Monday, January 09, 2012
Thank You, Fisher-Price! Keeping Your Child Occupied in the Cold Winter Months
I won't lie. When it's really cold out, I don't feel like leaving our cozy, toasty warm house. Because we live in the countryside, it's quite a trek to get to Early Learning Play Groups sometimes. While I'm on a break from teaching for a few months (for family reasons), I need to keep my 3-year old occupied.
Little One's friends come over twice a week to play and socialize.
In the warmer months, playing outside is great on the farm! With a few hundred acres of land, it's a great way to tire out engage/entertain 3-year old kids! They either just run around, play with the barn cats, look for fairies in the nooks and crannies of our apple trees, go for walks, climb the rock cuts, supervised by me, of course. In the winter months, playing outside is just as fun. We can build snow forts, snowmen, make snow angels, etc. Sadly, we don't have any snow right now!
Even though Little One loves the outdoors, sometimes the winter days can be too cold for her to venture out. Even she insists on staying in! This means I need to have lots of indoor activities to keep her occupied, having fun, and learning.
Most of the activities are ones I've stock-piled since I started teaching ESL in 1998. I've taught a few kindergarten classes AGES ago and have since added new activities to my repertoire.
Some activities we've done so far:
1. HOMEMADE SLIME!
Homemade slime is oodles and oodles of slimy fun (for kids and parents)! It also teaches kids about what happens when you mix certain substances together! My little one was going around telling people, "I know how to make polymer!"
2. TACTILE RAINBOW MACARONI
I dyed different types of noodles with food colouring and set them aside to dry. The kids played with them, put them into containers, bottles, etc. Then they had fun emptying them into bins. I saved the macaroni and the kids used them for crafts later on. They made pencil holders by decorating used/washed tin cans and glued the rainbow macaroni on them. They also made necklaces and bracelets with them.
3. HOMEMADE PLAYDOUGH
It's not so much playing with the play dough itself that was fun. It was the process of making the play dough that was part of the excitement!
**If you want the recipes for any of the above or below, let me know :)
4. BAKING TIME
Always a favourite indoor activity for Little One and her friends.
Whole wheat pastry flour & organic raw cane sugar cookies with fruit instead of icing. A friend of mine told me about this recipe she found online. It was great fun for the kids and I didn't feel so badly about Little One eating the cookies because they were healthier than regular sugar laden cookies.
Your not-so-sugar-free cookies below. Colourful, fun to make and decorate.
5. DRESS UP PARTIES
My 3 year old has a closet full of costumes. I'm not joking when I say this either! She has ballerina, fairy, princess costumes, as well as a chicken, lion, and strawberry costume. She loves play dress-up with her friends.
When Little One's friends aren't over, this is what her play time looks like. Yes, tea parties with her Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn™ Say Please™ Tea Set and her stuffed friends.
I have got to say "Thank goodness for Fisher-Price and their Play and Learn Family Activities!" Parents can go on there and click on their children's age groups to find activities that are age appropriate for them! How did I not know this before?!
I checked out the 3-4 Year Activities and was impressed and excited to see all the activities they have listed for children Little One's age.
I am totally saving some of these ideas to use with Little One. Recycle Art, Storybook Theater, and Sand and Water are on my list of activities to do with Little One this month! I know she will love them! I'm making a point to try out all the other ideas listed there too!
Fisher-Price not only has fabulous products for kids of varying stages of development and growth, but they're also a great resource for parents to go to when in need of fun activities that will pique your children's interest! If you are looking for fun indoor activities to do with your children in the cold winter months, check out the Fisher-Price Play and Learn Family Activities link!
“Disclosure: I am a Fisher-Price Mom and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.”
Little One's friends come over twice a week to play and socialize.
In the warmer months, playing outside is great on the farm! With a few hundred acres of land, it's a great way to
Even though Little One loves the outdoors, sometimes the winter days can be too cold for her to venture out. Even she insists on staying in! This means I need to have lots of indoor activities to keep her occupied, having fun, and learning.
Most of the activities are ones I've stock-piled since I started teaching ESL in 1998. I've taught a few kindergarten classes AGES ago and have since added new activities to my repertoire.
Some activities we've done so far:
1. HOMEMADE SLIME!
2. TACTILE RAINBOW MACARONI
I dyed different types of noodles with food colouring and set them aside to dry. The kids played with them, put them into containers, bottles, etc. Then they had fun emptying them into bins. I saved the macaroni and the kids used them for crafts later on. They made pencil holders by decorating used/washed tin cans and glued the rainbow macaroni on them. They also made necklaces and bracelets with them.
3. HOMEMADE PLAYDOUGH
It's not so much playing with the play dough itself that was fun. It was the process of making the play dough that was part of the excitement!
**If you want the recipes for any of the above or below, let me know :)
4. BAKING TIME
Always a favourite indoor activity for Little One and her friends.
Whole wheat pastry flour & organic raw cane sugar cookies with fruit instead of icing. A friend of mine told me about this recipe she found online. It was great fun for the kids and I didn't feel so badly about Little One eating the cookies because they were healthier than regular sugar laden cookies.
5. DRESS UP PARTIES
My 3 year old has a closet full of costumes. I'm not joking when I say this either! She has ballerina, fairy, princess costumes, as well as a chicken, lion, and strawberry costume. She loves play dress-up with her friends.
When Little One's friends aren't over, this is what her play time looks like. Yes, tea parties with her Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn™ Say Please™ Tea Set and her stuffed friends.
I have got to say "Thank goodness for Fisher-Price and their Play and Learn Family Activities!" Parents can go on there and click on their children's age groups to find activities that are age appropriate for them! How did I not know this before?!
I checked out the 3-4 Year Activities and was impressed and excited to see all the activities they have listed for children Little One's age.
I am totally saving some of these ideas to use with Little One. Recycle Art, Storybook Theater, and Sand and Water are on my list of activities to do with Little One this month! I know she will love them! I'm making a point to try out all the other ideas listed there too!
Fisher-Price not only has fabulous products for kids of varying stages of development and growth, but they're also a great resource for parents to go to when in need of fun activities that will pique your children's interest! If you are looking for fun indoor activities to do with your children in the cold winter months, check out the Fisher-Price Play and Learn Family Activities link!
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City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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31 comments:
I would love recipes for slime & for the no sugar cookies
Yes, I would love to get that slime recipe too! And congratulations on being a Fisher Price Mom!
Frau and Chantal:
I'll get those recipes up for you sometime today :)
Frau and Chantal:
SLIME RECIPE
http://www.lifeonmanitoulin.blogspot.com/2011/11/nablopomo-day-21-slimed.html
WHOLE WHEAT & NATURAL CANE SUGAR COOKIE RECIPE
http://www.lifeonmanitoulin.blogspot.com/2011/11/nablopomo-day-20-whole-wheat-natural.html
Congrats on being a fisher price mom! I love fisher price. I would love the slime recipe :) All those activities are great winter indoor fun.. Thanks for sharing
Oh that Tea Party had me laughing, I love that photo!!
Jennifer L:
Left the slime recipe in a comment here, but I may just repost the blog post since it's been one of my more popular posts. Slime is so much fun! :)
Sober Julie:
LOL I know :) Cracks me up! I'm thinking Hubby and I may have to consider having another baby soon. This is what tea parties look like when you're an only child. Just kidding! ;)
Ok - all of those sound like so much fun! Can I come over to your house?! LOL I will have to check out that site - thanks for sharing it!
#FisherPriceMomEnvy
Brings back so many memories for me. Crafts, baking and fun I did with my kids when they were little :)
Looks like so much fun!!! My boys would loooove to come over :)
MTM:
:) Tee hee! YES! Come on over ANYtime!! And, the FisherPrice website's got such great activities for kids. I was really impressed!
Katrina:
Did your kids have any favourite crafts? What were they?
DYKC:
;) If we lived closer, I'd love to have you guys over for play dates! The slime was a huge hit with all the kids. My friend's 2 boys (2 yrs and 4 yrs) really LOVED the slime!
Looks like tons of fun, tea time is always a favorite around here.:) As always, she is beautiful.
WOW!! These are awesome ideas!!! Thanks so much for sharing :)
It can be exhausting coming up with activities to keep kids occupied, looks like you have a great resource though!
Right now we're playing ALOT of hide and seek - except Smook will call out where she's hiding, LOL. Lots of coloring. We're learning Go Fish too.
I'm definitely gonna check out your slime recipe though...THAT is something Smook would LOVE!!
I haven't made slime in a long time. Hey that's a rhyme! lol totally not my intent, I am a poet at heart.
great ideas!
stopping by from SASS!
Awww! Thank you! You are so sweet! Yes, she is kind of cute. I don't know how we ended up with someone so cute. LOL! Oh, and tea time is so much fun, isn't it? :)
:) Thanks, Tara! I always love your comments, by the way! I'm a big fan of your blog!
:) I usually have tons of ideas for activities. I have to admit that some days I just wing it! LOL! That, or let them entertain themselves!
Wish you lived closer so Smook and Little One could have a play date!
Love this post!
~SASS (host)
http://www.multitestingmommy.com/2012/01/nows-your-chance-to-sass-back-with_13.html
You are so creative! Love your chirpiness and enthusiam for projects and cooking. You share great recipes too! Your daughter has a great mom. She looks fab in those outfits too :) SASS
These are some awesome activities for kids! Thanks for sharing! - SASS
I love the teapot that is used. As to the crafts, I have dyed them with food colouring too and let them use it to add to a collage but I like the idea of putting it on a container. Young kids love sand & water play. I have misplaced my plug for my water table so the kids missed out this summer. Hope to find it during my spring cleaning... It's great that Fisher Price has a suggested list of activities along with their products!
A wonderful post! Marg @ http://www.simplyshopandsave.ca
I want to try the slime with DS!
Thanks for taking part in SASS, hope to see you next week!
oh my kids would love that slime. I have to say I am totally like you I would hibernate if I could in the winter...however I loved being outdoors when A kids....im wimpy with age lol
Thanks for linking up- SASS Host
Tee hee! You're a poet and you didn't know it! ;) Little One asked me if we could make slime today. Sadly, I'm in one of those "I don't feel like doing anything messy days" LOL!