DIY $2 Advent Calendar

Are you still thinking of a way to present the countdown activities from Play Your Way to Christmas?  

I was too, until I went shopping at my favorite store…Dollar Tree.  I saw these signs in the holiday section.

I first thought that maybe I could paint over top of it, but then I turned it over.  I realized the back would be perfect.

I took one more quick trip down the craft aisle to find these cute little clothespins.

I took them home, glued 24 tiny clothespins on the back of the sled sign.  In hindsight, I should have folded up the activity card papers first to space out the pins a little more. 

I then added just a little acrylic paint to finish off the sign.

I copied the activity cards from the book, cut them apart, folded them, and clipped them in order on my new advent calendar. 

How are you going to present the activities to your children?  If my kiddos had not already tried all the activities, I think I would just give it to our elves to present every morning.  I wanted to create an element of suspense, so I think this advent calendar is the perfect solution.  And cost $2.00!

Wanting more information about Play Your Way to Christmas?  Go here!

Want to give the gift of PLAY?

Did you know that you can gift a copy of the 

Play Your Way to Christmas ebook?

The process is just slightly different from when you purchase your own copy directly from the site.  

If you want to purchase one for a friend or a teacher, you just need to know their email address!

Then go to this form to complete the information.  

What will happen?

1. You will complete the form including a special message to the giftee.

2. You will receive a PayPal invoice for the cost of the eBook ($10.00).

2. Once you pay, you will receive an email confirmation.  Your giftee's eBook will be on the way!  The giftee will receive an email with download instructions and your special message.  

Want to purchase a copy for yourself?

You can do that by clicking the button below!

Turkey Invitation

Last night, I shared this play dough invitation with you all on Facebook Live!

You can see the video on the Branch & Blossom Atelier Facebook page.

Here's the invitation: 

Invite your children to form a turkey out of the play dough.  You can find my favorite play dough recipe here.  

If you have a dice, or a play group block (make your own dice, I wrote numerals on mine) have the child roll it to see how many feathers to put into their turkey.  Use the popsicle sticks as feathers.  

This encourages numeral recognition and counting using one-to-one correspondence.

You can extend this activity by writing letters on the bottoms of the popsicle sticks.  When a child chooses a stick, he needs to tell you the letter name.  Older children can tell you the sound the letter makes.  If they get it right, they get to keep the feather and put it into their turkey.

If your child is in preschool, you may want to right only the letters of his/her name on the sticks.  Challenge your child to put them in order.

Younger children can sort the popsicle sticks by color.  They will build fine motor strength by pushing the sticks into the play dough.  

Helpful Hint:

If you are planning on doing the Play Your Way to Christmas countdown activities, you can save this play dough in a ziplock bag.  When you get to Day 19, take it out and put a few drops of green food coloring in!  It will be perfect!

My Go-To Playdough Recipe

Looking for a play dough recipe that lasts a long time?

I have the perfect one for you!  

I have been meaning to write this post for quite a while now.  I posted this recipe on my Instagram stories a few months ago. I tried to save it to my highlights, but the last half of the video was deleted.

Well, the last half of the video is pretty important!

A few weeks ago, my daughter's teacher messaged me in a playdough crisis.  She had followed all the instructions...until the video cut off.

So the part that was missing from the video...you have to cook it on medium heat!  I felt terrible.  We had a good laugh, and she tried again the next day.  And then I vowed to write this post!

Here is the video in FULL:

Recipe:

Combine the following into a large pot: 

2 Cups flour

1 Cup salt

2 Cups water

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

4 teaspoons cream of tartar

Couple drops of food coloring

Stir all together and heat on medium heat.  

Stir continuously until the dough starts to form a ball. 

Once it forms a ball, scoop it out of the pot onto a cutting board and let it cool a little.

When it is cool enough to touch, knead the dough.

Storage:

You can store this dough in a large gallon size ziplock bag.  Try to remove as much air as possible.  It will keep for a very long time!  Just depends how many dirty hands play with it :)

Variations: 

You can add in different spices for different seasons!  When my daughter's teacher finally was able to get her hands on the correct recipe...she added pumpkin spice to her dough.  It does smell amazing!  Remember that the color of spice will affect the color of the dough.  You may need to add a 1/2 Tablespoon more oil also.

Play Your Way to Christmas eBook is now available!

Want to make memories this Christmas?

Childhood is a beautiful time, and Christmas during childhood is even more beautiful! Take a break from the hustle and bustle and sit down to play.  

This eBook takes the guesswork out of planning engaging and meaningful activities for your children this Christmas season!  These pretend play and sensory activities are great for ALL children!

What is included?

I have planned 24 kid-tested (my children had a blast) activities.  You will start on December 1st and complete an activity a day until Christmas!

You will receive activity cards that you can print to share with your children.

You will receive a complete list of materials. Most of the materials can be purchased from the dollar store or can be gathered from your own home.

Each day has complete instructions on how to set up the activity and how to play.  There are 72 pages in this eBook!  You will see photos of my children testing each activity.

 

The activities in this eBook coordinate with some of my favorite Christmas children's books.  You do NOT have to have these books in order to enjoy these activities.  If you want to watch me read these books, go to this page.

 

Frequently Asked Questions:

What’s the return policy?
Since you can’t really send back a digital download, I don’t accept refunds.

How will I receive this eBook?

Once you complete the purchase, you will receive a link to download the file through the email registered with your PayPal.  The PDF file can be read on any computer, phone or tablet. If you’re an Apple user, save the file to your Books app for easy access anytime. The system is set to allow you to download this 50 times (if you're like me you forget to save it the first few times you open it).  I suggest saving it to your computer or to your Books app on your smartphone or tablet.

I would love to purchase this as a gift for a friend.  Can I do that?
Yes!  The process is just a little different.  Go here to get started.  You are such a great friend!  Spread the love for play!

I want to hear from you!

Once you purchase the eBook and begin the activities, I would LOVE for you to post to Facebook or Instagram using the hashtags #branchandblossomatelier and #playyourwaytochristmas

Thank you!

I am so honored that you would make Branch and Blossom Atelier a part of your Christmas celebrations this year!  Have a very Merry Christmas!  Let's PLAY YOUR WAY TO CHRISTMAS!

Fine Motor Play: Must Have Toys Series (Part 4)

Huge thanks to everyone who joined me for the Facebook Live about fine motor toys.  If you missed it, you can watch the replay on Facebook or check it out here. 

What is fine motor play?

Fine motor play is any type of play that increases the use of the small muscles between the fingers and hand.  Fine motor skills become more sophisticated as a child develops and practices using the skills.  Fine motor skills are important for self-feeding, getting dressed, drawing, writing, typing, sewing, painting, etc.  

Many toy creators make toys that encourage the development of fine motor skills.  In fact, most of the toys we have already talked about in this series give children an opportunity to strengthen their fine motor skills.  If you missed the posts on dramatic play, small world play, or construction play, check them out!

Today I am sharing all the toys that I could find in my house, that encourage fine motor skills but did not fit in the first 3 series.  This post does contain affiliate links.  These are all toys that have been well-loved in my house and have gotten lots of use from my 4 children over the years. As with all toy suggestions, you will need to use your best judgement as to what is best for your child.  Some of these suggestions do have small pieces.  

Puzzles

Do you enjoy completing puzzles?  I am not very good at them!  I used to cringe when I was a preschool teacher and the puzzle shelf was left a mess at the end of the day.  It took me longer than I am willing to admit to put the puzzles back together :)

My children, on the other hand, are puzzle gurus.  Well, we haven't mastered the 100-250 piece puzzles but they loved doing them as young children. And puzzles are great for children. 

Inset Puzzles

When you are ready to introduce puzzles to your children, you will want to start with inset puzzles. These are puzzles where each piece is a distinct shape and picture and sets into the puzzle frame.

The pieces in the Winnie the Pooh puzzle are large and chunky.  Most children will use a palmar grasp, using their whole hand, to pick up the pieces. The great thing about these puzzles is that the pieces can also be used for small world play!  

Another type of inset puzzles are ones with peg puzzle pieces.  These small pegs encourage children to move to a pincer grasp, which is the same grasp you use when writing. This farm puzzle is fun because it makes the animal sound when you put the piece in the correct spot. 

Interlocking Puzzles

Once children are comfortable with the inset puzzles, they are ready to move to simple interlocking puzzles.  These are jigsaw puzzles.  First choose a puzzle that does not have too many pieces and has a frame.

An easy hack can be seen on the 9 piece Paw Patrol puzzle above.  You can trace the shapes of the puzzle so children can match the correct piece to the correct spot.  You can also number the pieces in order for easy clean up.

I love these 12 piece puzzle box sets!  We have the pets, farm animals, and dinosaur sets.  I love that they have their own box to keep all the pieces.  Each set has 4 different puzzles inside.  Each puzzle has its own identifying shape on the back to help you sort the pieces.  The lid acts as a frame for the puzzle.  

Do you have favorite puzzles?  A favorite brand?

Pattern Blocks or Tangrams

Brickston has always loved this pattern blocks set.  He will sometimes make his own pictures using the shapes. My kids also have a travel set with a magnetic board, but it was in my office this week.

Stringing and Lacing Toys

Stringing and lacing toys encourage children to use both hands to complete a task.  One hand stabilizes (holds the string), while the other hand does something different (put the bead on).  I actually do not have any commercial stringing toys at the moment.  My children string real pony beads onto pipe cleaners (with supervision).  Because beads are a choking hazard, I found these great wooden and plastic napkin holders at a thrift store.  I placed them in a basket with some ribbon and tulle.

Lacing cards are also well-loved in my home.  We have this ocean set.

Magnets

My children love playing with magnets while I'm working in the kitchen.  They put them on our dishwasher or on a cookie sheet.  We have these animal and dinosaur magnets that they have loved over the years. 

Other Must Have Fine Motor Toys

Here are some other must haves that I mentioned in the FB Live video:

Water Wow books

 

Poke-A-Dot 10 Little Monkeys Book

Leap Frog Fridge Phonics

Velcro Food for Dramatic Play

Shape Sorter

Pop Up Toy

What are the fine motor toys in your house that we need to add to the list?

Construction Play: Must Have Toys Series (Part 3)

Thank you for checking out part 3 of the Must Have Toys Series.  Make sure you check out Part 1 about dramatic play and Part 2 about small world play.  You can also check out the Facebook Live video I did last week on Construction Play!

Construction Play

Let's talk about construction play! This post does contain affiliate links, but these are all toys that we own, love, and use during routine construction play in our home. 

Construction play is any type of play that invites a child to build or create something.  This can be your traditional block play, which we will talk about in just a second, or it can be more non-traditional types of building. 

Construction play affords children opportunities to problem solve, express their own ideas, make predictions, and practice math skills.  Construction play gives children practice in all developmental areas.  In the Facebook live video, I promised I would link the 10 Things Children Learn from Block Play!  Here it is!

If you only buy one type of Construction Play toy, buy a set of unit blocks.

Unit Blocks

My oldest daughter received this set of wooden unit blocks when she was one.  Unit blocks are the ultimate open-ended resource for children of all ages.  Young toddlers may fill and dump buckets with the blocks.  Older toddlers will begin to make simple enclosures and towers.  As children get older and have more experiences using blocks, their structures will become more advanced.

Cardboard Blocks

These blocks are great for building large structures.  Because they are made from cardboard, they do not hurt when they fall.  But be warned, they take a long time to assemble.

Young Brix Blocks

I like to think of these bristle blocks as a precursor to legos.  They stick together and come apart more easily than lego duplo blocks.  The are perfect for toddler hands, but big kids like them too! 

Duplo Blocks

Duplo blocks are very open-ended.  Of course you can buy them in a kit, but the pieces can be used to make many different things.  The shapes and colors can be sorted and counted.  Once your child has mastered the duplo blocks, you can move to regular lego blocks. 

Keva Blocks

These were an unexpected hit for my four year old. He is surprisingly great at looking at the plans on the cards and recreating the structures.  I think they are tough!  I even take these to my college classes and have my pre-service teachers see who can solve them the fastest.

Magformer Blocks

In the Facebook live, I incorrectly said that we had magna-tiles.  We actually have magformer blocks, which are very similar.  These blocks are neat because they are magnetic and translucent.  It adds another fun element to building and creating.

Marble Run Maze

Now we move to a little more non-traditional type of building.  I do not advise using the marble run kit with younger children due to small pieces.  The marble run kits are all tube pieces which allow children to create a path for the marble to travel.  There are so many possibilities.

Wooden Train Set

We don't usually think about train tracks when we think about building, but when children plan out the path they are using the same problem solving and creating skills as they would during block structure building.  These wooden train tracks are great to add to the other types of block play.

Thomas Motorized Railway

Once your children gain confidence with the wooden track, you may want to try the motorized railway track sets.  There are tons of different types of sets.  We have 2 crates full!  You can create bridges and tunnels.  Then you set the battery powered train on the track to see if your path works.

It wouldn't be right if we didn't talk about real construction.  I think it is important for children to learn to build using tools.  Just like we teach children to use writing utensils, we can teach them to use tools to create. 

Toddler Friendly Building Tools

This wooden set of tools is a safe way to introduce children to tools.  The screws and bolts can be used to connect the small pieces of wood together. And it is so cute! Quinny received it as a birthday gift from a sweet friend.

Real Child-Sized Tools

Take a breath, relax.  Yes, these are real tools.  Obviously, I think children should be supervised when using tools.  But using a real child-sized hammer improves eye-hand coordination.  My son loves using the hammer to pound in brad nails to scrap pieces of wood. You can also use golf tees in pumpkins!

What construction toys do you have in your home?  I would love to hear how you are using these toys with your children!