spring

Exploring Spring with Sensory Bins

Our babies love explore with their senses!  Milton momstown moms and babies created a bright and beautiful sensory bin was filled with Springy things that their little explorers could touch, hear, taste, and see. 

 spring baby sensory bin

 

Materials:

Green Easter grass (great way to recycle!)

silky flowers

stuffed insect toys

plastic bugs

colourful shaker eggs

 

Ideas to incorporate the materials:

 

The stuffed insects were a lot of fun for the babies.  These colourful little bugs have crinkly wings that make a nice rustling noise, jingly bells inside, and shaker beads.

 

Easter eggs recycled from our egg hunt were half filled with dried mung beans, rice, and dried kidney beans.  The eggs were taped closed to avoid choking hazards.  Babies love shakers!

 

It is always such a thrill for a mom, watching her baby light up, laugh, and explore new things.  The Baby Sensory program is a wonderful chance to find new and simple ideas that bring a lot of joy and wonder to the day for our little ones.  This beautiful little bin of Springy things brought a lot of happiness to two groups of babies and mamas this past week. 

 spring sensory bin

 

Great idea submitted by the Milton momstown sensory group program.

Posted by momstown team on 05/16/2013 - 10:03
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Cute Caterpillars Craft

We love to make butterflies, so a great way to start talking about the magic of insects is to create some cute caterpillars.  A little backwards, but still a fun and adorable craft!  This craft is also a great time to work on colours, patterning and even counting!

 

caterpillar craft

 

 

Materials:

construction paper circles in lots of bright colours

pipe cleaners

googly eyes

embellishments to decorate (balls, glitter, etc.)

 

Directions:

1.  Get the kids to choose bright coloured circles to create their caterpillar.

 

2.  Thread onto pipe cleaners to make the body of their caterpillars.  Great opportunity to count how many circles you used, ask your child what the colours are or even create a pattern!

 

3.  When the rainbow creatures are ready, add some eyes and antennae and voila!  An adorable caterpillar!!

 

No matter how they make their crafts, their creativity is beautiful and the memories they create through their crafting is priceless.

 

Submitted from momstown Barrie.

 

Posted by momstown team on 05/03/2013 - 12:14
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4 Fun Ways to Play with Chalk this Spring

I remember spending A LOT of time outdoors as a kid.  Our neighbourhood was full of kids so we were always out playing hide-and-seek, playing catch or causing a ruckus in someone’s backyard.  Thankfully my daughter also loves to be outside.  Our front yard is your typical suburban postage stamp of a yard and the back yard is, to put it nicely, the dog’s domain.

 

So we have to be creative with the space that we have and one of our favourite things is chalk.  Here is a list of a few different games you can play with the kids.

fun with chalk

1- Tic-Tac-Toe

Put a different spin on it and have the kids throw a stone to see what box they can put their X or O in. Or try this version called Tic-Tac-Oh No!

 

2- Hopscotch

It’s a classic.  Enough said!

 

3- Draw Shadows

Draw the outline of a shadow then colour it in.  When the sun or the object moves you’ll have captured its shadow.

 

4- TV Tag for Tots

Who didn’t love TV Tag as a kid?  Trying to stump your friends with the initials of your favourite TV shows.  In this version you can help kids learn to spell.  Use small words that young kids can recognize.  Draw a TV on the ground.  One person is “it” and writes the word then chases whoever says the correct word. If the guesser gets back to the TV without being caught, the other person is still “it”. If they get caught, they now become writer.  It may help to have an adult to help with the spelling.  This game also works really well in the sand since you can erase whatever you wrote in the TV.

 

You can even attempt to make your own sidewalk chalk.  Check out the recipe here.

 

Great ideas from momstown Ottawa.

Posted by momstown team on 05/03/2013 - 10:59
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Books about Rainy Days - curriculum theme "Wet Wet Wet"

Springtime brings rain - and lots of great chances to learn about weather and stomp around in puddles! To accompany our "Wet Wet Wet" curriculum theme this month, momstown has reviewed 5 great books to celebrate Spring and encourage kids to play outdoors in any weather!

 

wet wet wet books

 

Water Baby  from Usborne Touchy-Feely    Babies    Touch-and-feel board book depicts baby having fun with water – in a turtle pool, on the beach, in the bath, watering the garden, and doing lots of splish splash sploshing!

 

Who Likes Rain?  by Wong Herbert Yee   Babies & Toddlers

Rhyming text takes the reader through ‘who likes rain?’ like the flowers, the trees, the ducks, the worms, the frogs – and the little girl who has fun jumping in the puddle. Cute illustrations and simple text.

 

Mushroom in the Rain by Mirra Ginsburg    Babies & Toddlers   

A little ant gets caught in the rain, and finds a mushroom to hide under. His friend butterfly joins him, then mouse, sparrow, and rabbit. They hide rabbit from the fox chasing him, while they wait out the rain until the sun comes out. Ant can’t figure out how they all hid under such a small mushroom, until frog reminds him what mushrooms do in the rain! (they GROW!)

 

10 Little Raindrops by Leroy Comrie    Toddlers & Preschoolers    Kevin counts from one to ten as raindrops fall on him – but he keeps playing in the park until the sun is shining. The rain drops become Kevin’s friends as they are illustrated with little faces on them. Written in rhyming text, this is a good counting practice book also!

The Rain Stomper  by Addie Boswell  Preschoolers   

Jazmin is a cheerleader who can’t wait to march in the big parade. However, when rain and wind threaten the parade, Jazmin decides she will become a rain stomper and make the best of the weather. Great text echoing the action of the story: “slap, clatter, bam, bash, boom walla, bang, crash” as Jazmin outstomps the rain.


 

Have fun getting wet outside this Spring!

Posted by momstown Teach on 04/05/2013 - 09:56
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Spring Robin Footprint Craft

spring robin craft

 

Have you spotted a robin yet? Word is, if you spot one first it’s good luck! Let’s make some spring robins to remind us what they look like.


Supplies you will need:


•    Construction paper – brown, red, blue, robin egg’s blue, orange beak
•    Nest fabric, scraps of brown paper, hay…
•    Glue, scissors
•    Bead for eye (black) or marker

1.    Trace the child’s foot on the brown paper, this will be the bulk of the robin’s body. Cut out.


2.    Cut a red robin’s belly out to fill in the space from the foot arch and robin’s body.


3.    Cut scraps up to create the nest. And cut robin egg’s blue circles out to used for any surprise.


4.    Start to glue and create!

 

Another super cute idea is to create the whole footprint robin with paint! Use a baby or child's foot for a paint footprint like momstown Newmarket-Aurora did in their Baby Basics program - what a cute spring painting or card to make for someone!

 

spring robin craft

 

spring robin craft

Posted by momstown mama on 04/02/2013 - 17:41
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Toilet Roll Binoculars

This month momstown moms and kids are going exploring.  Two pieces of equipment that every explorer needs is a compass and a great pair of binoculars!

 

We love the different ways that you can make simple or even elaborate binoculars, depending on the age of your child.  The best part is that it uses recycled items that you have around the house. 

 toilet roll binoculars

  

Materials:

2 toilet paper rolls

Elastic Bands

Single Hole Punch

Glue

String, Yarn, pipe cleaners, embroidery string, plastic cord, or ribbon to make the strap

Embellishments- strapbooking paper, construction paper, wrapping paper (jungle print or camoflague is fun), stickers, sequins, jewels, etc.

 

Directions:

1.  Wrap your toliet rolls in wrapping paper or construction paper and glue it in place.  Little kids might just want to keep rolls plain and decorate with crayons or stickers.

 

2.  Take one elastic (or two) and put it around both toliet rolls to hold them together.  You can also use decorative paper or foam to then make strips from one roll to the other (just like REAL binoculars) or even wrap both rolls together (see images for ideas!).

 

3.  Decorate the rolls with additional embellishments if you like.

 

4.  Make holes on the outside end of each of the rolls, to attach the string or yarn for the neck strap.

 

Take some time to read about exploring and be sure to feed your hungry explorer with these great snacks for on-the-go.

 

 If you want to see a great step by step video- check this out from Simple Kids Crafts.

Posted by momstown team on 03/29/2013 - 11:44
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