January 6, 2016 by Krista

LEGO® Super Heroes for All Ages

We are all about super heroes in this house. And LEGO® bricks. So, when my boys saw these Super Hero LEGO® sets, I nearly lost my hearing. There was a lot of squealing and dancing going on for the better part of 20 minutes. They weren’t the only excited ones though. I’ve always loved the Spider-Man comics and my husband was mildly surprised when he found out I’m a bigger nerd in the comic book world than he.

Who doesn’t love a little LEGO®!? There are many, many things I love about LEGO® bricks – there would have to be to counteract the shocking pain and rage that bubbles up every time one of the little demons is underfoot in the middle of the night, am I right? But that just tells you how awesome these toys really are. One of my favorite things about them is that they encourage imaginative play. I walked in on my boys smack in the middle of an all out battle of good and evil this morning – Wonder Woman and Superman were trying to save the kitty from the evil “Dr. Deafstoke”.

I love that LEGO® has so many options that fit all of my kids, no matter their ages. LEGO® DUPLO® offers an unlimited source of creative play as young children explore the world around them with their growing imagination. Double the size of the iconic LEGO® bricks, yet 100% compatible, DUPLO® bricks grow alongside your child as they curiously create and discover many ways to play. Age appropriate minifigures allow even the youngest builders to role play. And LEGO® JUNIORS delivers fun, age-appropriate building sets with easy-to-follow building instructions, colorful photos and playful guidance to help to ensure a smooth transition to independent building. Quick start elements and modular bricks, such as walls and archways, facilitate easy builds—giving children out-of-the-box success. Storytelling and creative play is inspired by a variety of iconic themes. While LEGO® Super Heroes: MARVEL™ and LEGO® Super Heroes: DC UNIVERSE™ bring characters from comic books and new movie releases to LEGO® brick form for older kids.

Our DUPLO® set had some great basic pieces, two fun bridge pieces, a boat, four minifigures and Wonder Woman’s bike! My two youngest fight over the bike and the kitty all the time! Go figure, right?! The DC Comics set made two fun vehicles that my boys like to pretend can fly and three minifigures, plus a few more accessories. Big J loves the vehicles and that he can change them easily. But that’s not the only kind of playing we do with fabulous LEGO® bricks. Here are five ways we play with our bricks that encourage learning:

Counting. I have REALLY struggled getting Little J to learn. He doesn’t have the hunger for learning like his older brother does. He wants to play! LEGO® bricks let us do just that. We often count the connector knobs on the blocks when we’re building.
Size. This one is Little J’s favorite learning LEGO® game. Because bigger is always better… right? We have been working on sequencing and size comparisons.
Patterns. And here’s Little J’s least favorite. This one is the most obvious learning I guess. You can do simple patterns or more complex ones. You can even incorporate counting and size into the patterns.
Color recognition. This was the only way I could get Little J to practice colors. As we would build, we would say the color of the brick we were adding to the tower. The anticipation of knocking the tower over was enough to help me keep him engaged.
Shapes. This is one I do with both Little J and Big J. Most of the bricks are square or rectangular, but there are some with irregular shapes too.
Following directions. This one is pretty easy for Big J. I just give him the instruction booklet and set him to it. He is analytical enough with his thinking that he can usually handle the instructions with minimal help. For Little J, I will usually give him verbal instructions. “A four, a two, then a six.” The numbers refer to the number of connector knobs. He stacks them like towers.
Free building. We like to have competitions – we are a household full of testosterone over here. Someone will come up with an object to build (a car, a house, a helicopter, a motorcycle, etc) and then everyone does their best to build that object. Little J usually gets help from someone. Sometimes we’ll vote on who created the best one, usually we don’t. Daddy would win all the time.

I’ve included a printable below that you can use to help guide you through some of the learning activities we like to do with LEGO® bricks. It’ll open a window where you can download the full quality version. Save it to your computer and then print.

Click to download

I love LEGO® because they help my kids grow. As children play, they grow confident in their ability to bring stories and ideas to life. LEGO® Super Heroes is a perfect way to introduce the entire family to the land of make-believe & open-ended play. With something for every age, you are never too young or too much of an adult to build your own version of a superhero with LEGO® bricks. What special power does everyone in the family wish they had?

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

October 18, 2015 by Krista

Staying Healthy Starts With Staying Hydrated

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PureLifeRippleEffect #CollectiveBias

I have always struggled with getting my boys to drink water and staying hydrated. In fact, sometimes, I have a hard time making sure I drink enough and am staying hydrated. A big part of my problem is remembering to have water easily accessible and on hand throughout my day, especially if it’s an errand-running day. My boys’ biggest problem is the taste. They don’t love it. They don’t hate it, but it’s not exciting and it’s not the first thing they prefer to quench their thirst. At three years old, Little J doesn’t care that it’s healthy or good for him. He wants something that tastes delicious. That boy would drink his weight daily in milk and juice if I’d let him. Big J isn’t as hard to get to drink water, but if his brothers don’t have to drink water, he doesn’t want to drink it either. I came up with a system over the summer that has actually been working quite well for us.

MY FAMILY IS STAYING HYDRATED SO THEY CAN STAY HEALTHY

We traveled a lot this past summer. I mean half of our summer vacation was spent out of town. It is hard to have your routine disrupted for that long and that often. The things we weren’t really good at to begin with – like drinking enough water – became even more difficult to keep track of when every day was something new and different all day long. I decided I needed a better way to track my kids hydration than hoping we didn’t end up in the hospital. Here’s what I did: I made it a game! I would mark off “check points” on my boys’ water bottles and each time they reached a checkpoint, we would do something fun or they would get a small reward. It wasn’t anything major – we might paint a picture or they could choose a snack to enjoy (there’s a difference between “snacks” and “treats” in our house… I didn’t want all that water consumption negated by copious amounts of sugar).

Things You’ll Need:
– Water bottle for each child – Most of the time, like when we’re at home, in the car or won’t have to worry about keeping track of lots of belongings, we use hard plastic, reusable bottles. But I really love Nestlé® Pure Life® Water bottles when we’re going to be somewhere I don’t want to keep track of my boys’ three nice water bottles. The 8 ounce Junior size is perfect for little hands. I will tell you how I use this method on both kinds of bottles, since the set up is slightly different.
– Washi Tape or other easy to remove tape – masking tape works well. If you are using disposable bottles, you can skip this material. But, if you are using a bottle you will want to wash, washi and masking tape can be removed pretty cleanly as long as you don’t leave it on for too long or expose it to extremely hot temperatures. It makes washing the bottle a lot easier. If you don’t mind marking up your bottles, you could write right on the side of the bottle with the permanent marker. It will probably fade after a few washings, but you can just darken them up with the marker again.
– Permanent Marker
– Container that will measure ounces (or milliliters) – I used a baby bottle

Directions:

If you use a water bottle that is already full of water (like Nestlé® Pure Life®), skip to the directions below for how to mark your bottle.

1. Fill up the container you’re using to measure with water. You’ll just use this water to mark your bottles. You won’t drink it, so you can use tap water and then water your plants with it or something.

2. I decided to go three ounces at a time. That was enough water to make sure my kids were drinking all day and staying hydrated but not so much that they became overwhelmed and refused to drink. Use whatever quantity you want. Pour your chosen quantity of water into your water bottle.

3. With the permanent marker make a mark on the washi or masking tape at the top of your water level.

Continue adding water and marking it on the bottle until you’ve reached the top.

You can now fill the bottle with your preferred water, infused water, herbal tea or whatever you are trying to encourage your kids (or yourself!) to stay hydrated with.

STAYING HYDRATED WITH PRE-FILLED WATER BOTTLES

If you are going to be out somewhere that you don’t want to have to keep track off water bottles for everyone, you can use the same method with a plastic water bottle. It’s just a little different to set up. Here’s how:

Things you’ll need:
– Water bottles filled with water
– Ruler
– Permanent Marker

Directions:
– Lay the bottle on its side.
– Line up the ruler with the bottom of the bottle.

– I usually chose to do every inch, for the same reason I mentioned I do every three ounces above. It’s enough to keep my boys drinking without being overwhelming. Use the permanent marker to mark your chosen quantity all the way up the side of the bottle.

You can keep some extra bottles if your kids drink all the water in the bottles they start with. Or you can refill them for the day and then recycle them – whatever your preference.

STAYING HYDRATED CAN BE REWARDING

When my kids hit a mark on their water bottles they get a small reward. The rewards are simple, healthy or educational. Usually, it’s things they would have gotten or we would have done any way. But, because my boys get to choose, they feel like it’s a big deal and are motivated to keep “earning” these special treats. Our rewards include things like:

choosing a healthy snack – usually fruit
10 minutes of tablet time – we have some favorite educational games
reading a story
painting a picture
playing with play dough
doing a science experiment
riding bikes
drawing with chalk
fingerpainting
playing in the backyard

This month though, we have some fun Halloween activities that my boys can chose from. You can print out the fun printable below with some of the fun activities I will be offering my kids when they hit their checkpoints. I’m excited to be able to do some fun things with my boys and celebrate Halloween too! Click the photo to get the download link. Save and then print.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

In a recent survey conducted by Nestlé® Pure Life® 88% of moms surveyed* said water is the beverage their child most regularly drinks in the car. Make this a healthy habit by making sure that each child has a bottle of water in hand before they leave the house. This has really helped my kids up their water intake. In the survey, Nestlé® also found that kids are most likely to choose a drink other than water at restaurants (where 54% choose soda) and celebrations (where 58% choose soda).* That’s a lot of sugar!

And did you know that a majority of kids say they prefer a homemade lunch (57%) over a school bought lunch.* This preference for packed lunches offers a key hydration opportunity for moms – packing a bottle of water can help increase a child’s water intake for the day. Big J will often ask if he can take a cold lunch and I’ve tried to make more for him, even with my busy schedule. In your child’s lunch is a great time to offer more water, even if you aren’t actually present to give them the offer.

Robin Plotkin, Registered and licensed dietitian, suggests asking your children if they’d like a drink of water every time you go for a drink of water. Soon, says Plotkin, your kids will be asking you if you’d like to join them for a water break.

As a proud supporter of the Partnership for a Healthier America’s Drink Up initiative, Nestlé® Pure Life® is committed to helping families make healthier choices, starting with hydration. Establishing healthy habits in early childhood has lifelong benefits. We call this The Ripple Effect, and we’re encouraging moms and their kids to reach for water first. To ignite The Ripple Effect movement and encourage kids to get the water they need throughout their day, Nestlé Pure Life is providing water to kids this school year through After- School All-Stars, an organization that strives to keep children safe and healthy through afterschool programming. At PureLifeRippleEffect.com, moms can share tips and tricks that they use to teach their kids about the importance of staying healthy and hydrated. With this movement, moms will be empowered to send their kids off to school each day fueled and hydrated. To help your family Drink Up and be a part of the Ripple Effect – a movement to keep kids hydrated – visit pureliferippleeffect.com and share your tips for healthy hydration using #pureliferippleeffect. Nestlé® Pure Life® has committed to provide nearly one million 8 ounce servings of water to kids this school year through After-School All-Stars. Information source – At over 20 participating schools in select markets across the country

You can find Nestlé® Pure Life® Water at Walmart in the grocery section with the bottled water and other beverages. I love the convenience of being able to get it when I’m out doing other shopping. It helps me keep water easily accessible for my family, and that is a huge key for us in staying hydrated.

Stay up to date with Nestlé® Pure Life® Water on Facebook. And check out the Nestlé® website for more great products!
*Online survey conducted in June 2015 of 1,077 moms of kids ages 6-12 overall, including 254 Hispanic moms of kids ages 6-12. 1,077 kids ages 6-12 from the same household were also surveyed, including 254 Hispanic kids ages 6-12. © 2015 Nestlé® Waters North America Inc.

April 14, 2015 by Krista

7 Free Assessment Resources for Pre-K to 1st Grade

Looking for some free assessment resources? I’ve been hunting all over the internet and I’ve found some great ones! I can’t wait to share them with you because I know they will help you figure out what you need to teach your children. And if I’ve learned anything as a mom it’s that you have to have a plan when it comes to kids!

I have a plan to help me survive summer. I will have three kids – three boys; three mobile, adventurous, curious and energetic boys – under my supervision for eight solid weeks. That’s 1,344 hours. I can hope they will be asleep for half of those, but I won’t hold my breath for that. Like the Boy Scouts say, be prepared.

In trying to put things together for this summer, I realized that I don’t have as comprehensive a grasp on what my kids can do as I once did. I needed to do some assessments so I could plan things that are appropriate for my kids. Spring Break was my window and I took it.

I used resources dealing with k-2nd grade and preschool. There were lots. But these are the best ones I found. And they are free. You gotta love free!

HOMESCHOOL/SUMMER SCHOOL ASSESSMENT RESOURCES

THREE AMAZING ASSESSMENT RESOURCES FOR PRESCHOOL

In no specific order, here are three of my seven favorite resources for the assessments I did on my boys:

This Pre-K workbook that Lindsay at One Beautiful Home put together was a perfect place to start with Little J. He has such a different learning style than Big J and I really wasn’t sure what he could and couldn’t do. This was basic, but still had more complex activities and concepts in it too. It was the perfect place to start without overwhelming me. And it was fun!

Pre-Kinders has some great pages to help with assessments as well. I used these pages to make games that would be fun for Little J but still tell me what I needed to know. For example, I cut the number tiles apart (pictured on the right side of the photo above) and then gathered his cars. We made “parking lots” and then he counted how many cars were in the parking lot and put the number tile next to the lot. It let me know if/how high he could count, as well as working on numbers as a quantity and not just a symbol.

The next four assessments are great to help your child prepare to enter kindergarten. Don’t miss the self-evaluation page! It is super helpful in getting an idea of how your kids think they are doing. It helped soo much!

FOUR ASSESSMENT RESOURCES TO HELP PREPARE YOUR CHILD FOR KINDERGARTEN

This Reading Mama has some fun pages on colors. I didn’t use quite as much of this one as I’d hoped when it became pretty clear that Little J has his colors down pretty well. If your little one is just starting on colors, this would be a really good packet to use. The number and letter pages came in handy and I plan to continue to use them this summer. She has some other Pre-K packs that I plan to use this summer too!

I actually used the assessment pages from The Polka Dot Patch on both boys, separately. The top 5 boxes I used as a tracking page with Little J. With Big J, I used the entire page to practice reading, numbers and days of the week/months of the year. We also talked about seasons and what happens in each one. There’s also a reading assessment available.

If you want to track progress over the summer, I like this set up. It has all assessments for the year in one place. I did assessments over Spring Break, I plan to do a quick one at the beginning of our summer school and then again eight weeks later, at the end. If I decide to do summer school again (of eventually venture into homeschooling full time), I can refer back to how I taught certain things, what worked and what didn’t as well as seeing if I spent an entire summer making any difference in my children’s education. Visual gratification can be helpful in providing future motivation… it can also remind me if it turns out to be a total mess and I get future grand ideas.

This first grade assessment packet from School is a Happy Place is gigantic and absolutely AMAZING! I used this one with Big J and it was so perfect. It was very comprehensive and I feel like I have a great handle on what he can do. The kid likes to do worksheet pages and so it wasn’t terribly hard to get him to work on it. We’re at the end of Kindergarten, so there were some things Big J didn’t know – and that’s EXACTLY what I wanted to know. This would also be an excellent tracking resource and is what I plan to use with Big J this summer.

I have a similar page that we use in our preschool. It’s also a great reminder to Big J and gives him a chance to think about how he’s behaving. Big J does great with self-evaluations and it really helps his behavior when he takes a moment to think about what he is doing. There is also a page with school subjects listed and the kids can do a self-evaluation on their progress in those subjects.

Do you do any schooling at home? If you have a favorite resource, let me know in the comments. I’m always looking for more ideas!

February 25, 2015 by Krista

Springtime Activities Boredom Buster Jar Printable

What’s your weather been like lately? Is it finally warming up or are you still covered in snow? We’ve had pretty mild weather recently and have been doing some fun springtime activities. Now, we have a storm forecast for this weekend, yuck. Ah, but that’s what the winter boredom buster jar was for, right? If you’re expecting sunshine instead, I’ve got a spring boredom buster jar for you! It’s full of fun springtime activities that – shhh, don’t tell the kids – will help them learn a little too!

SPRINGTIME ACTIVITIES BOREDOM BUSTER JAR

There are 10 springtime activities in this printable set. I tried to make the activities ones that older kiddos could enjoy too. They are also a little more educational-based than the last boredom buster jar. Don’t worry though, it’s all pretty basic stuff and it’s still fun. Promise.

MAKING YOUR OWN SPRINGTIME ACTIVITIES BOREDOM BUSTER JAR

Links below may be affiliate links. This means I will receive a small percentage of any purchase made though the link. Your cost is not changed in any way and your support helps me keep this site running. Thank you!

Materials:
– Plastic bottle
– Dirt/soil (here’s a whole terrarium kit on amazon if you don’t want to piece it together)
– Pebbles
– Seeds
– White flowers
– Food coloring
– Dishwashing Soap
– Glycerin (get glycerin on amazon)
– Unflavored gelatin (get unflavored gelatin on amazon)
– Silicone molds (find lots of fun silicone molds on amazon)
– Jars
– Skittles
– Empty egg carton

You can gather these items and have them ready when you are so you can get in and do the project right away, or you can make gathering the items part of your activity. There’s a few more items required, but they are common and you probably have them on hand right now.

Make sure you click over and download the file at the link below so you get both pages. Don’t just right click and save as on this one. You’ll be missing part of it! Have fun!

GET YOUR SPRINGTIME ACTIVITIES
PRINTABLE BOREDOM BUSTER JAR!

August 13, 2014 by Krista

Five Sight Word Apps to Help Your Kids Learn to Read

Hey, my friend! Are you trying to help your kiddo learn to read? Me too!

It can be HARD, right?! Even my five-year-old has told me, “Mom, I don’t like English. It’s hard!” And he’s RIGHT! It IS hard. English is incredibly hard! And sight words can be the hardest of all. It’s easy to get discouraged when we get something wrong over and over.

Sight words aren’t long words, or difficult to say or even hard to recognize. But, a lot of sight words are cheater words.

Most of them don’t follow the rules. They are hard to sound out for a beginning reader. The silent -e. The hard -c sound. Words that look like they should rhyme, but don’t. Or words that shouldn’t rhyme, but they do!

Have you had this struggle with your child too? As parents, it’s hard to watch our kids struggle, right? My kindergartner would refuse to practice or even try. Tears, tantrums, the whole nine yards. Until we found something that works for him.

He has always liked his “tablet time”. I’m sure there are a lot of people out there that would hyperventilate with horror at the amount of screen time this kid has under his belt. But, that’s fine.

When he was two-and-a-half years old, he could correctly identify a pentagon, a hexagon, a trapezoid and an octagon in everyday items. My inner mommy would cackle hysterically when people gave me compliments on teaching him such complex shapes at such a young age. If only these people knew he was learning all this from an app on my tablet and I didn’t do much more than encourage him. Half the time, I was just as surprised as they were that he knew them!

This boy learns well with his allotted tablet time and I’m not going to refuse to use the resource when it works so well for him. And I’m so glad there are people out there that develop quality apps that we can use! They are definitely one of my mommy heroes.

In our house, practicing sight words is not a fight anymore!

Does that sound nice? Want to see if practicing sight words during screen time can help your kids actually enjoy the task? Great! But which apps should you try? No worries, Momma! I’ve done all the work for you.

I tried at least a dozen different sight word apps before I let Big J loose. I narrowed it to six and let him play with them. He chose his favorites and now he gets 20 minutes a day of sight word practice.

Best of all, he LIKES it and he’s learning! I don’t get frustrated because he won’t try, he doesn’t get frustrated because it’s hard. He can see that he’s making progress and he likes to read the early readers with me now. And he can pick out some of the sight words, which was the goal all along, right?

Our Favorite Sight Word Apps

Sight Words Learning Games. This is my favorite app. The lite version of this app has two games for your kiddo to play. Both are great. Big J’s favorite is the gear game. This app features the 220 Dolch sight words (plus 90+ nouns) in five skill levels. It also has uppercase, lowercase and combined forms of the words. In the full version, there are six games, including a set of flashcards. The lite version is available for free and the full version is currently $1.99 in the Play Store. Also in the App Store and in the Amazon App Store. I will be back to this company.

- Phonics Spelling and Sight Words. This app is good for after your kiddo has been working with sight words. I wouldn’t use it as an introduction for sight words because it’s geared a little more toward drills and practicing, rather than playing. But now that Big J understands and knows some of the words, it’s good practice. It also works on letter blending. This app has 300 words divided into two levels, Pre-K and K.
  Available for free in the Play Store and the Amazon App Store.
  
  (Some of the reviewers were complaining about the ad content in the app. I personally haven’t had any questionable ads pop up while we’re playing (I usually have to help Big J with this one a little so I usually see everything that pops up on the screen), but you might want to keep an eye on it.)

- Words for Kids – Reading Game. It’s also called Bud’s First Words. This game encourages kids to learn new vocabulary words, as well as begin to recognize sentence structure and recognize sight words. There are over 350 vocabulary words and is a great app for English as a Second Language Learners. This app is targeted more toward younger readers (great for preschoolers, kids with learning disabilities or new language learners) and doesn’t have an intense focus on the actual sight words, but I like that it shows Big J that sight words show up in everyday life. There are in-app purchases in the lite version or your can get the full version ($2). Both versions are available in the Play Store (lite|full) as well as the Amazon App Store (lite|full). It’s also available in the App Store There are Japanese, Korean, and Spanish versions as well in the Play Store. I’m going to have both my boys try the Spanish version.

- Kids Reading Sight Words. This is another app by Intellijoy. I really, really like their apps. They are engaging and entertaining for my kids, but still have a great educational aspect. These are the apps my kids will play and not even realize they are learning. Their sight words app uses the 220 Dolch sight words in five skill levels to identify sight words and common words at their reading level as well as develop reading fluency. Available in the Play Store (lite|full), in the Amazon App Store (lite|full). You can find the app in the App Store as well, though I don’t know if there is a lite version. I couldn’t find it. I love all of Intellijoy’s apps and this one is worth every penny. Promise. (I have purchased the lifetime All-in-One pack that Intellijoy offers on Android. I don’t know if this is an option for Apple devices – I couldn’t find anything in my brief search. But, I love having access to all their high-quality games. And customer service was super helpful when I changed phones and I couldn’t access my all-in-one pack.)

Princesses Learn Sight Words. Not just for girls, my friends. Although, I’m sure any princess-loving little lady out there would adore this app too. I wasn’t sure if it would be a hit or not with Big J, but he loved the music and the games. While there are definite improvements that could be made to this app to increase the sight word learning process, it’s not a bad way for a kid to spend ten or fifteen minutes. This app allows kids to recognize sight words in a story-based context, which helps them recognize them in other text they see. The games aren’t super educational (memory, coloring, stickers, bingo and songs) but it is fun and the kids are still being exposed to educational content. In-app purchases are available. Get the app in the Play Store, Amazon App Store, and the App Store for free. There are also versions of Princesses Learn Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and more. Check out all the Early Languages Apps in the Play Store.

What are your favorite sight word apps or other educational apps?

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.