When it's too hot to go outside, it's perfect for painting!

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!

You should really do this....the magical power of audiobooks!

If you read my blog at all you've read my praises of Jim Trelease's READ ALOUD HANDBOOK....he spends a large section of his book discussing the importance of reading aloud to your children--even the ones that can already read themselves.  Largely this is because listening comprehension develops more quickly and at a higher rate than reading comprehension.  That means that children can listen and understand a book more difficult than they can read on their own.  Reading aloud to kids exposes them to richer vocabulary, more complex plot elements, more diverse settings, and more developed characterization.

So we read aloud to our kids several times a day at our house--at least at nap time and bedtime, but often first thing in the morning and maybe in-between if there's a good time for books.

One tool that we also love around here are audiobooks.  Audiobooks provide a way for my children to be read to where they're in control of the situation.  They choose the cd, they turn it off or on, and they can choose when they want to listen.

My daughter stopped napping at 18 months and also has a difficult time falling asleep at night.  For her, audiobooks are a great sleep aide.  She listens to stories during her rest time in a dark room to relax.  At bedtime she prefers falling asleep to a story rather than music.  My son still prefers music--so you can see the choice thing coming into play.  Remember that it's great to provide opportunities for control and power to young children.  Having a cd player and some cds in their room is a great tool for this!

Quinn also uses her audiobooks as a tool for times she needs to cool down or chill out--we call this "composing herself."  She can typically go to her room and listen to a cd for a few minutes and calm/refocus herself enough to come out ready to rejoin the ongoing activities.  I love that, often, a few minutes of a story gives her pleasure and calm and provides a medium through which she can regain control over her emotions.

We use audiobooks on roadtrips.  I am not a tv person--we don't have our television on when the kids are around at home.  While we do loosen up on this and typically let Quinn watch one movie on long road trips, I don't like to spend the whole drive with her watching a movie.  We check out a stack of audiobooks and listen away!  The advantage of audiobooks/reading aloud over movies and tvs is that they require the listener to use their own imagination to picture the scenes in the story.  Movies are more passive--they do all the work for you and there isn't much left to the imagination.  We live in a large city where sometimes even driving to places like church can take over 30 minutes.  Often this is a great time to pop in an audiobook!

Quinn is 5 years old.  At this point she has listened to the entire Magic Treehouse Collection several times over--which is more than 40 books.  She has also enjoyed the Clementine series (Sara Pennypacker), Junie B Jones collection, My Father's Dragon series, Animal Rescue Team series (Stauffacher) and countless other picture books.

We also use audiobooks for calming tools.  When we're having a crazy day and trouble getting along, often we'll pull up to the kitchen table with some markers or paints or colored pencils and draw, listening to our favorite Sparkle Stories.  Sometimes when one of my kids doesn't feel to great they'll cuddle onto the couch with their blanket and a Sparkle Story playing.

Have you heard of Sparkle Stories?  (www.sparklestories.com)  It is a company that provides the most beautiful, simple, innocent stories that you can purchase from their website.  The stories are based around child development and the rhythm and seasons of the year.  In each story the characters work through a particular problem or issue in a lovely way.  You can listen to some free stories on their blog or also on their podcast.  We often have "Sparkle Lunch," which means we eat our lunch quietly while listening to a Sparkle Story. This is such a gem on those days we've been running like crazy all morning and just need some slow-down time to recharge.

I can definitely see the results of my two little ones listening to audiobooks often.  Quinn is always amazing me with some vocabulary word she uses correctly in a sentence or a historical fact she throws in to our convo that I didn't even know she knew.  

I really have to say, the Magic Tree House books are top notch.  If you have preschoolers or younger elementary kiddos, you HAVE to share these with them!  They are written in a way that appeal to boys and girls....and are wonderful exposures to historical fiction.  I read Quinn the first one aloud, and then we checked out all the rest from the library on cd.

Here are some tips to help get started with audiobooks in your home:
1) Get a cd player--simple and low tech is best.  We always get the cheapest one target or walmart has.

2) Teach cd and cd player handling.  Practice with them several times.  Supervise them doing it on their own for a while, and this will gradually lead to independence, even with children as young as 2 or 3.  Be sure they know how to replace the cd in its case and have a special spot for storing cd's.  If your child misuses a cd or the cd player, begin your lessons and practice again.

3) Like anything, listening comprehension takes practice.  Your kids may not make it through a whole story and stay focused the first time.  Start small--check out shorter picture books.  Listen to the story on cd while looking at the book.  Build up to longer sessions.  I always like to take advantage of "captive audience" times like car rides to play audiobooks for my kids.  As they are able to listen to stories through, you can expose them to longer and longer books.  Quinn listens to chapter books, so she pauses her cd player between listening sessions.

4) Try some of the free Sparkle Stories.  Remember that you might have to play the same story a few times for your kids to help them grow comfortable with something new and familiar with the characters.

5) The library is the best tool ever!  Check out their audiobooks.  We can put items on request from other libraries around our area--so I always have a list of what we want to listen to next.  I am sure there are also websites such as audible that you can get kids audiobooks from, but for us we haven't exhausted the free ones at the library in the past several years, so we'll keep getting ours from there!

Quinn begs me several times a week to take her to the library for more audiobooks!  She devours them.  Beck is beginning to fall in love with them too, and often he's the one that asks for stories at lunchtime.

Important to note, I still think (and Trelease agrees with me!) that Matt and I reading aloud to the kiddos is the most important read alouds they get during their days.  Using audiobooks hasn't become a substitute for this--we still read to them several times a day.  The audiobooks are more of a supplement that they use at other times across their day.

So.....are you inspired?  Or maybe you already listen to books on cd--if you haven't listened to Magic Tree House--please do!!!

Toddler Summer To-do's!

Water painting.  Just a cup of water, a paintbrush and a chalkboard.  Perfect for quick before-breakfast masterpieces! (cloth napkin underneath to catch the water drippees.)  Big sis likes to paint with water then follow up with chalk for a wet-chalk technique.  Dog just likes to watch.

 Outside water tea party.  Teapot and teacup courtesy of the thrift store.  Check out that intense concentration.....There can never be too much summer outside waterplay.

Mama's toolbox.....the power of re-arranging.

We have a great easel the kids were gifted with a few years back.  I like to change out the arrangement of play/learning/art items in our house.  I believe this is one of a teacher mama's best tools for engaging little ones.  Novelty and the way things are displayed.  

So back to this easel.  We had it in the dining room for a while in the past and the kids played with it a lot.  Then they gradually stopped working with it.  So I put it away for about 6 months--it folds down so I popped it into a closet.  A couple weeks ago I brought it back out.  I set it up in the dining room with some great colored pencils, a marker block, and some chalk.  The kids have gone bonkers over it!  Someone is always drawing something!  It is like they got something new, and in their world they really have.  It's been so long since they've played with it that it's now a new toy!  

 As summer engulfs our world and most of us are a little more fulltime teacher mama's, I encourage you to evaluate your play/learning space.  What things are your kids not really using?  Put them up somewhere for a few months.  Give em a chance to be new toys again!  Or even just move things to a new spot to catch your kids' eyes from a different perspective.   Trade out some art supplies.  Freshen up your play kitchen or your block area or even your bookshelf.  Spend 30 minutes doing a little purposeful rearranging and you will be amazed at the power this small action has!

This tactic works wonders for any age--even adults like a freshened-up space!  Try moving your table a different direction or your living room around to a different arrangement.  It will add a nice element of change to your "nest" and a little variety to your summer.   And babies--they love this tactic, too.  Adds so much interest to their world!  Move their mobile or change out what is over their changing area.  Put something different on the wall above their crib.  Change the direction their highchair faces....so many options!!  Get creative, teacher mamas!

An invitation to play....with marbles!

 Have you heard of the strategy of offering an "INVITATION TO PLAY" for your children?  Simply put, you set up an appealing area with whatever play materials you want them to use.  You do this while they aren't watching (napping, in bed, in another room, etc.) and then "surprise" them with the invitation.  Sometimes you tell them to expect an invitation, other times you just leave it out somewhere for them to stumble upon and notice.

Invitations are highly motivation for kids.  First off, the appealing nature of how the activity looks instantly grabs their attention.  Second, it's new!!  And fun!!

Invitations are great tools for fussy/grumpy times of the day.  Dinnertime, anyone??!!  We use invitations on the two mornings a week that Quinn doesn't go to school--before I go to bed for the night I set out a small breakfasty snack and some type of art or play invitation on our kitchen table.  She wakes up earlier than everyone else.  We like our sleep.  So she can come down, eat her little snack, and start working or playing with whatever I've left out.  This (usually) works great in the mornings!

Invitations are also great tools for encouraging kids to play with toys/materials they haven't seemed to get "into" before.  Maybe setting it up a little bit, making it look appealing, and then placing it somewhere for your child to notice would encourage them to try new materials.  I also like using it to reignite their interest in toys and materials they haven't played with before.

For this particular invitation I had bought some marbles at the thrift store.  I set them on a tray (it's always a great idea to "corral" your invitations somehow--helps for both set up and clean up--I often use a rug, a quilt, or a tray, depending on the activity).  I poured the marbles out of the tin so he would spot them right away.  I also put out three tiny wooden bowls, a couple glass jars (on the carpet), some measuring spoons, a sifter, and a strainer.  Of course you know I tried to use natural materials--no plastic--and as many different types of natural materials as possible.  I envisioned him using them for pretend cooking play and also for music-making--two of his current interests.

He loves his marbles and plays with them for long periods of time quite often.  I do put the tray of marbles up between uses--to keep everything together, to keep marbles from getting lost, and to keep the novelty of the activity.  Every couple of days he asks for his marbles or I suggest them to him.  They continue to be a hit!!

I'd also recommend starting small with invitations.  Just put out a few things.  You can always add more items/steps the next time you use that same invitation.

Invitations also work with:
*snacks
*cooking activities
*block play (build a little something to get them ingrigued--leave it set up along with a pile of unused blocks!)
*books (set a book open on end to catch child's attention)
*bath toys
*clothes

Really the possibilities are endless....and this is one of those teaching tools that can be adapted to any age!!

New ways for using chalk....

Just plain ole drawing with chalk is old news around here.  Lately the kiddos have been getting creative with their chalk usage.  One day last week they smashed up some chalk pieces (him with his hammer and her with a rock) and then added water to make chalky paint.  

 It took her a bit to get the right consistency of chalk and water (yeehaw--great science skills!) and he was mostly interested in the smashing and not so much the painting, but lots of fun was had and learning was done in the process!