Green Eggs and Ham

Today, I decided to make green eggs and ham for breakfast. Snugglepuppy has really been getting into the Dr. Seuss books and that book and The Cat in the Hat are his favorites. He pretty much became the character from the book and I, Sam I Am, of course :) He refused the first few times I asked him to try it, but eventually when I held a spoonful right up to his mouth, he agreed to take just one bite. Lo and behold, he liked it! He proceeded to eat the rest of his bowlful.

Just the eggs and green food coloring.

After the eggs started to cook, I added some butter, milk, cheese and the ham chunks.

Here is the final product. Not too bad and very tasty!

Also, I have made up a bag for each of the most popular Dr. Seuss books with different activities and the accompanying book inside. See my previous post to see what the bags look like.

What's your favorite Dr. Seuss book and what activities do you do with it?

Opposites

I have been starting to work with Snugglepuppy on opposites. We got the book from the library, Exactly the Opposite by Tana Hoban. I like this one because there are no words, so you have to decide on your own what opposite the photos are supposed to represent. If you have ever read a Tana Hoban book, you know she uses natural photographs of everyday things. It is easier for children to connect when they see familiar things they recognize.

Another book that we have is the Richard Scarry board book Huckle's Opposites. It's a cute little book that tells a story and has the opposite words in bold, so it's easy to pick them out. The book is ideal for retelling by children.

I also like 2 pop-up/pull-the-tab books on opposites. The first is Popposites. It is very interactive, things to lift, pull and pop. Kids really get into it. The other is called In and Out: A Baby Bug Pop-Up Book. This one has a pop-up on every page with a box showing a bug inside or outside, on top or under. It is really exciting for the kids to see what is coming up next.

There are tons of books you can get to teach about opposites (see below for some of our favorites), but I have found the best way kids learn is to point them out in everyday play. For example, use the words "fast" and "slow" when playing with cars. Use "over" and "under" when they are building a fort or "in front" and "behind" when they are playing hide and seek. The more you use the words, the more children will pick them up and begin using them correctly themselves.

Please leave a comment and let me know your favorite opposites book!

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 22

Day 22:
Today, we were at grandma and grandpa's house. Snugglepuppy got a lot of play in with them. They had gotten out our old water guns and he loved squirting everything including the flowers. Then, he swung on his swing in the back yard. Grandma and grandpa's house has a big back yard, and he had lots of fun and got pretty wet.

He came inside and watched some movies with grandma. Grandma watched Ladybug while my sister and I did a little shopping. I got a few books at the used book store in town (see below).

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 19

Day 19:
Today was library story time for both toddlers and babies. Aunt M came with us. We had lots of fun and read books about clothing. Then, we went out to eat at BW3. Snugglepuppy took a nap amazingly, then I took him to the playground, where we played with our new air rocket. Mostly, I shot it and Snugglepuppy ran after it.

Later on tonight, I worked on getting more of my children's books into my database. This has been a goal of mine for a while and when I heard about an app that scans the UPC of the book and puts it into a database, I was on it! This is the best invention ever. It is called BooksApp and it is available for Android for free. So, far, I am getting close to 400 books. Really had no idea I had that many. I am so excited because they are organized by category and it will be a great resource for doing lesson plans.

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 16

I am going to just talk about what we did over the weekend as Snugglepuppy was not even home today. He had a sleepover at grandma and grandpa's house (with Aunt M). I did read some nursery rhymes with Ladybug, but that's about it. The rest of the day she pretty much ate and slept.

So we had an exciting weekend in Ohio's Amish Country with grandma, grandpa, and Aunt M. We shopped all day Saturday and then swam at the hotel where we stayed. The hotel was super nice. It's the first time we stayed there and Snugglepuppy enjoyed the pool, the waterfalls to the pond and gazebo and the fire pits. And there were many more things that we didn't even get a chance to do such as a small movie theater, croquet, and cornhole. Mommy loved the hot tub the most though!

They somehow ended up in the bed together at the hotel

Sunday, we came home and Snugglepuppy got kidnapped by my parents. It was a last minute decision and I was kinda sad to see him go. It's only the second time he's stayed away from home without mommy or daddy. But he had lots of fun in their backyard in the swimming pool and sprinkler.

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 14

Day 14:
Today, we went to Toddler Storytime and Baby Laptime at the library. Snugglepuppy didn't interact a lot at storytime, but he really got into the baby laptime. Which was good because Ladybug decided she was hungry about halfway through, so I nursed her. Anyways, they did some songs and books about baby chicks and the toddlers did some feltboard stories. Afterward, I let Snugglepuppy play in the kids play area and Ladybug was acting very social and I got some good pics.

Here are the books we checked out from the library or renewed. We were excited that they finally had a copy of Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes!

Then, right when we were ready to head home, we heard an announcement they there was free lunch being served on the front lawn for kids, so we stayed and Snugglepuppy got a cheese quesadilla!

For more ideas of things to do at the library, see my other post:

After we came home, Snugglepuppy laid in his room for a while and rested although I didn't make him stay there long. He had a bad night last night of screaming and crying and not wanting to go to sleep after a long late nap.

Snugglepuppy did a few puzzles and played with legos and the train table. Also I am working on a weekly schedule for him that we are going to laminate. I will post it as soon as it's finished and we start using it.

7 Ways to Get the Most out of Your Local Library

I realize not all public libraries are the same or have the same resources available, but you won't know what they have until you check it out. Here are some things to help you get started, some may apply to you and some may not, but these are some things ours offers.

1. Join the Summer Reading Program! Often there are prizes you can win for reading a certain number of books or number of hours. Any age can join at our library, 0-Adults. Parents can read to little ones who aren't reading yet.

2. Check the library's website or call for schedule of events. We went for storytime yesterday and ended up getting a free lunch for Snugglepuppy that we didn't even know about!

3. Go to storytime or baby laptime. They usually make it interactive and have songs and movement activities as well to keep your little ones from getting bored or antsy.

4. Download their app on your phone or tablet. I LOVE this feature at our library, you can check your account to see what books you have out, renew books, search the catalogue and reserve books. It's so convenient!

5. Sign your child up for a library card and teach them how to use the online catalogue to find books/videos. Begin to teach kids responsibility by letting them have their own card and teaching them how to take care of books. Also, some libraries have a program where you can "borrow" e-books. 

6. Let your kids play in the kids play area. Ours has a play farmer's market, a puppet show, blocks, and much more!

7. Use it as a quiet place to READ! Keep the distractions to a minimum and take time to actually read those books you or your kids love.

I'm sure there are many more things to do there. Comment if you have any to add!

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 13

Day 13:
I'm not gonna lie, we didn't do much today, so this should be a quick post. We went grocery shopping and Snugglepuppy helped out a lot by putting the items on the counter and helping me bag things. We read a little (Dr. Seuss's ABC, Oh, David, and Mouse Paint and watched Chicka Chicka Boom Boom on Youtube) and made a new lid for baby Ladybug for The Lid Game, a project we did a while back. It was a pretty lazy day overall!

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 10

Day 10:
Today, we had a picnic of McDonald's at the park. I know it's not the healthiest choice, but Snugglepuppy has been good all week and plus I didn't really feel like making anything. So Snugglepuppy made some friends at the park as usual. He played on the swings and the playground with his happy meal toy, a matchbox car.

We also planted some seeds in small pots. Snugglepuppy picked out Aster flower seeds at the store, so that what we planted. I tend to be very bad at growing plants, so I am not sure if these will even grow. We left them out on the deck in the sun, so I guess we will see what happens.

We had our pizza pizza party in the basement.

Before bed, I introduced some new books to Snugglepuppy, the "How Do Dinosaurs...?" series by Jane Yolen. I have 5 of them and we read How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? and How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon? Snugglepuppy loved them and I hope he learns something from them!

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 7

Day 7: 

We didn't do much this morning as I had to visit the social security office to get a card for Squeaker. That was a total disaster. It took us over 2 hours and I missed being called the first time and had to get a new number. Neither of the children were happy campers by the end of this ordeal, so we came home. 

Snugglepuppy took a nap after lunch surprisingly. After he got up, we built a house with legos and Snugglepuppy decided to put his cars in it. Later in the evening, we went outside and used sidewalk chalk to draw on the driveway. Then I gave him a bowl of water and paintbrush to "paint" on the driveway. I also brought out the squirt bottle filled with water and the squeegee. 

We also played around with looking at the world from different points of view. When Snugglepuppy saw me doing this with Squeaker, he had to play along!

Before bed, we got in some more reading time with our library books for the Summer reading program. Squeaker seemed very interested in the books as I was reading them to Snugglepuppy as well.

Who Stole the Cookie From the Cookie Jar?

Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar? Well, we never found out, but we did get a good chance to practice all our friends' names with this activity. It's an interactive chart that goes with the book below. Also, you can see the cookies I made with each child's name on it.

Hope you find out who's been stealing YOUR cookies!

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHERE I LINK UP

Dollar Finds

Here are just a few dollar items I found this weekend. They are all from Target except the sorting tray which I got at Dollar Tree. There were so many more things I wanted to get from Target (mostly Seuss stuff), but I decided to put most of it back when I found a rug with streets on it for my son's room. I have been looking for one that he can drive his cars around on. 

Anyway, The Lorax bag is an addition to my collection of Seuss bags I bought last year. The idea is to put in the book that goes along with each bag and some other various items that also relate to the book such as stickers, word cards, etc. Then there are the Seuss number flash cards. I already have the shapes and colors cards that I divided among the other bags.

Then just some dry erase markers and dry erase cards to practice writing the alphabet.

Hope you get some ideas for your room!

Have you been to The Underpants Zoo?

Just wanted to share this cute book I found at the library this week. It's by Brian Sendelbach. It is about all the different kinds of underpants the animals at this wacky zoo wear. For example, the hippo wears ones with hearts and the octopus wears 4 pair! 

Along with being hilarious, this book has rhyming and wonderful illustrations. Kids will enjoy guessing what animals are going to be next and what type of underwear they will be wearing. Also, this book provides a great opportunity for discussion about why each animal chose the underwear they chose. For example, the kangaroo wears boxers with basketballs on them because he needs plenty of bounce. 

This is definitely one you need to read with your preschooler(s) soon!

Thrift Store Finds

Recently, I have been doing a lot of back-to-school thrift store shopping. Here are just some of my awesome finds.

Most of this was 50 cents or less. The 2 puzzles at the bottom came as a set for .75! Got some geoboards, a few games, xylophone and bowling set for the kid.

Here are my craft finds. Little of this and that. Also found some more scrapbook items for cheap at Ollie's that are not pictured here.

Books galore. Gotta feed my addiction. All these added up cost me only $13.00. I would say that's a deal, how about you?

Happy bargain hunting!

Thinky Linky Thursday

So sorry, friends. I am completely behind on this. But at least I did get it done before the end of Thursday! 

Most clicked from last week:

Teaching Math Skills through Play from Preschool Powol Packets

Caps for Sale from Mrs. Goff's Pre-K

Thinky Linky Thursday

And, the featured link this week goes to....

2 Big, 2 Little with Napping House Activities

Congratulations and don't forget to get your button on the right sidebar!

Thinky Linky Thursday

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Last week's most clicked links were:

Mighty Math Powers with Flowers

from Teaching Munchkins

The Grouchy Ladybug

from Teaching My Blessings

Thanks for linking up and here is a button for those who were featured:

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