Ice Cube Play: Toy Discovery

Been really slacking on my blog posting lately.  We’ve been busy getting ready for the summer…  Cleaning up the yard, changing over to summer clothes (a never ending tasks with 3 boys!), AND getting ready for Michael’s DUMP EVERYTHING 2^nd birthday party (promise to share the details of it once it’s over!).  We’ve also done quite a few warm weather activities that I am getting ready to share as well!  The heat of the past few days should have you thinking WATER!  I think there are few little ones out there that don’t like to play with water, so I will be sure to share many water experiences, but I’d also like to share some fun things you can do with ice cubes!

My boys, Michael inparticular, love to play with ice cubes.  Put an ice cube in their drink on a hot day and they are definitely sticking their hands in there, playing with it, inevitably dropping it on the floor, and then asking for another.  It finally clicked that maybe taking out some ice cubes for the actual purpose of playing with them would be a hit.  I’ve found quite a few ideas for ice cube play so stay tuned for more activities, but this is the one we tried today.

The cool (no pun intended) things about playing with ice cubes is that it can be done in a few places to create new experiences each time – inside, outside and definitely the tub – AND it’s not something you have to buy anything to do! 

Here’s what you’ll need:

Plastic containers (cups, small containers, baby food containers, etc.)

Water

Small toys (matchbox cars, pretend bugs, play jewelry, etc.)

THAT’S IT!

 

The only tough part is you have to wait for them to freeze, so I would recommend putting it together the night before and if it’s a hit with your little ones, then always have some ready in the freezer.

First, fill your plastic containers with water, then drop a small toy in each one.  My boys have really been getting into dinosaurs lately so I used the small dinosaur figures we have.  Place them in your freezer.  You’ll have to check to see when yours are done based on how large your containers are of course.

 

We first tried this activity indoors on this rainy, dreary day.  I gave the boys a big plastic container to play with them in and put a towel under their play space of course.  Since we were doing this indoors and it wasn’t very hot, I also gave them a bin of warm weather.  Our cubes were large so it would be hard to get them to melt without a little extra warmth. 

 

I didn’t factor in how cold it would get so the boys did take breaks and come back to their ice cubes a little later.  Another thing I didn’t expect was how upset Michael got that the toys were stuck in the ice.  It took a while before he realized that the ice would melt and the toys would eventually come out!  I felt horrible at first!  BUT it was definitely a learning moment.  Once he saw that the ice was melting, he was excited to keep chipping away at the ice to free the dinosaurs! 

We talked about how COLD the ice was at first.  It was also a good lesson in FREEZING and MELTING.  We saved some ice cubes for when Hubby came home and it was great to see both boys explain in their own way what they were doing and how it worked!  RETELL is such an important language skill!

I am certain that the cubes will end up in your little ones mouth eventually (as you can see in our pictures!), so BE SURE TO CLOSELY SUPERVISE!!!  The ice cube and/or toy can be a CHOKING HAZARD.

I now have a stash of ice cubes with small toys in my freezer – next we’re trying it in the bath tub!

Hope you try this ice cube activity either tonight in the tub or on the next hot day!  Let me know how it goes!

 

Love & Language,

Marisa

Making the Most of Special Outings

 

“Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.” ~Auguste Rodin

 

One of the reasons I started this blog was to share with others the value that experience has on their children’s development.  There are so many learning toys, workbooks, flashcards, educational shows and apps out there, and they each have their place in the learning process, but I feel that their greatest use is in tying them to real life experiences.…

With summer only a few weeks away, I am sure many of you have day trips and vacations planned for you and your little one.  These experiences alone create unique opportunities for your little ones to learn more about this great big world, but there are quite a few things you can do to make the most of them – I promise they will make your day more fun and even more beneficial to your little one’s development!

Every year for Mother’s Day, my family and I visit the Bronx Zoo.  It is really my most favorite place to go and sharing that love with my boys gets better and better every year.  We started talking about going to the zoo about a week before we were going to go and from that we did a lot of things related to the zoo and its animals.  By the time the day actually came, Michael and Anthony were super excited to go and so was I!!!!  The day itself was awesome and we were able to think back on the activities, books, and toys that we played with just a few days before.  Being able to relate new experiences to past experiences and prior knowledge will help prepare your little one for the critical thinking that this world (especially schooling) demands.   When the day was done, our fun and learning didn’t end either!  Here are 10 ways to make the most of the special days you have planned this summer:

1.       Start talking about it!  About a week before begin telling you’re little one where you’re going.  Find out what they expect to do and see. 

 

2.      If you’ve been to this place before or some place similar, reminisce about your experience – what you did, saw, and who you went with.  How you and your little one felt about being there.  If you have pictures or videos, check them out together.  Doing this will not only enhance your upcoming experience, but is also a great way to work on memory skills!

 

3.      Check the website!  Most places you’ll be visiting will have a website with information about the place, lots of photos and even a map.  My boys loved checking out the map of the Bronx Zoo.  It has animal silhouettes to show where each animal was located.  We circled all the animals we wanted to see, then planned our route.  I think this was a huge part of why we were able to see so much once we were there.  The Bronx Zoo is HUGE and my boys will only be happy for so long anywhere!

 

 

 

4.      Read books related to where you’re going.  We took out all of our books about zoo animals and used those for our story times the week before.  If you don’t have any books that would work, then a trip to the library with a mission to find some together – that sounds like even more fun!

 

5.      Play with toys that relate to where you’re going.  We took out our animal figures (most of which I bought at a huge children’s toy store for next to nothing) and set up our own zoo.  We talked about what they would eat and what animals they might live near. 

 

 

6.      Start pretending!  Pretend like you’re there!  Strengthening your little one’s imagination and pretend play skills is super important for their language development and will help later on with reading and writing!  We not only pretended to go to the zoo but also pretended to be the animals.

 

7.      Movies, TV Shows, and Apps!  When you and your little one need some down time, try to choose entertainment related to your destination.  We watched the show, Jungle Junction on the Disney Channel and the movie, The Jungle Book.  It’s amazing how kids can navigate the iPad these days.  A simple search can find you some free apps that have to do with where you’re going.

 

 

8.      Sing about it!  We love music and dancing in this house.  Get some tunes related to where you’re going.  We sang some of our kiddie favorites like Walking Through The Jungle and Animal Boogie, but also stayed current with Katy Perry’s Roar.

 

 9.      ENJOY THE DAY!  Once you’re off to your destination enjoy it!  Try and put aside your own expectations and follow your little one’s lead.  I often find myself pulling the boys away from something they are totally into because I want to show them something I think is more exciting.  I have to make a conscious effort to follow what they are finding exciting and check my expectations at the door.  Make sure you take lots of pictures…

 

10.   Use your pictures to make something fun.  I printed out a bunch of pictures from our zoo trip and had the boys make books by choosing pictures and then telling me something about the picture.  We glued the pictures on paper, I wrote what they told me under each one, and then I tied it together to make a book.  The boys were so proud of their books and it was great practice for future literacy tasks.  You don’t have to make a book – keep it a little simpler by framing their favorite captured moment!

 

 

I am really looking forward to the trips we have planned for the next few months, including our first baseball game, the aquarium, Diggerland, Field Station: Dinosaurs and a water park.  I’ve decided to share more specifics on books, toys, songs, movies, TV shows, and apps related to common summer day trips.  So check back and let me know what you have planned this summer….

 

 

Love & Language,

Marisa

Oil & Vinegar

Oil & Vinegar

 

The warm and sunny days have kept us all pretty busy outdoors, but we did have some time for a little science experiment this week.  It seems that the boys really enjoy these experiment type activities.  It’s fun to hear what they think will happen (MAKING PREDICTIONS) and then see their reaction.  They really love playing with water – pouring and dumping – plus they never tire of bubbles, so this experiment seemed like something they would totally enjoy and they did!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Baby oil

Vinegar

Food coloring

Small bowls

Shallow bowl/serving tray

Pipette or eye dropper

 

 

Eye droppers have been hard to find, so I usually end up cleaning one that came with a medicine bottle and using that.  The eye droppers have been difficult for them to use independtly though, which takes some fun out of it.  I recently saw pipettes being used instead so I decided to give them a try.  WAY better!  I bought ours at a teacher supply store, but amazon has them as well.  Definitely something you can rinse and reuse.  Michael (almost 2!) and Anthony (3 ½) were both able to work them very easily.  So if you try this with your younger child, I definitely recommend getting the pipettes. 

 

To set up, place a table cloth or towel (or both) on your play space.  Fill the shallow bowl or tray with baby oil.  Then, pour vinegar in a few separate bowls and add different color food coloring to each. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I asked the boys what they thought would happen if we poured the vinegar into the oil and they just thought about the different colors being added in.  I demonstrated first by sucking some colored water into the pipette and squirting it into the oil.  It formed a circle of color in the oil.  Looked like just a blue bubble floating in the oil, which they loved. 

 

I let them each pick a color and they carefully (I was surprised at how careful they were on their own) squirted it into the oil.  I stayed super close because there were times when the vinegar was squirted everywhere rather than into the oil.  We talked about the different COLORS and then about which colors mix together to make new colors.  Anthony knew about this from school.

 

We squirted different colors and amounts into the oil and watched as the colored circle floated around.  We noticed that we couldn’t pop these kind of bubbles!

 

 

I was surprised at how long the boys stayed squirting the vinegar into the oil – they seemed so focused!  I really like science experiments to facilitate language learning.  They tend to create a unique experience and give way to HIGHER LEVEL THINKING.  It provides an opportunity to MODEL LANGUAGE that you might not use on a daily basis and RETELLING the experience is a great language skill to build on. 

Next time, I’d like to try squirting the vinegar into water – it would be nice to have them COMPARE what happens with each liquid.

Hope you get to try this one out with your little one!

Love & Language,

Marisa

Thoughts On Being A Mom

With Mother’s Day quickly approaching, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it’s like being a mom, and I’ve been feeling a sense of deep gratitude for the three beautiful boys that I’ve been blessed with.  I try to remind myself almost daily to be grateful.  When it’s hard and I’m tired and bed time seems light years away, I try to remind myself how very, very, very lucky I am.  One of my biggest fears was that I would never be able to have children or wouldn’t be able to have more than one child.  Having three boys three and under has completely diminished that fear, but I still need to think back on what that felt like so I can be grateful.  It’s impossible in each moment to feel grateful – and as the queen of guilt, I for sure need to remind myself of that as well, but this week of Mother’s Day, I’ve really been trying to just let myself be grateful and enjoy my little blessings.

 

 

Motherhood, if you had to put it into a category, I think, would fall under “transformation.”  From the time it really sinks in that you’re pregnant, you’re a mom.  You begin to live your life for someone else, someone that you haven’t even met yet.  You change your eating habits, sleeping habits and research, plan and prepare for your baby to enter the world.  You worry and worry some more.  You think things like, “after my 12 week sonogram, I’ll stop worrying,” and then, “after my anatomy scan, I’ll stop worrying.”  “Once the baby is born, I’ll stop worrying.”  Truth be told, you never stop worrying – it just becomes a part of who you are.  This responsibility, which at times can feel like the greatest gift and at times can feel like the greatest burden, changes you.  On the morning that I was headed to the hospital to have Anthony, I quoted the book, On The Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman, on my BBM (blackberry messenger):

“On the night you were born,
the moon shone with such wonder
that the stars peeked in
to see you and the night wind whispered,
'Life will never be the same.'”

 

At the time, it just sounded beautiful, but never had I imagined how on point I actually was.  Life never is the same.  YOU are never the same.  You are transformed into a new being – a mother.  And it means EVERYTHING.  I’ve only been a mom officially for 3 years, 6 months, and 20 days, and I have a lifetime ahead of me, but here’s what being a mom has been for me so far:

Being a mom is… the BEST thing that has ever happened to me.

 

 

…sleepless night after sleepless night after sleepless night…

…having patience I never knew I had

…and losing my patience like I never have before

…feeling the magic of the holidays again

 

 

…seeing ordinary things in a whole new way (I get excited every time I see a construction truck, even when I’m alone!)

…smiling just hearing their little voice

…checking to make sure their breathing while they sleep


...sacrificing

…wondering what they’ll be like when they grow up

…counting the minutes till bed time

…dropping him off for his first day of school and “letting go” for the first time

 

 

…knowing their favorite books by heart

 

 

…holding a baby in my arms while he sleeps

 

 

…constantly wondering if I’m doing it right

…going to bed at night promising myself I’ll do a better job tomorrow


...then going to bed the next night and thinking I may have got it right today

…playing hide & seek


...the hardest job I don't ever want to stop doing

…sharing things with them that were special to me as a child

 

 

…wanting to take away anything bad that happens to them – even the littlest scrape!

…knowing that I have to prepare them for any rough roads they may face ahead

 

 

…my heart breaking when a favorite toy breaks or something unexpected happens

…feeling deeper, stronger and more passionately than I’ve ever have before

…making sure they know they’re loved

 

 

…feeling overwhelmed

…eating their leftover chicken nuggets and counting it as my own breakfast, lunch and dinner

…planning the rest of life around naps and feedings

…leaving anywhere before “time expires” and they start to get really miserable

…breaking up and refereeing fights…

…doing daily tasks with one hand (because there’s a baby in the other)


...simple and complicated


...going to bed wondering how many times they'll wake up during the night 


...getting up in the middle of the night because I hear someone crying only to find them all fast asleep
 

…listening to them talk to each other

…quietly watching them play together (and sometimes videotaping them too!)

 

 

...beautiful, dirty, exhausting, exhilarating, joyful, stressful, hysterical, crazy, amusing, gracious, forgiving, loving, aggravating, frustrating, scary, amazing, and... FOREVER LIFE CHANGING!!!!!!!


…wanting to bottle up these moments because they are growing up too fast!

 

This list could probably go on forever, and actually it will – because I’ve been blessed to be a mom and in this moment, I couldn’t be more grateful.

 

Wishing you all a Happy Mother’s Day!  What’s being a mom to you???

 

Love, Language & Motherhood,

Marisa