Chinese Jump Rope: Active Game For Leap Year

I wasn't sure how much my children would understand Leap Year, but know that they certainly understand the word "leap", so thought I'd teach them one of my favorite bus stop/playground games: Chinese Jump Rope.

You can buy one or you can simply make one by attaching several rubber bands together to form a large chain (about 5 feet long).

Set up jump rope as pictured below:

Each person takes a turn trying to do a series of jumps without "messing up" (either by touching the bands when they are not supposed to, or not touching them when they are supposed to).  Once they complete the series, you make it more challenging by adjusting the height of the bands.

There are several different ways to play - "the pattern" I used growing up was "in, out, side, side, in, on top of, in out" -
below is what it looks like:

 

 

Of course, the kids had just as much fun jumping and creating their own patterns.  It's also an excellent work out - I was getting pretty sweaty by the end of our play (especially as we raised the height).

Did you ever play this when you were growing up?  How did you play/what patterns did you use? 


Have you already checked out this list of "jumping games" for Leap Year at NurtureStore?

Hop on Pop- Numbered Balloons Game & Dr. Seuss Linky!

This activity was inspired by Dr. Seuss's book, Hop on Pop. It doesn't necessarily relate to the plot of the book, but relates to some of the simple words in the book... like POP!

We love creating learning activities using materials we already have around the house. Since this weekend was filled with my son's birthday celebrations, we have a living room full of balloons.

Today we're going to share a simple learning activity we created, inspired by this game over at Martha Stewart.

This game requires adult supervision and is appropriate for children old enough to hold a thumbtack without hurting themselves/others with it. My son is four.








Materials Needed for Numbered Balloon game:

• balloons (we used 12)
• thumbtack
• Sharpie
• tape (we used painter's tape)

Set up:

• Tape balloons to the wall so that they are easily accessible for child.
• Write a number on each balloon (we were working on identifying numbers 10-20 today)

Directions for Numbered Balloon game:

1. Have an adult (or another child) say one number aloud (10-20... or whatever numbers you want to use)
2. The child then listens to the number and then locates the balloon with that matching number.
3. Once the correct number is identified, the child can pop the balloon using a thumbtack!
4. Continue hunting for numbers and popping the corresponding balloons until they are all gone!

We let the 15 month old join in by hopping on the balloons and trying to pop them by sitting on them :) We also talked about the colors of each balloon with her when she grabbed them. She also enjoyed torturing her brother by trying to knock them down while he was identifying numbers. She was just helping him think quicker, right?

I had to add this picture of the baby doing her little victory dance. She was so proud when she managed to steal a balloon.

We also did some hopping on mom after the game was over. For some reason when I was sitting on the floor both kids decided that they needed to "hop on mom" and started jumping all over me... so then I had to tickle attack them. I guess they learned something from the book?

Another favorite hopping activity at our house this weekend has been hopping on these giant bubble wrap Legos I created for my son's Lego-themed birthday party.

Some of our other favorite Dr. Seuss posts are listed below:
Dr. Seuss Book Cover Bowling
Thing 1 and Thing 2 Popsicle Stick Puppets
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish Activities


Do you have any favorite Hop on Pop inspired activities? Or any other favorite Dr. Seuss activities? 

If so, come and link up below to The Ultimate Dr. Seuss Linky party hosted by Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas and several other fabulous bloggers listed below to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday on March 2nd!

This linky party is being hosted by:

Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas 

Ready. Set. Read!

Reading Confetti  

Montessori Tidbits

Make, Do & Friend 

Putti Prapancha 

Kitchen Counter Chronicles

Living at the Whitehead's Zoo 

Mama Mia's Heart2Heart

Living Montessori Now

Kindergarten for Teachers and Parents

Toddler Approved  

Creativity My Passion

Rainbows Within Reach

PreK & K Sharing

Pipe Cleaner Pick Up Sticks

Have you ever played pick-up sticks? I was thinking about this game the other day when my kids went a little crazy with the pipe cleaners and dumped them all over the floor.

The traditional game requires players to pick up one stick at a time (from a big crazy pile) without disturbing the remaining sticks. That was too tricky... so we made up our own rules and embedded a little math and color learning into our pipe cleaner pick up sticks game!

Materials Needed:

• color dice and number dice (we made our color dice with a Rubik's cube, white paper, and tape)
• pipe cleaners
• markers
• bucket

Directions:

   1. Cut paper into squares and then tape them onto rubik's cube.

   2. Color each square a different color (based on pipe cleaner colors)

   3. Put all the pipe cleaners into a bucket or basket.

   4. Dump them onto the floor! My son loved the sensory experience of having them all fall on his head as they fell to the floor.

   5. Roll both dice. Whatever you roll tells you what color and how many pipe cleaners to pick up. This picture shows yellow and number 5!

   6. Count the pipe cleaners to make sure you got the right amount. My son picked up 5 yellow pipe cleaners for his first turn.

   7. Use the pipe cleaners from your turn to create something crazy or silly! We made candy canes, glasses, towers, letters, squiggles, etc.

   8. Have the next person roll and take their turn doing the same thing.

   9. Take turns picking up pipe cleaners, counting, and creating until all the pipe cleaners are picked up (or your little ones are done playing!)

Skills we embedded into this activity:

• counting
• naming colors
• identifying numbers
• identifying colors
• turn taking
• following directions
• sharing
• creating!

Do you ever make up silly games?

What are other activities that you like to do with pipe cleaners?

Sunday Blog Share

This week has made me insanely grateful for bloggers... especially those that share free content with others... I have several great new-to-me sites that I want to share with you today... along with a few announcements and other little tidbits.

First up, my son's 4th birthday party was yesterday. We did Lego Printing, which I blogged about yesterday. It was a big hit.   

We also did a bunch of other activities. The internet gave me loads of ideas and since life has been crazy lately, it was nice to not have to reinvent the wheel entirely!

After throwing my son's party, two of my new favorite Lego party resource sites are...

• Delia Creates- she has Lego bricks, Lego juice box covers, and several other free printables.
• Winks & Daisies- she has a great Lego man template that I used for loads of things, including a banner... and I turned it into an iron on for a shirt too (I just added a 4)!

(notice the cute juice box covers below? So easy to make. Thanks Delia Creates!)

This week I also joined up for the Weekly Kids Co-op co-hosted by NurtureStore and Let's Lasso the Moon. These ladies have fabulous blogs, so if you haven't checked them out yet, I highly recommend you do.

I have also gone a little "Pin" Crazy and have either joined or created several Collaborative Pinterest Boards with blogging friends. I'm listing a few of my favorite Pinterest boards below that you might be interested in checking out.

• Kid Blogger Network Activities & Crafts- This is a collaborative board from amazing bloggers that focus on activities and crafts for kids. With the foundational belief that playing and crafting with children improves well-being, creative thinking, and strengthens relationships.
• Children's Book Related Crafts and Activities- This is a board to share activities, art projects, and crafts related to children's books.
• Name Activities and Crafts- "The most powerful and effective way for children to begin learning the complex process of learning about letters is by writing their own names." - Carol Lyon This board is filled with ways to help children learn about their names.
• Baby/Toddler Play Ideas- Play ideas for babies and toddlers to nurture their growth and development in the early years of life.
• Reading and Writing Readiness- A collaborative board of lessons, activities and games that boost reading and writing readiness and progress.
• Lifetime Love of Learning- This group board is a place to share educational ideas & discuss ways to keep the light in our childs' eyes.

Lastly, there are two new spots where you'll be able to find me blogging. Definitely stop by and say hi! 

1. Quirky Momma- As mentioned yesterday, I am the newest contributor to Quirky Momma, a kid's activities blog. You can find me there every Monday morning! Last week I shared a DIY Lego Instruction Book that seemed to be a post that people liked. Phew!
2. Life... Your Way- I am the new Children's Craft Contributor for Life... Your Way's Motherhood channel. My first post will be shared in a week or two. I am excited! 

Alright, so do you have any favorite Pinterest boards that I should be following?? Leave me a comment with the board URL so I can come check it out!


Happy Sunday!

Printing with Legos

Today is my son's 4th birthday!! I cannot believe he is that old! We are celebrating with several small parties to keep things less overwhelming (church friends, neighborhood friends, and family party). 

Today we have a Lego party with friends from church. I have several activities/projects we're going to try... so I thought I'd share one of them with you today. I feel like with all the ideas running around in my brain right now we could do a whole Lego themed month!

My son and I tried this activity out earlier this week and he loved it. Hopefully his friends do too. Lego printing is super simple and just requires materials you probably already have around the house.

Materials We Used: play-doh, Legos (duplo are our favorites), rolling pin, and something to cut with

We printed with the Legos and first attempted to create our own play-doh Legos.

We used our little knife to make the edges straight. We talked about how some Legos are thick and some are thin... and some are long and others are short. We talked about the colors we saw and the shapes we made too!

Then we stacked them and tried to build some towers.

Then we just explored. We used the fronts and backs of the Legos to see how they printed and talked about how they made different designs.

Have you ever printed with Legos?

What other unique tools do you like to use for play-doh printing?

If you love Legos, head on over to Quirky Momma to see the DIY Lego Instruction Book that I shared this week. I am one of the new weekly contributors at Quirky Momma. I'll be posting every Monday morning... so definitely also stop by this week to see the fun activity I will be sharing!

The Friday Kids Co-op- A Weekly Linky

I am excited to introduce you to The Kid's Co-op! Each Friday we will be participating in a link-up with several other bloggers. We will be sharing activities that are family oriented, fun, unique, and educational. If you'd like to check out all of the fabulous activities that were shared last week, head on over here.

Each week we will also ask you to share your favorite kid's activities. We'd love to see a variety of activities geared to kids of all ages. You can share a project you created or even your favorite "find" from pinterest!

Here's how to participate:

1. Find your favorite kid's activity.
2. Copy the URL from the site page.
3. Click on the "add your link" button.
4. Follow the directions to paste the URL and describe your link.
5. Once you're done linking up, go and check out some of the other fabulous links that have been shared!

In addition to hosting this link up, I'll be sharing a few of my favorite finds each week. This week I have two fabulous posts to share with you. Click the pictures to head straight to pinterest and pin them!

Hands on:As We Grow's Block City

Source: handsonaswegrow.com via Kristina on Pinterest

We are going to attempt this activity next week. Tape and blocks equal hours of fun!

No Time for Flashcard's 75 TV Free Activities for Toddlers

Source: notimeforflashcards.com via Kristina on Pinterest

I need to print this post out and tape it to my fridge so that I can be reminded of all the simple and easy things I can do with my kids before we turn on the TV.

Ok, so how about you? What was your favorite post from this week? Did you create anything amazing that you can share? I can't wait to see all of the great ideas that will be linked up here this week! Start linking!



Here's a list of some of the bloggers participating in the The Kid's Co-op this week:

Imprints from Tricia It's A Long Story RainbowsWithinReach Life & Love Expressed Train Up a Child B.Inspired Mama

No Time For Flash Cards My Creative Family Toddler Approved Rainy Day Mum Dirt and Boogers Mum of Twins a Toddler and a Teenager

PlayDrMom The Mommies Made Me Do It Reading Confetti The Good Long Road Ways2Play Smiling like Sunshine

If you're joining the linky, don't forget to grab the button.

<a href="http://www.rainydaymum.co.uk/" target="_blank"><img src="http://rainydaymum.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/comeplayatkidsco-op.jpg" alt="Kids Co-op" width="125" height="125" /></a>

Montessori Activity: Nuts & Bolts

This activity comes directly from John Bowman's ebook, Montessori at Home.

We have had fun in the past incorporating items found at the hardware store in our learning and play activities (March Wind Streamers and Our Own Pulley Investigation), so I was very excited to try this "Practical Life" activity using nuts and bolts.

Materials Needed

-Hex Bolts/Nuts in the following sizes: 1/4, 3/8, 7/16, 1/2, 5/8, and 3/4" along with 5 washers the corresponding sizes for each.  

-Container (for storage)

-Index Card

-Marker

Total cost for the items ended up around $14

Make 3 label cards (in lower case): nuts, bolts, washers.



"Show your child how to separate out the parts with their label cards."

"Show how to find the right washers and put all five on a bolt,

then find the right nut and attach it, turning it to the right. 'Right is tight.' "

"Help as needed with your child gradually taking over. Show your child how the washers stop moving around and tighten down when the nuts are turned all the way down. Your child can also compare how much each set weighs, a Sensorial experience."

"Line up the completed sets as shown for a visual effect, going left to right, a pre-reading skill."
 














I have always been drawn to Montessori based teaching, blogs, and "toys".  Do you incorporate Montessori based activities into your daily play/lesson plans?  What are your favorite Montessori inspired blogs?   

Cooking With Mom: Wonton Soup

Some of my earliest memories are helping my mom prepare dinner.

One of my favorite things to help with was filling and wrapping wontons for soup.  You can find a recipe right on the wonton wrapper package or through an online search (which are more authentic and probably much better than mine, however I've included ours below (which my mom altered for the picky eaters in my family):

Ingredients:
1 package Wonton Wrappers (usually found in the produce section of your local grocer)
4 1/2 - 5 cups Chicken Stock
Green Onions/Spinach to garnish (optional)
Meat Mixture:
1/2-1 lb lean Ground Pork
3-4 Green Onions finely chopped
1 stalk Celery finely chopped
1 tsp. Ginger
Touch of Black Pepper
Garlic Powder (optional)

Combine meat mixture thoroughly.  Separate Won Ton wrappers.  Place a teaspoon of the meat mixture in the center of each.

The next step is where I let my daughter start to help.  Dip finger in water (most recipes will suggest egg white, water works just fine) - brush water on all four edges of wrapper (this will help the wrapper adhere to itself).

Fold in half (forming a triangle) and press down on the sides to seal.  Didn't get any photos of the last step in folding so am including instructions (below) found at ChenPhotography to finish folding the wontons:

Image Credit

Bring chicken stock to a rolling boil and drop in wontons.  They will be fully cooked in about 5 minutes.  Garnish with chopped green onions or spinach and devour!

How do your children help you with meal preparation?