Alphabet and Sound Matching Game

It is hard to have your older siblings go back to school after a long, luxurious Spring and Easter Break.  

What is a younger, preschool brother to do?  

Play a "Match-the-Letter-and-the-Sound" game with Mom, of course!

Our ABC preschool mat was perfect for this game.  I had an envelope with all the letters and pictures.  We would pull out a card and match its letter or sound with a letter on the mat.  J-Bear could join in or not as she pleased.  Wherever she put her card, we would just relocate it to the right spot. :)

Here is our persevering preschooler after finishing all the sounds and letters! 

Hang in there, Buddy Bear.  Only a few more hours until G-Bear and E-Bear get home.

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Preschool Valentine Party

What do you do when your three year old feels left out of Valentine festivities?

When he is the only one without a classroom Valentine party?

When he is the only big sib not making a Valentine box?

"Mom, don't I get to make Valentines for my friends?"

"Will I get to have a Valentine box?"

"Mom, are we going to have a Valentine celebration?"

I did the only thing there was to do if I was going to be able to sleep at night:

"Well, of course, Buddy Bear!  We're having a preschool Valentine party with your friends HERE at our house!  We'll decorate Valentine bags, eat Valentine treats, sing Valentine songs and read Valentine stories.  Who are we going to invite?"

Take that.  Call me a sucker.  I love these kids.

So, I called the mothers of two three-year-old friends the night before and *begged* them to let me host their kiddos for a Valentine party the next morning.  Not that I had to twist any arms.  I think I was suddenly Friend of the Year.  Even more so when I offered to take a third friend from her mom this morning right before the party.  

And we did just what I promised.  Spare paper bags, stickers and markers were perfect for decorating Valentine Bags around the dining room table.  Fruit snacks and heart-shaped breads with jam and do-it-yourself-sprinkles made a great snack.  When playtime grew tiresome, we sat in a circle and read a few Valentine books, learned about God's love in 1 Corinthians 13 and then sang "Jesus Loves Me" all together.  Then it was time to make a few Valentines to put in our bags, hand out lollypops and erasers (already on hand from my treat cabinet) and head home.  

Too bad there aren't any pictures.  My hands were full, but thankfully, they were full of love.  Buddy Bear was so delighted with his treats and Valentine bag.  He was thrilled to get to share the news of his party with his siblings when they came home from school with their party stories.  I think it made the day great for both of us.  These preschool days go by so fast.  I need to seize each one.

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Play dough Valentines

Play dough Valentines:

the perfect pre-dinner activity.

Whether or not dinner turns out,

these made my day.

Happily Ever,

Queen B

At the table, in the kitchen....

We're practicing some serious scribbling these days.  

Our intensive training regimen sometimes necessitates the abandonment of paper 

in favor of the chalkboard.

J-Bear, hold still for a minute so that I can take your picture.

J-Bear?  J-Bear, can you smile for a picture?

Seriously, mom, I can only break for a minute.

See what I mean?  Intense.

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Candy Math

What could be better for an afternoon after Halloween than some CANDY MATH?!

I think my kids could count their candy pieces all day long.

I gave each of the boys two activities.  

Buddy Bear (3 years) got number puzzle pieces and was asked to count out candy pieces for each number.

Then, I gave him a color wheel and asked him to match a piece of candy to each color space on the wheel.   Nice job, Buddy Bear!

E-Bear (kindergarten) also counted out candy for each number in a number puzzle.

 I also gave E-Bear a bar graph that I made for five different kinds of candy.  He counted the number of each type of candy and filled in the bar graph.

Nice job, E-Bear!

Post-Halloween learning time is the best.

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Learning Time with real tools

Buddy Bear loves tools, but it is hard for me to find ways that he can use them safely.

The other day, for Learning Time, I had an epiphany.  

It sounded so fun that even G-Bear and E-Bear wanted to join in!

I grabbed three blocks of styrofoam from a recent package we received.

The kids each grabbed a hammer from their tool bench.

I pulled out some real nails and screws and laid down the ground rules:

1.  Nails only go in the styrofoam.

2.  Put the nails back in their box when your done.

3.  Be careful of your fingers!  Hammers can bonk and nails are pointy.

 4.  Have fun getting all your nails in your block!

The kids did remarkably well with all the instructions.  They loved this activity.  I think we lost a few nails under the deck.  In the future, I will probably get larger nails for this project than the ones I had on hand.  But, all in all, this one was a success.

Happily Ever,

Queen B

A few more minutes

Need a few more uninterrupted minutes to clear the dishes?

Finish dinner?

Return a phone call?

Me too.

Try showing your one-year-old how to stick painters tape to the 

kitchen appliances.

I earned nearly five extra minutes with this trick.

Look, the tape magically sticks and re-sticks with no residue!

Gotta love that attractive blue color!

Little minds love to figure out how to get it off fingers and onto the wall!

 It worked, at least for a few minutes.  

As with all distractions, it doesn't last for long. :) 

"Mom?  Are you getting something done over there?"

Painting with my boys

The other day, while J-Bear took her morning nap, the boys and I got out the paints.

We haven't painted much this year. The easel is still in the basement from last summer.  I loved painting with E-Bear and G-Bear when they were little, and we used to do it quite often.  Time to bring it back.

Buddy Bear experimented both with fingers and brushes.

E-Bear stuck to the brushes.

Buddy Bear discover that if you put too much paint in one place, it makes a hole.

But it sure looks lovely.

 Lovely, indeed.

Happily Ever Reviews: Cat Chat Audio Shows

We have a small CD player in the playroom that the kids are allowed to use to play music.  On the shelf next to the CD player I have stacked CDs of various kinds, from VBS music to audio books, that the kids are welcome to peruse and choose to play.  The CD player has become a rather popular part of our playroom, because the kids love to snuggle in for an audiobook or choose a soundtrack for their playtime.

A few years ago, a godparent sent my kids a special CD to help them celebrate Advent.  The CD was called Cat Chat, and at the time, I had never heard of it before.  Now, we are devoted followers of the Cat Chat Audio Show series.  In fact, this year for Christmas, each of our Bears got a Cat Chat CD in their stocking.  Our house has been rocking with Cat Chat stories and songs ever since!

Cat Chat stands for Catholic Chat, and is hosted by Moses, the talking cat of a faith-filled family.  Each Cat Chat audio show features the family enjoying an event of some kind, such as an Advent dinner at their grandparent's farm (our favorite), a canoe trip in the wilderness, or an All Saint pizza party with friends.  The stories and conversations are great, as are the intermittent song breaks.

With the help of their Cat Chat friends, my kids are learning prayers, loving attitudes, and faith-filled truths.  Requests to watch TV shows evaporate when someone turns on Cat Chat.  I am grateful that at all times of day I find G-Bear, E-Bear and Buddy Bear curled up in front of the CD player listening, or singing along as they play with toys.

There are many more faith-filled resources from the Cat Chat company, which also look wonderful.  After I give our kids the last two CDs for Easter, I'll be hoping for more audio show editions too.
We are grateful to Cat Chat for helping us get the most out of our indoor playtime this winter!

Knights of the Mysterious Alphabet

My mornings are filled with the wonderful energies of two precious boys. 

While G-Bear is away at school, the little men of my life rule the roost.

The difference in tempo and topic during our time without big sister is amazing.

Slowly, I am learning how to craft this time to capture the imaginations of my boys.

On the one hand, I want to stretch E-Bear's hungry young mind,

while still preserving Buddy Bear's full participation.

So, last week, we created a game called,

"Knights of the Mysterious Alphabet!"

As most good games do, ours began with costumes...

...and a dragon hidden in the backyard.

We also prepped for the game by hiding the letters of the alphabet throughout our backyard.  Some letters were made our of sticks in the grass, some were on pieces of paper taped to bushes, still others were written in tape or chalk on our walkway. Then, I gave the boys a "map" to follow.  As you can see, it was really an alphabet connect-the-dots that I connected in a strange order.  

E-Bear's job was to start at the "E" in the backyard and then find each hidden letter in the order given to him by the map.  Buddy Bear's job was to grab the letters after E-Bear found them.  Ultimately, the letters would lead them to the dragon, so that the boys could defeat him.

The quest was challenging at times. 

Some of the letters were camouflaged quite well.  The knights had to hone all their energies to stay on the dragon's trail.  Occasionally, a benevolent fairy mother had to appear to give the boys clues as to where to find the next hidden letter.

 The knights were persistent, however.  In time (about 5 minutes), they were able to find even the sneakiest letters.  

 Then, it was time to do battle!

And, thank goodness, because the future of our kingdom was definitely in peril.

Fortunately, by working together, the knights were able to defeat the dragon.  Several times.

Then, 

it was time for our victorious heroes to break for lunch.

New Creation Butterflies

This week, the kids and I made one of my favorite Easter season crafts: 

New Creation Butterflies.

This craft is great for 2-6 year olds.  The materials are easy enough for little hands to manipulate, and because the craft is relatively easy to assemble, it is perfect for short attention spans.  Plus, they make a great springtime decoration!

Before starting, we read 2 Corinthians 5:17 together and talked about how God makes us new when we ask Him to come into our lives.  The kids loved the analogy of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.  They pretended the clothes pins were caterpillars munching on the tissue paper.  Then they wrapped the clothes pins in tissue (to represent cocoons) and we got to work on our craft.

Here are the materials we used:

Materials:

Tissue paper in various colors

Wooden clothes pins

pipe cleaners

scissors

colored paper cut into thin strips

glue

Begin by choosing your tissue paper.  Cut it into two squares.

Cut the pipe cleaners into 1-2 inch lengths.

Pinch the tissue paper in the middle and insert into the mouth of the clothes pin, followed by the pipe cleaner.  Then glue a colored paper strip to the clothes pin and write part of 2 Corinthians 5:17, 'In Christ we are a new creation!'

Then, let your butterflies take flight!

Pretty soon, our dining room was full of butterflies.

Thanks to G-Bear and E-Bear for their hard work.  Our home is full of butterflies, ready for spring.

Lord, thank you for making all things new!