tot school - 18 months & a special giveaway!

Another great week of tot school down! We're having a great time learning the individual colors so far (click the tot school tab on the right to see all of the past weeks, too!). This week was green week. Well, actually, the last two weeks have been green week. What with the holidays, it took us two weeks to spend the amount of time in tot school we usually do in one week. I'm a little sad about our lack of art projects this week but I blame it on the Christmas chaos. Still, it was definitely a great week!

THIS WEEK IN TOT SCHOOL:

From Top:
1. Green Sensory Bin - This was probably the easiest to throw together because so many neat things are green! I included a tiny little green gift bag I had found at Wal-Mart a few months ago and Ethan had a blast putting the items from the bin into the bag, especially the ornaments.
2. Green Pom-Pom Sorting - I put some green pom-poms into a green stacking cup and had Ethan sort them onto a bath tub floor gripper turned upside down. The pom-poms fit perfectly in the little suctions. Ethan had a rough time getting them in the suctions and not next to the suctions at first, but he mastered this one quickly.
3. Sweeping Leaves - Ethan loves sweeping, so I thought this would be a fun activity. I got this little grout brush for $1 at Wal-Mart and printed and laminated some green leaves. The objective was to sweep the leaves into the green square. When I called the little grout brush a brush, Ethan got confused and tried to brush his hair with it. ;) I've resorted to calling it a "sweeper" and he's trying to get the hang of it, but he had some difficulty figuring out how to hold the brush.
4. Frog Straw Sorting - I had some green and white striped straws and attached pictures of green frogs to the top. Ethan got to sort these into an old Parmesan cheese shaker bottle.
5. Flipping Shapes - Using a green spatula, Ethan got to flip these shapes over -- the other side had a big smiley face. He had trouble using the spatula and got super frustrated trying to do this activity so I thought I'd try again in another month or so. He did like to flip the shapes using his hands, however.
6. Green Magnet Board - My big mistake was not laminating the green shapes this week. I laminate these each week with the different colors. Bad move. Most of the paper print-outs didn't make it to the middle of the week let alone the end, but Ethan still very much enjoyed putting his magnetic pieces up on the old cookie sheet board.

THE TICKLE ME PLANT - 5 WILL WIN ONE, TOO!

The TICKLE ME PLANT was a fun edition to our weekly tot school activities! I've been so excited for it to grow so we could try it out. The wonderful people over at Tickle Me Plant sent Ethan and I seeds a few weeks ago and I most definitely planned green week for the moment the Tickle Me Plant would be ready to be tickled!

Alright, this little plant was the coolest. It only took a few days to sprout (confirmation that even I could grow something!) and took about three weeks to reach the point where there were many leaves for Ethan to tickle. We planted ours over Thanksgiving and it seemed each day there was a new development, new leaves to tickle. The planting and growing and watering process has become an everyday part of our daily routines (I even made sure to find a green watering can just for this occasion!) and Ethan was so excited when it was finally time to try it out. I even let him have the first tickle despite the fact I could barely contain my own excitement! When tickled, the leaves move and close up -- you guys, they're ticklish! Ethan couldn't get enough of tickling our Tickle Me Plant this week. He's already learned that the leaves will "recharge" quicker when the plant is placed back up on the windowsill for more sunlight, though he's totally impatient when he wants to get right back to tickling our plant.

For older kids, there is a lot to observe about the Tickle Me Plant, too, like how it seemingly "sleeps" at nighttime and seems to open up with the sun in the mornings. I feel like it's the most ticklish when the sun is the brightest through the windows. So totally cool, right?!

The wonderful people at Tickle Me Plant have offered five -- five! -- of my readers the chance to win Tickle Me Plants of their own. See the bottom of this post to win! If you're interested in buying a Tickle Me Plant of your own, you can do so here -- there are all sorts of great kits available for purchase, including discounts for bulk orders and fundraising possibilities!

ARTS & CRAFTS

In addition to our usual coloring (this week Ethan experienced his first time using glitter glue!), Ethan and I made some musical shakers using different containers and split peas. It was cool to make each shaker and then discover how each container made different sounds.

READING LOG

This week Ethan went a little nuts at the library and checked out a whole lot of books. I had a workout carrying him and two big tote bags of books to the car!

1. The Sea Of Sleep by Warren Hansen
2. What Animals Really Like by Fiona Robinson
3. Park Beat by Jonathan London
4. The Gypsy Princess by Phoebe Gilman
5. Birdsongs by Betsy Franco
6. Millions of Cats by Wanda Ga'g
7. Box Turtle At Long Pond by William T. George
8. The Nine Lives of Rotten Ralph by Jack Gantos
9. Freedom School, Yes! by Amy Littlesugar
10. Scribbles and Ink by Ethan Long
11. Matzohball Soup by Joan Rothenberg
12. Curious George Makes Pancakes by HA Rey
13. Curious George and the Animals by HA Rey
14. Arabella Miller's Tiny Caterpillar by Clare Jarret
15. Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
16. Roses For Gita by Rachna Gilmore
17. Brown Rabbit In The City by Natalie Russell
18. Mossy by Jan Brett

ENTER TO WIN A TICKLE ME PLANT!

Green week especially rules because Ethan and I are able to offer five readers the chance to win a Tickle Me Plant of their own! The wonderful people over at Tickle Me Plant truly love what they do and spreading the joy to others and I'm so excited to be able to offer this giveaway! Five winners will be able to win a seed packet to plant your own Tickle Me Plant!

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