Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! The one day of the year that we have an excuse for drinking green milk and eating Lucky Charms!
But it is also much more than that! Take a little time to read with your kids about St. Patrick and his mission in 4th century Ireland! It is really interesting!

Besides trying to avoid getting pinched today, there are many fun activities that you and your toddler can do together. I found some cupcakes topped with lucky charms on Pinterest. We added our own twist to them by making green pudding cupcakes! Here is a fun recipe for these cupcakes! This is an easy recipe to get your gets involved with too!
You will need:
Lucky Charms
Pistachio pudding (which is green)
cake mix
milk
icing
green food coloring

Make the pudding according to the packaging directions (have your kids beat or stir the mix and talk about how the pudding gets thicker the longer you stir). Add the cake mix and stir until it completely mixed. Fill muffin tins and bake until the tops of the muffins are a golden brown color (about 25-30 min.). Once the cupcakes have baked and cooled give your toddler a cupcake, some lucky charms and some icing (add green food coloring for extra fun).

Have your little ones spread the icing on the their cupcakes and top with lucky charms.

Cute and delicious!

Have a fun day!
Skills Targeted: teach your tot color recognition, teach your tot motor skill development, teach your tot sensory development, teach your tot life skills, teach your tot to follow directions, teach your tot to compare and contrast

Boats

Book Suggestions:

Boats by Byron Barton
Boats by Anne Rockwell
Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen
The Boat Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta
Boats, Boats, Boats by Joanne Ruane
The Boy Who Built the Boat by Ross Mueller
Busy Boats by Tony Mitton

Activities:

Shape Boat:
Materials: construction paper, glue, scissors
Description: Cut out several shapes from construction paper prior to doing this activity with your toddler. (A triangle for the sail, a crescent for the boat, a circle for the steering wheel, a long thin rectangle for the mast). Show your toddler all the shapes and see if they can name them. Help them put the shapes together to make a boat. Your toddler can glue the shapes to a piece of paper when they are finished.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot shape recognition, teach your tot motor skill development, teach your tot language development

Sink or Float:
Materials: a variety of objects found around your house that sink and float
Description: Talk to your toddler about boats and how they float on top of the water. Fill a bucket or bath tub with water. Show your toddler an object that floats on top of the water, like a boat. Now show your toddler an object that sinks, the opposite of float. Give your toddler a variety of objects and have they put one at a time in the water. Have your toddler tell you if the object sinks or floats.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot to understand the opposites sink and float, teach your tot to explore and investigating the concepts sink and float, teach your tot to understand that boats floats, teach your tot to develop science skills, teach your tot sensory development

Small, Medium, and Large:
Materials: Pictures of three different size boats
Description: Show pictures of three different size boats to your toddler. Talk about what boat is biggest, medium, and smallest. Have your toddler put the boats in order from biggest to smallest, and then from smallest to biggest.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot to understand different sizes, teach your tot to compare and contrast

Slow and Fast:
Description: Boats can travel at slow speeds and fast speeds. You and your little one can pretend to be a boat (making motor noises). You can say this little poem and go slow and fast:
Motor boat, Motor boat go so slow (walk slowly)
Motor boat, Motor boat go so fast (run fast)
Motor boat, Motor boat step on the gas (run really fast).
Skills Targeted: teach your tot to understand slow and fast, teach your tot to compare and contrast, teach your tot rhyming

Cardboard Box Boat:
Materials: cardboard box, blue bed sheet or table cloth, long stick or chopstick, string, magnet, construction paper, paper clips
Description: You and your toddler can turn a cardboard box into a boat. You can get as creative as you like, coloring or painting your boat. Your toddler can think of a name for their boat and you can write it on the side on the box. Place a large blue bed sheet or table cloth under the box, as the water, and have your toddler get into the cardboard box boat.
You can extend this activity by making fish and letting your toddler go fishing from their boat. Simply tie a string to one end of a long stick, chopstick, or meter stick. Tie the other end of the string to a magnet. Cut several fish shapes out of construction paper and put a paper clip on each paper fish. Spread the fish all over the "water" (or bed sheet). Have your toddler toss their fishing pole out of their boat and try to catch a fish! (The magnet will stick to the paper clip). Count the fish as your toddler catches them and see if your toddler can tell you what color each fish is.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot creativity and imagination, teach your tot to count, teach your tot color recognition, teach your tot motor skill development, teach your tot language development, teach your tot pretend play

Toy Boat:
Materials: Toy boats
Description: Let your toddler have free play time with toy boats. You can fill up the bathtub or a small swimming pool for them to play with their boats.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot to play, teach your tot to discover and explore through play, teach your tot to discover boats, teach your tot to use their imagination

Watch Boats:
Description: Take your toddler to a nearby lake, river, ocean, pond etc. Watch the boats with your toddler. Count the boats that drive by. Talk about their colors and size. Take pictures of the boats and when you get home you can print them and make a boat collage. You and your toddler can talk about and label the different types of boats that you saw.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot sensory development, teach your tot language development, teach your tot to count, teach your tot color recognition, teach your tot compare and contrast

Milk Carton Boat:
Materials: milk carton (cardboard ½ gallon carton), soap box or other small box, pencil, string, paper, hole punch, glue
Description: Cut the milk carton in half lengthwise. Glue the small soap box in the middle of the milk carton. Have your toddler decorate their boat. Next poke the pencil in the middle of the soap box. Cut a square shape out of a piece of paper and punch a hole in the top and the bottom of the square. Slide the pencil through each hole to create a sail. You can then tie a piece of string around the top of the pencil and through hole punched into each side of the milk carton (See picture below for an example). Fill up a bathtub or small pool and let your toddler float their boats in the water. Talk with your toddler about how the boats float.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot creativity, teach your tot that boats float, teach your tot to follow directions, teach your tot motor skill development

Songs and Fingerplays:

Boats Boats Boats:
sung to the tune of Jingle Bells

Boats boats boats
Boats boats boats
All kinds of boats.
Some are big,
Some are small.
I like them all.

Boats, boats, boats
Boats, boats, boats
All kinds of boats.
Motor boats,
Sail boats,
Yachts, and canoes.

I see a Boat:
sung to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb

I saw a little boat
little boat, little boat
I saw a little boat
Floating on the water.

I saw a big boat,
big boat, big boat
I saw a big boat
floating on the water.

I saw a motor boat
motor boat, motor boat.
I saw a motor boat,
Zooming on the water.

I saw a sail boat,
a sail boat, a sail boat.
I saw a sail boat,
Sailing on the water.

Online Fun:

Coloring:
Visit http://www.coloring.ws/boats.htm for free printable coloring pages.

Boats
Videos:
We love Sesame Street at Teach Your Tot. Visit http://www.sesamestreet.org/ for videos about boats and more.

Lobster Fisherman
Ernie's Love Boat
Staten Island Ferry Ride
Video Postcard: Fishing

Rainforest

Book Suggestions:

Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme by Marianne Berkes
The Great Kapok Tree by Lynee Cherry
A Walk in the Rainforest by Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini
A Rainforest Habitat by Molly Alonian
Hug by Jez Alborough
Rainforest by Helen Sharman
Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein
The Saggy Baggy Elephant by K. Jackson
The Umbrella by Jan Brett

Activities:

Rainforest Animals:
Materials: pictures of a variety of different animals (print from clip art, find them in magazines, draw them etc.), glue, a large piece of white paper
Description: After reading several books about the rainforest and talking to your toddler about what kind of animals live there, show your toddler a variety of pictures of animals. See if your toddler can pick out the animals that live in the rainforest. Have your little one glue all the rainforest animals to a large piece of white paper, creating a rainforest collage. Write the name of each animal under its picture.
Extension: You could extend this activity by drawing grass, trees, and a sky onto the piece of white paper and have your toddler glue each animal where it spends most of its time in the rainforest. (For example: glue a macaw in the sky, a monkey in a tree, and a jaguar in the grass)
Skills Targets: teach your tot animal recognition, teach your tot to better understand animal habitats, teach your tot language development, teach your tot motor skill development

Rainforest Animal Mask:
Materials: paper plates, popsicle sticks, paint, scissors, construction paper, markers, additional craft items if desired
Description: You and your toddler can make rainforest animal mask together. Read books about rainforest and talk about rainforest animals with your toddler. Decide which animal or animals you want to make. Start by painting a paper plate the color of the animal. Cut out two circles for your toddler's eyes to show through. Cut out a nose, ears, and mouth from construction paper and glue it onto the mask. You and your toddler can decide what detail you want to add. (For example, paint stripes if you make a tiger, add yarn for a mane if you make a lion etc). You could also glue a Popsicle stick to the bottom of the mask and they could hold it front of their face. Have your toddler pretend to be the animals.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot animal recognition, teach your tot motor skill development, teach your tot language development, teach your tot to enhance imagination and pretend play

Vines:
Materials: green and brown paper (the larger the paper the better this will work)
Description: Read books about the rainforest to your toddler and talk about things that they might see in the rainforest. Show your toddler a picture of vines. Together you and your toddler can make vines. Simply twist long pieces of green and brown paper. You can tape them to your toddler's ceilings or walls to create a rainforest atmosphere in your toddler's room.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot motor skill development, teach your tot to better understand different habitats, teach your tot language development

Pretend to Be Rainforest Animals:
Description: You and your toddler can pretend to be a different rainforest animals, walking crawling and slithering round your house.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot pretend play, teach your tot to enhance imagination, teach your tot motor skill development, teach your tot to understand how different animals act

Snake:
Materials: paper, markers, scissors
Description: Read books about rainforest animals to your toddler. Talk about different snakes that live in the rainforest. Create a snake, draw a spiral shape onto a piece of paper. Have your little one decorate it (they could draw or paint stripes, triangles, circles etc). Cut along the spiral. You could even punch a hole in the head of the snake and hang it from the ceiling.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot to better understand the habitats of rainforest animals, teach your tot motor skill development, teach your tot language development


Sort Flowers:
Materials: Cut or print flower shapes in a variety of colors (be sure to have at least three of each color)
Description: Read a book about rainforest flowers to your toddler. Talk with your toddler about all the beautiful flowers that grow in the rainforest. Lay out a variety of different colored flowers in front of your toddler. See if your toddler can recognize some or all of the colors. Help your toddler sort all the flowers by color. Count each group of flowers. Talk about what group has the most/least.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot color recognition, teach your tot sorting by color, teach your tot to count, teach your tot to understand most and least, teach your tot to compare and contrast, teach your tot language development, teach your tot to understand different habitats

Trees:
Materials: paper, brown construction paper, sponge, green paint
Description: Read books to your toddler about the rainforest. (The Great Kapok Tree is a good one!) Talk to your toddler about how many trees live and grow in the rainforest. Your toddler can create their own rainforest tree. Cut a long rectangle from brown construction paper for the trunk. Show it to your toddler and see if they can tell you what shape and color it is. Have your little one glue it to a piece of paper. Your little one can create the green leaves by dipping a sponge into green paint and dabbing it all over the top of the trunk. (You can make several rainforest trees to give more of a rainforest look!)
Skills Targeted: teach your tot language development, teach your tot to understand different habitats, teach your tot to recognize shapes and colors, teach your tot motor skill development

Rainforest Bugs:
Materials: Styrofoam ball or pom poms, paint, googly eyes, pipe cleaners or any other crafts objects, glue
Description: Read books to your toddler about the rainforest. Talk to your toddler about how many different kinds of bugs live in the rainforest. They are all different shapes sizes and colors. Your toddler can create their own rainforest bug. Simply have them paint a Styrofoam ball (they can paint it any color and add their own designs to it) or use pompoms for the body. When the paint is dry have them glue on googly eyes and use pipe cleaners or other crafts items for the antennas and legs. Have your little one give their rainforest bug a name!
Skills Targeted: teach your tot creativity and imagination, teach your tot motor skill development, teach your tot language development, teach your tot to better understand different habitats of bugs




Songs and Fingerplays:

In the Rainforest:
Sung to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb

In the rainforest, I see a tiger,
I see a tiger
I see a tiger
In the rainforest, I see a tiger
Creeping along the forest floor.

In the rainforest, I see a macaw
I see a macaw
I see a macaw
In the rainforest, I see a macaw
Flying in the sky.

In the rainforest, I see a monkey
I see a monkey
I see a monkey
In the rainforest, I see a monkey
Swinging from the trees.

In the rainforest, I see a hippo
I see a hippo
I see a hippo
In the rainforest, I see a hippo
Soaking in the water

You can continue this song singing about other animals and plants that you can find in the rainforest.

Rainforest, Rainforest
Sung to the tune of Jingle Bells

Rain-for-est
Rain-for-est
Deep in the rainforest
Tigers creep
Flowers grow
Monkey's swing to and fro.

Rain-for-est
Rain-for-est
Where hippos and crocodiles live.
Panthers do live there too.
And so do cockatoos!

Online Fun:

Coloring:
visit http://www.coloring.ws/ to print free color pages

Print a variety of different rainforest animals by clicking here.

Videos:
visit www.sesamestreet.org to watch videos about rainforest and more.

Hidden Jungle Animals
Monkeys climb a tree to get bananas
Grover and the Elephant

Days of the Week

Book Suggestions:

Days of the Week by Jilly Attwood
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Cookie's Week by Cindy Ward
Today is Monday by Eric Carle
Always in Trouble by Corinne Demas

Activities:

Calendar:
Materials: a calendar (or paper to write the days of the week on)
Description: Show your toddler a calendar and talk about the days of the week. Say them and count the days of the week each day. Talk about what day it is today, yesterday and tomorrow.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot to become familiar with the days of the week, teach your tot to count to 7, teach your tot language development, teach your tot life skills, teach your tot to develop pre-math skills, teach your tot to understand how to read a calendar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar:
Materials: construction paper, glue, markers, scissors
Description: Prior to doing this activity draw and cut out 1 apple, 2 pears, 3 plums, 4 strawberries, 5 oranges, chocolate cake, ice cream, pickle, cheese, salami, lollipop, pie, sausage, cupcake, watermelon, and one leaf. (You could also find and print these pictures from clip art or cut them out from magazines). On the top of a piece of paper write all 7 days of the week. Read (and re-read) The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle to your toddler. Ask them questions about the book and see if they can retell any parts of the story. Next, with your help and by looking at the book, help your toddler find the foods that the caterpillar eats on each day of the week. Glue the foods under the correct days of the week.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot pre-reading skills, teach your tot retelling skills, teach your tot language development, teach your tot to become familiar with the days of the week, teach your tot motor skill development, teach your tot memory skills

Talk About Your Day:
Description: At the end of each day talk to your toddler about what they did that day. Remind them of what day of the week it is and see if they can recall events that took place throughout the day. If you wanted to enhance this activity, you could even take pictures of different activities throughout the day and show them to your toddler (on the computer or you could print them daily). You could even write the day of the week at the top of a piece of paper and glue all the pictures from that day onto the paper. At the end of the week you would have 7 papers filled with pictures of your daily events.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot the days of the week, teach your tot language development, teach your tot memory skills, teach your tot pre-reading skills, teach your tot retelling skills

Food Everyday:
Materials: paper, crayons or markers
Description: Throughout the week, you and your toddler can keep track of different foods that you ate throughout the week. This can be fun to compare and contrast and talk about likes and dislikes at the end of the week. During breakfast (or any meal...but keep it consistent throughout the week) have your toddler draw or take a picture of what they ate (it is ok, if your little ones picture doesn't look anything like their breakfast). Write the name of the food or foods under the picture and write the day of the week at the top of the paper. Hang it somewhere for your toddler to see it throughout the week. Continue to do this everyday and hang all the pictures next to each other. At the end of the week, say all the days of the week with your toddler and recall what they ate on each day. Talk about what foods they like best and least. Compare and contrast all the different meals (which ones were hot, which ones were cold, which ones were hard, which ones were soft etc.)
Skills Targeted: teach your tot to compare and contrast, teach your tot to understand like and dislike, teach your tot the days of the week, language development, teach your tot artistic skills, teach your tot retelling skills, teach your tot to recall details

Pick out clothes:
Materials: index card, paper clip, coat hanger, clothes
Description: In the beginning of the week, you and your toddler can pick out their clothes for each day. Let your toddler help you decide what they want to wear on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday etc. Take out the outfit; put it on a coat hanger and paper clip an index card to it that says the day of the week. Hang all 7 outfits in a line and say all the days of the week with your toddler as you point to each outfit. Everyday when they get dressed review the days of the week.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot the days of the week, teach your tot to make choices, teach your tot life skills

Weather:
Materials: construction paper, crayons, glue, scissors
Description: Create a "chart" with the days of the week on the top. Cut out several suns, clouds, rain clouds, lightning. Each day, talk about what the weather is like and have your toddler glue the correct shape under that day of the week.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot language development, teach your tot the days of the week, teach your tot different kinds of weather, teach your tot to develop science skills

Chores:
Materials: construction paper, clip art of drawings, scissors, glue, markers
Description: In the beginning of the week, sit down with your toddler and discuss some chores that they could do to help out with around the house (help unload the dishwasher, put clothes in the dirty hamper, clean a room etc.). Draw or print a picture of these chores and glue one chore under each day of the week. Write the chores/task under each picture. Show your toddler the chart and say the days of the week with them. Throughout each day, refer to the "chore chart" and have your toddler complete their chore for the day. When they finish they can cross off that day. You could reward them for doing their chore (that is up to you and your toddler).
Skills Targeted: teach your tot the days of the week, teach your tot life skills, teach your tot motor skill development, teach your tot to be helpful, teach your tot responsibility

Today Is...:
Materials: construction paper, markers, tape
Description: Cut strips of construction paper and write one day of the week on each strip of paper. On Sunday, tape the sign that says Sunday somewhere that your child can easily see it. Say with your toddler...
"Today is Sunday, Today is Sunday, Today is Sunday. Yay....Sunday" You can do this several times a day. Continue to change the say throughout the week and say the chant with your little one.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot the days of the week, teach your tot pre-reading skills

Songs and Finger plays:

The Weather:
Sung to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb

To-day is Mon-Day,
Mon-day, Mon-Day.
To-day is Mon-Day
It is Sunny outside (say the type of weather that is actually is at your house in place of the word sunny).

Sing this song daily, changing the day of the week and the type of weather.

Days:
Sung to the tune of Bingo

There are 7 days in a week,
And today is Sunday.
S-u-n-d-a-y
S-u-n-d-a-y
S-u-n-d-a-y
Today is Sunday.

Continue this song for all 7 days of the week.

What's for Breakfast:
Sung to the tune of Are You Sleeping:

Today is Sunday
Today is Sunday
What are you eating?
What are you eating?
I am eating pancakes (sing whatever it is you are eating)
I am eating pancakes (sing whatever it is you are eating).
Sunday's pancakes
Sunday's pancakes.

Recipes and Snack Ideas:

Description: Read The Very Hungry Caterpillar to your toddler and do the above activity that goes along with this book. Throughout the week, refer to the chart that you and your toddler made and prepare each day’s snack for your toddler. For example of Tuesday have pears for your toddler during snack time. (On Sunday you and your toddler could make leaf shape cookies)

Photos

Book Suggestions:

My First Photo Album by Michelle Berg
Pocoyo and the Camera by Red Fox
Galen's Camera by Jill Kalz
Cameras by Kristin Petrie
Cool Scrapbooks by Pam Price
Close Up: Microscopic Photographs of everyday stuff
My Baby Book by Jackie Wolf
My Family Photo Album by Ron Berry

Activities:

ABC:
Materials: camera, printer or computer, index cards
Description: Sing the alphabet with your toddler. Gather ABC flash cards or make your own by writing one letter one each index card. Show your toddler letter A and have your toddler name the letter. Tell your toddler what sound letter A makes and have them repeat the sound. Together find something around your house that begins with letter A. Help your toddler take a picture of the object. Continue doing this for each letter. (You could do this activity over several days). When you have pictures of every letter, download them to your computer and create a filmstrip or slideshow of the pictures or print out each picture and put them in a 4X6 album. Write each letter on each picture. Your toddler can look at the book or slideshow over an over again.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot letter recognition, teach your tot letter sound recognition, teach your tot to develop an understanding of beginning sounds, teach your tot pre-reading skills, teach your tot language development, teach your tot motor skills

Numbers:
Materials: camera, 10 of the same object (your toddler's choice)
Description: Have your toddler choice an object that they can count and take pictures of (ex. Legos, trucks, balls, shoes etc) Count from 1-10 with your toddler. Show your toddler what number 1 looks like. Have your toddler count 1 object from their pile. Help your toddler take a picture of the 1 object. Continue this activity for numbers 1-10 (or 1-20). When you have all the pictures, download them to your computer. Create a slideshow for your toddler to watch or print out the pictures and put them in a 4X6 photo album. Write the numbers on each picture. Your toddler can view the book or slideshow over and over to help them learn their numbers.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot number recognition, teach your tot counting, teach your tot one to one number correspondence, teach your tot language development

Colors:
Materials: camera, different colored objects
Description: Talk to your child about all the different colors that they know. Show your toddler pictures of the color green. Have your toddler name the color and find something around your house that is green. Help your toddler take a picture of the green object. Continue this activity for as many colors as you would like. Download all the color pictures onto your computer and create a slideshow or print all the pictures and put them in a 4X6 album. Be sure to type of write the color word on each picture. Your child can view the book or slideshow over and over again to learn their colors and color words.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot color recognition, teach your tot color word recognition, teach your tot language development, teach your tot motor skill development

Photo Shape:
Materials: a photo, marker, paper
Description: Show your toddler a 4 X6 picture. Ask your toddler to tell you what shape the picture is. Lay the picture on a piece of paper and trace it. Show your toddler the shape and ask them to tell you what shape it is. Have your toddler "draw" their own picture in the rectangle creating their own "photo."
Skills Targeted: teach your tot shape recognition, teach your tot motor skill development, teach your tot creativity, teach your tot to enhance artistic ability

Photographer:
Material: a disposable camera or a "toddler proof" digital camera
Description: In the beginning of the week, give your toddler an inexpensive disposable camera or if they have their own "toddler Proof" digital camera, they can use it. Encourage your toddler to bring the camera with them on outings throughout the week and have them take pictures of their own. Be sure to teach them how to use the camera. At the end of the week or when they use all the pictures, develop the film or print their digital pictures. Look at all the pictures with your toddler and have them try to recall what each picture is, why they took it, what they were doing while they took the picture etc.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot language development, teach your tot motor skill development, teach your tot creativity, teach your tot to recall details, teach your tot to retell events

C is for Camera:
Materials: draw or print a picture of a camera, marker
Description: C is for Camera; therefore, letter C would be a great letter to focus on this week. Show your toddler a picture of a camera. Have your toddler repeat the word camera. Make the C sound and have your toddler repeat it. Tell them that the word Camera begins with the C sound. Write a big letter C on the picture of the camera and hang it up for your toddler to refer to all week.
View letter C at:





Skills Targeted: teach your tot letter recognition, teach your tot letter sound recognition, teach your tot to develop pre-reading skills, teach your tot phonemic awareness skills

Letter C Pictures:
Materials: camera
Description: While focusing on letter C this week, help your toddler find objects around your house that begin with letter C and take pictures of them. Be sure to review letter C and its sound before taking these pictures. When you and your toddler have taken several pictures, download them and create a slideshow or print the pictures and make a letter C book.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot letter C recognition, teach your tot Letter C sound recognition, teach your tot to understand beginning sounds, teach your tot pre-reading skills, teach your tot to develop phonemic awareness skills

Polite Pictures:
Materials: Camera, glue, large paper or poster board
Description: Talk to your toddler about what it means to be polite and kind. Throughout the day or over the week, take pictures of your toddler being polite and kind (sharing, cleaning their toys, hugging, helping you etc.). Print these pictures and show them to your toddler. Talk about each picture and what they are doing in each photo. Have your toddler glue each picture on a large piece of paper or poster board. Write the polite word under each picture.
skills Targeted: teach your tot language development, teach your tot to develop life skills, teach your tot to develop good manners, teach your tot to recall details, teach your tot to retell events

Scrapbook:
Materials: pictures taken by your toddler, cardstock paper, scrapbook items such as stickers, glitter, pens, sequences etc.
Description: Show your toddler pictures that they have taken throughout the week. Have your toddler pick several pictures that they would like to scrapbook. Provide a variety of scrapbook craft items such as stickers, pens, glue, glitter, fabric, pattern paper etc for your toddler to use. Help your toddler begin creating their design by gluing their pictures of a piece of cardstock paper (or other paper that you have available). They can use their creativity to decorate their scrapbook page. When they are finished, you could even journal on their page for them. Have your toddler tell you about their pictures and you can write what they tell you. Be sure to add the date on their paper. You could continue to do this with your toddler over and over again and they could actually create their very own special scrapbook for their own pictures.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot to retell events and details, teach your tot language development, teach your tot creativity

People I Love Pictures:
Materials: camera
Description: Throughout the week take pictures of people that are meaningful in your toddler’s life. If they have family and friends that live out of town, ask them to mail you a picture or you could use an old one. Show the pictures to your toddler and have your little one identify each person. You can write their names on the pictures. Glue the pictures to a poster board or put them in a 4X6 photo album to create a book for your toddler.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot to recognize people they love, teach your tot to love, teach your tot sensory development, teach your tot language development

Songs and Fingerplays:

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures:
Sung to the tune of Jingle Bells

Pictures, pictures, pictures
Pictures, pictures, pictures
I like to take pictures
of my mom
of my dad
Pictures make me glad.

Pictures, pictures, pictures
Pictures, pictures, pictures
I use a camera to take pictures.
Pictures of dogs
Pictures of trees
Even pictures of me.

Online Fun:

Videos:
Check out www.sesamestreet.org for fun videos about pictures and cameras

Photos in the Park
Say Cheese
Games:
www.sesamestreet.org has fun games about photos also.

Elmo's Goofy Gallery

Recipes and Snack Ideas:

Cheese:
Give your toddler cheese as a snack this week. As they eat practice saying cheese and take pictures of your toddler! Say cheese while eating cheese!

check back Friday!!

There is not a new theme this week! Next week's theme will be posted Friday!! Have a great week! And since i am from New Orleans, i want to wish everyone a happy Mardi Gras!

Numbers 1-10

Book Suggestions:

Numbers by Eric Hill
Numbers by Ophelie Texier
My First Number Board Book by DK Publishing
Numbers (Learning with Animals Series) by Melanie Watt
How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten by Jane Yolen
Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews
One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab by Jeff Sayre
Ten Tiny Babies by Karen Katz
Big Trucks and Diggers One to Ten: Counting by Caterpillar

Activities:

Ping Pong Counting:
Materials: ten ping pong balls, sock, permanent marker
Description: Write the numbers 1-10 on ten ping pong balls. Place all the balls into a large sock (or box or other container). Have your toddler put their hand in the sock and pull out a ball. See if your toddler can tell you the number written on the ball. Once all the balls have been pulled out of the sock, help your toddler put the balls in order from 1-10.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot to count, teach your tot number recognition, teach your tot motor skill development

Sorting by 10:
Materials: Skittles (or other candy with a variety of colors)
Description: Count out 10 red skittle, 10 yellow Skittles, 10 Green Skittles (etc.). Put all the skittles together in a pile and have your toddler sort them by color. Once all the skittles are sorted into different piles, have your little one count the ten skittles in each group.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot color recognition, teach your tot to sort by color, teach your tot to count

Match Numbers 1-10:
Materials: 10 ping pong balls (can use the same ones that you used for the first activity), permanent marker, egg carton
Description: Cut off two egg holders of the egg carton, so that there are only 10 sections. Write the numbers 1-10 with a permanent marker on the ping pong balls. Also, write the numbers 1-10 in each compartment of the egg carton. Have your toddler match the ping pong balls to the correct section of the egg carton. (For example: Place the ping pong ball with the number 1 in the egg carton section with number 1 written in it.)
Skills Targeted: teach your tot to match numbers 1-10, teach your tot one to one correspondence, teach your tot to count, teach your tot number recognition

Bingo Dobber Counting:
Materials: Bingo Stamps (can be found at Wal-mart), large piece of paper, markers
Description: Using a marker, divide a large piece of white paper into ten sections (5 on top and 5 on the bottom would probably work best). Write the numbers 1-10 in each section. Count the numbers with your toddler. Give your toddler a bingo stamp and have them stamp one time in the section with number 1, 2 stamps in the section with number 2...continue doing this for all the numbers 1-10.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot to count, teach your tot one to one correspondence, teach your tot number recognition, teach your tot motor skill development

Counting Beans:
Materials: egg carton, dried beans, marker
Description: Cut off two sections of an egg carton, so that there are 10 sections instead of 12 (you can use the egg carton from the above activity). Write the numbers 1-10 in each section. Count 1-10 with your toddler, pointing at each number as you count. Give your toddler a handful of beans. Have them put one bean in the section marked 1. 2 beans in the section marked 2. Continue to do this for all numbers 1-10. (I used beads instead of dried beans…you could use any small object.)
Skills Targeted: teach your tot to count, teach your tot one to one correspondence, teach your tot number recognition, teach your tot motor skill development

Graph 1-10:
Materials: paper, marker, m&ms (or other small candy or beans)
Description: Using a marker divide a piece of paper into a graph with ten rows and ten columns. You could also make a graph using your computer and print it onto a piece of paper. Write the numbers 1-10 at the bottom of each column. Give your toddler a handful of m&ms (or other small candy or bean). Have your toddler place one piece of candy in the column above the number 1, 2 pieces of candy above the number 2...continue to do this for all the numbers 1-10. Your toddler is not only counting, but also making a graph. When they are finished, you could extend this activity by talking to your little one about which column has the most pieces of candy and which column has the least.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot to count, teach your tot one to one correspondence, teach your tot number recognition, teach your tot to understand more and less, teach your tot to compare and contrast

Photo Fun:
Materials: Items found around your house to count and take pictures of (could be anything that you or your toddler chooses), camera
Description: Have your toddler choose objects around the house that they want to take pictures of and count. (It could be anything from toy cars to bananas. You could also use a variety of all different objects). Start with number one. Have your toddler count out 1 object and take a picture of it. Next have your toddler count out 2 of the object and take a picture. Continue to do this for the numbers 1-10. Print all 10 pictures and write the numbers 1-10 on each picture using a marker (or you could write it using text on your computer before you print it). You could post these pictures on the refrigerator or around your house, or you could place them in 4X6 album and make a number book.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot to count, teach your tot number recognition, teach your tot motor skill development

Fingers and Toes:
Materials: finger-paint, paper, marker
Description: Have your toddler paint both of their hands with finger-paint. Stamp both hands onto a piece of paper next to each other. When the paint dries, have your toddler count their fingers on the paper. Count them again, as your write the numbers 1-10 on each finger. You can do this activity again using your toddler’s feet and toes.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot to count, teach your tot number recognition, teach your tot motor skill development

Learn Your Phone Number:
Materials: large piece of paper, markers, post its
Description: This would be a great week to teach your toddler their phone number. Write your phone number on a large piece of paper and have your toddler tell you all the numbers. Continue to practice saying the numbers daily. Cover each number with a post it and see if your toddler can say it without looking at the numbers. Uncover each number as your toddler says it. If they can't remember the numbers uncover them one at a time to help your child remember. You can also have your toddler practice pressing their phone number into a telephone.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot number recognition, teach your tot memory development, teach your tot life skills

Gloves:
Materials: a cheap pair of gloves, marker
Description: Write numbers 1-10 on each finger of a pair of gloves. Have your toddler put on the gloves and sing the song Ten Little Fingers (found below under Songs and Fingerplays). Help your toddler hold up the correct finger as they sing the song.
Skills Targeted: teach your tot to count, teach your tot number recognition, teach your tot motor skill development


Songs and Fingerplays:

10 Little Fingers:
Sung to the tune of 10 Little Indians:

1 little 2 little 3 little fingers
4 little 5 little 6 little fingers
7 little 8 little 9 little fingers
10 little fingers on my hand.

I like Counting:
Sung to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb

I like counting, yes I do
yes I do, yes I do
I like counting, yes I do
I can count to 10.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
7, 8, ,9 and 10
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
7, 8, 9, 10

Online Fun:

videos:

Visit www.sesamestreet.org for a variety of videos about counting numbers 1-10.
Play counting games at www.sesamestreet.org as well!