Encouraging Mamas . Educating Littles
Lifestyle Blog
Good Friday is just a week away and we are very excited to celebrate out risen Savior! Last year, I created an Easter story coloring book and mini reader for my daughter who was two. Now that she is three, I wanted to make it more interactive for her. I revised the coloring book and mini reader and added a bible verse tracing version as well!
Read MoreWell, our penguin skill builder pack has be SUCH a hit that I recreated it in a Spring/Summer friendly version! This is probably our favorite activity printable because it touches on so many skills in an interactive way.
Read MoreHappy first day of Spring! It is still really cold where we live, so we brought the garden inside!
Read MoreWe don't really celebrate St. Patrick's Day around here and I know the kids would be freaked out by leprechauns BUT I love an excuse for a new homemade playdough!
Read MoreWe were really anticipating some rain this week but it turned into snow! Regardless, our rain cloud experiment is still fun for a snowy or rainy day inside. This is a very simple "experiment" using items that you probably already have. I did this when I taught my three year old class and they really loved it! It turns out that my kids were just as captivated by it.
Read MoreI have done some sort of "morning work" with Emma since she was two but had a hard time staying consistent. There were so many skills I wanted to work on and it felt very overwhelming! It also felt like I was trying to do too many things and there were always supplies everywhere! I finally decided on a concise binder of activities that I can swap in and out and are (to me) the most important skills for her right now.
Read MoreHappy Valentine's Day week! We have been having a lot of fun with our play room centers and will be so sad to put it all away! I created two other activities that I didn't include in our playroom and plan to pull out just for this week!
Read MoreValentine's day is so much fun with kids! The books, activities, crafts- we just love it all! I wanted to try something different than our normal play themes (ex. here, here & here). I normally pull out an activity at a time and put it away when were done to move onto the next thing. This time I decided to make little play stations throughout our playroom that we would keep out for a few weeks! It has been really fun for them. I tried to think of some independent/imaginative play ideas that they could keep going back to with our without me.
Read MoreWith the winter Olympics coming up, I wanted to share our most popular activity yet! It also happens to be the easiest, which is another reason why I think it was such a hit. My kids are STILL asking to do this since I reintroduced it on January 1st!
Read MoreE is almost three and a half and we are still working on identifying upper and lowercase letters as well as numbers 1-20. As an alternative to flashcards, I thought it would be fun to hide the letters and numbers in a sensory bin and have her work on identifying them as well as writing.
Read MoreI took my original play dough recipe and made it gingerbread scented! I know that everyone is all about peppermint right now, but I am a gingerbread fan through and through. This playdough smells heavenly and is actually the easiest recipe I've made yet!
Read MoreAlthough December is meant to be a month of celebrating and joy, as a mom of two young children, there is a lot going on! We are staying inside more, the kids are getting sick more often, and they are constantly being asked what they want for Christmas. This has led to a lot of bickering and selfish behavior so I thought I would turn my positive behavior reinforcement up a notch. We haven't done Elf On The Shelf yet, they are too young and really need constant reinforcement!
Read MoreLife as a mom of two little ones is constantly changing and keeping me on my toes. Currently, I have one buddy learning the art of the meltdown and another who has gotten very good at verbally disagreeing when the word, "no" is thrown around. We were having a lot of different talks about being a good listener and not a lot of success when I found this book.
Read MoreI am so excited to share Pintsize with you! Pintsize is an online children's clothing shop, specifically designed for children with sensory needs. All of the clothing is handmade by moms who run their own etsy shops and are created with incredibly soft fabric and without tags, zippers, buttons, snaps or ties. All of the clothing is reversible and most pieces can be worn forward or backward! All of these features respect sensory needs and foster independence. Even with my own children, getting ready and out the door can be a daunting task. My three-year-old was able to put on her pink tunic from Pintsize without assistance. My 18 month old has shown aversion to tags and itchy seams (who doesn't?!) and was so comfortable in his hoodie and joggers!
Read MoreBefore becoming a mama, I worked as a Special Education teacher. Every student I taught had some sort of speech need or delay and received services from a Speech-Language Pathologist. I was able to co-teach a lot of the therapy sessions and majority of my days were spent working on speech and language development. Now that I am a mom, I have found the importance of working on those language skills starting with board and picture books!
Read MoreWe are having so much fun this fall! It feels like the first season that we are able to embrace all of the festive activities and outings as a family of four! I decided it would be fun to make a few fall/Halloween treats with the kids using our Re-Play Recycled plates and snack cups. Working in the kitchen with the kids takes all my patience, but it really is worth it!
Read MoreNow that E has turned three, I have been trying to think of a creative way for her work on being responsible. We typically ask her to do things like clean up her toys or bring her dishes to the sink but I was constantly reminding, nagging and bribing. I finally decided that giving her special, 'jobs' might increase her independence in doing little things around the house! A few of these jobs needed to be taught and we are still practicing doing them together. I am realizing that a lot of the time I can get these things done faster and more efficiently on my own, but I also know how important it is to teach her to be responsible and independent!
Read MoreI am so excited to be a part of October's book box collaboration. These moms are so creative and have some amazing ideas to go along with the story as well! This month, they have chosen Room On The Broom, by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. I will link the other four blogs at the end of this post for you to check out as well!
Read MoreMy baby is THREE! She is sweet and spunky and was so much fun to celebrate! Between the two kiddos, we have hosted five parties and this was our smallest one yet. We had our parents and siblings over for dinner and dessert with a lot of floral and a little Minnie Mouse on the side ;) I am planning to use all the decorations from the party for E's big girl room makeover!
Read MoreIf Starbucks can get away with pumpkin spice in September, then we can start our "pumpkin everything" craze too! This slime was so easy to make with E helping me and kept both kids entertained for awhile!
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