Tot School Time!

My friend Jess has a really fun blog (and a daughter that is just a week or so younger than Maddie) and participates in something called Tot School. I stumbled upon it and am just totally hooked. It's such a fun way to share ideas and this is my first week actually participating (I hope I did it right!!). You can read more about it by clicking on the link in my sidebar, but it's just a way to exchange ideas and show everything that we did with our toddlers throughout the week.

This was a big hit with Maddie. I took a muffin tin (a cheap disposable one because the dollar store was out) and glued colored circles into the cups. Then, I took a handful of these buttons and hid them in our family room. She had to "find" the buttons (which was her very favorite part) and then classify them in the correct color muffin cup. We played again and again and again...

I actually got this idea on The Tot School blog (how I love it! I've spent hours reading it and getting ideas!). I used glass pebbles (or, "magic rocks") and did the vowels blue and the consonants red (so that they match her sandpaper letters that I made). She worked diligently when I introduced them but hasn't chosen them again. And, I haven't done much to change that since I still want to laminate them. Ha! Oh, and I did a name strip for every family member.

Oh, this was fun. Our letter we were working on was L, so went on a nature walk, looking for leaves. Maddie and Michael found all sorts of leaves up high and down low.

Then, we came home and made the L. I put a piece of wax paper on top and then let my monstrous old laptop lay on top of it overnight. The next day, it was perfectly flat and dry (and cute, right?!).

Maddie is always asking me if she can paint. She loves it. So, I unrolled a huge piece of paper (Ikea sells these great rolls for cheap) on our kitchen floor and put out bowls of paint. Each bowl had a different item to paint with, such as a feather, a scrubber, a sponge, ect. Her aunties helped her and she had a blast.

Her best buddy, Kayla, got her this doll highchair for her birthday and she loves taking care of Cowboy in it.

We also made our N is for night. I bought a cheap scrapbooking album and we keep all our letter creations in it. It's really turning out cute.

I know that this has been seen a million times on other blogs, but this has probably been Maddie's very favorite craft thus far (and that's saying a lot for her). Last week, I had her lay down (on the Ikea paper) and I traced her. Then, all three of us worked together to color her in. I hung it on Maddie's door and every time we go in and out of her room, she makes sure to let you know that she colored in the nails and heart and Daddy made the shoes. :)

This was a game I'd made a long time ago, but when I reorganized her shelves, it sparked a renewed interest. I bought these bathtub non-slip things at the dollar store and added a bowl of marbles. We each take a duck or starfish and go around taking turns, balancing the marble on the tiny suction cup.

This one just made me happy. I could hear her talking and found her in the office, talking to her magnetic letters. She was saying, "Go here M. Oh, hiiiiiii L!"

*Now that I reread this, she sounds a little eccentric. Lol. I just liked that she independently chose these to play with and was so content doing so.

Last one (we did a lot this week! Ha!)... She mastered (and I don't know whether this is good or not) holding the cell phone and chatting. In this one, she was carrying on quite the conversation with Daddy while I was driving home. :)