Week Six - Dinosaurs - Movies and Shows

This has been a really fun week in our house. I love introducing new things to Little Man but there is such joy in sharing something he is always interested in exploring.

There are so many great choices for movies and shows about dinosaurs. Enjoy your weekend!

Movies:

Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaur: The first in the Ice Age franchise to talk about dinosaurs. Big appeal for the little ones, but it is a more intense look from the Ice Age folks. I love these movies because they look at unconventional families (herds) and encouraging the characters to be themselves and play to their own strengths.

We're Back! A Dinosaur Story: Talking, non-violent dinosaurs in this cute offering. A cute piece of fluff that will delight the dinosaur obsessed.

The Land Before Time: This is a wonderful movie that Little Man can't get enough of (stick with the original - believe me I have seen all of the sequels and they do not compare to the innocence and beauty of the first). Be prepared the the main dinosaur baby looses his Momma in the beginning of the movie and there are some scary moments with "Sharp Teeth".

Shows:

Dinosaur Train: I know I have talked about this all week, but I really can't say enough. This is a sweet, cute show that combines two of Little Man's favorites. It is educational and so well done. The music, and frank way they deal with the realities of dinosaurs in a fantasy setting is wonderful. You need to watch this if you haven't yet seen it. You can catch it on PBS. Check out the site for cute (free) online games.

Wonder Pets: Save a Baby Dinosaur: This offering from Nick Jr. is all about team work between the three main characters.

Sesame Street: Dinosaurs!: This covers healthy eating, the alphabet, taking turns and all that Sesame Street has to offer.

Games:

Caillou Dinosaur Game

Dinosaur Dash

Dinosphere

Week Four - Beach - Movies, Shows and Games

On the road again, I just can't wait to get on the ... oh wait... I can. We are halfway into our eight our drive. I survived the first day barely, but now they know what is coming. I am concerned we are going to have a revolt when they see the car seats again.

Today we have movies, shows and games for the beach. Hopefully these will help you if you are traveling for the holiday week or weekend or at least bring the beach to you if you are staying home (smart move).

Movies:

Surf's Up: This is a cute movie about a pro-surfing penguin who leaves home to follow his dream only to learn that winning isn't everything. Very beachy with the surfing and Pen Gu Island location. I think this is ideal for 5 year olds, but younger will enjoy the images.

Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure: This movie is not about the beach but involves working out disagreements between friends - something that siblings can use when closed in the back of a car. It gets my vote for keeping both interested and giving me a chance to talk about other "people" who struggle to get along but realize it is better together.

Shows:

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Big Splash: Mickey and friends head to the beach for fun in the sun. If you can deal with the voices this is a great one for kids to get ready for the beach.

The Backyardigans: Tale of the Mighty Knights: Once again this is a stretch - more about going on an adventure more than the beach. I had to include it because (truth time)...I love it. It is a rock musical with choreography, great catchy songs, funny dialogue and a great message. I am always excited when this gets picked by Little Man.

Games:

Beach Bingo - print as many cards as you need shuffling the words, use shells to mark the squares - here is an example with words you can use.

sand	surf board	crab	rock	beach toy
sand castle	towel	wave	shovel	sign
umbrella	pail	seaweed	stick	lifeguard
sunglasses	feather	sea gull	bug	swimsuit
boat	shell	fish	chair	swimmer

Create a beach map

Beach bowling

Have fun!

Week Four - Beach - Craft time

This weather has me inspired to offer a few more easy options for indoor fun.

Today's crafts include making a boat (it floats!), a sun catcher (I would love to catch ANY sun after all of these days of rain), and sand dollars.

All of these crafts involve items you see at the beach. While you are making these crafts, ask your child to tell you what they see at the beach. What items did they forget? What things do you only see at the beach? Work on letter sounds, and see if you can come up with one word for each letter for things at the beach (example: animals, beach ball, crab, etc.) Here is a list of some beach words to give you some ideas (good luck with q).

Make your own sand dollar. The link takes you to Disney FamilyFun where they have very detailed options that involve glueing to circles together and using clothespins so they dry well - which is great but a little to much for my four year old. I suggest you use two white paper plates (the cheap kind), a stapler, a q-tip, glue and barley (if you don't have barley on hand [what's wrong with you??!!] use tan construction paper and tear it into little pieces and ball them up).

First, tear the tan (or brown) construction paper into little pieces and make them into little balls (this does not have to be perfect - just give them the 3D look). This was a highlight for Little Man - he was a paper tearing champion. We had a lot of fun with jet this step (in fact the rest was really for me). You can skip that first step if you were able to put your hands on some barley (go you!). Next, take the back of one of your paper plates and using the q-tip draw a star that reach almost the the end of the plate in glue (these look best if they are thin stars). Put the balled construction paper (or barley) onto the glue - let dry. Once it is dry staple the other paper plate to the back of the first, back side out to give the 3D feel (you can skip this step). If you are really a perfectionist cover staples with white out or white paint. Tah Dah! Sand dollar.

Create a sun catcher. You will need heavy paper or card stock, a push pin, yarn or thread (something to hang it - tape work too), something to put underneath the sun when using the push pin, and crayons or paint if you want to decorate after you are done. Cut out a sun shape (template for those of us who are not born artists), if you did not use printed paper - decorate it with crayons, stickers, paint, etc, let your child create a decoration with the push pin by placing it on cardboard and pushing it through the paper. I was nervous about this but Little Man loved getting to use the "big boy" tool. Attach thread and hang by a window (I taped it to our sliding glass door). Enjoy!

Make a paper boat that really floats - perfect for the beach! Use the link for step by step directions with pictures. This is a little complicated for preschool hands but Little Man was good at following me step-by-step. The look on his face when a boat he made launched was priceless. I would suggest if you are going to bring the boat to the beach that you waterproof the bottom of the boat with clear plastic tape.

Finally, in case you are stuck in the house like I am here is a free online game the encourages kids to help pick up the beach. It is a great opportunity to talk to your child about keeping our world clean and doing our part to make sure the places we love are kept for the next kids that want to enjoy them.

Week One - Summer - Movies, Shows and Games

We have reached the end of week one - time for a treat for kids and grown-ups alike. Here is a list of movies and shows that review the ideas of summer and seasons and that kids can enjoy. As a note - not all TV/movies are appropriate for all children. You decide what you want to show your child. My little man is very sensitive to scary images so I will provide a note if he has had a negative reaction to anything to help with your decision, but I would do a quick internet review if you are concerned.

Movies:

 Up by Disney/Pixar - the ultimate summer vacation movie. Lots of adventure and fun. There are some mean dogs that some children (mine included) can find scary. I love this movie, the love story, the cutest little boy ever...to me this is a win when it is picked over say, any of the millions of Land Before Times.

Lilo & Stitch by Disney - a sweet movie about the importance of family. It takes place in Hawaii so the whole movie is in the sun and on the beach. There is a cute alien and some larger loud aliens, but this does not bother my little man. One of the themes of this movie is the loss of parents, so if you child is especially sensitive to emotional drama you may want to talk about it before viewing.

Madagascar by Dreamworks - Follow some humorous animals as they get stranded in the wild. This is a funny movie that has a lot of things that preschoolers find funny. There are some lion type predators and one of the main characters has trouble overcoming his natural predator tendencies. A few scary scenes. My little man needs to have someone with him to view this movie for the scary parts, but I would suggest watching these with your child either way - they are all parents friendly :)

Shows:

Peep and the Big Wide World (found for me on Sprout) - this is a great show that explores pre science and math. Enjoy the simply drawn show that explains things about the world in such a masterful way that you don't even realize you are getting information about science and math. This show takes place outside in the sun. There is a new adventure every day. Bonus - it is narrated by Joan Cusack. Extra bonus - the website is awesome, they have a list of children's books that reinforce every episode, science ideas for families, and coloring pages. Specific summer themed shows: Go West Young Peep, House of Sand and Frog, Peep Prints (just like bubble prints)

Word World (found on PBS) - Pre-reading mania! All of the characters in this world are made of the letters that spell their name. This is all about understanding that letters and words make the things around us. The stories are super cute (although some of the voices are a bit grating) and they have some catchy songs (I dare you to stop singing the OO song after you hear it). Specific summer episodes: Dog Wants to Play Ball, Dog's Camping Adventure, Castles in the Sea, Play Ball

Some other things to do over the weekend:

Sight word flash cards (choose the pre-primer version). This is a simple flash card that includes the words and a colorful border. A nice quick reminder. I like to use these to create a word wall. Once your child knows the word use some tacky putty (the blue stuff that you can reuse, what is the name of that??) and stick it to the wall. My little man gets a huge kick out of adding words to his wall and it is a nice way to acknowledge the accomplishment of reading.

Free online sight word memory game from Dolchword.net

More games to encourage reading on Starfall.com

Next week we start on the night sky and space. I really enjoyed this week - and survived it, so two gold stars for me. Gold stars for you as well. See you on Monday, and remember feel free to leave a comment if you have any other suggestions. Enjoy the weekend!