My primary job is Mom. Some days I’d love for it to be writer or professional blogger extraordinaire, but really with three kids under four there is a lot more butt wiping and toy refereeing than there is putting proverbial pen to paper. There are several posts; however, that managed to eek their way onto this tiny spot in the web that make me smile. Here are ten of MY FAVORITE posts written this year. 

10

Ten Apples Up on Top – Early Math Top Hat Activity

Ten Apples Up on Top is not my favorite Dr Seuss book – I’m way more into “Horton Hatches the Egg,” but this book lends itself to being used for early math. My two eldest kids have both loved learning how to count using this simple activity. Looking back at the pictures is good for my heart.

 

9

Recipe for a Snowman with “Stranger in the Woods” {Book and Activity}

This post brings back some fabulous memories of my husband playing in the snow with the kids. We had to be a little inventive with our ingredients; we are still the only family I know who has used a bell pepper for a snowman’s nose (lol). That moment when the chickadee landed on our snowman and had a snack – a highlight of my lifetime because of my children’s squeals of joy.

 

8

3 Activities to Promote Kindness Among Preschoolers

The toothpaste activity makes this post a winner for the year for me. The kids still talk about it and reference it whenever they hear a person say something not nice or when they read about a “villain” in one of our books. At the time I knew the kids were having fun squeezing all the toothpaste out of the container, but I never dreamed the message would be so strong lasting and beneficial. 

 

7

Beyond Madeline – A Global Trip in Picture Books
7 Fun Ways to Get the Most Out of “Reading the World”

These posts are the beginning of a series I wrote through the summer to accompany Jamie Martin’s new book, Give Your Child the World. The kids and I had so much fun reading the suggestions she made for picture books about and from each continent. We sang, cooked, played games, and learned so much about the rest of the world. We will be using her book and several of these activities again. 

 

6

4 Ingredient Kid Made and Kid Approved Mud Dough

The kids loved this activity and it was so very easy. I know some folks who created the dough had to experiment a little with how much water to add to get the right consistency, but it worked beautifully for us and the kids played independently for over half an hour. I drank my entire cup of hot coffee that morning!

 

5

5 Ideas For Toddler Play During a Busy Home Schooling Day

These activities were fun for my toddler and encouraged a lot of cooperative play between all my children. Anything that promotes sibling bonding is a win in my book! And….the folks at Mother Goose Time were pleased enough with the post to syndicate it. It’s always nice to be acknowledged 🙂 

 

4

How to Banish the Baby Book Blues

Baby books haunt me. I have a beautiful baby book from my mother and want to make one for my three kids, but that’s just not happening today. Tomorrow isn’t looking good either. I finally had a come to Jesus moment and figured out how to make things work for me and still get the kids their baby books (someday)!

 

3

How to Make the Most of An Invitation to Create (Process Art)

Mother Goose Time, the preschool curriculum we enjoy using with our littles switched their art projects from product based to process based this year. This means that at the end of the art project there is often nothing identifiable to display. There is less instruction and more independence for the kids, which can be a challenge when it’s new. I wrote this post to help others who may have struggled with the switch and am so pleased to have a few emails saying how much it helped them. This post helped someone and for that reason alone I love it. 

 

2

Celebrating a Year of Mother Goose Time

I don’t think you need a preschool curriculum. BUT, my kids really love and have benefited from having access to Mother Goose Time materials and activities. We “do preschool” as an elective process and the kids are loving it. We have been using Mother Goose Time for a full year and my two “big kids” at three and four have grown and learned so much during that time. It’s so fun to look back at all the pictures!

 

1

Grateful Flowers – A Family Inspired Gratitude Activity

This post shocked me by being my most viewed post of 2016. It’s a simple post I wrote in a matter of minutes that went crazy when someone added it to Stumble Upon. Who knew? What makes me love this post though is that it’s real, it’s honest, and we really did use those gratitude flowers during some pretty rough days. It may be time to make some gratitude snowflakes. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed reminiscing with me about some of my favorite posts from 2016.