{Three to Five Playful Preschool: New Resource for Parents}

Three to Five: Playful Preschool

Creative, Hands-On Learning

It's here! And you're going to LOVE all the brilliant, playful learning activities inside! The awesome new preschoolers' parent resource I was telling you about, "Three to Five: Playful Preschool" is ready for you all to download!

Why is it so awesome? Well, aside from the fact that Mama Pea Pod is a co-author (ahem!), there are plenty of reasons:

"Three to Five: Playful Preschool" is loaded with fun, play-based learning activities to help support your preschooler's development - from early literacy to early math learning to gross and fine motor skills to science and art, this e-book will help you provide learning experiences for your preschooler across a broad range of developmental skill areas through age-appropriate, play-based learning activities.

In addition to more than 25 playful learning activities and links to over 50 more activities and resources, the book also comes with 10 free printables to complement the activities - all brought to you by some amazing kids' activities bloggers including Nurturestore, Teach Preschool, Happy Hooligans, No Time for Flashcards and many more! And as an ebook, it is available everywhere worldwide for download directly to your computer, e-reader, and/or mobile device, so you always have it handy when you need it!*

And it's a steal! You can get your copy for the regular price of only $8.99! It's waiting for you :-) 

Here are some more reasons why you should get your hands on your own copy:

*It's an amazing resource!

*Hands-on, play-based learning activities

*Inspiring ideas, yet practical for every parent

*Handy checklist of developmental skills covered by each activity

*Convenience - with everything all in one place, just think how much time you will save by having all that searching already done for you!

*Gorgeous photographs with step-by-step guides - and all things you can easily do at home!

*Over 25 ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources (including a city-scape play scene, My First Journal pages, recipe card, numbers game, weather chart printables, alphabet play mats, unique hand-drawn art pages, conversation cards, block building challenge cards, bookmarks) and additional links to over 50 more activities!

*A range of activities to meet your preschooler's various developmental needs: hands-on, learning through play, math, language, literacy, science, art, sensory, gross motor and fine motor play and more

*At only $8.99 (regular price) you really can't beat that deal!

Think your friends would like a copy? Share this post with them using the share buttons below my signature, below!

* You can buy it now, on any device, and then download it when you are ready. Depending on the apps you have installed and your operating system, you might be able to go ahead and download the book directly onto your mobile device, but if you have any doubts or problems, I recommend you use a computer to download the book and then share it to your mobile devices.

{Come One, Come All, Step Right Up! Awesome Resource for Preschool Parents!}

Come One, Come All! Step Right Up!

Awesome Resource for Parents of {Preschoolers}

Parenting a preschooler is a ton of fun - and a ton of work! There is so much they need from us at this age of learning and discovery, and it can seem like a big responsibility to ensure they have access to all the right learning opportunities! I find myself constantly asking myself, "Are they getting enough fine motor skills practice?", "When was the last time they engaged in sensory play?", "How can we squeeze in more math learning?", and everything else in between! Pinterest is great for finding ideas, but I do find that I spend more time pinning than actually doing!

If you have a preschooler, too, and this sounds familiar, well, I'm thrilled to announce that I might just have exactly what you (and I!) need!

This awesome new e-book, "Three to Five: Playful Preschool" is packed with fun, play-based learning activities for helping to support your preschooler's development - all conveniently in one place! Available now for only $8.99, this is an awesome resource for parents of 3-5 year olds and includes more than 25 playful learning resources plus 10 free printables and links to more than 50 more activities and resources for parents of preschoolers - all brought to you by some amazing kids' activities bloggers, including Nurturestore, Happy Hooligans, Teach Preschool and more (including Mama Pea Pod!) 

Here's why you don't want to miss out:

+ It's an amazing resource!
+ Hands-on, play-based learning activities
+ Inspiring ideas, but really practical and everything all in one place
+ Great photos with step-by-step guides, and all things you can easily try at home
+ Over 25 ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources (including a cityscape play scene, My First Journal pages, recipe card, numbers game, weather chart printables, alphabet play mats, unique hand-drawn art pages, conversation cards, block building challenge cards, bookmarks) and additional links to over 50 more activities!
+ A range of activities to meet your preschooler's various developmental needs: hands-on, learning through play, math, language, literacy, science, art, fine motor and gross motor, and play
+ While similar resources on Amazon retail for anywhere between $15-$25, ours is only $8.99, so order now so you don't miss out!!

Or find out more about Three to Five: Playful Preschool here!

{Best Board Games for Preschoolers}

Best Board Games for Preschoolers

Board games are a great way for young kids to work on many important preschool skills - social skills, math skills, language skills and problem-solving skills can all be developed through a good quality board game! Counting along spaces on the board helps develop counting and one-to-one correspondence, turn-taking is an important social skill as are winning and losing with grace, and many board games also incorporate strategic problem-solving skills and more. So if you think your child might be ready for board games, here are our top recommendations of the best ones for preschool-aged children to start out with. Let the Family Games Nights commence!


The Busytown Eye Found It! Game is a family favourite - great for developing teamwork, social skills and observation skills as well as one-to-one correspondence. The object of the game is to get your entire team (all players) to the finish line before the naughty pigs eat the entire picnic. Along the way, you need to search for clues on the board using the mini magnifying glasses before the sand runs out of the timer.

 

If You See A Crocodile...  - this was Princess Pea's first board game when she was 2 1/2 and she just loved it! Teaches colours, counting, and one-to-one correspondence. The object of the game is to get to the finish first. Along the way you need to hop along coloured spots and watch out for crocodiles. Even more fun if you sing along to the tune of 'Row row row your boat'.

Fancy Nancy Positively Perfect Parfait Game - develops problem-solving skills and social skills. And, of course, what kid doesn't get excited at the prospect of building the ice cream sundae of their dreams?! The object of the game is to build an ice cream sundae consisting of at least 3 different flavours with a cherry on top - but be careful someone doesn't switch your scoops!






















The Game of Ladybirds - great for practicing counting and adding on, important early math skills, as well as familiarity with dice, which is useful for quick number recognition. The object of the game is to collect as many ladybugs as possible, keeping count of how many you have.

The Busytown Busy, Busy Airport Game - this one is perfect for those active little ones that aren't quite ready to sit down for a board game yet, as it involves moving around the room to deliver passengers to their destinations. Super for practicing strategic thinking and problem solving. The object of the game is to deliver all the passengers to their destinations and collect souvenirs from all the places.

Any kind of Snakes and Ladders type game - games where there are unexpected 'gains' and 'losses' that can't be helped are good for developing social skills and good graces. We have the My Little Pony version, but for some reason that is now very expensive on Amazon, so try this popular Chutes and Ladders version instead. The object of the game is to reach the finish first, but beware of setbacks. If you're lucky, you might even find some shortcuts.

What are your family's board game recommendations? We'd love to hear them!

 

{Hands On One to One Correspondence Counting Practice}

One to One Correspondence

Playful Hands-On Counting Practice

One to one correspondence is an important skill in early math and early literacy development. It refers to the ability to understand that each item represents one thing and to maintain the one-to-one match while counting objects or while reading words on a page. 

In math it is the ability for kids to count along objects without skipping any - to count one more for each object. Many kids can rote count numbers, but counting objects without skipping any is more difficult. In reading it is the ability to follow along with each word on the page, understanding that each visual word they see corresponds to an individual word with its own meaning and to maintain that one-to-one match while reading.

For some fun, hands-on practice with one-to-one correspondence, try this simple count and stick activity. You'll need:

* foam sheets or pieces of paper (I used foam for a more sensory tactile experience)
* glue
* various small objects that you have pre-counted 
* bowls

I set out a bowl for each different type of object, but you could challenge your child more with one bowl containing all the items to 'find' first. 

Label each foam sheet with a number from 1-10.

Your child needs to count out the number of objects that match the number on the sheet (if they can't read numbers yet, you can tell them the number) and glue them on.

We used small items that we had around the house. Try these suggestions:

*foam shapes

*craft sticks

*cotton balls

*feathers

*shells

*squares of tissue paper

*dried beans

*dried pasta

*stickers

*leaves or flowers from the garden

*twigs

*pine cones

*acorns
*pompoms

Other ways to practice one-to-one correspondence:
*Egg carton math
*Playing board games (counting along the spaces) [affiliate link]
*Counting out spoonfuls as serving dinner or playing tea parties

More playful math learning:
*Playing With Symmetry
*Simple Preschool Math Play
*Pool Noodle Patterning
*Number Recognition Travel Game

{Why a Play House is the Perfect Toy for Imaginary Play}

Simple, Creative Play with a Play House 

Let Their Imaginations Run Wild!

Peekaboo! How's the weather?

Imaginary play is definitely the number one choice for playtime at our house, and the addition of a play house has really helped to make our children's imaginary play come to life! Imaginary play is a key ingredient in growing creative kids and has huge intellectual and emotional benefits for children. It allows them opportunities to explore hypotheses, problem-solve, role-play social situations, develop language and literacy skills, and work through emotional stresses. 

Imaginary play: Super sleuth on a bear hunt

Having a play house has given our kids so many opportunities to expand their imaginary play, and having a 'life-sized' structure to play out their scenes in makes it all that much more real to them. In fact, we actually have two play houses - a wooden play house outdoors and a cardboard play house [sponsored link] indoors - to support their imaginary play.

Play house picnic party
at the 'ballet studio'

Below are some of the ways they play with their play houses and some suggestions for props. I recommend placing a basket of mixed accessories in or next to a play house and leaving the rest up to them. If your child wants to engage you in the play, follow their lead instead of trying to direct the play. Chances are, your child has much more imaginative ideas than you could dream up! If your child needs a nudge when it comes to imaginary play, try picking up a prop and starting the ball rolling with an inviting prompt. Something like, "Oh, thank you for this lovely invitation to your tea party! What can I bring?" or, "Excuse me, Doctor, but my baby has been coughing all night. Can you help?" will likely be enough to trigger a scenario in your child's mind.

Making the play house into an art gallery

Some ways that our play houses are used: [affiliate links provided to some of our favourite props]

*House - they play family roles, baby care, tea parties. Possible props: baby doll, tea set.
*School - Possible props: paper, pencils, math manipulatives, their homework!
*Farm - Possible props: stuffed animals, watering can, baby bottle (for feeding baby animals), vegetables (real or pretend)
*Ice-cream stand - Possible props: scoops, empty ice-cream containers, cash register, play money
*Art gallery - Our girls have drawn their own art inside their indoor play house, complete with frames. Possible props: paper, markers, paint or crayons, homemade paper frames
*Puppet theatre - The windows of a play house make a perfect stage for a puppet show! Possible props: puppets, piece of fabric taped up for a curtain
*Tent/Camp - Possible props: sleeping bags/blankets, pillows, marshmallows
*Circus - Possible props: leotards, hula hoops, stuffed animals
*Book nook - a play house makes a wonderful, quiet spot to read. Possible props: basket of books, cushions, lamp (we have the cord running out of a window to the outlet)
*Shop - Possible props: cash register, play money
*Gardening/Garden centre - Possible props: watering can, kids' gardening tools, plastic flowers and pots
*Dog breeder's kennel (a favourite these days!) - Possible props: toy dogs, ribbon to use as a leash, brush, bowls
*Rabbit caretakers - Possible props: stuffed animals, real or pretend carrots
*Dentist office - Possible props: flashlight (our kids use these invisible ink pens with UV lights), medical mask, tongue depressor
*Doctor's office - play medical kit  
*Vet - play medical kit and toy animals
*Picnics - serve a snack inside (way more tasty than when it's eaten at the table!)

Our decorate-your-own indoor play house

Our indoor play house is a Villa Carton XXL House [sponsored link], which is a brilliant creation - a cardboard house that comes flat and pre-printed in black and white to look like a country farmhouse that you put together and let your kids colour/decorate themselves! My girls (and I) LOVE Villa Carton products (you can see our review of the Villa Carton City Blocks here). They are the perfect combination of creativity and imaginary play. And while it would be possible to make your own cardboard box house out of a regular box, my girls love the 'real house' look of the Villa Carton house (and Daddy Pea much prefers it to having a regular cardboard box in the living room!) To colour it, they used a mix of paint, markers, and crayons (they especially enjoyed colour-mixing to make brown paint and using it to paint 'mud' on the tractor!) They added their artwork in frames that they painted on the inside walls. You could also make pretty paper frames with an open top to change out the artwork. They strung up some sweet star-shaped fairy lights inside, and have kitted it out with a cosy blanket on the floor. As you can see in the pictures, the colouring and decorating are ongoing (which is one of the things I love about it - both the creating and the play go on and on!) Our next project will be to make some paper bunting to add to it.

Imaginary play: Tea party for Pinkie

For more pictures of how my girls created and decorated their play house, click here.

(Please note that we received the Villa Carton XXL House for free to try out for review. As always, all opinions expressed are my own.)

{Fly Away Butterfly - Easy Colourful Puppets}

Fly Away Butterfly:

Easy Colorful Butterfly Puppets Crafts for Preschoolers

We've been watching this Butterfly Colors Song video on YouTube over and over and over again. My girls (aged 6 and 3) love it. My 1st grade beginner EAL students love it. And it's a fun resource for teaching colours.

We made easy butterfly puppets to go with the video so we could perform along with it on the screen. 

Simply cut out a butterfly shape (I used the die-cutter [affiliate link] at school since I was making them for a whole class, but you could easily draw your own template or print one from here). We made one per child per colour, so six butterflies each. At school we made them single-sided with a craft stick [affiliate link] on the back, but the ones we made at home were double-sided, with the craft stick glued in between.

Then have your child colour the butterflies to match the colours in the video. You can also have them add further decoration with sequins, glitter glue, tissue paper, feathers, [affiliate links] etc. in the same colour.

Then play the video and have your butterflies dance along as you sing the song together!

{10 Everyday Fine Motor Activities for Kids}

Helping your child develop fine motor skills doesn't require lots of planning, special materials or tools, or genius creative ideas from Pinterest. There are so many simple, everyday activities that kids do all the time (often even without planning on your part) that help them develop the fine motor control that they will need later for writing in school. Here are 10 things that your kids probably already do that are helping them develop their fine motor skills on a daily basis! So stop beating yourself up over not having time or energy to put together those wonderfully creative Pinterest ideas - your kids *are* working on their fine motor skills daily! (And if they're not, these are easy ways to build it into their every day!) 

{Fruit and Vegetable Sensory Guessing Game for Vocabulary Development}

FRUIT AND VEGETABLE GUESSING GAME

For Sensory Learning and Vocabulary Development

A fun and educational sensory game for toddlers and preschoolers! 

Play this simple Fruit and Vegetable Guessing Game to help young children learn to use their senses and logical reasoning to deduce what's hidden behind their backs, while developing their vocabulary at the same time ....

{First Day of School Tradition: Schultuete}

Our older daughter was born in Germany. At the time, I taught first grade there, and I fell in love with this German First Day of School tradition: the Schultüte, or Zuckertüte as it is called in the east, where we lived and where the tradition originated. Translated as 'School Cone' or 'Sugar Cone', it is a special tradition just for kids entering grade one....

{Back to School Books}

This year both my girls are starting new school experiences. Princess Pea will be starting first grade, and is bursting with excitement. Sweet Pea will be starting preschool, leaving our house and going 'out into the world alone' for the first time ever! (I wouldn't say she's bursting with excitement - she's more introverted and takes time to warm up in social situations.)

As always, we have been turning to books to help them with these transitions - to allay any fears and create positive yet realistic expectations of their new experiences....

{DIY Window Cling Stickers}

We are, obviously, huge fans of The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson. Sweet Pea never tires of that story or its follow-up, The Gruffalo's Child. In The Gruffalo, a clever, little mouse manages to outwit all of the animals in the deep, dark wood that are trying to eat it by making up a tall tale that ends up surprising even the mouse. The mouse's quick wit and the author's hilarious and creative rhymes make for an instant family favourite that is quoted and retold endlessly. 

For Sweet Pea's Gruffalo birthday last week, since her birthday presents didn't arrive in the mail in time, I thought I'd have a go at making her some Gruffalo DIY window cling stickers to use for retelling the story through play. They were easy to make and actually work really well! ...

{Gruffalo Birthday Party}

Like Mama Pea Pod for birthday party ideas? Please consider throwing a vote our way in the Red Tricycle Most Awesome awards for Birthday Party Ideas! Thanks so much! x

A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood...

Sweet Pea had her 3rd birthday last week, and since her absolute favourite story of all time is The Gruffalo, by Julia Donaldson, what could be better than a Gruffalo themed birthday party?

Now my tummy's beginning to rumble...

Naturally, we had a Gruffalo's feast menu: 

Roasted Fox (sausage rolls)

Mouse on a Slice of Bread (turkey sandwiches)

Fruits of the Forest (strawberries)

Scrambled Snake (jello, set then scrambled)

and Gruffalo Crumble with Owl Ice-Cream on the Side

(you won't want to miss our super easy Gruffalo Crumble recipe!)

Cakes are definitely not my forte, so I made it easy on myself:

a simple chocolate cake with white chocolate frosting, and a store-bought, personalized, edible Gruffalo cake topper that I ordered here. All I had to do was peel it off the backing paper and lay it on top. Because I used butter cream frosting, I decided to make a marzipan backing for it in case the butter caused the topper colours to run (it's made of a very thin layer of icing, printed with food colouring). Then I just placed the whole thing on the top of the cake.

For the sides, I printed some pictures of the Gruffalo and stuck them onto a piece of green construction paper. Then I stuck the paper onto a backing of baking paper the same length and width, wrapped it around the cake, and taped it together in the back.

His eyes are orange, his tongue is black,

He has purple prickles all over his back.

For games and activities, we made Gruffalo masks that I printed from here, read The Gruffalo story while huddled in the Gruffalo's cave (I placed all our large houseplants in a semicircle around one corner of the living room to make a den and we sat in the middle), we had Gruffalo hunts (taking turns hiding Sweet Pea's little toy Gruffalo), and played pin the parts on the Gruffalo with this large, felt Gruffalo I made (which we can use as a Gruffalo felt play board afterwards).

I had originally planned to also use our DIY Gruffalo Puppet Theatre, but in the end we didn't.

I also made some DIY Gruffalo window clings to decorate and play with (separate post to follow).

Oh help! Oh no!

It's a Gruffalo!

And I made some attempt to turn our kiddie table and stools into toadstools - though I ran out of time to attach them better, so they ended up being a rush job. 

And for her birthday present, we got some Gruffalo t-shirts made for her at our local t-shirt printing store. She LOVES them - definitely her favourite gift!

In the party favour bag were some bubbles, a little toy, and some Gruffalo printables from here (in addition to the masks, we included the DIY finger puppets, colouring sheets, and mazes).

She had so much fun, and was soooo excited to be having a Gruffalo party!

Happy birthday, big girl!

If you're interested in throwing a Gruffalo party, I also ordered these items and highly recommend them: