Welcome to the third unit of Mommy School!
You can read all about the purpose of this program, along with my goals and previous posts here.Mommy school as been working out well at our house. We still have a set time for it each day, after nap time. It lasts up to 45 minutes, some days only about 20 minutes.
The key for me is to write what we we’re doing each day in my planner.You can also see other fun and purposeful play activities on our Mommy School Pinterest board.
You can read all about the purpose of this program, along with my goals and previous posts here.Mommy school as been working out well at our house. We still have a set time for it each day, after nap time. It lasts up to 45 minutes, some days only about 20 minutes.
The key for me is to write what we we’re doing each day in my planner.You can also see other fun and purposeful play activities on our Mommy School Pinterest board.
Valentine’s Day
*This theme will last one week*
Learning all about Valentine’s Day and celebrating LOVE!
Vocabulary:
Heart/ Love/ Hug/ Red / Pink
MAKE SURE TO HEAD OVER TO EMILY’S BLOG FOR LANGUAGE ENRICHMENT IDEAS AND ACTIVITIES
Counting/ Colors/ Alphabet:
Where is the red heart? Love starts with L, here is the L. Point together with your child. Show me the duck. Where is the Goose?
Remember, modeling is crucial.
Handprint Heart Canvas
Thank you Pinterest, for this adorable idea. I had a 5×7 canvas I purchased for this keepsake.
The only other materials needed were red & pink paint and a paint brush.
I love how it came out.
Footprint Keepsake
Of course, I have to include the keepsake we made last year. Another Pinterest creation of course!
Her feet were so itty bitty!
DIY Handprint Valentine’s
I thought it would be fun for AG to make Valentine’s for her friends back in FL. I used some blank cards we already had at home. I painted her hands and had her make handprints on half of them and thumb print hearts on the other half. On the inside of the card I taped her Valentine’s picture. I also gave her crayons to color the cards as well. I’ll finish them off with a we miss you note on the top of the cards. We can’t wait to send them to her friends!
Fingerpainting Heart
I taped a paper heart on top of a white canvas I had at home (this can easily be done on card stock or construction paper) and grabbed the fingerpaint we had. This was poor planning on my part because we didn’t have any red or pink fingerpaint. So orange and purple it was. I let AG paint her heart out all over the canvas, helping her smear a little more here and there as she went. After she was finished paining, I removed the heart I taped on, which left a large white heart on the canvas. Now I have to decide what to put in the middle of the heart. I’m thinking a small picture of AG with a little mod lodge will create the keepsake I’m looking form.
Sensory Play:
If you’re new to sensory bins and sensory play, read this fabulous article to see why it’s so important.
Sensory Bin:
This week I filled the bin with colored rice, pink and red pom poms, large buttons, heart cookie cutters and heart felt stickers.
To make the rice, all you need is white rice, rubbing alcohol and food coloring. Put the white rice in a large bowl, ad a few drops of rubbing alcohol (just three drops for about 4 cups of rice), mix the rice in the rubbing alcohol. Last, add the food coloring. I used over 10 drops for my rice. Just mix it until the rice is coated. I lined a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and pour the rice on top for it to dry. I left it out overnight.
I want to note that while the sensory bin is open, I never take my eyes off AG. I am sitting next to her the entire time. Items in the sensory bin can be a choking hazard and a child should never be left along with them.
Sensory Bottle
I changed up the wave bottle to go with the Valentine’s theme this week.
I added 2/3 water with red food coloring, 1/3 oil and glitter to make the bottle this week.
Snacks:
All you need for fun snacks this week is a heart shaped cookie cutter.
There are endless things you can make with them….
sandwiches, waffles, pancakes, etc.
I have more fun snacks planned for this week that I will make sure to share on IG!
Here is how most of our lessons looked:
Books- 2 per day, (both were read at least twice.) I always read the book through first and read it again for further comprehension. On the second read, I ask questions and talk about what is on some of the pages. I ask her to point lots of different things.
Song- 2 per day.
Craft/ Activity: Coloring, painting, creating.
Sensory Bin Play: This is what lasts the longest with our lessons.I kept the bin, puzzles and games out of her play areas. I only bring them out when it was time for our Mommy School time. I wanted them to be special, something she looked forward to and didn’t have at her fingertips all day.MOMMY & ME NEWS
Mommy & Me Monday is now going to be held on Instagram! Emily and I have loved doing Mommy & Me over the past year. We will still continue doing it on both of our blogs, but it will no longer be a link up and may not end up being posted on Mondays. We are going to put our blog focus on Mommy School and bringing you the best activities for your littles. We are exited to continue Mommy & Me on IG. Every Monday, we will post a picture of ourselves with the littles and hashtag it #Mommyandmemonday. We hope that you will continue to link up on IG with us and we look forward to seeing pictures of you and your littles!
Follow us on IG: LeahEverydayLove & EmilyDearOwen
Books- 2 per day, (both were read at least twice.) I always read the book through first and read it again for further comprehension. On the second read, I ask questions and talk about what is on some of the pages. I ask her to point lots of different things.
Song- 2 per day.
Craft/ Activity: Coloring, painting, creating.
Sensory Bin Play: This is what lasts the longest with our lessons.I kept the bin, puzzles and games out of her play areas. I only bring them out when it was time for our Mommy School time. I wanted them to be special, something she looked forward to and didn’t have at her fingertips all day.MOMMY & ME NEWS
Mommy & Me Monday is now going to be held on Instagram! Emily and I have loved doing Mommy & Me over the past year. We will still continue doing it on both of our blogs, but it will no longer be a link up and may not end up being posted on Mondays. We are going to put our blog focus on Mommy School and bringing you the best activities for your littles. We are exited to continue Mommy & Me on IG. Every Monday, we will post a picture of ourselves with the littles and hashtag it #Mommyandmemonday. We hope that you will continue to link up on IG with us and we look forward to seeing pictures of you and your littles!
Follow us on IG: LeahEverydayLove & EmilyDearOwen
I think I am going to make some pink rice for Aria's sensory bin now. I just picked up some misc heart type things this weekend for it! I have a feeling it will end up being a nice big mess in the end, but I hope Aria enjoys it =)
Purple and orange work too! Love all your mommy school ideas. Thanks for putting all the work into and sharing it for others.
So many great ideas! I hope I have enough time to do a few of these this week! I am absolutely loving these mommy school posts!
You make me want to be a stay at home mom even more than I already do! I love these mommy school posts. I would love to have the time to do it all with my kids. So fun! Thanks for sharing 🙂 We love the book I LOVE YOU STINKY FACE!
These are such great ideas! I'm so glad you stopped by so I can now follow all of your wonderful ideas!
I'm only at home with my two year old daughter on Wednesdays & Thursdays, but I'm always looking for seasonal teaching ideas! Thanks for stopping by!
These are all great activities! I'm going to make sure Owen and I try a few of them this week!
What a cute idea! I may have to start "mommy school" when I am at home with Kennedy in the summers!
I like what you did with this Valentine's Day theme for Mommy School this week. I bet it was lots of fun!
– Colleen, http://SanAntonioMomBlogs.com
Great ideas. I love the different keepsakes!