Toddler Fun, Week 19: Letter V, Number 9, Volcanos, and Red

Boys and volcanos, what two things could go together better than that?  So this week, we did "V is for Volcano" and had a blast!

Week 19

Letter: V

Number: 9

No animals - just volcanos!!!

Color: Red

Activities

1. Puzzles

A dear family from a church that supports us sent Aidan this super-cute dinosaur puzzle set by Melissa and Doug.  Thankfully for us, volcanos and dinosaurs go together like peas and carrots.  We spotted the volcano in the one, and it made us very happy!

2. More Dinosaurs and Volcanos

Aidan got this adorable dinosaur play set for his birthday.  You can find it here.  As many plastic dinosaurs as there are in our house, I actually much prefer these wooden ones.  And, of course it came with a volcano!!

Aidan knows the names of these dinosaurs better than most adults, let alone 3-year-olds!











3. Building a Volcano, Lava Jumping

 If you've visited my blog before, you know that we often go to an indoor play space, called Bay & Bee.  This week, they added some more foam building cubes, which was perfect!  He and the other kids built a volcano, and then...

Of course had to jump from rock to rock, to avoid falling in the lava.  Obviously.  Priceless childhood memory - check!






4. Volcano Science Experiment

 You know that experiment that everyone does in elementary school?  We did it, and it was awesome!  For this experiment, we put baking soda in a bottle, covered the bottle with black tissue paper (which didn't really look like a volcano, but that's all I had).

In a separate container, I put vinegar and red dye.  Then, we poured it in, and watched it erupt!  I would've let Aidan do the pouring, but with it involving vinegar... I decided not to.  Aidan talked about it for the rest of the day!



5. Making Valentines

 We can't be talking about the letter "V" in February without making valentines!  I found my old scrapbooking stickers, and wrote out a couple things, then had him put stickers all over them, and color them within an inch of their lives. :)

He had lots of fun, and who doesn't love getting a valentine from an adorable 3 (!!!) year-old!

Snacks

1. Volcano Grilled Ham and Cheese

I made Aidan a grilled ham and cheese, then arranged the veggies to make it look like it was erupting.  He liked the carrots, as always, but wasn't a fan of the bell peppers.  But at least he tried them!

2. Volcano French Toast

For this yummy breakfast, I made french toast, put some blueberries down, and then made the jam "erupt" out of the top.  Aidan is a big fan of French toast, so this one was a huge hit!

Crafts

1. V is for Volcano

For our weekly letter, we painted some lava, then glued the top of a volcano, and the letter "V".

Books and Media

We Read:

Okay, so I dropped the ball this week.  Dan was out of town a lot, so we were without a car, so no library for us.  We DID read books, we read all our dinosaur books, because most of them have volcanos in them.  Here are some of our dinosaur books:

1. Pete the Cat: Cavecat Pete by James Dean

We love Pete the Cat around here, so this book is a natural addition to our personal library!  It's about Pete the Cat and his dinosaur pals.

2. Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs by Byron Barton

Another favorite around here!  A great board book that Aidan "reads" to himself.

3. My Dinosaurs!

I love this book!  I found it at our school book fair one time.  I wish there were more books like this - maybe for colors, shapes, etc.  It helps kids with fine motor skills, along with teaching them about dinosaurs!

We Watched:

1. Magic School Bus, Season 2 Episode 1 - The Magic School Bus Blows its top - this episode is on Netflix (as of right now).  It's about how islands are formed from erupting volcanos. 

2. Magic School Bus, Season 2 Episode 4 - The Magic School Bus and the Busasaurus - this one is about dinosaurs, but there's a volcano in it that "un-erupts" when they go back in time.

3. Elena of Avalor, Season 1 Episode 3 - All Heated Up - Aidan is IN LOVE with Elena.  In case you're not familiar with her, she is a new princess on Disney Jr. Channel.  This episode is about a magical character named Charoca, who lives under/near a volcano. When he gets angry, the volcano starts to erupt.  It's a good conversation starter about anger management, and dealing with negative emotions.

We had fun this week learning about volcanos, with some dinosaurs thrown in.  Hope you enjoyed it!

Toddler Summer School: Dinosaur Week

I have to be honest.  I slacked off the first few weeks of "summer-stay-at-home-mommy".  Don't get me wrong, I played with Aidan, read him every book he wanted, as many time as he wanted, cuddled and giggled.  I has just to tired to be purposeful.  Running around after 18 kindergarteners, as well as your own toddler for 9 months can really drain your battery.  Also, living in an apartment with limited activity options poses its own set of challenges.

But, I'm happy to announce - I'M BACK!!!

So, since Aidan is all boy, through and through, (everything has a sound effect - usually a loud one), and with the new Jurassic World movie coming out (not that Aidan is going to see it for a very long time), I thought Dinosaurs would be a fun 1st theme.

Firstly, we went to the MOSH, here in Jacksonville.  And I can tell you, I'm in love!  There were so many hands-on activities, buttons to push, and sounds to listen to.  Right now, they have an awesome Dinosaur exhibit.  I thought maybe Aidan would be scared of them - but not my little daredevil!  When one of the mechanic dinosaurs roared at him, he promptly roared right back.

Next: books.

If you've even perused my blog, you know that words can't describe  how much I love books.  Especially children's books.

Whenever my school has a book fair, Dan buys my class a book or two.  Since we knew we were having a little boy, Dan has picked one up for him too.

When we were pregnant, he got him, Rawr by Todd H. Doodler.  It's an adorable book about how "rawr" really just means "hello" in dinosaur, and people really shouldn't be scared of them.

                           

This year, we got him My Dinosaurs!: A Read and Play Book.  It is such a cute book!  On each page, it talks about a dinosaur, and then they have to match the puzzle piece to the page.  I would love to see more books like this - with shapes, and colors... 

   

Aidan and I took a walk to our Target, and found this little gem in the $1 aisle!

 

Now, on to crafts and activities.

I saw an idea on pinterest, of making a dinosaur out of the letter "D".  So I cut out all the pieces, glued on the "D", and then let Aidan glue on the other pieces.  Honestly, it was really hard for me to let him do it on his own, and I may have guided his hand, but I really tried to let him glue the pieces where he wanted to.

 

 

For another activity, I borrowed an idea from when we visited the MOSH.  I used Crayola Air Dry Clay, and made bones.  

 

Once they dried, I placed them on a platter, and poured some sand on them (that I had left over from when I made a sand bowl), I gave Aidan an old tooth brush, and let him "excavate" them.

 

I was a little worried it would be too difficult for him, or he'd put everything in his mouth (we're still in that phase), but he LOVED it!  Which made it all totally worth it!

Lastly, media.

In this day an age, there are so many resources available!  Of course, it can't be the only element, and I do try to limit Aidan's screen time.  But there are many educational options out there.

For example, I found an app called "Archeologist".  It's really fun, and kids as young as Aidan (with a little help) can enjoy it!  There are four free levels.  In each level, you dig up the bones of a dinosaur by tapping on the dirt.  Once you find all the bones, you assemble the bones to create the dinosaur.

If you have Netflix, there's also the kids' show Dinosaur Train, which is a little old for Aidan, but he doesn't mind it.

So, that has been our DINO-riffic first week of Toddler Summer School!  We had lots of fun, had "T-rex" piggy-back-rides, roared at each other and chomped down on chicken nuggets, like a bunch of carnivores.

Do you have any fun dino ideas?  Any dinosaur books you love?