O Week- Orange Prints and a Cheerio O

I wasn't too sure how Trip would like doing orange prints since he really just wanted to paint with his fingers and paintbrush when we did potato prints during P week. I made a few prints to show him the idea, and then I was pleasantly surprised that he made some of his own.

Next, he used the paintbrush to paint the orange.

Those little fingers had to get in the paint too.

 

After a few minutes, he realized what fun it was to poke the orange with the paintbrush.

Then, it was all over and the silliness was in full swing.

Soon thereafter we were done before we had orange juice and paint all over the dining room.

Later, we used the orange print paper to make our letter to hang in Trip's room. We glued on some Cheerios in the shape of an O and it was ready.

O Week- The List

O was an easier letter to work with that I expected. Although there are not that many words that start with the letter O, several of the words that do are lots of fun. We especially enjoyed octopus, orange, and owl.

This week, look for posts about:

• orange prints
• a Cheerio O
• oil and water experiments
• an octopus lunch and craft
• fun with the color orange
• some cute owls

To see my O week brainstorming list, click here.

M Week- Some Fun Food

We enjoyed some cute food during M week.

One morning, I made monkey pancakes, which were simply adorable. The idea I saw had two colors of pancakes, so I made the noses and ears, then added a little cocoa powder to the rest of the batter to make the faces. It made a great color, but as soon as Trip bit into the darker pancake, he didn't like the flavor of it. I'll have to figure out a different method if I make them again. It would probably require making a tastier chocolate batter as well as a regular batter. I used mini chocolate chips for the eyes, nose, and mouth.

Trip was quite excited to dig in and didn't even want anything on the pancakes. He was delighted to see the chocolate chips and enjoyed each one!

(Notice that Monkey joined us for breakfast that day.)

A fun snack was apple and marshmallow mouths. A little peanut butter holds the "lips" and "teeth" together.

Some of Trip's friends were over the day we had these, and they enjoyed these mouths as much as he did.

Muffins had to be part of our M week food, so I made corn dog muffins. I used a box of Jiffy cornbread mix (although someday I'm going to make it from scratch!), prepared it according to the directions, and divided it equally in a greased twelve-muffin tin. Then, I put a piece of hot dog in each one. I baked them, and we had an easier and healthier version of a corn dog.

An M week activity for me that didn't really involve Trip (although he has enjoyed the end results) was making marmalade. We were given some oranges that were about to go bad, so I got to work zesting, peeling, and sectioning them, then made jam. It was a lot of work for not much marmalade, but it turned out great and we will certainly enjoy what we did get out of it.

M Week- Mixing Colors

A fun M week activity was mixing colors. In one bag, I put shaving cream and food coloring. First I added some yellow dye, then the shaving cream, and then some blue dye. I sealed the bag and taped it shut to avoid any tragic messes.

Trip was somewhat interested in it, so he played with it a little and the colors started to mix.

Another, probably better way to do this activity is to mix shaving cream and paint.

The other way we mixed colors was something I saw on the Family Fun website. I cooked up 1/2 cup cornstarch, 1/4 cup sugar, and 2 cups water. This forms a thick goop that can then be dyed with food coloring. Again, I put the colors in zip-top bags and taped them closed.

Trip has been squishing them little by little, so we are still watching the colors mix a week later.

M Week- Magnet Monsters

An activity I have seen many places recently is to put pieces of pipe cleaners in a plastic bottle and use a magnet on the outside to manipulate them. I thought Trip might enjoy making these "magnet monsters," so I gathered up some materials. I chose to add some other household items to the pipe cleaners.

In the shop, I found a variety of nails, screws, and wire.

I collected paperclips, bobby pins, safety pins, and straight pins from the house. 

Then, I cut up some colorful pipe cleaners.

I tossed them all together in a clean plastic bottle and glued the lid closed.

So far, Trip has not been super interested in using the magnet to make "monsters," but I think he will like it in the future. Some young friends who came over the other day enjoyed it, though.

 

It's fun to see how long of a string of little metal objects you can make. We have managed to make some pretty impressive ones! 

M Week- A Sensory Tub

Not long ago, I saw a great monster sensory tub on I Can Teach My Child. It was made with water beads, something I was not familiar with at all. It turns out they are non-toxic polymer beads that absorb 100 times their weight in water and are usually used in flower vases and candle holders. When we went to our nearest larger town a couple of weekends ago, I found some in the crafts/floral section at Wal-Mart. They were $2 a package, which wasn't as much as I had feared they might be. I also found some at JoAnn. The package there was a little larger and was $5. With a coupon, you could likely get a good deal on them at JoAnn. I'm guessing that other craft stores carry them as well and maybe even some dollar stores.

At both stores, they were in their dry form and had to be hydrated at home, which is a fun process to watch. You dump these little beads in water, and a few hours later, they have plumped up and become a great sensory toy. I let Trip choose which color we should get,. His choice was blue. I dumped the hydrated beads in a bucket, then added some plastic monsters and foam Ms.

My first instinct was to try this activity in the kitchen sink so that there wouldn't be a huge mess if Trip tried to take all the water beads out of the bucket. He did not like that idea at all, so we tried the table. He did such a nice job with it at the table, that every time after that, we just put our towel down and played in the living room. A few beads came out here and there, but nothing we couldn't contain. They are not messy if they stay whole, but it doesn't take too much pressure to crush them (Trip figured out he could break them but didn't like the feel of the broken ones). I doubt that they would ruin carpet since they would dry up eventually, but I'd rather not find out. They also need to be used with adult supervision as it would probably not be wise to eat them. Another plus, they didn't stain our skin or clothing.

At first, the tub had two monsters in it, the blue one and the orange one. As soon as he saw them, Trip decided that the blue monster was Daddy and the orange was Trip. Later, I found the green one, which of course, ended up being Mommy.

"Hi Daddy!"

Monkey had to come see the "water" and play along with us. I say us, but Trip really didn't want me to put my hands in the beads. He wanted them all to himself.

Monkey also had to get hugs and kisses from Daddy Monster.

Then, he apparently needed to try the tub out for himself.

A car also had to get in on the action.

A different day, I filled the tub with monkeys. Trip didn't like them as much as the monsters, but liked that they could link hands and pick each other up.

If you have never tried water beads, go get some! This provided so much fun this week, that it was well worth the $2 I spent on it. With more than one child I would suggest using two packages of water beads. Plus, if kept wet, these beads will stay good for a long time, so we can use them again in the future. If you try this activity, please come back and tell us about your experience! We'd love to hear about it!

M Week- The List

Writing my list for M week was actually harder than I though. There are fewer words that start with the letter M than I expected. 

We started Trip off with a monkey room when he was born, so he has lots of stuffed moneys and things with monkeys on them. He has chosen one of those monkeys as his favorite and it has to be with him when he goes to sleep. Lately, he has also been having Monkey join in on our letter of the week fun. It's cute to watch him include Monkey!

Our M activities this week include:

• a super fun sensory tub
• magnet monsters
• mixing colors
• some fun food
• a monster M