Jackson's 1st visit to the lake

One of the things that helped convince me to move to the frozen tundra, aka: Minnesota, was that we would once again be able to live near a lake.  I grew up 10 mins from a lake, learned how to swim, fish, ski and tub all on the lake.  When Brent and I started dating we spent most of our free time on the lake with friends.  The lake has been a big part of both of our lives and we want Jackson to grow up with the love of the lake too.  This weekend was our first real chance to take him there since the past 6 months have been too cold and snowy. 

Jackson cruised in the stroller as we walked along.  He saw lots of joggers (Minnesota people really like to work out!), fishermen and his first catfish.  His eyes lit up when he heard the waves crash on the rocks and he spoke to every dog he saw.  It's still too cold to swim but I hope that opportunity comes soon.

Jackson and dad.

 This is my favorite picture of the day :

 Looking for fish.

 Jackson and mama.

Mama Rach

How to catch a rainbow

B, 4 years old, is allowed to watch a tv show after doing his homework.  This week he choose a recording of Cybercase.  The subject?  RAINBOWS! 

Science Experiment: How to catch a rainbow.

This is one of the coolest experiments I've done with B (4 years old).  You will need 1 cup of milk, food color dye (preferably the primary colors), and dish detergent.

1.  Pour 1 cup of milk in small bowl.
2.  Drop about 3 drops for each color of food dye in a triangular pattern like we did below.

3.  Pour a small amount of dish detergent in the center of the bowl. 

The detergent floats on tops of the milk to mix the colors together. 

 I had B fill out a worksheet found here: http://www.kidzone.ws/science/rainbow.htm  He usually doesn't like doing worksheets but he was actually excited about this one.

Mama Rach





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Best Buds

These two weren't too sure about one another when I began my current job.  There were days where Jackson (9 mths. old) would cling to me, and P (11 mths. old) just glared at Jackson.  After a few short weeks of us coming to P's house the two have become best buds.

Here they are working on sharing the napkin holders:

Making their escape plans.

Working together to escape to the great outdoors.

BEST BUDS!

Not long after these shots were taken we joined older brother on the deck for a picnic lunch.   

Mama Rach

A Rainbow of Colors

Here is a quick and simple art project that I call "A Rainbow of Color".

First, I set out primary colors for P (11 mths. old) knowing that they would all blend nicely together.

Next, I put a dab of each color on finger paint paper.

Then, I let P splat, squish, and rub the paint as he wished.

And here is the finished product:

A Rainbow of Color!

Helpful Tips:

1. Give young children pacifiers (if they will take it) to keep paint out of their mouths.

2.  You could have older children make a rainbow shape, but let young children experiment with the paint.

3.  A bowl of warm soapy water and baby wipes make clean up a snap.

4.  Above all, HAVE FUN!!!

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Letter Match

Here is a Letter matching game that I got from a friend.

I wrote capital letters on the top and lower case letters on the bottom.  

I mixed the letters up and had B (4 1/2 years old) match them.

 Tips:

If you plan on using this more than once I would recommend laminating it.

To make this game more challenging you could mix upper and lower cases together.  I kept upper case letters on top, and lower on bottom.

You could also make the eggs in one color.  B soon discovered that he could find the match to the letters he didn't know by finding it's color and then guessing.

Another idea is to have older children put the whole eggs in alphabetical order once they have matched the letters.

Time to Eat!

 At our last well-child check up the doctor recommended that the boys start practicing eating on their own.

 Tip:

When 1st starting out the caregiver should place food on fork/spoon and then let the child 'play' with it.

You could also scoop food into their mouth and then leave the spoon there.  The child will look at you funny and then grab the spoon himself.

(These are tips from an OT)

Patterns!

I used stickers that we had laying around to make a pattern chart.

 B is 'reading' the chart to figure out what comes next:

 Great work B!

Physical Development



Jackson is great at standing.

He's working on bending over and picking stuff up.

 I'm going to call this on The world is our sensory table:

While at IKEA, Jackson starting getting a little fussy.  We handed him one ball and he loved it.  Before I knew it my husband had put him in the pit of balls to play. 

After less than 5 minutes of this type of stimulation he was much happier and ready to finish the shopping trip.

Mama Rach

Mother's Day is coming!

In preparation for Mother's day I had my charges (my nanny kids) make cards for their mom. 

 Project 1:

Materials: glue, markers, sissors, and left over paper or tissue paper.

Tear or cut paper into small peices.

Draw an outline of a flower. 

Have kids glue paper inside the flower.



Tips:  When working on this project with younger children I show them a completed project 1st.  It seems to motive them, and they have a better understanding of what they are making.

Project 2:

This is a simpe project for the very young. 

Paint one hand and stamp it on the paper.

Tips:

To open infant's hand, gentle use the tips of your fingers to pull their up.  Then, quickly press to paper.  I recommend that you practice on scrap paper to get the technique down before doing the final project.

Use a paci so that the child does not put painted hand in mouth.

For easy clean up, fill a bowl of warm water in sink before painting his hand.  Baby wipes are also great!

An Eventful Week!

This past week was a busy one!  Sunday was Easter which included church with friends, a Twins baseball game, and then of course we had to find out what the Easter bunny left Jackson!  Mid work-week I took a break to make Jackson a "tag blanket".  We ended the week with Brent's birthday.  To say the least, it was an eventful week!

After church picture:

Jackson's 1st MLB game.  Go Twins!

Father and son at the ball field:

The Easter bunny came!

Materials for blanket:                                                          Final product:  Go Pack!

Happy Bday dad!

Mama Rach