Snowman Fun

Happy Monday!  Now that we're firmly in January, I thought that a snowman theme would be fitting...especially since we're forcasted to get upto another 6 inches in the next few days.  Munchkin absolutely loves the snow.  Loves wearing his snow suit and boots.  Loves helping Daddy shovel the driveway.  Loves shoveling snow back onto the driveway...  The only thing we haven't done yet is build a snowman.  I'm hoping that this storm will bring some better snowman snow - we've only had the powdery stuff so far this year.  Here are the snow-tivites that we'll be up to this week:

Letter of the Week: S
Crafty, Creative, Sensory Fun:

• S is for Snow letter craft
• Marshmallow Snowman collage
• Snowman paper collage
• 'Snowball' toss - tossing marshmallows into containers
• S word recognition
• Winter/snow themed sensory tub

Books:

• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
• Jan Brett's Snow Treasury by Jan Brett
• A Snowman Just Named Bob by Mark Kimball Moulton
• All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle
• Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman
• The Snowman by Raymond Briggs
• The Smiley Snowman by M. Christina Butler
• Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright
• Caillou Makes a Snowman by Roger Harvey
• The Best Snowman by Margaret Nash

Happy 2011!

Happy 1st Monday of 2011!  This week Munchkin & I are going to be doing some miscellaneous winter projects and reading a hodge podge of books...yes, hodge podge.  Here's our first tot-tivities of 2011:
Letter of the Week: W
Creative, Crafty, Sensory Fun:

• W is for Winter letter craft
• Winter sensory tub (filled with cotton balls, glitter pom poms, foam-ball snowmen
• Build a snowman felt page
• Homemade playdough - I've wanted to make this for awhile but somehow never get around to it
• Car sorting - Munchkin got a car holder for Christmas...it has different sized slots for different sized cars/trucks
• Glove matching - using the 5 million extra gloves/mittens that we have

Books:
It's a hodge podge of a few new Christmas gifts and a few potty ones (yes, we're still working on it)

• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr (still a beloved book by Munchkin)
• Little Hoot by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
• Thomas Breaks a Promise by Rev. W. Awdry
• Thomas and the Big Big Bridge by Rev. W. Awdry
• 
  May the Best Engine Win by Rev. W. Awdry
• The Potty Train by David Hochman
• Pirate Potty by Samantha Berger
• Caillou: Potty Time by Joceline Sanschagrin

Robots

Happy Monday!!  Hope everyone had a frightfully delightful Halloween!  Munchkin has been pretending to be a robot every now and again, and after all the birthday and Halloween festivities, I needed an easy theme ;)  Here's our planned robot fun for this week:

Letter of the Week: R
Creative, Crafty, Sensory Fun:

• R is for Robot letter craft
• Paper roll (TP) Robot
• Magnetic Build a Robot (found here at No Time for Flashcards)
• Build a Robot game
• Robot shape matching

Books:

• Robots! by Derek Matthews
• Me And My Robot by Tracey West
• Mama Robot by Davide Cali
• Clinks the Robot by Christianne Jones
• Rolie Polie Olie by William Joyce
• Little Robots by Jimmy Hibbert
• See Otto by David Milgrim
• Robots Everywhere by Dennis Hebson
  
  

Growlie Monsters!

Happy Monday!  Only a few more weeks until Halloween!  Lately, Stinkerpotamus has been into playing monster.  He chases me around and growls and I scream...then we switch.  So this week's theme is (you guessed it), Monsters!  Oh, and I should mention that actual monsters seriously scare Munchkin, so these monsters are going to be of the friendly variety :)

Letter of the week: M
Creative, Crafty, Sensory Fun:

• M is for Monster Letter Craft
• Stuffed Paper-Bag Monsters
• Felt Monster Faces
• Grow a Monster Capsuls (I found these at Jo Ann's dollar bins)
• Monster Cardboard Rolls

 
Books:

• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• Even Monsters Need Haircuts by Matthew McElligott
• Little Monsters Cookbook by Zac Williams
• Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Edward R Emberley
• The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone
• Tickle Monster by Josie Bissett
• My Monster Mama Loves Me So by Laura Leuck

A is for Apple

Happy Monday!  Well fall is definitely here!  The leaves are changing colors and the temperatures are (finally!) starting to dip.  This upcoming weekend marks one of our favorite autumn traditions - a big Apple Festival.  Tons of crafts and all things apple - total autumn heaven!  To get ready for this weekend's fun, our theme this week is Apples!  Bring on the pie :)

Letter of the Week: A
Creative, Crafty, Sensory Fun:

• Apple Collage (using red scraps of paper, foam, etc)
• Apple Stamping (using an actual apple)
• Apple Tree Craft (tissue paper 'apples')
• Apple Sensory Tub
• Apple Memory Game

Books:

• Apples by Jacqueline Farmer
• I Know It’s Autumn by Eileen Spinell
• Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington
• Apple Cider-Making Days by Ann Purnell
• Apple Picking Time by Michele Benoit Slawson
• The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson
• Apples and pumpkins by Anne Rockwell
• The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall

Feels Like Fall

Well hello there!  After a bit of a late summer blogging hiatus, its time to get back to some Munchkin Theme Mondays!  The leaves are changing and the weather is cooling down.  That can only mean my favorite season is almost here :)  And since Munchkin's birthday falls smack dab in the fall, I'm sure it's going to be a favorite time of year for him too.  Here's our autumntivities for this week:

Letter of the Week: F
Creative, Crafty, Sensory Fun:

• L is for Leaves letter craft
• Leaf print painting
• Fall sensory tub
• Ripped paper acorn collage
• Paper stuffed football

Books:

• I Know It’s Autumn by Eileen Spinelli
• Dot & Jabber and the Great Acorn Mystery by Ellen Stoll Walsh
• Leaf Jumpers by Carole Gerber
• When Autumn Falls by Kelli Nidey
• Footballs and falling leaves : a fall counting book by Rebecca Fjelland Davis
• Autumn : Signs of the Season around North America by Barbara Turner
• Clifford's First Autumn by Norman Bridwell
• Ready for Autumn by Marthe Jocelyn
• Who Loves the Fall? by Bob Raczka

Yippee Ki Yo Ki Yay

Happy Monday!!  This week's Munchkin Theme is Cowboys!  Rootin, tootin, shootin cowboys.  Munchkin hasn't had much exposure to Cowboys (fictional or real) and it seems high time the lil pardner gets in the saddle.  Here's a round up of our planned Cowboy activities


Letter of the Week: H
Crafty Creative Sensory Activities:

• H is for Horse letter craft (since Cowboys ride horses)
• Bandanna matching game
• Horseshoe sponge painting
• Dowel rod 'hobby horse' races
• Gold digging sensory tub

Books:

• Cowboy Slim by Julie Danneberg
• Cowboy Small by Lois Lenski
• Cowboy Camp by Tammi Sauer
• Gingerbread Cowboy by Janet Squires
• B Is for Buckaroo : A Cowboy Alphabet by Louise Whitney
• Cowboy Roy by Cathy Dubowski , Mark Dubowski
• Cowboy and Octopus by Jon Scieszka

Songs:

• Home on the Range
• I'm a Little Cowboy (I'm a Little Teapot tune)
• I'm a little cowboy here's my hat...here are my spurs and here are my chaps
• When I get up, I work all day...then get on my horse and ride away