An Introduction
As some of
you may know, I quit my part-time job in June and am going to be babysitting
for a little boy full-time on top of being with my daughter all day again.
(Yay!) While saying that I’m going to have my hands full with 2 babies that are
both under the age of 1 is the understatement of the century, I felt like
incorporating some learning activities into our daily routine. Although many of
them are things that most people do without even thinking about it being a
learning activity, it’s never too early to start learning and babies already do
so since the moment they are born.
With that
being said, I am a little OCD when it comes to certain things, so I made up a
list of different developmental areas and activities to incorporate into our
daily and weekly schedule. I had planned on making up a specific schedule for
each day, but that proved to be a little overwhelming for me.
Keep in mind that babies and
toddlers have short attention spans. The vast majority of these ideas and
activities are not very time consuming. It should be relatively easy to mix in
a bunch of them throughout the day. (Unless you’re having one of “those” days.
You all know what I’m talking about!) Like I said, chances are you probably do
a lot of them already without even giving it a second thought!
I
also feel like there isn’t a whole lot of information on fun activities to do
with babies/young toddlers. (That or I’m just not looking in the right places.)
The majority of what I have found is geared more towards 2/3 year olds and up.
That is another reason I thought I would share this and hopefully those of you
with younger children will find something useful! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learning Areas
Just to warn you, these are kind of
in note format. As I mentioned, I thought about writing out detailed
“schedules”, but it was more overwhelming than I had anticipated so I said
forget it… For now at least. ; ) I thought I would share this with you anyways
to give you a jumping off point to come up with your own ideas for activities
to do with your children.
As of today
(8/19/13), Myka is 10 months old and L (the little boy I baby-sit) is 5 months
old. The following are things we’re working on now and some for the next
several months. Some of them are general things and others are specific
“project” ideas. I’ve been trying to incorporate at least a few things from
each underlined section daily. (My next post will be on what we’ve been up to
so far with “school”. ;) ) Also, if you have some fun ideas, please feel free
to share in the comments and I may add them to the list!
Gross Motor Development
-tummy time for L
-work on crawling and standing with Myka
-activities from Gymboree’s “Baby Play” book
Fine Motor Development
-work on grabbing, grasping, and reaching objects with L
-“playing” piano, holding crayons, etc. with Myka
-teach signing
-diaper wipe tub toy (that I have yet to make)
Music
-piano
-rattles/shakers
-Baby Einstein
-bang items together
-clapping
-nursery rhymes/songs
Art
-crayons
-stickers
-sensory activities
-yarn pieces on contact paper
-bath time paint
Sensory Activities
-play with objects with different textures
-mirrors
-flour & water mixed together (from Pinterest)
-water table
-sensory bags (from Pinterest)
Story-time
-read books
-let them look at books by themselves
-point out and name every day objects
Cognitive
-puzzles
-problem solving
-objects
underneath see-through bowl or other container
-colors
-books
-puzzles
-name the
color of objects around the house
-numbers
-books
-fingers
& toes
-similar
objects around the house (spoons, cups, pillows, etc.)
-body parts
-name and
point to body parts on you and baby
-explain
what they do/what their function is (mouth for eating, nose for smelling, etc.)
-sign language
-start off
with basic, everyday “need and want” words, such as mommy, daddy, more, etc.
-letters: in print and maybe sign language later on
-matching pairs and similar items, such as gloves, shoes,
etc.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Newer Posts
Hey folks! To me things a bit easier, I've gotten smart and will start posting my BLT posts on the main page of the blog and then just add the links here so you can more easily find things. (There is also a shiny new search bar at the top right of the blog too now!) I will probably have a lot of these types of posts coming in the next few weeks as it is something I've been focusing on a lot at home. :)
Tissue Paper "Suncatchers" & Painting
Fun with Homemade Sand!
Fun with Pom-pom Balls
Update 2/28/14
Sensory Time with Beans!
Update 2/10/14-Updates are back! Plus I share a way to introduce the alphabet to young children.
5 Fine Motor Activities for Under $5 & 5 Years Old
Winter Learning Corner
Holiday Sensory Box
Finger Painting
No More BLT Weekly Updates
Montessori at Home: Not as Pricey as You May Think!
Fall Sensory Box
Rearranging: Montessori Style
Montessori Interest
Week 5? Update
Howdy! It’s been awhile since an update. (3 weeks, I
think?) To be honest, I didn’t do much “teaching” the 3rd and 4th
weeks. The 3rd week was labor day weekend, so aside from having
Monday off, the people I baby-sit for also took off early that Friday. I know,
I know. I still had ample opportunity to do stuff with both of them, but I got
lazy, ok? I’m human! The week after that L was sick, so we were only there on
Monday and Friday. So, we finally started getting back into the swing of things
this week!
L has made leaps and bounds in the physical movement
department in the last week. He has been rolling for awhile now, but he started
doing the “inch worm” a week or two ago. You know, when they put their head
down, butt in the air, and somehow manage to move that way? Ha ha Yesterday he
started actually scooting and his mom said that yesterday evening he was using
his arms some too. Looks like he’s going to be doing the zombie/army crawl
thing like Myka did. Lol
As with most babies, L can be a bit trying some days. We
all have good and bad days, right? Well, I have to admit that while I still
think I’m crazy for taking care of two babies under the age of one, it’s really
nice having Myka with me. Why? (Besides the obvious reason.) Whenever she’s
around L just STARES at her. He studies her intently and has picked up on a few
things from her. While this is obviously great that he is learning from her,
it’s also a nice break for me on the days he is being fussy!
I can’t really think of anything new going on with Myka.
Again, you guys are probably going to think I’m crazy, but she knows where even
more shapes go on her puzzle now. It’s just too much of a coincidence!
Speaking of puzzles, I can’t wait to give her her
birthday presents! We (my mom, an aunt,
hubby, and I) got her several puzzles, pound-a-peg, shape sorter, and other
fun, but learning toys. Her birthday was a good excuse to buy some. ;)
Myka still wants to pull herself up so bad, but isn’t
quite there yet. Oh well. She’ll get there eventually. She is a funny kid,
though, because we find her sitting and “standing” on her knees a lot. I’ve
never seen a kid that young do that!
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Week 2 Round-Up
This week
has been, um, interesting. Monday and Tuesday L was pretty much zonked out the
entire time I was there. One day I figured it to where he was literally only
awake between 2-3 hours of the 9ish hours I was over there. Now, (here comes
the disclaimer), while I don’t want him to be asleep the entire time I’m there,
especially for his parents’ sake at night, the quiet was kind of nice because
he has been a little fuss bucket lately. It could be any number of things too
and I’m still trying to figure out what exactly might be the issue. It could be
he’s not used to mommy being away for so long and/or he’s not used to me still,
he’s teething, he’s got tummy issues from eating “real” food now, he’s having a
growth spurt: I don’t know.
Anyhow, I
paid for it triple fold on Wednesday. I seriously felt like I was going to have
a mental breakdown by the end of the day. I am not used to fussy babies. And,
as any parent will know, it’s especially frustrating when you don’t know what’s
causing it and/or don’t know how to fix it!
Since we
were already off to a bad start that morning (we as in L and I. Myka was in a
spectacular mood.), I felt like it would do us all good to get out of the
house. Since it was WAY too hot to go for any walks this week (it’s been in the
mid and upper 90’s all week. : ( ) I
decided we’d go to the library. I had contemplated using the “crappy carrier”
(one of those cheap Infantino jobs from Walmart) for L since he wants held
almost CONSTANTLY lately and would just push Myka in the stroller. Stupidly,
because of my hatred of that particular carrier, I decided once we got there to
carry Myka and push L in the stroller. My logic being, “L does ok in the
stroller on walks, so I should be ok.” HA! Big, BIG, mistake! He pretty much
cried and fussed the entire time we were there, turning a potentially ½ hour or
so trip into at least an hour.
However, we
did end up getting some books that L rather enjoyed once we got back and he had
taken a nap. As usual, Myka loved her Baby Einstein videos, especially since
they were ones she hadn’t seen! She also had a blast crawling away from me as
soon as I set her on the floor at the library and immediately went to the Lego
table (Don’t worry. They were the big kind and I made sure she didn’t put any
in her mouth.) and wooden train table.
Thursday
morning the kids were sleepy heads. L took a 2 ½ hour nap, so he was a happy
boy that afternoon and we looked at the library books. It probably helped that
I had given him teething tablets that morning too. ;) Friday was a bit of a
whine fest too, but nothing near what it was Wednesday, so it didn’t even seem
that bad. I just wish I could figure out what the poor kid’s problem is.
Mykasaurus
is starting to wave at people now. Figures. My mom taught her that when we
Skyped last weekend. I swear she will only do things when MY mom shows her,
little twerp! I think she MIGHT be trying to use hand signals finally when
eating for “more” and “done”, so that does make me happy. She wasn’t as into
her “World Music” dvd as I thought she would be, but she did seem to really
like the colors one. I figured that was perfect since I have been “working” a
lot on colors with her when we look at books.
L seems to
be getting a lot better at grasping things intentionally instead of just
batting at them. He’s also gotten a lot better at “sitting up” this week. He
sits up straighter a lot more now instead of just leaning forward all the time
like he was. Now he’s just got to figure that whole balance thing out and he’ll
be all set! I’ve gotta admit, though, while I know he’s dying to crawl, I’m
kind of glad he’s not there yet because I’m not sure what I’m going to do when
I have 2 crawlers or *shudder * a crawler AND a walker wreaking havoc. Ha ha!
Hopefully by that point, since they are starting to take more interest in each
other, L will try to follow Myka all over the place so I won’t have to clone
myself. ;)
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Sensory Activity FAIL
I’m not
quite obsessed with Pinterest like most people are, but instead I joke that I
“binge” Pinterest. Most of the time I only get on there to add links to the
blog, but occasionally I’ll make entire boards in one sitting. I made one a few
weeks ago complete with things I want to include in Myka’s “learning” time,
including sensory activities, which brings me to my point.
Since,
let’s face it, sensory activities can get messy, I’ve been holding off on them
for doing at home. I FINALLY got around to trying a super easy one the other
night. It was “for a sensory activity in a bind” and literally just consisted
of mixing water with flour. Easy and available enough, right?
I got it
mixed to the consistency I wanted in a small bowl and set it in front of Myka.
She pretty much sat there and stared at it, then looked at my husband and I as
if to say, “What the hell am I supposed to do with this?” So, I stuck one of
her hands in it and this happened…
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Week One Round-Up
Well, I
survived my first week of babysitting. Was it stressful at times? You betcha.
Then again, when is being a parent NOT stressful at least every now and then? I
definitely have a newfound respect for single parents and parents with kids
less than a year apart. (Although I still think you’re crazy for doing the
latter!)
I think
this whole “teaching” the kids thing is actually working. I feel like they have
both learned and grown quite a bit in just in one week! L has been picking
things up from Myka, I’ve noticed. He has been trying SO hard to crawl! Like I
mentioned before, though, he gets frustrated very easily when he can’t get
where he wants and starts flailing his arms and legs furiously. It’s kind of
funny because he looks kind of like he’s swimming, but I feel bad for him at
the same time. He’ll get there, though! He’s not even 6 months old, after all!
He has also picked up raspberry blowing from Myka and has been a lot more vocal
the past few days!
Myka is
getting pretty fast at crawling and is getting closer to actually doing it on
her knees. I still don’t understand why she doesn’t because she gets on her
knees all the time on the floor or when she’s trying to pull herself up. Oh
well. She’ll get there, too!
The
most amazing thing I’ve seen her do this week is work a puzzle. Ok. So she
didn’t complete the whole thing. That would just be crazy! But, most of you
will probably think it’s just a coincidence, but I swear she knows where
certain pieces go. It is a shape puzzle and the first night we let her play
with it she put the star back in the right spot twice. (No, we didn’t prompt
her in any way either.) This afternoon when she was playing with it (again, no
prompting) two separate times she grabbed the triangle piece and pointed to the
triangle spot!
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Week One Mid-Week Update
Playing in the living room. As you can tell, L was a leg kicking, bouncing blur! lol
Since I’ve
been a little vague so far, I thought I would share with you some specific
things we’ve been working on this week! I’ve not been able to do all of the
things I would have liked, but at the same time I’ve gotten a lot more done
that I thought I would be able to! After all, I’m still trying to adjust to
taking care of TWO small children during the day, so I think I’m doing pretty
well. : )
As far as L
goes, I’ve been trying to do plenty of tummy time with him. He’s been rolling
over for about a month now, which is great, but kind of surprises me because I
got the impression his mommy didn’t do much tummy time with him for whatever
reason. (I think she was overly paranoid he was going to smother himself or
something.) Anyways, he loves rolling and playing on the floor…until he tries
to scoot/crawl. Rolling is not entertaining enough for him any more and tries
really hard to scoot. He gets frustrated pretty quick when he tries to since
he’s not quite there yet. Sometimes when he starts getting aggravated I do this
nifty trick I found in the book pictured below. You place some kind of solid
surface behind his feet (in our case, the palms of my hands) that he can press
up against when he kicks, allowing him to actually move when he’s trying to. It
seems to appease him that he’s actually getting somewhere when we do this!
Some of these activities are common sense (imo), but there are some fun ones that you might not think of too!
We’ve also
been working on him sitting up. Sometimes, when he’s not super fidgety, he can
sit up straight just fine. Most of the time, however, he’s still in “weeble
wobble mode”, which is to be expected. Again, he’s not quite 6 months old. I’ve
been letting him sit between my legs on the floor and will catch him with my
hands whenever he starts falling over.
I’ve also
been working on his fine motor skills as far as grasping and reaching. While he
can hold on to things and those objects usually go directly into his mouth,
when it comes to actually grabbing them it’s not very coordinated still. I’ve
been trying to place things just out of reach for him, but he usually seems to
have no interest in them whatsoever. If he’s on the floor by himself and sees
something he wants and can’t get to it, though, yikes. Tantrum time! It’s good
to see he is at least interested in them, though.
I’ve been
trying to teach both of them a few sign language signs, but not really seeing
any results yet. Not that I expect to from L since I’ve been doing it for less
than a week with him, but I thought Myka would have at least caught on to
“thank you” by now because I feel like I’ve been doing that one forever! Lol
I’ve mostly been trying “thank you”, “more”, and “all done” for now. We’ll see!
Not that
I’m not enjoying the things I’m doing with L, but it’s been a lot of fun doing
new things with Myka for her and me. Her new favorite thing in the last month
has been clapping, so we have been doing a lot of that with nursery rhymes and
ridiculous songs/dances I make up on the spot. (Just for the record, I include
L in most of the things I do with Myka too.)
This book, along with all the other ones in this post, I received as "hand me downs" from my sister-in-law, but love them!
One of my
favorite things so far is our story/book time. I will start off by reading a
short story out loud and let them both look at the pictures. Sometimes, if
they’re interested, I’ll let them look at the book afterwards. Each day has
been interesting for this too. At least two days one kid or the other was
completely uninterested in the story I read aloud. (Which is fine.) One day
they were both really into it. Yesterday was a complete effing nightmare as far
as both of them being cranky all day, but they both did really well at
story-time. Lol
Love this book! It's super cute, quick, and helps teach colors!
I’ve also
been taking advantage of books for teaching colors, too. I’ve been using paint
swatches and picking a new color for each day. (Yes, I’m OCD and started with
red.) So we go through a book and find objects that are the color of the day
and I’ll hold the paint swatch up to it so they can see it’s similar. It’s fun!
Another one
of my favorite things to do with Myka is getting her to crawl more. She’s still
not full-on crawling on her knees, it’s more of the army crawl, but I’ll take
it. I like peeking at her from the doorway and going, “Augh!” then fake running
away from her. Basically making an ass out of myself but she thinks it’s funny
and it gets her moving more!
My other
favorite part of the day is our morning walk. I’ve always been a “home body”
for the most part, but I feel kind of claustrophobic staying indoors all the
time, especially at someone else’s house! So a short morning walk is quickly becoming
routine as well. It’s good for all of us to get some fresh air, plus neither of
the kids fuss when we go. (Seriously. Yesterday they were both fussing when
they were in their respective carriers right before we went and stopped once we
were outside.) Oh. You might be wondering how in the hell I’m taking both of
them for a walk. My handy-dandy hiking backpack is proving useful to carry Myka
in and I’m pushing L in the stroller. (Personally, I’d much rather push him
even though he’s way lighter than Myka because I don’t run the risk of getting
puked on.)
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Coloring!
Am I crazy for letting my 10 month old play with crayons?
Probably.
Did she actually "color" with them?
Not really.
Did she try sticking them in her mouth?
Yep.
Did she have fun?
Sure did.
Obviously, if you let your little one play with crayons, you're going to have to watch them like a hawk. You may be thinking, "Why on Earth would you let her play with crayons?! It's not like she's going to be actually coloring with them!" This is true. However, they is a lot more to letting her play with them than meets the eye. "Coloring":
-helps with fine motor development
-helps with hand eye coordination
-could be considered a sensory activity
-is a fun and different approach to introducing your child to different colors
-is relaxing and helps with attention span
-is a great way for younger kids to be creative and express themselves
Look! She wrote her name already! ha ha ;)
At least a few times a week, I plan on "introducing" a different color of crayon and letting Myka play with it. She mostly enjoys passing it back and forth between each hand, and that's ok. :)
Suggestions:
-If you have a child that CONSTANTLY is putting things in his/her mouth, I probably wouldn't try this just yet.
-Use a bib that you don't mind getting crayon on! I put one on her shortly after I took the above picture.
-Either use a really big sheet of paper and/or make sure the surface underneath is something you don't mind getting scribbles on. She got it all over either side of her tray above, but I'm not losing sleep over it. Her booster seat was already kind of in rough shape when we bought it at a second hand store.
-Tape the paper down.
-I usually wipe Myka's hands off afterwards so she's not sticking yucky crayon residue in her mouth.
-Tape the paper down.
-I usually wipe Myka's hands off afterwards so she's not sticking yucky crayon residue in her mouth.
