Body Parts and Stickers

heehee, no, this is not an episode of CSI. Body parts and stickers make for great fun and a great teaching opportunity. You can play this game with babies from about 9 months, but it's still fun when you're much older and need to know those more unusual parts, like ankles and heels and wrists and earlobes...

All age groups love it when you stick a sticker on your nose or anywhere and say, "I don't have a sticker on my nose? Do I?" Pulling off stickers from a silly Mommy will get great laughs. Or, put a sticker somewhere on toddler and say "Where did I put that sticker?" If they don't answer, say the wrong body part name (Is it on your _____?). That usually gets a giggle and if you're lucky, a correction. You can really have fun with this and follow your child's lead.

And for another sticker idea...lying on the table in front of Little One in the picture below is a piece of orange felt. He really enjoys sticking stickers onto felt - it has for some reason always held more appeal to him than sticking onto paper. I got this felt idea from The Imagination Tree, a wonderful blog filled with many baby and child activities. 

Little One is 2 years old in these pictures.  

Till next time, happy playing.

Name Skeleton

As part of our Doctor Doctor fun, I searched for some skeleton art and crafts and I was thrilled to find this fab idea over at Garden of Praise (via Pinterest). Can you tell that the rib section is made from a name? How cool is that? Want a tut?

Take an A4 sheet of paper and fold it in half. Write your name on the page using the fold as your line. Then cut out the name and fold it open. I hope the pics help...

I showed Big One the original post and picture and left him to his own devices. He loved the idea, grabbed a scissors and confidently started cutting. On the other hand, silly me needed to do this about three times before I figured it out.

 

Big One's final creation is a "Knight Skeleton" - he is always keen to add his own special take on any project :). 

PS. Shared at For the Kids Friday @ Sun Scholars and Show and Tell @ ABC and 123. 

Fingerprint Fun

                                                                                  

 I remember seeing an Ed Emberley Fingerprint Drawing Book a number of years ago and it immediately piqued my interest. I looked high and low for these locally, but couldn't find any in stores or at the library. So I was very excited to find out that Ed has a terrific website and that I could easily order his books (at great prices too) online.

In the spirit of our Doctor Doctor fun and checking out the human skeleton, I was tickled to find a cute fingerprint tutorial of  
Mr. Boney Parts on the website.

Big One's version...

Using the super Melissa and Doug Ink Pad, Big one and I spent some time creating fingerprint art. I won't tell you who made what, but I will say this -  my creations are definitely "cute", whereas Big One's are "cool".

 

Could you tell who made who?..I'm sure you could :)
 

Doctor's Kit

When your little one is particularly interested in a certain activity, book or even TV character, it's a great opportunity to extend that interest and add some other fun and learning activities. So while my Little One was focused on playing "Doctor Doctor", I had the chance to squeeze some learning in there too.

Without a doubt, playing this game is a great opportunity to teach and reinforce body parts (remember to include the not so common parts - ankles, soles of feet, wrists, forehead, etc.). It's also a chance to talk about being a Doctor and what they do, as well as different types of medical professionals (Paediatricians, Dentists, Nurses, Veterinarians - it's up to you how far you stretch this and of course how long you can maintain their interest). And, it's a great chance to talk about all those Doctor's tools in their medical kit!

Does your little Doctor own a medical kit? These are readily available in most toy stores, but some real-life additions to their kit is sure to be a big hit...some"ouch" powder, real syringes, a plastic scissors, old x-rays, a Nebulizer mask and tubing, real plasters (band-aids) and bandages, a small notepad and pencil for writing scripts...all add to the fun.

I added a variety of plastic containers to our kit and then filled them with some matching coloured smarties. Little One was motivated to open them all because of the sweeties inside, but opening them required some problem solving. One lid had to be pushed off/popped up, another unscrewed, another flipped open and so on. Of course this all required some good fine motor work, so little fingers get a work-out too. (PS. I have to add this little note...I only played this once with Little One, as I didn't want him to think that real medicine containers contain sweeties. Please always keep medicine containers far-far out of reach from innovative little people, who know how to pull chairs to counters and climb up to reach things!)

A super addition to some "Doctor Doctor" fun is a terrific little book - a golden book called Doctor Dan by Helen Gaspard. This has been one of Little One's favourites for a long time :).

PS. Linking this to:
For the Kids Friday @ Sun Scholars

The Play Academy @ NurtureStore
Show and Tell @ ABC and 123

Colour Fun #3 - Colour Foam Fish

 
If you have been following this little series so far, you will recall me mentioning playing "Red Fish, Red Fish" with Little One in the bath. I was introduced to the idea of using craft foam as a bath toy by my friend Grietjie, over at Joyful Mama's Place, so I decided to make some fish for Little One and what a hit!

Now these little fish, or "fishies" as we refer to them, are wonderful for teaching more than just colours. They are also great for counting practice and learning body parts. Little One loves it when I stick a fish somewhere on his body. I get really animated and say something like, "Here comes the fishie, he's going to sit on your....tummy, ankle, chest! Little One now pre-empts me and calls out a body part before I can...too cute!

As far as counting is concerned, Little One has been counting to 10 for a few months now, but I realize this is simply rote memory. To understand the concept of "1" is an entirely different story.  So when we count the fish, I place his hand or finger on each fish as he counts them...a good start to real counting.

To make the fish, you need to purchase some craft foam available from most craft stores or stationers. Make yourself a template out of cardboard and use this to trace your fish directly onto the craft foam with  a pen or pencil. Then simply cut out. I often use puzzle pieces, cookie cutters, even flat toys, like the threading fish seen here, as a template and trace around it.

The craft foam sticks very nicely to the sides of the bath or tiles when wet. In fact, if you leave them there, they will more than likely still be stuck on by the next bath time. If they crease (when little one's scrunch them), they are easily straightened when they are laid flat again. And the last most important instruction, "Have Fun!"