This Week at Mommy and Me: Valentine's Day

Of course, this was an extra-fun day at Mommy and Me. We did two flannelboard stories at circle time because they tied in with the day's activites. I love this "Little Red Valentine" activity I first saw on Storytime ABC's. Because I have a small group for Mommy and Me, I start by giving each child a heart. As we sing the song, they come put their heart up on the board.

Little Red Valentine, I love you.

Little Red Valentine, I love you.

Little Red Valentine, I love you.

Orange one says, "I love you, too!"

Little Orange Valentine, I love you.

Little Orange Valentine, I love you.

Little Orange Valentine, I love you.

Yellow one says, "I love you, too!"

Little Yellow Valentine, I love you.

Little Yellow Valentine, I love you.

Little Yellow Valentine, I love you.

Green one says, "I love you, too!"

Little Green Valentine, I love you.

Little Green Valentine, I love you.

Little Green Valentine, I love you.

Blue one says, "I love you, too!"

Little Blue Valentine, I love you.

Little Blue Valentine, I love you.

Little Blue Valentine, I love you.

Purple one says, "I love you, too!"

Little Purple  Valentine, I love you.

Little Purple  Valentine, I love you.

Little Purple  Valentine, I love you.

Pink one says, "I love you, too!"

Little Pink  Valentine, I love you.

Little Pink  Valentine, I love you.

Little Pink  Valentine, I love you.

Everyone says, "We love you, too!"

Next up was "I'm a Little Love Bug".
I created this rhyme to go along with our squishy bags.

I'm a little love bug. Now let's start.

I am made from a big red heart.

I'm a little love bug. What a surprise!

I think someone has my eyes!

I'm a little love bug. Now who do you suppose,

has my cute little heart-shaped nose?

I'm a little love bug. I give big hugs!

Who has a striped arm for this bug?

I'm a little love bug. I have flare!

Who has my sparkly, spiky pink hair?

I'm a little love bug. I'll see you in a while!

Just don't forget my great big smile!

Just like the rhyme, the squishy bag has two eyes (googly eyes), a heart shaped nose (button, you could also use foamies), spiky pink hair (pom-pom), two striped arms (pipe cleaners cut in 4 pieces), and a great big mile (thick yarn). Start with about 1/3 of hair gel (Dollar store). Let the kids put in a pinch of colorful glitter (I put in way too much). Seal it with duct tape. The bag has a heart drawn on with purple Sharpie. 

More felt hearts were available at the song card center. We do a new song card every other week. They picked a heart, then tried to find the corresponding song lyrics--looking for color clues in the text.

 

Our Valentine bags were very open-ended,
with opportunities for writing and cutting practice. I provided
plain paper bags, stickers, crayons, and scraps of  paper to cut and paste.

And the perfect Valentine from teacher to student during cold and flu season--
"You BLOW me away, Valentine!" (tissue 6-packs from the Dollar Store).

This Week at mommy and Me: Apples Are Red

When the kids come in for Mommy and Me, they grab a bucket and hunt for something. This week they were hunting for red things. I used to hide things in clear view but unless it's laying in the middle of the floor, the kids just don't see it. This keeps them busy while everyone trickles in. When we are ready to start, they bring their buckets to the circle and show us something that they found.

Developmentally appropriate crafts for toddlers can be hard to find, so I was so excited to find this recently on Reading Confetti. Dot stampers are the perfect first art supply. The kids love them. Be careful in chosing your stampers. Larger stampers allow more ink to come through. If kids pound them onto the surface (which most toddlers will do), it can get messy. You can get Bingo stampers at the dollor store, but I recommend investing in sets designed for kids. There are some different options at various craft stores. Look for sets with washable ink (stay away from the paint ones).

We used copy paper for ours. The kids stamped one sheet then crumpled up a second sheet. Parents wrapped the stamped sheet around the crumpled ball and set it in the pre-cut toilet paper tubes. A little glue held it in place.

Toddlers love repetition. They enjoy the satisfaction of knowing what they are supposed to do. As we work through colors, we make color shakers. I put out an assortment of smalled items in a variety of textures (including jingle bells!), the kids insert objects in the bottles, and moms seal the top with tape. A friend is saving 12 oz. Gatorade bottles for me which work great. They have a wider opening and are made with heavier plastic than the regular water bottles we used to use. The kids love these!

This Week at Mommy and Me: Cookie Monster

At circle time, I showed the connection between the flannel board, the book, the craft, and my shirt--all Cookie Monster. I knew most of them wouldn't know Cookie yet, but they loved him by the end of class. I only read part of the book to introduce some concepts. Everyone got one "cookie" to feed the monster. After each child placed their cookie on the flannel board, we all said, "Yummy, yummy in my tummy! "

Everyone painted a paper plate for our hungry Cookie Monster craft. They put brown dots ( and other assorted marks) on beige circles. These will be the cookies they feed their monsters after everything is assembled. I cut a semicircle mouth in the painted plate, and another half plate gets attached to the back to catch the cookies.

We threw cookie bean bags at the bean bag board and in buckets. We made play dough cookies and sorted cookie shapes. One little girl had egg shakers in her hand from the time she walked in the door, so we wrapped things up with a shaker mix :

Shake! by We Kids Rock

Shakeable You by Imagination Movers

I Know a Chicken by Laurie Berkner