Brown Bear Activites

So as I mentioned previously, we checked the book Brown, Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? out of the library the other day and my son was instantly enamored with it. He loves to read books, but the amount of times he has wanted to read it each day has surpassed previous records. So in light of that, I decided to find some brown bear activites to do around the house.

By far the easiest (and most entertaining for him) was making characters for the felt board. These are actually printables from 1+1+1=1, intended to be a puzzle, but I just cut them out, reinforced each side with clear packing tape, and taped velcro from a disposable diaper on the back. Instant felt board fun! What I like about these printables is that they actually are the same pictures used in the book, which makes it easier for my son to recognize. We have done several things with them today:

--he has just played with them on his own (calling them by name, making animal sounds, carrying them around the house)
--I went through the whole Brown Bear schpiel with them, reenacting the book
--I asked him "where is the green frog?" (etc.) and had him point at the right animal
--While we were reading the book I would stop at each animal and ask him to find the cutout that matched, again, "where is the blue horse?" and he would get it for me
--I tried to do a color activity with pompoms but he wasn't interested.

He seriously loves these cutouts, I have a feeling that they will get worn out even though I reinforced them!

Another fun activity was that I downloaded these tiny cutouts from Making Learning Fun  that were intended for use in an eye spy bottle (which I made later). First, though, I put the cutouts into our rice bin but I didn't do much hiding because I wasn't sure if he would find them.

Owen had a lot of fun pulling out all the different characters, naming them, making noises, etc. I enjoy having him do this activity while I clean the kitchen because it keeps him occupied and in sight and I don't feel like I am being neglectful even though I am not really participating. An unintentional bonus of this was that he did less throwing of the rice since he was so into the cutouts.

Next I made the eye spy bottle, and I think it is really cute, but I think that if you make it, you should print out two copies of the pictures because it was hard to see the animals when they were facing the wrong way.  I don't know if I am explaining that right, but I plan on printing out another copy so that there is a picture on the front and back of each piece so it will be easier to play with.  Otherwise I thought it was a great activity and a great idea!  I have tried a bunch of times today to find the page on the Making Learning Fun where the list of printables came from but all I have is the link to the eye spy bottle, so here it is for you.  

We also got started on a mini brown bear coloring book that will end up in our tot book at the end of this week

As well as played with these number cards.  Owen doesn't really count with me (although he counts with his daddy, I think) but I often hear him "counting"... Usually it goes "three, four, five, nine.."  and thats about it.  so cute ;)  Both the number cards and the coloring book can also be found on the 1+1+1=1 website here.  If you are wondering, the #9 card is too dirty from lunch to be displayed here ;)

All in all, I think it was a successful day--Owen was so happy to have so much brown bear stuff to play with!  I really enjoyed to have an easy theme to work with...  I liked working it around the book and hope I can come up with other book-themes in the future!

And plans change...

I had dreamed up a bunch of body-themed activities to do this week but I think they will be scrapped! First of all, I have a suspicion that Owen knows all the body parts, even the ones that I thought he didn't know (I brought out a picture of a hand and he named it immediately!) which would be fine, I was going to do the activities anyway, but man, this kid is seriously obsessed with Brown Bear. Sooooo, I spent naptime coming up with some Brown Bear things for daddy to print out and today we will do some other stuff.  Here is what we did today:

Filled the sink with water and tons of bubbles! I thought it would be a hit since he loves waterplay so much, but he was kind of nervous (I think) about being up on that chair. (note: those dishes on the counter??? they are actually clean... instead of putting them away like a self-respecting mama, I just moved them to the counter.)

so we brought the water and bubbles down to the floor and it was perfect ;)

later, I brought up our plastic swimming pool and filled it with snow! I thought this would be so much fun... I would like to say that the reason I didn't get us geared up to play outside was because it was raining, but in honesty, I had no idea it was raining. I just didn't want to play outside, so I brought the play to us. I also filled up squirt bottles with water that had food coloring in it and sprayed the water to make it fun colored.

But... he didn't really like it. Perhaps because it was near naptime or he was hungry... Perhaps because I couldn't find his mittens (who taught him the word "cold?" he sure used it appropriately).. But it wasn't as fun as I had hoped. Eventually a mixing spoon *kind of* got him playing along.

While he did that, I was scooping snow with a cup. I imagine it would be so fun for an older kid to make a snow castle (instead of a sand castle).

finally, Owen showed me what he really wanted to do, which was take his books off the shelf, one by one, and read them. and we did.

Make sure to come back tomorrow to check out our Brown Bear activities!

House Fun!

Well I was thinking of playing with color today but that kind of failed miserably so we moved onto bigger and better things! We made another contact paper craft; I cut out shapes of a house, trees, sun and had Owen help put them onto the contact paper. He loves to help "pat, pat, PAT!" (if that makes no sense to you, he helps "pat" the papers down.) I had put double sided tape onto the windows and doors to get them to stick. We had a lot of fun putting the cotton snow down.

I wanted to put this up on the wall next to the house from yesterday, but knew from our experience with the red collage that Owen was going to touch it and get his fingers stuck to the page and get dog hair on it and pull off the shapes and just make a big mess. soooo... I put saran wrap on it. Weird, I know. And probably there was a better solution but that was the one I tried. So here is our saran-wrapped finished product:

Since he enjoyed muffin tin monday so much I decided to make a house-themed lunch, which I thought was pretty cute.

But Owen pretty much made a mess of it and asked for cheese crackers. Isn't that just how it goes??

We also tried putting straws into a Parmesan cheese container because, well, all the other bloggers are doing it but that was only fun for about two seconds.

Things that were more fun:
--throwing the Parmesan container
--running with the Parmesan container
--chasing the dog with the Parmesan container
--getting tiny boy fingers stuck in the holes of the Parmesan container (several times, lol).
--leaving straws all over the house
Anyway, hope you are having fun getting ready for Thanksgiving tomorrow! If I am lucky maybe we will do another fun craft. OH, and I should definitely post my MIL's sangria cranberries recipe. YUM.

Circles and Triangles (yes, again!)

Today we have done some of the activities from Tuesday, along with a few new ones that I really enjoyed. My favorite activity was rolling this shapes dice.

I got the idea here at Toddler Toddler .  I wrapped a kleenex box in paper towels like I was wrapping a present (again, I am seeing a serious materials shortage at my house...  we need paper!  And real tape!).  Since I figured it wouldn't last long, I quickly drew shapes onto the box, although once I get real paper I will probably cut the shapes out.  This all took less than five minutes and voila! Shapes dice.  We rolled the dice and then called out the shape that was on it--I only put circles and triangles on it to keep it simple.  It was really fun.  Obviously it is already falling apart due to Owen feeling like he has to claw the box to throw it, but it was a very fun activity and I know we will do it again soon!

I also downloaded this simple shapes book a few days ago called Shape Monster from Hubbard's Cupboard

I think it is designed to be for kids to put together but we don't have many shape books so I figured it would be perfect for us.  I colored the shapes and put it together and we read it a few times.  Owen seemed to like it and was especially interested in the circle and triangle pages.

The other "new" activity today was playing with the shapes sorter game.

Oh, I hate the shapes sorter, it has been the bane of my existance.. Owen doesn't understand it and all he ever wants to do is dump the pieces out all over the place so I step on them and hurt my feet... But today I tried something new, and got out just the circles and triangles thinking that maybe the more complicated shapes overwhelmed him (Whats with the star and plus sign? Whats wrong with a rectangle or oval or something?).  He got the circle right away and needed a little help with the triangle but I was very surprised that he even did that well since he hasn't been able to do it before.   I'm going to try my best not to hate this toy and to play with it some more in the future.

Finally, I know that I posted this the other day but I thought I would post the sensory bean tub again,  It is one of Owen's favorite things to do, plus we added a little singing to the activity today.  We had lots of scooping implements as well as the triangle and circle shapes, and I let him play by himself with it for awhile (which, in general, means disaster).

When I came back I remembered that we have been singing a song from storytime lately to the tune of "where is thumbkin" so I made up a very easy song for the shapes.  "where's the circle? wheres the circle? Here is is, Here it is, this is a circle, this is a circle, here it is, here it is."  yeah, I know, am a genius songwriter.  But he loved the song and I think it helped reinforce the shapes (which he mostly understands now).  We also sang about other things like "where's the bowl, spoon, etc."  I'm pretty sure I am going to incorporate this song into other activities because it worked pretty well for us.

Also, this afternoon, if we have time or inclination, I will bring out the playdough and use the shapes sorter shapes to press into the dough.  But maybe we will save that or another day, who knows?

Anyway, thats what we are up to, hope you got some ideas that you can use and please share with me anything you have been doing that you think we would enjoy!

Intro to Red Overkill

I thought it would be fun to do a lot of red things today. Not just bringing out red stuff and talking about it but also just seeing a lot of red during the day.

First we made some red playdough. Owen was very interested in the food coloring.


After it was all mixed up, he was mad that we were done cooking so we went back to the old standby, oats, flour and water. Yum!


I then set him up in the den to play with the red playdough and commenced with washing dishes. I went in a few minutes later to check on him and he was playing with dog vomit. seriously. If I ever find out what makes dog vomit more interesting than playdough I will let you know.

He was then making vrooming noises all over the house so we played cars for a bit (lots of red firetrucks!) and then we worked on putting red chips from the game Sequence into his piggy bank. I've tried this activity with homemade jars but he finds the piggy bank more interesting. He does struggle sometimes to get the chips in though.


We read one of his favorites, Elmo's First Book of Colors, and a couple of times through I picked up objects near us to compare the colors, for example, this truck is red like Elmo, or this block is yellow like big bird.

A few days ago I put together a bunch of red items and then covered this box in red paper. I am just going to leave it out for him to find and explore this afternoon. Don't make fun of my duct tape job, I am super embarrassed about it, why don't we ever have tape like normal people??


The final piece to our red puzzle today is red lunch ;) Owen will have spaghettio's (not that he will eat them, I'm sure, but I'm going to let him practice with his spoon as well). Red cottage cheese, grapes, and jello! The jello is homemade; I didn't have any "normal" jello on hand, and recipes I found called for juice to flavor it but we don't have juice. I was thinking of using sugar and extracts but I just didn't feel good about making him sweets since he doesn't eat them very often at all, maybe a tidbit from mom and dad's dessert like once in a blue moon, so I reverted back to the babyfood days and blended up some apples and bananas, stirred in gelatin, cold water and food coloring and voila! Jello! Lunch looks a little gross, to be honest! Sure he won't mind, though.



oh! we are also going to fingerpaint with red this afternoon!

First Look at Shapes

Nana and PopPop brought Owen's Christmas presents with them when they visited over the weekend. They were supposed to stay hidden until Christmas, but I had to play with this shapes puzzle because it seemed like such a great thing for us to work on at this stage.


We had lots of fun, but after a while I started focusing on just the circle and triangle to make it simpler. Here are some of the other things we did:

I spruced up our bean bin by dyeing rice red and blue, and also dyeing some pasta green. So many pretty colors! (Dyeing rice and pasta is easy-- put it in a plastic bag along with some rubbing alcohol and a few drops of food coloring and then squish it around to mix it. Lay it out on a paper towel to dry.) I added in wooden shapes that I got at the Target Dollar Spot yesterday (wooden lacing beads) and while scooping and pouring and making a huge mess we also played with the shapes. my newest help was laying out a leftover tablecloth underneath us for easier and quicker cleanup.


Later in the day I tried to get Owen to help me sort triangles and circles onto a paper where I had drawn a big circle and a big triangle, but he wasn't interested.


So I got out the markers to color the picture instead, but he wasn't interested in that either.


Finally I got out the muffin tin lunch and that seemed just about right. He's still got some sort of a cold so I think the rest of the day will be spent reading, snuggling and relaxing.


What do you like to do to have fun with shapes?

world's best puzzle!

Nana and PopPop came to visit this weekend and brought this Melissa and Doug Puzzle.


I almost think I love it more than Owen does; it is absolutely perfect! First, it has several of his beloved animals (giraffe, lion) but also a few he does not know yet. The pictures are very cute and interesting, the puzzle is sturdy, but the best feature of all, in my opinion, is that the pieces are very thick! They are taller than the puzzle itself, which makes it easy to take them out but also fun to play with. I've been finding the pieces all over the house the past two days, it is such a hit! Definitely have to invest in more Melissa and Doug puzzles in the future.


...oh and the disclaimer is that this is, in fact, the only puzzle we have so I have no idea if it is the best ever ;) But I still love it!

We also did a little shopping and I was finally able to pick up some stacking cups (better late then never, right?) And I have been so pleased at how much fun Owen has with them. They are definitely easier for him than the nesting blocks he has so I think I will be on the lookout for fun things we can do with them together. Hope you had a fun weekend, we were very busy with the grandparents!

outdoor exploration

we have had an absolutely gorgeous fall day so we decided to take full advantage and go out exploring. First stop, the sandbox! Throwing sand is always fun;


Owen has gotten a lot better at scooping with the shovel as well.


Next I followed the little guy around as he explored the backyard, finally settling on a pile of leaves where the rest of our time would be spent. He threw them, snuggled them, crawled in them, tasted them... great fun.




finally "we" (I) gathered up some outdoor materials to play with inside.


I got out the playdough and added in the outside stuff. I had grand visions of him rolling the pinecones in dough and pressing the leaves in it and things like that, but that just didn't happen ;) It probably would have been enough to just explore the outside stuff on its own without the playdough. Or perhaps it would have been better if I was helping more, but I let him do his own thing while I worked on his daddy's birthday cake.


The playdough, however is awesome, and here is my recipe:
1-cup flour
1/2-cup salt
2-teaspoons cream of tarter
1-cup water
1-Tablespoon cooking oil
food coloring (optional)

Put everything in a pot and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. You're looking for the dough to start separating from the sides of the pan (the time this takes depends on how big your batch is). The smoothest results come from stopping when it still seems like it’ll be a little too sticky. Remove and let cool for a bit on wax paper. Add color and knead to distribute color. Add a scent (e.g., mint, wintergreen, clove, strawberry, etc.) to keep it smelling fresh.

in which we make noise, eat finger paint, stack and explore color (or not)

at the library, Owen really seemed to enjoy playing with shakers while dancing around to music so I decided to implement this at home. We've danced, and we've shaked, but never at the same time. I rounded up some noisemakers-- a set of keys, bells, a homemade shaker bottle (beads, rice and found items in a waterbottle), round bead containers, a package of beads and a vitamin container with magnets inside.


I was searching for the Ting Tings, which I think is the essential toddler dance music (and should be marketed as such) but settled for Mates of State instead. It was a blast, well for about four songs, and then he suddenly found coloring more appealing, but that is exactly why I set up the color table so I was cool with that.


Fingerpainting with pudding was another activity of the day. I had mixed up and colored instant pudding last week so we used the leftovers. If I were making it fresh today I would have had Owen help stir in the food coloring. I laid out tinfoil (interesting to play with and easy cleanup) and set out some utensils and objects and let him do his thing with the pudding. He had lots of fun smearing and eventually eating, the pudding. And spoon practice!


I thought this stacking rings-type activity was going to be a hit, but it wasn't. As soon as Owen saw the paper towel holder, he started making car noises and was driving it around the room. lol. Well I had cut up some toilet paper rolls, and gathered up other round objects with holes in them like stacking rings, bracelets, duct tape, etc for him to place on and take off of the paper towel holder. I will definitely try this again because I still think its a great activity.


the final thing we did was introduce the color green, which I don't think he's really ready to embrace but we will keep looking at colors. Today I put a bunch of green things in a green bag and had him play with them and take them out while I named the items...Usually this sort of discovery is really fun but the bag must have been full of lame stuff because he was so over it in a few seconds... Maybe if I had said "these are my cherished treasures please do not touch them" he would have spent a lot of time on it, who knows. Anyway, I have some piles of red and blue objects put together in the closet, I am sure we will try this again soon.