Round-up: Favorite Digital Resources

Because fellow corporate moms need all the help we can get, I'll start to round up some favorite digital resources that we've used and loved starting two years old.  I am by no means an expert nor an educator (except at heart), but if this saves some mom some time one day, I'd be happy.

For alphabet recognition, I used Starfall constantly - that's what we were doing in the picture above - and since the iPad was born a few years ago they now have an app (but not free).  You Tube options are overwhelming, so save yourself some time and just use these:

From L-R: Starfall website, Alphabet Song, Phonics Song.

App options (L-R): Toddler ABC and ABC Zoo (free); the last three are not-so-free - Fish School, Interactive Alphabet, and ABC Food (there's also ABC Wildlife, ABC Go, ABC Play).

Ladybug Girl could read at 3 years old, but we didn't use any branded program to learn.  We just made reading our special bonding time and I started to use my finger to point out words when she turned two - that's it!  But I was inspired by My Mommyology's experience with Your Baby Can Read program (read her thorough and insightful review here).   We just happened not to need it after all, since Ladybug Girl went into hyper-learning on reading soon after.  Montessori calls this a "sensitive period" of focus and intensity.

How about the Solar System?   This may feel pretty random and it probably is!  Haha.  The Mind Museum sparked this interest, so I followed it.

Download printable coloring sheet here and make your solar system.  I  just taped two black sheets together.
She cut out the sun with my help and drew some 'constellations'.

As usual we learn everything through song first.  These are as catchy as that damn "Cups" song I once loved and now hate.

L-R: The Solar System song of blurbs about each planet; and the Planets song repeating the order from the sun.

After these songs we did some hands-on learning through matching and identifying the planets through these nomenclature cards, which is just a fancy name for a flash card.

I also left these as a leave-behind activity on a contact paper wall.
I didn't take a pic though.

It kind of snowballed from there into Ladybug Girl memorizing the song "Far Out" from Blur, which I loved and sang to her one bedtime.  The song lists moons in the solar system.  It's such a kick to hear this little voice singing "Phoebe... Io... Elara... Leda... Calisto".

Watch the 30-second excerpt here

The world of pattern blocks.  This probably has the richest resources online that I've come across.  Career-level, these moms!  Pattern blocks are my fingers-crossed-this-works-for-math tool.  No idea yet, but I figure at least for savings that one set of blocks is better than buying a lot of puzzles.

We got these at Fundamentals in Fort, or you can also try Hobbes and Landes).
You can also just print and make your own here - just follow the colors.

We use it for free-hand art with contact paper, sticky side out:

Or for sorting and learning the shapes:

Or with downloadable patterns to make tanagrams:

I find it causes less frustration to use contact paper over the pattern printable to prevent the blocks from moving around.  It makes a great leave-behind activity on our shelf:

Ladybug Girl had trouble getting what a pattern was until I introduced them through "Finish the Pattern" song on iTunes and these printables above here.

We do have some tanagram apps, but none that I'm thrilled with and she doesn't show much interest in the digital versions of these.

Toca Boca apps on the iPad.  These deserve a special part all on their own - we have them all!  I am equally in love with them as Ladybug Girl is, because I love the design.

These apps are mostly for three years old and up.

This app taught Ladybug Girl the concept of symmetry:

If you draw on one wing, the same happens on the other wing.

She started with random drawings (left) until she realized the symmetrical pattern she could make (right).  The butterfly also says "how symmetrical!" and that was great for explanations.

The real proof was how she made a symmetrical design on this Taro Gomi doodle mat using the materials in her art bag.  We take this along during restaurant meals.

If you don't want to pay for the app, you can use this clever idea to teach symmetry using a mirror.

from Play At Home Mom.

Thank you Mr. Internet and Steve Jobs.  They were working parents too, weren't they?

Weekend Play: Painted Prints with Placemats

  

I was going to throw out these leftover foam coasters from our beginner-sewing activity, but I felt guilty  because they were technically brand new.

So I decided to use them to make free-hand prints.  I handed them to Ladybug Girl to cut into any shape:

scissor practice!

And then I sprayed a piece of cardboard with adhesive (or go over the whole thing with a glue stick) and then let her arrange the shapes she cut into her own design.

Now paint!

I caught a picture of her throwing down her paintbrush, upset with mommy for painting the last piece.  Whoops.

Lastly, make a print by smoothing a piece of paper on top.  We even made a print of a print:

The coasters made a nice effect.

Inevitably, some free-hand painting and experimenting with other kinds of mono print techniques:

And the next thing I know, I come back from a bathroom break to this sight:

It wouldn't be the weekend without some messy play!

New Patterns at Work and Play

Ever since I wrote a post about turning a milestone with Ladybug Girl's separation anxiety, I've been noticing new patterns in our household.

The bad : at work.  Twelve hour workdays have become the norm.  Sure I love my job but not that much.  Because I leave for work early now, there's no more playtime with Ladybug Girl in the mornings, and barely an hour of bonding before we sleep.  Adjustments needed.

The good: at play.  Our new pattern for after-work play is a lot less "restricted" if you will.  It used to be part of our rules not to wind her up at night after she's had her half-bath.  But nowadays of course, we get too excited when see each other and she brings me around her shelves to show me the leave-behind activities she finished.   Then inevitably she wants to do something, anything with me.  

How can anyone resist a duet performance?

Or making a "book" out of cardboard and duct tape?

Now her body clock has been wired to sleep at 10 pm to adjust to her late mommy, and then thanks to the brighter sunlight streaming into her new room, she gets up at 7 am for school (and naps in the afternoon).  Sticking to a bedtime routine since she was a baby has really helped, and I'm so thankful we can now relax the rules a little and count on her body clock over our parent clock.

We strung up ribbon all over her room before our "poop party".
We just make these things up as we go along!

Her open shelves of supplies are now a lifesaver instead of a bedtime distraction.  They keep things accessible for instant made-up play.  On one late night coming home, I brought in some pizza to eat late dinner in her room.  Inspired, she wanted to make one of her own.  It was easy to grab some play doh and a puzzle tray from her shelf.

She ran to kitchen and found these long wooden cotton buds I had forgotten I placed there for baking play.
We got in some practice counting the "candles" as she put each one in.   

She's still learning to count past twenty, so in the middle of it all she slumped her shoulders and hung her head down reeeeally low and said "I need to go to number school".  Oh but she is the perfect stress reliever!
I laughed and assured her she was getting better.  

Speaking of stress relief, you may be wondering where Awesome Guy is during these nights.

See if you can spot him here.

Yes, fast asleep usually.  Good thing we also have a new pattern nowadays - riding to work together in the mornings!  It's been nice to carve out that extra time everyday, just the two of us.

This is just a reenactment of the "fun" we have.  Haha.  Poor neglected guy, he's been so patient.   

Now if I can just change that work pattern, everything would be perfect.  I know it's unrealistic to expect work to get done by 5, so how do other moms manage to leave at a reasonable time?  I wonder, maybe I should have a winding down routine too.  

Or I might just try Awesome Guy's suggestion after he spotted a pattern of last-minute meetings we like to have at my office.  He says I should just keep my head down and not look anyone in the eye as I pack up and go.  Sometimes in those late meetings, I just want to yell: Uwing-uwi na ako!  

Okay, sometimes I do.

Click here to see the posts on how I try to make after-work life work.  'Try' being the operative word.

Holiday Play: Bubble Wrap Flag

Happy Independence Day, Philippines!  In your honor, Ladybug Girl and I made your flag to celebrate.

We had already planned for the day to include making the flag but I hadn't thought beyond that.  But as  I picked up some bubble wrap from Awesome Guy's toy organizing session in the dining room floor, this use came to mind:

Freehand painting on bubble wrap during one playdate activity with her cousin, at three years old.

  And so in five minutes flat this was set up:

First I taped down the bubble wrap over the bench so it wouldn't move.  It was already making a very nice rectangle shape for the flag, but any table would do if you pre-cut the bubble wrap.  Then I drew a flag with a black permanent marker.

Now mix up each paint color with with equal parts glue.  This makes the paint stick to the bubble wrap.

Ladybug Girl mixed in some glitter with paint, too.

Now paint!

Before painting, we looked at the flag and talked about which colors go where.  

I filled in the tricker parts of the flag while Ladybug Girl did the blue section.

But I was really just itching to try it out myself.  (So fun)

Now the yellow, my favorite part of our flag.

But here was Ladybug Girl's favorite part: sprinkling more glitter on.

Skip this if you don't want more mess.  Not only did glitter end up on the floor, there's no guarantee that every granule will stick to the paint mixture when dry.  The little girl absolutely loved it though.

We forgot the white, so I hurriedly painted it on while Ladybug Girl followed my brush with some silver glitter.  We laughed together as she teased me to hurry up.

So few materials and such a lot of fun!
I just cut away the extra bubble wrap on the sides, and had ourselves a flag.

Here is our flag, all dry and proudly hanging up in her room.

It really sparkles in person!

We even did a 'print' of the whole thing: I cut some white craft paper from her easel, and she did the print all by herself.

And then the celebration went on with her "preparing for a party".

She ran to get her window crayons to decorate the mirror and made Ube ice cream from her sweet shop.
Flag stickers are from Kultura.

"Party preps"

And now I need advice.  How do you explain to a four-year old about Independence Day?  And to my little Dove who tears up whenever there's a story with conflict -- let alone a war?

A page from Filipino Celebrations.

This was my spur-of-the-moment attempt during bedtime:

Can you guess who the bad piggies and angry birds were?  
Ladybug Girl laughed and said "but Mommy, Spain is not bad!"  "Well they were back then, sweetheart!"

This was probably not very politically correct, but you must admit it is very preschool-friendly.

See more play ideas on the GALLERIES tab on the upper right side of the blog.  

All super easy and working-mom tested.