This blog has thematic ideas for toddlers and preschoolers!

Monday, May 31, 2010

Books About the Beach
Beach Day  by Karen Roosa
Sea, Sand, Me!  by Patricia Hubbell
Fun Dog, Sun Dog  by Deborah Heiligman
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Shell  by Lucille Colandro
Beach Day  by Quinan B. Lee
Our Day at the Seashore  by Amy and Richard Hutchings
Shells! Shells! Shells!  by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
Books About the Ocean

Hooray for Fish!  by Lucy Cousins
Sharks  by Betsey Chessen
Rainbow Fish  by Marcus Pfister
Rainbow Fish The Dangerous Deep  by Leslie Goldman
Rainbow Fish Spike and the Substitute  by Leslie Goldman
The Fish Book  by Christopher Angelfish
Sharks!  by Irene Trimble
I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean  by Kevin Sherry
Sea Creatures  by Pamela Chanko
The Shark Who was Afraid Of Everything  by Brian James
A House For Hermit Crab  by Eric Carle
Fidgety Fish  by Ruth Galloway
Fish Wish  by Bob Barner
Don't Eat the Teacher!  by Nick Ward
Don't Eat the Babysitter!  by Nick Ward
Somewhere in the Ocean  by Jennifer Ward and T.J. Marsh
The Ocean Alphabet Book  by Jerry Pallotta
Commotion in the Ocean  by Giles Andreae and David Wojtowycz
Fish is Fish  by Leo Lionni
One Lonely Sea Horse  by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers

Thursday, May 27, 2010

The kids love this lego/duplo table!  It was a craig's list find!  It will fit regular lego and duplo boards.  I put the duplos out for the younger kids and this summer I will put the little legos out for the older kids.
Baby Lane practicing her push-ups!  She really wanted to get that toy!  We also worked on rolling over, she is getting so close!
Purple Cow Drink

Since we know milk comes from cows and we use milk to make ice cream, we just added a little grape pop to make a purple cow drink!  Notice we even used purple straws!
Tractor Wheel Painting


I put brown paint on the tray and the kids ran the tractor throught it and then drove it on their paper!

http://www.ownadaycare.com/blog/interviews-with-daycare-business-owners-meet-angie-koboldt

                                                   
http://www.ownadaycare.com/blog/interviews-with-daycare-business-owners-meet-angie-koboldt

I am part of the group Own a Day Care on facebook and today was my day to be featured!

Monday, May 24, 2010

I love these and this is a great deal!  They are so much easier to use for handprints!http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/
I planted my flowers for summer!
Sprinkler Fun

This was our book today!  It's great if you are teaching the kids the names of baby farm animals!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

This is a favorite this month.  The book is repetitive, in fact Belle read the whole thing to me the other day!  She was very proud of herself!
Luke playing the Oreo Cookie Matching Middles game.  We don't always play it as a game, we use it to tune up our fine motor skills too!  They have to match up the shape to fit the cookie together.
Baby Lane and I made it through our first week together!  She loves the bouncy seat and watching the kids play outside!
I found this game at Meijer.  The kids really liked it.  The little animals come apart and you hide each piece under a haystack.  They get to pick up two haystacks on their turn to see if the pieces match.  Very cute and simple!
I made this cookbook when I worked at a day care center for all the kids!  I am going to post more recipes out of it.....someday :)
Milk Taste Test
We taste tested different flavors of milk!  Most of them liked the chocolate!


All About Pigs

Belle making piggies in a blanket!
Luke playing with pigs in the mud!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

We read this book today to go along with our pig theme!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Happy Birthday Belle!

Belle started with me when she was 3 months old!  It's hard to believe that she turned 3 today!
The Paperplate Chick Mask

Your probably wondering how I cut out such perfect circles.  I have a circle punch, it makes it SO much easier!
These are my nieces, aren't they cute?

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

All About Chickens

We got to pet and hold real live baby chicks!


We played the chick egg matching game

We scooped and poured corn (grain)

We painted a chick mask (finished product will be posted later).

We cracked our own eggs to make scrambled eggs for lunch!

We played Chicken Limbo!  The kids LOVED this game!  We also did the Chicken Dance but I didn't get pictures of it because my camera died!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Our new addition....Baby Lane!
      Baby Lane had a great first day!  She was all smiles!
We read this book today!  The kids thought it was pretty funny!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

The Reading Nest

Playing the Farm Families Game.  This game is so cute!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

The kids LOVE this game!  You match the baby animal to it's mother by their sounds!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Hay Stack Snacks


You will need:
Butterscotch Chips
Chow Mein Noodles
Wax Paper

Melt the butterscotch chips in a saucepan, then add the chow mein noodles and stir.  Before mix hardens, make small "stacks" on wax paper.  Let them harden and enjoy!