If you have multiple children, it’s inevitable.  At some point one of them will feel like (and probably even say) that you love their sibling more.  That’s what’s been going on here.  My baby girl has been feeling like I might just love her little brother more.

Thankfully we stumbled upon the book Most Loved Monster.

If you haven’t read the book before, Momma Monster has little monsters who all want to know who she loves the most.  The book focuses on the fact that all her little monsters are special to her because of how different they each are.  I couldn’t wait to use it to reinforce the fact that I love both of my little ones and that they are both special in their own ways.

Activities to go with Most Loved Monster:

The first thing we did I actually came up with spur of the moment.  My youngest had all his stuffed animal “babies” on the chair with him as we read, and I used them as a learning tool.  Taking two stuffed animals at a time we talked about what was different about them.  We talked about what they looked like, where they’d each live if they were real, what they’d each eat…everything that was different.

And then I asked him which one he loved.  Of course he loved each and every one of them.  After a couple rounds with his animals, my oldest went running off to bring a few of her own.  Since neither of them have just one special stuffed animal, we were able to talk about how they love all their “babies” even though they are all different.

Then we checked out the snowflakes they made a few days ago.  I explained to them that in nature no two snowflakes are the same.  The same was true for all their paper snowflakes.  And yet they are all pretty.

I probably didn’t need to do the snowflakes with them after our impromptu look at the stuffed animals, but I wanted to use the opportunity to also talk about how just one snowflake on the door would not have been as pretty as the entire collection — that it took all the different snowflakes together to make it as beautiful as it is.

By then they needed something more hands-on to do, so we headed to the Play-Doh.  We’ve used random objects to make Play-Doh Monsters before, but today I wanted to use our often forgotten Potato Head pieces to build some wacky creatures.

They had fun adding multiple eyes, arms, mouths, etc. to create their own funny monsters.  And we talked about how each of the monsters, although different, were fun to play with and interesting to look at.

Most Loved Monster and the activities we did to go with the book helped ease my little girl’s mind.  She no longer is worried that I might love her little brother more.  And, just in case there is any lingering doubt in her mind, I plan on telling her every night just how much I love her.

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Do you have a collection of those hard little conversation heart candies?  Wondering what you can do with them (besides the obvious?)

We spent Valentine’s Day morning using them in our morning learning time.  I made individual activity papers for both the 4 and 2 1/2 year-olds.  Both had a sorting area at top of their paper.  I made a simple “finish the pattern” activity at the bottom of the toddler’s paper, and a harder pattern activity for the preschooler, who has worked with patterns for a while now.

We did the sorting activity again today with the conversation hearts we had remaining (of course a few were eaten during yesterday’s fun), and then we counted how many of each color heart we had.  (Doing it with an older child?  Have them eat a few and count again to work on subtraction skills!)  And afterwards?  We used them to decorate yesterday’s Valentine’s Day cupcakes… YUM!

What other crafts/activities have you done with candy?

The post Conversation Hearts Activities first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

So we’ve done a few snowflake crafts lately to make up for our lack of actual snow.

1.

Of course, cutting snowflakes is an old stand-by.  But when you are only 4 it can be hard to make a snowflake on your own and not be disappointed with the results.  To help Peanut learn how to cut a snowflake, I folded the square of paper in half and half again.  Then I drew on the paper where she should cut.Not folding the paper any more than that made it easier for her to cut through the layers.  I also learned that straight cuts were easiest for her (think triangle cuts), but rounded cuts were good scissor practice.  She was proud of every snowflake she made, and she hung them all on her door to show them off when she was finished.

2.

My next snowflake craft idea involved paint.  I gathered a few water bottles we have gotten from zoo trips and other outings, and even the plastic covering that came off the grill’s propane tank (for some reason the kids had claimed it and had it in a box of odds and ends).I was planning on  using these items as stamps.  I wish I had white or blue paint on hand, but at the time green was my only choice… I mixed a little glitter glue into the green paint to give it a little sparkle.  Then we used paint brushes to paint the bottoms of the bottles and stamp our paper with snowflakes.The 2 1/2 year old had a blast smacking his stamp all over the place.   I can see other stamping crafts in our future…

3.

Feeling brave?

How about letting your little one drive his/her cars through some “snow?”  A handful of uncooked rice in a high-sided cake pan gives your little one a world of snow to use little front loaders, dump trucks, or if you’re lucky enough to have one – a snowplow.

4.

Finally, I was thinking we would make a little snow of our own…  I have several empty freezer jam containers with nice tight lids.  Originally I was thinking we’d use wax paper or parchment paper to make snow and add a little water so it could float around.  Problem?  Wax paper is almost see-through so you really couldn’t see it in the water, same with the parchment paper.  (Thankfully I tried that ahead of time…)

So I had the kids rip up some plain white paper…  They had fun with the ripping part, but weren’t really excited about their snow.

Then it hit me – rice!  Just as we had used rice to drive cars in the “snow”… A handful of rice and water and they had their own little snow storms to play with.  (Of course the rice swelled in the water overnight, which was another lesson the next day…)

Still looking for some fun winter craft ideas?  Check out our cotton ball snowman!

And be sure to come back and check out our snowflake cookies this Friday!

Shared on Red Ted Art’s Blog, Yesterday on Tuesday, Quirky Momma

The post Snow Flake #Crafts and Activities first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

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If you haven’t already found and fallen in love with the blog Hands on as We Grow, then do yourself a favor and check out this awesome site!  You will find tons of fun craft and learning activities for you and your child to do together.  This month I’ve really enjoyed reading and doing some of the Hands on Play Challenge.

Last night the kids and I got busy investigating sound.  It all started when my preschooler started digging out the pots and pans and lining them up.  Since my husband was making his special Clam Chowder, I decided it was a good time to experiment with sound.

We talked about which objects made the loudest bangs – the metal spoon, the rubber spatula, or the plastic spoon?   (Definitely metal! Wow, was that loud in the hands of my toddler!)  We also talked a little about why that was the case.

Then we tried flipping pots in different directions, and I got brave enough to hold a couple lids up as cymbals…

Very noisy, but lots of fun!

What fun (and maybe loud) investigations have you done with your kids lately?

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When I first turned on the program I was greeted by child-friendly music playing in the background.  The princess coloring book has classical music playing; the animal and vehicle coloring books have more upbeat music playing in the background.  If you’d rather not have the musical experience, you can turn off both the music and the sound effects for the program.

What else makes these coloring books more than just your typical computer coloring program?  There are three different coloring methods:  color it by numbers, color it to make it visible, and color it your favorite colors.  The first one I tried was color it by numbers. I can see how this particular method could help a child learn to match numbers; each of the nine “paint tube” colors has a number that you use to color the corresponding numbers on the picture.  If you click on a space with a different number than the paint you are using,  the correct paint color needed to fill in that space wiggles, giving the child a hint to what color is needed.  When you change colors there is a fun “poof” from the paint tube, letting you know you have clicked on the color.  Once the entire picture is colored correctly, you are rewarded with bubbles that appear on the screen, along with magical sound effects.

The color to make it visible method is similar in that you color the spaces according to the numbers.  The difference is that there are A LOT more spaces to color, so many that you need to color them in order to actually see what the picture is supposed to be (hence the name of the method).  I’d say this activity would be great once your child has mastered the color it by number method and can better handle the computer mouse.

When choosing the color it your favorite colors method the artist has twice as many paints to choose from (18 total).  Plus, you can use the paint tube icon at the top of the screen to mix colors on a paint pallet, creating your own unique color combinations to use.  This method allows the artist to truly be creative in their coloring choices.

Now, I couldn’t just keep this awesome program to myself, could I?  I had to let my daughter try it out; after all, it is supposed to be for kids.  Peanut is almost 3 ½, and she had no computer experience until she tried this program.  We tried the color it by numbers method first.  Using the mouse was a foreign concept to her, but she quickly learned to click the button to fill in the spaces with color.  Moving the cursor to the exact spot was still a little too hard, so I helped guide her hand and she pointed to the screen to the areas that should be colored.  She still had to do all the brain work behind it, and as I helped guide her hand, she began to get the hang of using the computer mouse.

After coloring a couple pictures according to number, I let her try the color it your favorite colors method.  For this method I let her have free reign of the computer mouse, since she didn’t have to click on a certain area for color to appear, and therefore didn’t need my help maneuvering the mouse.  She had a blast doing it all on her own.  In fact, when it was bedtime I had to promise her she could “use the computer to paint again” the next day.

The company that produces Color It by Numbers software actually lets you download the first two pictures of each coloring book free.  It’s a great way to check out the product and see if it is something you and you’re child enjoy.  If you are interested in purchasing the complete coloring book (there are 20 pictures in the animal one), it is only $9.99.  I am excited to be able to offer three free copies of the animal coloring book to my readers.  If you are interested, all you need to do is leave a comment to this post.  I will draw three names at random and send the winners the serial numbers needed to download the complete coloring book.  For a second way to enter, go to my Blog Frog community and leave a comment (just be sure to let me know you are interested in Color It by Numbers). Winners will be announced next week (April 10, 2011).

The views and opinions of this product are solely my own.  I received no monetary compensation for this review; I did receive a complimentary copy of the product to review and keep.

The post Color It by Numbers first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

1.  If you fall, get back up.  This can go way beyond just learning to walk.

2.  When you have kids and the house is quiet, they are either sleeping or you better go check on them!

3.  If you fail, try, try again.  Over and over and over and over… (Maybe Mommy will say “yes” if I ask just one more time…)

4.  A hug can make everything better.  If not everything, it certainly makes things seem at least a little brighter.

5.  It’s important to apologize.  This especially goes for if you’ve hurt someone in any way.

6.  Time out never hurt anyone.  In fact, sometimes it turns the day around.  (Please, someone, send me to time out for a half hour or so…)

7.  Getting fun can be messy, and that’s okay.  (But I still think all kids’ markers should at least be washable…)

8.  The world is a big, wonderful place to explore.  But don’t forget to take time to notice all the little things, too.

9.  We all make mistakes.  Learning from them is what matters.

10.  When you step out into the world on your own, it is nice to have someone to come back to and share your discoveries with.

What have your kids taught you lately?

The post What I’ve Learned from My Kids first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.