Teddy Bear Picnic

   On our next to last day of preschool/childcare for the year (I watch teacher’s kids), I planned a…

 Teddy Bear Picnic

graphic: www.scrappindoodles.com

Everyone brought their favorite teddy bear that day.  We did everything with our teddys.   We ate breakfast with our bears (which was a real treat because I do not allow toys in the kitchen while we eat), took our bears to circle time, outside and of course had lunch together!

It was a teddy bear themed day!  During preschool time we read ‘Were Going on a Bear Hunt’ by Helen Oxenbury and Michael Rosen and used these sequence cards from SparkleBox to re-tell the story.

We also drew pictures of our teddy bears, using a half of a teddy bear as a template:

found here

I folded a piece of paper in half and had the girls try and cut the bears.  Then, they colored their bear picture to look like their real bear.  They also put on letter stickers to spell out their bear’s name.

We also sorted and graphed gummy bears, from an activity found at Creative Preschool Resources.

Then, at lunchtime I packed picnic baskets for the girls (just plastic baskets from the Dollar Store).  They has all kinds of picnic food, including juice boxes (what a treat!).  I wanted to let the girls go outside to picnic, but with babies it was just not feasible.  So, they got to have a picnic in  the living room on a picnic tablecloth (also found at the Dollar Store).

  

Oh, the little things in life!

**FYI: Letter Packs- I sort of “misplaced” my flash drive with all the letter packs on it.  I have a couple more places to look, cross your fingers that I find it!

Another {sippy} cup bites the dust!

    How many sippy cups has your toddler lost? 

When C was younger, we lost a handful of cups here and there.  Not to mention all of the ‘over-board’ cups… ya know, the cups that get tossed or lighted pushed off the side of the highchair or stroller. 

 

Well, as a childcare provider with two toddlers there seems to always be a cup on the floor!  We all know that fun game that the wee ones love to play!  I’ll drop it, mom picks it up, I’ll drop it again, mom picks it up again…continue until mom is fed up!

 

But… I now have a solution!

 

SippiGrip

by Booginhead

 

This parent-invented product solves the problem virtually every parent has with toddlers and sippy cups.  One end of the SippiGrip attaches to the highchair/stroller, the other attaches to the cup.  On the end that attaches to the cup there is a non-slip material to help grip to the cup.  Then, you use the Velcro to tighten the strap around the cup.  You can even adjust the length of the strap if you need it shorter.

 

 

Look at this Silver Paisley pattern- ADORABLE!  There are lots of fun patterns to choose from, check them out here.

 

So… how do I like the SippiGrip?

 

I love the design and the non-slip grip - it really holds.  I am using the SippiGrip on a booster seat and found it hard to find a place to attach it.  This would not be a problem on a normal highchair or stroller.  But, my booster seat just has no great place!  So, I ended up attaching it to the seatbelt.  Not ideal, but it worked!

I have not had any issues with the SippiGrip coming off when dropped over the side.  Nor, have the little ones been able to get the cup out of the grip.  Cleaning has been pretty easy too.  I just wipe them down with a wet cloth after the kids are done eating. No stains or grime and there is NO way the little ones are going to destroy these SippiGrips!

 

About to let it drop!

 

Down it goes…but it’s not on the floor!

 

You should have seen this little one’s face when the cup did not hit the floor with a THUD!

It was defiantly a look of puzzlement!

 

Need a SippiGrip?

 

Check out Booginhead’s retailers- including Babies-r-us, Buy Buy Baby, Amazon and select Walmarts.

 

Follow Booginhead on Facebook & Twitter

 

disclosure: these products were given to me free of charge in exchange for an honest review.

Days & Months Posters- FrEe!

  Happy Friday to ya!  This week has been a bit crazy and exhausting!  I know you can relate. 

  Well, I’m in the process of creating a new circle time pack and was looking through my old materials.  I found these Days of the Week and Months of the Year printables I had created a year or two ago.  So, I thought…why not share these free?!?

 

Days & Months Posters VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

 

Click HERE to download your own Days of the Week and Months of the Year posters.

 

Please read my terms of use before downloading.

 

Graphics created by Ashley of Me & Marie Learning and Digi Web Studio.

 

Please consider following me on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest after downloading! (Links at the top of the page)

Lookin’ Ahead

 How many of you are already planning for next year? Show of hands?  That is what I figured.  I guess we teachers are planners at heart!

I don’t know why, but at the end of a school year, the thoughts of the beginning of the next year creep into my mind.  I LOVE to plan ahead.  Not that I am always good at it, but I love the thought of having all my ducks in a row before August comes.  I care for teacher’s children in my home- so August to me is like a new school year too!

So, what is my plan for next year you ask…

Weekly Themes

 

Bear in mind that I will have both preschool age children and toddlers next year.  So, I had to figure out a way to make these themes work for each age of child.  Here is what I came up with…

Circle Time: As a group we will sing songs, do calendar activities, weather & review (more on this later).  Is it too much to ask a toddler to sit through all of this?  YES!  But, they can just toddle away to find some toys and come back when they are interested (my singing will bring them back for sure.. HA!)  We will also read a story geared more towards the toddlers, followed by a movement activity.

 

Art/Fine Motor Play: We will all go to the table to create an art project or to do some fine motor work (such as shaving cream play).  The art projects will be simplified for the toddlers and extended for the preschoolers, but will TRY to remain the same concept.

 

Then, we will all have snack and off to bed the toddlers will go for their morning naps.

 

Now, it will be just the preschoolers and we will…

Read a theme-based story (preschool level), followed by a group activity, table time activity & journals (more on that to come).

 

Is it hard to plan for a multi-age group?? YES! But, I know that I can pull it off.  And…what’s better, I’m sharing my plans with YOU!

 

Stay tuned :)

 

 

Do you love free?? {letter packs: M,N,O}

  I know I love free !!!  I have received so many kind words about these alphabet packs, which reinforces my decision to make them free on my blog, rather than try and sell them.  I am SOOO glad ya’ll can use them or parts of them with your kiddos!

 

So, here we go… on with Freebie Friday

 

     

 

{click the pictures above to download each unit}

Activities included:

Letter Picture Cards

Large letters (for creating letter art)

Letter Poem

Letter Snack and Sensory Ideas

Letter Book

Dot paint letters

Letter Flipbook

Letter Hunt

Letter Puzzles

Letter Lacing

Letter Size Up

Letter Sort

Letter Writing+6

Letter Match-Up

Letter Sort

Please note: Graphics used within these letter packs were created by Ashley Rives of Me & Marie Learning, Digi Web Studio and Pixel Papers.

If you download and print- please leave a comment.  If you feature these Letter Packs on your blog, please link back to Me & Marie Learning.

Keep the lil’ ones close!

   “Stay right next to me!”  “We are in parking lot, you need to hold my hand.”  “I know you are excited, but you need to stay near me so you don’t get lost!”  Have you ever found yourself saying these things to your young ones?  I know I have.
After the birth of our second child, it became harder to keep my oldest near me, as my attention is not fully on her.  Now, being a childcare provider going out and about makes me nervous!  All my children are great, no runners…but, it still makes me a nervous wreak in crowds and parking lots.  Well, luckily I found a great solution to calm my nerves a bit.

Enter the Gripsterz Stay Along.

Let me start by saying I am not a fan (under-statement) of harness’.  I know that safety is the concern of parents who use them.  But, I feel like if you run from me…your getting strapped in a stroller! Well, with the Gripsterz, I can feel that my child is not being restrained like a puppy, but instead is holding a fun handle that I can adjust the length on.

We first tried out the Gripsterz on a trip to a farmstead near us.  Awesome place, with lots of kids, busy parking lot and school buses’ full of kids on field trips. So, with two Gripsterz, each girl (ages 4 and 5) held their purple monkey that was attached to the stroller. Honestly, I planned on using the Stay Along if either girl had an issue staying close or keeping up.  But, they each wanted to hold the monkey and was happy doing so!


Let me tell you.. these little Gripsterz eased my mind.  Again, the girls don’t run (wander, yes) so I wasn’t sure how they would go over.  But, they worked perfectly and I WILL be using them every time we go into a parking lot or busy situation.  I also like how they give the kids a little length.  When I used to have C hold onto the cart I felt like I was going to run over her toes at some point!  Plus, I can’t have C hold onto my youngest little guy’s stroller while he is riding.  He starts screaming and pushing her hand away- he is a bit protective of his stoller I guess!  Yet again, the Gripsterz is my sloution! A carrying bag and children’s mini book is included, which was great to introduce the purpose of the Gripsterz to the girls.

     

So, if you have a little one that you need to keep close, give the Gripsterz by Vive Vita a try.  Certainly eases my mind on trips out with more than one kiddo!
Check out the configurations that can be made with the Gripsterz at the Vive Vita website.  You can purchase on the Vive Vita website or through Amazon.
My only suggestion for this product—More characters to accommodate more kids!  I think these would be a really cool match to the Unique-4-Me line that I reviewed a couple weeks back.  See that review here.

*Disclosure: this product was given to me free of charge in return for an honest review.


 

Free Friday–Letter Packs J K L

They’re back…  yep, the free Letter Packs are back this Friday with three all new letters.  ‘J’ featuring Jumping Jackson, ‘K’ featuring Kind Kate and ‘L’ featuring Landon the Lion!

 

         

{click the pictures above to download each unit}

Activities included:

Letter Picture Cards

Large letters (for creating letter art)

Letter Poem

Letter Snack and Sensory Ideas

Letter Book

Dot paint letters

Letter Flipbook

Letter Hunt

Letter Puzzles

Letter Lacing

Letter Size Up

Letter Sort

Letter Writing

Letter Match-Up

Letter Sort

Please note: Graphics used within these letter packs were created by Ashley Rives of Me & Marie Learning and Digi Web Studio.

If you download and print- please leave a comment.  If you feature these Letter Packs on your blog, please link back to Me & Marie Learning.