TMT Jessica’s Little Ones

Plate ART

I threw out the uppercase  A-R-T  in the title of this post because even though my friend and I had a blast decorating plates with our kids, the following images do  NOT show plates that you can eat from or really even wash.  They will be on a plate stand in the kitchen most likely 😉

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My friend Allie and I are both 24 weeks pregnant, we both have a two year and a half year old, and we both have a one year old (this was not planned by the way).  So, we have had a sleepover this weekend to let our crazy worlds come together for a few days.  It has been so sweet, and funny, and crazy of course.  We decided it would be fun to let the little ones do an art activity together.

We found some pefect small, white melamine plates at Target and purchased some colorful sharpies, we headed back home to let our little ones decorate away. (PS – we learned the hard way that the bamboo melamine plates we found at Big Lots were a NO GO!  Just trust me on this one.)

My friend Allie can write really cutesie and I can NOT write cutesie at all so she personalized all of the plates for us.  Thanks Allie ! 🙂

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We threw aprons on the little ones and let them color on their plates….

Decorating Around Names

Then, we threw aprons on the one year olds and let them color on their plates (without their names on them), and we found out that this actually worked better to write the name AFTER coloring.

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This next low-quality shot is just showing that I traced my little ones’ hands on the back and wrote the date.

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I had originally intended to make dinner plates, but it didn’t quite workout that way.  And after researching melamine and the process of making dinner plates, I was even more happy with the final product as a keepsake.  We wanted a fast and funky activity to do so this was perfect for the weekend.   But I found this if this is your kind of thing….. http://www.ehow.com/how_6913770_paint-melamine-dinner-plates.html  –  I’m sure I’ll make this happen in the future too 😉

Once again…here are my two kiddos plates…..up close and personal:

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I am happy with the way they turned out!

Remedy for the little one with the “I can’t” bug!

My son has been using the phrase “I can’t” a lot lately because he is so catious, but lately I have noticed that he is using it as a crutch. We went swimming in the lake on the fourth of July and when asked to go into the lake he cried out “I can’t” because he was scared. I don’t want to ignore his fears so we are going to be swimming in pools more often until he is comfortable. But, I also want to implement the “I can” mentality into his vocabulary as much as I have the influence to do so.

So, here are a few things that I have casually introduced to Sean Patrick and spent time encouraging him with in the past week.

1) We started off coloring an “I Can” book that I could read to him and encourage him to “read” to daddy and others as well.

2) We made a homemade video of him on my iphone acting out all of the “I CAN” actions from the book (I would’ve shared this, but he didn’t feel like putting clothes on for the video haha).

3) I started a little personalized “I can” book for him in a Word document:

And 4) I stumbled upon a Barney (yes the big purple dinosaur) video called “I Can Do That” featuring a group of friends playing “I Can _____” and then putting on a skit about it.

These tips are NOT a short-term “cure” for the I can’ts!  All of these ideas are things I am currently teaching toward a GOAL that we can replace “I can’t” with “I can.”  I’m sure there will be plenty of reminders 🙂

Library Read-Aloud Take TwO!!!

I can’t believe that it was about 7 months ago that I wrote about my last library read-aloud experience.  I have to admit that I haven’t brought Sean Patrick more than a couple times since that day because he was such a tasmanian devil in the library that I felt like I needed more time to teach him to participate in that type of setting, especially with a new baby and a few other reasons that have overtaken my day-to-day this year.

 But today was magical!  haha.  I brought him this morning and on the way I talked to him about how we were going act and told him about the fun we were going to have at the library with other kids and “friends.” We were going to sit together and sing along with a “teacher.” I prepared him by setting the stage and communicating my expectations.  “You are going to stay by mommy and sit in my lap.  If you cant listen to the teacher then we will have to leave. I need you to listen to mommy and it will be so much fun.”  He said “Okay, I stay by mommy.”

And HE DID!!! haha It was really special.  He participated for the entire half hour, both in my lap and nearby.  Every time the leader sang a song, read a book, or led a fingerplay, Sean Patrick asked her to “Sing dat again!”  It was really great and now I’m excited to go back next week.

Even if our little ones aren’t always little angels, experiences like this are truly beneficial and rewarding.  This “mommy teacher” chooses her battles, and 7 months ago I felt like it was too much work in his stage at the time with a new baby to juggle the read-aloud, but I am SO glad we are in a good little season because it is a sweet thing! 🙂

Teaching Via Everyday Choices

There are A LOT of websites that give activity ideas for little ones, but my goal is to make teaching your little one such a natural part of your everyday routine….. and it helps to have some insight into the best teaching techniques.

Most parents who are “teaching” their little one spend more time “drilling” our kiddos (flash card style) than actually teaching them.  This isn’t ALL bad and trust me, I am guilty of this at times!

We get very caught up in the idea that if our child has learned a skill (like letter naming) then we need to constantly ask them “What letter is this?”  and then wait for their answer.  Don’t get me wrong….this is a GOOD thing.  You are helping your little one to recall the information repetitively for recognition and fluency’s sake!  But I want to ADD that YOU still need to be reinforcing what your little one knows and not just leaving it up to them.

Here is my example of what I am trying to incorporate at home:

Sometimes when I am grocery shopping I see underlying learning opportunities in the products I buy (Alphabits, Fruit Loops for sorting or patterning, Familiar Print, etc.).  But when I was picking up a box of waffles, I saw the opportunity to reinforce teaching shapes by buying a box of circular shaped waffles AND a box of square shaped waffles.

Instead of asking Sean Patrick, “Do you want the waffle that is a square or a circle?” (because I know that he knows his shapes), I talk more about it more to reinforce his familiarity with the shape vocabulary and help him make connections.  “LooK! This waffle is shaped like a circle!” I said this as I held up a strawberry Eggo waffle. “It goes round and round and round like the wheels on the bus!” (I made it turn in circles just so that he would make a connection of another circular-shaped object) “And this waffle” (holding up the cinnamon toast waffle) “is shaped like a square.  It has FOUR sides.  One, two, three, four like a square on the floor!” Then I bent down and traced my finger on the outline of the square counting the sides. “Do you want the circle waffle? or the square waffle?”

He chose the “circle!” and he proceeded to tell me about it while he ate “I bite a circle.  I bite a round and round” haha – I think he gets it.

Ignore the fact that his diaper is coming apart at the moment, we need to move into pull-ups because of all the “false alarms” that come with potty training.  He cracks me up!

 

Displaying Your Little One’s Name

A friend of mine from Santa Cruz, Bolivia sent me a name plate for Sean Patrick that I have hanging on the headrest in front of his car seat.  Displaying words that are meaningful to children is key because children “study” the print after you have talked through it with them.  These images become input in their working memory and will benefit your little one’s ability to recall important information.  Don’t just assume that they know what the print is or says (even if there is a picture).  Talk about every feature. 

For this name plate we talk about the color, shape, letters, the ball, and that those are the letters in his name.  We sing our little song, and I ask him about it as we are riding along.  I know this may seem so “behind the times” because most people have a tv in their head rest these days, but if that is the case hang skill sets on the back of the driver or passenger seat because either way it is a great visual for concentration.

I really recommend making one WITH your little one, but if you want to buy a decorative one my friend is in the business of making them and she calls them “Name Plaques” so contact her if you want to buy an affordable, customized display of your little one’s name.

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