Day 7: Who Ate All The Cookie Dough?

Hi friends!

Today's book is simple, but we enjoy it. At Abbey's age, I love books with lots of repitition. It gets her listening to the cadence of the book, and I can get her involved in the reading by having her finish the phrases. This is a great book for that!

Today's book is Who Ate All The Cookie Dough by Karen Beaumont.

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After reading this book with Abbey, I knew just what kind of activity it was calling for. Play dough!

I started out with my go-to recipe for play dough. I doubled the recipe for this batch, since I knew I was going to split it three ways. FYI: Doubling that recipe will give you a LOT of play dough, and your arm may fall off in the process. Consider yourself warned.

I split the finished batch into three sections, and added the next ingredients to them separately. I just mixed everything together in a ziploc bag. Here's what I added for each "flavor":

        - Gingerbread: cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg

        - Chocolate: cocoa powder

        - Sugar: vanilla extract

Sorry there aren't exact amounts. I just kind of added things until I got the result I wanted.

We busted out the mini cookie cutters and went to town!

I even grabbed our mini cookie sheet (best dollar I've ever spent!) so Abbey could bake her cookies.

This was such a simple, fun activity. It kept Abbey busy, and this play dough lasts forever so we will get a lot more play out of it!

Be blessed!

Heather



It's A Long Story: blog. facebook. twitter

Day 4: Applesauce Season

Hello friends!

I hope you've enjoyed the first few days of our series! We are working hard behind the scenes to bring you even more fun!

This next book is a repeat favorite in our house. We got it from the library last year and loved it, and when we tried it again this year it was a hit again! I love when that happens.

Today's book is: Applesauce Season by Eden Ross Lipsen

My mom has canned applesauce for as long as I can remember, so I love this book. It shares such a sweet family memory.

To go with this book, we decided to make our own applesauce!

I started out by peeling, quartering, and seeding a bag of apples. Then Abbey used her chopper to cut the apple quarters into pieces. She did such a great job! It was a great way to work on finishing a job even when it looks too big.

She would cut up her apples, then dump them in the pot. Cut...dump...cut...dump...cut...dump.

Ready to go! I added some water, maybe a cup or so so the apples wouldn't burn to the bottom, and threw in some cinnamon sticks.

Simmer away until your apples are cooked through.

Ready...set...smash!

Ignore the mess...life happens, kitchens get messy...move along! ; )

That's it, you're done! Enjoy your applesauce however you like. It's great on its own, and is fantastic on pork chops! Our favorite way to enjoy it is mixed in with yogurt, with some cinnamon. Yum!

Note: I would not recommend this way of making applesauce for making and canning large batches. While it is delicious, it is a lot of prep up front. Let your food mill do the work for the big batches!

Be blessed!

Heather



It's A Long Story: blog. facebook. twitter

Day 3: Blackout

Hey everyone!  It's Amy from Sugar and Spice.  I also have an affinity for creating interesting and fun lunches for my kids, so in today's post you will see a book, a learning activity, and a lunch to go along with it.  Just because I  can't resist!

Read

By John Rocco

Blackout is the story of the night that all of the lights go out in the city.  All of the people working on their computers, watching their TVs or playing their video games are forced to stop.  One family climbs to the top of their apartment building and looks out at the night sky.  The lights haven't all gone out, there are brilliant stars and a glowing moon to illuminate the world.  Everyone comes out into the streets, and has an old fashioned good time playing cards, and even dancing.  This book is a wonderful reminder of all that exists for our enjoyment outside of our electronics.

Play

(source)

Find a place in the house that you can make entirely dark such as a walk-in closet or a bathroom.  Bring a flashlight and some of your child's favorite stuffed animals, (Beanie Babies work very well).  Turn out the lights, and turn on the flashlight.  Teach your child to make shadow puppets.  We made a bunny, an alligator, a butterfly and a frog.  We also had our shadow puppets talk to each other on the wall as my daughter and I held our hands up together.  Next we held some of our favorite stuffed animals in front of the light, and watched as they too became shadow puppets.  It was fun for my little one to experiment and see what she could make with her hands. 

Eat

Re-create the rooftop scene by making a building out of a peanut butter sandwich, cutting the crusts into cubes for windows.  Next, slice 2 baby carrots in half and in half again for the main part of the bodies.  Thinly slice the remaining portions for the arms and legs.  We are seeing the people from behind, as shown in the cover of the book above, so no eyes are needed.  

I almost used a full banana for the moon, but it was way too big for the scale of the plate, so I cut a banana to shape.  

Create the stars by using your star icing tube attachment in the corner of a plastic bag.  Fill the bag with a little plain or vanilla yogurt as shown.  If you don't have a star attachment for icing, just make little dot stars!

 

 

I hope you and your child have fun with this READ.PLAY.EAT activity.  

Stay tuned for our next literacy and learning activity tomorrow!

-Amy 
Visit me on Facebook!  (Sugar and Spice / Creative Kid Snacks)

Surviving a Roadtrip with a Toddler

Hey there friends!

You all know that we went on a family vacation a few weeks ago. With Labor Day coming up (at least here in the states) I wanted to share some tips that got us through the trip with a little one. This is a big travel weekend for a lot of people, and I know I was looking for any tips I could  get!

Bean Bags

Hi friends!

So, the award for most unoriginal blog post goes to me today. These weren't my idea. Not even a little bit. However, I believe they're a classic toy, and classics should be shared!

This is a perfect project if you are a new sewer. Straight seams, minimal cutting, instant gratification! This is totally a naptime project. Or, in my case, a PopPop took the tiny child to Home Depot and Steak n Shake project. Ha!

I had some leftover fat quarters from a project. I loved the patterns and colors, but didn't have enough of any of them to make anything substantial. Until I remembered bean bags! Woohoo for stash busting!

These could not be any easier. You probably don't even need a tutorial but, just in case, I'm going to give you one anyway!

I started out by cutting 4.5 x 4.5 inch squares from my fabric.

These then get stitched together, right sides facing, leaving about 2/3 of one side open. This will let you turn your bean bag, and fill it.

Fill up your bags. I used rice, but you can use whatever you have on hand. If you use something food based, like rice or beans, these aren't washable. No one wants sprouting bean bags! However, if you use the plastic pellets you can get at craft stores, then these should go in the wash with no problem.

I filled my bags about 1/2-2/3 full. Any more than that and you won't be able to sew around the edges.

Now you close up the bags. There are a few different ways you can do this. If you want, you can hand stitch the opening closed and be done. I chose to pin it closed, and sew a top stitch seam around the entire bean bag.

I've had enough bean bags bust open on me that I thought this way was better. More seams = more strength. At least in my head.

Aren't they pretty?

At first Abbey looked at them like "what am I supposed to do with these things?", but now she loves them. She loves to "build tall towers" and balance them on different parts of her body. There are all sorts of fun ways to play with bean bags!

Here's a fun one:

Line up a few plates and use them as target practice. Have kids aim for a specific plate, or set them out at different distances. There are a million ways to adjust this game for your kids.

Have fun!

Be blessed!

Heather

I'm linking up. Come play!

Character Building with #readforgood

Hi friends!

Did you all have a great holiday? Well, all you Americans and Canadians, anyway. Do I have any international readers??

Are you guys following along with the Read For Good Readathon at MeMeTales? We are and we are loving it! This is probably Abbey's favorite app on my phone.

This week's theme is Character Building, and the books are, as always, wonderful. Our favorite is Good Habits to Have.

It talks about all sorts of good character traits like honesty, kindness, and perserverence.

Another great one is Ditto the Butterfly, which is about eating a variety of foods. 

Yeah....we're going to be reading that one a LOT!

One character trait we've been working hard on here in the Long household is obedience. Abbey turned 3, realized that she forgot the Terrible Two's and is making up for lost time. "No" is way too popular right now over here!

One thing we've been talking about a lot lately is being part of the household. This comes with things like chores and helping around the house. Abbey has had a few jobs for a while now, but I decided to make them a bit more official. 

So, I made her this:

Her very own chore chart! It's simple, she can understand the pictures, and it lives right on our fridge. 

What are Abbey's Jobs?

1) Feed the dog. We fill the bowl, she sets it out

2) Silverware. We give her the basket of clean silverware from the dishwasher and sorts it into the silverware caddy

3) Laundry. Old clothes go in the hamper whenever she gets dressed. She helps put laundry away when it's clean.

We're running low on ink, so I think I might send it out to be printed at Kinko's, but for now this one works. 

It's amazing how motivating a smiley face can be! Now, for these jobs at least, a smiley is probably all she will get. I'm a firm believer in the idea that some jobs you just do because you are a member of the household and that's how things work. As she gets older there will be other things she can do to earn rewards/money/allowance.

Want to make your own super cute chore chart? Here's what I used. All of these products can be used in Photoshop programs, as well as other digital scrapbooking software!

The chart itself is from Chore Templates by Scrapping with Liz

Then I filled in in with A Life Expressed....Colorfully by SuzyQ Scraps

The chore felties come from these kits by Chelle's Creations

Spic n Span

Fetch

Sunnyside Up

Be blessed!

Heather

Easter Book Review

Hello friends!

With Easter coming up, I wanted to do a quick review of some books we've been reading at home. Abbey loves to read, and we have story time every night before bed. I've found books to be a great way to introduce topics to her. 

While I don't have a problem with secular Easter traditions, I want to make sure that the real reason for the day doesn't get lost in all the easter eggs and chocolate. Easter is tricky to explain to an almost 3 year old. Christmas is "easy"...Baby Jesus was born! Easter...not so easy. These three books do a great job of taking things down to Abbey's level.

The Story of Easter: I actually found this one at Target, hidden in there between all the Easter egg books. It is fantastic! Abbey and I just read it before she went down for a nap. She doesn't understand the idea of dying, but she does understand feeling sad and feeling happy. This book talks about how Jesus' friends were sad when He died, and were happy when He was alive again. 

It also explains why we put crosses on steeples, and that Jesus was called the Good Shepherd which is the name of our church. I love that we get to use parts of this book all throughout the week. It really helps things stick.

What Is Easter?: This is another great book. The first few pages talk about all of the activities that surround Easter like egg hunts, and baby chicks, and chocolate bunnies, and asks if they are what Easter is about. Then it talks about Jesus and the fact that He died for us, and that that is what Easter is all about. I like the rhyming and rhythm of this book, but that creates some potential problems. There is some obscure language in this book that may be confusing to little ones, or kids with disabilities. Phrases about Jesus dying on a tree, and how He wants to live inside you may need some extra explanation. They don't seem to be throwing Abbey too badly. Note: We also have  the Christmas version of this book by the same author, and it is fantastic!

The Very First Easter: I just found this one. I love The Beginner's Bible. It does such a great job of making bible stories understandable for little ones while staying true to scripture. This small book is all of the Easter oriented stories that the full Beginner's Bible contains. They include Jesus washing the disciples feet, and the entry into Jerusalem. I'm excited to read this one with Abbey tonight!

How do you teach your toddlers about Easter? I'd love to hear from you!

Now it's time for Kids Co-Op goodness! I looove this linky party. You know the drill. Link up your kids ideas here, and they'll be linked up all over blog-land. I can't wait to see what you've got this week!

Letter Hop

Hello friends!

I'm taking a break from the Toddler Boxes this week. No worries...more are coming! With all the beautiful weather we've been having, I wanted to share a super easy outdoor game to play with your kiddos. I call it Letter Hop!

Start by writing all the letters of the alphabet on the ground using chalk. We used our driveway, but the sidewalk is good too. You could probably even use any flat space at your local playground as well. Then, all you do is call out letters for your kids to find. Abbey knows all of her letters, and LOVES to play letter games, so this is perfect for her.  She loves to jump on the letters I ask her to find.

There are lots of ways to personalize this game to keep your kids interested. Ask for the letter sound instead of the letter, or have early spellers spell out words. Tons of options!

Another bonus? You can get your kids moving! Have them hop, skip and jump to different letters.

Ta-Daaaa!!

p.s. Can we talk about those pigtails for a second? They're pretty much my favorite thing right now!

Now...on to more fun. It's Kid's Co-Op time! Link up your fun stuff, and check out all the goodies! Remember, if you link up here, your link will show up at over 60 different blogs!

Sah-weeeet!

Hi friends!

So, I've always been completely a tiny bit envious of those bloggers who find fantastic things on the side of the road. You know, vintage whatever-era furniture and what not. The only things I ever see are nasty old couches that are going to give someone vintage whatever-era tetanus. 

NOT TODAY MY FRIENDS!!

Abbey and I were coming back from the store this afternoon, and totally struck gold!

Are you ready...

Here it comes....

Ta-daaaaa!!

Hahaha! You were expecting some sort of fantastic hutch weren't you?

1. I live in a basement, what am I going to do with a hutch?

2. This is SO much better than that!

Abbey loves to be outside, so having this for her to color and eat on will be great all summer. The table top opens up and can be either storage, or water table. Who doesn't love a water table? It can also come inside in the winter and hold coloring supplies. Sweet!

It needs a little bit of cleaning, but who cares? It's fantastic, and will  last forever!

Now...who knows how to get marker off of plastic?

Toddler Box 2: Beads

Hi everyone! 

I'm here with another Toddler Box for you, and then on to some Kids Co-Op linky goodness!

I am having so much fun putting these boxes together, and Abbey is having so much fun playing with them (which is, after all, the point!) I can't wait to share more of them!

Here is this weeks addition:

Bead stringing! I love this activity because you can do so much with it, and it can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it. It addresses all sorts of skills, and is SO easy to put together. A big tub of beads (I used maybe a third of it) and some pipe cleaners and you are set. 

NOTE: If you have any reason to believe that this activity poses a safety concern to your child, please don't do it, k? Thanks!

Why pipe cleaners you ask? Why not string? I like using pipe cleaners because you don't have to worry about the beads falling off the end! No knots. no nothing!

Abbey loves playing with her beads!

This game is especially fun to play while rocking some serious bed-head, and some new Dora jammers. If you haven't done it, I highly recommend it.

If you can believe it, this is the toned-down version of this morning's bed-head. It was epic.

You can do so many things with this box.

You can work on plain ol' fine motor skills:

You can match colors:

You can match patterns:

This is a new one for Abbey, so I think we'll be working on this one quite a bit.

Or, you can make "snails".

and take them swimming.

It's your choice, really!

Now it's time for Kids Co-Op fun! 

If you're new to the Kids Co-Op linky party, let me explain it a bit to you. This isn't your typical link up. Anything you link up here, will also appear at all of our co-hosts blogs. How cool is that? This week we have almost 60 co-hosts! That's your idea, at almost 60 different sites, with one little link up! Sweet deal.

Make sure to check out some of the awesome activities that get linked up. There is some fantastic stuff in there every week!