S is for Spring Songs

“Music is a great way to engage young children because it is a natural and enjoyable part of their everyday lives. Children hear music or sing while watching television, riding in the car, at school, and as part of bedtime rituals. We often hear children creating their own songs and incorporating music in their play. Music is a socially engaging way to learn, and especially appropriate for the developmental levels of young children”.**

Here are several songs chosen to sing with your group during this spring season:

Signs of Spring Song (Tune: “The Twelve Days of Christmas”)

On the first day of springtime, my good friend gave to me, a bluebird in a big tree.

On the second day of springtime, my good friend gave to me, two green frogs and a bluebird in a big tree.

On the third day of springtime, my good friend gave to me, three yellow buds, two green frogs, and a bluebird in a big tree.

On the fourth day of springtime, my good friend gave to me, four raindrops, three yellow buds, two green frogs and a bluebird in a big tree.

Be creative and finish the songs with ideas from the children.

Baby Animal Lullaby (Tune: “Frere Jacques/ Are You Sleeping”)

Mother cat, mother cat,

Sings to her kitten, sings to her kitten,

Meow, meow, meow

Meow, meow, meow

Sleep baby kitten, sleep baby kitten.

Continue with other verses about animals and their babies.

The Sun Song (Tune: “I’m a Little Teapot”)

When the sun comes up, we start our day,

Dress and eat our breakfast, go outside and play,

When the day is over, the sun goes down,

Moon and stars light up the town

**Excerpted from "Music as a Teaching Tool: Creating Story Songs" by Shelly Ringgenberg - an article in the NAEYC journal, Young Children.

Authors to songs unknown

Sing a spring tune together and enjoy this season. 

Tania

December Holiday Garland Craft

Children love the holidays and these crafts are adaptable to suit three different holidays. Surprise your group with a fun holiday craft this month. These crafts can be multicultural by just changing the colors. Be it red & green for Christmas, blue & white for Hanukkah, or red, green & black for Kwanzaa—adapt these crafts for your holiday!

Multicultural Children Garlands:

These garlands can be strung along a wall or across a doorway.  Use brown grocery bags that you have stored from shopping.  Dress the children cutouts in the colors of your holiday.

These are simple paper-doll instructions. Start by cutting a 5-by-4-inch strip from a grocery bag.  Next, fold the strip of paper, accordion-style, about four times.  On the top layer, draw a child shape. You can draw this freehand or trace around a child or gingerbread cookie cutter. The hands and feet you draw must extend out to the folded edges.  Cut through all layers of the paper, making sure not to cut where the arms touch the fold. Young children may need help with this task. The decorating is the fun.  Cut clothing from gift-wrap or construction paper.  Draw in shoes, hair, faces, and any extras with markers, puffy paints, or gel pens.  For texture you can glue on pom-poms, buttons, or pieces of fur.  Let your child’s imagination run wild.

Holiday Wreath:

Use your child's hands to make this holiday wreath. From a piece of cardboard, cut a 12-inch circle (a pizza box lid or carton works well).  Again cut another 3-inch circle in the center to complete the wreath. A craft knife is useful to make the cuts but only by an adult. Invite your child to paint the entire cardboard wreath with poster paint in the color of your holiday. After the paint dries, have the child make handprints on the wreath. Brush the child’s hand with a different color paint and press the hand down on the board. Continue to print handprints around the wreath in a circular fashion.

For another option, trace hands on complementary-colored stiff construction paper, cut out, decorate the hands if you wish, and glue them around the circle.

Make a bow from fabric, crepe paper, large ribbons or construction paper to decorate the bottom.  Make sure to write the date on the back of this memorable project.

Have fun with these two crafts.
Happy Parenting,
Tania  :)

Photo courtesy of Tania Cowling, all rights reserved

Note: if anyone wants to use any part of this post or any other one, please notify me for permission and make sure you provide a link back to this site.

Popsicle Sticks as an Outlet for Kid Fun

Popsicle sticks (aka craft sticks) can be used for crafts and games. Here are a few ideas I would like to share.

Did you know?

Eating a frozen Popsicle is still part of growing up in America just as it was in the past.  Frank Epperson, from California, invented and patented the “Epsicle” which later became the “Popsicle.”  In 1905, when Epperson was just 11 years old, he mixed some soda water powder to drink.  He accidentally left it overnight on the back porch with the stirring stick inside.  That night the temperature dropped to a record low causing this mixture to freeze.  Voila! The first “Epsicle!”  Today, the Popsicle is manufactured by the Good Humor-Breyers Ice Cream Company.  Popsicles come in a variety of fun shapes and flavors, now even offering natural juices and no-sugar-added Pops.  Not only have Popsicles been treats for our children, the famous wooden sticks are great resources for arts, crafts, games, and learning.

CRAFT STICKS AND CRAYONS (crayons & Popsicle sticks)—

Place Popsicle sticks, crayons and white paper on the table.  Invite the children to make designs on the paper by tracing around the sticks with their colorful crayons.  Teach your kids the art of overlapping.

POPSICLE FRAMES (Popsicle Sticks)—

Glue Popsicle sticks into shapes, such as squares and triangles.  You can even create a star by laying one triangle on top of another.  Glue the sticks together.  Trim a photograph to fit the inside of your frame and glue this to the back of the frame.  As a variation, you could glue a plain piece of heavy paper in place to be colored, painted, or decorated inside the frame.  This is an easy project to hang; just attach a loop of yarn or ribbon to the top.

PICK-UP STICKS (Popsicle Sticks)—

Use Popsicle sticks to play a game of pick-up sticks.  This is played just like pick-up sticks except that when your turn is finished you have to add your sticks to that of the person before you.  Let’s say Mom was able to pick up five sticks before she moved any of the others.  Then Bobby picked up three without moving the rest of the sticks.  Bobby would note that since Mom picked up five and he picked up three, then there are eight sticks picked up so far.  Therefore, five plus three equals eight.  If he gets it right, he gets Mom’s sticks.  If he gets it wrong, Mom gets her sticks. This makes the game an incentive to learn math facts.

Kids love to eat Popsicles - so save all those sticks for further fun!

You can also purchase a bag of sticks on AMAZON.

There are pre-colored sticks too! HERE

Photo courtesy of Tania Cowling, all rights reserved

How Do You Amuse the Kids on St. Patrick's Day?

Calling all teachers and parents:

Lads and lassies, get ready to celebrate a “wee-bit of fun” this March 17th on St. Patrick’s Day. 

Doing the shamrock stomp:  (baby & toddler)

Put on some music (like an Irish jig or McNamara’s Band) and invite your child to dance along with you.  For young babies, hold them in your arms while you dance.  Encourage him to come up with a variety of ways to move to the music.  To do the “Shamrock Stomp”, cut out large shamrock shapes from green construction paper.  Tape these to the floor.  Start the music and have your child move and jump from shamrock to shamrock.  This is a fun way for your youngster to express himself on St. Patrick’s Day and great for practicing large motor skills.  Masking tape on the floor can be another entertaining movement game.  Stick the tape on the floor to make a design, such as a zigzag, a circle, triangle or a star.  Let your child move along, over and around the lines as they please.

Click here to purchase this CD

How about the shamrock shimmy?  (preschool+)

Here’s a fun locomotion game to play with your child.  It’s even better if you can gather other family members or friends.  Cut several small shamrocks from green construction paper.  Write instructions on the one side like:  hop like a bunny, gallop like a horse, crawl like a snake, walk like an elephant, whistle like a leprechaun, skip, walk backwards, etc.  Place these instructional shamrocks in a container on the other side of the room.  Play this like a relay race, as the first person runs to the pile, takes a shamrock and does what it says while returning to his/her team, then sits down. Station an adult to help read the instructions.  The next team member proceeds the same way until everyone has a turn.  Another fun St. Paddy game is “Irish Hot Potato.”  Sit all players in a circle.  Hand one child a potato.  Explain that when the music begins, they will pass the potato to the person on their right.  When the music stops whoever’s holding the potato scoots out of the circle and playing resumes. Who will end up in the circle alone with the potato? Play some Celtic or Irish Jig music to get into the spirit, although any music will do.

Cover photo courtesy of Tumisu, CC0 Public Domain, pixabay.com

Quick shopping for materials you will need for these activities:

Green construction paper      

Green masking tape         

The Summer Olympics: Are You Ready?

The Summer Olympics 2021 is happening in Tokyo, Japan. Did you watch the opening ceremony? Take time to view some of the events with your little athletes at home as this is history in the making. Below are a few activities to do with the children to enhance these global games.

Olympic Ring Art

The Olympic symbol of five rings is displayed everywhere. The ring colors of blue, black, red, yellow and green represent the colors of all the flags of the world. Show the kids a picture of this flag on the Internet or in books, and then proceed to this craft. Pour paints of the colors above in shallow containers. Give each child an empty cardboard toilet tube (you will need five) and invite them to dip the end into the paint and then print a circle shape onto a piece of white construction paper. Have your kids copy the Olympic flag with this technique overlapping the circles to make the rings. Younger children will just enjoy making the circle prints with these art tools.

To make the bow and arrow craft (that I made) check this site.

Let Your Home Games Begin

Young children have a hard time understanding the idea of teams, winners and losers. So, in your games, make sure that everyone is a winner. You can invite your children to try some of the following Olympic activities:

 • Discus throw: use paper plates and see how far the children can toss them.

 • Javelin: let the kids throw plastic straws and measure where they land.

 • Shot Put: throw ping-pong balls or paper balls.

 • Relay race: invite the kids to run a distance passing off a stick (it’s safer to use an empty paper towel tube). For younger children, there is no need to have teams.

 • Bicycle or tricycle races: create an obstacle course at your home where children can ride safely. Use plastic cones if available. If you have a stopwatch, the kids may want to know how many seconds it took them to finish the course.

Olympic Music

Enjoy singing this song with your kids to the tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat."

Run, run, run so fast

Fast as you can go.

I’m running in the Olympics now,

I’m going for the gold.

Jump, jump, jump so far

Mark where I land.

I’m jumping in the Olympics now,

I’m going for the gold. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Change the verses to sing about other events in the Summer Olympics such as throwing, swimming and gymnastics. Conduct your closing ceremonies with lots of praise and award colorful homemade ribbons! Remember everyone is a winner in your own Olympics!

Enjoy the next weeks of the Olympic games. Until my next blog post.

Happy Parenting,

Tania

Photos courtesy of Tania Cowling, all rights reserved
Article text by Tania Cowling may not be duplicated without permission of this author.
Ideas in this article have been published in parenting magazines during previous summer Olympics.

Fish-Themed Activities For Children

It's summer and many families spend these days fishing, boating, at the beach and maybe visiting an aquarium. Here are ways to help children develop knowledge about the creatures that live under the sea.

Fish Stories

Cut out fish shapes from construction paper. From old magazines, cut out interesting pictures and glue these onto the fish. Place all fish into a box. Invite the children to pick a "fish" from the box. Look at the picture and try to incorporate it into a fish story they make up. This is a fun game for a group of children or with the family.

Pick Up Fish (A fine motor game)

Remember the game of pick-up-sticks? Here is a fish version. You will need two containers, one empty and the other filled with fish shaped crackers. Invite the children to use tweezers to move the crackers from one container to the other.

Fish Dramatic Play

Have the children pretend to be fish swimming in the water. Ask, "What type of fish do you want to be?" Tell them to lie on their stomach with their arms close to their side. Now, have them wiggle their body and try to move. Ask, "How would you rest when you are tired? How would you eat? Where would you hide if there were danger?" Have the children describe what they imagine in their underwater world. Act out the following verse.

There is so much activity beneath the sea.

The crab crawls, the eel wiggles,

The octopus swims, the jellyfish jiggles.

Dramatize the creature you want to be!

Fish Net Mobile

Save one of those net bags that oranges or potatoes are sold in. Hang this in a favorite spot. Invite the children to make colorful paper fish cut from construction paper and decorated with art materials. Punch a hole at the top of each fish. Attach the fish to the net with hooks made by opening paper clips.

Going Fishing (Snack)

Give each child two paper cups. One with fish shaped crackers and the other with peanut butter. Give the children a carrot stick and tell them to dip the end of the veggie stick (fishing pole) into the peanut butter and then go fishing into the crackers. The peanut butter makes the crackers stick to the carrot stick. Kids love to see how many fish they can catch!

Children love fish themes and you can enhance these ideas with books, songs and even movies like the movie Finding Dory. There is a mysterious and beautiful world down under the sea, so as you are having fun with fish activities, children are learning through play.

Photo courtesy of Flickr  

Holiday Gift Guide 2018 -- Art and Creativity

What is your theme for gift giving to children this season? This year I’m leaning toward creativity. Things the kids can make and do during their holiday break from school. Look at your toy list holistically. Try to match the toy to the child’s interest and abilities. And, an important factor is purchasing age-appropriate toys/kits from well-respected companies that will provide playthings that will last and abide by the safety rules. Here are a few to consider during your 2018 holiday shopping trips.

OnTel Products Make the MagicPad

MagicPad™ features an amazing crystal-clear, light-up screen that not only brings art to life, but also makes learning fun! The kids just insert one of the stencils behind the screen featuring games, art or learning. Once their drawing is complete, press the color-change button to choose from 8 different light effects to see their creation glow! They can also create freely without using s stencil.

The MagicPad’s screen easily wipes clean and is portable for fun on the go.  It also has a built-in stand, so kids can display their creations, or it makes for a perfect nightlight. Each set includes a MagicPad™, 3 Dual-Sided Neon Pens (for six total colors), 30 Stencils, a Glow-Boost Card, Eraser Cloth and a Fun Guide.

Recommended Age: 3+ with a MSRP of $19.99

Availability: Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid and https://www.buymagicpad.com/?mid=9800765

VTech Makes the DigiArt Color by Lights™

Let lights guide the way as you create your next masterpiece with DigiArt Color by Lights™. The light-up board identifies each of the 50 included coloring pages and responds by showing what color to use in each section. Download more pages online for unlimited printing and play. Connect the light-up dots to draw shapes, objects and animals. The art board features a dry-erase surface and a stencil card for more creative play, plus a variety of melodies to enjoy while creating your work of art. Color and create with light!

Ages 3-6 with a MSRP of $21.99

DigiArt Spirals & Sounds™

Create unique spiral art designs with DigiArt Spirals & Sounds™. Place a piece of letter size paper (not included) inside the electronic art board, choose an animal stencil, then use one of the five included gears and the marker to make fun and intricate spiral patterns. Place an animal stencil in the board and press the talk button to hear creative encouragement, fun facts and a silly rhyme about the animal. Roll a gear inside the animal stencil to trigger funny sounds. Switch to music mode to hear 20 cheerful melodies while you create. Let your creativity soar with spirals!

Ages 3-6 years, $19.99 is the MSRP

Kidi Secrets Selfie Journal™ by VTech

Protect your thoughts and dreams with the Kidi Secrets Selfie Journal™. Make a photo journal, write diary entries or record messages and keep them safe. Facial recognition software unlocks the journal only when it recognizes your face. Features front and rear cameras so you can take selfies and pictures of your friends. A full suite of mini-apps includes games, photo and video filters, music and utilities that give you a variety of activities to play. Create new looks for yourself and your friends, care for a virtual pet, decorate photos and videos, play learning games and more! You're the key to this diary!

Age 6 Years+, $49.99 is the MSRP

And of course we can’t forget about making music. This activity enhances the creative side of learning.

Kidi Star Music Magic Microphone™ by VTech

Set out on the path to stardom with the Kidi Star Music Magic Microphone™. Be the lead singer with this interactive microphone that features Music Magic mode, which reduces the main vocal track of your favorite songs so your own voice is center stage! Easily connect your MP3 player or mobile device and sing along to favorite tunes from your collection. The microphone is packed with exciting features like four games, four original songs, a voice changer with four effects and an applause button. Record yourself for up to two minutes and enjoy your performance again and again!

Age 5 Years+, $29.99 MSRP

These are just a few of the many toys that are available for gifts this year. I feel that these toys and others by these companies are perfect for hands-on fun during the upcoming holidays. Check out the company’s websites for more ideas.

VTech -- https://www.vtechkids.com/holiday_gift_guide

OnTel Toys and Products -- https://www.ontelcatalog.com

Photos by Tania Cowling, all rights reserved

Package photo courtesy of pixabay.com jill111 / 1314 images

I would like to thank these companies for providing me samples of their products for my review. There was no payment for my blog post.

The Color Yellow

Am I too late? Well, we still have those last few days of summer. There's time to enjoy some of the symbols of summer with these "yellow" activities.

Enjoy and Happy Parenting,
Tania :)

Yellow is a color synonymous of summer. It reminds many of the big, bright sun shining above, giving warmth and sending children outside to play. Yellow is the color of sunflowers so vivid and lemonade so yummy. Explore the color yellow as your children participate in these (late) summer activities.

Mr. Sun

Cut sun shapes from yellow construction paper and hide them around a room or outdoors in the yard. Have the children go on a "sun search" to find as many sun shapes as they can. Continue to search until all the suns have been found.

After the search, set up a table with crayons, markers, sequins, faux jewels or anything that shines and dazzles. The children can decorate; gluing these materials to the sun shapes they found.

Loads of Lemons

Printing-

Cut lemons in half. Place a few folded paper towels in a shallow pan to make a pad. Pour yellow tempera paint on top. Add a few drops of lemon extract (found in the spice section of your local grocery store). Have the children dip the lemon into the paint and press down onto a sheet of paper to make prints. A dark sheet of construction paper would be a great contrast to the bright yellow prints. Smell the lemon scent!!

Make Lemonade-

Exercise the hands as you and your children squeeze lemons together. The reward is a thirst quenching drink that's sure to please any child on a hot summer day!

You'll need:

1 part fresh lemon juice

1 part sugar

5 parts water

Serving pitcher

Ice

What to do:

Show children how to squeeze lemons. Encourage them to try on their own.

Take a taste of this juice; is it sweet or sour?

Invite children to mix all the ingredients in a pitcher and stir well.

Pour the drink into cups of ice.

Questions to ask about this experience: "What color is lemonade? What fruit gives us the juice? How does lemonade taste? Sweet? Sour? Are there other fruits we could squeeze to get their juice?"

Make Sunflowers

Have each child paint a small paper plate yellow (mix a small amount of white school glue in the paint). Lay pieces of yellow tissue paper in the wet paint (to give it a petal appearance). When this process is dried, give the children sunflower seeds to glue in the center of the plate. Staple two giant green construction paper leaves at the bottom. These flowers make great summer decorations!

Teaching colors does not have to be about worksheets and printed pages. Since play is a child's learning tool, use fun activities and projects to embed these skills into a child's mind for life.

Photo courtesy of morgue file 

Colors All Around Us

Dear Friends,

As we prepare our preschoolers for "Back to School" let's review colors this week. There are colors all around us and using these activities will teach our children to recognize and appreciate the beautiful hues we have close by. Check out these projects and if you enjoy them, please share this page with a friend.

Until next week,

Happy Parenting :)

Colors make our world beautiful in many ways, through nature, food, clothing, crayons—the list is endless. It’s important to emphasize colors in our daily lives as they stimulate a child’s imagination and delight their sense of sight.

There are plenty of activities designed to help children become aware of the many colors that surround them. Here are a few ways to teach colors to children:

• Use the seasons to help teach your child about colors—green in spring, white in winter, orange in fall, blue in summer and so on. Make drawings emphasizing the colors of each season.

• The use of toy blocks, cards, paints, and crayons can help your child develop color skills and learn to name them.

• Talk a walk outdoors (or even in the house) and look for a particular color. Say blue for example, and then ask if a toy is blue, or is the car parked out front blue?

• Choose a day of the week and make it “color day”. Make projects, wear clothing, cook foods and read books about that color.

• Hot glue crayons to a strip of tag board. Then provide a second set of crayons and invite the children to match the colors.  

                                                             

• Read a good book involving colors. Some favorites are:

          The Mixed-up Chameleon by Eric Carle

          Colors (Slide ‘n Seek) by Chuck Murphy

          Colors (Children’s Collection Board Books) by Anne Geddes

Color Match—

Pick up free paint chip cards from your local paint store. Choose cards in shades of red, yellow and blue. At home, cut each rectangular chip apart. Spread these across the table and have the children match each hue.

Paint and Sniff—

When painting a picture with poster paints, add a few drops of baking extracts to give these paints a flavor (scent). Painting with scents is a fun and sensory experience for children!

Strawberry Extract = Red

Lemon Extract = Yellow

Peppermint Extract = Green

Orange Extract = Orange

Chocolate Extract = Brown

Anise (Licorice) Extract = Black

Color Wands—

Dance to the beat of music waving colorful streamers in the air. Use toilet or paper towel tubes for the wands. The children can paint the cardboard tubes and then enhance them with crayons, markers or stickers. Next, attach crepe paper streamers to the wand with a stapler. For a variation, add ribbons and/or colorful strips of cloth.

Color Hokey-Pokey—

Have colored circle stickers in four colors. These are easily found in office or craft stores. Every child gets a sticker on each hand and each foot (having one of each color on each body part). Play Color Hokey-Pokey by singing, “Put your blue dot in, put your blue dot out, put your blue dot in and shake it all about. You do the Color Pokey and you turn yourself around. That’s what it’s all about. BLUE!” Continue playing with the other colors.

NOTE: This article has been published in several regional parenting magazines across the country, including Parent Guide News and Metro Parent (SE Michigan).

Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons   
Crayon photo by Tania Cowling, all rights reserved

Plan a Trip to the Zoo: Little Trips Educate

Nice weather, family outings and the zoo go hand-in-hand for a day of fun. Millions of people visit zoos annually, making it one of the most popular attractions to view and usually more economical than theme parks these days. What better way to spend a special time together than at the zoo? Here are a few ideas to get the kids pumped up with enhancement activities before, during and after the trip. You will be teaching the kids many valuable concepts that will enrich their visit.

Before the zoo, choose a date but don't tell the kids until a week before the outing. Young children have a hard time anticipating an excursion for a long time. Put a picture of a zoo animal on your calendar and let the children mark off the days as they pass. Or, make a loop chain from construction paper and allow the kids to remove one link each day until the chain is gone; this is your special event day!

During this waiting time, take your children to the library and look up zoo animal books to check out and read. As you look through these books, learn the names of the animals and brainstorm to raise questions about them to discuss and answer on the trip. Write down a list of these questions, so the kids won't forget them on the big day. If you have some old magazines, let young children cut out pictures of zoo animals and glue these onto index cards. Take these homemade flashcards along with you and try to find the real animals.

On the way to the zoo, try changing the words and make sounds to this traditional song. As you sing, "Old McDonald Had a Zoo", this will get the children ready for the menagerie of animals they will see. As you stroll around the premises, talk about the names of the animals, how they live, the sounds they make, how they smell, what they eat and what they look like (sizes, colors, fur and faces). Take out your list of questions from home and see if together you can answer them. Let your children ask the zookeepers any questions you can't answer. And of course, take loads of pictures of your children's favorite animals and of your excursion together.

At the zoo, make sure to visit the zoo's petting area and let the kids pet and feed the animals. By afternoon, animals pretty much have a full belly and shouldn't be too aggressive. However, it's best to check with the zoo staff before allowing your children to enter this area.

If your zoo has a train, monorail or bus, take a ride around the premises to relax before you drive home. This experience is fun and the kids can rediscover the experiences of the day.

After the zoo, use some fun zoo play extenders at home to remind the little ones of their recent visit. Bring out the stuffed animals and boxes and invite the kids to play zookeeper. Pretend to feed, clean and care for the animals in your play zoo. Put the animals into groups of various sizes; this teaches pre-math concepts. Let the children rename their animals using alphabet letters that go with the animal's type. For example, you may have Ellie Elephant or Kristin Kangaroo at your home.

When your photos have been downloaded, make copies for the children to create zoo booklets. They can glue pictures on sheets of construction paper and dictate or write a little story about each animal.

It's Summer: Time for a Fish Theme

It's summer and many families spend these days fishing, boating, at the beach and maybe visiting an aquarium. Children love fish so get their focused attention and keep them hooked with projects and games that have a theme from under the sea.

Fish Stories

Cut out fish shapes from construction paper. From old magazines, cut out interesting pictures and glue these onto the fish. Place all fish into a box. Invite the children to pick a "fish" from the box. Look at the picture and try to incorporate it into a fish story they make up. This is a fun game for a group of children or with the family.

Pick Up Fish (A Fine Motor Game)

Remember the game of pick-up-sticks? Here is a fish version. You will need two containers, one empty and the other filled with fish shaped crackers. Invite the children to use tweezers to move the crackers from one container to the other.

Fish Dramatic Play

Have the children pretend to be fish swimming in the water. Ask, "What type of fish do you want to be?" Tell them to lie on their stomach with their arms close to their side. Now, have them wiggle their body and try to move. Ask, "How would you rest when you are tired? How would you eat? Where would you hide if there were danger?" Have the children describe what they imagine in their underwater world. Act out the following verse.

There is so much activity beneath the sea.

The crab crawls, the eel wiggles,

The octopus swims, the jellyfish jiggles.

Dramatize the creature you want to be!

Under the sea is so much fun for preschoolers. Let these ideas be a start to your fish theme. I'll add more ideas in the next weeks.

Until then - have fun - be creative - enjoy life!

Tania

Photo courtesy of Tania Cowling, all rights reserved

Celebrating Mother's Day With Homemade Gifts

Mom, put the blindfolds on and overlook this article! Calling all Dads, Grandparents and babysitters---please gather up the kids and help them make a special gift for mom. There is a special holiday coming this month-- Mother's Day. What mother wouldn't appreciate a homemade gift from her child? These things don't cost much; actually the best gifts for Mom are free.

A Little History:
Mother's Day dates back to ancient Greece when the people paid tribute to Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. Later in history, England paid tribute to mothers on "Mothering Sunday", the fourth Sunday of Lent. There were several women who suggested the idea of Mother's Day, however, it wasn't until Miss Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948) of Philadelphia campaigned to make Mother's Day a national holiday. In 1910, the first Mother's Day was proclaimed and was celebrated by West Virginia and Oklahoma. By 1911 every state observed Mother's Day. Resolutions were passed, but it wasn't until May 8, 1914 that President Woodrow Wilson issued the proclamation making Mother's Day an official national holiday. Miss Anna Jarvis's mother's favorite flower was the white carnation. This flower was chosen to represent the sweetness, purity and endurance of mother love. As the years went by, the red carnation has since become the symbol of a living mother while the white flower signifies that one's mother has passed.

Click on this link to find an assortment of homemade gift ideas and activities for Mother's Day.
It's just around the corner on Sunday, May 11, 2014.

Have a great week,
Tania

This article was originally posted on Yahoo Voices 2010.
Photo courtesy of Tania Cowling, all rights reserved

Z is for Zoo Crafts

Your child can create a menagerie of animals at home or school. With just a few household items and stuff in your art cart -- zoo animals can be made!

Gentle Giraffe -
Cut out the shape of a giraffe on yellow construction paper and let your child put spots on it with a bingo marker or ink stamp.

Slithering Snake -
Your children can make a snake out of a paper plate. First, draw a line that goes around and around from the edge to the middle and stops. Next, invite your youngster to sponge paint the plate (dab, dab, dab) with green and brown poster paints. When dry, the kids can cut on the line (lots of curves) to make a spiral. Punch a hole at the top, thread in a piece of string and hang the snake. It will wiggle and cause lots of giggles!

Zebra Stripes -
Draw and cut out a horse-shape from white construction paper. Using black poster paint, invite the children to marble paint this animal. Do this by placing the paper shape in a baking pan. Tape it down on the bottom of the pan with a rolled piece of tape. Coat a couple marbles with black paint and then place them into the pan. Your kids can tilt the pan back and forth, letting the balls roll over the animal. Children love to see this "horse" turn into a zebra. As a variation, ping-pong balls can be used.

Thumbprint Monkeys -
Give your children a piece of construction paper with the outline of a tree drawn on it (older children can draw their own tree). Set out ink pads and felt-tip makers. Let your kids make thumb print monkeys all over their tree picture. To create monkeys, have them press a thumb on an ink pad and make two thumb prints, one above the other on the paper. Then complete the monkeys by adding faces, arms, legs and tails with the markers.

Wow, I made it through my first A to Z Challenge. I hope you have enjoyed these early childhood activities and I would love to share more. I also appreciate all my new blogging friends who joined this site. Please pass this site address to any teacher friends or parents of young children. I usually post weekly (sometimes more often). I'm also looking for guest bloggers who would like to post anything related to children, early childhood schooling, and a child's well-being (you can also link back to your website). If you would like to select a week to post, please contact me at: taniacowling@gmail.com

All the best,
Tania

Photo courtesy of Tania Cowling, all rights reserved

Y is for Yellow Activities

Yellow is a color synonymous of the upcoming summer. It reminds many of the big, bright sun shining above, giving warmth and sending children outside to play. Yellow is the color of sunflowers so vivid and lemonade so yummy. Explore the color yellow as your group participates in these summer activities.

Mr. Sun

Cut sun shapes from yellow construction paper and hide them around a room or outdoors in the yard. Have the children go on a "sun search" to find as many sun shapes as they can. Continue to search until all the suns have been found.

After the search, set up a table with crayons, markers, sequins, faux jewels or anything that shines and dazzles. The children can decorate; gluing these materials to the sun shapes they found.

Make Sunflowers

Have each child paint a small paper plate yellow (mix a small amount of white school glue in the paint). Lay pieces of yellow tissue paper in the wet paint (to give it a petal appearance). When this process is dried, give the children sunflower seeds to glue in the center of the plate. Staple two giant green construction paper leaves at the bottom. These flowers make great summer decorations for your room or to take home!

Play Games with Children that Involve Colors

Use a yellow beach ball or other large ball. Players form a line, all facing the leader. The leader calls the name of a player and tosses, rolls, or bounces the ball to the named person. The player catches the ball and returns it to the leader in the same manner.

Teaching colors does not have to be about worksheets and printed pages. Since play is a child's learning tool, use fun activities and projects to embed these skills into a child's mind for life.

Wow, just one more letter. See you tomorrow with the letter Z.

Tania