letter R sensory bucket.

i love looking back on my life and seeing all the ways God directed me exactly where i needed to be, even before i was a believer. working at the preschool taught me so much and prepared me in so many ways for being a mom. the biggest bonus - all the stuff i bought for my classroom when i was single and had the cash to do it. i saved all of it for my future kids and am sooo thankful to have activities on hand! 

whenever we get bored, i tell emery we're going to pick something out of the super secret special activity room {also known as a closet in the basement}. i think it's her favorite room in the house!

toddler/preschooler activity: Letter R Sound Box

at the preschool, every week was devoted to a different letter. we would read a book specific to that letter, do an art project about the letter, and i would create centers themed around the letter. One of my centers for letter R was an R Sound Box...

Tools:

• small rubbermaid container {i got this at the dollar store, but they also have them in sets of 5 at target.}
• rice {or if you  do a different letter, pick something else, like confetti for C, pebbles for P, sand for S, etc.}
• a few objects that start with your letter. i choose a ruler, rose, red ribbon, race car, ring, rooster, and rock. most of these i got at the dollar store.

obviously emery isn't learning what starts with what yet, but it's a fun sensory bucket just the same. I still talked with her about everything like she was 4, but she mostly just wanted to throw rice on the floor. all in all, it was a good day!

she loved finding all the treasures and she loved making a mess! 
i don't mind her doing it, as long as it's supervised and structured!

burying mommy's hand in the rice

love and the alphabet, 

amber.

PS - this post was featured on Creative Christian Mama's Linky Party! i'm more than a little pumped!

balloon sensory matching.

i wouldn't change my job title for anything. being a wife and mom is the BEST! emery's curiosity is my daily reward for staying home - we have the best adventures and she makes everything so much fun. yesterday wasn't any different...

toddler activity: balloon sensory matching

when i worked at the preschool, one of my all time favorite themes was the week devoted to the 5 senses. one of the center time activities was a matching game. I filled balloons with various things and created cards with pictures of each thing. the kids got to squish, poke, and prod and then lay the balloons on the card they thought was the right match.

i know emery isn't there yet, but i keep seeing sensory balloons on pinterest and thought i'd make them again! i still have the cards, so for the sake of the post, i thought i'd fill them with what's in the pictures, even though it wont matter for her right now!

all you need is a funnel {for some things},
the balloons, and various items
that are different sizes and textures.

feeling the rice balloon!
she loved watching mommy 
use the funnel to fill it!

things got a little messy...

corn through our
funnel was a no go.

so we put them in ourselves.

 

she wanted in that flour bag so bad!

funneling the sand.
we also did shampoo and marbles.

honestly, i was surprised
how much she loved these -
i didn't think they would
last that long, but she
loved picking them up
one by one and squishing them!

in a few years, i'll add in the cards and i wont let her help me fill them so she wont know what's in what!

i just found the pictures on google images, printed them off, traced a balloon image, and laminated them {which definitely isn't necessary, i just had access to one at the preschool and with 12 new kids every year, i needed them to last!}

{marbles, corn, rice.}

{flour, shampoo, sand.}

love and guessing games,
amber.

PS - Creative Christian Mama  and One Creative Mommy featured this post in their weekly linky parties! check out their blogs!

fun things friday {toddler activities}.

ok, in attempt to keep myself in a routine of documenting fun times with emery, i want to start making fridays a recap of the fun things we did that week. we'll see how long it lasts/how consistent i am ;-)

creative idea #26: water play.
idea sparked by: my teaching days at the preschool.

tools:

• bucket
• water proof toys {we chose measuring cups and spoons, whisk, wooden spoon, and cookie cutters}
• water
• towel {i should have laid one under the bucket, it was a little slippery for her tiny feet!}

will someone put a pony tail in this kid's hair? where is her mother? sheesh.

creative idea #27:sensory bottles.

idea sparked by:pink pistachio

tools:

• empty bottles
• small objects {we chose beads, pom poms, glitter, and googlie eyes}
• water and/or oil
• hot glue gun

i did oil in the bottle on the left because the
beads are heavier - i wanted them in something they
could float in a little more. the pom poms
on the right dyed the water pink, but it would be
fun to do food coloring too!

{emery just learned how to screw caps
off and on, so just in case, i hot glued
them on.} 

    

love and creativity,
amber.