working to meet the needs of children and adults who have trouble eating by providing nutrient-dense, easily edible food. Whether you have a child who is ill or maybe you know an adult who is suffering side effects from chemotherapy; these products might help meet their nutritional needs.
Through the magic of cyber space connections and relationships I was contacted by the ladies from the HopeFULL Company. I described to them that we have a friend who is suffering from severe side effects from cancer treatments and had sent the family the website. After another contact through a Facebook group, the HopeFULL ladies generously sent me their kits and recipes so that I could make some pops to share.
This is the HopeFULL Kit. It focuses on the needs of adults. It comes with a popsicle mold, insulated bag, spoons, and beautiful recipes cards. Some of the recipes can be eaten warm which suits the need of our friend.
The BellyFULL Kit is designed for children and comes with a cute little chef’s hat instead of the insulated bag. The recipes are very kid friendly.
It is all simple! My friend choose a few recipes that appealed a bit and could be warmed. Here are some of the ingredients for a peanut butter and jelly pop:
Pour the ingredients into a blender and give a whir until all ingredients are fully pureed:
Pour into the molds, place the birchwood spoons (their version of a popsicle stick) and freeze:
To help them loosen just a bit I set them into container of warm water for just few moments:
Yes, I managed to leave out a spoon, but considering these are going to be warmed up, I should have left out all of the spoons.
I have fixed three of the recipes and each one was smooth and tasty.
I was given the HopeFULL kits with no strings attached, the HopeFULL company did not request a review. Their recipes and products were wonderful and I wanted to share them with you. I would recommend the kits for: children, picky eaters, adults and children who have eating difficulties.
Many thanks to the ladies of the HopeFULL company for sharing the products with me! This is the HopeFULL Company’s website. Go check them out!
By Kristi, on February 6th, 2012
Do you need a simple, quick valentine creation that anyone can make? Our Valentine art is for you!
This post is also a Valentine Idea blog hop organized by Mama Peapod!
To create a Valentine that even toddlers can make you need:
- paint
- paper
- scissors
- markers or crayons
If you are painting with toddlers you might consider using this finger-paint recipe from At The Butterfly Ball. This is just plain old non-toxic paint from a bottle:
Paint! Your child’s art won’t look like this and that is wonderful! Let them create their own design.
Once it is completely dry cut a heart from the paper; an older child can do this themselves:
Have your child draw or write their valentine message on the back:
Turn it over and enjoy their creative endeavor.
Who wouldn’t love to receive a custom design from a little person?
Blog Hop!
This activity is part of the Kid Blogger Network Valentine Activity Blog Hop. It has been organized by Jane at Mama Peapod. Thank you, Jane! It is being hosted by the following wonderful group of international bloggers:
Mama Pea Pod, Let Kids Create, My Creative Family, Hands on: as we grow, La Dolce Vita: The Sweet Life, AngeliqueFelix.com, The Golden Gleam, Teach Preschool, Critters and Crayons, Living at the Whitehead Zoo, The Iowa Farmer’s Wife, Nurturestore, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, The Chocolate Muffin Tree, Jamie’s Jumble, The Outlaw Mom Blog, Mama Smiles, The Mommies Made Me Do It, Dinosaurs and Octopuses, Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas, Toddler Approved, Messy Kids, Rainy Day Mum, JDaniel4sMom, Glittering Muffins, Red Ted Art, Mommy and Me Book Club, Putti Prapancha, Dilly-Dali Art, Creative Connections for Kids, Mommy Labs, De tout et de rien: Activités pour le Préscolaire, Imagination Soup.net, Rockabye Butterfly, Classified: Mom, Kids Creative Chaos, A Mom with A Lesson Plan, PlayDrMom, RainbowsWithinReach, Living Montessori Now, Curly Birds, Growing A Jeweled Rose, The Home Teacher, A Little Learning For Two, Sun Hats and Wellie Boots, The Imagination Tree, Mummy Mummy Mum, Critters and Crayons, La-La’s Home Daycare, Come Together Kids,Tinkerlab, Dirt and Boogers, Multiple Mummy.
Please share your lovely Valentine activity right here!
By Kristi, on February 5th, 2012
A great Valentine story to share with your children is Never Too Little to Love by Jeanne Willis and Jan Fearnly.
It is the story of a little mouse struggling to reach his love, but he is very small and she is very tall:
However, he is a problem solver! He works to reach his love by stacking objects and climbing diligently.
I love the unique layout of this book. The left side has pages that have graduated sizes with the text, and they build to match the size of the illustration on the right.
He works so hard…
He struggles. His efforts come to a crashing end!
But alas all is not lost. His friend helps him as she reaches down from her lofty stance to kiss him….awwww!
A wonderful way to create literacy connection to the book is to create a dramatic play of the story.
You need:
- a large toy animal
- a small toy animal
- various household objects for building
How to:
Have your children recreate and retell the story by building a structure for the small critter to climb to reach the tall one.
This is a lovely Valentines Day story and a simple activity.
You can purchase Never Too Little to Love at Amazon. Click here:
Have a Happy Valentines day together!
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