Super Quick Puppet Stage

When I woke up yesterday, Aidman was standing next to me. The first words out of his mouth were "Can we make a puppet show Mom?", as a non-morning person I rubbed my eyes while agreeing that yes we could make a puppet show. Then he said "we need a big box, do we have one?" and I answered that no we did not. "Well, how can we make a puppet show then? We really need one" he said. That's when Mommy Genius came upon my sleepy body "we can use a sheet and tie it to two chairs", I said. That set Aidman in motion to get everything he needed.

I ate breakfast while watching an awesome puppet show! I am one lucky mama!!


Once the puppet show was over the puppet show quickly became a tent. The kiddos all had a fun morning playing together.

Penguins

This week we made some really cute penguins during our Arctic Animals Unit. I cut a black piece of paper into an oval and then cut a smaller oval out of the middle of large oval with creative memories oval cutters. Then I attached some contact paper onto the back of the paper (did you know that those oval cutters can cut contact paper?!?!?!!!). Aidman could have cut the large oval and I should have had him do that...

Then we raided out craft cabinet for everything white for his tummy. We used buttons, shredded paper, cotton balls, yarn, feathers, and cornstarch in a small shaker. Use very LAST to take away any stickiness of the contact paper so that you do not have to add on another piece of contact paper.

Very cute little penguins and a fun tactile activity!

This would be a GREAT activity to do with very young children and while learning about the color white.

People MTM

Today's Muffin Tin Monday theme is people/faces. So we have had a day filled with people.


We decided to made a big pizza face. I put the ingredients in the muffin tin: sauce, cheese, peperoni, and olives.


The kiddos made a big face on the pizza.


Looks pretty cute.

I thought a dessert would be nice too. I had intended to make cookies for them to decorate, but never got around to it. So they had dessert bagels: half a bagel, marshmallows, plum slices, strawberry cream cheese, chocolate chips, coconut.

They LOVED these!


I have no idea how it worked out this way, but we had an all about my body playdate to go to this morning. We made these really cute body silhouettes. I love the parts of the body stickers.

Thank You Mahalo and ABC and 123!!

A couple weeks ago, we won a giveaway at ABC and 123 for some cute Mahalo circus puppets. They arrived today and my kiddos could not be more excited! Right away they asked for my to make a puppet stage (luckly I had been saving a big box for a moment just like this). As you can see, I did not get fancy (because they gave me no time to) and just cut a rectangle out of a box. They have spent over an hour playing with these today!

We got a pretty acrobat, a silly clown, and an elephant that has a funny hat. All of these puppets are nicely made and are sure to hold up against lots of playtime.


Aidman peeked up to see what was going on on the other side.


Lyssy and Daddy had snuggle time while watching Mommy and Aidman do a silly puppet show.

Thank you so much ABC and 123 and Mahalo for this Awesome giveaway!!

Pp Cooking

The kiddos have been cooking up a storm this week for the letter Pp. I don't normally get to post about our cooking because I am a very messy and unorganized cook and it's about all that I can do just to have the kiddos help so I REALLY had to work in order to get some pictures.

Today for lunch we made pizza and parfaits. The kiddos did every step of each (except make the pizza dough which I did this morning).
Everyone helped to flatten out the dough.
AB pricked holes in the dough with a fork.
Aidman grated the cheese.

Lyssy spread the sauce.

Everyone put on the cheese.

Then while the pizza was baking, we made parfaits.

We poured cherry yogurt in a bowl. (Lowfat plain yogurt mixed with honey and frozen cherries.)

We spooned in some frozen blueberries.

And alittle cool whip.

And topped it off with some homemade granola.

The pizza and the parfaits were very YUMMY!


Earlier in the week, we made pancakes in the shape of P's and A's.

My kiddos LOVE to cook and it not only teaches life skills, but also alittle math, science, and language. I highly recommend that everyone cook with their kiddos, even if you are a messy cook like me!

Pizza Dough

2 t active dry yeast

1 t sugar

1/2 t salt

1 T EVOO

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 cups flour

Combine yeast, sugar, salt, EVOO and water in small bowl. Set aside for about 10 minutes or until frothy. (the yeast should begin working when wet-if it doesn't then you need to start over because it won't rise) Place flour on pastry slab or large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture. Combine by gradually incorporating with flour into the yeast mixture. Transfer the dough to a floured board and knead until it is smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes). Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and place in a warm , draft free place for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

**If you have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer- this will do all the mixing and kneading for you!!

***OR you could just throw it all in a bread machine on the dough cycle. (this is what I did)

Oatmeal Pancakes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour OR wheat flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk OR lowfat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg

Place flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, milk, vanilla, oil and egg in a food processor and puree until smooth.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Pipe Cleaner Letters

Today we played with pipe cleaners to form letters. Of course we made the letter Pp and then we made the kiddos names.

They thought it was fun to pretend the Pps were glasses.

Aidman did his name all by himself, while mommy helped Lyssy with most of hers. Lyssy loves seeing her name made out of different things.

Sadly, this didn't keep their attention for very long. So instead I pulled out the playdough and they played with that for about an hour, I LOVE that!

Painting Pps

Today we made pink and purple paint by mixing red with white and blue with red. Then we painted the letter Pp.

All of the kiddos asked for more paper when they were finished. My kids LOVE to paint!

Aidman was very interested in painting his name.

Lyssy just wanted to paint with her two favorite colors, Pink and Purple!

Pp Lessons

This week we are learning about the letter Pp. This letter has so many words to do fun things with! It's a very good week for us to have alot of stuff too since it's Spring Break here and Aidman has no school or t-ball.

Art:

-Paint a Pp with Pink and Purple

-Make Puppets

-Shape Pipe cleaners and Playdough into letters

Science:

-Pine cone bird feeders (my kids never get bored of making these)

-Plant a seed

Math:

-Make Playdough

-Count Pennies

-Puzzles

-Don't eat Pete game (memory game)

Cooking:

-Pancakes

-Pizza

-Parfaits

-Pie

Movement/Outside:

-Search for Pinecones

-Go to Peterson Park

-Walk like a Penguin

Extras:

-Dress up like princess and prince

-Have a Pajama Party