Toddler Activity of the Week: Ballet

We're trying new activities over here and auditioning a couple of sports trying to find a fit to teach the girls some great life skills.

This week: Ballet

The teacher put down spots. The girls were familiar with these and actually stayed with them.  One problem: the girls were separated by two classmates.  Bronwyn waited a bit and then picked up her spot and moved it right next to her sister.  Beautiful strong willed loyal Bronwyn.

Ballet instructions were followed. They plied, grand jeted, and twirled around the room. (They were really upset that they didn't have the proper shoes). The wore their tutus and laughed when Sedryn tried to join the open room multiple times! (I think ballet may be a good sport for his meticulous nature. Ha!)

Their teacher Mrs. Lindsay was amazing!  Beyond amazing.  Patient. Fun loving.  Fast paced.  Gentle.  Didn't even mind herding cats.  Between the two classes, Mrs. Lindsay was the obvious choice for me.  She loved teaching and she loved her students.  Oh, how I wanted her to be the hero they chose to teach them in these early years.

But the girls, they like gymnastics best.  The craziness and the varied nature.  The tumbling and climbing and bouncing.  So soon that'll be where they stick their landing and take a few classes to learn life skills disguised with fun and nap inducing physical activity.

Toddler Activity of the Week: Gymnastics

We're trying a couple of sports the next couple weeks.

Now I'm not a push my kiddos into sports and hope they win an Olympic medal kind of mother. (Though if one of my kids had both that gifting and that motivation, I would support as best as I could.)  However, my girls aren't in any type of formal education setting.  They're not learning to walk in a line, to wait their turn, follow instructions from a trusted adult, or to cheer on a friend.  I want them to learn these things and in a fun environment, so I asked for lessons from the grandparents for Christmas.

Most places let you do a free trail class.  So we jumped on that to allow the girls to pick their lesson of choice.

First up: Gymnastics.

Derek and I almost died laughing watching our girls learn to adapt to the classroom structure.  Aeralind obeyed and stayed on her spot, but just couldn't figure out what the teacher was doing or how to do it herself... until the teacher had moved on to the next activity.  Bronwyn just ignored her spot and went about doing whatever she felt like in a sort of over giddy way.  And that was just the warm up stretches! Ha!

By mid class they were following complicated instructions (do a cartwheel over this bump, a forward roll down this mat, bounce on the ball to and back to these lines, wait to do a back handspring, and repeat!) with relative ease.  Looks like our mission would be accomplished.

Aeralind actually cried when we left the gym because she wanted to walk on the high beam (believe me... she's fully capable of doing it too, right Chanwey?).

Toddler Activity of the Week: Balcony Fishing

Unlike some toddler activities this year, I'm pretty sure this one has a limited lifespan of no more than 3 more years.  Plus I'm not sure the circumstances that created this activity could occur again.

We were staying in a 9th floor condo in Myrtle Beach visiting my parent.  Hurricane Sandy was brushing the coast making outside pretty windy nasty.  Baby boy was napping.  We were stuck in the condo for the most part. So we pulled out the fishing poles and dropped them over the balcony and right into the pool 9 stories below.  

Hysterical fun.  Limited imagination shelf life.  

Toddler Activity of the Week: Fall Trees

Sometimes what you see... isn't what really happens.

Sometimes what happens is truly more beautiful. 

Love these.

Toddler Activity of the Week: Birthday Shopping

I gave the girls a dollar apiece and ventured into the dollar store to let them purchase a birthday present.  I think I had to steer them away from a Pooh Chalkboard, but other than that... they picked these out on their own.  Not too bad!

Toddler Activity of the Week: Pumpkin Painting

'Tis the season, I guess?

Here is everyone's creations:

Aeralind

Bronwyn

Melissa

Derek (which is rocking awesome and I may have helped with the mustache/nose... but the idea was all his!)

Toddler Activity of the Week: Crayons

I have toddlers: therefore, I have broken crayons.  A lot of broken crayons.

I set the girls to sorting them into color groups which was hysterical.  They can name all their colors... but sorting them was way too distracting.  Bronwyn was hoarding her two muffin cups with a vengeance and just tossing whatever she could find in there.  Aeralind was sprinkling her favorite blue in every cup she could reach including "Bronwyn's".  Hysterical, I tell you!

I popped these in the oven and baked them with dinner.  They came out cute and pretty.

The girls of course don't want to color with them.  They're not precise enough.  Ha!  But I'm pretty sure Sedryn will be all over them in a matter of months.

Toddler Activity of the Week: Rock Hopping

Mommy was battling a super awesome fever early this week.  Daddy piled the girls up in the car and took them rock hopping in a creek.  Or something.  I'm not sure what the three of them called it... but they ended up wet, muddy, and very giddy when they returned.

Here's the photographic evidence from his phone.  I wish I had been there!

Toddler Activity of the Week: Bird Feeder

Last week the girls and I went on a simple walk around the neighborhood (Sedryn came too!).  We stopped and smelled flowers, raced to the stop sign, and even found one very neglected apple tree.  Since it was so neglected, I assumed the house was currently empty and let the girls pick an apple.  Such joy!

They were winding down on apple munching when they discovered a pile of pine cones.  I've never seen so much excitement.

"Can we take them home and show daddy?"  And so we did.

A couple days later, the girls are smearing a suet mixture on their pine cones with daddy and and eagerly waiting for the birds to enjoy them too.

Toddler Activity of the Week: Explosion!

A & B love to watch the picture slideshow screen savers and ask questions about their life.  The other day pictures of the snow from 2010 came up.  They asked what they were doing.  I explained (as best as I could to almost 3 year olds) what snow was.

Daddy came home that night and when he asked the girls what they wanted to do after baby went to bed she demanded:

"I want to play in the snow."

Um.... how were we supposed to give her that?

So I grabbed a bar of Ivory soap and did an awesome science experiment that I've seen in a couple of places.  I threw it in the microwave for 2 minutes and blew it up. Because Ivory is the only soap with air pumped into it, the stuff expanded to nearly fill my microwave.

I split up the powdery stuff and let them play on a baking sheet for as long as they wanted.  Bronwyn couldn't keep her hands out of the stuff!

After about 45 minutes of play, I added a few drops of food coloring to piles of soap and let Bronwyn stir in some water to make bath paint.  45 minutes later, two very soggy girls emerged from their very clean bath tub.

We're totally doing this again!

Toddler Activity of the Week: Ring Around the Rosie

Bronwyn came up to me the other day and said:

"Rosie."

It took me forever to translate.

And we played Ring around the Rosie until I was so dizzy I had to stop.

Then we pulled out their felt dolls and had them play the game until lunchtime.

Funny thing: We haven't played that game in months.  I'm always so surprised by their ability to remember.

Toddler Activity of the Week: Stick Painting and Bouncy Balls

With my very active and extroverted six year old niece here, I had to keep coming up with things to do!  So the girls did two things.

Source: chemistry.about.com via Melissa on Pinterest

The first an epic fail: Bouncy Balls.  But only because they never bounced.  Ha!  They did, however, keep all 3 girls interested and entertained in kneading them for a half hour.  So in my book a success.  In the eyes of an older preschooler, this would be an epic failure.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

But by far my favorite activity of the week: telling all 3 girls to go outside and pick out 10 sticks to paint with and see how they used their sticks on the paper.  Hilarious messy fun :)

Toddler Activity of the Week: Big Ball Socer

The girls in the dorm of Middle HOW-Word where I lived would go play big ball soccer.  Sadly, I never joined in.  Mostly because it seemed they only went to play when someone who had never gone before requested to go. Suspicious.  You know... like "Snipe Hunting" (what is snipe hunting?)  Sort of a cross between scaring someone or pulling a joke on a gullible person... right?

However, after a long 2 rainy weeks, I loaded up the girls and taught them to play big ball soccer :)  We had a blast!

Toddler Activity of the Week: Playing in the Rain

Sometimes life gets fussy.  You know... when you're doing the same old thing and it stops working but you keep doing it anyway?  It's time for change and you're not ready for it.  It's those times when I need someone to push me.  This rainy afternoon... I did just that.

I pushed both fussy (tired of being in the house) girls right out the back door and into the rain.

There was a bit of uncertainty at first.

Then joy over how the chalk worked differently in the rain.

The over to their water slide and pool.

Shortly after this image, they stripped down (my girls hate being "wet" or "dirty"... I'm not sure how they think naked improved on that condition?).

I passed their rain coats out the door and sent them down to the puddle.

Uncomfortable? yes.
Delightful in the end? yes.

Oh, that I would remember this about change in motherhood and relationships in general.

Toddler Activity of the Week: Playing with the Baby

Last week we didn't really do anything (I was busy joint compounding a new wall and generally cleaning up from my in-laws stay/construction help), but this week we've already done two really fun things.  So I thought I'd share one with you now.

Having 3 at different ages is tough.  Up until recently Sedryn and the girls have pretty much mutually avoided each other.  Sedryn avoids the girls because their idea of protecting him is to lay flat on top of him and scream for mommy.  As you can imagine, that's not the most wonderful experience!  Aeralind and Bronwyn have avoided the baby since he became mobile at 5 months because he chews on their things.  It appears the avoidance was mutually beneficial...

Yet, Sedryn has entered the age where social play is something he desires.  So this morning the girls and I built towers with our giant cardboard blocks and let Sedryn knock them over.  Then, all of us (Sedryn included) clapped for his accomplishment.  (the girls also squealed... which pleased my extroverted boy very much!).  It's so neat to finally see them all playing together!

Toddler Activity of the Week: Reading and "Writing".

We just got a copy of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Bronwyn has been expressing interest in learning to write (ahem... throwing fits because she can't draw letters) as well as memorizing and 'reading' books to herself and her siblings.  I thought: Well, what have a I got to lose?  If she picks it up: great!  If she doesn't: well, she's got a few years!

For a young reader (and the hesitant parent), this book is perfect!  The entire lesson is scripted with text for the parent to read to the child in red.  But with a 2 year old there's one problem with the lessons: the writing section.  The girls just don't have the fine motor skills to write letters (especially Aeralind. Bronwyn can trace large letters on her Doodle Pad)!

Out came the play dough and a pile of tooth picks.  I had them trace the first 'sounds' they learn (m and s) and then stick the toothpicks in the play dough.  It was a heap of fun for all involved :)

Toddler Activity of the Week: Be Present

Sometimes I think I'm missing the point with these activities.

What is the point? To play with my kids or to teach them or to just be with them!

I honestly didn't do a planned or structured activity last week.  But I have tons of great "just be" type moments and I'll share a few with you.  This is real life everyday in our house.

Teaching A & B to pull on their new Keen shoes.  (They're kind of tricky after a life spent wholly in Mary Jane type shoes)

Reading all 10 of the library books in the house in one sitting.

Cuddling a sweet Bronwyn who is only scared of thunder when Daddy is not in the room.

All three of us doing silly things to make Sedryn laugh.

Cleaning up a mixed up pile of puzzle pieces... multiple times!  Talk about a game of Memory!

Cuddling.

Talking about what they were drawing.

Hanging out on the "animal" aisle at Hobby Lobby identifying animals.

Talking about Emperor Penguin brood patches and babies.  Even walking around with balls on our feet like they were our eggs.

Creating a new family tradition: Tortilla Lunch Sundays (where the girls hand make tortillas with daddy and I figure out what to fill them with!)

It was just a good week full of toddler fun!

Toddler Activity of the Week: Water Play

It has been HOT here. Well, over 100 degrees for quite a few days! The girls are going stir crazy in the house, but I can't take the baby out into the heat for too long.

Compromise: backyard bubble pool time. So much fun! I love how their independent enough now that I can actually make dinner while they're playing!

But by Far my favorite activity of the week: river swimming with our good friends Jen and Abel!

We spontaneously invited ourselves up for the 4th of July. Next thing we know, the girls are riding river currents and flirting with Abel. Which I guess is appropriate because Abel was one of the people that I first swam in a river with!

The girls love this! But it took each one of them a special measure of courage to give it a try! Aeralind eased in after watching Abel do it (she had a bit of a crush on Abel... as you can see with that voluntary hand holding: not something she's prone to do!)  Bronwyn kept announcing "I do it myself!"  And then walking in just far enough to sit safely on the rocks.  She slowly inched forward over the course of 15 minutes or so... and finally daddy gave her a subtle nudge!  Bronwyn came right back upriver and did it again so quickly that we had to holler for Abel to grab her before she bumped into the shallows!

Toddler Activity of the Week: Water Colors and Sewing

We were pretty sick here last week (at least mommy and the baby... the girls fared pretty well).  Watercolors for the first time.

Do you see those black circles on the right: those are people.  And those arc's she's making: rainbows.  She threw a fit at a friend's house yesterday because she can't yet draw the letters A and B.

Oh, sweet Bronwyn!  She wakes up asking to paint.  If she can't paint, then she pulls out her crayons and creates.

The night before Sedryn was so sick, Bronwyn had been up 3 hours in the middle of the night complaining of an earache.  Mid-morning, both Bronwyn and Sedryn collapsed into bed.  Aeralind and I were blessed with two hours of time just to spend with each other.  It was such a beautiful blessing!

Aeralind loves detail so I made her up a little sewing card and taught her how to so.  I loved watching her quiet concentration and excitement over this new skill.

Toddler Activity of the Week: Washing Windows

Be prepared to have to mop up a ton of water... but these girls couldn't wait until I filled the bucket again to wash the next window!  The downside is that I had to do the top :-p  But the three of us washed windows for nearly an hour with not a peep of complaint.

Someone please tell me: at what age do 'chores' become a chore?  They just love helping out... especially if there is water involved :)