delight in the day

Find Me At Fancy That

2009-02-20T14:51:00.002-06:00

As much as I love having one blog all about kids, I just don't seem to have the time to maintain 2 blogs. So I'm going back to one Blog. The blog will be a combination of home crafting and kids. So come see me at Fancy That.

Have a delightful day!

Coffee Filter Fun and an Art Gallery

2009-02-17T12:01:00.003-06:00

In my last post we were making paper for Valentine decorations. Well Valentines Day came and went and we still had not gotten to our decorating. So we changed directions and went for another sort of decoration. I know it's not Spring yet, but it's oh so close and I just wanted something light to brighten our day! So we made these decorations for our dining room light fixture.

Little Guy is not always in a "crafty mood", but I got him to make quite a few coffee filter butterflies. He colored the coffee filters with markers and then "painted" over them with a wet sponge so that the colors would blend together. I used pipe cleaners to make them into butterflies. The paper the kids made was used to make the little hearts, and the flower/circle things are made with coffee filters and tissue paper. I got the idea from Pam Garrison's Blog. She has made the most wonderful garland using coffee filters, but I just didn't have time for that.

Art Gallery

Each season I try to have each of our 3 kids make something for our art gallery. I had thought that February would be a great time to use pinks, reds...and love. Well of course Baby didn't argue and Big Sis was in agreement but Little Guy said he didn't like pink or love. He agreed to use "tractor color" (green), and red. He even used his tractor to make the green part of the painting, by driving it in the paint and then on his paper.

Big Sis painted a heart using dabs of different paint colors. I think it looks like the heart is made of rose petals.And of course Baby made hand print flowers.

I think I will leave these up for another month or two.

Have a delightful day!!

Paper for Valentines

2009-02-02T06:58:00.005-06:00

Slowly but surely I'm getting back into blogging. Last week I got back to my other blog Fancy That . This week I hope to get back into the swing of things with this blog.

Decorated Paper

Big Sis and Little guy both had fun with this project. We took tissue paper scraps, scrapbook paper scraps and glued them down to a large piece of construction paper.

The paper will be used to make Valentine Decorations for the house. We are also going to bubble wrap paint, and perhaps marble paint other paper so that we have a variety of textures and techniques. Stay tuned for more decorated paper and the Valentine decorations we make with them.

Have A Delightful Day !!

Christmas Angel

2008-12-14T14:35:00.004-06:00

December is just rushing by. With Christmas programs, Christmas shopping, stomach flue...I just haven't had time to post. But we are enjoying the season, and squeezing in as many crafts as we can.

I made this little angel with the baby. I brushed paint on the bottom of her foot and helped make a foot print on the paper (which is the body of the angel), I then brushed paint on her hands and made prints for the angel wings. I drew the face and other embellishments with a metallic marker. I added a verse and placed the picture in a frame to be part of our Christmas art wall.

Little Guy and Big Sis have art to share too. I hope to get it up soon.

Have a delightful day!!

The Legend Of The Candy Cane

2008-12-04T06:37:00.012-06:00

I love Christmas and reading all kinds of Christmas Stories. We read my childhood copy of The Night Before Christmas, and we share fun new stories like The Auntie Clause , and many others that I hope to share in the weeks to come. But The Legend Of The Candy Cane is up at the top of my list of must read Christmas stories.I read this book to my children last night. My oldest has heard this story many times before, but always looks forward to hearing it again. My 3 year old had never heard the story before, and while there are parts of the story that are perhaps a bit old for him (but maybe not), we focused on the parts of the story that he could relate to. Like the candy cane looks like the letter J (for Jesus), but if you turn it over it looks like a shepherds staff (who were the first to see the New Born Babe).

If you don't have a copy of this book and can't find one to use, you can find a text only version at The Legend Of The Candy Cane . This is not quite the same as the book, but still is a wonderful story to share with your children. I have received candy canes as a small gift with the printed legend attached. We may give them with a poem (found at the link mentioned above).

We have also been reading This Is The Stable . What a simple but wonderful way to tell the Christmas story to very young children. It is simple enough that my Little Guy is able to remember the words and say them along with me.

The thing I find most wonderful about reading these stories is that Big Sis (in the 6th grade and 11 years old) will stop what she's doing and come snuggle with us as I read.

What's a story with out a craft?

As an extension of The Legend Of The Candy Cane. We did some simple marble painting to create fun candy canes of our own.

All you need for this activity are: paper cut outs of candy canes, marble (or other round object), red paint, and some sort of container to place candy canes and paint covered marble in. Pour paint into a small dish and roll the marble in the paint, place paper candy canes in large dish, box...now you are ready to add the paint covered marble, and roll it around. Add paint to the marble as needed.

As an extension of This Is The Stable we made a bundle of Christmas Hay. We used Raffia and red yarn to make our bundle of Christmas Hay.

Little Guy and I will do something special for Big Sis (perhaps hang Christmas Lights in her room) and leave the Christmas Hay. When she comes home from school she will find the lights and the hay. Now it is her turn to do something special for someone else in our house and pass on the Christmas Hay.

Have a delightful day!!

Construction Paper for Big Girls and Chrismas Card Making

2008-12-01T14:18:00.004-06:00

My 16 year old niece and Big Sis (my 11 year old daughter) love to make cards. But not just any old cards, fun glittery cards made cute scapbooking paper.

I like to call it construction paper for Big Girls. I'm sure that many of you are scrapbookers or card makers and can relate to the fascination that is scrapbooking paper, I find my self wanting to buy more and more of it (it's almost like wanting to buy new fabric). My mom bought them 2 big stacks of paper to use for making Christmas cards. I can not tell you how happy it made them. It was as if they had died and gone to card makers heaven

These are some of the card my daughter made. It is fun to see how her ideas and creativity change and grow as she practices her craft.

I think the rick rack is a fun addition to this card.

I pulled out all of my Christmas stamps and we borrowed some from Granny too.Some of the lettering is achieved by the use of stickers or rub-ons. I have been trying to encourage them to cut out simple shapes, like the tree below. It's less expensive than using stickers, and just as cute.I love the way the girls use double sided tape, and glitter to create glittery boarders and edges.Both of the girls have a tendency to be a little wasteful. So I really encourage them to use their scraps. The book marks and gift tags are just a sample of what my daughter came up with.This year she will be making all of our Christmas cards, and gift tags. She was so existed about this idea. I think she feels like she is really making a meaningful contribution, and she is!!

Card making supplies are at the top of these Girls' Christmas lists!!

Have a delightful day.

Someth'n Corny

2008-11-26T01:00:00.008-06:00

As we were learning about the pilgrims these last few weeks, we have been learning that the Indians taught them (the pilgrims) to grow corn.

One of our activities was to pop, pop corn.

After feasting on pop corn, we made corn meal playdough.

Cornmeal Dough (uncooked)

1 1/2 cups white flour
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1 cup salt
1 cup water about 1/4 C cooking oil
1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl
2. Add water and oil mix into the dry ingredients.
3. Knead until pliable. (This recipe did not call for oil, but was to crumbly without it. I added a little at a time until I was happy with the texture.)

And last but certainly not least!! We made Caramel Corn!!

Add the following ingredients to at least a 4-quart saucepan (the mixture will expand when soda is added so you will want to have a little extra room).
1 C butter
2 C brown sugar
½ C karo syrup (white or dark)
Mix and Boil for 5 minutes
Add
1 t salt
½ t soda
1 t vanilla

Pour the cooked mixture over 4-5 quarts popped corn and mix thoroughly. Pour out on buttered cookie sheet. Bake at 250 fro 45 minutes stir occasionally. Store in an airtight container.

Have a delightful day and a wonderful Thanksgiving!

A is for Acorn

2008-11-19T06:57:00.009-06:00

For the last month or so, we've been watching squirrels gather acorns. My little guy loves to watch them, and it is such a concrete way for him to see the signs of the changing season. We also enjoyed reading Chipmunk Song. He love acting out the story as I read it.

We've been doing a few Acorn Activities and talking about the letter A

These acorn guys were fun to make and look so cute hanging from our light fixture over the kitchen table.

I don't usually gather acorn to eat for the winter, but these acorns were yummy!! I borrowed the pan for these from my mom. It's from Williams Sonoma . I have also seen some really cute leaf pans at Wal-Mart and of course they cost a little less.

I used a gingerbread muffin recipe for these muffins. The recipe is adapted from a Southern Living cook book.

Last Minute Gingerbread Muffins

1C butter

1C sugar

1C Molasses

4 eggs

2t soda

1 C buttermilk

4C flour

1 T plus 1t ground ginger

1t ground allspice

1/2 t ground nutmeg

1/4t ground black pepper

1t lemon zest

Cream butter gradually add sugar,beating at M spread until light and fluffy. Add molasses, add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Dissolve soda in buttermilk.

Combine flour, spices, and zest. add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture. beating well after each addition.

Fill greased and floured pans 2/3 full and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Batter can be kept in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

I glazed some of the acorn with a mixture of granulated sugar and lemon juice.

This recipe was great for the pan. The muffin was firm but moist and I had no problem removing them from the pan. But I must say if you really want the best ever ginger bread you need to try this recipe. It is too moist to be used in the type of pan used above, but is by far the best gingerbread I've ever had.

Gather your little squirrels around and have a delightful day!!!

Fall Art Gallery

2008-11-15T04:42:00.009-06:00

I've been wanting to create an art wall / gallery for my children's art for some time. I finally got around to it. There may be some changes and or additions, but at least I have a start. The idea is that each month or each season they will create new pictures to go in the frames. This month we went with a fall theme.

The first piece of art was created by Baby with a little help from me. I started by painting a simple trunk and branches. I then applied paint to her hand, I used a combination of red, yellow, orange and brown. I squirted globs of paint into a pie pan, being sure that the colors were close together. I then took a sponge and laid it in the pan, being sure to pick up all of the colors. I used the sponge to apply the colors to her hand. The leaves are made up of finger and hand prints.

Next up, Big Sis created this lovely tree using paint and brush. I think little brother helped with it a little too.

Turkey Time!! Little Guy made this turkey. I applied paint to his hand, just like I did the baby's. I helped him press his hand on the paper, added eyes, beak, legs and he helped paint fall grass. I love the way his thumb moved just enough, to give the appearance of feathers on the turkey's head.

Have a delightful day!!

A is for Apple

2008-11-06T14:13:00.005-06:00

We actually did this activity last week, and read the book Apples and Pumpkins (which is a Fall book, but ends with the children trick or treating).

A is for Apple, Apple Sauce

(this is soooo yummy with whipped cream)

enough cooking apples to fill your crock pot

add just a bit of water

red hot candies (add to your taste, I usually give in to my kids and add lots

Fill crock pot with apples (I used a little crock pot, you know the kind for dips and stuff). Add water and candies cover and cook until apples are tender and mushy ( we cooked it overnight and ate it for breakfast). This make a yummy chunky apple sauce!!

I first made this when I was teaching first grade. One of the other teachers shared the recipe with me. We saved some of the apple sauce and made fried pies with it the next day. If you would like to try making fried pies and easy way to do it is to buy refrigerated biscuits have kids flatten them out, spoon in apple sauce, fold over, seal edges and fry in hot oil.

Have a delightful day!!

Muffin Tin Monday Halloween Challenge

2008-10-20T11:45:00.008-05:00

What to do, what to do. It's the day of the challenge and I'm not prepared. Maybe we should just sit this one out. No Way!! We don't want to miss out on all of the fun.

I've already looked and you "Muffin Tin Mommas" have done some really cool stuff!!! I'm not even going to pretend to be as cool as you guys, but I do want to play along. So here's our muffin tin. We've been reading a lot about pumpkins and Jack-O-Lanterns, so I've put together a muffin tin lunch with a Jack-o-Lantern theme. This was super easy to put together and my little guy had fun turning his food into mini Jack-O-Lanterns.

On the Menu: Jack-O-Lantern Pizza, and Jack-O-Lantern Cookies

I just used what we had on hand for this a larger cookie would have been ideal, but the chocolate chip cookies we had worked.

Cookies, Orange Icing with (Popsicle stick for spreading), Candy Corn

English Muffins (split), Pizza Sauce, Cheese, Pepperoni (cut into shapes)

And if you give a boy a muffin tin he's going to what a book to go with it....
So we read Pumpkin Jack to go along with our Jack-O-Lantern lunch!!

Be sure and stop by Sycamore Stirrings to see everyone's spooky snacks!!

Have a delightful day!!

Halloween Party

2008-10-18T06:47:00.016-05:00

The lovely Ms. V of A Fanciful Twist is hosting the most fabulous Halloween Party. Won't you join the fun!!

Come into my parlor, if you think you dare.

There are creepy crawly things

and little pumpkins there.

Come into my parlor and if you can stand the tricks,

you may find a treat or too, but you'd better hurry quick!!

Now you're here

and you can see

things are not so bad.

Pull up a chair and read with me

It might make you glad.

We've had a fright, yes quite a scare

We've read some stories too.

Now share a little treat with me.

It's alright to take a bite,

I tell you that it's true.

No poison apple will you find would I lie to you?

Have a delightfully scary day!!!

S is for Scarecrow and Spider

2008-10-17T06:03:00.021-05:00

In my last post I mentioned that the Little Guy has been learning about the letter S. We've been reading all about scarecrows and spiders and we've done some fun activities that even Big Sis has taken part in ( Scarecrow and Spider Crackers). I'm finally getting around to posting a couple of other activities that we've done based on the Letter S.

Scarecrow and Straw start with S (books we're reading The Lonely Scarecrow , Barn Dance, and The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything)

First up is the Straw S. This is a super simple activity, but just one more way for little ones to begin to associate the sound s with the letter s. I cut out an S and we glued straw on together. As we worked we talked about our scarecrow stories, and remember that scarecrows are made with straw.

Spider Starts With S (books we're reading How Spider Saved Halloween and, The Very Busy Spider )

Next up, we have the favorite craft by far!! Spiders!! My little guy is really into spiders lately, and he loves to decorate for Halloween. Before the day was over we had to make a family of these guys to hang from the light fixture.

As usual I went with a simple pattern. I traced a medium sized bowl for the body and cut strips about 1/2 inch in width, and as long as the short side of the construction paper, free handed round eyes and the letter S.

We love the accordion folded legs and silly eyes. The spider looks great hanging from a light fixture or such (I should have taken pictures).

Have a delightful day!!

Muffin Tin Monday---Spider Snacks

2008-10-13T12:38:00.008-05:00

We've been learning all about the letter S. Last week we read Barn Dance and made a Scarecrow (because scarecrow starts with S). This week we'll be reading How Spider Saved Halloween and The Very Busy Spider. So I thought it only fitting that Muffin Tin Monday reflect the stories and activities that we will do this week!!

I filled our muffin tin (well it's not a "tin") with Ritz crackers, pretzels, raisins, cheese slices cut into circles, cream cheese spread, and clementines.

We used all of this yummy stuff to make spider sandwich crackers!!

We actually had Muffin Tin Monday on Sunday so that Big sis could join in the fun.

Spider legs sure are yummy!!

For more Muffin Tin Monday head on over to Sycamore Stirrings.

Have a delightful day!! DeeLight

Scarecrow Party

2008-10-10T14:53:00.016-05:00

I can't believe how quickly the week has gone!! This time of year it seams that we get so busy, but it's a good busy. It's the kind of busy that's alive with kid fun.

No matter how busy we get, we always have time to share a great story. Last Saturday we went to the book store and bought a few new books to add to our "Fall"collection. I hope to share all about them, and the fun activities that they have inspired in the next few days.

Barn Dance is not a book that is new to our collection, but it is one of my very favorite books. The text is so musical, and the story if filled with magic as the scarecrow comes to life and the farm animals dance until the wee hour of morning.

To celebrate the season and extend the fun of this book, we invited a couple of friends over and made our very own scarecrows.

We used some of our Little Guy's old jeans and a shirt (about size 3). They were just the size for the girls to easily work with (Little Guy helped but I think he was off eating candy corn for most of the pictures). We stuffed our scarecrow with plastic grocery bags.

For the head the girls stuffed one sack with other sacks. They then shaped it into a rounded shape, inserted a ruler (you could use a yardstick if you want the scare crow to stand up), and tied off the bag.

Now for the fun stuff!! We brought our scarecrows to life by creating our own lively faces. We draped the fabric over the "plastic bag" head and tied it on with raffia. We then finished off the scarecrows by tying the wrists and ankles with raffia, and adding a little raffia for hair when needed.This guy went to live at the home of our good friends!! Isn't he fun?

This guy sits on our front porch keeping watch!! Don't you just bet he dances in the yard while we're sleeping?!?

I didn't worry about connecting these guys at the waist. We just sat the bottom portion on a chair and the top portion on top of it, but you could use a long dowel rod or yard stick to connect them for a standing scarecrow (you would also need to make a hole in the pants, so that the dowel or stick could be used to stand up the scarecrow).

Have a delightful day!!

Are we stuck in the mud?

2008-10-02T13:39:00.009-05:00

No, we're not stuck in the mud, but we are having fun playing in it. Today I'd like to share one last muddy activity, or should I say recipe. My little guy and I had so much fun making a "Muddy Mess" with these Mississippi Mud Brownies.

Mississippi Mud Brownies

1 C butter melted
2 eggs
2 C sugar
1 t vanilla

Mix well, and add the following ingredients.

1 1/2 C flour
4 T cocoa
1 C nuts (optional)

Pour into greased rectangular pan. and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and spread with one jar Marshmallow cream.
On top of that spread the following frosting.

2 T butter
1/4 C milk
2 C powdered sugar
2 T cocoa
1 t vanilla

This is one rich, but yummy desert!!

(Still a little warm so the topping was kinda runny)

Have a Delightful day.

Muffin Tin Monday / All About Shapes

2008-09-29T07:16:00.009-05:00

It's a party...a shape party!!

Muffin Tin Monday is a first for me, but I know it won't be my last. My little guy was so excited when he saw his muffin tin full of fun, that he declared it a "Party Day"!! Our shapes were served in a rectangular muffin tin. On the menu(going across from the upper left): square cereal, round vanilla wafers, rectangular crackers, round crackers, star sprinkles, round bananas, cylinder sausages (I know these are a little gross, but my guy loves them), peanut butter for glue, triangle pineapple, diamond cheese, pyramid chocolate chips (okay I know it's a bit of a stretch), round cereal.

Did we have fun? Boy did we ever!!! We didn't just eat our shapes, we played with them, we got down right artistic with it. This is just a sample of some of what we made!!

Other activities on the menu for today...Shape scavenger hunt, building with shapes (we will find shapes around the house, i.e. cracker boxes, tape spools..., and build with them), the telling of the story Triangles Are Not Bad (with props), we will be playing with pattern blocks, and making pictures inspired by Ed Emberley's Picture Pie

Be sure to check out more of the fun at Sycamore Stirrings.

Have A delightful day!!

"Oh Lovely Mud" and Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta

2008-09-26T06:17:00.014-05:00

If you've just dropped by to see my favorite photo for the "Foto Fiesta" scroll down to the last photo of today's post. But feel free to read all about our "lovely mud" if you have the time.

"Oh Lovely Mud"

When I was teaching, Mrs. Wish Washy was always a favorite of my students, the same is true at home. My oldest daughter loved this book when she was small and my little guy loves it now. It's the perfect book for little ones, it has repetitive language patterns, fun content and, and great illustrations.
In the book, poor Mrs. Wishy Washy is trying to keep the animals clean, but they keep getting in the mud.

For today's activity we learned about the letter M, it's sound, and the fact that the word mud starts with M. We first read the book together and then we maid a "Muddy M" painting

We used brown paint and a letter M shaped cookie cutter, a sponge in the letter shape would work as well.

Once Big Sis came home, from school, we worked together to make farm animal cookies.

I love this recipe, it's easy for kids to roll and cut out themselves. The cookies taste great too!!

Rolled Sugar Cookies

3 C flour
2 t baking powder
3/4 t baking soda
1 C shortening (I used butter(
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 C sugar
2 T milk
1 t vanilla
Combine flour, baking powder, and soda, cut in shortening (or butter) with a pastry blender until it resembles course meal. Combine egg, sugar, milk, and vanilla. Stir until well blended pour into the the dry mixture. Stir with fork until well blended. pat dough into ball and chill 2 hours (we usually can't wait that long). Role dough 1/8 in thick and cut with cookie cutter.
Bake at 375 for 6 minutes.

After the cookies had time to cool we drizzled them with "mud". We used chocolate flavored almond bark (because it is so easy to work with) but any kind of candy coating or frosting would work.

Friday Foto Fiesta

The kids had such a great time working on this cooking project!! My favorite photo this week is of them together in the kitchen.

To Join the Fiesta!! Visit Candid Carrie.

Have a Delightful Day!!

Flowers in Fall

2008-09-22T13:17:00.012-05:00

My little guy has been noticing signs of the changing season. One thing he has noticed are all of the tall sunflowers we pass as we drive Big Sis to school. So what better book to share than The Tiny Seed, by Eric Carl. Today we read the book together. He loved reading about the tiny seeds travels as the Autumn winds blew, until finally the tiny seed grows into the biggest flower of all (even bigger than the house). Sometimes we think of flowers as being something to talk about in spring, but this book ties the cycle of the flower into all of the changing seasons, beginning and ending with Autumn.

After reading the book we painted our own Flower, and snacked on sunflower seed nuts. The first painting is the one I helped him with, the second one is the one he did all by himself!!

Today we pained with tempera paint and a sponge clipped to a clothes pin, and a sponge brush!!

Our next activity with this book will be to sprout seeds, and observe how they grow.

Have a delightful day!!
DeeLight

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta

2008-09-19T09:03:00.005-05:00

My little guy loves it when Big Sis has friends over!! He has on his "donkey ride'n hat". I honestly don't know where he came up with that name for it. (There are 2 donkeys that live next door to my parent's house, and he LOVES them.) The cutie playing the part of the donkey is one of my daughter's best friends her sister is at top left holding our little doll, and Big Sis has on her "horse ride'n hat". I love this photo because they are all having so much fun being kids!!!

My little guy has been under the weather this week. We will be back next week with more activities and books.

Swing by Candid Carrie 's to see more of the Friday Foto Fiesta!!!

Have a delightful day!!

More Animals On The Bus

2008-09-06T18:35:00.005-05:00

Okay I'm a little late. We've had our puppets made I just haven't had time to post.

We made a sheep and a cow, using the same idea as the pig puppet. My little guy wants to make a chicken next. If you want to continue to explore farm animals in automobiles and other unusual places you might check these great books out: Mr. Gumpy's Outing , Mr. Gumpy's Motor Car, Sheep In a Jeep, Cows In The Kitchen.

Have a delightful day!

Farm Animals on A Bus?

2008-09-03T14:21:00.009-05:00

The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate The Wash is a great book filled with the funny stuff that kids like. Jimmy's class takes a trip to a farm, but things get a little crazy. Somehow the animals wind up on the bus!!

You may want to take this opportunity to reinforce the color yellow, the letter Y for Yellow and B for Bus, you may also want to sing a new version of the "Wheels On The Bus". Change the song up by singing "The pigs on the bus go oink, oink, oink...The cows on the bus say...(you get the idea).

This book will serve as a bridge into a farm animal theme, but the activities are great as stand alone activities as well.

The next activity is one of my favorite kinds of puppets for little ones. There are many cute paper bag puppets out there, but paper bag puppets can be difficult for little fingers to operate. You will find that I use this same style of puppet again and again (check out 5 Little Monkeys).

This is a simple stick puppet. No need for a fancy pattern. Your little one is going to enjoy creating something special with you no matter how artistic you are. It is also important that kids learn to use their own imaginations to create and problem solve. If they always observe you using patterns, and not trusting your own abilities they will feel less confident in their own creativity. (This is not to say that there is no place for patterns and following directions.)

Today we made the pig, but check back for other animals on Thursday.

I found simple household objects to trace for the face and snout, and then drew 2 simple ears. Use this as an opportunity to talk about the number 2, circles and the color pink (or whatever color you choose to use).

My little one is not quite old enough to cut on a line so I cut the circles out and let him color the snout brown and glue the pieces together, I then drew a mouth and eyes, but older children could do it on there own. It is helpful to draw a small x where the pieces are to be glued, this way your little one will know just where to place the glue and object.

We then glued our little piggy to a popsicle stick and sang "the pig on the bus goes oink oink...

Have a delightful day!!

Big Yellow Bus and Cupcakes Too

2008-08-29T09:10:00.007-05:00

In keeping with our "Wheels On The Bus" theme we pulled out our own Yellow Bus (I really think it would be fun to make one out of a refrigerator box).

We are going to have fun acting out the Wheels On The Bus song, and later we'll drive the Big Yellow Bus to the kitchen for Yummy Yellow Cupcakes. This will give us the perfect opportunity to talk about the letter Y and review the color Yellow. You can find my favorite recipe for cupcakes on my other blog Fancy That. This a super easy recipe that starts with a mix, but is Oh so Yummy.

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta

Candid Carrie is hosting a photo show and tell of sorts. This is one of my favorites, it's my daughter and 3 nieces at the zoo. Looks a little like Planet Of The Apes, don't you think?

Have a delightful day!!

Wheels On The Bus --- Snack

2008-08-27T14:28:00.000-05:00

The other day i posted an activity based on the book and song "The Wheel On The Bus", today I would like to share a fun food activity.

You will need:
graham crackers (for bus)
golden graham cereal (for windows and door)
teddy grahams
yellow frosting
small Ritz crackers

I could give you the procedure step by step, but it's easy and I'll just share some photos. My 3 year old, 11 year old and her friend all made one. The buses required several paint jobs, and window replacements (somehow the frosting and windows kept disappearing from their buses).

ENJOY!!

Library Day

2008-08-26T13:25:00.000-05:00

Today was library day. We go on other days as well, but Tuesday is Children's Story Time. My son is 3 and we've just started going to these story times. He loves books, and he loves the library, but story time he's not so fond of. The Librarians do a great job of providing a balance of age appropriate songs, movement, and stories, but my little guy is more interested in playing with the trains, puppets, blocks, puzzles...

My first instinct was to insist that he take part in the story time. But then I stopped and thought "he just turned 3, is it really that important the he take part in story time today". So I let him play with the toys and interact with the one or two other children that were not taking part in story time. The time he spent playing was no less meaningful than story time. Building with blocks, putting train track and puzzles together all require critical thinking skills, and puppets provide a great opportunity to improve language skills. Yes, story time does foster a love of literature, and it is important that children learn to take part in group activities. In time, I will insist that he take part, but for now I'm going to allow him to explore the library, make friends and move into story time at his own pace.

Have a Delightful Day!!

The Wheels On The Bus

2008-08-22T13:13:00.000-05:00

This is an old standby. Nothing too original, but always fun for little ones.

The Wheels On The Bus is a great song, but can also be found in several different book versions.

We checked Raffi's Wheels On The Bus out from the library. We sang the song, and listened to the song on CD. Now when we read the book together my little one can "read" right along with me.

This is a great opportunity to check out all of the yellow school buses. We look for buses as we drive around town, and talk about the color yellow. For fun we finger painted with yellow. I then drew a bus on the painted yellow paper, cut it out, and added wheels (complete with brads so the wheels go "around and around").

Stay tuned for more bus activities, stories, and songs.

5 Little Monkeys...

2008-08-14T14:46:00.000-05:00

What could be more fun than 5 little monkeys? Well, 5 little monkey puppets of course.

This is a super easy project and kids love it.

Here's what you need:

Brown construction paper
Scrap paper (for hats...)
Crayons or markers
Craft sticks
Glues stick
2 circle shapes to trace (one should be slightly larger than the other)

Here's what you do:

Remember this is for fun, your little one doesn't care if your an artist.
Trace 5 large circles, and 5 smaller circles. Cut them out.
The smaller circle is the nose and mouth piece of the puppet. The larger circle is the actual face.
Find where you are going to need to place the smaller circle on the larger circle, and draw an x on the larger circle (this will help your child know where to place the glue it will be covered by the smaller circle).
Cut out ears from the left over brown paper. You can draw an x as a guiede for glueing with these as well.
Okay be brave it's time for the glue. Show your little one how to smear the glue on the x and then place the smaller circle on top of the glue.
Now it's time for the fun stuff draw on eyes, nose, mouth...use scrap paper to make hats or other accessories.
Glue your little monkeys to the craft stick and have fun acting out the story!!

Have fun, and delight in the day!! DeeLight