Seriously, is there anything cuter?
Wyatt is finally able to fit into some of his hand-me-downs from his cousin Brady.
And boy does he look cute.
We have been so busy lately – this dapper dude and I.
Painting, coloring, going to the library, reading books, and any other fun activity we can find.
William and I had a conversation about how we need to interact more with Wyatt –
How we need to be teaching him more.
And even if it may seem repetitive to us – it’s beneficial to him.
So we’ve set aside time each day to do activities that all revolve around a general theme.
Like the other day when we sponge painted, and then went over what colors we used.
It was so much fun! And I really dove deep into researching other fun projects that we could do together.
Because, let’s face it.
Being a stay-at-home mom during the day can sometimes get boring.
You can’t go out everyday because it’s just too expensive.
And you don’t want to just plop down in front of the tv either.
I’ve got a huge craft closet with lots of goodies – so why not use them, right?
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| Art Gallery – Wyatt & Cousin Sydney’s Art |
I’ve started a board on my Pinterest with all of the activities I could find.
I also came across this blog that has lots of fun things to try as well!
I’m going to develop a “lesson plan” each week with activities and books that all relate to one another.
Then I’ll write them down on a calendar and put it up on the refrigerator – so everyone is on the same page.
I’m pretty excited about this.
What are some of your favorite activities to do with your little one?
Do you have a particular site or blog you go to for ideas?
Please share!
No, there isn’t anything cuter!! W really is ADORABLE!
Awe thank you Courtney! You are so sweet! ๐
Wow this sounds so awesome! I think I want to do this for Bentley too because I am feeling like such a horrible mommy for not interacting as much as I can to teach him things. Thanks so much for the ideas!!! ๐ ♥
No problem! Let me know if you come across any good ones I can file! I am pretty pumped about setting up activities for Wyatt and I. There is just so much we can do! That blog I linked in the post allows you to search by age – so you can find activities tailored to the specific age groups! Pretty cool! ๐
Oh, girl! This post got me smiling because I’m in the same boat. My Auggie is 16 months old and I’m just now getting serious about being intentional with our playtime! I really like some of the ideas behind the Montessori method of learning and I incorporate a little bit of my own planning into the process along the way! But I always remain flexible – because if Augs loses interest 4 minutes into the activity, let’s face it…forcing him to finish it is just going to frustrate him and me. I always want learning to be fun! That being said, here are some ideas on my end…just from my limited experience:
I’ve got one Pinterest board dedicated to “learning at home” – https://pinterest.com/allemccloskey/learning-at-home/
I’ve got another Pinterest board dedicate to “planning our home learning” – https://pinterest.com/allemccloskey/planning-our-home-learning/
Additionally, I’ve set up a set of folders in Evernote to track and plan our activities:
Step 1: Plan Theme – I usually work with a monthly list, but am experimenting with a 2 week list since I find my little guy can get bored easily. This list includes a color, number, shape, letter/sound, animal, Bible story, musical instrument, and a few other simple things like a gross or fine motor skill we’re working on.
Step 2: Gather Materials – I start with the actual stuff we have at home: I look at our children’s bibles, gather ideas from our “first books” (books that focus on colors, animals, numbers, etc.), search through our media/music for items that coordinate within our themes, evaluate household toys/items for activities, crafts, and manipulatives.
Step 3: Online Search – This is where I start grabbing ideas from the wonderful land of “online goodness!” I will do a google/pinterest search on each theme element specific to my child’s age and I limit myself to 1-2 pages of searching through the results (or I’d be “planning” for hours upon hours), then I head to my library’s website and do a similar search but let myself look a little deeper (3-5 page limit), then I search my list of “Learn at Home” sites (see below).
Step 4: Online Learn at Home Sites – this is a small collection of online spaces that give great ideas, resources, printables, or “tot school” fun that I use for reference and planning:
– Totally Tots – https://totallytots.blogspot.com/
– 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 – https://www.1plus1plus1equals1.net/
– Homeschool Creations – https://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/
– Chasing Cheerios – https://chasingcheerios.blogspot.com/
Step 5: Schedule It – I take a few minutes with some blank calendar/printables I found and map out a rough idea of what I want to do with Auggie on which weeks. This is very very loose – always flexible and never forced!
Step 6: Do It! And snap good pictures, you’ll love this time!
Okay, that’s probably WAAAAAY more than you needed, but I thought I’d share! Have fun!
Oh my goodness! Thank you – thank you for taking the time to give me all of this information! I appreciate it SO much! I would love to chat more about all of this! I’m going to add your blog right now!!