Tot School: Jesse Bear

Gabe ~ 40.5 months

It is amazing what 15-30 minutes of concentrated, intentional one-on-one time will do for a little munchkin.  Especially when that munchkin is one of four. 

He will grow.  Blossom.  Start talking up a storm.  Remain content the rest of the day.  Kind of.

Jesse Bear What Will You Wear? finally rowed itself to the other side of the homeschool room.  It only took a little over 3 weeks. 

But we made it. 

With a little help from big brother.

Many of our rowing ideas came from Delightful Learning and Homeschool Share.

Other learning tasks . . .

• Get Ready for the Code

• Kumon Sticker-Cut-n-Paste

• Slow and Steady Get Me Ready

• and the My First Hands On Bible (which we are reviewing and LOVE)

Real life with Gabe . . .

• Gabe is becoming quite the man. 

Practicing chivalry.  Showing love.

He is a real Awana Cubbie through and through . . . so long as his leader (and my dear friend) Nicole is there.  This week he memorized, “He made everything beautiful.”

For other Tot School posts, head on over to 1+1+1=1!

Guidecraft Wooden Farm Animals: A Giveaway

We have acquire some farm animals.  OK  . . . wooden block farm animals.   They show up in random places.

They seem to like the fireplace the best.  I guess because it is warm.

And wherever the farm animals are, you are sure to find Gabe.

However, he often puts them into a time out, noses pressed to our school room fridge.

Or lines them up.

We have even tried feeding them.  Rather unsuccessfully.  They don’t like beans. I guess because I didn’t soak and sprout them?

What does Guidecraft has to say about their wooden blocks?

Block Mates are the all-new block play sensation that will revolutionize and revitalize the way that kids play with unit blocks. Slide the Block Mates onto a traditional-sized unit block to create fun play friends! Pieces slide on easily and fit snugly thanks to the patented "Slip-Grip" system! Match the colors to assemble familiar animals, or mix-and-match the pieces to create your very own! Block Mates create a whole new world of block play creativity and ignite the imagination while enhancing fine motor and color matching skills.

This unique version of a wooden block is geared towards ages 3+ (according to the website).  However, Gabe has enjoyed the farm animals the most, having received them at age 2 1/2.  (FYI)

Sir Honey Ezra (almost 5) randomly enjoys our farm animals . . . but typically only plays with them when Gabe is or in an attempt to stir up some strife with his younger brother.  Just sayin’.

What COULD you do with your farm animals?

• have your child take the animal “parts” on and off.  Great use of fine motor skills and coordination combined with some concentration.

• mix all the parts up on a box and have them separate according to head, feet, tail, etc.

• What’s wrong with this animal?  Have your child correct the three wrong pieces or simplify for younger children, and have one animal part in the wrong place.

• sort by color
• have a pretend animal race.  Using a dice, have your child roll the dice.  Whatever the number reveals, have the animal walk that many “steps” hops.  Winner animal receives some pretend food.
• have the child place the parts of each animal on separate wooden block as you relay the sound the animal makes.  So first, you would oink – on goes the head.  Then, you might neigh – on goes a horse body part on a different block and so on . . .
• study about each animal!  Read a book! 

Block Mate Wooden Farm Animals can be purchased at Guidecraft for $27 . . . but make sure you also order the set of 5 wooden blocks (an additional $15) or buy this fun set at Amazon starting at $20 (and it is an Amazon Mom product.)

And that’s my Guidecraft Mom review . . . but there’s more! 

Want to win a set of Block Mates Farm Animals?

 

 

(Mandatory) Tell me what your favorite animal is and why.

1. Become one of my fans through Google Connect if you aren't already! (It’s over there on your right . . . see all of the little people?)
2. What other wooden block animals does Guidecraft produce?
3. Tweet about this giveaway:  Guidecraft Wooden Farm Animals: A Giveaway http://t.co/DvKqC4x @GranolaMom4God
4. What did you have for breakfast?
5. Put my button on your blog.
6. Subscribe to my blog (I have a few other kid-related giveaways coming up).

Remember, only #1 is mandatory. The rest of the entries are optional, but you MUST comment separately for each one.

The Fine Print: I will email you when you have won. You must respond within 48 hours.

Contest ends March 28, 2011 at Midnight (not that I will be awake)

This toy was sent to me by Guidecraft.  In exchange, I gave an honest an free opinion of our thoughts regarding the Block Mate Farm Animals.

Guidecraft Cubes and Cylinders

For some reason I have a silly advertising jingle in my head . . .

“What would you do-oo with a klondike bar?!”

But I’ve changed it to, “What would you do-oo with some cubes and cylinders?!”

There are lots of things to do with the latest wooden toy we have been playing with from Guidecraft. 

These were wooden toys that were enjoyed by three very different little boys. 

I initially let them explore – especially Mr. Smiley, who particularly needs that kind of play to understand how his world works.

He had fun stacking the cylinders.

 

But he became a little baffled as to why they didn’t always stack easily.

I can’t tell you why . . . but it was much easier for him to organize the cubes.

 

And stack them.

Kind of.

Like any toddler he liked to fill the cubes,

. . . dump them, and try to fit other things inside of the cubes. 

Who wouldn’t?  I love tiny boxes!

  

So,  “What would you do-oo with some cubes and cylinders?!”

My ideas for these colorful, wood, non-toxic toys . . . .

• nesting
• stacking
• color sorting
• see how many beans or other object can fit inside each cube or cylinder
• have your child trace each cube or cylinder and then cut out and color them
• hide objects underneath them for your Toddler to discover
• have your child practice putting popsicle sticks inside each cube or cylinder (Starbucks no-spill sticks also work!) while you count
• use the cubes and cylinders to learn colors

And the best part?  Go win these great wooden toys over at Thanks, Mail Carrier, who is hosting a giveaway thanks to Guidecraft!  If you don’t win, you can purchase these fabulous wooden toys from the Guidecraft website for $20 or at Amazon for slightly cheaper. 

As a Guidecraft Mom blogger, this product was given to me for review purposes. I do not have to return the product to the vendor and I was not paid for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

_____________________

What’s in my house?  An e-course in fermentation, bible studies from Grapevine Studies, kitchen fun with Cultures for Health, and Nourished Kitchen for dinner, with a little help from the GAPS grain-free menu plan. Blend that with a  Vitamix.  

Tot School: 28 Months

Mr. Smiley, 28 months

I’m combining two weeks worth of highlights . . .

Tot Trays

Toys tray activities included:

1. putting spaghetti noodles in a jar (dog’s favorite)
2. board books,
3. Q-Tips through a hole in the paint container (Favorite!!!)
4. placing play food in the bucket to go shopping.

Another round of Tot Trays contained:

1. placing pretend diaper pins into a bag
2. Noah’s Animals File Folder Game
3. taking clothespins off chenille wire
4. Brown Bear, Brown Bear Eye Spy bottle

The third round of Tot Trays:

1. drop buttons through paper towel holder into bucket
2. match Noah’s ark animals or carry them around in a bucket
3. play with cotton balls and stacking cups

 (He got rather upset at the fluff from the cotton balls sticking to his sweaty fingers.)

We started learning about Little House on the Prairie.  They boys made log cabins from Valerie’s Lapbook Lessons website.  By the way, there are GREAT picture books out now of Little House on the Prairie.  We got ours through Paperback Swap. 

   

Mommy Favorites

 

• Doesn’t every child play with Magneatos in the dog crate?

• Drinking milk at Starbucks – normal behavior for a 3 year old!  (Happy Birthday, Nana!)

• Practicing for the pictures he will take for his own blog.

• Playing soccer with Mops (Mr. Smackdown gave my dad this name when he was learning how to say Grandpa.)

• Gotta find Coach Daddy!

   

  To link up or for more Tot School ideas, head on over to Carisa’s blog!