Lydia's New Pen Pal

As a young child, I was fortunate to live in a neighborhood with lots of children around my age. We used to have so much fun playing outside, going over each others' homes, going swimming together...lots and lots of imaginative play. We were a creative bunch, so we'd play house, do crafts, play school, and find ways to transform anything into a fun game. Slowly, over the years, my friends moved away. Several of us stayed in touch, but one family in particular moved away when I was in 7th grade. They had two children, a son my age (Jonathan) and a daughter my sister's age (Jennifer). My sister kept in touch better than I did, and even met up with Jennifer once years later. Through the magic of Facebook, we were able to re-connect a few years ago. What's awesome is that our old friend Jennifer has a son the same age as Lydia! Jennifer is a SAHM, and she is into cooking, crafting, cloth diapering, breastfeeding...all the things I am into. She also just gave birth to a baby girl who is close in age to Bryce.

So one day I was thinking about both the benefits and downfalls to all of this technology that allows us to stay in touch with old friends...and one thing we miss out on is having real pen pals. So I though...why not start a pen pal relationship with Lydia and Jennifer's son Jack? I explained the idea to Lydia and showed her pictures of Jack. She was excited to have a pen pal (to the best of her understanding). I presented the idea to Jennifer, and she loved it, too. So exciting!

Lydia is making a book about herself for Jack

Lydia proudly displays her book

Lydia walking to the mailbox

We placed our letter in the mailbox.

And Lydia got a cool dinosaur card from Jack!

Jennifer told me that Jack loved his book from Lydia, and Lydia loved her card with extra stickers from Jack! I'm super-excited to exchange valentines. Lydia has been working on a few things to send in the mail soon. Can't wait to get our next letter.

Creative Freedom

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D.
I thought I would kick off February with a simple but fun painting project with Lydia. I gave her a piece of pink construction paper, I took plates and filled them with pink and red paint, and I grabbed a bunch of different kitchen tools (including a potato masher, meat mallet, flower cookie cutter, heart cookie cutter, and whisk). It began innocently.

I quickly realized this was going to get messy, so I removed Lydia's dress. 

This is her using the cookie cutters in the red and pink paint.

Painting with the potato masher. Still not too messy.

How the heck did that happen all of a sudden??

It gets worse...

Well, here's the final product. It's definitely unique and not at all what I was expecting.

Um, yeah...this looks like something out of a horror movie...only she's still sitting upright.

I never wanted to be one of those parents who limited their children's creativity because I didn't want to clean up a mess. I guess this really proved that. That's what I call creative freedom, toddler-style!

Guidecraft Educator Review #7 ~ Flower Match Garden Patch & Animal Train Sort and Match

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D. 
This month, the Guidecraft Educators are reviewing some great manipulatives for preschool-age children: Flower Match Garden Patch and Animal Train Sort and Match.

           

To use these sets, you place a magnetic board vertically in a slot in the wooden box. Then, you choose a card to copy by placing small plastic pieces on the board. The great thing about these sets (as with many of the Guidecraft toys) is that you can follow the directions OR be creative. Lydia is now 2 1/2 years old. I tried to demonstrate how to follow the picture card to make identical flowers, but this was pretty challenging for her to complete independently. Instead, I allowed her to play freely and make her own rules. Lydia loved combining different pieces to make all different types of flowers.

Lydia creating her own flowers.

Here are some other ways these sets can be used:

~Sort the different pieces by color in color-coded bowls.

~Sort the pieces by shape.

~Use the pieces as stencils to trace your own flowers or animals. 

~Lay the pieces directly on top of the cards on a flat surface (instead of creating them vertically on the peg board). 

~Place the pieces under paper and do crayon rubbings. 

Both of these sets would be great for children with fine motor delays or for occupational therapists to work with their clients on visual performance and object manipulation. They would also be great in a manipulative center in a preschool or kindergarten classroom.

BUY IT! You can purchase the Flower Match Garden Patch (RV $40) & Animal Train Sort and Match (RV $45).

WIN IT! What's great about this Guidecraft Educator group is that each month, one of us will be hosting a giveaway of the product that we have all reviewed. Visit Mommy Moment for a chance to win a Flower Match Garden Patch & Animal Train Sort and Match for a special child in your life. This contest is open to the US and Canada. 

* I received the aforementioned product for free to review. The opinions expressed are honest and provided without monetary compensation.

Whole Wheat Play Dough Valentine Cookies

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D.

Whole Wheat Play Dough

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 T oil

1/2 cup salt

1 c water

gel food coloring (in your favorite colors)

I did not set out to make a "healthier" play dough. I just happened to be running low on regular flour, so I decided to try using whole wheat flour. We began by measuring and pouring all the ingredients in a pot on the stove set to a low temperature.

I let Lydia sit on the counter to help mix the play dough. If the mixture seems a bit sticky after combining everything well, just add a bit more flour until you get the right consistency.

Allow the play dough to cool to room temperature. I let Lydia choose the colors, and we made four different shades of play dough. I learned afterwards that it may have been easier to combine the food coloring with the water and then mixed it all together, but when you add the food coloring later on, you can work on hand-strengthening activities.

When we use play dough from a can, I do not allow Lydia to mix all the colors together. The great thing about homemade play dough is that kids can combine all the different colors, and then you can just dispose of it after. To celebrate Valentine's Day, Lydia used different heart-shaped cookie cutters to make Valentine's Day "cookies."

Wordless Wednesday ~ Shaving Cream Bath Paint

Recycled Swirl Crayons

by Carrie Wells, Ed.D.

Gather together all your broken old crayons to make this awesome project!

Materials:

• Old broken crayons
• Silicone muffin or candy pan
• Cookie sheet

Sift through all your crayons to find the broken ones.

Peel the paper off the crayons.

Break the crayons into small pieces. 

The peeling of the paper and braking of the crayons are both great fine motor exercises.

You may need to cut the crayons to get really small pieces.

We sorted our crayon pieces to make a Valentine's Day crayon and a St. Patrick's Day crayon. We filled each muffin cup about half way.

Place the silicon muffin pan on a cookie sheet. Bake at 230 degrees for about 15 - 20 minutes, or until the crayons are completely melted. Here's what they looked like when we took them out of the oven.

We let the crayons cool for about an hour and removed them from the tray. Here are our awesome recycled swirl crayons, perfect for the upcoming holidays!

   

Gallery Direct Review #2 & Special Offer for You!

The wonderful team at Gallery Direct invited me to be a part of their ambassador program ~ I was very flattered and definitely interested! They are currently offering a great special ~ get 75% off beautiful wrap-around canvas prints through 2/1/2012 with coupon code: photo75. I submitted this photo of me and Bryce. I think the contrast between the white and the bold colors will look beautiful printed on canvas.

Monday, January 9th at 10 PM est, @GalleryDirect is hosting a twitter party, using hashtag #GalleryDirect. Six lucky winners will win a free photo canvas print valued up to $200. For more information, visit Thrifty & Chic Mom.

To learn more about Gallery Direct, you can visit their website, "like" them on Facebook, or follow on twitter.

Follow-up: Here is my beautiful canvas print, which now hangs above our sofa in the family room. I absolutely love it! The colors are so bold, yet the print itself has a nice softness to it. I received the "medium" print, which is a great size for a featured piece of artwork. This really makes a beautiful gift -- and with such wonderful customer service and speedy delivery, you can submit a picture and receive your print in the mail within 10 days.

* I received the aforementioned product for free to review. The opinions expressed are honest and provided without monetary compensation.