Our Second Blogiversary!

It's hard to believe that our second blogging year has come and gone already, it definitely snuck up on us this year!

In honor of our second blogiversary, I wanted to take a few moments to celebrate some of our top posts from the past year.

Frog Pond Playdough

Truly one of my favorite sounds in the world is the sound of the spring frogs in the woods around our home, especially that first night I hear them as it means spring is here. I was pretty excited to notice it for the first time last week. So now that the frogs are here, it means it's time for the boys and I to start exploring the world of frogs.

We started that exploration by reading a few books and playing with some frog pond playdough this week.

Create Play Food Using Salt Dough

As we shared before, the kids love playing in their play kitchen especially when we have other kids over to visit. I remember when we first bought the kitchen though I was a little bummed to discover the cost of play food. We've been able to find some good deals over the years on a few pieces, but we've also discovered the fun of making our own.

We made a set a few years ago when Little Brother was still an infant, but it was definitely time to try it again. 

Alphabet Sticker Sort

As our "staycation" stretched on this week Big Brother started to need something new to perk him up. Luckily I had this alphabet activity up my sleeve.

He's been really interested in what letters different words start with, so this activity really matched a place he's been at in terms of his pre-reading skills. He's also been pretty solidly remembering the sounds each letter can make, which means he was able to tackle this with only a little guidance. 

(Pretend Play) Homemade Menu

The kiddos love playing restaurant in their pretend kitchen when their cousins come over, which led to the inspiration of this homemade menu for pretend play.

When the two cousins are here it's not unusual to find all four kiddos pretending to run and own a restaurant. So one day when I knew Big Cousin was coming, I set up the materials for she and Big Brother to create their own pretend play menu.

Sun Mobile inspired by Gail Gibbons

We're really excited to be participating in the Booking Across the USA Project. Bloggers from across the USA all chose a different state and one author from that state to read and be inspired by. Today we're all sharing our posts

We chose our home state, Vermont. Despite living here almost all my life, and teaching here for almost ten years, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Gail Gibbons is a Vermont author! I'm a huge fan of Gail Gibbons and own several of her books both at home and in my classroom. I love how she makes nonfiction books and information approachable for kids of many age levels. Since first becoming an author Gail Gibbons has written over 100 books for kids, almost all nonfiction. You can learn more about Gail Gibbons by visiting her website.

In the past we've done some fun activities based on the books From Seed to Plant and Tornadoes! A few of our favorite books at this time of year include From Seed to Plant, Recycle!: A Handbook for Kids, and The Reasons for Seasons.

For this post we decided to read Sun Up, Sun Down and create a sun mobile. This book made learning about the sun very approachable to Big Brother, who is at a preschool age level, but older kids could also get a lot of information from reading this book too and have even more detailed information to add to their mobile. 

Moose Muffins Math Game

This month the Virtual Book Club for Kids Author is Laura Numeroff. Last time she was the author of the month we enjoyed creating our own sibling book based on What Brothers Do Best.

Although she has a wide range of books she has written, she's best known for her "If You Give . . ." books.  One of our favorites is If You Give a Moose a Muffin. Last week Big Brother and I enjoyed reading the book and creating an extended math game.

As I've mentioned in a few other posts the last few months, recently Big Brother has been really interested in math and all things number related. 

Simple Circus Animal Birthday Party Ideas

Last month we celebrated Little Brother's 2nd Birthday. It's amazing to me not only how quickly this birthday came up, but that he's already been two for a whole month!

Usually we have the boys' birthday parties either at home or at a small town hall we can easily rent. In the past we've done both an Outer Space Birthday and a Construction Birthday at our local town hall. But this birthday wound up overlapping with another event, and it was easier to use a restaurant space. This meant I really had to simplify what we were planning for activities and how much I was bringing into the restaurant.

Little Brother's love of animals did inspire some fun with Circus Animals. Here are a few of our Simple Circus Animal Birthday Ideas. 

Monthly Goals: April 2015

It's been a busy week, so my monthly goals are being posted a little later this month. We spent the weekend with family and enjoying some quiet time at home.  But after the busyness of the past week, it gave me some time to think through where my goals have taken me, and where I want to focus this month.

April Goals: Look for Growth and Progress

This is usually the time of year where I love seeing new growth, green grass, and the beginnings of flowers. Unfortunately winter is still not really over for us, and as the cold and snow drag on we're finding ways to create our own spring. Tulips have always been one of my favorite signs of spring, and while they are still a little way from growing in the yard, we can at least enjoy them inside.

They are also one of my favorite symbols for the idea of growth and progress of spring, two things I want to focus on this month.

Easy Easter Sensory Bin

The other day I was looking for something fast and fun for the boys to do, and quickly put together this Easy Easter Sensory Bin.

All month I've been inspired by several different posts where people used plastic Easter eggs in sensory bins. We already had ours out for our Jelly Bean Math Play, so it was easy to add them to our bin.