Treats 4 Your Tots

Here are some more cool giveaways for tots/moms of tots, check them out below and let us know if you win something we told you about!!!!

• We Choose Virtues…ends 11/2/11
• Little Drummer Boy Veggie Tales DVD…ends 11/11/11
• HABA Sorting Box Animals...ends 11/11/11
• Tiny Love Move & Play Gym…ends 11/11/11
• Bright Starts Roadster…ends 11/14/11
• Pick & Draw…ends 11/8/11

Bolded are items we personally own and love!  If you are hosting a TOT friendly giveaway you are free to leave a link in the comments section!

Get Real with God ~ Wisdom

My two most favorite books of the bible are Proverbs and James.  And not surprisingly both of these books deal practically and fervently with WISDOM.

As a teen I used wisdom to deal with difficult people at school, problems with my parents and how to spend my money.  Now as an adult I find I still need wisdom for the same things, just in a different context.

Now the difficult people at school are my own children!  I know that’s kind of funny, but it’s true isn’t it?  When you homeschool, sometimes your own children become so difficult that it’s all you can do to cry out for wisdom!  If you don’t homeschool, you still might deal with difficult teachers or other children that have a bad influence on your own.  You need just as much wisdom!

I don’t have problems with my parent’s anymore, but since I’m that parent now I need wisdom to help me deal with my own children at each level of their development.  The kind of wisdom I need in caring for my tot is a different than the kind of wisdom I need for caring for my teens. 

And money…wow…money is always money!  And these days it’s even more important to have wisdom.  Should I stock up on Peanut Butter before the prices go through the roof?

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5

Liberally-adj. Given, used, or occurring in generous amounts.

Reproach-n. The expression of disapproval or disappointment.

Do you realize that this verse tells us that God does not grow tired of our asking Him for wisdom?  And He gives it to us in GENEROUS AMOUNTS! This is so amazing!  And what’s even more amazing is that in chapter 3 of James, we learn just exactly what wisdom looks like.

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”  James 3:17

I love this because it’s a guideline to know that if I feel like the Lord has given me an idea to solve a problem it better line up with what He’s told me wisdom looks like!  It’s probably not wisdom to scream at my children, since that wouldn’t be gentle or full of mercy.  It’s probably not wisdom to throw away all my children’s toys when they leave them lying around because that wouldn’t be without hypocrisy…I leave my stuff lying around too.  You get the idea.

My encouragement to you this month is to remember that God has the answers and He’s ready and willing to help you, you just have to ask!  After you’ve asked, listen for His answer.  When you think you’ve heard something, see if it lines up with His word, then GO FOR IT!  If wisdom was good enough to help establish the foundations of the earth, it’s good enough to help us in our Tot-Raising!

Once Upon A Book ~ Leaf Man

 

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert 

Book Summary ~ With a body made of fallen leaves and acorns for eyes, Leaf Man takes off from a backyard and flutters away on the breeze, meandering past animals, over fields of fall vegetables, above waterways, and across prairie meadows. From ducks to pumpkins to fish, all of the objects described are fashioned out of life-size leaves of various shapes, sizes, and colors.

Bible Verse

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (Isaiah 64:6)

Nature Walk

Before doing anything, we took a walk around our neighborhood and looked at the colors starting to peek through. Even though it is still a few weeks away from the perfect time for our area, we found some trees that had some fall color starting. While we were walking, Jonah gathered leaves in a ziploc bag to take home and use for some of our activities.

Art

The most obvious art activity was to make our own "Leaf Man" pictures. Jonah wanted to use a leaf for the body and add body features with his crayons similar to the pictures in Fall Leaves Fall, another book we had read during the week. We made a family portrait, a fish scene, a butterfly, etc. We spent lots of time coming up with pictures! Jonah told me that this was his favorite activity out of all that we did. He thought the leaf pictures we made were hilarious.

 

Leaf Sort & Patterns

I used a leaf punch from my scrapbooking supplies to punch out leaves from red, orange, yellow, and brown paper. Jonah sorted them by color and then used them to make patterns. Jonah glued the patterns on paper.

Leaf Counting

I divided a piece of paper into 6 squares and wrote numbers in each box. Jonah used some of the leaf punches to count each number. He glued them all by himself. When he was finished with the first set of numbers he asked for another number page with "big numbers." I quickly obliged!

L is for Leaf

I wrote "L is for Leaf" on a piece of paper and Jonah glued leaves on the letter L.

 

L Highlighter Tracing

I took a highlighter and quickly wrote some rows of the capital L for Jonah to trace. Using a highlighter saved me time printing out a tracing page and printer ink. It's one of my favorite quick tips for tracing practice.

Song

(sung to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell")
The leaves are falling down,
The leaves are falling down,
Red, yellow, orange, and brown,
The leaves are falling down.

Now I Know My ABCs ~ Letter Vv is for Violin

Zin!Zin! Zin! A Violin

Summary: A wonderful children’s book introducing the primary instruments of the orchestra.

Letter Theme Ideas:

We happen to have an old violin hanging on our wall. So for the first day of our Letter V week, I pointed to it and asked, “What is hanging on our wall?” My girls answered, “Violin,” which I then asked, “What sound do you hear at the beginning of the word? " We talked about what a violin does, where we might see one, and what it sounds like. Then we read the book, Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin!

We were also talking about vocal chords the same week my toddler was learning about letter V. We talked about how our voice can sound high or low. That depends on how thick our vocal chords are. We used this rubber band example to hear the different pitches. We also talked about how the rubber bands were vibrating to make the sound. I thought this worked perfectly with our letter V study!

We viewed Sesame Street's Letter V video on YouTube and also watched a couple of violin performances online.

I printed off some letter pictures from Homeschool Share. Instead of creating a booklet, I had my girls play a beginning letter sort. For my tot, I had picture cards of items beginning with the letter D and the letter V. While saying the name of each picture, she sorted them into the correct pile.

We went over our Letter V handwriting sheet and poem. You can download it under the Letter V heading on the ABC printables site.

Here’s a violin letter craft created by Jolanthe that is a perfect addition to this theme.
Other ABC Resources
ABC Printables from Homeschool Creations
Letter of the Week Curriculum from COAH
ABC Flashcards and More from 1+1+1=1
ABC Letter Crafts
Songs for Saplings ABC Verses

What’s in the Tub ~ Circus

Next month our theme at Totally Tots is the Circus.  Here are some ideas for you to use in a sensory tub with your little one to explore the theme up close and personal.   

What’s in the Tub?: 

• green rice  
• moveable animal erasers
• ribbon (for tightrope)
• glitter pom poms
• peg people (we painted these) ~ strong man, clown, tightrope walking girl, and the ringmaster
• letter tiles
• Read! Build! Write! circus cards from Homeschool Creations

So, what fun things did we do with the tub? 

• Our peg people performed various acts such as tightrope walking

• the ringmaster helped the elephants roll balls

• we counted how many time the strongman could pick up his weights

 

• we counted and stacked lions and a tiger

 

• we counted pom poms and sorted them by color
• searched for letter tiles to spell out the Read! Build! Write! circus words

What’s in the Tub? is a feature that focuses on fun sensory tub ideas to go along with the monthly theme at Totally Tots.   Click here to see past sensory tub ideas.

Treats 4 Tots

Here are some more cool giveaways for tots/moms of tots, check them out below and let us know if you win something we told you about!!!!

• Montessori at Home & Montessori Print Shop Combo…ends 10/25/11
• Kolcraft Jeep Stroller…ends 10/31/11
• $50 Educational Insights…ends 10/31/11
• Medela Pump…ends 11/2/11
• Kokopax Carrier…ends 11/2/11
• Tommy Tippee Newborn Starter Set…ends 11/7/11

Bolded are items we personally own and love!  If you are hosting a TOT friendly giveaway you are free to leave a link in the comments section!

In My Heart ~ Matthew 12:34

The Mouth {Matthew 12:34} is #6 from Seeds of Praise.

Full Page Verse Printable…

Verse Mini Book {which could also be cut into mini flash cards to have kids put the verse in order}… 

Copy Work Tracers {print & cursive} 

Copy Work Sheets… 

Full Verse Coloring Pages…

Seeds Family Worship printables here!

Visit the main Seeds Family Worship Printables page here.

Visit Seeds Family Worship to learn more about their ministry here!

Simple verse cards from Seeds, and also a verse memorization checklist can be found here on their site!

Once Upon a Book ~ Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf

 Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf

by Lois Ehlert

Summary:  Lois Ehlert teaches you about the life cycle of a maple tree . . . that is fun and delightful to read.  What I like?  A few of the pages have leaves actually cut into them!  (I’m a texture girl!)

Bible verse:  Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years.”  Genesis 1:14

Activities

Rake Leaves

This is the first year that Gabe has had any desire to help rake leaves.  So . . . I Iet him.  I was actually pretty impressed with his precision and handling of the rake! 

He also had some fun jumping in our new compost bin . . . pretending to be a grape leaf stomper.

 

Leaf Snake

I found this idea first at Delightful Learning who found it from Cindy, at Along the Way (who also found it elsewhere).

Supplies

• button
• tote strap/ribbon (approximately 1 foot long)
• thread
• needle
• felt (red and yellow)
• scissors

Directions

• Sew button on to the end of the ribbon.  Make sure to use a larger button.
• Cut out felt shapes. 
• Fold felt in half to make slits slightly smaller than your button with a pair of scissors
• Have your kiddo thread the shapes over the button and down the ribbon!

 

Draw A Maple Leaf

My sister occasionally sends me some great art blog posts that she has discovered.  And I am now passing them on to you after asking Kathy, the blog owner of Art Projects for Kids.  Drawing the maple leaf would be a great activity to combine ages.  Allow your older children to draw the leaf, but have that cute tot of yours color the maple leaf in! 

 

Click on the picture for instructions!

 

Gabe and I modified this activity.  I had him gather red and yellow leaves . . . and brown leaves.

• He I sorted them according to color.

• Counted the points of each leaf.

• And colored an imprint of the leaf.

To do this, take all of the paper off the crayon of your choice.  Place leaf under a sheet of thin paper.  You can tape the leaf with masking tape . . . knowing that it “could” rip should you opt to remove the leaf. 

Hold the paper for your child, while they lay the crayon sideways (horizontally) and slide the crayon back and forth over the hidden leaf. 

 

Tissue Paper Leaf Painting

Supplies

• the above leaf made into a pattern on cardstock
• tissue paper
• Sharpie
• watercolor paint
• glue stick
• watercolor paper
• these instructions from Art Projects for Kids

If you draw, cut, and later trace around the leaves, your child could glue them on and accomplish the painting . . . leaving them feeling very proud of their accomplishment!

 

Textured Fall Leaves

 

Supplies

• paper towels cut into leaves
• water
• glue
• paint brush
• watercolor paper
• crayons
• watercolor paint
• instructions from Art for Kids

Your tot just might be able to tear leaves on already traced paper towels.  You might also let them try to cut out the leaves.  I really like this project because you are using a texture . . . and when the paper towel gets wet, it will delight your tot!!!!

Head on over to Granola Mom 4 God to win this great Fall Unit Study from The Simple Homeschool  – 66 pages!  A great compliment to Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf for your older children. 

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!