Music Video Monday: Letter M Day

The Rundown
We stumbled on this video several weeks ago and it quickly went to the top of Aiden's favorite videos list being requested almost every time we have a video session. The video features a boy who raps about his day with his new friend, the letter M.

Why We Love It
Not only does this video teach little people about the letter M, it also teaches about story telling, rhyming and rhythm, which are all excellent skills for a little creative toddler. the animation uses drawings that look like doodles that kids (both little and big) would draw in the margins of their notebooks. It's simple, not too flashy and definitely harkens back to the old-school Sesame Street videos that I used to watch when I was young.

Creative Extensions
1. Letter M Puppet.
Make a letter M puppet with your little person: Draw a big letter M on construction paper, cut it out and have your little person decorate it with various art supplies. Stick the finished M collage onto a Popsicle stick.
2. My Day With The Letter M.
Go on an adventure with your new M friend. Take the M puppet with you during the day and take photos throughout the day. Print out the photos and stick them to construction paper. Write a caption underneath each picture. Punch holes at the edge of each page and tie them together with yarn or ribbon to make a book out of your day with the letter M. Make sure your little person creates a cover for the book. Read the book with your little person. This is also an excellent way to talk to your little person about daily routines.
3. Making friends.
In the video the boy makes friends with the letter M. Talk to your little person about how to make friends and play with other kids. Practice the friend making skills with their stuffed animals. The next time that you are on your way to a class or playgroup or playdate remind your little person of the friend making skills and ask them to practice those skills at the event.

The Video

Happy letter M day,

Creatively yours,

Maya :)

Covert Veggie Ops

I mentioned in my post about breakfast picnics that Aiden is not a huge fan of food, or anything that requires him to sit for long periods of time for that matter. And in my never ending search to up the nutritional content of his and his Dad's meals, I came across a fabulous resource for all you Mom's and Dad's who are on the same quest: The Sneaky Chef.

The Sneaky Chef, a.k.a Missy Chase Lapine, is a chef and a Mom, who has come up with some ingenious and delicious ways to sneak fruits, veggies, whole grains and fibre into some kid and family favorites.

I started incorporating her system into our meals last weekend and I am now hooked. So far this week we've had Chicken Parm pops, Sneaky Kraft Dinner, Tropical Twist Ice Cream, and Bonus Burgers, and each one has been a huge hit. I'm looking forward to trying the other recipes in her books and seeing just how many veggies I can sneak in before I am busted!

It really does feel fantastic knowing that I am providing my loved ones with good, nutritious and delicious food. And because of this I am addicted. I have even made my own sneaky creations, like Elmo Fruit-Wiches:
1. Toast a piece of bread
2. Using a cookie cutter, cut a circle out of the toast
3. Spread Nutella or Peanut Butter or Jam on the bread
4. Use two blueberries for eyes, half a grape for a nose and a nectarine slice for a mouth.

So for all of you who are in a similar boat, with a little or a big person who doesn't like or doesn't want to eat their veggies, check out The Sneaky Chef series: http://www.thesneakychef.com

Happy sneaking,
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

Music Video Monday: Jack Johnson Upside Down

The Rundown
This sweet video pairs an animated Curious George with Jack Johnson, who sings the song from Curious George the Movie. Jack slips on a banana peel while walking down a beach, falls into the water and joins George for an adventure underwater and in the jungle. It's such a cute, mellow video that is sure to calm the most active of active little people.

Why We Love It
1. Curious George, 2. Jack Johnson 3. Underwater adventures (Aiden is a little fish who loves the water) and 4. Guitars (Aiden's favorite instrument)...need I say more?

Creative Extensions
1. Go on your own, imaginary underwater adventure: Ask your little person what they might see if they were underwater. Draw pictures of these and stick them up on the walls. Then get dressed in swim or scuba gear and go on an imaginary sea safari. You could also follow this up with a trip to the swimming pool.
2. Play Opposite Tag: Talk to your little person about opposites, like up and down, top and bottom, in and out and big and little. Then play a game of tag where "it" yells out a word and the person who is tagged yells out the opposite word or they become "it".

The Video

Happy under water adventuring,
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

Tune-y Tuesday: One Fine Face

For this week only Music Video Monday has been replaced by Tune-y Tuesday due to a sick little guy and a Mom who needed to catch up on some sleep while said sick little guy napped.

One Fine Face
The Rundown
In this oldish school Sesame Street video, Ernie teaches a rather scruffy but still cute Elmo the words for the parts of his fine face.

Why We Love This Video
This video is the video that started responsible Aiden on the road to being able to identify and tell us almost every part of his body (which now includes shoulders and knuckles...pretty amazing for an eighteen month old!). It is catchy, fun, interactive, getting kids to join in by singing along and touching their faces during the song, and has a great (non-annoying) melody.

Creative Extension Activities
1. Make paper plate faces: Take a paper plate, some yarn, some construction paper, some macaroni, some buttons and any other miscellaneous craft supplies. Glue the materials to make faces on the paper plates. Be sure to name each part of the face as you glue it to the plate.
2. Make silly faces in the mirror with you little person. Ask you little person if they can show you their teeth, stick out their tongue, puff up their cheeks etc.
3. Play Mom Says or Little Person Says with parts of the face, e.g. Mom says touch your nose, Mom says close you eyes etc.

The Video

Happy face discovering,
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

A Box of Miscellaneous Stuff

It never ceases to amaze me how the simplest, non-toy-factory-made things can keep a little person entertained for hours (ok, hours is an exaggeration but you get my drift).

Take the other day for instance, Aiden and I were in Mom and Dad's room and he found an old box of mine that I was meaning to sort through. He figured out how open it and suddenly I heard "Wow" followed by "Coin" and then "Ball". In amongst old necklaces and earrings, Aiden had discovered some coins, a little yellow bouncy ball and some small erasers. He was in little-treasure-hunter heaven. As he dove further an further into his newly claimed treasure chest he found paper clips, bobby pins, various figurines, photos and an old watch. With every new trinket he found, he'd take it out of the box, examine it as if he were deciding on its value on the open market and either put it back into the box or put it in his pile of loot. It was amazing watching him sort through all of the items and make a conscious choice of which ones he liked and which ones he didn't like. Once he had his pile of goodies, we spent some time going through the items, naming them and talking about their colours, shapes and textures. It was a wonderful, impromptu, unplanned activity which kept us occupied for a good forty-five minutes (which I'd say is the equivalent of hours in big people time).

I encourage you all to put out an old box of miscellaneous stuff for your little person to discover so you too can marvel at your little person's capacity for decision making and curiosity.

Happy treasure finding,
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

A Monstrous Afternoon

While Aiden was napping earlier this week I came across an interesting article on how to calm little people's fears about monsters. So far Aiden loves monsters (Elmo being his favorite) so I don't think I will need to put the strategies listed in the article into action. But the article did give me an idea to have a monster themed afternoon.

Here's a list of the things I came up with for our monstrous afternoon:

Monster Activities
1. Play five little monsters jumping on the bed with Elmo, Cookie Monster, Snuffy, Aiden Monster and Mommy Monster.
2. Catch an Aiden Monster with a monster catching sheet: Make an open space in your playroom. Using a colourful bed sheet, place one side of the sheet underneath you and put the rest of the sheet over your shoulders. Have your little monster run towards you while you throw the sheet over top of both of you like a parachute.
3. Play monster tag, Mommy monster versus Aiden Monster.
4. Dress up like monster hunters. Aiden was the blue monster hunter and Mom was the red monster hunter.
5. Go on a hunt for the monsters that were hiding in the basement.
6. Have a Monster Moves Danceathon: Play some music and dance like monsters.
7. Go on a monster parade: Grab some instruments and play them while marching through the house.
8. Create a monster identification poster: Draw the monsters that we encountered.

Happy Monstering,
Creatively yours,
Maya

Music Video Monday: Find The Letter A

The Rundown
Alright, so I'm taking a bit of poetic license here with the term "music video" as this one is not so much a music video but is more of a general sesame street video with a music track. But it is a good one so I wanted to include it in our selections.

In this short video a letter A is hidden somewhere in the yard, but it's not your typical written or cut out A. The kids (through voice over) try to see if they can spot the letter A.

Why We Love It
We love this video because it teaches little people and reminds big people that letters can be found anywhere, not just on the printed or digital page. The video points out the fact that things are not always as they seem and if we are observant enough we will find wondrous examples of letters, shapes and numbers in our everyday world.

Creative Extension Activities
1. Go on a letter or number hunt while you are out for the day with your little person. Challenge yourselves to find the most creative example of your chosen letter or number. Aiden has managed to find a Y in the crease of a seat cushion at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
2. Create letter or number shapes out of unusual items in your house.
3. Make letters or numbers out of food items that are on your little person's plate at breakfast, lunch or dinner, e.g. make a letter A out of rice grains or a letter Y out of pretzels. This is especially good if you have a picky or antsy eater in your house - this can keep them entertained long enough for them to actually get a few bites in before they want to leave the table.

The Video

Happy watching and observing,
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

Alphabet Detectives and The Case of the Missing Letter M

It was a dark and quiet Friday morning...too quiet if you ask me. A little boy and his Mom were in the living room eating breakfast and colouring.

Meanwhile, upstairs an evil villain was up to no good. He was rearranging all the letters on the boy's alphabet mat and hiding some of the letters around the house all in an attempt to divert attention away from his real dastardly crime...stealing the letter M.

The evil villain thought he had committed the perfect crime. You see he stole the letter M while it was fast asleep so it couldn't cry out for help, or so the evil villain thought. In truth the letter M was just pretending to be asleep. While the evil villain was not looking the letter M scribbled a note for the boy and his Mom:
"Help, I have been letter-napped by an evil villain. I don't know where he is taking Me but I will leave clues for you. I heard the evil villain say something about needing a snack. Please find Me."

The letter M didn't have time to sign the note but he was pretty sure that the boy and his Mom would figure it out. He left the note on the boy's dresser, knowing that the boy would find it when he got dressed for the day.

Sure enough the boy found the note. He enlisted the help of the Amazing Alphabet Detectives: Detective A and Detective M.

Detectives A and M got straight to work. They devised a fool-proof, find the missing letter plan:

1. Dress up in our detective gear.
2. Make detective badges.
3. Secure the crime scene with a cloud of evil villain fighting bubbles.
4. Make a poster of all the letters in the alphabet and review them to make sure we know all the letters.
5. Take an inventory of all the letters present and accounted for in the room.
6. Go on a preliminary search for the rest of the letters. Check the letter off the list when they have been found.
7. Determine which letter is missing.
8. Use our senses to figure out any clues from the note.
9. Follow the clues to find the missing letter and catch the villain.

Detectives A and M, being the brilliant minds that they are, followed the clues.

First they went to the kitchen to see if the evil villain had left any evidence from his snack. All they could find was a banana peel and a few banana chips on a plate. Detective A looked closer at the banana chips. The banana chips were left in the shape of the letter M. They had discovered that the letter M was missing or was the letter M another clue?

Then Detective M discovered some round footprints on the ground. The footprints went all the way to the basement door. They went to the door and noticed that the door handle was sticky and smelled like bananas. Hmm, the evil villain must really love eating bananas.

As they opened the door and looked down the stairs Detective A found some brown fur.

"Hmm" said Detective M "What do brown fur, bananas, the letter M and round footprints have in common?"
"Monkey" yelled out Detective A.
"Yes. And where would a monkey be?" asked Detective M.
"Treehouse" yelled Detective A.

They quickly ran down to the treehouse in the basement. Sure enough they found Thelonius T Monkey in the treehouse with the letter M.

"Rats, I've been foiled again" said Thelonius T Monkey.

Detectives A and M took Theolnius T Monkey into custody and returned the letter M to the alphabet mat with his other letter friends.

And that was our alphabet detective adventure!

Happy sleuthing,
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

J E L L O

Now that the holidays are over (sigh) it's time to get back to doing some fun art projects (yay!). Here's an easy prep activity that will keep your little person entertained in gooey, sticky heaven for at least 30 minutes or more.

Jello Paint
Ingredients:
Jello powder - several flavours (as many as you want colours)
Warm water

1. For each colour put 1/4 cup of warm water into a small bowl.
2. Add jello powder, 1 tsp at a time and stir. Keep adding until you have a consistency that is good to paint with.
3. Put out the paints and some paper (we used newsprint but I'd recommend something sturdier as the paint seeped through and made holes in the paper. Let your little Picasso explore the paint with their fingers and/or paint brushes and/or sponges.

Tips
Although this is an easy-prep project it is a more time consuming clean-up project. Be sure to cover your art centre floors with a wipeable mat and have a bucket of warm soapy water handy so your little person can wash off when they are done before they get jello paint everywhere.

Also, you might not want to demonstrate the edible quality of this paint to your little person if you want to avoid your artist trying to eat all of your future paint recipes, some of which will likely be inedible.

The Review
I loved the quick-prep aspect of this project. The recipe produces vibrant, bright and shinny paint that smells good and has a fun, gooey texture that is immediately appealing to a little person. Aiden really enjoyed this one as he kept creating artwork for the better part of an hour. This is a keeper.

Happy jello painting,
Creatively yours,
Maya

Music Video Monday: Why I Love The Letter Y

Welcome to Music Video Monday's. What I intend to do every Monday is showcase a music video that you can share with your little person. These will be videos chosen by Aiden (he really does request certain videos when we are sitting by the computer). I'll give you a quick rundown of the video, tell you why we love it, give you ideas for creative uses of the video and then I'll provide you with a link to the video so you can check it out yourself.

For the inaugural Music Video Monday I'll go with one of Aiden's current favorites:
Sesame Street Why I Love The Letter Y
The Rundown
In this delightfully animated music video a very likable and friendly letter Y sings about why he loves being the letter Y. His reasons for liking himself range from doing yoga with a yo-yo all year in his yard to eating yoghurt on a yam knitting yarn with a yawning yak - all fantastic reasons if you ask me.

Why We Love It
The animation is über cute yet highly stylized and makes me instantly happy when I watch it. The letter Y is extremely likable and someone that I would be happy to have Aiden hang out with. The song is very catchy (watch out, it will get stuck in your head) and the lyrics use a multitude of y words for your little person to learn. And the overall message of the video is wonderful: y loves being himself which is something we should all aspire to.

Creative Uses of The Video
1. Go on a Y scavenger hunt with your little one: take your little person for a walk and find as many things as possible that begin with the letter y. Take photos of the items, print out the photos and review them with your little person later.
2. Make a list with your little person of all the reasons why they love being themselves. Choose one or two items on the list and make collages together illustrating these things. Hang the posters up in their room as a constant reminder of how great they are.
3. Choose another letter and make up a song about why that letter loves being itself. Sing the song and use any instruments (homemade or otherwise) that you have lying around to accompany your singing. When your other loved ones come home hold a concert for them featuring your song.

The Video

Happy viewing,
Creatively yours,
Maya :)