Making our own art

I've seen this project popping up all around lately....primarily it's been done using the letters to make the child's name. I've been wanting a simple ABC artwork, and when I saw some sale canvases recently, I knew it was time for this project!

First you stick letter stickers on your canvas. Stick em down really well!

Use permanent paint (acrylic) to paint over the whole canvas--tip: use colors in the same color family, otherwise they all blend together and turn brown. I put out (in an egg carton) purple, turquoise, blue, light green, and navy. I always try to include at least one metallic paint cause I love the finish it gives. In this case I used metallic purple. Make sure everything gets covered in paint, even the stickers. AND the sides.

Let the paint dry for about an hour (but not TOOO long), and then peel off the stickers. If you have any places that didn't get enough paint, you can always take a small brush and go back to touch up.

Love this project we created together!

PS) If you try to go in straight rows with your letters, better draw a ruler line. I always do a wavy-ish line so I don't have to obsess over whether the letters are all lined up straight. Less measuring that way!

Valentine's Day Decos in the Learning room

Heart-shaped rug under the easel, heart napkin and pink flowers on the little table, and a sparkly LOVE sign on the nature shelf.

Calendar

Keeping a calendar is a great way to follow the rhythm of days and months and also to practice simple observation and recording skills. Here's the type of calendar I find appropriate for 2 year olds.

We first talk about the month. I have a cute set of month labels, and of course January is the only one that's been misplaced (it was gifted from a friend and she had lost it), but typically the name of the month is written with beautiful illustrations of different objects and activities that go with the month. We talk about the first letter of the month and also the pictures on the sign and, of course, who we know that has a birthday that month. We also sing the "Months" song. I believe the version I use is from Dr. Jean.

Next we talk about the days of the week. We sing the days of the week song and hold up seven fingers, lowering them as we say the days. Then I lay out 3 days and ask Q to find whatever day it is currently. I prompt her by saying, "Today is Thursday. Thursday starts like Trent." She then clips Thursday up on the front of the yellow pocket, and puts the remaining days inside the pocket.

At this point we don't focus on the days of the month--her attention span is limited and she isn't ready for the numbers and counting portion yet. One thing I love about doing calendar this way is that if we don't get to calendar every day, it doesn't matter. When you put up the numbers for the days of the month, if you miss a day, it doesn't work as well. We try to do calendar every day, but sometimes we do our singing and talking about the month, days, weather in the car or on a walk and don't get around to actually putting up the cards.

We sing "What's the Weather" and observe the weather out the window. Q puts up a card that shows today's weather--sunny, cloudy, rainy or snowy (ha!). She puts the others back into the pocket.

We also practice counting during Calendar time. First we count to 10 in a BIG HUGE voice and pump our muscles. Then we count to 10 in a TEENY TINY voice and touch our pinkies together. Q loves this! Then we count how many "friends" are present for Calendar that day (of course the majority are stuffed animals and dolls, and sometimes even our dog and cat). We put up a number card to show how many friends are here.

Calendar lasts about 5 minutes in all and is a part of our Morning Circle Time.

Here's a picture from a December Circle Time (excuse the jammies--we were on vacation!) so you can see my prettier month signs and also our "friends" who come to Circle Time. We are singing the Days of the Week song.
Sidenote: I always request that Q sets out a chair, pillow or rug for each "friend" attending circle time. This requires her to practice one-to-one correspondance by putting one animal/baby in each chair/rug/pillow. It also limits the number of participants to a reasonable number--when the spots are gone, no more friends can come till tomorrow. Otherwise she'd love to bring every stuffed animal and doll she owns. Yikes!

New instruments

We keep instruments out in our learning room all the time. You can see in the top picture--that's the instrument basket on the shelf. We've gotten a few new ones lately to tell you about. In the bottom picture--you can see the set of handbells Q got for her birthday. The sweet friend even included a basket to keep them in! Q LOVES these, and so does every other child who comes to our house! She has had so much fun playing with them. You can get a set at educational stores and I've also seen them at Michael's Craft Stores.
Also, for Christmas some friends brought Q the frog instrument from somewhere overseas (yes, I should know where and what it's called, I know)....You make music by dragging the stick down its back and it actually sounds like a frog croaking if you do it fast. Q also plays it like a drum sometimes. The last instrument is a simple bell with a ribbon tied through the top for holding.
We do instruments to accompany our songs during our Circle Time. We try to refer to all the instruments by their names (for the ones we know...ahem.)

My Lists

I keep a list of random ideas of things I want to do with Q in my office taped to the wall. Most of them are quick, easy projects, games or activities that don't necessarily fit with a particular season or theme. When I need something to do with her (like we are about to go stir crazy!) I refer to my list!

Let's Explore Blog published a great list for the month that I also added to my wall: (And yup, theirs looks MUCH nicer.)

Click here to download yours!

Valentine Button Wreath

Last week we started the first of our Valentine projects! A button wreath.
It was simple and fun and encouraged some great toddler skills.
Here's what we did:
Used a piece of scrap cardboard from our recycle box. Traced around a large circle puzzle piece to make the outside, and the bottom of an olive jar for the inside. I did all the cutting on the cardboard using sharp scissors and Q and I talked about the shapes.

I set out a pile of buttons (that I had already sorted out into one pile that included white, pink, and reds). I gave Q a muffin tin and asked her to sort the buttons by color. She was a speedy sorter and had them in their respective compartments in no time. For kids new to sorting, you might cut a circle of construction paper in each color to tape in the bottom of each muffin compartment to help them know where each color goes.

Then we used our trusty glue bottles and got to work sticking on buttons! I did mine (right) several layers thick and Q tried to cover most of the cardboard. I was proud of how well she did! We actually did the gluing in two sessions--she put about 8 on and got bored, so we took another stab at it after naptime and she was very engaged!

Now to tie some pretty ribbon on mine and hang it somewhere in our house! Q has already gifted hers to someone special!

This activity encourages size awareness (when talking about the different buttons), counting (holes in the buttons), color awareness, sorting, fine motor, and gross motor (squeezing glue bottle).

Paper exploration.....

Well, here in TX leaves are still falling....we had some fun exploring using leaves as paper! We used a liquid-style ink pen and wrote different words and phrases on leaves. It was a good skill for my little one because if you press too hard, the leaf tears. Also, after you finish writing, you have to blow on the wet ink and not touch it, otherwise it smears! A good lesson in patience! We will continue to explore some other natury papers--maybe we can find some dried grass or even some sticks to write on! We've also had fun painting and stamping on leaves in the past......