Resurrection Eggs

With all of the candy and eggs and Easter bunnies that are around right now, we really want to teach our son what Easter is actually about. Don't get me wrong, we still do the eggs, candy, etc. but we're also trying to be intentional about teaching him about Jesus' death and resurrection. I've had a hard time trying to figure out how to explain such a serious and violent story to a two year old and then I found this idea on Pinterest (Here's the original link: http://womenlivingwell.org/2010/03/celebrating-jesus-with-your-kids-for/ 

With Easter only a few weeks away, I wanted to share this with you now so that you'd have enough time to make it. Apparantly you can buy these online or in some stores, but it was seriously SO easy to make!

Fill an egg carton with twelve plastic eggs and number them 1-12. I typed up the items that you put in each egg and the Bible verses that correspond.

 You could cut the verses into strips and put them inside each matching egg. I just folded the whole paper into thirds and stored it in the top.

You could start twelve days before Easter and open one egg every day or you could go through the entire story in one sitting. To be honest, I still may modify this with our two year old this year-maybe focusing less on the details like the nails, thorns, and spear and focusing more on the bigger picture-God's amazing love for us. Depending on the ages of your kiddos, this could be totally age appropriate or maybe something that you grow into. Either way, I hope it gives you a starting point for talking about Easter with your kids this year!

He is risen!!

Make Some Music!

The other day, we scrounged around the house and found several items that we could use to make a few instruments. Rowin only stayed interested for about ten minutes. I think these might be better suited for little ones. Or maybe it's just him and your two year old will love them! :)

Guitar:

We used a griddle pan and stretched rubber bands around it for him to pluck. I tried using a jelly roll pan but didn't have any rubber bands big enough to fit around it. 

Shakers:

We had these little Elmo eggs from last Easter, but regular plastic eggs would be perfect too. We filled them with some dry pasta and then closed them back up to make shakers. You could fill them with rice, beans, whatever you have in your pantry or junk drawer!

Drums:

To make our drums, we just used an empty coffee tin and some popsicle sticks!

 Do you have any other fun and easy instruments that your child likes to play with?? Please share!

Rice Sensory Bin

This has been a fun, indoor sensory activity for the winter. Just fill a large, shallow bin with rice! I'd like to try dying it different colors. I know it's super easy, but we haven't gotten around to doing it yet. We added a few cups and digging tools like scoops, forks, and spoons. Rowin likes to dig for things so I'll hide marbles or little dinosaurs and have him dig around until he finds them.

We don't pull this one out a ton, but when we do, Rowin always loves it! Have a broom ready when your child is done playing. You will definitely need it. ;)

St. Patrick's Day Activities

Since we're Irish AND I was a kindergarten teacher, we HAD to do a few crafts and activities for St. Patrick's Day! (This year it's Monday, March 17th, so you still have a week.) Whether you're Irish or not, here are a few very simple St. Patty's Day ideas. 

Shamrock:

For this one, I cut out a green shamrock and then had Rowin decorate with green stickers, fabric, and pieces of paper. (Good fine motor practice!)

Green Shaker:

We used a water bottle, emptied out some of the water, and then dyed it green. Next, we added buttons, jewels, and lots of glitter. Rowin (who is two) wasn't actually very into this one, but I think younger kiddos would like it. Our 10 month old little friend was pretty mesmerized. :) You could even use the mini water bottles so that your little one could hold it and shake it on his own.

Shamrock Hat:

For this one, you will need a large paper plate and green paint, crayons, or markers. I had Rowin decorate one side of the plate with a green dot marker. Then I drew and cut out a shamrock, leaving the stem attached to the plate. Fold the shamrock so that it sticks up and you have a hat! This is Rowin's buddy, Ellie.

Rainbow Play Mat:

I found this as a free printable on Pinterest at http://sewfantastic.blogspot.ca/2012/05/rainy-day-fun.html  Click the link to print it out. Then you just need puff balls. I keep everything in a large ziplock bag and when Rowin wants to play, he just takes it all out and matches the puff balls to the right dots on the rainbow. This is also good fine motor practice. The original source suggests putting magnets on each puff ball and then working on a metal cookie sheet so that they stick and stay in place. We didn't do that, but it's a good idea!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Winter and Spring Outings

Well, if you live in the midwest, it doesn't look like spring is coming any time soon, so in order to keep us from all going insane, I put together a list of winter/spring outings you can take your kiddos on. I know I go crazy if I'm in the house for too many days on end, so these are some of our favorite go-to places that we visit. Some are free, many are cheap, and then I threw in a few splurges. I hope this gives you at least one or two new places to go until we get some warmer weather!

**OH, and if you live in the suburbs west of Chicago, I added some specific places that are in our area!**

Winter and Spring Outings:

• ·      Nature Center (Red Oak in North Aurora or Hickory Knolls in St. Charles-FREE)
• ·      Open gym (Excel Gymnastics in Geneva or St. Charles Gymnastics Academy in St. Charles-$5/child)
• ·      Open swim (Goldfish Swim School in St. Charles-$5/person)
• ·      Barnes and Noble-Ours has a train table, a Duplo blocks building station, story time, and obviously books!-FREE
• ·      Story time at the library-FREE
• ·      Children’s museums (Dupage Children's Museum in Naperville-$11/person)
• ·      Playplaces in restaurants like Chick Fil-A or McDonald’s-FREE
• ·      Train restaurants (The one by us just closed but there is one in Glen Ellyn called 2Toots Train Whistle Grill)
• ·      Train ride or trolley museum (Fox River Trolley Museum in Elgin-FREE)
• ·      Play and Jump Centers (Little Monkey Bizness in Wheaton-$8/child)
• ·      Museums (Most museums have free admission days during the week. Look online to find out which days are free for your specific museum.)
• ·      Zoos (Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield-$16.95/adult, $11.95/child, Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago-FREE, and Cosley Zoo in Wheaton-$5/adult, children are free!)
• ·      Malls with play areas

If you have any other places that you like to take your kids (especially in the winter), please share with the rest of us!!

Ring Toss and Egg Carton Sorting

We've had a busy past couple weeks! I didn't realize how much time had gone by since I last posted! Here are a couple new ideas for you and your littles this week!

Ring Toss:

Rowin got these jumbo fuzzy pipe cleaners for his birthday, so we decided to put them to use with this ring toss game. You could do the same thing with smaller pipe cleaners or use similar shaped objects. 

We stuck several of the jumbo pipe cleaners under the cushions on the couch so that they stuck out about four inches. We shaped the rest of the pipe cleaners into rings and then Rowin stood back and tried to toss the rings onto the pipe cleaners. He thought it was quite a thrill! ;)

Egg Carton Sorting:

If you've been following my blog, you've noticed that I have my son do a lot of sorting, whether it's by color, shape, size, etc. This is a perfect developmentally appropriate skill for 2-4 year olds to work on. I just try to change the objects and format so that it seems like a whole new game to him every time.

Still in love with his puff balls, we went with those this time. I cut the top off of an egg carton and gave him several different colored puff balls to sort by color in each section of the carton. He would sort them, jump up and down a few times-proud of his success, then dump them all out and start over again.

If you don't have puff balls, try using multi-colored paper clips, candy (like Skittles, M&M's, or candy hearts), or marbles.