Walking in a Winter Wonderland

During the fall I started doing sensory themed bins for Vivian but I had so much stuff for winter that it wouldn't fit so I turned her bath into a giant Winter Wonderland.

 

My little Polar Bear is ready for fun!

A special Penguin and Snowflake made by my Picasso-in-training.

 Balloons with ice inside.

Warm up baby girl!

B-A-N-A-N-A-S

Vivian has mastered another sign this week. BANANA! One of her favorite foods! What a smarty pants!

An Apple a Day

Please keep in mind that Vivian is almost 14 months and I of course don't expect perfection nor for her to completely understand each concept. I am however fostering language development and sensory exploration while working on focusing on a task and following directions. We participate in each activity for maybe 5-10 minutes at a time, which includes modeling how the activity is done. We do one new activity a day and usually come back to it several times throughout the day. Once she understands how to do it, it is available to continue to play with or to observe (the art projects). I love having a teaching background!

Pom Pom Apple Magnet Picking

I love how smart Vivian is. At least I seem to think so. I modeled how the activity works by sitting her in my lap and having her watch and then I guided her hand to do the same. She got all excited...about the texture of the pom poms in her mouth. (She has played with them before so I wasn't expecting that to be an issue). So the first day I was more of a fisherman, fishing pom poms out of her mouth. I left the activity up and figured we could go back to it the next day and try again. Well, much to my surprise, while Derrick was making breakfast the next morning he hollered, "she's doing it!" She's doing what?! I got up and peeked around the corner to see her taking the pom poms off the tree and placing them on the refrigerator. YAY!!!!!

What I learned: Have a little faith. It may not seem like she is absorbing what is happening in the moment but just give it a minute and you'll see.

Construction Paper Apple

This was a difficult one. It took two days to complete this activity. She just wasn't interested but we finally got some red pieces on and the big green leaf. I slathered on glue stick glue so the pieces would stick no matter where she put them and to prevent her fingers (and everything in her path) from getting gluey and sticky. 

What I learned: Stay calm and don't get frustrated. Remember she is only 1.

Spiced Baked Apple Chips
First, I showed her how to shake the spices.

 
 


Then, she tasted and smelled the spices which turned into a red faced baby because her skin is sensitive to cinnamon. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt or bother her. You can see her smiling behind the container.

Finally, she shook the spices onto the apples. She actually just shook them in one spot making a pile of spices so I had to move the tray around.
 

 Of course then we cooked them and ate them up! They were deliciously appley!

What I learned: Stop and smell the roses....or the cinnamon. Vivian really enjoyed shaking the cinnamon out but she loved sniffing and inhaling it more. Don't underestimate the power of your senses. By tapping in to just one more sense it can take an experience over the top!

Felt Apple Sequencing

This started out as a stacking sequencing game. The goal was to have her put the pieces on top of each other. It turned into peek-a-boo. I placed the little red apple on the grass and then put the big red apple on top. I then asked her where the little apple was and she picked up the big one to find it. In a sense it is still stacking and sequencing, just backwards. It also became object permanence practice.

What I learned: This was a prime example of the importance of going with the flow, thinking quickly and being flexible enough to modify an activity.

Apple Discovery Bin

Here's a song I made up on the fly while Vivian was playing in her discovery bin.

To the tune of BINGO

There was a farmer who had an orchard.

He grew red apples.

A-P-P-L-E

A-P-P-L-E

A-P-P-L-E

He grew red apples.

Variations:

He grew green apples.

He ate red apples.

He ate green apples.

Tissue Paper Apple Stained Glass
This activity, like the construction paper apple took several tries for several days. I thought it was interesting that she didn't focus well on either activity because she loves pincing things up with her thumb and pointer finger and she enjoys crumpling and ripping paper. I figured the texture of the tissue paper and picking it up, it would be a sure win but I was wrong. That's alright because Vivian loves staring at this. I think it might be the vibrant contrasting colors.She enjoyed it on the window so much that it is now hanging from the fan in her room.

What I learned: Mother doesn't always know best. Just when I think I have her figured out she throws me for a loop and basically says, "Just kidding mom, not today. Ha ha ha."

Little 'a' is for Apple Puzzle 
This activity was probably the most advanced but I figured it was worth a try. There are lots of moving parts, each item is a separate piece of felt. After a week or so she did learn that the brown seeds go on the white flesh of the apple. That seems like success to me!


adapted from totally tots

Library Day

On Tuesdays at the Main Library in our Parrish, they have a Read and Sing day. It's really only about 20 minutes. Which is long enough for tiny ones like Vivian. Well this week the theme was apples so we attended. How perfect! They read 2 stories and 1 poem, sang 1 song and did one active poem. Vivian was engaged the whole time, staring at the lady and watching the books as she moved them back and forth. Of course the song that we sang was 'I Like to Eat Apples and Bananas.' We came home with a pamphlet of what we did. From the pamphlet I adapted one of the poems and then made it into a little book. Download yours for free here.


 In addition to all the activities above, we checked out about 10 books from the library featuring apples. We had fiction and non-fiction stories. Of all the stories though, her favorite was 10 Apple Upon Top by Dr. Seuss. She would repeatedly ask me to read it to her and then would intently read it to herself aloud turning each page. It was so sweet!

 

 What I learned: I have a reader on my hands. But I think I already knew that.

Overall I am happy with the way our first theme of Smart Cookie School went. I look forward to many more. As a teacher I always enjoyed watching the light bulb go off when kids got it but to see my own baby learning and figuring life out is truly spectacular. I love it!

Little Mind Hard at Work

Vivian manages to surprise me and make me one proud momma everyday. In the past few days she has learned the sign for bird (she now knows 8 signs), has said owl and duck, can point out dogs in books and says 'woof', gives me her right foot when asked and then her left foot when asked when she gets dressed, found the sponges and started cleaning everything even Dyno, and participated in our dinner prayer. The last one was the most impressive.
Vivian usually starts eating once she sees food. Derrick and I have continued to do our prayer before dinner and each time we encourage her to hold our hands but she usually pulls away and goes about her business of eating. Well, she finally let us hold her hands and watched us as we prayed. A couple of days later and we hold out our hands to hers and she places them in ours. It's perfect! She's perfect! You amaze me sweet one!

Fine Motor, Hand Eye Coordination and Problem Solving

The container that Vivian's new fish came in had a small hole on top and I thought, "Surely I could use this for something." On the other hand, Derrick thought, "Do we really need to keep another container?" Yes, yes we do. We can always use another container, especially one that comes designed to have a hole on top. It was going to be perfect for a pom pom activity. After washing the container, I got out some colorful pom poms. The next day I sat down with Vivian to show her how the activity works. Take a pom pom and put it in the hole. I shook the container to show her where it went. I did it one more time and then I was shoved out of the way so she could do it herself. Once they were all in, she tried sticking her little fingers in to get them out. She soon discovered that if she turns it upside down they come out with a little shake.

Fine Motor

Hand Eye Coordination

Problem Solving