Making board books "irresistible" to toddlers....an invitation to read.

This little one LOVES books, but I have a little trick up my sleeve to get her interested in books throughout the day.  Occasionally when I walk past her little basket of books, I'll grab a few out and take them to some spot in the house and set them open, on end.  This always grabs her attention and she sits down with them and "reads" through them for a few minutes.  It's a fun and simple book invitation and a little surprise that gives her joy!!

Best Audiobooks for Preschoolers/Older Toddlers

This list is a younger version of my AUDIOBOOKS FOR KINDERGARTENERS.  In that post, I discuss some of the nuts and bolts about using audiobooks with young children, so you might want to read it first.

The following is a list of some of our faves for the older toddler/preschool crowd.  Also, many of the books on the kindergarten list are also great for preschoolers!  I have a lot of the photos included on the Kindy list, so you can see which ones are in bagged sets with the book--best for littler guys.

I taught my little guy to use a CD player very early on (before he was even 2), so he is independent with it.  Kids love cd players and, with teaching and practice, can be very careful and independent with them, if it is expected of them.  I always had a cd player available for listening to stories in my 2 year old classroom and the children were allowed to use it on their own.  I'll try to remember to put up a post with some of the step-by-step processes we used to teach CD player independence!

Also, I strongly recommend THIS list of nature audiobooks that appeal to older toddlers and preschoolers from another of my past posts.

Also, I add to this list as we come across new titles, so it is growing all the time!

And now, our favorite audiobooks for real little ones:

Brown Bear And Friends  by Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle

Curious George series by H.A. Rey

The Frances Audio Collection by Russell Hoban

It's a Tiger! by David LaRochelle

Brand-new Pencils, Brand-new Books by Diane deGroat

Bad Rats by Eric Drachman

Green Eggs and Ham and Other Servings of Dr. Seuss

Too Many Toys    and   A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

George and Martha series by James Marshall

Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa Series by Erica Silverman (these are longer, so best for older preschoolers)

Diary of A Fly by Doreen Cronin (or any of her books)

Petite Rouge Riding Hood by Mike Artell

Skippyjon Jones books by Judy Schachner

Fairy Tales by Paul Galdone (Rumpelstiltskin, etc)

Maynard Moose Series by Willy Claflin

The Little Moose Who Couldn't Go to Sleep by Willy Claflin

Little Bear Series by Else Homelund Minarik

Do Unto Otters by Laurie Keller

Brave Irene by William Steig (a longer one)

Alice the Fairy by David Shannon

Bat Loves the Night by Nicola Davies

One Tiny Turtle by Nicola Davies

Surprising Sharks by Nicola Davies

Mole Music by David McPhail

The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone

Apples to Oregon by Deborah Hopkinson & Nancy Carpenter

Happy Birthday, Sam by Pat Hutchins

Houndsley and Catina Series by James Howe

Lulubelle and Her Bones by Vashti Farrer

Geronimo Stilton Series by Geronimo Stilton (for older preschoolers)

Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss

The Cat in the Hat and Other Dr. Seuss Favorites by Dr. Seuss

The Boy Who Cried Bigfoot! by Scott Magoon

Leroy Ninker Saddles up by Kate Dicamillo

LMNO Peas by Keith Baker

One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo

Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein

This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

Young Amelia Bedelia Series by Herman Parish

A Sick Day for Amos McGee
Bear Has a Story to Tell (both by )  by Phillip C. Stead

And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano

Murmel, Murmel, Munsch by Robert Munsch

Olivia Series by Ian Falconer

We're Going On A Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

Do Unto Otters by Laurie Keller

The Gigantic Turnip by Aleksei Tolstoy

Mouse and Mole Series by Wong Herbert Yee

Pete the Cat series by Eric Litwin

The Story Tree by Hugh Lupton

Mr. Putter and Tabby series by Cynthia Rylant

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

Young Amelia Bedelia Audio Collection by Hermann Parish

Arthur series by Lillian Hoban

Fancy Nancy Series by Jane O' Connor

The Dog Who Had Kittens by Polly Robertus

Amelia Bedelia Series by Peggy & Herman Parish

Bailey Goes Camping; Chester's Way or any/all Kevin Henkes books

Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino

Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing by Judi Barrett

The Biggest Snowman Ever by Steven Kroll

Arthur Series by Marc Brown

Bear's Toothache by David McPhail

Anna Banana and Me by Lenore Blegvad

Biscuit Series by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

Annie and Snowball Series by Cynthia Rylant

Mr. Putter and Tabby Series by Cynthia Rylant

Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack

A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel

Bear Books by Karma Wilson

Frog and Toad Series   and    The Arnold Lobel Audio Collection by Arnold Lobel
(any of his stuff is great!!)

The Bear's Bicycle by Emilie McLeod

Grin and Bear It by Leo Landry

Berenstain Bear Stories by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Zelda and Ivy series by Laura Kvasnosky

Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle

Wolf Pie by Brenda Seabrooke

The Teacher From The Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler (my kids loved this and weren't scared...but if your kids get scared easily, you might want to thumb through it with them first and let them see the ending....) 

Crash and Bump

One activity we do many mornings is "Crash and Bump."  It's basically a little obstacle course around our living room, and you've probably seen my posts about it before.  The goal is to provide a structured outlet for some physical energy, promote gross motor development, vestibular development , proprioceptive development, direction-following, and just plain fun!

We change out our obstacles each week, but we keep pretty much the same TYPE of objective at each obstacle.  I have the kids sit on the couch while I set up--they can look at books but not get off couch--and it takes me 5-7 min to get set up.  I usually have a pretty good idea of what I'll set up planned in my head, and lots of obstacles are the same, or mostly the same with just a little tweak, each week.  

For this obstacle, Q was jumping over the "river."  Ie: a rug that she had to jump across.

 Balance beam (table leaf spread across two chairs)

 Trampoline (piece of Q's mattress with baby gate to hold onto to facilitate bouncing)

 Pillow pit (all the couch pillows with a down comforter thrown on top)

 Crawly tube and in the background is the road--a piece of black felt with lines of yellow felt hotglued down it--initially made for Beck's cars, but also works well for this!

 This is the sommersault afghan.  Beck does more of a roll--they go from one end to the other.

 Uhhh-ohhh, doggy road block!

We also usually put out or rocking horse for riding and some rocker boards either to rock on or to walk across like a bridge.  I put on some fun, fast-tempoed kids music and we have fun!  There's no passing allowed, so if you catch up with the person ahead of you, choose to redo the past station or march in place...or just wait patiently!  I usually help Beck with some of the obstacles such as the "balance beam."  Sometimes I just line up chairs with no table leaf for them to walk across.  Nothing fancy, but they have great fun and I know we're working on those little body systems that are forming pathways in the minds and bodies of little people!!!

Pin Poking work for toddlers and preschoolers

A thrifted cork board and a bowl full of thumbtacks....The little guy has fun just poking and putting them in lines to make "trains."  My almost-six-year-old loves to make pictures and letters using the pins.  Sometimes we add in little scraps of paper to pin down!  Great fine motor practice!

A boy and his knives....toddler play with playdough and knives.

 Beck LOVES working with knives these days.  He knows they are something so "grown up" so of course he wants to learn how to use them!  Playdough is a great time for cutting practice.  He gets a chunk of playdough and a selection of knives.  Spreaders, plastic knives, veggie cutters, and butter knives were selected this particular time.  Pizza cutters are also fun.  Playdough and safe knives allow opportunities for him to master the mechanics of cutting and also develop the wrist strength and control and grasping strength to cut effectively.  

I also let him cut fruit and veggies with a paring knife when I am sitting with him at the table.  We start with hand-over-hand and then when he is ready I let him cut on his own, well supervised.

Hammering nails into playdough=happy boy!

Carwash

This guy LOVES the carwash.  We've been doing a carwash at home.  A simple spray bottle, water, some lavender oil to make it smell nice, a couple towels, a scrub brush, and an empty handsoap bottle filled with water (it has enough soap left in the bottom to foam up) works wonders. Best of all is when Mama brings out her hair dryer at the end!

We do this about every day around here.  Our vehicles are VERY clean!!

"Thingy Box"

 Every home should have one of these, no matter the age of the kiddos!  My kids start with a "thingy basket" as soon as they can sit up.  Filled with items to hold, touch, gum, explore and drop, initially.  Items change with development and by two years Little Man has a box filled with a variety of random objects.  I have also included a couple magnets.  He can use them to figure out which items are attracted to them.  However, most often he just looks through the stuff and plays with the different items.  There are jar lids, tiny buckets, paperclips, coins, keys, a wrench, rocks, poker chips, a caribiner, a twist-up mechanical pencil, a scoop, an old dog tag, a rubberband, a padlock/key, a pencil, a washer, a marble, a couple keychains, a fake spider, a plastic toy cat.....etc, etc.  He can sit with his box for a good while, just exploring what is inside.  I change them out occasionally to keep his interest. 

For me the two best places to find items for the box are the kitchen junk drawer and the drawer of junk in Daddy's dresser.  Also the garage usually yields something fun and interesting.

Do you have thingy baskets/boxes for your kiddos?  You should try it!  Fun and educational.  And so very simple. 

Rubberbands around a jar.

The little guy is working on lots of skills that will get his fingers ready for handwork.  Putting rubberbands around a jar is a great job for him!

Handwork.

I've recently begun intentionally including some handwork in our weekly routine.  Sometimes we sit down together to do a planned activity.  Today I got out my big jar of buttons (well, actually last night I got everything set up at the table because life flows better around here if things are prepared....) and some embroidery floss and a dull metal needle for the little guy to string buttons.  Quinn got an embroidery hoop with some vintage pillowcase fabric (thrifted), a sharper needle, thread, and buttons.   

 He was far more interested in playing with the buttons than stringing them, which is fine.  I have to sometimes remind myself this whole thing is about the process and not the product.  They are good at reinforcing that message to me!

I do believe in giving my kids real tools--real knives, real needles, etc.  We spend time teaching them how to use the item correctly and safely and they are always supervised when being used.  For this reason my kids know how to chop food carefully and how to thread a needle without poking themselves, as well as use glass and fragile items carefully.  

 

Quinn did great sewing on a few of her "favorite" buttons with a bit of my help.  After 5 she was done and ready to just play with the buttons.  I always remind myself that often the first encounter with a new activity ends up being a short encounter, but enthusiasm and interest (and focus) will grow with repeated exposure.  So for today, this was fine!  She is excited to put her work up on the wall in her room!

 PS) Those little porcelain trays that the kids put their "selected buttons" into came from Matt's Mee-Maw, who passed away a year or so ago.  I love having sweet reminders of the ones we love as a part of our day.  Made me smile to see little fingers placing buttons in her trays.

 Button scooping, pouring, sorting, and tonging ensued.  Then I dropped the big glass jar the buttons are kept in onto the floor and it busted into a million pieces.  Yep, the jar I told the kids not to touch without my help....I guess my help was in smashing it to pieces!  But another benefit of using glass items with the kiddos is they know how to handle broken glass.  Everyone stayed in their seats and watched the great vacuum escapades....but I still wouldn't walk through my kitchen barefooted, if I were you!  :)

I have more handwork pictures and ideas to share that I've been gathering up lately, so stay tuned.  

Dancing/Obstacle Course

On Wednesdays we dance.  But lately that has turned into more of an obstacle course, which my kids are loving.  The night before (Tues. night) I sorta plan out my course and set out any materials I will need.  We generally use the same stuff with one or two new things each time.  Then on Wednesday the kids have to stay in the playroom while I set up.  Then I put on music and we follow the course!

We do have rules--

-no passing the person in front of you.  If you catch up to them you can jump or run in place while you wait patiently.  

-use the materials correctly 

-no pushing/shoving

-if you accidentally move an obstacle put it back where it was

Before we start the course I take them on a walk through and explain each obstacle.  

Here are some example photos:

We generally have a "step upon" which is something they can walk on that has a texture to it--in this case pom poms.  Sometimes they are in a pan or dish, sometimes just on the carpet.  Bubble wrap, marbles, or any other object that provides texture will work.  I trade this item out most times.  

This is a dish of nuts in shells (pecans, almonds, etc.)  They dump it out, walk across it, and then put them back in the dish.  Step-upons provide sensory input and teach them how to walk carefully on different surfaces.

This guy was not following one of the rules (don't remember which one now) and he had to sit on the couch for a time out.  My kids can definitely get wild and out of control during obstacles, and I don't want any blood or injuries, so we stick to the rules.

Riding the rocking horse:

Jumping across two rugs and into a down comforter, where you wallow yourself into it, then get up again.  We call it the "snow pit."

The tunnel is a big hit.  $4 at the Goodwill.  I see them there often.

Bendy board bridge.  Daddy made these for us.  Some of the best toys ever.

Stepping across to the ottoman:

Jumping off ottoman:

Rocking in the "boat" laundry basket:

We also have another bendy board that we put the other way so it can be rocked upon.  Sometimes we use diving rings that they have to step through.  We've put down a string line that gets walked upon....the possibilities are endless.  My kids LOVE this activity and it is awesome for proprioceptive awareness, motor control, rule following, and energy releasing, among other things!  I will try to post more obstacle course pics as the weeks go by!

Daddy-School.....in the shop!

 Daddy's shop is the most popular place around.  The kids go crazy if he tells them they can come work a little bit.  Here's one thing Matt does with them--He starts nails into scrapwood.  Then he lets them use hammers to pound in the nails.  He has shown them how to hold a hammer and talked about safety with them, of course....They LOVE it, and so many great benefits--practical life, hand-eye coordination, gross motor development, independence, cross-lateral movements....and great time learning from Daddy!  Our Daddy's a pretty good teacher, ya know!

Oats Play

Herb clipping

 I needed some finely chopped rosemary for some rosemary lemon bread we were making for Monday Bread Day.  We have a rosemary bush outside, so we gathered some sprigs, then I put the littles at the table to cut up the pieces.  They really enjoyed this!  Great fine motor, practical life, and finger-strength--in a different way than cutting paper, as the bulky rosemary requires that you hold/use the scissors a bit differently.  Beck asked a few other times during the week to cut rosemary.  One of the times I gave him some fresh oregano to cut, and he loved that, too!  Of course if you don't grow rosemary or other herbs (you TOTALLY should....rosemary is the easiest ever) then you can buy them at the grocery store in the produce section.  Sidenote--it makes your kitchen and your children smell lovely! A great sensory activity, as well!

Older children could actually use a cutting board and paring knife to do this, as well.  Quinn would be ready for that at this point, but she wanted to use the scissors like her brother. :)

And a older infant/young toddler who isn't ready for scissors?  Show them how to pull off the leaves with their hands....if they happen to eat some...it will be good for them!  

Teaching Play-doughing

As with any art mediums, it's important to teach the procedure of playdough to little ones!  

One vital skill is "bomp-bomping!"  You know exactly what I mean, right?

At clean-up time when you take a ball of playdough and smash it down on any little lumps that have  escaped you (while saying "bomp-bomp") as you smash each piece into the larger ball?  A definite must-know when it comes to playdough!

For playdough newbies, this makes a great activity. Cover the cookie sheet/art tray with little lumps of playdough.  Use a ball to smash onto the little nibs and pick them up, while of course saying "bomp-bomp!"  

 He loves this!  And best of all, when it's clean up time he knows exactly how to catch any stray playdough pieces!

(not to mention it encourages one-to-one correspondance and fine-motor skills!!)