January means it is time to kick off my 'winter' theme. I know, I know, winter officially started in December, but Christmas kind of eats up the whole month for me craft-and-theme-wise (man I love Christmas!), so Winter begins in January around here. This month brings snow, snowmen, penguins, and so much more! We are beginning the month with polar bears. Aiby gets to work on two letters with this one - 'P' and 'B'! He's so excited! Our book is, of course, the fabulous, 'Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you Hear?' and cue the plug for my adorable felt pieces:
I can wait while you check out the other goodies in my store. Go ahead, I'm very patient. :D
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Okay, welcome back. I use this book and the felt pieces to work on animals, sounds, and colors. He finds the animal, says what it is, if he remembers the sound he roars it as loud as a lion, and we talk about the animals. We talk about their colors, where they live, what they eat, and if we've seen them at the zoo before. And then we repeat this six or seven times because Aiby is nothing if not thorough! I love this part of having a three year old - he's so inquisitive. I forget that we aren't just born knowing it all!
Now it's time for the fun stuff - the craft! What three year old does not like crafts? We made polar bears. I just printed an outline of a polar bear, and gave Aiby some choices. Paint, tissue paper, or cotton balls. Aiby chose cotton balls, so I handed him the glue and the balls! I think he just wanted an excuse to use 157 gallons of glue :)
Something completely spontaneous that we got to tie in with this - ice! Polar Bears live where is it very cold, and they live in the icy waters. Well, there is no way I am going to travel that far north, but, we did get some ice in the backyard! It rained, and water pooled in Aiby's sandbox. It then got super cold and froze, so we bundled up and did what any intrepid three year old and mommy explorers would do - we poked it. Aiby's professional observation? "Oooh, it's cold mommy!"
And, for the letters, I have printed off ABC worksheets from the awesome blog, Confessions of a Homeschooler. You can find the alphabet links here and here. I just got a laminator from my AWESOME husband for Christmas, so I will be laminating mine to make sure they last longer. That way, Aiby can trace them, color them, or use a multitude of different items to make the letter (cereal, sand, buttons, you name it, we will use it!). For his 'P', Aidan said he wanted to do it on my computer (he is obsessed with clicking and dragging the mouse lately), so I opened it in paint, and let him do his thing. Well, I stepped in some. He only wanted Lightning McQueen red, and I did some other color nudging ;)
Okay, it's nap time now, and this momma needs to get back to packing! We are moving again, and it is bothering me that this house is not packed up and ready yet. So, our next January adventure posting might be a little delayed, but hang in there, it'll be coming soon.
Keep on playing, mommies/daddies/caregivers. You are the light of your little ones' lives!!
