Super Baby Food

My mom found this book for me and I really love it. While making baby food is not for every mom, if it is something you are interested in I highly recommend this book. It has a wealth of information on how to prepare fruits, vegetables, grains, and meats for your baby. It also has a helpful chart on when to introduce each type of food (pg. 86-87) and a large section in the back with recipes, party ideas, arts & crafts (including play-dough and other recipes), and baby-safe cleaning products.  I didn’t use the brewer’s yeast and a few other things the author did with her children, as my girls didn’t like the taste of it.  But I do believe that my girls are good eaters (they literally eat anything we put in front of them) because they had “real” food from the beginning and were exposed to everything we eat on a daily basis.

Fisher-Price Booster Seat

I have two of these…one is used as our high chair at home and the other stays in the car when we are on-the-go.  I really love this booster seat for several reasons.  First, it is perfect as a regular high chair.  I’ve used this with each daughter since they could sit up independently (and even rolled up a couple towels on either side if they needed extra support at first).  It doesn’t take up alot of room like other high chairs, and you can then take it with you when you decide to go to someone’s house or out to dinner.  If you are like me, you will forget it half the time, which is why I bought a second one to keep in the car.  Second, the blue/green/grey seat I have is about $25 so you can buy two for less than you would pay for a single high chair.  Third, when you go out to dinner your child will be sitting in a familiar chair which I think really helps with eating and manners because of the consistency.  Lastly, when going out your child will only be eating and touching his own germs!

Diaper Champ

This is the one product I recommend to new parents because you don’t need to buy special bags like most other diaper pails. You can just use a regular trash bag! There is some smell when you open the lid to change out the garbage bag, but I assume this is the case with any diaper pail. It is great for disposable or cloth diapers. I bought it because it saves money! Comes in pink and blue.

Educational Car Games

I think one of the best times to review or learn new information is in the car while running errands.  You can take advantage of those spare minutes (even a quick 5 minute drive) to introduce a new concept or play a fun game.  Best of all it keeps your child occupied and even entertained!

A few things I do with my daughter in the car while running errands:

Practice ABC’s -Sing them, sign them while singing, or the old standby game where you find the letters in order from A to Z on signs and billboards.

Practice counting-  First it was just 1-10, then 1-20, then counting by 10s up to 100, and now we are counting from 1-100 and by 5s up to 100.

Play the “Category Game”- My daughter loves this one and usually is the one who starts it.  Either I name a category or she comes up with one and then we each take turns thinking of an item in that category.  This is an important language development skill for children to acquire, and this is an easy and fun way to learn the concept of categories.  For example, my daughter gives the category “sea animals” and says the first item “crab”.  Then it’s my turn and I say “octopus”, and we continue until neither one of us can think of another animal.  Then we start a new category!

A few category ideas to get you started: farm animals, ocean animals, jungle animals, African animals, colors, shapes, fruits, vegetables, furniture, occupations, transportation, and things found in the bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom.  For kids a bit older try the category game based on the characteristics of items such as things that are hard, soft, big, little, tall, glass, plastic, cheap, expensive, can fly, crawl, etc.

Play the “Rhyming Game”- Another version of the category game, but you just start out with a word and take turns saying words that rhyme with the first one.  For example, you start with “hat” and take turns saying “rat”, “bat”, “pat”, “mat”, “sat”, “zat”, “gat”, and “lat”.  Both real and made up words are great!

Sing songs and recite nursery rhymes- Another favorite!  Memorizing familiar songs and nursery rhymes is an important skill for children to acquire.  Being able to remember information is an important life skill, and usually is taught by learning songs and nursery rhymes.  It is also important for children to learn them because they are a part of our culture and may be referenced in material as they get older.  For example, if you are reading a story that makes reference to ‘Jack and Jill’ but you don’t know how the nursery rhyme goes, then you will not fully understand what the author is trying to say.  Nursery rhymes, songs, fairy tales, and other stories that are a part of our culture are often expected to be common knowledge.

Some of our favorites are Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill (both verses!), Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wee Willie Winkie, and This Old Man.

A tip to help your child: After saying the nursery rhyme a few times aloud, start leaving off the last word in the verse.  For example, “Twinkle Twinkle Little ____” and have your child say the word to finish it (star).  Then continue with, “How I wonder what you ____” (are).  Since the words usually rhyme, it provides a great clue and children usually pick up these words quickly.  Once able to do this, start leaving out more words (“Twinkle Twinkle  _____  ___”) and before you know it he will have the whole thing memorized!

Fun Learning at the Beach!

We are headed to the beach this weekend and it is the perfect place to incorporate learning with fun.  The sights, sounds, and feel of the sand make it a perfect multisensory experience.  Here are just a few ideas that come to mind…I will definitely try some of these with my daughters.

Younger ones:

Opposites- Big/little (shells, buckets, sandcastles, holes you dig, handprints & footprints),  short/tall (sandcastles, shadows), wet/dry (sand, people, towels, buckets), hot/cold (sand in sun and shade, sun/water, cool drinks, hot skin).

Hide objects in the sand (like shells or her toes!) and see if she can find them.  Show her how a shovel, rake, and sifter can be helpful with this task.

Show her how her hands and feet make prints in the sand.  You step on her footprints, and have her follow in your footprints and step on yours.

Writing:

Have your child spell her name in the sand using her fingers or a stick.

Practice writing ABCs in the sand.

Practice spelling words in the sand.

Have her write a poem or create a song about the beach.

Have your child write a letter to a friend or grandparent telling about her trip to the beach.

Math:

Have your child write numbers in sand using her fingers or a stick.

Practice counting objects- the number of shells you have collected, the number of waves you jump over, birds or beach umbrellas you see, etc.

Have your child do addition, subtraction, or any other math problem written in the sand.  She can use shells or other beach objects to help with solving the problem.

History:

Research a specific castle and try to make a sand castle replica.

Discuss the purpose a moat serves for a castle, and other protective strategies that were used.  Seeing a moat around a sand castle visually will help your child see how an invader would have a hard time getting in.  Even have her use a shell or other object to represent an “invader” and try to get into the castle with the drawbridge up and moat around it.  Can she come up with another creative way in?

Science:

Research sea birds at home and draw pictures of them.  Use these pictures to identify birds you may see at the beach.  What do these birds eat?  Observe them and see…what are they busy doing while you are there?  Write what you observe down and do even more research when you get home.

See how many different examples of sea life you can find- jellyfish, crabs, sand fleas, starfish, fish, shellfish, etc.

Discuss how the moon’s gravity affects the water level/tides.

Do sea turtles nest on the beach?  If so, research the type of sea turtle you might see, how the turtle migrates, why the turtle is protected by law, etc.

Discuss how salt is in the ocean water.  Scoop up a cup of sea water and let water evaporate (also another good topic to discuss!) until only salt is left.

Compare specific gravity of sea water versus tap water (why does a certain object float better in sea water compared to regular tap water?).  Use different objects and try to guess what will happen before testing your prediction.

Do you have some ideas to share?  I look forward to reading them…

« Previous Page