Theme for the Week - Boats & What Floats
Boats and What Floats - Since this week we recognize Christopher Columbus on October 12, the theme for the week is boats, since explaining his exploration of America to a toddler is probably a bit sophisticated. We'll explore boats and things that float. And to any Canadian readers - Happy Thanksgiving!
This week we have activities that help your toddler learn about boats and how things float. Since Christopher Columbus sailed to the Americas in a boat, we take that as inspiration for learning more about boats.
Letter of the Week: T - for tugboat and Thanksgiving (since we've already done B recently) - point out things that start with "T" - television, tiger, tray, toddler. Show your toddler a picture of both a capital T and a lower case t. Draw a T on paper, or use your child's finger to draw it in the sandbox or dirt. Use bath tub or refrigerator letters to show him/her this letter as well. You can even use flashcards a little at a time. We recently saw this link on Twitter about how to teach your toddler the alphabet, brought to you by the website www.toddlerinterpreting.com
Number of the Week: 14 (for 1492) - When you show your child anything say "14 socks" (or whatever you are counting). Count to 14. Write the number 14 on paper. Show your child 14 things at a time and count them - "one" "two" "three" etc - so your child gets used to the pattern. Don't be afraid to introduce the 2-digit numbers to them - even if they don't repeat; they are listening.
Songs of the Week: Sailing, Sailing - I don't know about you all, but we've never really known the words to this song, just the tune. So here's a link that gives you both.
Story of the Week: Boats Lap Edition- by Byron Barton. This is a simple board book that introduces several types of boat. If you can't find this at the library this week, you can click the links above to go to Amazon.
Snack of the Week: Raft Crackers - Take a cracker - soda, club, graham and add a piece of cheese or some peanut butter or other favorite topping - hummus, ranch dip, marshmallow whip and call it a "raft" - You could use some hummus to adhere a piece of cheese to a pretzel stick to make a "sail" - stick the pretzel stick into some more cheese to make it stand up.
Spanish Words of the Week: el barco = boat, navegar = to sail, el día de Acción de Gracias = Thanksgiving
Do It Myself: What Floats? - Take a tub of water or fill the sink up with water and collect objects - both ones that will float and those that will sink. Let your toddler put the object in the water to see if they float or not. You can also try this in the bath tub.
Activity of the Week: Make a Boat - this is a 2-D boat that uses shapes to make the boat - triangles, rectangles, half circle. You can cut the shapes and help your little one arrange them into the shape of a boat.
Yoga Pose: Boat Pose - This is a tough pose because it uses your abdominals. For some reason, kids usually have no trouble with this pose. It's the adults who are challenged. PS - Our kids always liked the Yoga Kids series if you'd like more ideas for doing yoga with your toddler. Check it out here: http://www.yogakids.com/
Sign Language Sign of the Week: Boat and Thank You. If your toddler is still learning how to talk, sign language can be a great way for them to communicate. And as they get older, they'll pick up signs faster and it can be more of a fun thing versus a way to communicate.
Like we say every week - don't forget to give your toddler a hug and say "I love you" as many times a day as you can think of! You can never give them enough love. Talk to them, even though they may not talk back and read to them everyday - even if it's the cereal box at breakfast. Enjoy!
