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Name Hopscotch {Mommy Teacher Spotlight}

I love scrolling through Instagram and seeing what other moms have shared for the day.

A friend of mine posted this video of her little fella and it immediately caught my attention for so many reasons:

Kids learn best and practice the skills they are learning most effectively when they are connecting with their world by seeing AND doing.

So if you have a child with lots of energy (can you relate?), jumping while learning or practicing skills that they already know is incredibly helpful for their brain development and you might reap the benefits of a quality nap time or bedtime rest later. 🙂

Here is what Hendrix’ mommy had to say about it when I asked for the details:

“The reality is he came up with this on his own! We were writing each other’s names (you can see his “mommy” on the bottom left of the screen) and he started hopscotching on his! He is into trains and roads now, and before this we were making roads with all the places that we usually go to…mall, coffee shop, grocery, honeys house…and driving to each place with his toy cars. We were learning to take rights and lefts and u-turns. This hopscotch just came out of nowhere. :)”

Thanks Alisha for sharing.
PS… I wish I had your chalking skills. haha

January 5, 2014 by Jessica | 0 comments

Presents The Kids Are Still Playing With After Christmas

You gotta love when ~~you –~~ I mean, when Santa spends all that time and energy on the “right” presents (and not to mention the expenses) so your kids can play with the boxes they are packaged in, or the pillows on your freshly-made beds.

Santa is starting to think he should have given the kids a nook or an iPad as opposed to the extra plastic and clutter lying around the house, but their wish-list tricked him.

Still, many of our presents are still providing lots of entertainment. To name a few…

My sister bought this science kit for Sean Patrick:

Learning Resources Primary Science Lab Set

And we love it. It comes with cards to tell you how to do science experiments that are kid-friendly. When my toddler goes down for a nap, Sean Patrick can’t wait to do his experiment.

How to make pennies shiny — Learning how to make pennies shiny!

He even likes to clean the tools. How could I not be excited about that?

My mother-in-law got us the learning tower that he stands on to do the experiments and the dish-washing. I used to think only hippie-parents would want this and that I would never want it because it takes up space, but y’all…. I am in love, and I was wrong. Or maybe I am a hippie?

Guidecraft All Grown Up Kitchen Helper Step Stool

Anyway, my kids stood on it for a half hour after we took it out of the box saying “This is awesome! This is AWEsome! This is aweSOME!” repeatedly.

And I love that they no longer try to climb onto the counter tops or pull chairs to the counters.

Sean Patrick is also loving his Jake and the Neverland Pirate Ship. It’s been fun hearing him attempt to talk like a pirate “Ahoy matey” is stinking adorable. AHH, I have to drop stinking from my vocabulary… help! Sean Patrick calls me out on using a potty word when I’m not in the bathroom and it is humbling haha.

Fisher-Price Disney's Jake and The Never Land Pirates - Jake's Musical Pirate Ship Bucky

As far as Mckayla’s presents go, her pretend makeup is the absolute best, pretend makeup that exists on the market:

Little Cosmetics Essential Pretend Makeup Set

It is completely pretend but it seems totally real. So perfect.

Finally, I made the kids some colorful ribbon streamers and it has also been a BIG hit as a dancing accessory.

dancing with ribbon streamers

Thanks to everyone who commented on my Facebook page about what gifts your kids are using most…. it gives me good ideas for my kiddos birthdays in 2014.

December 31, 2013 by Jessica | 0 comments

DIY Ribbon Streamers {With Music Recommendations}

I know y’all are probably burnt out on all-things-present-related.

But, I did want to share a simple idea that was a hit in our house and it doesn’t have to be packaged as a present…my DIY ribbon streamers.

dancing with ribbon streamers

I made ribbon streamers for my nieces and my kiddos because my friend Eliza uses them in her music classes and they are just too perfect for little movers and shakers.

Case in point:

They are SO easy to make and the materials can be found anywhere, but I bought mine at Walmart {with the exception of my ribbon which I bought at Hobby Lobby when they had a half off sale}:

You just need ribbon, scissors (which didn’t make it in the picture because I do everything in a hurry), a lighter, bangles (bracelets), and a hot glue gun is optional.

I picked out 5 different color spools and this made 7 ribbon streamers.

I double-knotted each ribbon onto the bangles

Then I cut them about the same length – about 12-14 inches from the bracelet.

Finally, I burnt the edges with a lighter so they wouldn’t fray.

(I took a picture but I can’t find it)…once again I do everything in a hurry.

My kids love to dance to this CD at all times:

50 Fun Songs with Mr. Ray Activity Kit (Packaged in carrying case with Stickers, Crayons and Coloring Book)

But, Johnette Downing’s Scarf Activity Songs CD is my favorite to use scarves or ribbons streamers to dance to because the lyrics give directions for moving with the scarves/streamers:

The Second Line - Scarf Activity Songs

I also gave my niece the idea to make these with her school colors for spirit week so it is a great gift for older kids as well! It’s a modern lemonade-stand-idea for all those little entrepreneurs out there.

You can make these for your kids or “Pin” for a future gift idea, but either way this is our new favorite dancing accessory so it’s worth sharing! 🙂

December 29, 2013 by Jessica | 0 comments

Great Last-Minute Christmas Gift From Kids

I’m excited about today’s printable, but I’m even more excited to see what you artsy people will do with it.

If you use this Christmas Gift Template SHARE your child’s finished work on our Facebook page because our favorites will get a free link to their choice of Member-only Christmas Printables or playroom labels of your choice. 😉

I made a template as a gift for Grandparents:

And for parents:

But if you e-mail me with a specific request (aunts and uncles, cousins, special grandparents names like MeMe and Poppy etc.) I may be able to help out.

Casey had the idea to: take a crayola marker and paint your child’s thumb red and do thumbprints at the end of every line (tree branch)… make little “ornaments” out of the thumb prints. You could make them all red, or do different colors. Turn it into a thumbprint tree 🙂

My friend Allie had the idea to possibly have her kids paint this and modge podge it onto a small canvas.

I am thinking I might have my kiddos decorate it and place it on a frame with a clothespin glued onto the top so that the art could be interchangeable. I got the frame idea from Allie when I visited her playroom – I’ll post pictures when I make that happen!

Whatever you come up with, don’t forget to SHARE your work so that we can feature our favorites here (updating this post) and offer you our Christmas Printables or Playroom Labels for free!

December 18, 2013 by Jessica | 0 comments

Art Table Giveaway! {New Design Launch Party} -Winner Announced

Winner Announced:

Thank you to everyone who entered!! If you entered and would like a FREE link to my “Turkey Art Templates” then e-mail me jessica (at) themommyteacher (dot) com, and I will also send you a link to my next Thanksgiving activity that I will be posting on Sunday (to those who entered and would like these printables). 😉

So, in a small way, everyone is a winner, but only ONE person could win the Art Table, and Rafflecopter randomly chose “Lisa Wilson!” Congratulations Lisa W.!

Spread the word about The Mommy Teacher because when we reach 200 “Members” we will be doing another big item giveaway!

Casey and I have been SOOOO eager to launch the new design of The Mommy Teacher that we just had to celebrate with an awesome giveaway!

We are giving away one of our favorite things… a wonderfully kid-friendly art table!

We went back and forth about which one to give away and after a close Facebook poll, we decided to let the winner pick!

Yes, if you win you get to PICK whichever one of these art tables you would like:

Oh, and before you enter… read about two quick updates we want to share:

1) You can now submit Mommy Teacher Spotlight submissions,

and

2) We have a Membership Page! I post so many printables so often these days that we wanted to bundle them all together for just $5.50 a month….

Yes, you get them ALL for that unbelievable price – and I add to this collection often.

Okay, now enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

November 22, 2013 by Jessica | 65 Comments

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