Take Ten for safety

I pulled out the ironing board today and realized my kids have NEVER seen me iron anything! Easton said "Mommy, what's that?" I said "It's an ironing board." He answered back, "Oh, can I ride it?" Hahah. Time for a lesson in ironing safety.

Here's what you do:

1.) Show them the iron.

2.) Tell them it is used to take wrinkles out of clothes and that it uses heat to do it.

3.) Make sure to restate many times to stay away from the iron and ironing board because it will hurt to touch it.

This may seem like common sense, but today was the first time I'd ever ironed while my kids were up to watch me.  They had never heard this lesson before, so I thought it was a worth while Take Ten post.

Take Ten!

Bath school

My kids love soaking in the bath and this is where a lot of their letter learning has taken place. Do you have the foam letters that stick to the side of the tub? Use them for more than just looking at! They are an awesome teaching tool.

Here's what you do:

1.) Learn the Leap Frog letter song (the every letter makes a sound song)

2.) Pick up letters, show them to your kids, sing the song!

Yes, it's that easy! In no time they will know the letters and the letter sounds, especially if you do it every bath time!

For the kids who already know the letters and sounds, we have some foam squares with pictures and the word spelled on the square. The kids take the square and spell out the word while looking at it and then say the word. This helps teach how letter sounds work together to make words!

Take Ten!

word point...

Are there any words your kids can read or recognize? I've been working on some simple words with my kids such as mom, dad, dog, cat, apple and others. Start working with your kids on word recognition and then test their knowledge with this Take Ten activity.

Word Point

Here's what you do:

1.) Ask your kids to choose a book to read.

2.) Read the book to them.

3.) When you come across a word you know they should recognize ask them to find it and point it out in the sentence.

4.) Watch the look of satisfaction on their faces when they find the word!

My 2 and 3 year old were both able to do this. Never underestimate what your kids can do. Start working with them early so it's easy for them later!

P.S. If your kids know all the letters and letter sounds they can read a lot of words by sounding them out!



TAKE TEN!!

Live TV

Do your kids ever say they want to go inside the TV? My kids ask all the time so I made it happen!

Here's what you do:

1.) Save a box.
2.) Cut a rectangle in the bottom of the box.
3.) Draw a power button on the front.
4.) Set it on a small table and let them make movies, commercials, sing, whatever they want!
5.) Take a video...they'll want to watch it!

Sorry about this shaky video..I was holding a baby while recording :)

Take Ten!

Number hunt and a giveaway...

Hey all! I was contacted by Just Between Friends to do a promotional giveaway. I have a $25 dollar JBF gift certificate to give away! If you do not know what Just Between Friends is, read on and learn!

Just Between Friends is a huge consignment sale where families find everything they
need for the next season of their kids' lives. You'll find spring and summer clothing
(infant thru pre-teen and maternity), shoes, swim gear, toys, furniture, play equipment, infant & maternity items, books and more! JBF-Tacoma is the largest consignment sale in Washington with over 100,000 items to choose from. JBF Moms have been known to get everything their child needs for the next 6 months for about $100!
Thursday, March 29
8am-Noon Early Entrance for Pre-Registered First Time Parents and Military Families ($2 Admission)
Noon-8pm Open to the Public ($2 Admission)
Friday, March 30
11am-7pm Open to the Public ($1 Admission)
Saturday, March 31
9am-5pm Most Items 25% Off (Free Admission)
Sunday, April 1
8am-2pm Most Items 50% Off (Free Admission)

To enter for a chance to win $25 to spend at this HUGE consignment sale located at the Puyallup Fair Grounds, simply comment on this post or on my Facebook page and share this giveaway on your Facebook page! Good luck! To be fair, I will be using Random.org to find the winner! Winner announced tomorrow- 3/28/12!

Now on to Take Ten stuff. This morning we hunted for numbers! Here's how you do it.

1.) Tell your kids to look for numbers on things around the house.

2.) When they find something, read the numbers on the toy, book, clothing or whatever they find to show you with numbers!

Size "4" diaper!!

249 on top of the Play House!

Lots of numbers on the wipes!

36 on Easton's sweats!

Backs of books have plenty of numbers to practice!

My kids really liked this game. I like it because it helps promote number recognition!

More numbers!

Take Ten and number hunt!!!

attitude of gratitude

Today we made thank you cards. These thank you cards were special because they were post cards with the words thank you printed in dotted traceable letters. The kids were able to practice writing their letters and practice writing a thank you.

I took pictures but our internet is down right now so I'm using my husband's phone to post this. :) I'll add photos ASAP.

If you want to do this activity but do not have the pre-printed traceable thank you cards, never fear, just get creative and make your own! Making dotted letters is not hard and kids love tracing. (At least mine do.)

Take ten and teach thankfulness. Write a thank you note!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar..

Many thanks to our friend Suzy for the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It's a really cute story about a caterpillar and it teaches about the transformation of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. My kids love it, and of course they love caterpillars in general now too!

How exciting that they found one on our driveway while riding bikes the other day! Take Ten--and learn about a real live caterpillar!

Here's little Pilly:

Isn't he cute? hahah.

Step one: Talk about what caterpillars eat (leaves)
Step two: Talk about being gentle with caterpillars (no stomping or jumping on it!)
Step three: Talk about cocoons and the wonderful transformation into a butterfly!

Trying to make "Pilly" walk through their legs.

Seeing if the caterpillar will walk over the chalk.

Step four: Dress the baby in blankets to make her resemble a caterpillar.

Step five: Transform her into a beauuuutiful butterfly.

Take Ten!