Salt Dough Ornaments

We had a lot of fun this week making salt dough ornaments.  Here are just a couple pictures that my husband took during the process.
 
 
Rolling out dough and using our Christmas cookie cutters to cut out shapes


 
Using our Christmas stamps on our ornaments before baking
 
 
The next day she painted the ornaments but I did not get any pictures.  She chose to use tempera paints and liquid water color paints.  The water color paints were really neat because they still allowed the stamped image to show through really well. 

Zoo Lights

Here are a few pictures from our trip to the Denver Zoo holiday lights display.  If you have the chance to go I recommend it.  Just make sure to bundle up and get there early.
 
For some reason this image is sideways.  I'm not sure why because when I download it the image is upright.  Oh well, you get the point.  Fun lights that make good picture frames if you can get your little one to stand still long enough.

 
Here we are posing after seeing Santa.  She looks happy doesn't she? 
She was too busy eating a candy cane to smile.

 
This is one of our favorite sections because it has a bunch of sea animals.

 
This was my favorite tree.  The green and purple lights faded out at different times.  So you could watch the tree go from green to green and purple to just purple.  She loved it because purple is her favorite color and green is daddy's favorite.
 
 
Here is a link to information about the Denver Zoo lights.

Collage

This is such an easy craft to put together and it keeps my daughter occupied for at least 30 minutes.  I use this project when I need to complete a chore/project and I do not have time to supervise her.
 


 
All I do is put paper in on of our large trays, put glue in a bowl, and pull down a bunch of our craft supplies (pom-poms, pipe cleaners, feathers, scrap paper, Q-tips, etc.)
 
After she gets everything on there that she wants there is usually a lot of glue left on the paper so I let her add a bunch of glitter over the whole project.
 
 

Play Together

Row, Row, Row Your Boat-
 
Play is important! 
 
Even the activities that do not seem to have an educational element help your child learn and grow. 
 
 
For example-
My daughter wanted to row a boat with daddy.  My husband, being the amazing father he is, squeezed into her boat and started singing merrily.

 
What are some of the things that happened during this 5 minute playtime experience.
 
1. Grace got practice recalling the lyrics to a popular song- Row, Row, Row Your Boat
 
2. She learned that you have to row on both sides of the boat or you go in circles
     (a 5 second lesson during song break).
 
3. She gained confidence by coming up with a fun game that the whole family enjoyed
     (I could not squeeze in the boat but enjoyed taking photos and singing along).
 
4. Most importantly our family grew closer together as we joined into play together. 
 
It is amazing how play can bring everyone closer together.  Family dinners are important for bonding but if you really want to see family relationships grow- PLAY TOGETHER!  You and your spouse's relationship will benefit as much as you and your child's.
 

Animal Addition

My daughter loves playing math games with her little animals.  Here is an example of how we use her animals and flash cards to practice addition.


 
I have her tell me the first number. "Four" and then she can pick out four animals to put on the left side of the card.  Then I have her tell me the second number. "Two" So she picks out two animals to put on the right side of the card.  Then I read it as an equation, "Four plus two equals"  and then she counts the animals and tells me the total.  Then I write it in.  I am working on trying to get her to write it in but she is very picky about how her writing looks so for now she only wants to trace her letters and numbers. 
 

 
Adapt this addition game to your child's interests.  Even though she enjoys using her animals I still try and switch it up on occasion.  We have used My Little Ponies, Balls, Cars, Rocks, Jewels, Markers, and even snack foods that she can eat after (bonus eating them and recounting is a fun way to introduce subtraction).
 
Remember it is meant to be a game that introduces math in a fun way.  If it does not hold your child's attention or is frustrating to them then they will not learn it.  Make it FUN!