Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The Search for Signs of Spring!

With Daylight Savings this week, we couldn't resist getting outside and scoping out the spring scene in our yard. Little Biscuit is really eager to get out and play in the parks soon so he's as excited as I am to find some "signs of life" out there! First we checked out the little tree out our front window...
Sure enough, some cute little buds have already popped out!
And look what we found in the flower bed...
A bunch, actually!
Is the yellow grass turning green yet?
 Ah, yeah! Even some fresh clover has cropped in too.
And the grand finale...even the rose bush has hints of beautiful blooms to come soon!

Hooray for spring! Happy hunting at your house with your toddler too :D

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Cup Concentration: A Textures Matching Game for Toddlers

We had Little Biscuit's final visit from our Parents as Teachers rep this week and she had a great idea for a game we had to try. We collected some random odds and ends from around the house that were 2 of a kind - two craft pompoms, 2 mini cars, 2 little wood men, 2 marbles, 2 hair ties, 2 Cars dominoes, 2 bendy straw ends, 2 foam circles, and 2 q-tips (the objects can be anything as long as they match, have different textures, are safe for toddler hands and are small enough to fit in a cup). Before we played the game, I let Little Biscuit hold, touch and handle the gizmos for a few minutes so he'd know the differences and how they felt.
Then, we dumped them all into an 8-oz cup...
 I put the cup inside one of his daddy's (clean!) tube socks so he couldn't see inside. We shook it up and, without looking, I pulled out one of the objects (a little orange wooden man). So it was his turn ...I let him put his hand down inside the sock...his challenge was to find the other orange man without peeking. He could only feel around for it...
Yay!! He did it :D
 He was quite proud of himself :)
 His first cup concentration match of the day...
 Mommy's turn...can she find the hair tie Little  Biscuit pulled out? If she does, she wins a BIG kiss, just like he did!! (Yippee, I won a big one!!! Here it comes...)
 Another turn for Little Biscuit...can he find the other foamie circle?
 Of course he can :D
 We had a lot of fun - what a great learning game...thanks, PAT!