Gifts from Baby! -part 2

Christmas is creeping in on us so I thought it was time to make another part of our Christmas gifts from baby. Today we made Stirring Spoons. These can be used in hot tea or coffee to give a taste of chocolate and candy cane.

We started with plastic spoons, chocolate and candy canes. At this age when small toddlers do not understand everything you say to them having a 'hook' is a great way to get them excited about an activity. For this activity the hook was crushing the candy canes.

We are at my mom's house, out of town, and he does not seem so interested in helping in the kitchen as he does at home. As I was preparing for the activity he was running around playing. To get him to join me I asked him if he wanted to bang, band in the kitchen with me. He loves all things construction and bang, banging to him is hitting things and making a noise. Crushing candy cane? Yep that is going to make a noise. We started with this part. I put them in a baggies and modeled for him how to hit the candy canes with the rolling pin.

He, of course, loved this and said, "bang, bang," as he hit the candy. While he did that I put the chocolate in a bowl and melted it in the microwave.

I put the candy canes on a plate and pulled out the chocolate, stirred it up and put it on a plate as well. By microwaving the chocolate it does not get as hot so it is safer around a little one. (BUT, needless to say always monitor for safety!) I modeled the process- dip spoon in chocolate getting it covered and thick, then sprinkle candy canes on it and lay it on the parchment paper.

Then he took over and made the spoons with no problem he enjoyed stirring and sprinkling. All of which are skills he can do without difficulty. He did not even mind handing them over to me to put on the paper. I worried that he would just want to sit and stir but he appeared to truly understand what we were doing.

Then...

I looked over and saw this sweet face!! I guess I cannot blame him! We all have to taste test once in a while.

Here are the final product. I let them dry then cleaned off the spoon handles. They should be a nice sweet treat in coffees on Christmas. And what a way to show gift giving and doing for others!

Part 3 coming!

Comments

Play to Write- Week 3

We participating in a Wednesday Play Group called Play to Write over at Cherrios and Lattes . This is week 3- Write/Spell Your Name. We started this week's practice with some name tracing. Cherrios and Lattes provides the printable for some dotted letters. She suggested doing rainbow writing with this sheet. I showed Jacob but he was more interested in writing all the Jacobs. I started by modeling on the first name. Then I held his hand and we did it together. Finally I let him do the last three on his own with only my verbal prompts. He took this very seriously and was very proud of himself! I was surprised at how much he liked doing this activity. He has a long way to go but he did pretty well! One thing I had to repeat was not to go around the o and a more than once. He wanted to go around and around. This is an activity that I think he will want to do again! The next activity was Missing Letter Name Practice. We started by singing a little song I sing fo...

Name Writing Practice

Jacob did a little name writing practice today. He was asked to trace the dotted lines to write letters for his name. This is good practice with spelling as well. I had him say each letter as he wrote the letter. As you can see he is very choppy and not exactly on the dotted lines. His motor skills are not quite sharp enough yet to be able to hold the crayon and he especially loses control as he works on towards the end. We also did a Missing Letter Name Practice. Both of these ideas came from Cherrios and Lattes ' Play to Write, Write to Read. These are good ways to practice names and writing. He gets very angry if he thinks he made a mistake. See the scribbling. I have to reinforce that it is ok to make a mistake and that everyone makes mistakes but we just keep trying. Practice is the only way to get better. When this happens I cannot help but think of my former students that did the very same thing and proceeded to throw fits and give up. I hope to help Jacob ge...

Building Good Readers

"Your boys are such good readers! I wish mine loved to read like yours do! How did you do that?" Can parents build good readers? How do parents build good readers? This might seem like a daunting question, a task too difficult to tackle. But truly, it does not have to be. As our children grow and become readers on their own accord they often feel that they do not need or want parents to read to them. It is very common for this to happen, but as their parents, it is our job to push back. Readers are not born, they are made. We must find times to read to our children. That might mean reading aloud looks different as they get older. Maybe instead of before bed; you are reading at the dinner table, as they are playing, or during snack time. The point is to share books that will pique their interest and hold their attention. You might have to choose books you might not otherwise choose. The key to reading aloud is to m odel reading for them and to sho...

Structured Play

Search This Blog