Egg Hunt For Your Lunch

(click on the picture to take you to the blog where there is more explanation).

I found this on Pinterest (VEEEERY dangerous site if you ask me) and then another teacher here sent the link to me as well.

I'm going to do this at my house, and probably not just for Easter. How fun would it be to hunt for your lunch? If you have very young children, or children who are lower functioning, I'd say hide the eggs in sight, it doesn't matter to them, they just love finding the eggs.

I may even do this for snack in my classroom. We've been practicing finding eggs so that they are ready for Easter at home. The kids think it's awesome everytime they find an egg and I'm not even really hiding them. They sit on chairs, or just next to the trash can, on the counter top, etc. Some are a little trickier because a couple of my students are just that much higher functioning. Those get hidden behind something or under something.

Parents' Guide to Face Book

I received a link to a web safety site in an e-mail that I thought I'd share. I've been reading through the free downloadable booklet and there are things I had no idea about.

Very interesting reading. Good website too: http://www.connectsafely.org/ 

Easter Egg Hunt In the Dark!!

I saw this on one of my favorite blogs/pinterest boards. I've also seen many variations on this idea. This mom took her plastic easter eggs, some small lights found in the wedding section at Michaels (click to see the lights) and made a very fun hunt for her son. Who says you can only hunt eggs at Easter? Who says you have to celebrate Easter for this to be FUN? Here is her post: Illuminated Egg Hunt

My daughter and I (and my husband too) have been having fun with this all weekend. I've seen other posts about this activity where people used glow sticks that have been folded up and stuffed inside the eggs. that would work as well. I like the lights because you can turn them on and off and use them over and over. The ones we bought have replaceable batteries - of course they are the SPENDY kind. We've done this inside, and outside. We all take turns hiding them and then finding them. My daughter has just as much fun finding them as she does hiding them. Give it a try, you can get glowsticks and eggs at the dollar store if you need a less expensive way to get this off the ground.

The "I Can Do It" Sock

I got an email about some socks that look fabulous. These socks were designed to help kids learn how to put their socks on. Apparently they now have them for adults too. What a great adaptation for a very frustrating skill.

http://www.ezsox.com/

What's On Your Computer?

Computers are here to stay and our kids are learning to navigate them earlier and earlier. Heck, I'm even teaching my 2-4 year olds in my classroom a bit. So, what can the kids do on the computer? The popular sites that link to popular characters are always an option. My trouble with them is that the screen for the actual game is about 1/4 the size of your computer screen and then all around that little window are dozens upon dozens of links and ads that the kids inevitably click on. Half the time these lead to inappropriate sites for kids. More important it's FRUSTRATING for kids to not know where they are, how they got there, and how to get back. So......here are some recomendations that I've found and have tried and liked.

What's On Your Computer?    I absolutely like the sharp keys program as I can't TELL you how many times my daughter yells "Mommy, I can't close it!" after hitting a key on the keyboard that she didn't mean to.


Starfall
This is a favorite in my house, and in my classroom. There are many many things on here that are free. Actually anything on the main page is free. There is a link to More Starfall that goes to a subscription page. I got the subscription because the site is fantastic, my daughter loves it, and it was very inexpensive. The main Starfall page has great activities for kids learning their alphabet or just learning to sound out words. Also there are NO ads or links to outside websites and I like that they have their own characters, not all the licensed ones out there.

Other good kids sites:
http://www.pbskids.org/
http://www.helpkidzlearn.com/
http://www.sesamestreet.org/

Teaching Young Children To Use The Mouse

My 5 year old daughter LOVES to play on the computer, mostly she's into typing right now but there are a few games that she does like to play. Using the mouse has been a challenge for her as her hands are small and the mouse is designed for adult hands, not kids hands. I did go out and buy a smaller sized mouse and that has been working but I recently discovered this article which would have helped tremendously and been much cheaper. :)

Teaching young children to use the mouse


Now, if you would rather get a mouse that fits their hands better (and still use the neat sticker system) here are some options:

 Child sized optical mouse
 Animal themed mice

One button mouse

 Perfect for little hands

Free Webinar: Play IS Learning

Here is information about a free webinar that is being offered by the Minnestoa Working Family Resource Center:

May 9, 2012Play IS Learning!Presented by: Nichole Polifka, Licensed Parent EducatorPlay is a fundamental and valuable piece of every child’s healthy growth and development. It offers numerous opportunities for children to build imagination, creativity, and other vital skills through experiences with objects and events. Yet today’s chil­dren face various obstacles that can inhibit this most natural form of learning. A further understanding of how play impacts all aspects of the development of the whole child enables these vital opportunities to shine through.
 To register for this or any webinar offered through Working Family Resource Cen­ter, please go to www.workingfam.org/events and click on the register button on the right hand side of the event.