Where is it?

E(1) and I had fun playing "Where is it?" this week. To play this game, I had 2 cups...one blue and one red. I put a small object (a wooden girl) under one of the cups while E had her eyes closed. When she opened her eyes, I asked "where is it?" and she tried to find it.

I put it under the red cup each time and waited to see if she would realize that the girl was always under the red cup. She kept checking under the blue cup, but I realized that she "got it" when she handed me the blue cup and demanded that I put the girl under the blue cup. She said "boo cup!" several times...she really wanted me to use the blue cup, too!

Rough/Smooth Board

I introduced the rough/smooth board to E(1) last week.

To make the board (I made it about 3 years ago for O), I glued a square of sandpaper on one side piece of foam core board and left the other side empty.

To introduce the board to her, I lightly rubbed E's finger on the sandpaper and said "rough," and then I rubbed her finger on the foam core board and said "smooth." She repeated the words after me, and seemed to understand completely. Simple, yet effective. She also really liked scratching the sandpaper with her fingernail :)

Toothpicks and a Shaker

My little purple fairy (E) loves to put toothpicks in this parmesan cheese shaker (bought from the Dollar Tree).


I gave her the shaker and a small glass filled with toothpicks. I showed her how to pick up one toothpick at a time and drop it into the shaker. When it was her turn, she picked up several toothpicks at a time and then ended up dropping them. She learned that it worked much better to only pick up one at a time. She was very engaged in this task and thorougly enjoyed it. O(4) saw her working and has gotten this work off of E(1)'s shelf several times to do it herself :)

Matching Animal Pictures

I recently introduced this animal matching activity (that I made for O about 3 years ago) to E(1), and she really liked it.

To make this activity, I bought 2 mini animal calendars and cut them apart. I added labels and laminated the cards. I put 3 to 5 cards out at a time, and then hand E one card at a time to match. She loves animals, so this is a fun activity for her.

Meet Lydia

My girls love "growing" animals (found at Dollar General for 1 dollar), so they were very excited to see this crab in their May Fun Box. O(4) named her "Lydia."

I thought about turning this into a measurement or science activity, but we ended up just enjoying watching Lydia grow each day. Simple and exciting!

Feeding the Frog

E(1) loves feeding plastic bugs to the frog. She loves all animals, which made this activity even more appealing to her.

This is another activity that I'll add a pair of tongs/chopsticks to when she is a little older. (Btw, I bought the frog from a thrift store and the plastic bugs from Target).

Working on One-to-One Correspondence

E(1) loves putting these spiky balls into a paint palette. She doesn't realize that she's refining her one-to-one correspondence skills as she works.

When she's a little older, I'll add a pair of tongs or chopsticks to this work to make it a little more challenging.

Matching Animal Figures to Pictures

E(1) loves animals, so this farm animal matching activity was a lot of fun for her.

To do this activity, I laid out 3 to 5 pictures of animals and gave her a handful of animal figurines to match to the pics. I told her to "match sheep" and she'd find the sheep and put it on the correct picture. O was nearby and helped her when she needed help. Fun times!

Here is the post about O doing this same work almost 3 years ago.

Learning to Pour Water

E(1) loves this tiny little teapot and teacup that I put on her work shelf. I put the teapot (filled with water), a teacup, and a sponge on a small tray and put it on the bottom shelf. E was excited to see something new, and O was excited to see something old!


After E poured the water, she quickly drank it and wanted more. O used to do the same thing over and over and over again when she was E's age. What fun!

E's Art Shelf

E(1) LOVES to "daw" (draw)! When she sees her big sister drawing, she says "daw, too!" Lately, she's been saying "daw somethin." Since she is so interested in drawing, I decided that she needed her very own art shelf.

We have 2 shelves from Pottery Barn (outlet) in our kitchen. O(4)'s art shelf is on the 2nd from the bottom shelf of one, and now E has her art shelf on the bottom shelf of the other.

I taped a large piece of paper to the bottom shelf and put a jar full of crayons beside it. Both girls were thrilled to see this when they woke up on Wednesday morning. O saw it first and said "E, look, look! Your own art shelf!"





I love how simple this was to put together and how perfect it is for my sweet girl!

Learning the Art of Stillness and Silence

E(1) was being very still and quiet to see if the minnows would nibble on her toes. After about 30 seconds, she said "all done!" and hopped up. We'll try again tomorrow :)

Putting Clothes Pins on a Container

I recently read about this activity in my Chasing Cheerios blog book, and I'm so glad I did! E(1) loved it!!!

I gave her a can full of clothes pins and showed her how to put them on the sides. She was very focused and determined, and she did this activity over and over again.

Mud Day!!!

O(4) loves to hear stories from my childhood, and one of the stories I tell her is how my kindergarten always had a "mud day" at the end of the school year. I was never allowed to participate in "mud day" because my parents were germophobe (we had "water day" instead). Since I am not a germaphobe (at least not as much as my mom and Elliott!), I let the girls go crazy with mud this week. They had a GREAT time!

We started off by filling several containers with water.


Then they made grass soup...this is a favorite daily activity. They serve it dry and/or wet.


We started adding dirt to the water to make mud. I was the designated dirt digger at one point.


Both girls eventually ended up in the container of mud.


Afte the girls tired of the mud, we put the waterhose on the slide to make a waterslide. Then I "chased" them with the water while they ran all around the yard. What a simple and fun afternoon!

Buddha Board for Baby

We love the Laptop Buddha Board Black, but we've found out the hard way that if you use too much pressure the metal on a paintbrush will scratch the surface. Since E(1) is likely to mash a paint brush instead of using a light touch, I bought an aquadoodle pen (on clearance!) for her to use with the buddha board. It works great, and there's no cup of water to spill!