I love the book, "Leaf Man"by Lois Elhert. The book is beautiful; the illustrations really tell the story! It starts with a man made out of leaves and as the story progresses, he blows away to become something new: a chicken, a fish, a cow, etc. A leaf man can become anything when the wind blows. I love talking with Lil about what she sees in the pictures. We try to find the images on each continue reading...
Pair Books with Play: Five Little Monkeys and a Sensory Bin
Pair Books with Play will be a new focus on this blog! Each week we'll talk about a book and create an activity based on the book's theme. This week, Lil and I read “Five Little Monkeys Wash the Car” by Eileen Christelow. I paired it with a sensory play activity that we called the monkey car wash! Here's the synopsis: The book is about five little monkeys who try to sell their Mom’s continue reading...
{Pinkalicious} Make a Pretend Cupcake Shop
Today, we opened our own pretend cupcake shop! After reading Pinkalicious <--affiliate link! by Victoria Kann at nap time, we wanted to make our own pink cupcakes. This adorable book made both of us laugh out loud and my daughter wanted to read it over and over! Since we loved making erupting cupcakes, I knew my daughter would love this sensory play. We just had to put one ingredient in continue reading...
The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Painting Butterflies and Learning About Symmetry
I love where I live in Santa Barbara because we are five minutes from a butterfly preserve. Monarch butterflies come here in droves during the winter and they hang in chandelier like formations from the trees. It's magical. I especially love that we get to see them flying around, stretching their wings on a warm and sunny day. It always encourages me to grab the books: The Crunching Munching continue reading...
Chicka Chicka Jump Jump
I can’t stop my daughter from jumping. It’s like she has springs hidden in her heals. It normally doesn’t bother me, except when I ask her to go somewhere QUICKLY (hopping takes her a while). For the most part it’s endearing, especially since her Dad used to do the same thing when he was a little boy – the need to jump flows through her veins! While we were reading one of our favorite books, continue reading...
Poop, Scat, and Prints – Oh my: How scat helped us appreciate a National Park
We just came back from a trip to a horse ranch (7D Ranch) outside of Cody, Wyoming. My daughter, Lil, was excited when we first walked into our cabin because there were shelves that had a few children’s books right at her eye level. She wanted to read them immediately! I picked the books that I wanted to read, but kept avoiding one in particular: Who Pooped in the Park? The title just put me continue reading...
How a Book Helped my Three Year Old Take a Bath
Hi There! For those of you who don't know, my little girl is an assertive and determined young preschooler. If you parent a Taurus like I do, then you probably know what I'm talking about! Every night after dinner, L anticipates what I'm going to say. As soon as I open my mouth with, “Okay, it’s time for…” she starts pleading: “No, I don’t want to take a bath! Can we skip bath tonight?!” continue reading...
4 Reasons to Bring Magic into Your Home
I love to work with preschoolers. They are imaginative, creative, and energetic! At times, those traits can be daunting, especially for parents who have stressors above and beyond our kids. But, I’ve learned that working with kids instead of against them can make my life easier, even fun. Magical thinking is part of your child’s development, and this is how I use a little magic in my continue reading...