Toddler Hopscotch

The weather is getting nicer so we have been staying outside for much longer than 15 minutes! We also just got a BBQ & since it is still light out at dinner time we have been playing outside while hubby grills us some food! The other night while dinner was grilling we played hopscotch...toddler version!


It's pretty much the same as regular hopscotch only I made 4 circles right on top of each other. I should have made them smaller so she could get from one to the other in just one hop, but it worked fine with the giant circles I made. {oops}


I made a line for her to stand on while she tossed a flat rock {which by the way took a whole 10 minutes for her to find the perfect one}. 

 {Toss the rock onto a circle.}

 {Hop along until you reach the last one. Turn around and hop back.}

{On your way back, stop at the circle the rock is on and pick it up to use for your next turn.}

We played this for quite some time and Bug had a blast! I hope you go outside and play! 


If you have any outside activities please link up and share on our Outside Play party. You can also take a look at all the other links there to get some other outside play ideas!

Shake an Egg

Have you heard of Laurie Berkner? She sings songs for kids that we just love here in our home. She makes kids music enjoyable instead of annoying. I must say I can listen to her music non stop while playing with Bug and not get sick of it. She has 5 CDs {i believe} plus a The Best Of CD and I can't tell you which is my fave. I love them all! 

On her CD "Whaddaya Think of That?" there is a song called I Know A Chicken. It's also on The Best Of CD.

The song is so much fun and she tells you different ways to shake an egg. If you don't have a shaky egg you can just shake your body, but we made some shaky eggs from old plastic eggs we had in our play food cart since Easter. 


What you will need:

• Plastic Eggs {one per kid, or as many as you'd like}

• Small items to put inside the egg to make noise. We used yeast, rice & small noodles. We wanted to make ours soft and loud shakers. Other ideas are oatmel, cornmeal, sprinkles, beads...

• Crazy glue

• Tape

First you are going to want to tape the inside where the holes are {if any} so there are no leaks.

 

Then fill half an egg about 3/4 of the way. Place glue around the edges and let it dry. {don't glue your fingers to the egg} If you are lazy and impatient like I am you can just wrap some packing tape around the egg so it doesn't open easily. You might not want to do that meathod with younger ones who will try to open it. Bug was a good listener and didn't even attempt it. 

 

Give it to your little one, turn on some Laurie Berkner {you tube video we used here...it's some other songs after too} and shake an egg!

I tried adding a video of Bug but it's just not working! Ugh. If you'd like to see Bug shaking her egg to Laurie Berkner it's on my Facebook Wall. 

 

{Toddler Tuesdays} Bubble Wrap Hop

One of my BFFs {my Nanny} moved to Florida to live with my aunt since she can no longer deal with cold winters and living alone anymore. Pretty upset about it. Being that my aunt is already established in Florida, my Nanny had no use for all her houseware things...which means I was able to get them! Yay...we never had a bridal shower or anything so I was so happy to finally get some of these things. As a result I had piles of boxes that needed to be unpacked and a toddler in great need of attention. 

I must have unwrapped a million things that were in bubble wrap squares so I placed them down in a row leaving a little space so Bug had to hop onto each square. Kind of like hop scotch for toddlers. She had so much fun and was entertained for a good amount of time. Not only was it fun to hop, but popping the bubble wrap was a great bonus! 

She also helped her Snuggle Bunny hop!

{Toddler Tuesdays} Temp Tap Shoes

Bug has been a dancing queen lately so I decided to make her some tapping shoes just for fun. These weren't permanent for us...but I'm not saying they won't be for you because if it turns out you can't peel them right off of your shoes I don't want you to come back yelling at me. :) 

Here's what you need:

• an old pair of shoes
• pennies {about 7 per shoe}
• Glue gun & glue
• A dancing Queen {or King}

Here's what you do:

Glue the pennies onto the shoes as shown. Some on the heel and some on the toe. Make sure you glue around the whole circle of the penny so it stays on the shoe. I did just an X in the middle for the first couple and they fell off halfway through her tapping. That's all! Easy Peasy Lemon Squeesy! 

Now throw on some Broadway Hits and get to tapping!

{Bug liked going from tile to carpet once she realized they don't make noise on the carpet and do on the tile}

When she was finished {about a half hour later} I was just able to peel off the pennies, then the glue. These shoes barely fit her anymore so if they were to be stuck I wouldn't have cared much.

{Toddler Tuesdays} Yoga Baby

Did you know yoga is a great way to introduce a healthy lifestyle to your baby & toddler? There are some great resources {which can most likely be found at your local library} on doing yoga & other exercises with your little ones. What a healthy way to spend time together! Here are a couple books we have seen and read from the library:

Sleepy Little Yoga

Little Yoga

I'm sure there are other books and DVDs that can help you and your little one learn the basics of yoga. Just remember when doing yoga with your tot...there is no need to make them do the poses exactly how it is shown. Let them do it their own way based on their capabilities and development. Just be sure you are modeling the correct way and they will catch on when they are ready. :)

Downward Facing Dog

"Owl" Pose from the book.

"Fox" Pose from the book.

Tree Pose

Easy Pose

Child'sPose

Legs up the Wall

Knee's Hug

Corpse Pose

I haven't really done much yoga {besides playing my Wii Fit} and it was a fun activity to do together. Now we include it in our night time routine and Bug really enjoys it. 

{Toddler Tuesdays} Move & Groove with Patty Shukla

Bug and I just love to dance and move around! It's great for gross motor skills and gets those kiddies to be active! I was searching for this song that I have heard on either Nick Jr. or The Disney Channel and happened to stumble upon Patty Shukla in the process. {I have yet to find the song I was originally looking for} Bug is now in love with dancing to most of her songs. Here are our favorites that you can dance and move around to:

 "JUMP!" is Bug's favorite. My favorite part is the rest she gives us parents in the middle! I don't know about you, but I am not capable of jumping for a whole 3 minutes like Bug is!

This "STOP" song is kind of like a freeze dance. We use our signs "stop" and "go" for this song {as well as run, dance, jump, and all the other activities}

"If I were an Animal" gets you and your kids moving like different animals through the whole song. Bug loves to waddle like a Penguin {and I must say she looks so cute doing it too}!

We love "Play with Me, Sing Along"! It ends with having the kids sit down which makes for an easier transition from moving around into story time {or another calmer activity}!

I hope you enjoy moving around to these songs as much as we do! Bug loves when I participate and dance along with her and it helps her act out the movements by watching me too. So put on your dancing shoes {or kick your shoes off} and have fun!