Story+Art "The Very Busy Spider" by Eric Carle (Spider Craft)

Well, that's a pretty long title...but I wanted to make sure that it could be differentiated because we plan on doing some more crafts about this book this week!

Yesterday on our way to the zoo, I was talking with Dear Sweet Hubby about how I didn't think LBB was necessarily interested in focusing on a letter a week (in addition to a weekly theme.) And then I started talking about how he seemed much more interested in reading the same book over and over and over for a week, and it dawned on me...

Why don't I focus on one story and do a few projects throughout the week that tie into that story. Think story+art, along with a little learning (like a field trip that ties in), and voila...my hybrid of preschool for toddler. :) We are still going to do a weekly theme, but this replaces the major focusing on the alphabet...he's not even 2 yet, so we can postpone that (although we do still point letters out, of course.)

At the zoo, LBB fell in love with "The Very Busy Spider" by Eric Carle (and tried to get a little girl he met to read it to him...what a charmer.) So, of course, I bought it for him, because it is for his preschool, after all...sooooo, that makes it ok. ;)

We decided to do his first project with the book today. A sweet little Paper Towel tube spider. Read on for directions!

The materials we used: A paper towel tube, cut to about 1 1/2 inches. A piece of black construction paper, cut to a length to fit around the tube with a little bit of overlap. 8 pieces of construction paper (cut 1/2" by 3 1/4"), and two wiggly eyes. (Because what kind of spider is it if it doesn't have wiggly eyes.)

LBB had a blast trying to make a glue fountain. :) I put the construction paper around the tube for him, since he is so little...I used invisible tape because it was quicker.

Inspecting the glue bottle before starting his project. We started with a little glue on the end of one leg, and put the leg on the inside of the tube. LBB got about halfway through and decided he was done gluing, so I used tape on the rest and tape to reinforce. After all the legs are attached to the inside, I folded them at the edge of the tube so they sat nicely. This becomes the bottom.

Then, just add a little glue to the eyes (or use those fancy self adhesive ones if you have them...I'm beginning to think they would be worth the investment), and you have a cute little spider. :) LBB's favorite part of any project like this is always gluing the eyes on...it's quite adorable.

Tot School: Week 1

LBB is 16.5 Months.

Theme of the Week: Our Body

This was our first week of Tot School, and we had lots of fun! We are learning what works best for us. So, here's our weekly recap!

Monday

Dear Sweet Hubby was home when we did Tot School today, so LBB and Dear Sweet Hubby worked on putting the eyes, mouth, and nose on the face I cut out of cardstock paper. LBB did ok with this...but had more fun trying to eat the paper eyes. He did have lots of fun pointing out everyone's nose, and could point to his nose when asked. He still has a bit of trouble with his eyes and nose, but every so often he can point to them when asked. We went with my Mom to pick my Dad up, and on the way there, LBB had a blast pointing out the airplane he saw and all the trucks and buses. I am going to make sure we do a week about cars, trucks, planes, and trains. :)

LBB also had a blast dancing to Head Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. All in all, it was a wonderful first day of Tot School! We read "The Nose Book" by Al Perkins and his Sesame Street Babies Eyes & Nose, Mouth & Toes book.

Tuesday

We watched a Baby Einstein DVD called Baby DaVinci:From Head to Toe. We got through the eyes, mouth, and ears segment, and LBB was able to point to his eyes, ears, and nose more consistently, but not as often as just his nose. LBB played with his Sesame Street Your Body flashcards while I pointed to each body part on him, which he got a kick out of. We did pudding body paint in the evening (right before bathtime! HaHa!) and he had a blast painting his tummy and his arms.

But the most exciting thing was when we were reading a book called "Pirates" by Viviana Garofoli, he was able to find the little green bird that was on each page! The first time he did it with me I thought it was a fluke, but when Dear Sweet Hubby came home from work, I read the book to him, and LBB was able to find the little green bird each time as well! So exciting! We also read "The Shape of Me" by Dr. Seuss. (In the picture below.)

Wednesday

LBB was able to point to his knees while we were dancing to Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes today! I was so proud of him. He was also able to show me his foot when I asked him where it was. (He'd do this cute little leg lift thing and smile at me. Adorable.) We used his felt board and person that I made, but he was more interested in pulling the person off the felt board and trying to go for a walk with him than anything else, but that's ok. :) That's the fun of tot school! He also took his Melissa and Doug wooden food playset and fed his Bearemy a stick of butter. I asked him if he could feed Bearemy and put the food in his mouth, and LBB got it right away. :)

Thursday

We discovered that since this is usually storytime day, we are going to skip doing Tot School at home on the days he has storytime at the library. He gets so much stimulation from storytime that by the time we get home, neither of us seem very motivated to do Tot School. :)

At storytime, they learned about Springtime Animals (just in time for Easter). At the beginning of each class, they do a little drum song to introduce themselves, and as usual, LBB was nuts about the drum. He loves playing it and is the most vocal of all the kids in there when he gets the drum. They also played with little bunny and chick finger puppets, and after showing him once that it goes on the finger, he was able to put it on all by himself. He did great sharing with the others, and loved when it was parachute time. :) I love taking him to storytime because he has such fun.

When we got home, we worked on some Easter stuff. We made Jelly Bean Prayer Eggs for his PaPa, GiGi, Auntie, and Daddy, and he had a blast putting each bean in the egg. It's a great way to introduce colors! We also brought out his Easter Sensory Bin. I dyed some rice some nice springy colors, and then made some Egg Shakers out of plastic eggs (making sure to tape them shut so he couldn't get to the beans and such). We put some empty eggs in as well, and his grasshopper shovel and rake, and he went to town. LBB loves his sensory bin, and we are going to start changing it up each month with a new theme. He loves to scoop and dump the rice.

Friday

LBB didn't have any Tot School today, although we did introduce the Letter A to him. I made a Letter Basket (I'll have to take a picture this week) and put things in that start with the letter A. I also printed two A's off the computer and cut them both out. One I put some magnets on the back and put on the dishwasher (his magnet area), and the second I just let him tote around. We are taking an approach of slowly introducing each letter of the alphabet in play so that it doesn't get to structured right now. Once he gets used to Letter A and can point it out when asked, we'll introduce Letter B. :)

We also put LBB in nursery at church for the first time today! We were at the Good Friday service, and he was being very rowdy, so I brought him done there, and he did excellent! I was more nervous than he was! We also brought him on Easter, and he had even more fun, and found another little guy his age to play with. So sweet!

Saturday

LBB colored eggs today, and he had a BLAST! He loved dropping them in the dye and pulling them out (using his hands, of course.)

So, there's our week! We had tons of fun doing all the activities, and I look forward to this week. I noticed a big change in LBB...it really helps having some time each day taken out to focus on doing something with him. We played before, but it is easy to get distracted (Both he and I! HaHa!) so it's nice being focused. We've also had a lot more luck with meals now that I'm planning every single one of them...snacktimes included. I know I was doing a good job as a mom before, but I feel like I'm doing even better now! Yay!

No TV!

Two weeks ago, when our LBB was feeling very under the weather, all he wanted to do was sit on my lap and watch tv. He didn't want to read. He didn't want to look at a toy. Just tv.

And, at the time, I figured that he was resting, and it's always nice to be able to watch tv when you don't feel well, especially for a little guy who is only allowed a half hour of PBS Kids each day. :) (His favorites? Sesame Street, Sid the Science Kid, and Curious George. He liked Cat in the Hat for a while, but the episodes began to repeat themselves, and he picked up on it.)

But now.

Oh goodness.

Now I can't get him to sit and read with me for the life of me! There was a time when he would sit, be read to, and then read it to himself. But now, between a newfound discovery of television and all the walking he has been doing, LBB wants little to do with a book. So, this week, we are undergoing a little family experiment...no tv with LBB until Saturday.

And not that I have a problem with watching tv...I think if done in moderation, and if the content is educational, television can be useful for little ones. :) That is why when he does watch it, it is on PBS and only for a short amount of time. Before he got sick, he'd actually only watch 15 minutes and then be off. Now he could sit there for hours if you'd let him. :(

I'm hoping that this week off will help in get back in the swing of reading. :) We have a bag full of library books that we haven't even read...and we've had them for two weeks. That is completely unheard of! Normally, LBB and I finish a whole bag of books within a week. I miss reading with my little boy!

SNOW!!!

When I was still pregnant with LBB, Dear Sweet Hubby read the book "Snow" almost every night. LBB loved it then...he'd immediately start bouncing around in there. :)

So, of course, when we found out we were to get lots of snow this weekend, Dear Sweet Hubby pulled out the book for bedtime story last night. :) And when LBB awoke this morning, he got to see big, fluffy, beautiful flakes floating in the air and white all over the ground. Needless to say, LBB has spent much of his morning thus far in front of the patio window watching the snow.

And, even more adorable, he spent a bit of his watching time with Cat 2 while reading his "Snow" book.

How sweet is that?

Raising a Reader...

Even before I was pregnant, I always knew that I wanted to instill a love of reading into my child.

And once I got pregnant...I knew it was more important to me than I ever thought possible. So, we got to work. :)

Dear sweet hubby read to my belly every night before LBB made his grand entrance. As soon as we brought LBB home, he was surrounded with books. We read while he drinks his bottle. We read before naps. We read after naps. And we go to library storytime once a week, and on a fairly regular basis, make a few extra trips. Our library bag is always bursting with books...ones we've read and ones we haven't dived into.

And, to be honest, sometimes it feels like all of that doesn't matter much. Sometimes LBB just doesn't care about a book. But...that's pretty rare. :)

And then there are moments when it smacks us right in the forehead about how much he loves books. At storytime this week, he was so wrapped up in looking at a book after the class (usually they get 15 minutes of playtime at the end), that he didn't notice the kids playing together until he looked through the book a second time. :)

But today. Ah, today took my breath away and made my heart melt. LBB's aunt sent him some Halloween movies, which he loves. Thing is...he watches about 15 minutes, we pause it for another time, and he goes to do something else. Today, he was sitting watching Winnie the Pooh with his Daddy, and he suddenly got off Dear Sweet Hubby's lap. Crawled away...

...and a few minutes later, Dear Sweet Hubby looks behind the couch (it's in the center of the room), only to see LBB sitting there reading a book. My LBB left a perfectly adorable movie that he was enjoying...to go read a book. That is when it hits you that you are doing something right. :) Sigh. Everyday I am more and more proud of my LBB. He makes me smile. Makes me laugh. And makes my heart melt in the most unexpected ways. :)

Library, Library, Library

In the past two days, we have gone to the library twice...different libraries (I love living in an area with all these opportunities!), but the same result from both.

A bag full of books.

LBB loves to read. And the most exciting thing happened yesterday when we went to the library...we set him down. Let him crawl. And he picked out his books.

So, needless to say, we have books on kitties. Books on trucks. Books on animals. And...

A book about Santa.

LBB is doing his research, apparently. Figuring out how to get on the jolly old man's good side. I personally think lots of hugs and snuggles with Mommy and Daddy will yield good results in the Santa department. :)

He also picked out a few books on Thanksgiving and Autumn. Such a sweetheart, my LBB is. :) But, in the spirit of reading, we decided (a while back, actually) that we would share some of our favorite reads. So, we have a separate blog just for our reading...and I look forward to a few years from now when LBB can contribute and share what he thought. :) So, stop by What We're Reading every now and then if you want to see what we read, what we think of it, and our own special rating system. :)

Well, off I go...I picked up a few good reads that I'm dying to dive into, and since LBB is peacefully sleeping, I'm going to take advantage of this opportunity!