Totally Tots

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Once Upon A Book ~ In The Nest

In The Nest by Anna Milbourne

Summary: This gentle story explains how birds nurture their young. The book follows the first days and weeks in a nest of young birds as they learn to fly, feed themselves, and gain their independence. It’s a fairly fast read, perfect for a bedtime story!

Bible Verse

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Matthew 6:26

Art Lesson

This is a great fall activity when leaves are colorful! Click here for detailed instructions.

Click here for all of my Letter N for Nest Preschool Activities!

Letter N Letter Hunt Worksheet: We read the story then I have her circle all of the capital and lowercase N's she can find.

1-20 Clothes Pin Counting Cards: I found some fun colored clothes pins at an office supply store a few weeks back. My daughter counts the items on the card then puts a clip on the correct number.

Letter N Handwriting Writing: This is my K4 Handwriting practice sheet. It includes practice lines then the actual upper and lowercase letters in a larger font for smaller people :o)

Pattern Activity: Just use the pieces to practice pre-math pattern skills.

Cutting Practice: Simply print and let your child try cutting along the lines!

Click here for all of my Letter N for Nest Activities!

Art

Make a fun Bird Craft {via Tired Need Sleep}

Science

Create a Bird Collage based on your favorite bird {via Delightful Learning}.

You can also create your own bird feeder to hang outside and watch nature in your back yard!

Snack Time

Try these yummy Chocolate Bird Nests by Mama Jenn!

Click here to see our Once Upon a Book webpage!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Little Hands-On abc's and 123's - Hidden ABCs

I am often faced with the challenge of finding new ways of reviewing with Bear. She seems to get bored quickly of things; yet, she still needs the reinforcement. Changing things up a bit always seems to work. Here are two ways to keep things new.

1. Hide it in a sensory bin. In the photo above, Bear looks for the letters to spell her name.

Sometimes it’s letters to spell other words.

If your child isn’t ready for spelling, you can have them match instead: put one set of letters on the table and hide the other set and turn it into a matching game. As the child pulls out the letter, have them match it to the letters on the table.

2. Play “Go get” –

Set up 4 or 5 of letters on a table or chair a few feet away from where you and your child are sitting or standing. Ask your child to run as fast as he can to “go get” the letter A (or the sound “a”). You can also have them crawl, skip, hop, etc. This incorporates physical activity and makes review a fun game.

(At the time that my daughter outgrew her knobbed puzzles, I used both of these extensions to stretch the life of those poor knobbed puzzles a bit. It really worked wonders. You can also replace the letters with numbers.)

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Crafty Corner ~ Birds

Bottle Cap Bird from Silly Eagle Books

Shapes Bird Craft from Tired, Need Sleep

Paper Dish Bird Nest from Dresses ‘n Messes

Brown Bag Bird Nest from Mama Jenn

Birdhouse Suncatcher from Tired, Need Sleep

Feathered Friend from Spell Outloud

Chocolate Bird Nest from Mama Jenn

Eggs in a Nest from Teaching the Punk

Bird Craft from No Time for Flashcards

Tin Foil Painted Eggs from A Mommy’s Adventures

Easy Bird Feeder from Ramblings of a Crazy Woman

Pipe Cleaner Bird Feet from Tired, Need Sleep

E is for Egg from Maureen on Totally Tots

Paper Bag Birds Nest from Tired, Need Sleep

Homemade Bird Feeder from Adventures in Mommydom

Yarn Bird Nest from No Time for Flashcards

Clay Spring Birds from Sun Hats & Wellie Boots

Hoo Do You Love Bird Craft from Naturally Educational

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 bird/nest 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!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Tots On A Mission to…North Korea!

mission

Got your passports ready? Time to head to North Korea!

The Setting

North Korea is located on the northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea. The land is mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys and the interior is sparsely populated due to the fact that it is mostly made of mountains. North Korea has a population of about 23 million people.

Family Life

Not much is known about North Korea. This is due to the nation's strict government-enforced closed-country policy: not many outsiders have visited there and not many North Koreans have traveled to the outside world. We do know that there has been trouble in recent years with having enough food for the population causing North Koreans to try to escape to South Korea and other countries such as China. In fact, the United Nations reported in early 2011 that more than 6 million North Koreans are in need of urgent food aid.

See some rare pictures of the country and life in North Korea.

Religion

The people of North Korea are traditionally either Buddhist or Confucianist, although there are some Christian and syncretic Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way). Freedom of religion is almost nonexistent. There are government-sponsored religious groups that exist to provide the illusion of religious freedom.

See “Tots on a Mission to Mongolia” for information about the difference between Christianity and Buddhism.

Confucianism isn’t technically a religion but more of a way to live (i.e. code of ethics) based on the teachings of Confucius, a traveling scholar. These teachings include standards of how to treat others, how to submit to authority and living a “good” life.

Christianity on the other hand is based on the fact that we can never be “good” enough on our own and that there is nothing good in us apart from Jesus Christ in us. Living a “good” life does not mean that we are good. We, as sinners, need Christ as our Savior as He is the only way to God. See Mommy Missions for more resources to teach your children about the Gospel.

Unfortunately, Christianity is not generally welcome in North Korea. Because of this, Christians have tried several ways to let the North Korean people know about Jesus including sending Christian books by balloon and in plastic enveloped thrown into the ocean! The vast majority of North Koreans need to hear about Jesus Christ.

This is a great kid-friendly resource from kidsofcourage.com about North Korea!

Prayers for North Korea

You can thank God for:

*the many secret believers in North Korea

You can ask God:

*that the Christians will know He is near them despite the threat of punishment or even death if they are betrayed

*to prepare the hearts of the North Koreans for the day when the good news about Jesus can once more be shared openly

*to work a miracle in the hearts of the government leaders so that they will know that He alone is God

*for Christians around the world to faithfully pray until people can once more share the Gospel in North Korea

Get Involved!

Find out ways you can help children all around the world in situations similar to North Koreans!

We’ve put together a printable about North Korea for you all to use with your little ones as you pray for the country. Color in the flag, see where the country is located, and spell out the name of the country too. Keep it handy because it also has the things to thank God for about the country as well as prayer reminders.

We’ve put together a printable about North Korea for you all to use with your little ones as you pray for the country.

Color in the flag, see where the country is located, and spell out the name of the country too. Keep it handy because it also has the things to thank God for about the country as well as prayer reminders.

See the rest of the countries that we've prayed for and download printables on the Tots on a Mission page.

There are so many ways to impact the world for the kingdom of God! Find out more in the book Window on the World!