Mom & Me Book Club: Llama Llama Red Pajama

For our Mom & Me Book Club this week we decided on a fun favorite of Llama Llama Red pajama by Anna Dowdney. For this book we pretty much got all of our ideas from the Mommy & Me Book club website. (Lot's of great ideas there!) Here is how it went for us.

Gathering activity:

First off, we encouraged everyone, Kids and Mom's included, to come in their pajamas! Red, if they had some. For the gathering activity we set out lots of pillows and blankets for everyone to sit on and Mom's and kids read through all different kinds of bedtime stories while we waited for others to arrive and for about 5-10 minutes after that. 

Snack/Food:

Because this particular book club was later in the day then others, we decided to have our snack before we started circle time. For snack/lunch we all brought red food to share and one Mom made these really cute Llama heads out of crescent rolls that we dipped in red sauce. Oh and we also had red fruit punch and other fun snacks too.

Circle time:

During circle time we all sang the song, "Here we are together at Mommy & Me" and sang through every child's name in attendance. Next we read through the book, Llama Llama Red Pajama." During the reading, when the little llama jumped and shouted, we had the kids get up and jump and shout along with him and so on as the llama did other things throughout the book. 

After reading the book we did the song and finger play, "There were Ten in the bed." Then we sang the song "Shake my sillies out" and we did some actions from the book. (stomp my sillies out, pout my sillies out and so on.) We always end that song with "tip toe my sillies out," as we tiptoe over to the table for a craft activity.

Craft/ Art Project:

For our craft we made llama llama red pajama paper bag puppets. We printed out the llama heads and pajamas and cut them out ahead of time. Link here & here.  The kids got to glue the heads and pajamas on the bags and color. 

The kids and their finished llama puppets.

Activities: 

For one activity we played a game called the "wake up game." It was very simple. Basically all the kids lay down on pillows and blankets and pretend to be a sleep. Then the "Mama Llama" yells "Wake up baby llamas!" and all the kids wake up. That's it. But the kids thought it was SO fun. So we played it over and over and over. And we let the kids be the Mama Llama sometimes. 

Another activity we did was use a bed sheet to play with like a parachute. Each kid and mom held onto a piece of the sheet and we lifted it into the air, brought it back down, bounced balls on it, brought it down over the little kids so they could hide under it, lifted it back up and so on. Lots of fun. 

And here are a couple of llamas in their red pajamas...

Mommy & Me Book Club: Are You My Mother?

For this weeks Mommy & me book club we decided to do the book: Are you my mother, by P.D. Eastman. (Not Dr. Suess like so many people think. Although they were friends.) Anyways, we use this awesome Mommy & Me book club website to get most of our ideas and then sort of mix in other things that we find online or come up with. Here is how it went.

Gathering Activity:
As people were arriving we did the gathering activity. We wanted each kid to have a bird to hold during the story so we made paper bird puppets. We used brown paper bags, stickers, cut out paper, feathers and little googly eyes to make the birds. We got this idea from this website and this website.

Ready for storytime!

Circle time:

During circle time we all sang the song, "Here we are together at Mommy & me." Then we did the ABC's and and counted from 1-10 and backwards from 10-1. Then we read the book, "Are You My Mother." During the story we had each kid hold their bird and they would try to do the things that the bird did in the story. (When the baby bird looked up, their birds looked up, when the baby bird looked down, their birds looked down, and so on.) We also had them say, "Are you my mother" with us as we read those parts in the book. 

Activity:

After we read the book we did a little sequencing activity that we found on this website. We had several cut out photos from the book and had the kids work together to try to put them in the right order of the book. We also finished up circle time with the song shake my sillies out. We ended with tip toe over to the table for the craft.

Craft:

For the craft we made snorts from the story. They had brads on them so they could move and put the bird back into the next like in the story. For this project we used some cut-out pieces that we found on this website. Then just colored and glued them onto another piece of construction paper. 

 Activity:
For another activity we did a sound matching game. Each kid got a film canister filled with something that made a particular sound. There were 2 of each sound. The kids took turns trying to find their "mothers." They would turn to another person and ask, "are you my mother?" Then shake their film canister as the other person shook theirs and try to determine if the sounds matched. Then if it didn't match they would move on to the next person and so on, until everyone had found their "mother." We got this idea from this website.

Show & Tell:

Each kid brings along something to show the group. We encourage everyone to bring something that goes with the book, but its not required. Most everyone ends up just bringing something they like. Each kid gets up in front of the group, tells their name, shows their object and tells the rest about why they like it. And if it has to do with the book, why it is like the book.

Snack & food:

For food we had pb&J sandwiches that were cut into little egg shapes and set on top of pretzels to look like eggs in nests. 

We also had "worms in dirt." Gummy worms in chocolate pudding with crushed oreos on top. 

We also had a fruit tray, some fruit snacks and hard boiled eggs.

Baby bib out of old t-shirt

So I had an old t-shirt I was going to get rid of because I don't wear it anymore. So I used some of the fabric from it and made my daughters bear a baby bib. I didn't have a pattern, I just traced around a baby bib I already had and went from there. I had to make it a lot smaller to fit a tiny bear though. I mostly wanted some practice so that when I went to make some bibs for babys as gifts I would know what I was doing. The stitching is not perfect, my sewing machine was doing weird things, but it turned out cute any how and my daughter was very excited.  This was last week and her bear has not taken it off since. 

Piggy Hairbows

So my sister-in-law makes bows, and she is really excellent at it. She has taught me from time to time, but I'm not so great at it. So I haven't really made any in a long time. She found me some pig ribbon. And my daughter loves pigs, so I had to make some bows. I made 2 larger pinwheel style hair bows (I used a shorter ribbon length than suggested.) and two mini tuxedo style hair bows. I think they turned out pretty cute. And my daughter was overly thrilled to see these when I presented them to her. 

Sewing! A baby blanket and 2 burp cloths

So I've had a sewing machine since my birthday a year and a half ago. I got it right after having a baby. Maybe that was really bad timing, because this said baby was very stubborn and did not go to bed at night. This did not allow for much time to practice.  So the whole learning to sew thing, sort of got pushed to the side for awhile.  A long while. Anyways, then I tried to learn later on, but kept getting frustrated because I kept getting the thread tangled in knots and was just having a hard time. Then I moved to a new house and the sewing got pushed aside again. Then I got frustrated again. I finally discovered that I was using the wrong type of thread. A super thick thread too. No wonder I was having problems. Oops! Make sure you got the right thread if you are learning to sew. That will make things a lot easier.

Anyways...I'm still not amazing at sewing, but I finally feel like I've gotten to know my sewing machine enough to work with it and actually accomplish things without going away super frustrated. Yay! This week I had a baby shower to go to so I decided to make a baby blanket with matching burp cloths. This was a good starter project because it is relatively simple, (still takes work) and it turns out really cute. I got 2 different flannel fabric pieces I liked. (One for the back and one for the front.) 1 1/2 yards of each. I used 1 yard for the blanket and the remaining 1/2 yard is just enough to make 2 burp cloths out of.  I washed the fabric first. Unfortunately the fabric got a bit frayed and ripped up in the washer. It also did a lot of pilling. Fortunately this was fixable, but took time. I trimmed around the frayed parts at the edge and there was still enough fabric for the blanket. I also found a sweater comb to get out all the pilling. (A cat brush also worked.)

For the blanket I took the two yard size pieces of fabric lay them together right sides facing each other.  Pinned them together, and sewed around the edges, leaving a gap open, to turn the blanket inside out and allow the right sides to now face out. Then I ironed the blanket. Last I top stitched around the edges  of the entire blanket, closing up the gap in the process.

 

For the burp cloths I pretty much did the same thing as I did with the blanket, only I used a free pattern that I found online for the shape. I was also left with just enough fabric that I should be able to make a little bib and burp cloth for my daughters teddy bear. 

Mommy & Me Book Club: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

We hosted another Mommy & Me Book club. Most of the ideas we got from this site. We changed a few things and modified others. My kids really love this book and it was fun to theme an entire morning  around it. Here's how it went. 

Gathering Activity: 

For the gathering activity we pooled together several ABC themed books and laid them out. We also had out some ABC Magnetic letters for the kids to play with. While waiting for people to show up the kids could read through books or use the magnetic letters. The pre-school age kids did not seem too interested in this however, they mostly just played while waiting for others to arrive. My little one had fun with the magnet letters while the others worked on their craft. 

Circle Time:

During circle time we all gathered to sit down on a fun ABC mat that we happened to have. We sang "Here we are together at Mommy & me" (Saying each kids name in the song.) We of course sang the "ABC's." We then counted to 10 and backwards from 10 back to 1. Then we read through the book, "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom." Each child had an instrament that they were able to play/make as loud as they could during the "Boom Boom" parts of the book. They also yelled out "Boom Boom" if they could remember to do both. We then re-told the story of chicka chicka boom boom using a magnetic board and magnetic letters. Each child got to help tell part of the story. They especially loved being able to knock ALL the letters down to the ground when that part of the story came. 

Art/Craft:

For the craft we made Coconut Trees. We used Crystal light containers for the base of the tree and had that part already covered in brown paper before the kids got hold of it. We also wrote each letter of the alphabet onto the tree. The kids were each given a sheet of ABC stickers and were to match up all the stickers with the letters on the tree. Then we had green "grass stuff" To stick into the top of the tree for leaves, and little cut out brown circles for the coconuts that the kids could tape onto the top. 

The finished Trees!

Activities:

We did two different activities. The first one was Alphabet freeze dancing. We turned on some fun ABC music and the kids danced away. Then the music was paused and each kid had to stop on top of a  letter. We went around and each kid told us what letter they were standing on. Then the music started and they danced again and so on. This was a big hit. The kids loved it. 

Another activity that we did was rice bucket exploration. We filled a giant tub full of rice and put in all 26 magnet letters. The kids had to work together to find all 26 letters. After they were all found they lined them up in order on the table. 

Show & Tell:

Everyone brought an item for show and tell. Some had to do with the book, some didn't. But they enjoyed getting up and showing off what they brought. They followed this routine:

My name is...

I brought...

I like it because...

It is like the book because...

Snacks & Food:

For the main part of lunch we had these really cool coconut trees. peanut butter and jelly for the trunk of the tree. grapes for the coconuts, apples for the leaves, and cheese-it crackers with letters on them for the letters. 

 We also had cute coconut tree cupcakes with chocolate covered raisens for the coconuts, and sugar letters.

 For the adults we had a fruit and vegetable tray, more pbj sandwhiches and extra cheese-it letters and such.

 And another mom brought these awesome mini pancakes with letters on them.

Mommy & Me Book Club: The Three Little Pigs

We found this Awesome Website that does Mommy & Me Book clubs and decided we were going to start our own Book Club. We are using the site for a reference point, as we get our group started. For this first activity did "The Three Little Pigs." We mostly did all the same activities and crafts that are featured on the site. Here's how it went.

Gathering Activity:
As people were showing up, before we started, we worked on a cute pig craft with cotton balls, paper plates and glue. We won't always have a craft at the beginning. Sometimes we have puzzles or books to looks at, but there is always something. The night before we spray painted the cotton balls pink. (Or I suppose you could just buy pink cotton balls to use, if you can find them.) Then we pre-cut the ears, nose and tongue with construction paper. We used little googly eyes for the eyes. The kids enjoyed gluing the cotton balls onto paper plates and making the faces.

The Finished Projects:

Circle Time:

During circle time we sing a few songs. "Here we are together" (Naming each child in attendance.) "ABC's" (Or a different song depending on the theme of the week.) Next we count with the kids 1-10 and then count backwards from 10-1. Then we read the book for that week. After we read through the story we tell it again. This time, however, we retell it using magnets glued to cutout characters from the book and allow the kids to help re-tell it. Each kid gets a chance to help tell part of the story and help show part of it using the magnets on a big white out board. At the end of circle time we all sing "Shake my sillies out" as we head over to the table for a craft/art project. 

Art/Craft:

Each kid got a pig coloring page to color. After they finished coloring the pigs, we brought out some "mud" (chocolate pudding) for them to finger paint all over to the pigs. They really enjoyed that part. It took them a bit to find out that it was chocolate pudding, but once they did they were eating it and painting with it.

 

Activities:

For a fun activity we gathered a bunch of different building supplies and let the kids try to build their own pigs houses. Each time they finished one we tried "blowing down their houses" to see which ones were strong and which ones were not. The kids got really creative after awhile. Some houses included straw, blocks and sticks. 

Show & Tell:

We told everyone in advance to bring an item related to the Book of the week to share. The kids got up in front of the group, shared their names, what they brought and why it was special to them. 

Snacks/Lunch:

We told everyone who came to bring three little pig theme snacks to share. here's what we had to eat.

Pigs in a blanket, Piggy bagels, and pig "building supplies." (carrots, pretzels, and twizzlers.) We also had a fruit and veggie tray. So there was lots to eat.