Schedule for Toddlers - 8

On Mondays I am going to have tips on what has worked for me with my many kids.  I have received emails about my daily schedule and so I am going to go in order every Monday.  Please comment with anything that you do or don't do or if this has helped you so we all can benefit from everyone's experiences.

7-8               Breakfast, practicing letters and morning review of the day.

8-9               Morning Task Sheet, get ready basically tidy up and morning chores.

9-10             Free Play w/Mom - No chore time slot...you will be amazed how much your kids will love this!

10-11           Quiet Activities

11-11:30       Clean Up

11:30-12       Lunch

12-12:30       TV/Show

12:30-3:00     Nap/Rest Time 

3-3:30           Snack

3:30-4:00      Reading/Books

Ignore me in these - the hubs insisted...remember my newborn is 12 days old and I don't normally look like that. ;)

My kids love to read.  I like to save it for after naps and snack because its a good focus activity for them.  My 4 year old son can read - and likes to read to his sisters.  So usually I will read to one kid and we switch, I then read a few more to them.  My favorite thing to do is let them each pick 2-3 books for themselves and then I will pick 5 or 6 that have to do with a specific theme.  I then have them guess what the theme is.  Usually its for the specific weeks like Pirate week or Farm week.  Its fun and gets them to pay attention.

At the end of the week we pick the best book and add it to our we want to buy it list.  

Hope this helps! :)

Pirate Ideas for Toddlers - 2

My kids basically slept in their silly stuff from yesterday.  So today we built a ship.

I used these:

They were 0.89 cents at Michaels in the foam section.

A broom stick, a laundry basket and streamers.

This would be fun for a pirate party for kids.

I let them decorate the pennants (flags) with markers.

Then we used the streamers to weave into the laundry basket.

They were very meticulous about the weaving and spend a lot of time making sure it looked just right.  It gave me some more ideas on boredom busters  because they loved this part of the activity.

Then we took to down stairs and played with it.  The kids made a plank with bathroom stools and then pushed each other around the house with it.  We attatched the flags to the broomstick and then taped it with packing tape to the basket.

Totally random fun and pirate themed. :)

Pirate Ideas for Toddlers - 1

My kids are IN LOVE with Disney Junior's Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

So a perfect opportunity to talk and learn about REAL Pirates!

Today is Dress Like a Pirate Day!
Here is what you need:  Paper Bag, Felt, Yarn, Scrap Fabric, Cardboard Box and Snow Boots (optional).

 Cut the paper bag down the middle, then cut a neck hole and 2 arm holes...try it on the kid...

 Decorate how you want. WE did dot markers since we haven't used them in a while.

 my daughter insisted on having the word side in the front.

 with the scrap fabric and felt and yarn make head wrap and eye patch.

 cut the flaps off a box and use that for swords.

 try it all on and go on an adventure!

 yikes!

 this is serious stuff folks!

Then run around the house for the next hour shouting pirate terms and giggle a lot.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

:)

I will be focusing on Pirates this week and Next...stay tuned!

Schedule for Toddlers - 7

On Mondays I am going to have tips on what has worked for me with my many kids.  I have received emails about my daily schedule and so I am going to go in order every Monday.  Please comment with anything that you do or don't do or if this has helped you so we all can benefit from everyone's experiences.

7-8               Breakfast, practicing letters and morning review of the day.

8-9               Morning Task Sheet, get ready basically tidy up and morning chores.

9-10             Free Play w/Mom - No chore time slot...you will be amazed how much your kids will love this!

10-11           Quiet Activities

11-11:30       Clean Up

11:30-12       Lunch

12-12:30       TV/Show

12:30-3:00     Nap/Rest Time 

3-3:30           Snack

3 - 3:30 Snack

I usually do snack based on the weekly theme or on what they ate for lunch. So if they had yogurt for lunch I probably won't give them cheese or dairy again for snack.  I have a bunch of fun snack ideas on my labels HERE its under Food.

I try and make snack something quick.  It rarely takes 30 minutes to eat but depending on wake up time I usually give myself 30 minutes....while they are eating snack I start to prep dinner.  If that is chop veggies or thaw meat or organize what I am making.  I like to use this time since I am already in the kitchen to get my brain thinking on dinner and what needs to get done.  Sometimes I will even have the kids clean the table and floors if my prep takes longer than expected so we are all in the kitchen together.

Hope this helps!

Oh and for those wondering I had my 4th kid last Wednesday!

She is adorable and a perfect little addition to our family.  Stay tuned because she will be in some upcoming projects! :)

Sale

I am taking this week off to have a baby.

Until then enjoy this awesome DOLLAR sale at Scholastic!
HERE IS THE SITE

Happy Shopping!

Valerie

Teaching Shapes to Toddlers - 6

Musical Shape Freeze Dance

Any excuse to play music really loud and shake your body is a plus in my book.

I had shapes all over the ground and then played this CD that I got from the Library.

Loud then Stop and they had to land on a shape. Then I drew from a bag the winning shape and that kid got a Gummy Bear. We rotated through a few times and then we took the shapes away and just let them dance and be crazy.

Everyone loved this game. Especially the two girls above! :)

Schedule for Toddlers - 6

7-8               Breakfast, practicing letters and morning review of the day.

8-9               Morning Task Sheet, get ready basically tidy up and morning chores.

9-10             Free Play w/Mom - No chore time slot...you will be amazed how much your kids will love this!

10-11           Quiet Activities

11-11:30       Clean Up

11:30-12       Lunch

12:00-12:30  TV/Show

My kids have a few favorite shows that they like to watch like Super Why, Tom and Jerry...really anything that is 30 minutes is perfect for this particular time slot.  Plus I use it as a schedule filler so I can clean up lunch or get them ready for other activities later in the day.

"After this show it's time for nap"

I never get fights if I let them watch something right before nap.  

I also rotate who gets to pick the show although if there is a fight on the show I usually pick for them.

Arthur is EVERYONE's favorite show!

After the show we head up the stairs and take a nap.

12:30-3:00 Nap

All of my kids even the 4 year old take a nap.  Granted his isn't as long as everyone else's but he knows that he needs to take a rest for at least 1 hour.  

If he wakes up early he uses this time to read or play his Leapster basically he knows that he needs to be in his room doing quiet things until 3pm.

During this time I usually get my stuff done, or read a book, or take a shower. :)

This time is my "me time" my "get the laundry running and folded" catch up on a book, sew whatever I want to do.

I know that a lot of kids don't nap anymore so I would suggest getting a timer and starting out small - 45 minutes of quiet time then move it up to an hour then an hour and a half.

Give them things that they have to do in a secluded area so they themselves can wind down and relax. 

Hope this helps!

Teaching Shapes to Toddlers - 5

Fun Snack Idea for Toddlers. Great Idea for Restaurants too!

I made this shape match up, laminated it and then we had snack.

 See the shapes?

 Then you match and eat.  The kids LOOOOOVED this!

 

 Even my almost 2 year old was into this activity!

We have taken it to restaurants too.  I just make sure I have a snack or 2 that matches the shapes.

If you would like a copy please email me at valeriewitte AT yahoo DOT com

I would be more than happy to email you the snack matching sheet!