Cake Patterns ~ Once Upon a Book

A Birthday For Frances by Russell Hoban

Summary: Sometimes it is hard when siblings have birthdays. Frances is a little envious of her sister Gloria and all her birthday attention. Mother and Father Badger are gentle and wise in their handling of their imaginative and precocious offspring.

Early Math Skills:

 

This is a very easy patterning activity to use during a birthday theme.

Supplies:

cake die-cuts (I found mine at the Dollar Tree)
circle stickers 

 

I placed color dots on the cake die-cuts, making sure I had a set of 5 for each color. Then I made a pattern and placed it in our pocket chart.  Then I had my daughter point to each cake in the top row and say the color of the dot.  “Green, purple, green, purple, ---- what comes next?”  Then she would pick the correct cake to complete the pattern.

Once we were done with patterns, I took several pairs of cakes and we played Cake Memory with the cards.

 

During this whole unit we practiced singing the months of the year. I also have a months of the year printable that hangs by our calendar so that we can practice and point out the current month. We talk about which family members have birthdays in each month.

She knew that her cousin Jack’s birthday was coming up, so she asked if she could make him a card.

She used scraps of wrapping paper plus an extra cake die-cut to decorate her card.

Simple yet fun activities to do with your toddler during a birthday theme! Check out all the past Birthday-themed posts for more toddler activity ideas.

Cake Color Match ~ Once Upon a Book

A Birthday For Frances by Russell Hoban

Summary: Sometimes it is hard when siblings have birthdays. Frances is a little envious of her sister Gloria and all her birthday attention. Mother and Father Badger are gentle and wise in their handling of their imaginative and precocious offspring.

 Fine Motor Skills Plus Color Recognition:

Here’s a simple activity that your tot can do to work their finger muscles and learn their colors at the same time.

Supplies:

Cake Color Match Printable
cardstock
clothespins
markers

 

Directions:

Print the cake color wheel out on to cardstock. Cut around the circle and laminate if desired. Gather 8 clothes pins. Color a dot on the end that opens.  Have your child match the color dots.

 

 

I originally made this with my young tot in mind, but it was my older tot (almost preschooler) who really enjoyed it! For young children, learning how to open and close the pins will be a new skill. If they can’t grasp the pins, have them lay the clothes pin on the right color. In order to practice working those finger muscles, just let your child clip clothes pins around the circle in any order.

Click here for all the Birthday-themed posts.

Wrapping Paper Station ~ Once Upon a Book

A Birthday For Frances by Russell Hoban

Summary: Sometimes it is hard when siblings have birthdays. Frances is a little envious of her sister Gloria and all her birthday attention. Mother and Father Badger are gentle and wise in their handling of their imaginative and precocious offspring.

Wrapping Paper Station:

Whenever I have gifts to wrap, my children always want to help. I set up this activity so that my older toddler could practice helping me wrap presents.

 

Supplies:

wrapping paper
scissors
medium-size objects
tape or pop-up tape
optional: bows

 

First I cut the wrapping paper into manageable pieces. Then I went ahead and placed several pieces of tape along the edge of the yellow bin. My daughter was not able to use a tape dispenser on her own. Having pop-up tape dispensers would make this activity a little more independent for students. I helped her wrap one of her toys. I would hold the fold while she taped it. After a few times, she was able to wrap things on her own—in a toddler fashion ;).

 

She wrapped and rewrapped items. Then she handed them out to her sisters and had a pretend birthday party.

Extension:

Another extension of this activity would be to have long strips of wrapping paper already cut. Then let your tot cut little strips off. Use as confetti.

Click here for all the Birthday-themed posts.

Mommy Made Printables ~ Birthday

We are excited to share some BIRTHDAY printables for you to use with your tots as you explore together!

Birthday Printables {from Homeschool Creations}

Birthday Printables {from 1+1+1=1}

Cupcakes and Candles {from Mama Jenn}

Birthday Fun {from 2 Teaching Mommies}

Do you have any free BIRTHDAY printables {free} YOU have created {and share}? If so, leave a link to your blog post in the comments below!

Birthday Party Game ~ Once Upon a Book

A Birthday For Frances by Russell Hoban

Summary: Sometimes it is hard when siblings have birthdays. Frances is a little envious of her sister Gloria and all her birthday attention. Mother and Father Badger are gentle and wise in their handling of their imaginative and precocious offspring.

Birthday Games:

Here is a simple yet fun game to play at a real or pretend birthday party! You will need party blowers and pom poms.

Place the pom poms in a line by your child. Have them try to blow the pom poms across the table with the party blower. My girls had so much fun trying to get the pom poms across the table. This simple game allowed them to focus and work those mouth muscles needed for speech.

My three-year old decided to try using the blower to keep a balloon up in the air. That was hard! Next she tried to see how high she could get the balloon in the air.

We did a different version of this game with my preschool co-op class a couple years ago. The children were playing with our birthday party sensory bin and one child started using the blower to knock all the Noodles off the table.

Click here for all the Birthday-themed posts.

Crafty Corner ~ Birthdays

 

Pretend Cupcakes from No Time for Flashcards

 

Birthday Party Hat Craft/Activity from Spell Outloud

 

No Bake Cupcake Craft from Spell Outloud

 

Playdough Cupcake from Spell Outloud

 

Toilet Paper Roll Gift Wraps from Ramblings of a Crazy Woman

 

Do you share tot-friendly crafts on your blog? If so, please read here first and then email me (JennAtTotallyTots@gmail (dot) com)! I would love to add you to the "search" list for future posts! Do you have a BIRTHDAY themed craft on your blog that is not already linked here? Please feel free to share your craft by leaving the link to it in a comment!

A Birthday for Frances ~ Once Upon a Book

A Birthday For Frances by Russell Hoban

 

Summary: Sometimes it is hard when siblings have birthdays. Frances is a little envious of her sister Gloria and all her birthday attention. Mother and Father Badger are gentle and wise in their handling of their imaginative and precocious offspring.

Practicing Colors, Shapes, and Numbers:

 

 

Practicing colors and shapes can be so much fun with a birthday theme. One of the activities we did was roll and create a birthday hat. Using foam stickers and our photo-block dice, each child created a custom hat craft and practiced learning their shapes. You can find the complete birthday hat craft instructions on Spell Outloud.

 

Using the same photo-blocks but just changing the inserts, my girls played a cute feed-the-cat game. You can download the cat and cupcake printables under the Letter C.

We also printed some of the pages from the birthday pack from 2 Teaching Mommies. We worked on our colors by coloring the balloon coloring book.

 

We also practiced sequencing with a balloon sequencing printable from Homeschool Creations.

Birthday celebrations don’t have to be just once a year. Let your toddler have fun throwing a party for a stuffed animal, favorite doll, or even for himself. Check back next week for more birthday-themed ideas.

Birthday Sensory Bin - What's in the Tub?

Have a birthday coming up in your home? Here are a few birthday sensory items for you and your tot to explore:

 

What's inside:

 

regular balloons and punching bag balloons

slap bracelets and bead necklaces

Melissa & Doug's Birthday Party cake

birthday variety noise-maker set

small trucks

large poppers

birthday noisemakers

candles

colorful pom-poms and curled ribbons

(All other items were found for a great price in Walmart's party and clearance sections.)

This bin was especially fun for my daughter. She'll be three this fall and is very much looking forward to her birthday! This was quite a loud pretend birthday party. --A warning should you choose to by that many noise-makers. ;-)

 

The punching bags were a hug hit and poppers are entertaining at any age! I wish I would have taken a video to share with you the very dramatic singing of Happy Birthday below!

I hope you enjoy your pretend birthday party! See you next month for another bin-o-fun!

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