News with Naylors

1) N is for Nuts : Have your child glue nuts onto a letter N. 2) Sort Nuts  from The Measured Mom: We only sorted three different kinds of nuts - peanuts, almonds and walnuts. He didn't last long, but it was a good start on sorting and nut vocabulary. 3) Help the Squirrel : Easton loves to help "feed" animals, so this was a good activity for him. He was 20 months when we did this activity, so we only used numbers 1-3. He identified the number for me, and I helped him count three peanuts to place on the mat. "Look! You just fed the squirrel three nuts..one, two, three." Click the link to print  Free Counting Mats  from The Measured Mom. 4)  Fall Math Game  from the measured mom blog: Again, Easton was very little when we did the Letter N. These cards come in three different levels, so we only did the beginning level.

1) Noodle Track Painting : Easton did a few lines and was done - I found out he doesn't like the texture of a single noodle strand. Great. The entire day is focused on noodles. ;) Dip a noodle in washable paint and use it to paint a piece of paper. Optional: Cut out  a letter N from your paper and hang it on the fridge. 2) Noodle Shapes : Easton wasn't up for this activity today - he didn't like the texture of a single noodle. Instead, I just had him identify the shapes - which was my main purpose in doing this activity. However, I enjoyed doing some of the shapes! Laminate or place the following options in a plastic sleeve. Noodle Shapes Printable  from School Time Snippets (first picture below).  Multiple Shapes on one page from Mrs. Miner's Monkey Business (second picture below).  Draw them yourself. I printed these and accidentally left them at my mom's house. I drew shapes on a piece of paper instead (third picture below). 3)  ...

1) N is for Night Sky  from Funtastic Fun and Learning: This is a beautiful craft and a great way to review the Letter N! Paint sparkly glitter glue onto a Letter N  Stick on star stickers and glue on a paper moon. 2) Night Sky Mirror Painting : This was Easton's favorite activity this week! I've been wanting to try mirror painting for a while, however, large mirrors are expensive! We used a cookie sheet instead. Read "There was an Old Man who Painted the Sky" from our Letter N Booklist. Use a paintbrush to paint the cookie sheet colors of the night sky. We used shades of blue and purple. Optional: We used a  moon and star sponge stamp  to dip and stamp on our canvas 3)  Night Sky Play Dough  from Two-daloo: I've never made home made play dough until now! It was  something I thought seemed like a lot of work, but I was proved wrong. This took no more than ten minutes to make and was ready to be used. Afterward, I put the play d...

1) N is for Nest  from The Measured Mom: I cut out all the pieces from construction paper and Easton glued them all on. Review a few colors and shapes - oval, circle, rectangle, triangle. 2) Build a Nest Pretend Play  from Craftulate: Easton loves to pretend play, so I knew he would love this activity! Watch a youtube video of a mother bird building a nest.  Set up four stations, each with items to build bird nests. We used craft sticks, sticks, train tracks and scrunched paper. Add plastic eggs from the dollar store and  Safari Birds TOOB  from amazon.  3) Feed the Birds in a Nest  from Powerful Mothering: I love this idea working with fine motor skills. Did you notice the worms are in the shape of an N? Make baby birds by hot gluing googly eyes and an orange felt beak onto large pom poms. Place the baby birds into plastic eggs and then into a "nest" (an empty egg carton). After the baby birds hatch, have your child pretend to be...

Nail the Letter : To review the alphabet as a whole today, I wrote upper case letters with permanent marker on Floral Foam (bought at the dollar store). I also bought a set of "nails" or golf tees online and pulled out our hammer from our kid tool set. I like this activity, because it can be used if toddlers know one letter, multiple letters or the entire alphabet. It could also be used as a shape or number review. As a reminder, don't have high expectations with toddlers. In my mind, I was thinking Easton would use the hammer and hammer the nails into place. However, he liked poking the letters with the golf tee instead. We still accomplished the same goal of reviewing all the letters, but did it his way. 2)  Letter N Book  from The Measured Mom: Read this short book together. Point out the Big Letter N's and talk about the pictures together. (picture to come) 3) Letter N Handprint Art (Nest) : When I asked my husband if he knew what this was, he looked r...

Silly Mcgilly is a Saint Patrick's Day Leprechaun - similar to Elf on the Shelf at Christmas time. Our Silly Mcgilly is a nice elf and will surprise the kids with colored food, hands on learning activities, and Saint Patrick's Day Books. Click the link to Purchase Silly Mcgilly and Book . 1) Color Food : Each year Silly Mcgilly will color our breakfasts green - milk, pancakes, french toast, eggs, etc. I also thought these  rainbow waffles  were so creative and could be fun to do this year (pictured below)! 2) Saint Patrick's Day Scavenger Hunt : Silly Mcgilly will set up a scavenger hunt to find a pot of gold. Click the link to find already made  Saint Patrick's Day Scavenger Hunt Cards  from Love Grow Wild (pictured below).  3)  Saint Patrick's Day Treasure Hunt  from Mess for Less (picture below): This would be another fun idea to do. I think it would be fun to write letters on the coins before hiding them around the yard/house to...

Here's a short list of sensory activities to do with little ones for Saint Patrick's Day: Saint Patrick's Day Gold Dig  from the Pleasantest Things. Mix green food coloring and shaving cream in a large bowl. Hide gold coins inside for your child to find. Sensory Bin Ideas from Living Montessori: A huge list of sensory bin ideas to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day. Glowing Shamrock Bath. We love themed tubs and they are actually a great sensory activity for kids. We bought these foam shamrocks (they stick to the tub wall when they're wet) and green glow sticks from the Dollar Store. You could also throw in a pot and some plastic gold coins. Rainbow Bubble Bath  from Growing a Jeweled Rose. Make  Rainbow Treasure Slime  (pictured below from Growing a Jeweled Rose) or Shamrock Slime (using  our favorite slime recipe   with green glitter glue).  Play Dough Sensory Play: Make  green play dough  with a...

Magic Leprechaun Rocks . This is one of our very favorite science experiments on our blog! Make these amazingly colored rocks and hide them around the yard. They make leprechaun water bubble leaving an exciting surprise. Click the link for a tutorial - idea from Gift of Curiosity. Bubbling Colored Pots . Another amazing science experiment to do with kids. My boys (ages 3 & 1) loved watching each pot bubble a different color. Click the link for a tutorial - idea from Little Bins for Little Hands. Saint Patrick's Day Coin Hunt  from Little Bins for Little Hands. Another baking soda and vinegar science experiment. This one looks like a lot of fun.  Magic Shamrocks  from Growing a Jeweled Rose. Another baking soda and vinegar science option. Hide coins inside these shamrocks and watch them bubble to reveal a surprise. Crystal Shamrocks  from Housing a Forest. Make Rainbow Treasure Slime (pictured below from Growing a Je...