Rosh Hashanah Invitation Stations

Ah, Rosh Hashanah is so close I can almost taste the apples dipped in sweet, sticky honey! It's the perfect time to...play?! Yes, play! There's a lot to be done, and whether you're the cook ahead and freeze it till Wednesday night type or the start it all Wednesday morning type, you're going to need your kids to be busy. Really busy. This post has just about everything you'll need for that. Some of the activities and games are ones that your children can do independently. Some, they may want help from an older sibling with. Most can be adapted to a variety of age groups. And maybe, just maybe, you'll need a little break and get to play along. The added bonus is that while they are playing, the children will be developing fine motor skills, pre-writing/writing skills, using their imagination and creativity to make some great artwork, learning math concepts, engaging in sensory play, engineering and, of course, learning about the upcoming holiday.

You can choose one, a few, or all of the activities to try. Some will require an element of prep-work. Use what you have on hand and don't drive yourself crazy trying to set up games and activities while preparing for a three day yom tov. Feel free to adapt activities to work for you and your kids. And have fun!

To start, you'll want to visit A Jewish Homeschool Blog to gather your free Rosh Hashanah printables. I've adapted several of them as you will see below to use in our Rosh Hashanah Invitation Stations. You will see that I've laminated many of the items or used dry-erase sleeves for more-than-one-time use, but you do not need to do that. You can easily just print the activity packs or selections of materials you like and use them as is. You can also engage your children who are independent with scissors in preparing activities and games--that's an activity in and of itself! You may also want to print out this free Counting Apples Book from Fun a Day.

Some additional materials you may want to use if you have on hand include:

• markers, crayons, colored pencils, pencils
• glue, scissors
• apple stickers, bee stickers
• solid white gift bags or brown paper bags
• blank note cards & envelopes
• clip art or cut outs of apples (even made from recycled doodles and paintings)
• playdough (check out this recipe for cinnamon scented playdough!) or store bought
• artificial leaves, apples, stems, dried black beans (for parts of an apple)
• dried oats, shredded paper, scoops, tongs, recycled containers for sensory bins
• toy bees, toy apples
• wooden craft sticks, clothes pins

Invitation to Play with Playdough:

This is a favorite of ours, worth repeating! This invitation to create an apple with play dough is so much fun. Here I used cinnamon playdough, artificial leaves, dried beans, cinnamon sticks and some toy apples for reference (along with a library book that shows the life cycle of an apple tree). 

Invitation to Play: Sensory Bins

We've had two favorite sensory bins this season:

Parts of an Apple Sensory Bin: we used dried oats, cinnamon sticks, artificial leaves, toy apples, scoops and containers

Busy as a Bee Sensory Bin: we used shredded paper in yellow and black (from the party supply section of Dollar Tree), artificial flowers, a magnifying glass, tons and containers for filling, some toy bees (you might need that magnifying glass to actually spot them!) and I also set out some bee themed artwork/graphics and a set of bumble bee wings (also from Dollar Tree) to inspire play!

Invitation to Create: Rosh Hashanah Cards and Gift Bags

This is a great one if you have greetings to send out or packages to deliver to friends, family and teachers this time of year:

I set out a variety of art materials, stickers, some sentence strips to inspire even pre-writers (who still are gathering the concept that letters make words and words can make messages!)...this is an activity that is sure to keep little hands busy!

Invitation to Play Games:

Here are a variety of Rosh Hashanah games prepared from the free printables linked above. Younger ones may need an older child or adult play partner.

Rosh Hashanah Parts of a Whole

Rosh Hashanah Hebrew Word Match-it

Clothes Pin Counting Cards

They come in Hebrew Letter Cards, too! If you don't have clothes pins at home, you can use a paper clip, a penny, a mini eraser or small loose part or even use these un-laminated and have the children use bingo dabbers or circle the correct answer for one-time use.

Counting apples game: Little ones won't even notice they're doing math as they use tongs to pick the correct number of apples from the basket to correspond to the number on these apple cards (printable also from the link above)

Speaking of Counting...Invitation to Create a Counting Book:

This one is great to create a fun keepsake your early reader will love to read again and again after decorating!

We used red circle stickers for our "apples" but you can use red ink and fingerprints, stickers, bingo dabbers or even provide loose parts (like pom poms) to use with the book (printable linked above)

Invitation to Decorate a Tzedakah Box

Here's another printable from the activity pack linked above. I subbed in yellow circle stickers for the yellow circles that came with the coloring sheet. Your little artist can have fun decorating the tzedakah box and adding in the sticker "coins" as we recall that this is an auspicious time of year to be extra charitable.

 Invitation to Play: DIY Toy Tzedakah Box
This is one of the first toys I made when S was about Y's age! For smaller babies you can use baby food jar lids as your coins. I like using plastic coins from the Dollar Tree in ours. All you need to make it is a recycled plastic container with a lid (I like the ones from Hershey's brand cocoa powder) and an exacto knife to cut the slot at the top. With the Hershey's container, the "Hershey's" insignia is just the right size for your opening! Very little ones will love putting the coins inside, shaking it and as they get older, emptying it out and doing it again! S actually still loves to play with this.

Do keep an eye on little ones with small pieces that could present a choking hazard and make sure your "tzedakah" is not too small for tiny mouths!

To add an element of challenge for older toddlers, use two different colored containers and corresponding colors of bottle caps or poker chips for a tzedakah sorting game. (For example, cut a slot in the top of a couple of those take and toss plastic storage containers in red and blue and save your milk caps or applesauce pouch caps for the coins!)

And for more baby/young toddler friendly Rosh Hashanah play activities, check out this post!

For more fine motor fun, here's a lovely holiday themed lacing activity also available from the link above:

Alternatively, you can cut individual Rosh Hashanah themed shapes from cardboard or cardstock and hole punch the perimeter for a set of holiday lacing shapes.

 Music and Movement:
I love using props with songs and action rhymes. With this playful counting rhyme, your little one will also be learning mathematical concepts like counting, division, and, with the addition of props, one-to-one correspondence!

Ten Red Apples

Ten red apples grew up in a tree
Five for you and five for me!
Let us shake the tree just so
And then red apples will fall below!
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10!

This was another creation from S's baby days. We upcycled (and laminated) some of his paintings into apples for counting along with this playful rhyme. It's also a great activity to go along with the book Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss.

Invitation to Build: Rosh Hashanah Themed STEM activities

Invite your little engineer to build apple trees using recycled cardboard tubes, green craft sticks (you can paint/color plain ones green or purchase colored craft sticks) and apple colored pom poms. How many craft sticks and pom poms can you balance on top before it topples? Add an element of sorting by designating one tree for each apple color if you wish!

Help this busy bee build his hive using craft sticks to trace the hexagon.

I hope this inspires some fun and play in your household as holiday preparations take off. May we all be blessed with a sweet, healthy, happy and playful new year!

From our family to you and yours, shanah tova u'mesukah!

Playing About Rosh Hashanah: The Baby Edition

Just because infants are too young to taste the honey this time of year doesn't mean they're too young to get in on the fun and sweetness of the Rosh Hashanah holiday! Here's a peek at some of the ways Y is exploring the symbols and songs of the season (and a throwback to S's baby days as well)!

Playing in the baby stage is definitely more interactive than in the toddler/preschooler stage. Play sessions are short and sweet, especially as Y gets used to his new glasses. As he is able to experience and do so much more, he gets tuckered out quickly! Our play sessions usually involve some lap-sit songs/rhymes (check out a few of our favorites at the bottom), some tummy time or seated play and some sort of toy/prop to explore (and mouth!). S also enjoys playing with Y and showing him the ropes of big boy play!

The boys' Safta and Saba sent us these great Rosh Hashanah play sets by KidCraft and Rite Lite. They are available from Amazon or in many Judaica shops. The plush set is perfect for the baby stage and the sturdier, wooden set is great for older ones. Here's a candid peek (or preview) of both boys simultaneously spilling their grape juice! With Y individually, I like to let him practice picking toys out of a basket and singing songs or rhymes using them as props. There's certainly no need to purchase a toy for the holiday as you can DIY it pretty easily (and inexpensively) as well!

This honey sensory bag is a squishy and fun way to explore honey without any of the sticky mess or risk of botulism. Because it is in a plastic bag, adult supervision is a must! Simply add some honey to a ziplock bag and seal with a layer of duct tape or masking tape to prevent leaks. 

 Y loved exploring it on his tummy and squishing it with his hands. I often place a mirror in front of him during tummy time play sessions so he can see what he's playing with from another perspective. It also helps to get right down there with your baby at this stage and interact. From an assisted seated position (or independent sitting position if your baby is already sitting on his own), Y can squish that honey with his feet as well.

So much is learned through colors and textures at this stage. This felt board Rosh Hashanah sensory wall is made from a selection of felt apple shapes and felt/burlap shofar shapes for Y to touch and experience. The burlap shofar is glued to a piece of recycled corrugated cardboard with velcro on the back. If your baby is already pulling up/propping up on surfaces, you can place these on a flat surface to lure her over to grab and explore them.

 S loved these photo blocks as a baby (and still does). I've found a variety of wooden blocks at secondhand stores and by printing photos and pictures of holiday symbols and ritual items, we were able to inspire some holiday themed block building and dramatic play. Even tiny hands can enjoy these!

A lot of S's "toys" as a baby were collected secondhand store finds and household items mixed with his small "actual" toy collection. With the baby stage I love to present themed items in a discovery basket. This basket a much younger version of S was exploring contained items in the theme of Rosh Hashanah--some items from his plush Shabbat set, a toy challah, toy apples (and even a real apple or two), a "sensory bottle" (jar) of honey and even a honey wand. He loved it! 


Discovery baskets can be presented for seated play or items can be hung from an activity mat for babies to kick and swat while on their backs. We had fun decorating and laminating this printable Rosh Hashanah Mobile from A Jewish Homeschool Blog.

 S gets a real kick out of "helping" Y to color and paint at this stage. Y sometimes needs some extra help not eating or scrunching our artwork, but S is very patient and enjoys the leadership role. Y loves being involved and especially enjoys playing right along with S.

It's a busy time of year, so sometimes those few hours that S is in school and I am home with Y are filled with a mad rush to get cooking and household tasks done in preparation for the holidays. Sometimes Y's play sessions involve a bumbo seat or activity mat in the kitchen on which to explore some pots and pans while I cook and bake. By filling his world with opportunities to play and explore, I am confident he is learning so much even at this very young age. Conversation is also hugely important. Talking about what I'm doing, singing songs and engaging in fingerplays are great ways to build vocabulary at this pre-verbal stage. Here are a few of his (and my) favorites for the season:

Dip the Apple in the Honey
(t.t.t.o. Oh My Darlin' Clementine)

Dip the apple in the honey
Make a bracha loud and clear
L'shana tova u'metukah
Have a happy and sweet new year!

The Shofar in the Shul
(t.t.t.o. The Wheels on the Bus)

The shofar in the shul goes toot, toot, toot
Toot, toot, toot
Toot, toot, toot!
The shofar in the shul goes toot, toot, toot
On Rosh Hashanah morning!

Here is a Beehive
Here is a beehive
(close fists together)
But where are the bees?
Hidden away where nobody sees.
Here they come, creeping out of the hive
One, two, three, four, five!
(Pop all five fingers out, one at a time)
Bzzzzzzzz!
(Tickle your baby or wiggle your fingers)

Happy and Sweet Rosh Hashanah Playing!

Beyond the Book(s): Mo Willem's Pigeon Books

I am a huge fan of author and illustrator, Mo Willems. His characters capture early childhood in a cute, amusing and playful light. They are also easy to relate to for children (and adults alike)! I could not wait to introduce his books to my own children, and Knuffle Bunny was one of the very first we owned when S was just an infant. Fast forward 3 years, and we are frequent flyers in the W section of the children's fiction department at our library. (Sorry if you were there this week and looking for any books by Mo Willems...) When S asked last week to do our story stretcher this week with a Pigeon book, I thought, why stop at just one? Let's do an author study, grab a bunch of Pigeon books, maybe a bus, a hot dog, or even a cookie, and GO!
Rather than starting with a target book, I set out a variety of Pigeon books around the room with corresponding activities. If the Pigeon drives a bus today, he will have many fun and playful stops to make along the way!
Here are a few of our favorite Pigeon books by Mo Willems:

• Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
• Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late
• The Duckling Gets a Cookie?!
• The Pigeon Needs a Bath
• The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog
• The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!

and in board book form for Pigeon fans in training:

• The Pigeon Loves Things That Go
• The Pigeon Has Feelings, Too

We loved Mo Willems' website, www.pigeonpresents.com, where Pigeon fans of all ages can enjoy games and activities featuring their favorite characters. This is a great way to introduce computer use to young learners!

For my pre-writer turned preschooler, we are working on letter and name recognition. S saw these giant googly eyes in the craft store a while ago and wanted them. I admittedly really liked them but couldn't think of how we would use them. As soon as I came up with our plan for this week, I knew I wanted to make some Pigeon hats and drove right back to the craft store to grab a set!

So I may be crafty, but I'm not the best engineer! I used blue poster board and white and yellow cardstock, a giant (and heavy) googly eye plus some staples, glue, tape, and black marker for details. Even with the addition of a wooden craft stick for support to the back of the Pigeon head, these were a bit too top heavy. No problem--we used them for a photo op, printed off the photos and created this next activity: 

* If you want a Pigeon hat that doesn't flop down, leave the giant googly eyes for another day and stick to card stock or paper for your eyeball!

Don't Let _____ Drive the Bus Collage

For this playful little picture, I printed off an image of a schoolbus and the text, "Don't Let ______ Drive the Bus!" S is already able to verbally spell his name and recognize his name in text. In advance, I wrote his name at the top of one page and Y's name at the top of the other. I printed off photos of each brother in his Pigeon hat and S went to work figuring out whose bus was whose! He glued on the photos to each bus and decorated the scenery with crayons.

We didn't let those giant googly eyed Pigeon heads go to waste either--I just added a body and some pipe cleaner legs for this next game--a great one to accompany Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late and help little ones practice visual recognition of morning and nighttime routines. 

Good Morning, Pigeon & Good Night, Pigeon Sorting Game

In addition to my makeshift Pigeons, I added a sentence strip with the text "Good Morning" and one with the text "Good Night." I also printed and cut out a variety of morning routine and bedtime routine clip art. I liked many of the ones available on the free printable Good Morning and Good Night Checklists at A Jewish Homeschool Blog, and to fill in any relevant gaps, I did an image search online. I also printed off pictures of a sun and a moon to help my pre-reader identify which Pigeon was featuring which routine. You can play the game in a variety of ways with your little ones. We set out all of the pictures and I talked S through the tasks and activities we do each morning and each night so he could find the pictures. He placed a bit of glue on the back of each picture to glue it on to the correct Pigeon. You could also have a more advanced child carry this out more independently or for more independence at an earlier stage, you can eliminate the sorting aspect and instead just set out pictures and the Pigeon for one part of the day at a time. The best part of the game is that you automatically win two giant Pigeon posters for your child's bedroom to help him navigate his morning and bedtime routines. Just remember, don't let your pigeons stay up late...or be late for school!

Readers and Writers Unite!

Pigeon books bring up all kinds of familiar feelings about following rules. The world of a child is full of things we adults won't let him do. Incidentally, much against my own childhood imaginings, adulthood is not much different! Even I can't drive a bus. Nonetheless, your little reader may already be thinking about things he feels the same way about as the Pigeon. He may even want to write or illustrate about it like Mo Willems!

For writers who are still in the doodling and scribbling stage, check out this "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the ___" free printable available at Teachers Pay Teachers

For more advanced writers or illustrators with a longer attention span, check out this free printable "Don't Let the Pigeon..." book! It's guaranteed to earn an honored space on your bookshelf next to all of Mo Willems' books!

The Pigeon Gets a Bath

Whether he likes it or not, the Pigeon is going to get a bath with this activity! I printed off an image of our beloved Pigeon, laminated it and made him nice and dirty with some dry erase marker doodles. S got to scrub him clean with a little wash cloth and had lots of fun getting him dirty again! Don't forget your rubber duckling...

And Happy Playing!

Dramatic play is a big part of our story stretchers. We got out our toy buses, cookies, hot dogs, and some makeshift Pigeon and Duckling stick puppets I crafted from printed and laminated images of the characters. I also set out a discovery basket aimed for Y with props from the board book The Pigeon Loves Things That Go! Now that S and Y were in charge, anyone could drive the bus, eat a cookie or have a hot dog!

Want to Do More?

• Have a hot dog taste test!
• Bake and share your favorite cookies!
• Take a field trip on your local city bus
• Talk about and write down the rules in your own house on a poster board. Involve your early writers and illustrators. When you're done, hang up the poster for all to see!
• Read the book The Pigeon Has Feelings, Too! and play "The Make a Face" game: invite all the players to "make a happy face," or "make an angry face," and so on. Make sure to end your game with "make a silly face." That is always our favorite! This is a great way to introduce language and facial expression recognition to young children.
• Make a wish list. It can be as wacky as you want. The Pigeon wants a lot of things and we all know some kids who feel the same way. Sometimes naming it, writing and drawing it are enough to quell the deepest toddler desire for a puppy, a hot dog, a bus or whatever else the moment calls for...just don't show it to his grandma!

Well, that's a wrap--we'll be back with some more story stretchers after the craziness of the high holiday season. We will be sure to share some of our favorite holiday themed play activities in the weeks to come and until then...

Happy Playing!

A Peek Inside Our Playrooom: September is Here!

September is here, which means S has begun preschool and we're getting ready for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year! Starting preschool is a big deal for S. He was nervous and excited for the big day. Admittedly, so was I! We both handled drop off on that first morning like champs and when he arrived home at the end of the school day, he came running up the stairs, shouting "Mommy! I did it! I went to school!" He is so proud of himself and we're pretty darn proud parents, as well. Y is liking his mornings with just Mommy and loving when S comes home even more! Never have you seen a baby as happy and content as Y is when S is nearby...

...once naps (or attempted naps) are out of the way, afternoons here are more about play and child-led exploration than directed activities. At home, even in our year of home preschooling S, I favored play based learning and a multi-sensory approach to building the skills necessary at this age and stage. S's school is a wonderful blend of Montessori-inspiration, Jewish and secular curriculum and a calm and homey environment. At home, I like to have our playroom set up to inspire play and conversation about activities he enjoys in school. I keep our STEAM Cart  stocked with more structured play and learning activities he can do independently or together with me as he is interested. Our main play areas are set up for more open ended play and exploring, and also geared to include Y (who's having his own version of Mommy & Me Nursery School at home while S is in preschool).

Honey sensory bag--all the fun without any of the sticky mess! Plus these great free printable honey bee lifecycle cards inspire playful learning about bees and the sweet honey they provide for us!

Y is too little to taste the honey this year, but he sure loved squishing it through the bag with his hands (and later his feet) while sneaking in some tummy time!

Since we are nearing Rosh Hashanah, S is learning about the upcoming holidays in school as well as preparing for them with us at home. Including props and toys with a holiday theme allows that gap between school and home to be playfully bridged. I love to see what play is inspired with these decorative apples and pomegranate, and these Rosh Hashanah themed photo blocks I created last year by hot gluing laminated holiday symbols onto wooden blocks. Last week, S took the pomegranate to his toy kitchen and pretended to cut it up and make a pomegranate smoothie! He's enjoyed using the blocks in building scenes with other wooden blocks as well as in dramatic play to "set a table for Rosh Hashanah."



Sensory play is a favorite activity here. I pulled out this parts of an apple dry oat sensory bin from last year and it's getting a whole new life of play and hands-on exploration this year. There are those who prefer not to use food for sensory play, and you can substitute in shredded paper as a base in your favorite shades of apple. However, if stored in a sealed and dry location, these oats definitely last--mine are from a year ago and still fresh. On the other hand, if your little ones play quite a bit with them or they end up getting unplanned additives, you may want to toss the base and replenish it the next time around. In addition to dry oats, we added the following to our Parts of an Apple Sensory Bin:

• decorative/toy apples
• artificial leaves
• cinnamon sticks
• dishes, recycled containers and scoops

Check out some of our previous apple themed posts for more play and sensory activities related to apples!

S remembers visiting a local produce shop last year to pick out different varieties of apples and is excited to make another visit this year in the coming week. We may even sneak in a mad science afternoon experiment if he's interested!



Our art and writing center is also set up with Rosh Hashanah in mind:

In addition to the usual standard art and writing supplies I keep out and some that I rotate and swap, I have some Elul and Tishrei-themed activity sheets from A Jewish Homeschool Blog that I printed off and laminated for use with dry erase markers, some coloring sheets, some apple-colored paints, brushes and a smock at the ready, and our writing bin is stocked...

I included blank cards, outlines of apples, apple shaped sticky notes, stickers and Rosh Hashanah word and photo cards/sentence strips to inspire some holiday card making and letter writing. S will have ample opportunities at school to make more directed art projects. At home, I like for him to have access to materials and more opportunities for process art and self-led pre-writing activities.

 S is very proud of going to school now. We proudly display every doodle and dot that comes home. I love when he tells me what he drew about and he often asks me to write it down for him. I use sticky notes to take his dictation so as not to compromise his original work and then I try really hard to enjoy the display but not save every single doodle forever. We are keeping a binder of special artwork.
Our reading area and felt board are also stocked with books about going to school, books about Rosh Hashanah, books related to our upcoming story stretcher and even a few about getting glasses. At our felt wall, I've set a basket of laminated pictures related to topics S is learning in his classroom this month, like English and Hebrew letters, numbers, colors, shapes, etc. I don't do structured lessons with them, but rather leave them for him to play with and use as he wishes. He loves the felt wall basket right now! And I love that not only does our playroom inspire creative play and learning, but it also encourages S to share with us what he is doing in school.
One of the most common concerns parents of students I taught expressed was that their children did not share with them what they did in school. With the exception of a few, most children when asked by their parents what they did in school responded with "I don't know" or "nothing." After this topic first came up in a parent orientation during my first year teaching here, I decided to create and initiate a curriculum on having conversations. After all, how many adults do you know that also respond to the question "what did you do at work today?" with a "nothing" or "I don't know!" Conversation is an art and it needs to be taught and practiced! I created spaces in my classrooms known as The Conversation Corner. I taught the word "conversation," because little kids love big words. And I taught that conversations have two players: the one who is talking and the one who is listening. Both players play both parts, just not at the same time! I introduced songs to encourage sharing a favorite thing about the day and we worked from sharing one thing we did to sharing one thing and with whom we did it all the way to creating newspaper reports and detailed accounts of a day in the life of a preschooler. I'm pleased to say that my own test subject at the time, S, has done quite well with reporting back to me what he does at school, but like many kids (and adults), he doesn't want to talk about his morning there all afternoon! I know some of what he does because he tells me, some of what he does because it comes home with him and some of what he does I know about because I see it in his play! Those are always my favorite glimpses!

Happy Playing!

Beyond the Book: "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" by Laura Numeroff

Who doesn't love cookies? And who doesn't love Laura Numeroff's classic original book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie?! We are big fans of both in my house and such was the inspiration for this week's story stretcher. For our even younger early reader, I recently bought a copy of this companion board book by the same author, The Best Mouse Cookie. It makes a wonderful supplement to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and features the same mouse we all know and love as he bakes a batch of his very favorite cookies! Younger readers who are not quite yet ready for the longer classic may very well love this shorter story, while older early readers may enjoy the opportunity to see the familiar character and compare the two stories side by side!

There are a plethora of great activities and printables available over the internet for this book. It truly is a well appreciated childhood classic. It naturally encourages dramatic play, involving kids in the kitchen for some theme related snacks, and can inspire some fabulous crafts, games and learning activities. I love this free printable If You Give a Mouse a Cookie pack from www.123homeschool4me.com. We used and adapted some of the items for our story stretcher and saved/stashed the rest!

I love to introduce our target story with some themed dramatic play (photo above). I set out one of our favorite kitchen set toys, a cookie baking set made by Melissa & Doug, along with some homemade chefs hats for my chefs-in-training and an apron we bought for S to color and use earlier this summer from our local craft supply store. S also loves lacing activities (great for building those fine motor skills!) and got a real kick out of the lacing cookie I printed, laminated and prepared from the printable pack. You can get chefs hats quite often from restaurant supply stores, but making your own is quite simple.
You will need:

• card stock or poster board for the band (I actually use sentence strips taped/stapled together to size)
• tissue paper (white is most common, but as you can see, I like a splash of color!)
• duct tape (optional) 
• stapler (an adult's assistance is necessary)/tape

Using your poster board or sentence strips, measure a band to fit your junior chef's head and staple or tape to secure. Using one sheet of tissue paper, gather and staple around the perimeter of your band. I added duct tape over the band to reinforce the bottom and cover up the unsightly staples. Alternatively you could forego the stapler and tape your tissue paper to the inside. Your little ones will love this accessory, but be ware--if you give your budding baker a chef's hat, he will probably want to join you in the kitchen for some baking...

And that is exactly what we did! Grab your favorite recipe or baking mix for this next part because nothing goes with this book like a nice chocolate chip cookie and maybe even a glass of milk to go with it...

And if you're not quite up for baking cookies to eat, check out this cinnamon playdough recipe and our invitation to create name "cookies" using letter cookie cutters and baking accessories! Your kitchen will smell like you spent all day baking without any of the potential for gaining a dress size...

Speaking of snacks, I like to sneak some fun and learning into our story stretcher snacks as well. You know those healthy cereals you're proud to feed your kids? This isn't one of them. In fact, I think I had Cookie Crisp cereal for the first time ever when I was in college. Those tiny little vitamin fortified cookies may not be the best making for a complete breakfast, but they are perfect for an edible game! Using a printable from the previously mentioned printable pack, I slipped a picture of an empty plate with our favorite story mouse standing next to it inside a dry erase sleeve. You can laminate the page if you prefer, or leave it as is for a one-time use. You could also forego the printable altogether and just use an actual plate! Grab a dish of Cookie Crisp cereal and a die for rolling. S and I took turns rolling the die, counting the dots and counting out the corresponding number of cookies to put on the plate. We may or may not have lost count of how many ended up in our mouths...

 I love to sneak in letter review when we're doing story stretchers. S is also beginning preschool and will be learning about the letter Cc and shape of a circle this month. Cookie Monster said it best: C is for cookie! And we found a lot of circles in this story as well. This do-a-dot sheet is also available in the printable pack I linked above. You can use a bingo dabber like we did or have your early writer color in the C and use Cookie Crisp or circle stickers instead to fill in the circles!

 Reading comprehension is a huge part of early literacy development. Being able to understand and talk about what has happened in a story is a huge factor in both reading readiness as well as enjoyment of reading. Sequencing parts of a story is one way to work on reading comprehension and this story is perfectly designed for sequencing! Using another page in the printable pack and some number cards, I set up a story sequencing activity to do with S. We took a picture walk of the book together as we went over what happened first, second, third, and so on... Building sequencing skills not only helps your child to develop as a reader, but also helps in general communication and conversational skills. You know that age old question of "what did you do today?" that is so often met with a response of "I don't know" or "nothing"? Practicing sequencing activities can help build conversational skills to answer that question! It's a great thing to model for our young ones and a great thing to work on with them. Additionally, learning to recognize sequences through pictures and, later, written words, can help them to follow a schedule and recognize a routine. Who knew so much could be gained from a simple game about a mouse and a cookie...

And speaking of cookies...this tower of cookies looks good enough to eat! Size sequencing (from biggest to smallest or vice versa) is an equally important mathematical skill. I used another page from the printable pack, laminated, cut and added velcro dots (scratchy size) for use with our felt wall. Activities like this are great for traveling or using in a busy box or quiet time bag. They fit perfectly inside a pencil pouch or sheet protector inside a binder. You might even want to take it along for a story stretcher on the go! But if you give your early reader a game about cookies, he might get hungry and want to eat a cookie himself. And when he eats a cookie, he will remember reading If You Give a Mouse a Cookie with you--and when he remembers that, chances are, he'll want to read it again!

Lucky for you, this a book worth reading and rereading. And if you happen to get tired of it, Laura Numeroff has written many, many more! Given the season, we have especially enjoyed reading "If You Take a Mouse to School." And S is especially enjoying the homemade cookies in his lunchbox this week! We'll be back soon with another story stretcher...until then, happy playing!

Make it at Home Monday: Cinnamon Playdough

Ah, Labor Day... It marks the unofficial end of summer. It signals the onset of school season--and S will visit his new preschool classroom and meet his new teachers tomorrow! It gives permission for all things pumpkin spice scented...even playdough! Since S will be starting school this week, I wanted our "last day of summer" to be extra special. He chose a trip to the science museum this morning (I think I might cry in the car after I drop him off!). He also chose a self-directed science experiment at home this morning and dropped a purple plastic bowling pin in the toilet (I think I might inquire about extra early drop off and maybe slow down when I send him out the door...).

Parents have all kinds of mixed feelings when it comes to sending off their babies to school for the very first time. I am, indeed, looking forward to going to the bathroom with the door closed. And then drinking a tall cup of coffee before going back to the bathroom with the door opened because Y can't walk in yet. Or drop something in the toilet. S has his own mixed feelings about this special occasion. He is very excited and also very nervous. Some of us contend with our mixed feelings by baking delicious cookies to slip into our children's lunchboxes. Some of us are on strictly gluten free diets and are going the baking mix route instead. And for those of us who fit into the latter category but also love to play at home in the kitchen, there's playdough!

We love playdough here. We use it in a lot of play and learning activities, and when we can, we make our own. I enjoy trying out new recipes for playdough, but more often than not, I return to this treid and true classic stove-top recipe. And as often as I make playdough here, you'd think I would remember to put cream of tartar on the shopping list when I run out. Yet, I always seem to forget! What is cream of tartar anyway?! So the last couple of times I've made playdough here, I've tried some substitutes (after doing some research on the topic via Google search).

So after our morning at the science museum, S requested to play with playdough after his nap and while he and Y have been napping, I've been playing in the kitchen slaving over the stove to whip up a wonderfully Autumn-scented playdough using ingredients you probably do have in your kitchen already:

Cinnamon Playdough
Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup salt
• 3 tsp white vinegar*
• 3 TBSP vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 TBSP ground cinnamon
• food coloring (This is optional--I love the natural color the cinnamon adds to this dough that makes it look--and smell--almost like cookie dough! It will be the perfect addition to a cookie-themed story stretcher we'll be doing later this week!)

*I will admit I was skeptical about substituting in vinegar for the cream of tartar. I have a super schnoz and I hate the smell of vinegar. The smell was not particularly strong in the finished playdough and with the addition of a scent (like the cinnamon in this recipe or an essential oil of your choice), you could easily overpower any residual vinegar aroma that may be present after cooking. Alternatively you can use lemon juice in place of the vinegar.

Instructions: Combine your ingredients in a pot over medium heat and stir continuously until a stiff dough forms in the center of the pot. Then you are ready to take the dough out of the pot and let it cool until it is comfortable to touch. If your little chefs are helping you in the kitchen, please make sure the dough is cool enough for their little hands to handle! Knead the dough until smooth and enjoy using it as is or with your favorite clay and playdough tools. We have especially enjoyed using playdough in our sensory table lately as this both creates a great play space and contains the associated mess. Store in an airtight container or ziplock bag between play sessions to keep fresh. For best results, make sure your dough is totally cool before storing!

Invitation to Play: Playdough Name "Cookies"

Name recognition is a very important early literacy skill. Recognizing their names and the letters in their names is one of the first ways children learn to read and write. And well before they are ready to independently autograph their most prized work and possessions, children can practice name recognition through play. This simple invitation to play and create their names using cookie cutters and cinnamon playdough is the perfect addition to a pretend bakery shop for the cookie lover in your house. Just make sure they realize it's not actually cookies or cookie dough. While it is edible, this recipe will be super salty and won't taste anywhere near as good as it smells!

Well, it's time to wake up those sleepy heads and get back to our end-of-summer celebrating. We live around the corner from a 7-Eleven and I'm pretty sure there's a slurpee with my toddler's name on it just waiting for him there. However you're celebrating summer's end, (or counting down the hours until school starts), I hope you're having a great Labor Day and Happy Playing!