Toddler Fun, Week 17: Letter S, Number 7, and Snakes

Snakes.  Not my thing.  BUT, being a boy-mom means if I want something to stick, I have to make it fun for him, not for me.  So, "S is for Snake" week it is!

Week 17

Letter: S

Number: 7

Animal: Snakes

Activities

1. Look out for snakes everywhere

We stopped at a rest station (because our big boy said he had to go potty, woohoo!), and saw this sign right when we got out of the car.  Now, I have enough of a brain to not go on a snake hunt.  BUT I did ask Aidan to find the S-s, and took the minute to explain what venomous means, and why we don't just touch snakes in the wild.

2. Letter Sorting/Matching 

 I love the lids on baby wipes.  I save them all, which I think drives my husband crazy.  BUT  I cut holes in the sides of this box, then hot glued the lids over them.  I printed and cut out pictures of the last 4 animals we learned about, plus the letter they start with.  I did a zebra, a jaguar, a kangaroo and a snake.  Then I printed out a bunch of each letter.   It's more of a matching game, rather than  recognition.

Later on, I might cut off the letter, and make it recognition.  Anyway, he had to take a letter at a time, find the right lid, open it, and put the letter in.  He really seemed to enjoy it!  It used fine motor skills, as well as was a good review of the letters we've learned lately.







3. Animal Movement Cards

For this activity, I printed out some animal movement cards, laminated them, and then set them out, face down.  Then, one at a time, I had Aidan turn them over.  He had to tell me what animal it was, and then I told him what action to do.  He had lots of fun with it!   I'm still me, so I had a towel for him to slither like a snake on, haha! :)

Snacks

1. Veggie Snake

For this snack. I cut a cucumber into rings, which I then cut in half.  I used a piece of carrot for the tongue, and a raisin for the eye.  Then, I put some hummus in a ziplock, cut the tip, and used  it to "pipe" the sun and ground.  Aidan loves anything he can dip in hummus, so this was a big hit!

2. Banana and Strawberry Snake

This one was super easy, just cut up strawberries and banana slices, and arranged them in an "S".  Sssssuper yummy!

Crafts

1. Slippery, slimy, spaghetti painting

I found this idea on pinterest, and love it!  I don't think Aidan could believe I was letting him do this!  For this craft, I boiled half a box of spaghetti, then added finger paint.  I printed out a big letter "S" coloring page, dumped the spaghetti on it, and let him go to town! 

He was in love!  I should've known, but all the colors mixed together to make black, which actually worked out perfectly for a snake. :) 

This is what it looked like afterwards.  I let it sit and dry overnight, then cut out the letter "S", to make a...

2. S is for Snake

Aidan glued it in the middle, then added a tongue and eyeballs!  He really liked it, and kept making hissing sounds.

Books and Media

We Read:

1. The Greedy Python by Richard Buckley, illustrated by Eric Carle

 This is a cute book about not being greedy.  The python eats every animal insight, but then they all grumble and kick, and he spits them all up.  It was a little ironic, because Aidan had just gotten sick, lol.

2. Verdi by Janell Cannon

When I read that this book was by the author of Stellaluna, I knew it was going to be great! I was right!  It's a very sweet story about a young python, and how he tries desperately not to grow up.

3. Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr., illustrated by Eric Carle

Another great Eric Carle classic!  It just so happened that all three of the books were about pythons!  How cool is that!?

We Watched

1. The Jungle Book (1967) - "Trust in me..." this movie is a classic, of course.  We bought it when it was on sale one time, and I'm so glad we did. :)

2. Aladdin - I couldn't find any movies that were specifically about snakes, or where snakes weren't the "bad guys".  We had recently bought it, and he thinks that Jasmine is "beautiful", so there's that!

3. The Lion Guard, Season 1, Episode 7 - Fuli's New Family - In this episode, Bunga the honey badger gets bitten by a cobra, and all his friends get worried, but then they all find out that honey badgers are immune to snake venom.  Fun fact!

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Toddler Fun, Week 7: Letter E, Number 7, Gray and Elephants

Elephants are awe-inspiring.  They burry and mourn their dead, touching one another is important, the calf/mother relationship is tender and long-lasting, they recognize themselves... they are amazing.  I've always really liked them, and I'm so glad Aidan does too!  So, here is our elephant week - I hope you enjoy it!

Week 7

Letter: E

Number: 7

Color: Gray

Animal: Elephant

Activities

1. Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens

We have zoo memberships, so really, we spend as much time there as we can. We recently spent the morning there with some friends, and had a wonderful day! The elephants are really great, and you can look at them from out of a cave, which makes it that much more exciting for our little boy.

2. "Elephants Never Forget" Memory Matching Game

I downloaded an animal matching game here.  I printed them out, cut them out, then glued them to foam paper, cut those out, glued those to scrapbooking paper, cut them out again... and now it's a matching game.  At first, we matched them all.  Then, we started with small batches - 4, 6, etc.  We turned them all 2-at-a-time, and tried to remember where we'd seen that animal last.  I was surprised at how well he did!  I could also tell the moment his brain got too tired to focus anymore, haha.  He turned into a little monkey, climbing on the ottoman, making silly faces... you know the drill. 

3. "Safari" 

I made Aidan a safari Jeep out of a box.  He's been sitting in it to watch TV, been putting all his animals in it, pushing it around... it's been a hit! 


4. Bay & Bee

 We really love our Bay & Bee membership!  It's an indoor play space based on Montessori and Waldorf teaching methods.
This week, one of the days that we went, Aidan found a recycling truck, and an elephant, and some green "peanuts".  He reenacted a whole scene from 

Paw Patrol.  One where Rocky, the recycling pup dispenses peanuts to get the elephants to follow him.  I love how much he remembered it!!!  Also, that day they happened to have a local band come and sing, and he really enjoyed dancing!  The singer's name was Mere Woodard, and you can buy her album on iTunes.  She was REALLY great!






5. Letter E Recognizing 

 For this activity, I painted a paper towel role gray, punched two holes in it, through which I strung some string.  I tied it around Aidan's head to make a "trunk".  The game was, I'd tell him the name of the letter (E, R, or F), then he had to use the trunk to touch it.  I figured it would be a great gross-motor activity - and it WAS.  But he didn't like the trunk.  So it evolved into him jumping on the letter I said, which was just as great!

Snacks

1. Elephant Waffles

For this breakfast, I used a waffle, a banana, a black berry, an apple slice, and candy eyes.  Aidan ate everything but the waffle, haha!  He's such a fruit-lover!

2. Elephants on Parade

For this tasty treat, I used half a banana, pretzel, kiwi, pineapple and animal crackers.  I went through 3 little bags of animal crackers looking for elephants, and could only find two, so I added a giraffe.  Then we read A Surprise for Giraffe and Elephant.





3. Horton Hears a Who Snack

For this snack, I used apple slices, kiwi, fruit leather and a mini white chocolate chip.  I cut the apple slices to look like a trunk, the fruit leather into circles, and then little cuts in it.  Arranged it all on the plate, and there you have it!






4. Elephant Sandwich

I found some adorable sandwich cutters on amazon, and couldn't help myself.  I made Aidan's favorite turkey and cheese sandwich, used the sandwich cutter, used black olives for eyes, and a banana and kiwi for the tree and grass.  Aidan was a big fan!

Crafts

1. E is for Elephant

Every week, we've been making a letter craft, to help Aidan remember the letter. Eventually we will have the whole alphabet, which will be great!  For this one, I cut out a gray "E", an ear, a trunk, two tusks and nails.  Then we assembled it all, and voila!  I think this one specifically turned out super-duper cute!






2. Elmer "Stained Glass"

I think I enjoyed this craft more than Aidan.  I took a ziplock, and cut it along the seems.  They I took the half that didn't have anything on it.  I put that on the book cover, and traced Elmer onto it, using a sharpie.  Then, I cut some tissue paper into squares.  I brushed some white school glue on it, and then we placed the squares all over Elmer.  Aidan didn't love how the glue felt on his fingers, lol.  One the glue dried, I cut out "Elmer", and taped him to the window.


3. Tinga Tinga Coloring Pages

I found some cute coloring pages featuring the Tinga Tinga characters!

Books and Media

We Read:

1. Elmer by David McKee

This is a classic.  This book is a great one to talk about how God made each of us special, and with unique giftings.  It's about an elephant, who unlike his friends is not gray, but rather multi-colored.  He colors himself gray, so he can fit in, but ends up finding out that his color and humor is what his friends love about him.

2. Richard Scarry's Polite Elephant 

Thi is a great book for practicing and teaching manners.  It's a little dated, but being polite is not going out of style at our house, so it's a good read for a little boy!

3. A Surprise for Giraffe and Elephant by Paul Gude

I found this book at our library, and it looked like fun!  It's good at teaching how to be a good friend, and we've been working on sharing, so it's great for that!

4. Little Elephant's Song by Wolfram Hanel

This is a sweet story about an elephant growing up, and finding his voice.  The illustrations are very sweet, and it's an enjoyable story!






5. Babar on Paradise Island by Laurent de Brunhoff

I've seen many of the Babar cartoons as a kid, and they are sweet stories about an anthropomorphic elephant family written by French author, Laurent de Brunhoff.  In the last few years he and his wife moved to Key West.  When we were there, we found this book, and I thought it was sweet.  It's not the greatest of his books, but I enjoyed it, and the Key West references were fun for us.

We Watched:

1. Tinga Tinga Tales

We found this show on Netflix.  It's based on African (Tanzanian and Kenyan) folk tales about how different animals received their distinctive characteristics.  The very first episode is about how elephants got their trunks.  The animation is inspired by traditional TingaTinga art.  I wasn't sure how well it would keep Aidan's attention, but he really enjoyed it!

2. The Jungle Book - The 1967 version.  It has Indian elephants in it, so it was great to talk about the similarities and differences between them and their African cousin.

3. Wild Kratts, Season 1 Episode 17, "Elephant in the Room" 

4. The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That, Season 1 Episode 27, "Be Cool/Elephant Walk"

5. Horton Hears a Who (1970) - I love a classic Dr. Seuss movie!  Again, I was surprised at how well it held Aidan's attention!  Also, I love the phrase "A person's a person, no matter how small."

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