Sticky Counting Sheep!

The Bug is starting to speak more and more. There's still a lot of babbling sounds as if he's conversing but he has started to "count" thanks to our Stroller Strides classes (it's a workout class for mom with some activities/stroller time for the kids- check fit4mom.com for classes in your area!)

So I set up an activity for the Bug putting cotton balls onto a sticky sheep (made of contact paper with a rough mommy sketch)

I wasn't sure if he'd try to eat the cotton balls or not so I watched him pretty closely (if you don't know this, cotton balls are awful choking hazards since they are nearly impossible to Heimlich out...)

As he put them down, he would say "un, ooo, un ooo" and point to each one.

He peeled them right back off so it was also a wonderful fine motor activity!

Eating Cleaner

So this is a bit out of the ordinary for me but I've been STRUGGLING with finding a balance of not forcing the Bug to eat but getting healthy foods into his mouth...

I joined Fit4Mom in my town last year when the Bug was about 8 weeks old thanks to an old friend who participated at the one near her house. I don't think I'll ever be "fit" enough to be an instructor but I have taken over the planning of playdates and Mom's Nights (because its so much more than just an exercise class) from the owner of the franchise I belong to and I keep finding MORE things I loves about the whole program!

For classes near you go to http://fit4mom.com!

Anyway, food. I know that processed junk is bad and whole foods are good. I get it but I can't make the best choices so the Bug doesn't always make the best choices. I'm working on this in multiple ways but one you can try at home is a snack box! I discovered it searching Pinterest and it's so cool!

You give your child breakfast. Then from after breakfast until dinner, they have one "snack box" with healthy options to choose from. Then they have dinner with you!

We haven't had much time to get going and try new things but I'm feeling positive!

Here are some of our favorite recipes to make at home that aren't quite as processed...

Granola!
http://www.chachingqueen.com/homemade-granola-recipe-yummy-money-saver/

Ingredients:

• 5 cups rolled oats (not the instant kind)
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.
• In a large bowl stir oats, brown sugar, and salt.
• In a small bowl mix the oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract.
• Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients in the large bowl.  Mix well.  I use my hands for this.
• Spread mixture on two baking sheets (lined with foil if you want).
• Bake for 15 minutes and mix the granola.  Then, place back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so until the granola is just barely golden brown.
• Remove the sheets from the oven and mix the granola again.
• Place the granola in jars or airtight containers once it is completely cool.

I follow her recipe as it is written for the most part because it's not a high sugar recipe. I do replace the vegetable oil with melted coconut oil and you could always replace the brown sugar with stevia.

Graham Crackers!

http://lovetobeinthekitchen.com/2014/02/06/graham-crackers/

INGREDIENTS

• 2½ cups whole wheat flour or other baking flour
• (the original recipe called for half all purpose but I used oat flour, almond flour, and whole wheat flour without a problem so feel free to play around!)
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed 
• (I cut this in half from the original recipe without issue)
• pinch salt (we avoid more than a pinch army house)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup butter, chilled & cubed
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• optional: 1 tablespoon wheat germ or flax seed (we added flax seed YUM)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a food processor or mixer combine the first 6 ingredients. (If using wheat germ or flax seed add here.)
3. Add cubed and chilled butter to the mix and pulse/mix until it resembles coarse meal.
4. Add honey, water and vanilla and continue to mix until it all combines.
5. Remove and shape the dough into a flat disk and place between two pieces of wax or parchment paper. (I found it easier to roll the dough w/o a sheet on top of the dough.)
6. Roll dough out until ¼ inch thick. Cut into crackers or shapes. Combine the dough scraps and roll out again to cut more shapes.
7. Place cookies on a Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes.
8. Cool and serve.

Water Absorption

I saw this on Facebook and despite the Bug being too young to understand the whole concept, he LOVES watercolors so he had a blast painting on all of the different textures!

I took a walk around and found things that I thought would be interesting to paint. There's a paper towel, tissue, tissue paper, felt, coffee filter, cotton balls, card stock, printer paper, a plate, and thin wood strips. 

The Bug spent some time trying to disassemble the project but with a little direction, he enjoyed his watercolor time. He really likes dipping his brush in the water so I'm going to invest in some liquid watercolors soon!

I helped him try painting on the different "papers" but with an older child, you could discuss all sorts of things like how some papers suck in the water and the colors bleed or how other repel the paint and make beads of water! 

Trying to paint on different types of paper is a great way to let any age child experiment and grow as an artist! What is your child's favorite "paper" for painting? The Bug loves aluminum foil!!

Pajama Project- Pretend Play

So the Bug has suddenly started talking on the phone ALL THE TIME. It's quite amusing since we rarely talk on a phone what with texting and FaceTime but he's got it down! 

He picks up anything (in this case a power cord...) and says "Hi" then goes off on a babbling rant. 

We also found him some tools like Daddy which he loves!

Pretend play is so important since it teaches children how to be people! At this stage, the Bug is imitating things he sees- screwing things together, talking on the phone, giving hugs to his doll (yup, he loves my old Bitty Baby!) but the empathy he is developing is amazing. You can literally see the concern on his face when people around him are sad and while pretend play alone is not responsible for this, it is developing it further everyday!

Anyone who has met the Bug knows he is ALL boy but he wears necklaces, plays with my old wallets, and has a baby doll because those are things he sees me doing. He plays with tools and remote controls too! What is your child's favorite game of pretend?

Sand and Water Play!

I remember going to playgrounds and there being sandboxes but as we explore more and more, I have realized that they don't exist on playgrounds anymore (I mean, I saw the one at the daycare where I used to work and part of me is glad...) so we have our own small ones that we can use inside or outside!

The sand box contains play sand, seashells, and recycled fruit containers (seriously we use them for everything!) The water box has a boat and more of the containers- NOTE: we don't leave water in the box for lots of reasons but the Bug does lots of mixing so it's usually gross anyway!

He just loves to scoop and dump these days AND the fruit containers float!

Pajama Project Sunday: Slide Painting!

Ok so the Bug didn't do this one in his pajamas but it has been really warm lately so we did it in his swim suit! I prepared the materials before he got up- we used 3 colors of paint because that's how many paper plates I grabbed... You could easily do more or less without a problem! I tapped the long paper to the slide and rolled the balls around in the paint a bit to get it started.

The Bug climbed right up and started rolling the balls down the slide!

I knew it was going to be cool but hadn't thought about the balance aspect- The Bug stood on the top step and had to work on his balance to roll the balls down the slide.

It would work well with any type of ball through we used textured balls.

It wasn't all that messy for the Bug though he did grab my shirt with his paint covered hand but it was warm enough that we hosed off afterwards!

PS- Happy Mother's Day!!!

Construction Work!

The Bug is a mover so it's hard to get him to sit still for any "learning" activities but he LOVES his sensory table! I am also working hard on "easy" things because when I put a ton of effort into a bin and he doesn't enjoy it, I feel defeated...

What could be easier than rocks, sand, and some construction trucks!

The Bug had fun checking to see how much the dump truck could carry (one of the rocks fit in the bed of the truck but the other two were too big!)

He also filled the dump truck up with sand and did some scooping with the digger!

What simple sensory bins have you thrown together recently?

Pajama Project Sunday

We have a routine Monday through Friday for my sanity but the weekends are much more flying by the seat of our pants which means I don't often have anything for the Bug to do- he's fine running around in the yard sometimes but sometimes he wants me to play WITH him and it helps me to have some sort of plan or idea!

So our newest addition on This Suburban Mom is Pajama Projects!

I've been waiting to make bird feeders with the Bug for a while and this morning, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do it!

First we gathered our materials! We used empty toilet paper tubes, yarn, almond butter, and shell free birdseed. We also needed scissors, a hole punch, and a spoon/knife.

The Bug was really excited to dig into the almond butter and I wish I could tell you he didn't eat any... We first cut the yarn and punched holes in the sides of the toilet paper tubes.

Once all of the tubes had strings, the Bug smeared almond butter all over them (it was EVERYWHERE, be prepared!)

Then he rolled the tubes in the birdseed.

Once all of our bird feeders were completed, we went outside and hung them!

All in all a quick but pretty messy project. It took up about 30-45 minutes of our morning and the Bug had a blast (and a little snack...)

If you have a mouther (a kiddo who puts stuff in their mouths or might want a taste...) I highly recommend getting the shelled seeds- it was nuts and seeds but not a choking hazard!

Come back next week to check out our next Pajama Project!