Structured Play

Hopefully your child loves music as much as mine! We are by no means a musical family but Jacob has loved music from the beginning. Now I have to admit I was not the mom who played music to her belly, did not have music playing while I delivered, nor did I listen to music besides while in the car. But some how my little man loves music anyway!  It did not take me long to find out that singing to my man calmed him right down. The best part is his favorite song, the song that ALWAYS calms him down, is The ABCs! How funny for a teacher's son to love the ABCs! I really do not know why he loves this song, but one afternoon we were driving home from a doctor's appointment and he was screaming, as usual. (My boy is the only baby in the world that hates the car, I am convinced!) I was singing every song I could think of to keep him calm when, out of pure desperation, the alphabet popped into my head and sure enough the little guy calmed right down. It has been a favorite since that ...

The importance of reading to babies is something that we have all heard over and over. We know it is important but, there are days when you wonder is he even listening? Does he even like books? Well, those days of questioning are past us! Jacob has found the love of reading! He even has favorite books. Let me just say, there is nothing more satisfying to a teacher than seeing your child find the joy of reading! We go to the library weekly, we have hundreds of picture books at home (thanks to my teaching years) and what does he love? First word books, of course! These books are often overlooked for their importance. They have simple pictures that are sometimes partnered with the vocabulary word.  Basically, these are great books for small children because toddlers are able to identify pictures of words they are learning and practice their vocabulary. Jacob loves to  look through the books for pictures that he knows. He will find a ball, point and say, "ball, ball, ball, b...

This is a traditional preschool project but fun nonetheless. I went ahead and stuffed the bag and tied it off without Jake's help. I wanted him to 'see' it as a pumpkin rather than a stuffed bag. Then I pulled the supplies together so that once the paint was exposed there would be no mishaps! (HA, that is what I thought!) I did forget one important supply, BABY WIPES! These are essential! The paint is water based so the baby wipes are perfect to get paint off of; hands, clothes and furniture, in a hurry. DO NOT FORGET THE WIPES! Jake jumped right in and began painting. Like most children he loves to paint. I learned after last time  to just put a little bit of paint down at at a time. That way things do not get out of control.  He did a great job painting the "ummmmmm," his new name for pumpkin. After we roasted the pumpkin he calls them ummmms guess he liked it! :) And it is an improvement over ball! When we are on our walks and he sees a pumpkin he says, "...

d After our successful Pumpkin Dramatic Play in the kitchen I knew we had to do more! I pureed the rest of the roasted pumpkin and froze it in baggies of a cup serving. Today, on this cool- rainy day,  I decided pumpkin bread would totally hit the spot.  With Jacob on his stool we got started. He was so excited to 'help' that things got a little fast pace. He was vigorously stirring the dry ingredients as I added them. Once we turned the mixer on Jake was in heaven! He loved the sound of the motor and watching the mix go around and around.  I wasn't able to get many pictures as we went along because I needed all my hands! Jake sure did enjoy himself and he was saying mmmmmmm the entire time. He still does not quite understanding the concept of cook time! But we were able to make it through the hour it took to bake the bread with a few distraction techniques.  And when we finally enjoyed the bread, boy was it worth it! I think he would have eaten the ...

One of the activities this month is a game using unifix cubes. (Plans found here)  Unifix cubes are linking blocks that can be found at most teacher stores. For this activity you could use any kind of block or even ball. I used the unifix cubes because I had them on hand (thanks to my teaching days) and because I wanted something that we had not used before. I also knew that if I used balls they would be thrown and the game would be missed! I placed the cubes, separated, in the lid of an egg carton. I chose Halloween colors but that did not make a difference for the game. I modeled the concept for Jake a couple of days before he 'got' it.  This is a photograph of me modeling it to Jacob. He added the pig finger puppet. Next he was able to help me place the pieces in each egg space. When he eventually did it on his own he did not separate the colors but that was not the point of the game. He was able to put the cubes in the spaces and I consider that success! We will continue ...

I initially I had planned to carve the pumpkin closer to Halloween and make a Jack O' Lantern. But Jake loves food, he knows that pumpkins are to eat and he keeps trying to eat the pumpkins we picked. I saw a blog post from one of my favorite websites wholesomebabyfood.com . (If you do not know about this website check it out. It is very helpful if you are interested in making baby food or just want to know when it is appropriate to introduce foods.) So I decided that we would cut and roast a pumpkin. We picked up a Pie Pumpkin at the grocery store this morning. We followed the directions from the blog post. I had Jake with me throughout the process. He loves the kitchen especially when he is able to help.  He could not wait to eat the pumpkin! He picked it up and tried to take a bite! When I started digging out the seeds, Jake laughed and did not want to touch it but eventually helped.    We will save the seeds and have them another day. So I sliced the pumpk...

Ok, so they are not real puppets but we are using them as such.  These are the scarecrow and the pumpkins that we are using this month for puppets. The little play/song/poem thingy, that goes along with these is: Scarecrow   Scarecrow, Scarecrow,   They say you could scare a crow off a tree. You scared the pumpkins (Shake pumpkins and have them run away)   But you didn't scare me! (Shout “BOO!” to the scarecrow puppet and have it run away) This is a fun, easy and quick little activity to play. It is also something that is great for your little one to mimic you doing. After watching you a one year old can easily shake the pumpkins and make them run away. You will find yourself saying this poem in your sleep because you have had to repeat it so many times this month! I already have it memorized! You can also take it a step further and add your own dialog; have the scarecrow talk to the pumpkins or to you to try to convince you to be scared, etc...  ...

As outlined in the October Plans  we are working on identifying the parts of a face. To practice this skill I decided to make a pumpkin and a scarecrow for the Story Board .  I used felt that I had around the house to make a pumpkin and shapes to create a Jack O' Lantern.  For the scarecrow I glued the hair to the face to eliminate a step. I want Jake to focus on the facial features and I thought the hair would be too much. I also glued the pupil to the green eye, once again to eliminate a step.  We worked on this skill today and to say it was precious is an understatement! I started with the pumpkin and put each piece on one at a time while saying the name of the feature while I placed it on the pumpkin face. After I put all the pieces on, Jacob gave the pumpkin a huge smile and then kissed it! (This boy is a lover! So stinkin' cute!!) After I did the same for the scarecrow he clapped and kissed it! I then took the pieces off leaving only the pumpk...

I wanted to head to the Pumpkin Patch early this month because I found the Apple Orchard so rewarding in terms of a learning experience. I wanted to ensure that Jacob understood that pumpkins grew from he ground and can be eaten as well. We headed out on a cool Sunday afternoon. There was a nice crowd out and we love that because Jake is notorious for people watching!! When we went out into the pick your own field we quickly found that Jake once again thought we were searching for balls! (What can I say he is all boy and his world revolves around balls!)  The field was hard for him to maneuver because of all the vines. They grow quite large for a 13 month old to walk though.  Jake quickly found the pumpkin he wanted. Although he could not quite pick it up, it surely did not stop him from trying.  We picked a few and then found a more perfect one that had been picked previously by farm staff. What a great experience! Plus I could not believe how m...

This month's Sensory Box includes: rice, silk flowers, silk leaves, plastic pumpkins and gourds, orange and black balls, plastic acorns, green triangles and an orange cup and bowl. I included the cup and bowl because I knew that my little man would enjoy practicing putting in and pouring out. I know that the rice is going to make a mess when it splashes out and when Jake just throws it out but that is all part of the learning process.  Jake's first look was utter shock! He could not believe that the sensory box had changed! He took his time picking up each piece and studying it. Then he ran his fingers through the sand and enjoyed filling the cup with the rice.  Most of the items were purchased at The Dollar Tree others I had around the house. I try to pick colors and shapes that follow our theme as well as items that are interesting and fun. 

For October I chose the theme of pumpkins (of course), orange, and triangle. I felt that these three items flow well together. Orange and pumpkins are obvious, I chose triangle because it can been seen through Jack O'Lanterns and scarecrows' faces. I thought this would be a good shape to incorporate since we have already worked on circle. The triangle, orange and pumpkin flow and will repeat over and over easily through the monthly unit. I have broken my plans into the same three groups; Literature/Music, Crafts/Games, and Dramatic Play. The activities are not ordered and do not need to be completed in any particular order. Just watch your child's mood and your time availabilities for the day and pick the activity that works! Some activities should be repeated multiple time and sometimes even daily to reiterate the skill.  October: Pumpkin Theme Plans This document includes the games, crafts, as well as book titles and song lyrics. Remember not to have too much plan...

Well as our Apple Unit  came to an end I decided to make the Apple Shaker for Jacob. I thought this would be a great way to keep an 'apple' around to remember all the fun we have had. I know it will be a good reminder because he loves music and anything that makes noise! I will place it in his music bin when his Structured Play area is cleared out for October's Unit. He will go to it daily, I am sure! At first he tried to pull the stick out of the apple picture but got the hang of it after a while. He does pretend to eat the apple and although he is not saying apple, he is not calling them balls any more. He just calls them mmmmmmms (Same as most food). Anything he can eat is "mmmmmmmm" said while putting his fingers to his mouth! He really has taken baby sign to a whole other level, without much help from me!! What a fun month this has been! Our first month of Structured Play was a success! Cannot wait to see what October brings us! All I know is we will be h...

We went to the Tennessee State Fair and boy was it   hot , I mean fun! Being from Ohio and regulars at The Ohio State Fair we had high hopes for the Tennessee State Fair but were left a little unsatisfied. But with the heat we have had this summer it was quite alright!! The best part was the food , just kidding, the air conditioned barn we found! What a pleasant surprise that turned out to be! Not only was the COLD air flowing but we found some pretty cool exhibits inside as well.   Jacob (not sunburned here just really hot) was able to have a little Dramatic Play at the Fair! The Junior League (I believe) set up a play area for small children to practice being a farmer. The kids had the chance to pick apples off of trees, pull potatoes out of the ground and drive the tractor. Jake loved the tractor! He picked the apples but did not quite understand the idea behind picking potatoes, probably because we have not been learning about potatoes. :) He even received a coloring boo...