This is another great handprint craft for this Easter/Spring season. Familyfun.go.com does a wonderful job outlining this craft so I'll just provide a link to their site. A nice modification to this craft is to have your child use water colors on his paper before tracing his hand. Enjoy!
craft can be found at familyfun.go.com
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Montessori Mondays - 51 to 60 of 101
This is part VI of Barbara Hacker's 101 Ways to Help a Montessori Child into small sections. Enjoy!
51. Help your child to have positive connections with people of diverse ethnicities, language, and beliefs.
52. Laugh a lot. Play with words. Tell jokes. Help your child to develop a sense of humor.
53. Share your profession or occupation with your child. Have him/her visit at work and have some appreciation of work done in the world.
54. See that your child learns to swim -- the younger the better.
55. Have a globe or atlas in the house, and whenever names of places come up locate them with the child.
56. Make sure your child has the tools he/she needs -- child size broom, mop, dust pan, whisk broom, duster, etc., to help maintain the cleanliness of the household.
57. Learn to say, "No," without anger, and with firmness and conviction. Not everything children want is appropriate.
58. Arrange environments and options so that you end up saying yes more than no.
59. Refrain from laughing at your child.
60. Alert children to upcoming events so they can mentally prepare, e.g., "In ten minutes, it will be time for bed."
51. Help your child to have positive connections with people of diverse ethnicities, language, and beliefs.
52. Laugh a lot. Play with words. Tell jokes. Help your child to develop a sense of humor.
53. Share your profession or occupation with your child. Have him/her visit at work and have some appreciation of work done in the world.
54. See that your child learns to swim -- the younger the better.
55. Have a globe or atlas in the house, and whenever names of places come up locate them with the child.
56. Make sure your child has the tools he/she needs -- child size broom, mop, dust pan, whisk broom, duster, etc., to help maintain the cleanliness of the household.
57. Learn to say, "No," without anger, and with firmness and conviction. Not everything children want is appropriate.
58. Arrange environments and options so that you end up saying yes more than no.
59. Refrain from laughing at your child.
60. Alert children to upcoming events so they can mentally prepare, e.g., "In ten minutes, it will be time for bed."
Friday, April 15, 2011
Friday Notables - Global Babies
Global Babies published by Charlesbridge is a beautiful picture book that shows 12 different babies from around the world. I think this book is great by itself or read by a large map of the world, if you have one. Even though a map of something as massive as the earth is a very abstract idea for a toddler, most of them are fascinated by maps. Pairing a map with the book will help toddlers begin to associate the names of the countries where the babies are from to the shapes on a map. Another great thing about this book, should you choose to buy it, is that part of the proceeds are donated to The Global Fund for Children which "supports innovative community based organizations that serve the world's most vulnerable children and youth." You can learn more about the program at www.globalfundforchildren.org. Have a wonderful weekend!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Midweek Creations - Bunny Handprint
This week's craft is perfect for an Easter card or as a memory keepsake that you can share with your child years later. Enjoy!All you need is paint, paper, and a pen.
Paint one of your child's hands and place it horizontally on the paper with all the fingers together. Paint the same hand and place it over the fingers of the first handprint keeping the first two and last two fingers together to form ears. Add a tail to your handprint bunny by using one finger print at the back of the first handprint. After the paint has dried, trace a bunny outline around the print and add a face.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Montessori Mondays - 41 to 50 of 101
For the past few Mondays, I have been breaking down Barbara Hacker's 101 Ways to Help a Montessori Child into small sections. This is Part V and like before, I have put the main parts of each point in bold. Enjoy!
41. Whenever you go somewhere with your child, prepare him/her for what is going to happen and what will be expected of him/her at the store, restaurant, doctor's office, etc.
42. Express appreciation to your child and others and help your child do the same. Send thank you notes for gifts. Young children can dictate or send a picture. Older children can write their own. What is key is learning the importance of expressing appreciation.
43. Help your child to learn to like healthful foods. Never force a child to eat something he/she does not like, but also don't offer unlimited alternatives! Make trying new things fun. Talk about foods and how they look or describe the taste. Introduce the word "savor" and teach how to do it. Engage children in food preparation.
44. When food shopping, talk to your child about what you see -- from kumquats to lobsters. Talk about where food items come from. Talk about the people who help us by growing, picking, transporting, and displaying food.
45. Provide your child with appropriate sized furniture: his/her own table and chair to work at; perhaps a rocker in the living room to be with you; a bed that can easily be made by a child; a stool for climbing up to sink or counter.
46. While driving, point things out and discuss -- construction work, interesting buildings, vehicles, bridges, animals.
47. Teach the language of courtesy. Don't let your child interrupt. Teach how to wait after saying, "Excuse me, please."
48. Analyze any annoying behavior of your child and teach from the positive. For example: door slamming -- teach how to close a door; running in the house -- teach how to walk; runny nose --teach how to use a tissue.
49. Spend quality time with people of different ages.
50. Teach your child about your religion and make them feel a part of it.
41. Whenever you go somewhere with your child, prepare him/her for what is going to happen and what will be expected of him/her at the store, restaurant, doctor's office, etc.
42. Express appreciation to your child and others and help your child do the same. Send thank you notes for gifts. Young children can dictate or send a picture. Older children can write their own. What is key is learning the importance of expressing appreciation.
43. Help your child to learn to like healthful foods. Never force a child to eat something he/she does not like, but also don't offer unlimited alternatives! Make trying new things fun. Talk about foods and how they look or describe the taste. Introduce the word "savor" and teach how to do it. Engage children in food preparation.
44. When food shopping, talk to your child about what you see -- from kumquats to lobsters. Talk about where food items come from. Talk about the people who help us by growing, picking, transporting, and displaying food.
45. Provide your child with appropriate sized furniture: his/her own table and chair to work at; perhaps a rocker in the living room to be with you; a bed that can easily be made by a child; a stool for climbing up to sink or counter.
46. While driving, point things out and discuss -- construction work, interesting buildings, vehicles, bridges, animals.
47. Teach the language of courtesy. Don't let your child interrupt. Teach how to wait after saying, "Excuse me, please."
48. Analyze any annoying behavior of your child and teach from the positive. For example: door slamming -- teach how to close a door; running in the house -- teach how to walk; runny nose --teach how to use a tissue.
49. Spend quality time with people of different ages.
50. Teach your child about your religion and make them feel a part of it.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Temporary Hiatus
Hello everyone! I will be taking a week long hiatus from blogging as it is our spring break at the school where I teach and I will be visiting family and getting some dental work done. I hope you have a wonderful week and will have an opportunity to spend some quality time with family as well, especially those little ones, even if only for a moment. As always, thanks for reading and I will resume posting next Monday.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Friday Notables - Orange Carrot Muffins
I usually reserve recipes for midweek creation posts, but I got so excited about this find that I had to share it right away. Many of the toddlers in my classroom either won't eat baby carrots when we have them for snack. This easy muffin recipe is a great way to get some of those healthy benefits out of carrots and introduce them into your kitchen at an early age. I also think this a great recipe to have your child help you with in the kitchen and if they see carrots being included in a yummy snack they may be more likely to try them plain later on. I discovered this recipe at bbcgoodfood.com and am re-posting it here because all the measurements are given in metric. I have also modified the recipe some - taking out a little bit of butter, using tangerines instead of oranges (the juice is a little sweeter and the size is perfect for little hands if you want to teach them how to juice fresh fruit), and using baby carrots (already peeled and a little bit more tender). Check out the original recipe here.
Orange Carrot Muffins
1/4 cup butter, melted
5-6 tangerines, zested and juiced
1 egg, beaten
3/8 cup baby carrots, shredded
1 1/3 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/8 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Prepare a 12 hole muffin pan by using cupcake liners or spraying the holes with a cooking spray. Combine the zest from the tangerines with the sugar in a bowl and let sit for five minutes while you juice the tangerines and shred the carrots. Combine the rest of the dry ingredients with the zest and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and the shredded carrots. Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan and bake for 15-20 minutes until risen and toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins.
Orange Carrot Muffins
1/4 cup butter, melted
5-6 tangerines, zested and juiced
1 egg, beaten
3/8 cup baby carrots, shredded
1 1/3 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/8 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Prepare a 12 hole muffin pan by using cupcake liners or spraying the holes with a cooking spray. Combine the zest from the tangerines with the sugar in a bowl and let sit for five minutes while you juice the tangerines and shred the carrots. Combine the rest of the dry ingredients with the zest and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and the shredded carrots. Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan and bake for 15-20 minutes until risen and toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins.
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