Celebrating YOUR Tots ~ April

Praise God for the lives of these precious tots! If you'd like to wish any of these April Tots a Happy Birthday, just click on their photo or the text link to their Mommy's blog!

Welcome to TOThood...

these little ones are turning 1 year old this month!

Happy 1st Birthday Natalie!

Happy 2nd Birthday...
these tots are celebrating 2 years of life this month!

Happy 2nd Birthday Esme!

Happy 2nd Birthday Gage!

Happy 2nd Birthday RockerTot!
Happy 2nd Birthday Colin!

Happy 3rd Birthday...
these tots are celebrating 3 years of life this month!

Happy 3rd Birthday Precious!

Happy 3rd Birthday Roman!

Happy 3rd Birthday Christopher!

Happy 3rd Birthday Ella!

Happy 3rd Birthday Rachel!
Happy 3rd Birthday Grant!

Happy 3rd Birthday Ian!

Moving on Up...
these tots will be turning 4 this month!

Happy 4th Birthday Shanti!

Happy 4th Birthday Little Bean!

Does your tot have a May or June birthday? Click here to learn how to send in your info to have your tot featured in our monthly Celebrating YOUR Tots post!

**as our Bday lists grow longer, I am bound to make a mistake :) Please email me to let me now if I linked you wrong, forgot to link to your blog, or got something else wrong

Bible Bites ~ The Resurrection-Week 1

Celebrate Jesus' Resurrection from the Dead

The Bread: Matthew 28: 1-10 and John 20: 1-10

The Bite: "Jesus is not here, for He has risen, just as He said!"

The Believing:

Some of my most influential childhood Easter memories involve the re-enactments that we would perform at school. I can still remember being one of the women who anxiously brought precious burial spices to the tomb, only to learn from an angel that Jesus had risen from the dead! I remember trying to run in my long robe back to "the disciples", tossing my no-longer-necessary spices to the ground in my haste.

This Easter, let's help our tots understand the glories of the Resurrection by re-enacting that historical grave-scene with them. First, play the parts of Peter and John, racing to the tomb, only to find an empty grave! (Check out the great race in John 20: 3-4.) Then, play the parts of the women, diligently carrying brimming beautiful bottles of oils and spices. If you are able, enact the role of the angel announcing, "Jesus is not here, for He has risen, just as He said!" Help your tot to play the part of the angel, too. Hide those glorious words in his/her heart; hear them spill out of his mouth: "He has risen, just as He said!"

Now I Know My ABCs ~ Aa

Today is the day! This is the beginning of our Weekly Alphabet Post with simple crafts, and lessons to introduce the alphabet. The end result of this fun 26 weeks will be a homemade alphabet book with both a craft page and activity page for each letter! I hope you and you LO's enjoy this!

You do not have to follow along with us in order, some tots prefer particular letters and would do better going out of order. If that's the case, just bookmark the posts and refer back when your tot is ready!! Many younger tots aren't ready for this either, remember all tots are different!

We have created a cover page for your new ABC notebook, you can find it here, along with a list of all of our weekly ideas (this would be the page to bookmark to refer back to if your tots isn't quite ready for this). As you expose your tot to each new letter (in order or out of order), color it in on your cover page for an easy visual reminder for you and your tot!

Letter Aa...

Book: Spring Is Here! by Joan Hulob

Ants on my Aa...

Need:

• card stock
• red and white checkerboard paper
• ink pad, or paint
• letter A template
• glue

To Make:

• Cover your 8x11 sheet of card stock with the checkerboard paper and cut out your Aa and glue it on top of the checkerboard paper.
• Get out your ink pad or dab a tiny bit of paint onto a paper towel to make a stamp pad.
• Take LO's finger and stamp it into the ink and then on to the Aa's 2 stamps at a time to make ant bodies.
• Make several on each letter
• Let dry
• When dry add antennae and legs
• Punch holes in the puzzle page and place in yourABC Notebook

Book: Ten Red Apples by Virginia Miller

Apple Puzzle...

Need:

• 2 Apple Puzzle blocks printouts and 1 Leaf sheet
• 1 puzzle board printout
• snack sized Ziploc baggie
• laminate or packing tape
• scissors
• glue

Make:

• Print out 2 of the apple puzzles boards and 1 blank puzzle board
• Glue the blank puzzle board to a piece of construction paper
• Cut out the apple puzzle pieces
• Assemble 1 apple and glue to the board
• Laminate the other pieces (they are little so packing tape works good here)
• Attach the ziploc baggie to the bottom of the puzzle page with packing tape and place your puzzle pieces in the baggie
• Punch holes in the puzzle page and place in your binder behind the Ants on my Aa page

Extra Aa activities:

• Popsicle stick A's: get 3 Popsicle sticks and show them how to make a big A: you can have them glue them together when your done with the lesson or just attached some Velcro so the can do them over and over!
• A is shaped like a triangle: show with your Popsicle sticks that big A is shaped like a triangle! my LO thought that was so neat! She was making an A, and saying A, then moving the stick down and saying Triangle!
• Apple Shakeups snack: they are yummy: just dice a apple,,place into a baggie or lidded container, add some sugar and cinnamon and seal up and let them shake to coat! Open the baggie and eat!
• Egg Carton Ants: Need: paper egg carton 3 section cups, black paint,2 googly eyes, 3 pipe cleaners cut into small pieces (to make 8 total) To Make: Have LO paint your 3 section paper egg carton all black, let dry, glue on googly eyes and punch pipe cleaners on the top and sides to be legs and antennae.
• Visit my blog for more Aa ideas!

Crafty Corner ~ Fun Fish

This craft is So-o SIMPLE and fun! Children of all ages can do this and thoroughly enjoy being creative!

To start:

Take a paper plate (I prefer the thicker ones). Cut a triangle out of the plate. Note: If you are working with a toddler, you can ask them the shape of the plate. (Circle) Then cut the triangle and ask them the shape of that!

Then staple the cut-out triangle to the back of the plate to form the fish shape!

Then, you just let your child(ren) decorate the fish with whatever materials you have on hand! We used small squares (another shape to review) of tissue and vellum paper in assorted sizes.

Use Mod Podge (or watered-down glue) and paint the mixture onto the plate. The child can then place tissue squares.

Then they added some small sequins I found. I painted a top layer of glue/sealant to keep the sequins in place. Once that was dry, I let them add some paint circles with little finger dabbers I had. Like I said, just use whatever materials you find. Punch a hole at the top with a hole punch and add a string or ribbon for hanging. Add a Large wiggly eye or a round black circle shape for a fish eye! I made these with my older daughters when they were younger and have a photo of them with their fish. I love how they turn out each time and yet they are so simple! We also read the book Swimmy by, Leo Lionni. Another wonderful fish-themed book is Dr. Suess' One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish! There's also the tot version of this classic book: One Fish, Two Fish, Three, Four, Five Fish (Dr. Seuss Nursery Collection)

This Crafty Corner post was written by School in R'Home...thanks for sharing your great idea!!!

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!

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

Terrific Tot Sites ~ Ziggity Zoom

ZiggityZoom.com was developed for children in the 2-8 age group and created to be a kid-friendly site. Their games and activities are fun and educational and the site is simple enough for a preschooler to navigate!

ZiggityZoom.com provides games (both online and printable), tons of coloring pages, interactive stories that can be read online to your child (this is my favorite part!), cute characters that have their own special games and activities, virtual playworlds, and an abundance of printable activites including toys to make, alphabet pages, reward charts and so much more!

With Easter right around the corner, you'll want to check out the cute little Easter Egg storybook as well as the Easter craft activities that they have available on their site: bunny masks, napkin rings, sock puppets, counting activities, and even stickers. The Easter Egg napkin rings are too cute - and encourage fine motor skills with the all the hole-punching!

In addition to having activities for kids, ZiggityZoom.com also has great articles and resources for parents about toy safety, food ideas for kids, exercise and activities to promote movement, book picks and other ideas for you to do with your child. A parent's guide to the site is available here and you can also sign up for a ZiggityZoom.com newletter to get the latest ideas and activities. This review only really gives you a glimpse into the site, so be sure to check it out for yourself.

Hope you enjoy this Terrific Tot Site! To see more featured sites, click here!

Once Upon a Book ~ In the Small Small Pond

In the Small, Small Pond by Denise Fleming

Summary: The animals and insects that live on and in a freshwater pond wiggle, waddle, hover, swoop and swirl through the stunning spreads--and through the seasons of the year. Fish, frogs and fowl cavort first in the vibrant greens and yellows of spring and summer, then on through fiery autumn reds and oranges and, finally, amid barren browns and icy whites as winter sets in. Young children are introduced to the basic habits of common North American wildlife and to the characteristics of the changing seasons even as they are treated to an array of zippy verbs. Fleming's color-saturated handmade paper technique makes for dramatic tapestries that feature both sharp contrast and subtle shading. Scenes depicting clacking crawfish and parading geese are especially spirited. Ages 2-6

Poster Board Pond

Need:

• Poster board
• Blue Paint (we used dark blue, light blue and white for a watercolor effect)
• Paint brushes (we used a small paint roller for something new and fun plus it gave a really neat pebbled effect)
• Paper bowl
• Tarp or outside

To Make:

• Lay down your tarp or go outside ifs it is nice and paint on the driveway or in the grass

• Get your blue paint and pour it into a paper bowl and start painting with your LO, you can use 2 different shades of blue or use a combo of blue with a little bit of white
• Paint and let dry, then cut out into a pond shape

** Now you can tape or push pin it to the wall in your LO's room or playroom and get ready for some fun Pond Theme crafts that will end in a Great Pond Mural you and your LO make and read together! **

Color Fish Recognition:

Need:

• Fish Printout (click to download from our Totally Tots website)
• Crayons, Markers, Paint-something for your LO to color the fish
• scissors
• glue, or tape
• pond painting

To Play:

• Printout and cut your fish, have your LO color the fish, or you can color them if your LO isn't so into coloring!
• Ask your LO to pick up the green fish? if they pick up the right one have them glue the fish to the pond, if not then show them the green and you can either repeat later on in the activity or have them glue it after you show them the color.

After all the fish are glued onto the pond ask them to tell you the colors!

Here is a song that you could sing to your LO...

Color Fish Song: (tune of Here we go Round the Mulberry Bush)

I saw a fish go swimming by, go swimming by, go swimming by.
I saw a fish go swimming by, so early in the morning.

I saw a fish that was ???( ex: yellow), ????(yellow), ????(yellow).
I saw a fish that was ???(yellow), so early in the morning.

Extra Bonus: Color Sheet from the authors website: Small Small Pond Color Sheet

Next Book in our Pond Series...

Little Green Frogs by Frances Barry

Supplies needed: Green construction paper, scissors, glue, frog Stickers (15) or (I'll include a frog sheet that you can use to cut out 15), and googly eyes.

Did You Know ~ What do YOU Want to Know?

All of our writers for Did You Know have had a rough couple of weeks; due to health issues, life issues, and various other things. We decided to take the week off as a team but are in the planning stages for the next several posts! We'd like to share with you what we are thinking and get your feedback to about what YOU would like us to write about.

Here's what is already on the future agenda:

• Skin Care-follow posts to the first one
• Cleaning Products
• Fruit Juice
• Healthy Fats and Salts
• Sleep and Quiet Time

What else would you like to see added to the list, or which topics listed are you most interested in learning more about? This will help us plan ahead and determine the order of the upcoming posts too! Please leave us any feedback in the comments!

Meet...Cooper

Cooper is 3 1/2 years old, he loves birthday parties, playing with his friends, art and most of all he loves sharks! He has a a little sister that just began crawling-which he's tolerating pretty well! He's very easy-going, independent, excited and talkative. He's obsessed with sea animals, mainly sharks. He knows more obscure facts that you would ever imagine-i.e. mama sharks leave their pups at birth. He's a great big brother who is always watching out for his sister!

His (and Mommy's) Top 10 Learning Toys:

1. Leap Frog - Letter Factory
   Crayola Washable Fingerpaint
2. Little Leaps Learning System
3. Melissa & Doug Puzzles
4. Polar Bear ABC by Cranium
5. LeapFrog Fridge Phonics
6. Play Doh
7. Silly songs we make up like our phone number rap, etc.
8. Magnetic Magic Numbers book
9. Marble Madness building set

His Favorite DVDs:

1. Shark Tale
2. Word World
3. Anything National Geographic

His Favorite Books:

1. Anything and everything with sharks
2. Lucky Day
3. Children's Bible
4. Kissing Hand

You can visit Cooper's Mommy's awesome photography website here.

Do you want your tot to be featured one week? Go here to read more details!