Preschool at Home: Christmas Crafts

It has been really hard staying on our learning schedule with family in town. We have always used workbooks but I have a new appreciation for them now. When I don't have time or the opportunity to do full blown lessons with her it's great to whip out one of these workbooks. We can do a couple pages in a few minutes. I like that because it keeps us from totally abandoning our learning efforts while we have so much going on at home.

We normally always do some type of learning lesson before we start our craft. Today we did the workbook before moving on to some fun Christmas crafts.

I found a pin on Pinterest that used popsicle sticks to make ornaments. I found these colorful sticks at the Dollar Tree and we used super glue to make them hold their shape. She decorated them with glitter after they dried.

I also thought it would be fun to make a Rudolph face. For this quick and easy craft we used a paper plate, eyes, puffy ball (for nose) and pipe cleaners. I also used a hole punch to make the holes for the "antlers" but you don't have to. The pipe cleaners should poke right thru the plate. Savannah curved the cleaner in a U shape before I poked it thru the plate. Rudolph's smile came out pretty nice. 

Once we were done I felt like our face didn't look like a reindeer. I grabbed a brown marker and filled his face in. It made him look so much better. I would recommend wrapping your plate with a paper bag or painting your entire plate brown if you decide to do this. Hindsight being 20/20 I guess I could have cut off the white edge. Maybe next time (LOL)...

What kind of crafts have you been doing with your little ones to get into the holiday spirit?

Ubisoft: Just Dance Kids 2014 Video Game Review

Who's started shopping for Christmas? Anyone do Black Friday? I am not a Black Friday kind of girl. I'm more of a Cyber Monday type girl. I like going to the mall and strolling. Listening to Christmas music while I check out all the deals. That's my kind of shopping. 

While shopping for your kids this season a great gift idea is Just Dance Kids 2014. It's a great gift for the entire family actually. When I found out I was selected for this campaign I was beyond excited. Savannah has really started getting into dance so this was perfect for us! When we got it in the mail I immediately threw it in the Wii to give it a go. 

There are so many things I love about this game. First, I love that there are parental controls. That's always a win. You can make your own playlist or play the game on a non-stop shuffle mode. Savannah and I loved the balloon-pop mode. Her favorite song on the game is Yo Gabba Gabba's Freeze.

This was a WORK OUT! After hopping, jumping, running and dancing Savannah was nice and tired, LOL!! We enjoyed all the colors. The songs have a level of difficulty on them that work as a guide. I liked that. We worked our way up to some of the more difficult songs, it was very funny!  

I would highly recommend Just Dance Kids 2014. Look for it on Amazon or at your local GameStop. There are over 30 songs to dance to. There is something for everyone. Older kids will enjoy dancing to One Direction. Younger ones will enjoy The Wiggles and parents will enjoy it all!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Preschool at Home: A Blooper (Kind Of)

This isn't a real Preschool at Home post. It's more of a blooper. I'm sharing what happens when a craft goes all the way left. I had good intentions for today's turkey craft. It was going to be a cute handprint turkey with pipe cleaner feathers and goggly eyes. 

But like I've said here many times crafts are not where I excel. So today's turkey turned into what I will call a Fall Face. 

I'm still not sure how all of that turned into this but I do know that Savannah had a great time making her Fall Face turkey, LOL!

When I noticed that the pipe cleaners weren't going to stay I switched it up and went for the adhesive foam leaves that we had. She was able to stick those on herself. When I noticed that this craft no longer looked like a turkey (Did it ever though?) I told Sav to just make a face with the eyes. 

I shared this blooper because I feel like it's unfair for me to only post the super cute stuff that turns out perfect. Not to mention anytime I can make fun of myself I go for it! Hopefully this inspires some of the not so crafty Moms like me. Sometimes you'll get the perfect turkey and sometimes you'll get whatever this is but you'll always get the memory of doing something fun.

What do y'all think of this Fall Face turkey? Will you be making it? (LOL!!!)

PreSchool at Home: Update

It's been a while since I've shared some of our PreSchool activities. In an effort to get into a really good routine I have been trying to simplify our schedule. Now that Sav is going to a Preschool class once a week I have been using what she's learning in class to guide what we do at home. We still do our own activities but I really try to reinforce the lessons she learns in school.

My main focus with her right now is reading and phonics. We've been spending the majority of our "learning" time on that. We had been doing letters and phonics for a while but I didn't really know how to take the next step to help her start learning to read. Her teacher suggested that I try Starfall. I had heard of Starfall before but never really looked into it. Sav loved the site.

This month we are working on the short "a" sound. At first, I couldn't tell if she was really reading or if she had memorized the book from reading it so much. When my husband came home from work I had her read it to him to see if she could do it and I was very surprised that she could read it to him with a little help from me. She was also very proud of herself.

Today we did our reading in the morning (after I realized a planned trip to the zoo wasn't happening) and some pumpkin painting in the afternoon.

 

So slowly but surely we are settling into a routine that I am happy with. Can't lie. Cutting out a lot of play dates and moving dance to the evening has given me more time to spend with her. I have also been able to get so much more done around the house. These past few weeks have been really great. Anyone using Starfall? How do you like it?

My Toddler is Public Friendly

Remember when I did that guest post for Baby Teems about my toddler being "public friendly"? Well. I must say that I am amazed at how well she did today at the hospital. I went in for my non-stress test at 10:45am. In the waiting room she colored on the back of a receipt that I had in my purse with some colored pencils. I always have colored pencils or crayons in my purse. 

Once we were called back I immediately got her situated in her chair with her portable DVD player. This morning before leaving the house I had her pick out three DVDs. I told her that she could watch them once while Mommy talked to the doctor. I think setting up the expectation and letting her know how the day is going to go helps. People always say that kids don't understand but I disagree. If I tell her we're going to be at the doctor's office and she's going to watch movies and sit still while we're there she get's it.

After my non-stress test I had to get an ultrasound and we had to go by the pharmacy. Luckily, all of this is in the hospital. It was 2:00pm when we left. She started to get a little antsy towards the end but that's to be expected. After all, she is two. I was so proud of her. Being prepared with activities will always make long days out easier. We got back on Thursday and the only thing I plan to do differently is pack an extra snack for the both of us. :-)