Popsicle Stick Play Characters

The six-year-old I take care of likes to put on plays with all his favorite characters...but sometimes his little brother doesn't cooperate. Something about not always wanting to put on the dragon costume and get defeated from the valiant knight. I get it, I'm usually the ninja that gets taken down. But still, I'd like to encourage his creativity so I decided to make him his favorite characters from Popsicle sticks so he could put on a play whenever he wants to!

Book Copyright Timeline for Kids

I've been reading classic chapter books with the boys I nanny and thought it would be fun for them to see just how old the books are. I got family birth dates from their mom and then got to making a timeline. Now every time that we read a new book together, we put it on the timeline. I then can tell them how old their grandma was when the book was written, etc. The boys think it is so cool!

Why Charlotte's Web is the Perfect Book to Read to a Six Year Old

I've recently read Charlotte's Web out loud to two little boys, ages 4 and 6, and it was amazing. I then tried reading a couple different books to them and it wasn't quite a good. (I think the ideal place to read this book is with a child, actually. I'd read it as an adult before silently and it wasn't nearly as good.) Here is why Charlotte's Web is so good..

1. It is a simple story that isn't overly complicated but still grabs their attention.

2. The book is the perfect length...184 pages. The boys loved looking at page 100, for some reason, and they were always astounded at having read so many pages! Also, the chapters are the perfect length for two boys' attention spans. We read a chapter together during lunch and by the end of the chapter...they would always beg me to read one more!  I knew that I'd lose their attention if we did so I'd make them wait. By the next day they would be begging for lunch time so we could read more about Wilbur and Charlotte!

3. It is about basic things like loneliness and friendship. Being scared and being brave. There were multiple occasions that I'd  talk to the boys about their days at school and they'd be going through similar stuff to what Wilbur was going through! Once I picked up the six year old from school and he said no one wanted to play with him at recess that day. And I was reminded at just how hard all that friendship stuff is when you are little (and sometimes even when you're an adult!). You are constantly trying to figure out what a friend is, who your friend  are, etc. We had this great conversation about Wilbur feeling the same thing in the book--being lonely and scared. But that in a couple chapters, he was going to find a great friend! It was a very sweet moment to see the six year old identifying with Wilbur and feeling hope that maybe tomorrow he'd find someone to play with at recess!

3. The story is about a pig and a spider! The boys have always thought spiders were terrifying--just like Wilbur did when he first met Charlotte! It was so cute to see them change their attitude about Charlotte. They also loved the name Wilbur. One day the 4 year old ran up to me after preschool and he said..."We read a book about Wilbur! But today he was an elephant not a pig!" It was great to see him thinking and connecting with the story, too.

4. It touches upon death but does it in a safe way. The 6 year old is pretty scared of the idea of death. Whenever anyone mentions death, he usually covers his ears. I wasn't sure how he was going to take the threat of Wilbur being killed or even the end of the book. During those parts, I'd notice that he wasn't chewing his food anymore but rather staring intently at me as I read. Sometimes I'd put the book down and we'd talk about what was going on, but usually he'd accept that part of the book and could continue on. E.B. White makes the end hopeful and...warm. The last chapter is called "A Warm Wind" and it is just the perfect title for it. It isn't scary...it is a little sad...but still okay!

5. Its a fun one to read out loud....especially the chaotic parts involving the goose! The boys loved it when I did different voices and you could see them imagining everything going on. The book also has this simple, nostalgic feel to it.


I hope you are able to enjoy this experience, too! Don't rush through the book but take the time to talk about what you read and connect it to their lives. Its a good book to do that with!

Birthday Box Full of Stuffed Balloons!

My wonderful nephew is turning T-H-R-E-E today! He lives many miles away so I wanted to send him something extra fun in the mail. I saw this idea here and was like..perfect! I filled each balloon with a variety of fun things that a three year old would like! I'm hoping he has fun opening up the colorful box, playing with the balloons, popping them, and discovering the treasures inside! 

Items I put inside the balloons:

-Candy (small things like Pez work great)
-Dollar bills
-Pom poms
-Small toys (I used some wind up cars)
-Stickers

9 Fun Kid Activities!

Here are some of my favorite projects that I've done with the boys (ages 4 and 6) recently!

Rainbow noodles

Jumping person on trampoline drawing

Rainbow painted toast

Peeled Orange vs Unpeeled Orange--which one floats? And why?

Googly eye drawings (we had deep sea themed drawings!)

Go on a letter hunt!

Balloon Races

Crayon Hot Rocks

Curly Coiled Snakes

Captain America Superhero Mask

A while back I made some superhero masks for the boys I nanny. I neglected to make the Captain America mask because I didn't have the right color blue at the time. The six year old has mentioned a couple times now how he would really like a Captain America mask so I finally got around to making one for him!

22 Fun Experiments & Activities to do wtih Kids!

Back in December I made a list of different experiments and activities that I've done with the kids that I nanny. Here is my round 2! 

Make your own potato stamps--pictured above


Awesome newspaper forts


Climbing love bugs


Color your own komodo dragon!


Wiggly eye drawing starter


Salt dough keepsake


Healthy peanut butter dip for fruit 


Making a straw flute

Masking tape roads



Musical Balloons

Balloon ping pong


Hidden Treasure Matching Game


Water resistant Valentine cards


Celery color absorption

 






  






Giant gummy worms!


Colorful Density column


Does it dissolve?

 
Fizzy Dino Tracks
 

Making it rain!

Making dew & frost 


Yarn monsters

 

Dyeing Eggs with Dum Dums
 

Love Monsters---not just for kids!

I saw this tutorial over here and loved the idea of making monsters with the kids I nanny. I did the trickier parts like the hot gluing and cutting but the three year old really got into decorating his monster. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of his but I believe there ended up being four eyes on his and four noses and a big green yelling mouth. The six year old was not having any part of this project so I ended up decorating the second one and taking it home to my hubby! Because who doesn't like a good love monster?!

Hidden Treasure Matching Game for Kids

I saw this idea to make hidden treasure rocks and was inspired to make a matching game for the boys I nanny--ages 6 and 4. We use vinegar and baking soda a lot but they never tire from it. The idea of explosions, fizzles, and overflowing always bring them running to the experiment table! 

Part 1:

Have the kids help find 3 different sets of 2 similar toys. We had 2 dinosaurs, 2 frogs, and 2 fish. They should be able to fit in your palm. Next, pour a bunch of baking soda into a bowl. I probably used about...1 cup? Slowly stir in some water making sure you don't add too much otherwise it won't form together.  Form balls around each individual toy. Place each ball into a small container. 

To add some variety, I added cocoa into half of the baking soda mixture. If I had thought about this before I started, I probably would have make them all brown. It smelled good and it was more rock like!

Let it all dry! They should harden up in an hour or two.

Part 2: 

Here comes the matching part. I had each of the boys pick two containers that they thought might have the same set of toys inside. Placing both containers inside a deep 9x9 pan, pour vinegar over to slowly dissolve away the baking soda to reveal the toy inside. This is the fun part because it overflows and fizzles! Make sure you have enough vinegar on hand because the more you add, the more it overflows!

If they had a match...they won! If they didn't, have them pick one of the leftover cups. My kiddos didn't get a match at first so they each grabbed a cup, dissolved it away, and then both quickly found their match.

This was a fun activity that both the 6 and the 4 year old liked. You could definitely make it easier or more difficult depending on your ages.

Hope you have fun with it!  

 

Just for Fun: Snow Ice Cream!

In celebration of the first snow fall, we made snow ice cream today! It really barely snowed so I had to go out with a spoon and scoop up enough to make it...but hey! It worked!

Here is the nice and simple recipe:

-Fill a baggy up with snow.
-Add in a Tablespoon of sugar
-Add in 1/2 Tablespoon of vanilla extract
-Pour in some milk

Mix it all up and enjoy!

25 Fun Experiments & Activities to do wtih Kids!

I mentioned a couple days ago that I do a daily experiment or activity with the kids I nanny for to reward them for good behavior. We usually do them at the end of the day so it is a nice thing to look forward to. I love seeing them getting excited about explosions, making their own hypothesis, or even just giggling during a silly activity. Some days go over better than others but they always get really excited to find out what the activity is going to be. They often ask for 3 clues so they can guess what it will be. So far they've never been able to guess but we'll see.

I've been gathering ideas from all over the internet (mostly thanks to Pinterest) and thought I'd share the good ones that I've found and the kids enjoyed.

Science Experiments

Bright Fuzzy Bubbly Explosions 



Blowing up Balloons!


Dancing Raisins!


Ivory Soap Explosions!


Bouncing Egg Experiment


Sink or Float? Experiment


Color Expansion on Milk


Hanger Scale--What's Heavier?


Color Absorption Experiments 


Sparkly Explosions!

Shiny Pennies!

Dancing Spaghetti (similar to Dancing Raisins!)















Floating and Sinking Eggs

Fun Activities


Sensory Balloons


Paint Bag Painting


Guess that Smell Game


The "What's Missing?" Game


Toothpicks + Marshmallow Game



Spy Training!


Mini Marshmallow Poppers


Car Markers


Milk Jug Catcher

























Paper Plate Ring Toss Game

Make a Cream Cheese Apple Dip 


Microwave Puffy Paint

With the sad events of today in Newtown, Connecticut...make sure to do something extra special with your kids this weekend. Maybe try one of these experiments...but for sure give em lots of hugs and kisses!