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 Fun, Week 13: Letter K, Number 3, Red and Kangaroos

Ah, kangaroos from Down Under.  The trademark pouch, crazy strong legs, and the very cool fact that they're from Australia.  On top of it all, they're one of the few animals who start with the letter "K".  So, here's our Kangaroo week.

Week 13

Letter: K

Number: 3

Color: Red

Animal: Kangaroo

Activities

1. Visiting the Jacksonville Zoo

If you've visited my blog before, you'll know we have memberships to the zoo.  It has been the best investment!  Cost-wise, after the first two visits we've been been going for free.  So, considering we visit at least once a month, it's been well worth it.  In addition, we've gotten discounted tickets for multiple other zoos and aquariums because of our membership.  (Like seeing these wallabies in Tampa.)  If there's a zoo near you that is part of the AZA, I don't think there's a better use for your money!

First of all, I think zoo maps are a terrific and FREE learning tool.  Aidan had fun finding whichever animal we were looking at, and then I'd help him figure out which way to go to the next.  Map reading is an important life-skill, you can't ever start too early.

I was a little disappointed, the zoo's website says they have kangaroos (the Australia loop is a little hidden, and we hadn't spent much time there), but when we got there, and asked where they were, they said their last kangaroo passed away a couple years ago of old age.

They did, however have wallabies, and as the zoo keeper said, they're basically little kangaroos.  So, we fudged a little, and told Aidan they were kangaroos, I don't think it'll hurt him in the long-run, haha!  It was a terrific day!

2. Bay & Bee

Another thing we like to do, is go to Bay & Bee.  It's a locally owned indoor play space, where we have a membership.  They have TONS of fun toys, one of the things they had out this week were these beautifully illustrated flashcards.  Of course, we were thrilled (as you can see) to find K is for kangaroo!






3. Counting Kangaroos

Aidan is really into everything being "mommy", "daddy" and "Aidan".  So, I figured kangaroos found a picture of a kangaroo family for us to count, and practice numbers. 









4. Coloring pages!

I found some cute kangaroo coloring pages here and here.  We "traced" kangaroo, and I tried to get Aidan to color the kangaroo red (like a red kangaroo), but my sweet, determined boy wanted it to be blue.  And the females are blue sometimes... so it works. :)


5. Australian Animal Movement Dice

I found this great Animal Movement Dice from Mothernatured.  It features 6 Australian animals.  I printed it out, put clear packing tape on it, to make it more durable, and then taped it together.  Then, he tossed it, and had to act how that animal would.  Hopping like a kangaroo, chomping like a crocodile, and climbing like a koala.


6. "Don't Lose The Baby" Letter Recognition

 I made Aidan a pouch out of a Tide pod container.  I painted it brown, drilled 4 holes in it, and put a "baby" in it.  I then wrote out some letters on the pavement.  Whenever I said the letter, he had to find it, and hop to it, without "losing the baby".  It was tons of fun!

It was great fun!  It combined the grow motor skills of jumping, while paying attention to the monkey in the pouch, and recognizing letters!

7. Arky, Arky Song

Remember that kids' song, "The Lord told Noah, there's gonna be a floody floody...?"  There's this 90's (?) video floating around the internet, which I was hoping would inspire Aidan to dance and sing, but he just watched in awe. :)

Snacks

1. Kangaroo Mango Snack

For this tasty treat, I used mango, candy eyes, fruit leather, and chocolate chips.  All yumminess!

Crafts

1. K is for Kangaroo

I cut out a K, then a tail, head, pocket and baby kangaroo.  He assembled it all, and voila!

Books and Media

We Read:

1. Dr. Seuss's ABC 

I love this alphabet book!  It's silly and goofy, and rhymes, and all the things a kids' alphabet book should do.

2. Yes We Can by Sam McBratney

This is a sweet book about 3 friends who learn that no one likes to be made fun of.  I think it's a great lesson for kids to learn, especially as they start navigating friendships.

3. It's Lovely When You Smile by Sam McBratney

Although Aidan is usually a sweet and happy go lucky little boy, of course he does get grumpy, and this is a great book to help kids deal with those feelings.

We Watched:

1. Wild Kratts, Season 1 Episode 19: Kickin' It With The Roos - Of course, as you know, we're Wild Kratts fans around here, and I was thrilled that there was a kangaroo episode.

2. Blinky Bill - This 90's Australian cartoon was one of the only English cartoons we could get growing up, and I was so glad I remembered it!  The main character is a koala, but one of his friends/sidekicks is a kangaroo, so it works. :)  He and his Down Under forest friends have adventures, and help each other out.

3. The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That, Season 1 Episode 15: Jump - This episode is about animals that jump, one which is kangaroos, of course.

So, that wraps up our kangaroo week!  Next week of course we'll talk about turkeys!!!  Happy Thanksgiving, all!

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Toddler Fun, Week 4: Letter R, Number 4, Red and Rooster

When we visited Key West for a service a few weeks ago, I learned that all wild life in Key West is protected.  Some years back some chickens and roosters got loose, and now their descendants are roaming the streets free as a bird (get it?).  Honestly, it was my favorite part about Key West, so I knew I wanted to "R is for Rooster" when the time came.  So, this week, it's all about red roosters and chickens!

Week 4

Letter: R

Number: 4

Color: Red

Animal: Rooster (and chickens)

Activities

1. Visiting a local farm 

We had some friends from our old church, who have a farm.  I called them up and asked if we could swing by to see the chickens and rooster.  She said we could, and we had a WONDERFUL time!  Many small gardens and farms have times you can visit, tours they do, and even classes for kids on healthy eating, animals and what-not.  It's worth looking to see if there is one near you!

2. Rrrrracing

I used rrrred chalk to write the letter "R", and then bought out his bucket of cars, and had him race them up and down the letter.  He really enjoyed this one, and I think it helped him remember the letter "R".  (Tip: don't forget to wipe off the cars' wheels before you bring them back in.  You don't want to get chalk on your carpet.:))

3. Running around the back yard, crowing at the top of our lungs.  That's right!!

Snacks

1. Rooster Fruit Salad

So, I found this idea on Pinterest, and made it my own.  I used one mandarin orange, two strawberries, one blueberry and about 2 spears of mango.  First I arranged the mandarin orange segments into the body.  Then I placed the wing and other strawberry pieces.  Then the blueberry eye, and the mangoes. Aidan was a really big fan, and I loved how it turned out!

2. Chick-Fil-A

Okay, so this may be a little morbid, since we're talking about roosters and chickens, and then eating them, but I guess that's what you get when you're an omnivore.  So, on our way out to the farm, we got some Chick-Fil-A (or Chick-olay, as Aidan says), and we had a very happy boy in the back seat!

Crafts

1. R is for rooster

For this addition to our letter book, I cut out all the shapes and then helped him glue the pieces on.  He liked the triangles, and called them teeth, because during our A is for Alligator week, the triangles were teeth (which I was kind of impressed with, that he remembered).  He loved the googley eye too.  I tried to steer him towards a smaller one, but he wanted the "biggest one", and I agree.  It's perfect!

2. Hand Print Chicken 

I love classic handprint art for kids.  So we made a Little Red Hen, and I wrote the numbers 1-4 on the tail feathers for practicing our numbers.  His hand already looks so big...sigh.

Books and Media 

We Read:

1. The Rooster Who Loved the Violin by Ben Harrison

When we visit somewhere, I try to get Aidan a book by either a local author, or about the place we visit.  When we were in Key West, I found this gem, and thought I'd share it with you.  This is a great book by a local author about a rooster who loves the violin, and tries to crow along with it - much to the violinist's annoyance.  The second half of the book has photographs and talks about the real rooster(s) that inspired the story.

2. Rain Dance by Kathi Appelt

This is a fun counting book about farm animals.  It's not earth-shattering, but it's perfect for what we're doing (and has chickens)!

3. Wake Up, Sun! by David L. Harrison

This was a book I had as a kid, and I love it!  It's about a dog who wakes up, thinks it's morning, but the sun has forgotten to wake up - a task which he and the other farm animals take upon themselves.

4. The King's Chorus by Linda Hayward

This is a cute book I picked up at last week's library sale.  It's about a rooster who thinks he's all that and a bag of chips, and keeps everyone up all night with his cock-a-doodle-doo-ing, until a goose tells him that the sun is actually the eye of a giant rooster in the sky, and that as he rises, every rooster in the world has its' part in his choir.

We Watched:

1. Chicken Run - it's on Netflix, so if you have an account, you can watch it for free, yay!  It's a childhood favorite of mine - plus Mel Gibson as a rooster is just took great to pass up.

2. Chicken Little - (also on Netflix) it's not my favorite, but Aidan really likes it, and if it gives me time to do laundry, put on clothes and do my hair, I'm not totally against it. :)

3. Paw Patrol - like we need a reason to watch Paw Patrol!!!  But, the mayor has a pet purse chicken named Chickaletta, so I guess it fits our theme - sigh...

4. Ask The StoryBots, Episode 1 "How Does Night Happen?" - We are new fans of the Storybots! Apparently the app has been around for a while, and already has a big following, so we're late to the party, but nonetheless enthusiastic!  They're little robots who live in computer parts, and answer questions for kids.  This episode is perfect for this week, because it has a song about the color red, as well as one called "Chicken Bop", which Aidan loves to dance along to!