Now I Know My ABC’s ~ B is for Bumblebee

It's time for some fun alphabet crafts!! We hope you enjoy these! If you are new, you can visit our ABC webpage to find links to any other letters we have done, letters (with books listed) coming up, as well as the PDF of the cover sheet for your ABC notebook!

Buzz-Buzz, Busy Bees

by Dawn Bentley

Summary: A fun fuzzy touch and feel book for little ones! Cute rhyming story that follows the little bees all around the barnyard and teaches animal sounds.

This little craft has the potential to get a little…dare I say it…messy. Marker doesn’t always dry as well on the foam sheets, so little fingers *may* be a little black when the craft is done! But really, the bumblebee is so very cute, so a few smudgy fingers should be forgiven!

What You'll Need:

• Yellow foam sheet or construction paper
• Black sharpie or marker
• Wax paper
• Googly eye
• Black pipe cleaner
• Glue

How to Make the Bumblebee:

1. Cut an uppercase 'B' out of the foam sheet or construction paper. I used a foam sheet that was about 4" x 5" in size.
2. Cut out two circles from the wax paper to use as wings for your bee.
   
3. Cut the pipecleaner into two pieces ~ one should be 1/3 of the length of the pipecleaner, the other 2/3 of the length.
4. Poke the small pipecleaner through the bottom base of the 'B' to use as a 'stinger'.
5. Poke the longer pipecleaner through the upper part of the 'B' to use as the bee's antennae.
6. Have your child draw stripes on the B using the marker.
7. Glue on the googly eye and wings.

Crafty Corner ~ Thanksgiving

Native American Headdress
from No Time for Flashcards

Little Indians
from Ramblings of a Crazy Woman
Native American Dolls

from Ramblings of a Crazy Woman
Mayflower
from Ramblings of a Crazy Woman

Thanksgiving Corn
from Ramblings of a Crazy Woman

Corn Craft
from Ramblings of a Crazy Woman

Bubble Wrap Indian Corn
from No Time for Flashcards

Here's a few more sites with some fun Thanksgiving Craft ideas...

• Kaboose
• FamilyFun
• AHC Arts and Crafts
  

I also added a few more to these posts here on Totally Tots...

• Fall
• Gobble Gobble
  

Do you have an tot-friendly Thanksgiving craft on your blog? Read here first and then Email me (CarisaAtTotallyTots@gmail (dot) com) so I can add it here! If you feature crafts on your blog often, be sure to let me know in the email so I can add you to the "search" list for future posts!

Terrific Tot Sites ~ Scrapcoloring.com

Scrapcoloring.com is a site that provides free online coloring pages for kids. Think of all the great patterns and colors that scrapbook papers offer and you will get an idea of some of the fun stuff that Scrapcoloring offers!

The creators of ScrapColoring didn’t want kids to have the ‘same old, same old’ solid colors to fill in online pictures. They wanted to offer textures, patterns, and more to give kids a variety of options. Children are also able to create their own patterns and colors.

It’s so simple to use the site too:

1. Choose a picture to color.
2. Choose the colors you want to use.
3. Find a pattern you like
4. Click ‘zones’ on the picture to color in.

Once the picture is finished, you can save the picture as an image file or print it off too. One of my favorite features of the site is the first name coloring page. On this page you can create a coloring page for your child to color in their first name, or you can use it to make fun greeting cards for others! Here’s the fun I had making my name creation:

If you’d like to learn more about ScrapColoring or let your little one have some fun, be sure to visit their site and check it out. Hope you enjoy this Terrific Tot Site! To see more featured sites, click here!

Once Upon a Book ~ I Love My Family

I Love My Family
by Mark S. Bernthal

Summary: The Baxters love BOZ. He's like family to them. They teach him new things. They invite him to play. BOZ is part of God's family too. And God loves BOZ.

November's Bible Verse

During the month of November we will be learning parts of this verse each week so that by Thanksgiving time your little one will be able to say the whole verse!

"Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His loving kindness is everlasting." Psalm 106:1

This weeks' verse segment: "Praise the LORD!" and add: "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good."

Family Memory

Get out the photos, some card stock and make up a memory game for your LO's to play.

Family Memories

Start a family memories scrapbook and journal. Take pictures and write memories of all your adventures as a family.

Family Tree

Print out this adorable Bear Family Tree and make your own to add to the Family Memories book.

Song Time
from DLTK site

(sing to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell")

Some families are big. (spread arms out wide)

Some families are small (bring arms close together)

But God made our families (point up in the air) one and all!

Some families are big. (spread arms out wide)

Some families are small (bring arms close together)

But God loves our families (cross arms over chest) one and all!

Some families are big. (spread arms out wide)

Some families are small (bring arms close together)

But God keeps our families (cup hands in front) one and all!

Want to see what's coming next (and books we've done in the past)? Click here to see our Once Upon a Book webpage!

Voting Has Begun!!!

Totally Tots is nominated for Best Group Blog AND Best Curriculum Blog! We are so honored and excited, THANK YOU!!!

Also, some of our team members are nominated for their own personal blogs...

1. Best Homeschool Mom {Carisa @ 1+1+1=1, Jolanthe @ Homeschool Creations}

3. Blog Design {Jolanthe @ Homeschool Creations}

5. Crafts. Plans & Projects {Carisa @ 1+1+1=1, Jolanthe @ Homeschool Creations}

17. Funniest {Jolanthe @ No Ordinary Moments}

18. Best Cyber-Buddy {Carisa @ 1+1+1=1, Jolanthe @ No Ordinary Moments}

20. SUPER Homeschooler {Carisa @ 1+1+1=1, Jolanthe @ Homeschool Creations}

22. Nitty Gritty {Carisa @ 1+1+1=1}

25. Homeschooling Methods {Carisa @ 1+1+1=1}

Were YOU nominated? I'd love to know which of our Totally Tots readers are on the list that we may not know about, please do tell in the comment-your blog name and the category you are nominated in!! And if you are one of the people who nominated us, THANK YOU!!

Before voting, click here to see the rules, then vote away!

In My Heart ~ Gg James 1:17

Verses are from: Songs for Saplings: ABCs
(You can get it here, or here)

Find the PDF files to download here!

See our Raising Rock Stars posts here!

See our intro post about teaching Bible memory verses to tots here.

Now I Know My ABC's ~ A is for Alligator

It's time for some fun alphabet crafts!! We hope you enjoy these! If you are new, you can visit our ABC webpage to find links to any other letters we have done, letters (with books listed) coming up, as well as the PDF of the cover sheet for your ABC notebook!

The Lady with the Alligator Purse
Adapted by Nadine Wescott

Summary: A fun lyrical rhyme all about Tiny Tim and his adventures as he drinks bathwater, eats soap, and even tries to eat the bathtub. Wonderful illustrations with a different twist to the story!

I'm a sucker for a fun story ~ especially one that is also a song! When we started going through the alphabet this year, we began doing a little craft each week that looked like the letter we were talking about. I found packs of foam sheets (5 1/2 x 8 1/2 size) at our Dollar Tree and also Michaels, and they make a great squishy base for our letter crafts.

Our story this week focuses on an alligator, so we used this great idea from No Time for Flashcards.

What You'll Need:

• Green foam sheet or construction paper
• White foam triangles (or construction paper)
  
• Black sharpie or marker
• Googly eyes
  
• Glue
  

How to make the 'A' Alligator:

1. Cut an uppercase 'A' out of the foam sheet or construction paper. I used a foam sheet that was about 4" x 5" in size. Also cut two triangles from the green foam to use for the eyes.
   
2. Cut small triangles out of the white foam to use as teeth for the alligator.
   
3. Turn the 'A' onto its side and glue the green triangles to the 'A' so that they look like eyes popping up.
4. Glue googly eyes onto the the green triangles.
5. Add teeth for your alligator and enjoy!
   

Cute Tots

Tots sure are cute, aren't they? Be sure to click on the photos to visit the mom bloggers of these cute tots!

Is one of these tots your tot (or has your tot been featured as a Cute Tot in the past)? Grab this button for your blog to share with your readers...

<a href="http://totallytots.blogspot.com/search/label/Cute%20Tots" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Cute Tot" src="http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv250/carisafrank/cutetotfeature150.jpg" /></a>

Want to send in a photo of your Cute Tot? Click Here!

Terrific Tot Sites ~ Tot School Highlights

Every Sunday Carisa hosts a feature on her other blog called Tot School. If you are one who doesn't know that, you can go here to read more about it! She has over 60 moms joining up weekly, so there are plenty of wonderful resources and ideas to find.

This week I'd like to introduce you to Lindsay at Bytes of Memory. Lindsay is a working mom who has one little boy, Sammy, that she does lots of fun stuff with. If you're wondering about her blog name {Bytes vs. Bites}....well, let's just say she and her hubby are rather techie. :)

Sammy is currently 29 months old and definitely keeps his mom busy! Here are a few fun things that they've been doing together.

A number train puzzle with pegs for counting...

They made the fun pond activity that Totally Tots featured earlier this year. Lindsay got creative and made a 3D cattail using a stale hot dog bun and some construction paper.

Sorting by color using some ice cube stars...

Using all different kinds of tongs to practice transferring things like cotton balls...

Learning about the letters of the alphabet together by making some fun crafts...

Lindsay has been putting together some fun alphabet and also some seasonal crafts too over the last few weeks. Here's a little sample...

Be sure to stop by and visit Lindsay and say hi! Hope you enjoy this Terrific Tot Site! To see more featured sites, click here!

Once Upon a Book ~ Give Thanks to the Lord

Give Thanks to the Lord : Celebrating Psalm 92
by Karma Wilson

Summary: Give Thanks to the Lord celebrates joy of all kinds, from the arrival of distant relatives to a cozy house already filled with merriment, to apple cider and the delicious smells of roasting turkey and baking pies.

November's Bible Verse

During the month of November we will be learning parts of this verse each week so that by Thanksgiving time your little one will be able to say the whole verse!

"Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His loving kindness is everlasting." Psalm 106:1

This weeks' verse segment: "Praise the LORD!"

Thankful Jar

Get a jar and decorate it. add a slip of paper with something each member is thankful for (you can do this daily or weekly) and read them all on thanksgiving day.'

Nursing Home Visit

Bake some treats and take them to a Nursing Home with your kids they love seeing kids and getting visitors. Call ahead to make sure its ok!

Song Time

We are Thankful
(to the tune of "Are You Sleeping")

We are thankful, we are thankful,
For our food, for our food.
And our many blessings,
And our many blessings,
Thank you Lord. Thank you Lord.

(Author Unknown)

Want to see what's coming next (and books we've done in the past)? Click here to see our Once Upon a Book webpage!