I love the ideas on the web about freezing objects for kids to try to "free" from the ice. So, I took a plastic bowl, some plastic fish and water creatures, and added water to freeze the creatures in. I did the freezing in two layers because the creatures sunk to the bottom of the bowl. After freezing overnight, I loosened the ice, and took it outside with a bowl of water and a pipette.
Although the dog is disinterested in the whole process, E was very into it. She started out using the pipette to try to melt the ice.
Then, she began sliding the ice around to use the heat of the patio to help her.
Couldn't resist this shot...
And finally, she figured out that the busting the ice method was the quickest and most fun way to free the fish. We have done this activity many times since this. I like that it helps with her problem solving skills. And, it was meant to help with those fine motor skills, even though in actuality it probably ended up being more of a gross motor skill activity.
The Karen Katz book, Daddy Hugs, has been a favorite of Ella's for a long time. It tells about ways a dad shows a child love, using numbers (like 10 "I Love Yous"). Before we read the story, I spread out foam numbers around the room on the floor. As we read the story, we would act out what the daddy in the story did (pat pats, hugs, dancing on Daddy's feet, etc), then E would go grab the number from the floor.It was a fun way of showing love and working on number recognition. This is a good activity for even those kids with a little less number recognition experience than E because they can see the number on the page then go find the number, making it more of a matching activity. At any rate, I would suggest this book (and most Karen Katz books) for a fun activity!
Kids love bubbles. Carefree moms love bubbles. I love bubbles once they are in the air, but I HATE the stickiness and mess that blowing bubbles can create. So, I have two solutions. One is a battery operated bubble blower. I think this should be on every mom's essential toy list. Ours (as you can see in the background of the picture) is Manely the Lion.
Bringing Manely indoors when the winter weather began to arrive was a great decision. During bath time, E and I love listening to the bubbles and enjoying the smiles bubbles inevitably bring. Recently, I added a regular container of bubbles to the bath, as well. Typically, these little bottles of stickiness and spills would make me cringe, but in the bath, who cares? It is truly the best of both worlds. Plus, I'm helping the no-mess risk practice of blowing bubbles in the bath will translate into bubble blowing being a mastered skill once spring comes!Pin It
After having a few days away from "formal" activities (instead we were actually outside enjoying the very springtime weather), we were stuck inside when the March downpours arrived! So, we got back on track with the nonfiction book, Every Season by Shelley Rotner and Anne Love Woodhull. It is filled with great photos from each of the four seasons showing popular seasonal activities and how nature looks in each of those seasons.
After reading the book, we moved over to our fishing pond I set up while E was napping. It is a colorful beach towel covered with the magnetic letters needed to spell each of the four seasons. Also, I put a magnet at the end of the fishing pole so E could use the pole to catch the letters she needed to spell the words from the clings (see next post) she was using to practice her letter identification. 
Catching the letters were more difficult than what I anticipated. A lot of the time E was sitting on my lap and we worked through it as a together activity. My advice would be to spread the letters out as much as possible on the pond. It is definitely a great lesson in motor skills and hand-eye coordination!
Also, if you take a peak at the fridge, E made a little pattern of her own with her letters and magnets. It was interesting to see her make the pattern on her own! What a fun rainy day activity!
Like most toddlers, E loves music and instruments. I thought incorporating these instruments into a listening activity would be both fun and challenging for E. I pulled out about seven of her instruments with varying sounds. I took a picture on the iPad to act as a reference for later in the activity, then I let E play around with the instruments to make sure she was familiar with the unique sounds that each one makes. 
Then, I took the instruments over behind the puppet theater, leaving E with the picture of the instruments on the iPad.
From behind the puppet theater, I played each instrument, one at a time, and had E identify what I was playing. Being able to look at the iPad pictures was a very helpful step that I would suggest to not leave out. One thing I would do differently if I did this activity again would be to make sure to review the names of each of the instruments we were using. There was a lot of "the shakey thing" and "the whistle." I missed an opportunity to expand on vocabulary on the front end of the activity. In the end, though, E enjoyed this simple activity!
The Karen Katz book, Daddy Hugs, has been a favorite of Ella's for a long time. It tells about ways a dad shows a child love, using numbers (like 10 "I Love Yous"). Before we read the story, I spread out foam numbers around the room on the floor. As we read the story, we would act out what the daddy in the story did (pat pats, hugs, dancing on Daddy's feet, etc), then E would go grab the number from the floor.
