Activities to help your little one hold the pencil better!

I have been having such a hard time teaching Fast Eddy how to correctly hold the pencil. He stills holds it with his entire hand around it. I feel like he would write so much better if he just knew how to properly hold it. I came across an article a couple years ago in Parenting with some activities to help with this issue, here are a few plus some others I came across.

• Have your little one peel an nectarine, this will help him with dexterity.
  
• Let your little one color with those broken crayons. He will naturally have to hold the crayon properly in order to color.
• Have your child do a water transfer activity with a medicine dropper. This will help with finger strength and coordination.
• Practice cutting skills- this hand movement will help with handwriting.
• Rip, rip, and rip some more. The pincher grasp needed to rip is the same as when handwriting.
• Use tweezers for transferring.
• Give your child some rubber bands to place around a water bottle.

I also came across a great post at Rocks in My Dryer , about holding a pencil with a kleenex. I might have to try her activity, I think it just might do the trick.

So, what did you do to help your preschooler properly grip the pencil?

Eco-Friendly Review- Little Green Books!

Trying to teach your little ones how to love and respect the Earth? LITTLE GREEN BOOKS can help! Little Green books is a series of books, designed to teach children how to be GREEN!



They not only talk about being green, but they are MADE green! These books are made from recycled materials such as cardboard and plastic. They also use vegetable and soy inks for a completely non toxic recycled book! Completely safe for my baby to chew on!

I was so excited to receive our books, and the boys took to them immediately. They demanded to read through them all RIGHT away! My favorite part is the glossary in the end with words from the story. I plan on using these books for upcoming Earth Day!

Little Green Books not only makes these great books, but they also offer online games to accompany them. Fast Eddy and his gaming self sat for 1/2 hour playing the Recycle game with the "Garbage Monster"! If you are looking for a little something extra, they also offer free printables to go along with the stories. As a homeschool mother, I love pulling it all together to make a complete lesson. They offer a complete Earth day kit, free to download!

Here are the books that we reviewed!

Carrot Tops FAVORITE!

I show up bright against the sky.
I swoop and swoosh and flutter by.
What can I be?
What do you see?

From a panda bear to a butterfly, each spread in this lift-the-flap book features text and die cuts which hint at the animal's identity, until finally it is revealed by lifting the flap! And, it is composed of 100% recycled material, too! Ages 2-5.

Peek into this diary of an aluminum can as it goes on a journey from inside a bauxite rock under the beaches of Jamaica, to the manufacturing line, to the store shelf, to a garbage can, and finally to a recycling plant where it emerges into its new life...as a baseball bat! Ages 4-6.



Come along with a mother and daughter as they dig up soil, plant a flower bed, and water the seeds to make their very first garden. Together they watch the colorful vegetables grow, grow, grow! This book teaches a first concept of colors as well. The book has a handle die-cut through on every page so kids can take the book with them wherever they go! Ages 2-5.

This is a wonderful workbook!

Everyone's talking about the environment these days, especially kids. But what can kids do? A lot! This book is filled with cool coloring pages, Earth-saving tips, fun facts, and easy activities kids can do to help the environment. It's just what kids need to be green all by themselves! Ages 4-8.

Fast Eddy's FAVORITE!

Kids can follow Max the Little Green Monster's journey to environmental awareness and learn tips on how they can become little green monsters themselves. A kid-friendly glossary of terms is included in the back of the book. Ages 4-6.

We strive everyday to be a more eco conscious family but it is hard to explain to children why saving the planet is so important. That's where these books are amazing! They put it in terms that even very young children can understand. They have books for every age, including fuzzy books for the wee ones. They are reasonably price, and are very well made. These will last a long time, and will help make our planet last!

So, Gear up for Earth Day and check out LITTLE GREEN BOOKS! Lets band together and raise children who will love and nurture our Earth.

DISCLAIMER: I was not paid for this post. I was given a product to review, and I have provided my own honest opinion. Thanks, Little Green Books for allowing us to review your books.You can view our PR policies here.

IBOARD IS FREE NOW!!!

One of our favorite online game sites, is now completely FREE! It used to allow you to play for 60 days but now it is all free. It has great games for all ages, and it is seperated by topic. Check it out! Fast Eddy has enjoyed playing them along with his lessons!

TES IBOARD

Farm Animals- Sheep

Sheep Day:

We started with our bible Verse Psalms 23:1
"The Lord is my shepard, I shall not want" We talked a long time about this verse, and Fast Eddy actually understood it. I wasn't expecting that. He told me that he liked knowing that if he sinned and went away from God, that God would know it and find him. Thats was after explaining everything a shepard does, but I was still amazed that he understood the concept.

Next we worked on his sheep page, and wrote down sheep facts and his verse. These will go into his little farm animal book he is making.
We read a farm story together, and we practiced our listening skills. The story was about chores on the farm, and when we were done I had Fast Eddy try to remember the chores that were done in the story and the order. He didnt do so well. We will be working on this skill alot more often.

Next, the boys rummaged through my scraps bin on a hunt for wool scraps for a collage. They found white fauz fur first and wanted that for their craft instead. Here is Fast Eddys shaggy sheep!

We played a few games online to go along with the farm animal lessons.
Remember the Iboard games I told you about? Well they have a few farm animal games you can play. They have an animal sounds game, baby matching game, and a few more. Fast Eddy really enjoys them!

He also did a farm phonics game here.

Here is a great site for Farm animal links: http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/farmanim.html

Tomorrow is Ducks.

Yeah, we are dorks!

Kids are such a great excuse to be dorky!

Open Ended Art

What have your little ones created today all by themselves? Open ended art is so important for children, to express themselves and to just create from the heart. I typically like to use recycled things, so here is my little's recycled open art.

Carrot Top's winter scene with fabric and tin foil!
Fast Eddy's nature collage from items we collected on our nature walk.
Carrot Tops nature collageWhat recycled/natural materials did your little's work with this week?

Farm animals- PIGS

We are going to the local fair on Friday, so this week we are going over farm animals!The boys wanted to do pigs first, so pigs it was!


The boys favorite part- ACTING LIKE PIGS!
I cut a toilet paper tube in half, and had the boys paint them pink. I cut out a small pink circle from construction paper, and had the boys hole punch 2 nostril holes in the circle. We taped it to the snot, and tied on 2 pieces of yarn through holes I punched out on the side.


Pigs like to roll in the mud, so the kids did too! I layed out a brown sheet and Fast Eddy rolled and rolled. Carrot top was too afraid to put on the snot so he didn't want to participate in rolling either. He was just laughing at us!

We are planning on making a little farm book, so the boys worked on their pig page. I cut out an Elllison pig die cut, and they glued it to the page. Fast Eddy wanted to paint his with "mud"! They decorated the page with a few pig stickers, and Fast Eddy wrote his pig facts on the back. What is a wild pig called? A baby pig? What do pigs do for us? For the farm?
For a snack they enjoyed some good ole pig slop! Yogurt, granola, fruit, nuts, shredded carrots, and m&m's! We read a few farm books, and worked on several worksheets out of a preschool book! He journaled "If I were a pig............". He would eat everything and not worry about being fat! Hmmm I wonder where he got that from. Mother tip to myself: Do NOT say I can't eat that because it will make me fat out loud in front of my children!

CreativOnline Award- My first award!

Today I received my first award, the CreativOnline award! I am so excited! I was nominated by Mama to 3 Blessings for my creativeness and my love for sharing ideas! Now I get to pass it along to other moms that show creativity and share ideas! I am nominating:

Montessori Moments
Mama Jenn
Making of a Montessori Mum
The Shafer Family
Adventures in Mommydom
The fifth street Academy

The rules for accepting this award:

Put the logo on your blog (copy and paste it) or within your post.

Nominate 5 (or more) blogs to pass the award on to.

Link the nominees in your post.

Let the nominees know you've given them this award by commenting on their blog.

Share the love and link back to the person from whom you received this award.

Thank you again!

AWANAS- Bible class

We recently put Fast Eddy into Awana classes! He loves it and it is full of other homeschooled children. Every week they are to memorize bible verses, and when they return the next week they earn Awana dollars and patches. He has been learning so much, and really enjoys the accompanying crafts. I am so proud of him for working hard at completing his workbook and learning the verses.He is really working on getting patches for his vest (so cute). If you are looking for something for your little one to do- Check out Awana's!

Do you go to Awanas?

Tot school- 25 months

Carrot top- 25 months

We worked on our peg boards this week- first with stacking and then color sorting.

Carrot top REALLY liked the sorting box from the Resource library. It comes with 6 different sets of items to sort. He liked the balls the best!
He practiced his cutting skills with his natural turmeric playdough. He also used an old back rubber to roll it out with spikes!He also worked on the Adam and Eve lesson- making his own serpent chain.

And finally after a week of off and on fever and pain following his sugery Monday, he got to go to the park!

Baby signs Giveaway ends tomorrow!

WINNER IS NOW KARINA!! You have 48 hours to email me your address! Thanks!





The Baby Signs Giveaway is ending tomorrow! Jump in and Sign up!

Generation Moms Review!

Remember when I posted that you should sign up to become a Generation Mom reviewer? Well, you should have, but if you didn't............go and do it! I just received my first review from them and I am in LOVE!!!!! I was lucky enough to receive the new Kids II InGenuity Playard!

Kids II InGenuity Playard

I wish that this play pen was available when I had my other children. It has features that make life as a mom much easier! In my opinion, none other compare.

• Zipper bassinet top! No more detachable bassinet that never folds up or fits in the bag. No lost bars or accessories! This is the only playard available with this feature! I used to never fold up our old playpen because I didn't want to deal with the detachable top and losing pieces and carrying around all the extra pieces because it didn't fit into the bag. This solves that problem completely. When it is time to pack up, the bassinet top stays put; you just fold up and go! Need to use it without the topper, just unzip!

• Perfect Height changing table, so no more aching backs! It also flips back when not in use- something my "other" playpen lacks! Now I can see baby completely, and the table is not her only viewing option.
  

• It also has an incline for baby, easily adjusted with just a zipper. It is only a 10 percent incline, so nothing major but it does help with reflux. Keeping baby elevated will not only help with digestion but also great when baby is feeling under the weather.
  

• Very large storage tray to hold toys and wipes. It is a simple 3 pocket tray to accommodate anything.

• Auto-lock wheels so the boys can not push her all around! I think that feature was made just for moms with boys!

It folds up super easy and is compact in a zippered case. I also love the serene nature print! It is a firm mattress but not uncomfortable for baby. This product retails at Target for $99.99, and is worth every penny. This is much cheaper than it's competitors and truly has features that make it stand out! This is a registry must have! You can check out the full Demo Here. Thank you Kids II for such an awesome product!

*Disclaimer: This was not a paid post and I did not receive compensation for this post. This opinion is solely my own and are honest opinions. I did receive this product for the review(Thanks Kids II). You can read our policies here. Thank you!

Frugal Learning!

We lack a large dry erase board can't afford it right now so we are improvising! I taped white paper on the outside of our slider doors, and then had Fast Eddy write his numbers on the inside of the doors with a dry erase marker! Our markers wipe right off. I placed the paper on the outside so he could see his numbers clearer. He loved being able to write standing up, and writing on things he normally wouldn't be allowed too was a bonus!

Here he is writing to 70- He hopes! He is at 43 in this picture!
I have ideas for this in the future!