Everyday Teachable Moments

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

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

Get Ready For Winter {Printable}

Tomorrow is the first day of winter.

I know that this is true, but if I walk outside of my Louisiana home right now I could easily work up a sweat.

Still, I was excited to get ready (a day early) and have my kids paint the letters that spell out WINTER and display the season in our playroom over all of our Christmasy art.

Winter Letters

Is Christmasy a word? I use it a lot.

I printed this printable and pulled out my paints.

We painted the letters “W” and “T” dark blue.

We painted the letters “I” and “E” light blue.

And we painted the letters “N” and “R” gray.

I deemed these wintry colors.

Is wintry a word? I don’t have time to “google” this stuff y’all.

You could probably back these letters to construction paper to make this even cuter, which I might do when my life slows down. Don’t wait up.

HERE is the printable

December 20, 2013 by Jessica | 0 comments

A Party Favor for your Christmas Parties

I decided to make a baggie of reindeer food (oats and glitter) for each child in my son’s class and instead of googling forever to see what was out there I decided to make my own tags.

So, I made these tags AND a checklist for the kids to have a little task list for their job to feed the reindeer.

Here it is! Enjoy (and share) this freebie.

December 17, 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: