Top Netflix Shows for Educating Young Children

Not all TV shows are created equal. When it comes to letting my son have some screen time, I do try to be selective. So in that spirit, let me share the shows that both my preschooler and I can agree on.

1.  Bo on the Go: This show is just so neat!  The premise is that the main character, Bo, gets energy when the viewer participates in activities with her. These activities include things like running, jumping, and stretching. As an added bonus, viewers are asked to clear their "Bo Zone" (exercise area) of toys before beginning the show. What a cool idea to get kids moving! The addition of getting kids to clean up is just genius, too.

2.  Mother Goose Club: This one appeals more to my son's singing and dancing side. It's a combination of real people acting out Mother Goose rhymes and cartoons doing the same.  A little hint to make it more educational: Turn on the subtitles. Then you can read the songs and sing along. 

3.  Word World: This show is a neat mixture of visuals and words. All the animals are made of the word that spells their name. For example, the bear is literally made of the letters b-e-a-r, creatively stretched into the shape of a talking bear.  It teaches words and letters. 

4.  Super Why: The "Super Readers" in this show solve social problems, like not wanting to share, by reading fairy tales and fables. The characters apply the lessons from the stories to their situation and search for "super letters" to find an answer to their question/problem along the way. The super letters spell the answer. The show teaches letter, word, and sentence recognition.  

5.  Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood:  If you loved Mr. Roger's neighborhood as a kid, then you'll enjoy watching Daniel with your kids. It teaches the same social/ behavioral lessons, but from cartoon Daniel's perspective. I love discussing how the characters are feeling and what they should do to solve their problems with my son as we watch together. 

What are your go-to shows to teach educational and social lessons to preschoolers?  I'd love to get done more ideas for my Netflix que!

Light Box Activities for Learning and Playing

Searching for an activity that offers the ability to review reading, writing, and math while also appealing to kids' senses?  How about a fun sensory station for your Fun Friday/PAT time or a rainy day activity?  Then you want to check out this post on using the light box to play and teach!

Before I begin my post I want to share that I read many things about DIY light boxes, and the bottom line is that they are not really safe.  They can damage eyes if they lights used are too bright, and they pose a safety hazard for younger children if they are opened accidentally.  It was after reading these things that I decided on this Crayola Light Up Tracing Pad. It got good reviews online and it was compact enough to store when not in use.

There are so many educational, yet fun, activities that can be done with a light box or table. Below are some of my favorites. 

1. Trace numbers, letters, and shapes on top of a gel sensory bag.  You can read more about how to create a gel sensory bag in this post.  

For older children: You can also place worksheets beneath the bag, like in the picture below.  Think of it like a dry-erase board with a sensory benefit.

2.  Roll out Play-Doh in a clear container and use cookie cutters.  
For younger children, this can be as simple as letters, numbers, and shapes.


For older children:  Have them create number sentences/equations with the numbers, spell out words with the letters, or create patterns.

3.  Put translucent objects on the light table and have the child match colors, sizes, or quantities. I spread the pieces of this pill sorter out and gave my son some plastic reusable ice cubes from the Dollar Tree and plastic eggs to match to them by color.  To add some fine motor practice, I gave him tongs designed for catching bugs with which to pick up and sort the objects. The bug catcher is part of this fine motor set. 

For older children:  Have them practice writing out the colors and shapes as they identify and sort them. 

4. Put an I-Spy bag on the light table for discovery of objects/letters.  You can read more about how I made my I-Spy bag by clicking here.  Younger children can verbalize what they see.  My son loves using it almost like a rain stick, just turning it over to listen to the rice filter through the objects.

Older children: Practice writing out the words on paper or dry-erase boards as the objects are found. 

5.  Use discovery bottles for letter/word recognition.

For older children: Give them flash cards with words on them. Have them find the letters needed to spell the words on the cards. Have them write out the words as they find the letters in the discovery bottle.

What's on my light box wish list?  
In the future, I would love to build structures or do division/ multiplication problems with these translucent Prism Bases and Prism Blocks that resemble see-through Duplo Blocks.  We can also use them to talk about area and perimeter.


What are your must-haves for your light box?  I'd love to hear what activities you do for playing and learning!

I-Spy Colors and Sight and Color Words Bag

I was in search of an activity or busy bag that teaches sight and color words. After searching around the house, I realized I already had all or most of what it takes to make one!

With a little prep work, I had a bag that is:

Simple (not a ton of parts to get lost or confuse young children)

All parts that are small enough to be swallowed or lost are sealed inside *

Colorful

Multi-Sensory 

*I would recommend close supervision for children 3 and under in case they manage to rip it open. 

View from the front of the bag. 

Here are the materials:

A glue gun

White rice

*Optional* Food coloring mixed with Kool-Aid and hot water. Find out more on how to dye rice by clicking here.

Clear pencil pouch with a zipper

Alphabet letters of various colors

Shapes of various colors

Plastic toys of various colors

Dry-Erase marker or grease pencil

Steps:

1.  *Optional* I dyed the rice and added it to the pouch.  Click here to see the directions I used to do this.  This really makes the contents stand out. The white rice is okay for this, but the colored rice did a much better job of highlighting the other colors, in my opinion. 

2.  I put my bits and bobs into the pencil pouch. 

I-Spy Bag Contents

1. Purple Flower

2. Blue Flower

3. Green Flower

4. Pink Flower

5. Orange Square

6. Green Triangle

7. Yellow Lizard

8. Red Snake

9. Black Snake

10. Green Frog

11. Yellow Button

12. Red Letter e

13. Orange Letter m

14. Yellow Letter n

15. White Letter o

16. Blue Letter q

17. Pink Letter k

18. Green Letter 

19. Purple Letter r

20. White Letter f

3.  *Optional for older children or emerging readers* Print up the list and attach it to the bag and seal it using packing tape on both sides of the paper.  Punch a hole in the corner of the paper and attach the list to one of the holes already in the bottom of the pouch using a small binder ring. You could also laminate the list if the packing tape is too slick to write on.  The tape/laminate makes it a perfect surface for either a dry-erase crayon/marker or a grease pencil. That comes in handy for marking off what has already been found in the bag. 

4.  Finally, I sealed the zipper shut with a thick line of hot glue. 

Viola!  You've got yourself an almost-instant educational busy bag or station activity!

Do you use I-Spy bags or bottles?  I'm interested in learning how you put them to use for fun and learning!

Top 5 Pandora Stations for Pre-K

I LOVE music. It can either emphasize my current mood or inspire a new mood altogether. Depending on what my family is doing, we choose one of the following Pandora stations:

1. Toddler Radio: This one is mostly upbeat, with many recognizable children's songs included. I like to use this one when I'm prepping dinner and my son is playing independently. We sing and dance together as the mood strikes us. 

2. The Mozart Effect (Children's Radio): I like to use this station when my son is doing something creative that requires his attention, such as art or Play-Doh.  It's also great for the early morning or late evening, when we need to keep things low-key. 

3. Baby Einstein (Children's) Radio: Okay.  I know it says "baby" in the title, but this one is similar to the Toddler station with a little more classical music. I like to switch between the two to give me a little variety in the songs.

4.  Rockabye Baby! (Children's) Radio:  Once again, ignore the "baby" in the title.  It's nice to be able to listen to the instrumental/slow tempo version of songs by bands like Muse and Aerosmith.  As the title suggests, it's all lullaby instruments in place of the usual guitars and drums.  It's pretty amazing, actually.  It's great for bath/bedtime routines when we are winding down for the day. I find my son humming along with me to some of my favorite songs as we go through our evening.


What are your favorite Pandora stations for your time at home?  I'd love to get some new station ideas from you!

Color Sorting and Fine Motor Activity

While in search of a boredom-buster activity for those cold winter days, I came across a few different ideas on Pinterest that seems to fit together nicely.  

An added benefit is that these activities incorporate the following concepts:

Color sight word recognition

Sorting

Fine motor skills

First, I wrapped some duct tape around two cardboard tubes (toilet paper rolls). I chose red and blue because it is what I had on hand and it matched some of the pom-poms I was going to use for the sorting activity.

Next, I used an old cool whip container on which to write the color site words.

I cut holes the size of the pom-pom on the top of the lid.

Presto! I had an almost instant sorting and color recognition activity!  Now, my son can just use his fingers to pick up and push the pom-poms into the holes.

To add a little challenge, I decided to use some tweezers to encourage my little one to work on his fine motor skills even more. 

Another variation to this activity is to use the toilet paper rolls previously mentioned. Just place these over top of the labeled holes, like in the picture below. 

You could tape these down so they are more stable, but it really isn't necessary. Now little man can do another sorting activity, with just a tiny adaptation of materials.

As a final added benefit, all the materials fit snugly inside the container!

There you have it! It really only took me about 15 minutes to put together and it came from all the materials I already had on hand. 

How do you beat boredom when you're stuck inside on snowy days? I'd love to hear your tips and ideas!