Mommy Quick Tip~Paint Nake!

Painting at our house is clothing optional.  It makes no sense to have a painting shirt, smock or apron. They just get covered in paint...what a mess! If my little guy gets paint on himself, it's no big deal...a baby wipe gets it right off. My little guy loves to go without clothes anyways, so it works out great. He even gets a paintbrush and says, "Paint nake?" when he is ready to paint.  This could be a problem later on...if he wants to take his clothes off to paint in Kindergarten...but we'll worry about that later.

In the meantime, get nake...paint a picture!

Mommy Quick Tip~Short Stuff and Frames

Put some hooks where your little one can reach them so he can hang things up all by himself.  Even if he is not even two, he can hang up his own bag, lunchbox, hat, or jacket.  He will be so proud of himself and feel so independent and you now have one less thing to do.  Yay!

Also, I have two frames where I display some of the little guy's masterpieces.  I like displaying some of his extra special work here because, well, it's extra special :)

Mommy Quick Tip~Call it what it is!

Just a quick tip...

When you are teaching your child a new word, tell the little guy exactly what it is, even if you think it's a hard word. If it's a gorilla, don't call it a monkey.  If it's a french fry, don't call it a fry-fry. If it's a cruise ship, don't call it a boat.  Baby talk is cute and little guys come up with lots of cute names for things, I know.  But then you have to go back and reteach them so they know the actual name of the object, when they could have just learned the harder word the first time.  They can do it....they are smarter than we think.  

Teach some hard words...make your little one super smart!

Mommy Idea~Colors

What...
Teaching your child color words using things they love!

I started teaching my little guy colors by naming the color of things he loves like cars, trucks and trains.  Being a typical boy, he loves looking at anything with wheels, so I decided to take advantage of the time we spend looking at these things and turn it into a learning opportunity.

How...
Name the color of the object each time you talk about it and repeat, repeat, repeat!  I am constantly saying things like, "Look at the blue train." or "Here comes a white truck!"  He loves being outside watching cars and trucks go by our house and every time something passes, I tell him what color it is.  And even though he is not even two, he knows his colors.  Of course he gets them mixed up sometimes, but for the most part, he knows them and I am absolutely amazed!

Repeat color words over and over and over again...learn some colors!

Mommy Idea~Letters

Wha..

Teaching your little one the alphabet...one letter at a time.

How...

A few months ago, I started introducing letters to my little guy.  I am lucky to have lots of materials from my Kindergarten classroom that I am now using with my little guy.  Most of the things I have are easy to find or make, if you are creative.  Get lots of alphabet sets...magnetic, wooden, blocks with letters, foam, alphabet puzzles, alphabet stickers...you get the idea.   I started with the letters of his name, focusing only on one letter at a time.  Once he knew one letter, I added the next.  I used all of the different kinds of letters at once, so he could see different colors, shapes and sizes.  For example, if you are doing the letter E, get all of the Es you have and show them to your little one.  Once they recognize E, add the next letter.

Ideas...

Keep each alphabet set in a Ziplock bag and take out only the letter or letters you are working on.  If you see the letter you are currently working on somewhere out in the world, point it out.  For example, if you are working on the letter S and you see a stop sign, show it to your little guy so he will learn that letters exist outside of his school space.  It won't be long before he will start pointing out letters to you!

Get some alphabet sets...learn some letters!

Mommy Idea~Alphabet Books

What...
Baby Einstein Alphabooks

I love, love, love these books!! They are sooooo simple.  I do not like alphabet books that have a hundred pictures of things beginning with that letter.  They are overwhelming for me so I know they are for little ones, too. Four words and four pictures...that's it.  A few more reasons why I love these books...they are board books, they are small squares that fit perfectly in their hands, they have a combination of real photographs and illustrations, and they come in a handy little carrying case.  Did I mention I love these books?

How...
I use these along with the letter we are learning.  If we are learning the letter E, we read the E book over and over and over... :)  I point to the letter in the word so he can see that letters do not usually stand alone.

Ideas...
When you have mastered a few letters, you can let your little one find a book for you to read. You could say, "Find the E book." and he has to know what the E looks like in order to get the book for you.  You can also have your little one read the books to you.  They will look at the picture and say the word, which is READING!!!! Yay for babies who can read!

Buy these books...learn some letters!

Mommy Idea~Bible For Me

What...
Bible for Me Quiet Time by: Andy Holmes

How...
We have a couple of different Bible Story books, but this one is our favorite for this age.  It has one verse, just a few words to explain the verse and then something the child can do to practice doing what the verse says.  And the illustrations are absolutely adorable!  We read a Bible Story with our little one every night because we want him to get into the habit of reading the Bible now.  Even though he has no idea right now what the Bible means, he knows it is something we read every night.  We talk about each little story and then we pray.  We are teaching him about God and teaching him how to pray everyday, which are two of the most important things he will ever learn.

Find a Bible for little ones...read it everyday!