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See the face? She tried faces on the first two and wasn’t happy with them (I think her fingers slipped or something so they didn’t turn out as she had envisioned them), but the third time was the charm.
Emma’s fine motor skills always amaze me. And they balance out her gross motor skills – she didn’t learn to climb until Johnny (nearly 22 months younger and king of gross motor skills) taught her how, and she mastered jumping this month after over a year of trying. Funny how kids are so different within a single family…
I definitely need to get this girl some colored sharpies (to be used exclusively under supervision during Johnny’s naps). And a few more peg dolls – maybe we’ll find some other 3D objects for her to let her imagination go wild with also. If I’m feeling ambitious, we may try some fabric scrap clothing for the peg dolls as seen in this post at ikat bag – I’m guessing Emma would love that!
I’ve written before about my children’s computer addiction. Here are three of my favorite free programs – chosen in part because they don’t have ads for your child to click into or easy ways to start chatting with customer service. All of these work great on our PC computer running Windows; I haven’t tried any of them on a Mac.
Downloads:
- Crazy Little Fingers is a free program that is supposed to lock out the rest of your computer. I have never been able to get out without using the Ctrl-Alt-Del key combination that is designed to get you out, but Johnny has, several times – and he usually shuts down the computer at the same time. I don’t know how he does it, but consider yourself warned. The program is very simple: it brings up a new picture and/or sound effect for every key your child hits. For letters, it brings up a picture of an animal that starts with that letter. I’ve learned about some new animals that way. If your child hits a number key, they get that number on the screen with a sound effect. Other keys just add sound effects to the picture that is currently on the screen.
- Tuxpaint is a very cool free art program that is (in my opinion) better than many of the children’s art programs available for purchase. The program includes a wide variety of art tools, including shapes, textures, and stamps.
Online:
- Poisson Rouge/Red Fish Soup is a trilingual (UK English, French, and Chinese) exploratory site. Clicking on different parts of the main site takes you to games, music programs, programs to teach body parts, seasons, letters, numbers, coloring, and much, much more. None of the games can be “won” – they just get played over and over. This may appeal to some people and frustrate others. Change the language by clicking on the castle turret with the corresponding flag on the lower right corner of the main screen.
I’d love to hear of any educational, free programs your child enjoys.
Massachusetts has had a bit of a heat wave this week, and Johnny’s wardrobe was woefully unprepared. I hadn’t taken stock of his summer clothes at all, and discovered AFTER the warm weather arrived that he had one short-sleeved t-shirt that fit, one that was really too small, and a single pair of shorts that I could barely squeeze him into. I had an old t-shirt sitting in my fabric pile, so we took that and improvised it into a pair of knit shorts. It worked really well and was super quick to sew (I kept some of the t-shirt seams and the bottom hem so I was able to skip those steps). I definitely plan to turn more t-shirts into shorts in the future!
MATERIALS:
- Adult t-shirt
- Elastic (for wasteband)
- Thread
- Sewing machine
STEPS:
- Choose a pair of shorts (pants will work too, just cut the legs shorter) to use as a pattern.
- Lay over t-shirt and cut, adding seam allowances and extra fabric at the top for adding elastic. Notice that I kept the side seam and bottom hem of this t-shirt – cut down my sewing time for quite a bit and since these are just play shorts I wasn’t looking to make them perfect. You want to copy the backside of the article of clothing, since that piece is typically larger than the front piece. You can trim the front side later.
 3. Repeat on the other side of the t-shirt. You can actually use the first piece you cut as a pattern (Preferable – I didn’t do this, and then I had to trim the two pieces to make them identical).
4. Trim the top front of the shorts a little – you normally want the backside of shorts to be higher than the front.
5. You can see in this photo how the back of shorts (right side of the photo) is taller than the front (left side of Image 4). You may want to trim some of the front edge (left side of Image 4) off as well, to prevent fabric bunching in the front (you need less in the front since in the back it is stretching over your child’s bum). If you do trim the left side, be sure to re-cut the little bit on the bottom left to match the backside.
6. Sew the side seams of Image 4 (done in the photo). I used a zig-zag stitch since this is a knit fabric and the stitching needs to have some give.
7. Open the shorts out the way they were in Image 3, but with the seams on the outside of the fabric. Stitch the crotch seam, again using a zig-zag stitch
8. Cut a length of elastic to fit your child’s waist.
9. Stitch down the top of the shorts, leaving an opening to insert elastic
10. Thread elastic through shorts. If you don’t have a elastic threading tool (not sure what the formal name for that thing is), attaching a safety pin to one end of the elastic works pretty well.
11. Stitch together the ends of the elastic, making sure that the elastic isn’t twisted within the band
12. Finish stitching the waist.
13. Put the shorts on your child and send them out to play.
Johnny loves his new shorts, although he doesn’t share his sister’s zest for modeling.
Our dining room wall – and why I buy washable markers
Thank you to everyone who commented on yesterday’s post! Blissful_e wrote a comment asking for ideas on letting kids make a mess in a rented space. I think this is a great question, and so I wanted to address it in a separate post rather than writing an essay in the comments section.
Before we moved to our current home, we rented an apartment that had cream carpet everywhere except the kitchen and bathrooms – not a good environment for creative toddlers. Luckily I only had one child at the time. Emma and I did most of our crafting on the kitchen floor. I also put one of these office floor protector mats under one end of the dining room table and sat my daughter over that for any crafty activities. We also bought a good carpet stain remover. If we were still living in that apartment with two toddlers, I would probably put a gate up in the kitchen and physically lock the kids in there for any messy activities. I’m really glad our house is nearly all tile/linoleum…
Some other ideas:
- Cover part of the floor with an old flat sheet. If you don’t have any old flat sheets, see if your local thrift shop or even dollar store has some you can get for a cheap price.
- For activities involving water or paint, put down a cheap shower curtain. Ikea sells a clear one for $1, or at least they did last time I was there. You can put your flat sheet on top of the shower curtain if you want, to add some absorbency.
- If you have a deck or yard, do crafts outdoors whenever the weather is nice (preferably not-super-windy).
- The bathtub can be a great place to do crafts like finger painting – your child has a hard surface to paint on (the bottom of the tub), and you’ll probably want to give them a bath afterwards anyhow. Just make sure you are using washable paint.
- Have older children help clean up – this helps teach them not to be excessively messy. I had Emma wash off her wall artwork featured above (created while I was mopping the floor and she was supposed to be sitting quietly at the table coloring). She hasn’t tried writing on the walls since, but if she does, she’ll be on clean-up duty again. Crayola washable markers and crayons wipe off with a cloth dipped in plain water. I’ve had great luck getting regular crayons off of walls with a plain rubber eraser and a little elbow grease.
- Choose art supplies you don’t mind cleaning up that can be kept within your child’s reach. In our house we have a bin with fabric scraps, colored paper, craft sticks (the tongue depressor type) and pompoms that Emma can get out whenever she wants. None of these are likely to hurt anyone or anything, and they are all easy to clean up. As Emma and her siblings get older (particularly as they grow out of the “high risk of choking” phase), I will be able to add a wider range of objects to this bin. Tape some contact paper to a wall or window (an idea I saw at Chasing Cheerios) and your child can use these objects to create a tactile collage.
Any other suggestions on saving parental sanity while allowing messes in tight/rented spaces?
One of the best things about having a three-year-old is that, now that Emma is fully conversant and able to draw (monsters, in this case), I see more and more of her personality. I am always amazed by the creativity of young children.
While scholastic achievement is important to me, I feel like fostering creativity in toddlerhood is at least as important as teaching letters and numbers. My mother called her home a “laboratory of learning” – a home full of opportunities for creativity and self-teaching. Looking back on my own childhood and at the environments I see in the homes of friends as well as on blogs, I’ve tried to identify a few ways to create this unique environment:
- Books. Lots and lots of them. Both parents read aloud to us on a weekly basis, but there were books full of pictures, craft books, science books, medical reference texts and two full sets of encyclopedias. Books are academic, but they can be used to foster creativity as well – and they are often necessary for self-teaching. I love the internet, but books provide information in ways websites cannot. I was by far the most craft-oriented of my parents’ ten children, and most of the ideas I got and (skills I learned) came from books. Check out ikat bag’s post on the books for more on this topic.
- Time for child-directed play. We had hours of unstructured time when we could come up with our own activities. My parents purposely limited extracurricular activities to create time for this. It helped that we spent most of our lives overseas, living in communities that offered a fraction of the activities available in the US.
- Structured activities to teach concentration and discipline. In my home growing up, this was music lessons, but I think it could be any activity requiring a child to focus. True creativity requires an ability to focus.
- Willing suspension of disbelief. Appreciate the magic of make-believe (I love this post on make-believe from Filth Wizardry).
- Tolerance of messes. Your entire house doesn’t need to be taken over by creativity, but designate an area where messy creating (be it painting, cutting paper, playing with cardboard) can take place.
- Underlying order. Complete chaos hampers creative thinking. Craft supplies aren’t useful if they aren’t organized.
- Appreciate the potential of simplicity. Simple toys frequently allow for more creative thought than complex ones.
- For toddlers in particular, the creative process is more important than the product.
- Things don’t always have to be done the “right” way. Who knows, maybe your child will discover a better way ;)
- Teach flexibility. A Large Room shares a brilliant example of this.
- The primary goal should always be to have fun.
What do you think? What have I left out? What would you change?
“I wish John-John was a girl” – good thing she’s getting a sister in a few months!
Either to Johnny or her toy (not sure which): “Do that one more time, and I’ll put you in time out.” Wonder where she got that one from…
After I asked her if she understood why I force her to have the straps tight enough to actually protect her in her car seat: “Mama, what ‘understand’ mean?”
Seeing the corn on the cob I bought for dinner: “Oh, wow, uppercase corn!” Apparently, baby corn (which Emma also loves) is “lowercase corn”.
Seeing my sister E. (Emma’s aunt) drive up to our house: “E really pretty. She one of my [pause] cousins? Or sisters?”
Thanks to Chronicle of an Infant Bibliophile for giving me the “Premio Dardos” award for "bloggers who distinguish themselves for showing cultural values, ethics, great and fun writing skills, as well as individual values, through their creative writing." Infant Bibliophile writes a blog full of excellent book selections for young children. Favorite books receive the “watermelon award” (Infant Bibliophile loves watermelons); you can check out the list of books that have received this award thus far here.
Here are the award rules:
- To accept and show the distinct image
- Show the link to the blog from which you were given the award
- Choose 15 blogs to give the Award (Premio Dardos).
Here are 15 blogs taken from the many I enjoy:
- Filth Wizardry: creativity with cardboard and sewing and an admirable willingness to let her kids make a mess
- Got Quads?: tales from a mother of quadruplet 3yo girls
- Having Fun at Home: toddler activities and crafts
- homemade by jill: fantastic tutorials ranging from sewing projects to diaper cakes
- Ikat Bag: awesome creativity with cardboard, sewing, and foam
- Itty Bitty Bistro: fantastic recipes for babies, toddlers, and children
- maya*made: beautiful sewing
- Mommy Love: crafting, cloth diapers, and life with three little boys
- Mom of Littles: tips for pregnancy and parenting little ones
- Olabelhe: stunning dresses for her little girl
- sunnydaytodaymama: beautiful photos chronicling the joy and wonder of childhood
- The Adventures of Bear: toddler crafts and activities
- Tracyecakes: gorgeous cakes and stories of parenting
- Two Under Two. Whew!: entertaining tales of life with two children under two
- UK lass in US: lovely sewing and crafting
Some favorite tutorials:
- Easy and stylish spring tote tutorial from homemade by jill. While you’re there, check out her gorgeous WIP quiet time book, as well as her tutorials for taggie animals and a wipe-clean vinyl bib.
- Discover the many possibilities of foam by exploring these gorgeous creations from Ikat Bag – creations range from a children’s sofa to dirt (very cool dirt, I might add)!
- Very cute and simple headband tutorial from vermillion rules.
- Great ideas of ways to recycle/upcycle baby tights from Filth Wizardry.
- Easy hooded bath towel from Make and Takes.
- Make a felt armchair for your child’s dollhouse using this tutorial from One Inch World.
- Toy gathering bucket from Sew, Mama, Sew!
I bought these peg dolls for Emma quite a while ago, and today she asked to get them out and decorate them. I think they turned out quite nicely, especially given that it’s her first go at decorating a 3D object. I need to get her some non-smudging pens for this type of work, ideally in a range of colors instead of just black. Any suggestions as to what I should look for?
 The dolls needed a house, so we took the lid of a shoebox and some scraps of cardboard and fabric and created this humble abode:
Emma loved this activity, and it was made completely from leftover scraps apart from the two dolls (99 cents for a package of two, and I think I got them 40% off). She spent at least an hour playing with the finished product this afternoon. Maybe we should take a second shoebox lid and build an addition onto the dollhouse. :)
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