Lazy Tot School . . . . must be December! :)

December has been a REALLY busy month. There is always so much stuff to do so we decided to just wing it on the 'school' part of December. I can't actually wait for January to get back into it because although it's been nice, there's no structure to our days at home. Lately when I bring an activity out for Megan she snubs her nose at it and doesn't want to do it! :( So not sure what that's about...

So far here's what we've done this month -

Art Projects

Gingerbread Man


We tried 'snow painting'. You basically use a squirt of shaving cream and some elmer's glue, mix it up and have at it! I don't think I got the consistancy right because it didn't dry very 'snow' like.

I drew a snowman on Meg's so she'd have a guide. She pretty much just painted the whole thing anyways. Man did my kitchen smell good and clean after this craft!


This was supposed to be a popsicle stick Christmas tree however she insisted on coloring it red. Just look at her fingers. :)

Beaded wreath ornament

Cookie cutter wrapping paper

Painting with a tree branch. We started this on the art easel and it didn't work too well as she had to basically fling the branch onto the paper. Yikes! So we moved to the table and it worked much better.

Jingle bell painting on a candy cane

We painted pinecones green to make them into 'tree's' and then she glued on sequin ornaments. On another tree she sprinkled pink (of course!) glitter on but I missed taking a picture of that one.

Candy cane beaded ornaments

Rubber stamps - one of her favorite activities!

In The Kitchen

We've done A LOT of baking here. I love cooking and Megan is always right there eager to help - and lick the beaters or sample a fresh cookie!

White chocolate covered pretzels (with LOTS of sprinkles!) for the neighbors.

We also cooked up some new peppermint playdoh. It smells SO good!!

Strung some popcorn/cranberry garland.

Got to bake cookies with our neighbors and Megs buddy, Isaiah. They were crushing candy canes to sprinkle on cookies.


Making Cherry Tassies with Daddy.


Science

This FX snow is the coolest stuff! Since we have not gotten any snow yet here this year, this is the next best thing. It feels like the real thing and it's so fun to stick your hands in. It's even cold like real snow. You just had a little water and watch it grow.

We added some cups, curling ribbon and jingle bells to make it a full sensory tub.

Tried out our new water droppers.

Learning

Like I said, we kind of 'lacked' in the learning area this month. When I did bring this shapes gingerbread house out, she did NOT want to do it. So I sat down with it on the floor and did it by myself and eventually she came over to see.

I swiped some paint sample cards from the hardware store (2 of each color strip). Then cut one set up and glued it to clothes pins. Megs has to try and clip on to the correct color. This had been hard as some of the lighter colors are very similar. Sticking to just 1 color strip at a time though helps.

Worked on stringing foam beads.

File Folder game - making the cookies to the cookie sheet outline. She really liked this and went back to it again and again throughout the day. That is until the dog ATE the moon cookie. Oops.

Megan got to go to Riley's class and be her 'show and tell' last week. Riley told the class that her sister is annoying and likes to shake her booty! Oh lord. Her teacher was cracking up and so was I. :)

Life

We've been struggling with naps lately. Some days we just aren't home in time for her to lay down. On other days when we are home, she fights it saying she's not tired. When she does take a nap, going to bed at night takes her a little while longer. On this night she was messing around in her room and she always takes her PJ's off because she's hot. I thought it was cute that she tucked in her animals and fell asleep like that.

Counting Santa Dice Game

You can print off your own Santa Counting Sheet here. The Activity Mom had a fun counting game posted this morning. In between cleaning chores today we did this. Megan wasn't too interested in it but I think next time I will use m&m's as markers rather than pom poms.

Tot School

Riley was home from school with us on Wednesday this week due to Veteran's Day so you'll probably see some of her in this week's post. :)

Art Projects

Open Ended Art - feathers, ABC noodles, corkscrew noodles, foam leaves & foam sheets.

Riley got VERY creative with this and spent 3 hours at the kitchen table!
She was so very proud when she was all done.

As usual, Megan's style is to see how fast she can complete an art project.
This one was about 10 minutes, not bad.

We also made paper bag scarecrow puppets.

So this is one of those projects that you have in your head but once it's complete you think, 'Oh wow, that could have been cuter.' It's supposed to be an acorn but the only things to glue on that I could come up with were buttons and Coco Krispies. Haha!


Learning Toys/Manipulatives

Helping mom decorate for Thanksgiving by putting window decorations on.

Transferring leaves and acorns with tongs.

I stuck spaghetti noodles in playdoh balls and then gave her a cup of cheerios to string on. This was by far her most favorite activity of the week. Hmm wonder why - one for the noodle, one for me! ;) She was very careful though when stringing the O's on and I was very impressed with her concentration.

Working on lines and circles in her workbook. And then magically erasing it with tissue. She's usually good for 2-3 pages of this at a time.

Outings and Playdates...

We got to go up to our friend Maya's for the day. The girls loved playing with shaving cream. I added some red & yellow food coloring in and crossed my fingers they wouldn't start flinging it everywhere. Maya was very interested & dainty with hers. Meg, you guessed it, dove right in and was done within minutes. Argh, we'll have to work on that. :)

The girls also used different colored ink pads and their finger tips to make these corn on the cobs. I think they turned out so cute but next time I'd love to use real colored popcorn.

And our HUGE accomplishment this week was having our 1st successful dental visit for Meg. Last time she wouldn't even open her mouth...this time she loved every minute of it! The cool sunglasses, opening wide, letting them count & clean her teeth, getting to watch Scooby Dooey (!), and picking out her prize at the end. The only thing she didn't have patience for was the fluoride treatment. The hygienist said the trays were too big for her mouth so she just brushed it on with a toothbrush and I think at that point she had had enough.


Life Lessons

Spreading her own jam on her PB&J.

~ Mom's Favorite Picture ~

I think this is my fav because we were listening to Christmas music, drinking hot chocolate out of Christmas mugs with whipped cream and Xmas sprinkles. They were so cute and chatty as we sat and drank our treat. Love moments like this when nothing else is going on!