Recommendations

My All-Time Favorite Kid’s CD

I grew up listening to Hide ‘Em in Your Heart, Vol. 1 & 2 but had nearly forgotten all about it until my sister gave me the two-for-one CD for Christmas.

My first thought was, I’m going to be so sad if my kids don’t like it.

So, before I popped it in my CD player, I said “Guess what?!? This was mommy’s favorite music when I was a kid, and now we can learn the songs and listen to it together!”

Then I skipped right to my two favorite songs as a kid: “God loves a Cheerful Giver” and “Encourage One Another.”

At first, my kids ONLY wanted to listen to those songs for the first day or two, but then as the songs played without them noticing, they eventually fell in love with ALL of the songs.

This CD has been a GREAT teaching tool because when my little girl is afraid of “sharks” and “alligators” at night, we sing “When I am afraid, I will trust in HIM.”

Or, when they are complaining, I sing “Do everything without complaining.”

It is a great way to introduce and memorize Scripture naturally and regularly which is my favorite way to do things.

My kids are under 5 so it is really appropriate for them, but I remember liking this CD as a 10 year old child. I can’t promise that your kids will love it because I know Kid’s bop and Disney music are kid favorites these days, but it is worth a try because the content it priceless.

I hope you like it as much as we do!

riding in the car

February 12, 2015 by Jessica | 2 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

5 Nativity Favorites for Kids

Chatting with my friend Allie this morning about the kid’s nativity sets and books that our kids love, I knew I needed to share all of our favorites along with Part 1 of the Nativity Templates I made.

Allie really recommends this one:

Fisher-Price Little People Nativity Playset

Her kids play with it a lot and sing along to the music. It lights up so they like to play with with the lights off too.

I want this (I love advent calendars and felt boards):

Kubla Crafts Nativity Fabric Advent Calendar

Here are the 3 books we absolutely LOVE (see if your local library has them):

Finally, here is Part One of the templates that I made as an extension activity to all that you are doing learning about the birth of Jesus:

The templates I made are GREAT to use as play dough mats, dry-erase tracing mats, patterns to put along side your paper as you draw the pictures shape by shape, and using for construction paper art.

This Part 1 of the templates include: Joseph and Mary, an Angel, a Star, and baby Jesus.

It is included in my membership because I sell this template set on TeachersPayTeachers, but you can get it included in the membership for just $5 right now (limited time price).

Here is a quick little YouTube video for using the angel template:

December 13, 2013 by Jessica | 0 comments

Do You Have A Favorite Thanksgiving Movie?

This week, I re-discovered and had nearly forgotten about “Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers.”

The Mayflower Voyagers (This Is America, Charlie Brown) [VHS]

Sean Patrick is only 3 1/2 but we watched “The Mayflower Voyagers” and discussed the entire movie while it was on. This movie is perfect and appropriate for young kids, but it is meaningful for all ages.

By pointing out all of the details, he stayed engaged and interested.

I said things like “OOhhh look! A map! Do you see the land and the water?” (I paused the movie for a second to point these out).

And then, “Oooh a ship! That ship has a special name called the Mayflower. It is going to take the Pilgrims to America. Would you want to ride on that ship?”

You get the point.

I talk to him a lot during the movie and he really enjoys the commentary, though I know most of you would go NUTS if someone talked the whole way through a movie haha; I understand.

But, for little ones… the dialogue helps them to process what is going on and helps them to put all the pieces together.

Discussing the details also helps children store the information for better memory recall, and helps children to get a better grasp on story elements like setting, plot, characters, major events, and all the underlying details that build comprehension.

This specific movie is currently on Netflix, which is great because (unless you check this out at your local library or find it at a grocery store) it is not too affordable online.

November 27, 2013 by Jessica | 0 comments

Calendar Templates!

It is August 1st & a few days ago I realized that I needed a new Calendar template for my “To Do” board but also a calendar template that my little man could explore with. So, I spent a good chunk of time developing calendar templates that I liked and that also had TRACEABLE month titles and also included the identical set in the printable with regular month titles.

[Click HERE to become a member – get unlimited access to ALL The Mommy Teacher Printables including this one!

OR CLICK HERE to purchase any one of these Calendar Templates individually from my TeachersPayTeachers Store.]

What can children learn from calendar exploration?

Patterns – The days of the week repeat their same order every week.

Vocabulary – Yesterday, today, tomorrow, weekend, days of the week, month, months of the year, holidays, etc.

Organization – Graphic organizers (like calendars) are so great for kids to be exposed to. They show order and give meaning to our everyday routines.

One-to-One Correspondence – We wrote one number in each square.

Weather Recording – Check out my weather tracking post with the September template attached for free!

Ordinal Numbers – When you say the days of the week in a sentence you would say “Today is August FIRST, tomorrow is August SECOND,” etc.

What did my calendar experience look like with my 3 year old?

I put our calendars on clipboards and we sat down at the playroom table and talked about them while we doodled on our calendars. I sang the days of the week song, the months of the year song, and then we counted how many days were in August. We “x’d” out the days that had already passed. We marked upcoming events with stickers. I prepared him in advance for days that mommy or daddy had something to do so that I can remind him by pointing to the calendar and he can visually see that the event will come and go.

Sean Patrick felt so “official” with his calendar on his clipboard. While I wrote the numbers and upcoming events on my calendar attached to the clipboard, he “wrote” what he wanted to do on his.

He made a lot of markings and said things like “I will go to Maya’s house on Friday, and MeMe will be 70 on Tuesday.” Haha I loved his made-up events. And his MeMe is only in her mid-50’s but one of her sisters told Sean Patrick that she was almost 70 haha.

He even asked me for another “August calendar” yesterday so that was my indicator that he actually had as much fun as I did with this activity.

August 1, 2013 by Jessica | Comments Off

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