Color Activities for Preschoolers

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited and simultaneously shocked I am that it's now October and fall is officially upon us. Summer flew by in the blink of an eye and back-to-school came and went with zero tears shed and a newfound sense of determination and motivation expressed by both wildlings. Over the summer I purposely took a major step back from the blog and my online world for a few months in order to reconnect with those that matter most and make sure my time with them wasn't dominated by a phone in my hands or a camera in their face. I can't even tell you how many times over the last few months I wish I had my camera in my hands to document something, but because I didn't I actually had the chance to be in the moment and submerge right into the middle of something truly spectacular. While Ryan's work travel schedule has been hard on us all, it's also given me an incredible opportunity to spend a lot of quality one-on-one time with the kids and a chance to bond in some amazing and unexpected ways.

However, I can't say that it's always easy. I think all moms (whether working outside the house or staying home with the kids) know that those evening hours (post afternoon-nap snack through dinner,  then bath time and bedtime) can be excruciating. I don't know what it is about 4:30 p.m. that turns my children into psychotic maniacs, which continues through the night until they pass out. Ryan and I sometimes call this time the "penalty kill." If you're a hockey fan, you get it. If I don't give the kids something to do, they just destroy the house or hurt each other. So lately I've been trying to come up with some fun activities that we can all do together to entertain them, while also trying to be a tiny bit educational. Our latest projects have been all about...

COLOR!

Painting
While Mac has mastered his basic colors, Mim is still working on hers. She's pretty much figured all the colors out, but still confuses yellow and red occasionally. We've been working with her on this by using color books and playing a lot of "I spy" and color matching games. Mac is working on painting rainbows, making camouflage and working on his color combinations, figuring out what colors you get when you mix them together. Yellow and blue make green, red and yellow make orange, etc. So lately he's been doing a lot of painting, both at school and at home. I swear he's brought home no fewer than 175 scrolls of paintings from school over the last month and I've been giving them out to friends and family by the truckload. And still he asks all the time if we can paint at home, which I have a hard time saying no to.  So, after school/work we snack and paint (and mommy has wine). I try to coach Mim on her colors while she paints, but she'd much rather paint herself than the paper. Mac's been working on painting rainbows and mixing colors to get the perfect shade of purple or brown or green. 

Color Hunt
This past weekend we mixed things up a bit and instead of just painting, we did a neighborhood Color Hunt...similar to a scavenger hunt, but the kids have to find something in the neighborhood of each color of the rainbow. Like me, Mac loves lists, so I put together a really simple little printable that we could carry around and use to track each item we found that coordinates to a color on our list. I cut a couple swatches of construction paper in each color that they could also use to match colors and then let them go on our street to find something of each color.

(Click HERE for the free printable and downloadable PDF)

I gave Mac the color swatches and watched as he made his way through the neighborhood looking for things that coordinated with his colors. It was fun watching him think through his choices and get really excited when he found a match. He even posed for a few photos for me, which NEVER happens. I mean, he didn't look at the camera or smile or anything shocking like that, but he also didn't scream "NO!" and run away, so I'll call that a win. Mac did a great job (even without bribery!) and within 30 minutes he found something for every color! I thought he'd get bored with the game really quickly, but he loved it and even asked if we could play it again the next day (which we did, but on another street). This one was a big hit.

I also find that the kids tend to do better with concentration and meltdowns if they have a small snack right after nap. Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers are one of our favorite snacks and I thought the colored Goldfish were a really fun option when focusing on teaching and playing with colors. The kids love them and I have a hard time myself keeping my hand out of their Goldfish bowl. 

Goldfish is also hosting a great giveaway right now where you could win $1000 for sharing a photo of a moment when Goldfish crackers added smiles to your life. Share your picture on Twitter or Instagram with the tag #goldfishtalespromotion for a chance to win! For full rules, click HERE.

And if you're feeling crafty, this month's theme is "Spooky!" - so make sure to share your haunted background, artwork or video featuring your fun little goldfish to win. Check out this gallery of awesome ideas to get some inspiration!

What are your kids' favorite COLOR related activities?

Baby Mim - 26 Months

Dear Baby Mim,

Here we are...a few months past your second birthday and you seem more like a teenager these days than a two year-old. At your 2 year well-visit you weighed 27 pounds (50th percentile) and were 35 inches tall (90th percentile). You had a head circumference in the 98th percentile, which means you take after your daddy. You were fit as a fiddle and our pediatrician continued to be totally impressed by just how incredible and lovely you are. Your amazing personality just continues to blossom and every day you get sweeter, sassier, funnier and more adorable. Everyone you meet is charmed by you and totally wrapped around your little finger within minutes and we wouldn't have it any other way. 

I'd have to say that the biggest change over the last few months has to be your vocabulary. All of a sudden, you seemed to have found ALL the words and started speaking in complex sentences, asking questions, telling stories and singing songs. You love to talk and have the sweetest little voice - I could just listen to you talk for the rest of my life. But not only do you love to talk, you're really smart and just astound me with the things you say and know at such a young age. You skipped over 2-word sentences and went straight to 7. You love to narrate what's going on in your books and on your shows. You tell me all about what Daniel Tiger is doing and what's going to happen to the little mouse in The Gruffalo. You ask me how work was, tell me you miss/love me, tattle on your brother, tell me what you want to eat, laugh at my jokes and answer my questions about your day.  You're a pro at identifying objects and animals in your books, you know every color, can sing the entire ABC song, have impeccable manners, can carry on conversations and you never forget a thing! You can count to 10 with ease (and sometimes 20 when you think we're not paying attention), a skill I attribute to countless hours playing hide-and-seek with Mac. You love to be read to and the pile of books in your bedroom is getting quite out of hand, as you keep stealing them from your brother. 

And speaking of singing, you are far and away the most musical kid I've ever met, another trait you get from your dad. You love singing and dancing and songs. You put music on the electronic keyboard every time you go downstairs. You dance anytime music is on and you get the biggest smile on your face. You constantly ask for "Shake It" (Taylor Swift) or "Superman" (theme song) on my phone. But cutest of all, you sing! Your favorite songs to sing are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the ABC song, Happy Birthday, Superman, Row Row Row Your Boat, Old MacDonald and Wheels on the Bus. You not only know all the words, but you can actually carry a tune! It's incredible! 

One of the things I love the most about you is your compassion. I'm not sure if it's a girl thing or just you, but you have more compassion and emotional understanding in your little finger than your brother has in his entire body. You do not like when anyone is upset and are concerned about our happiness in a way that has completely surprised me. If I scold you or your brother for something, you become very solemn and almost ashamed. You're very concerned when Mac gets in trouble and you want to be with him - even if he's in trouble for hurting you. You don't get in trouble nearly as much as he does, but you have your moments. However, you apologize easily, quickly and with such regret in your voice that it amazes me. You do not like being in the doghouse and will turn up the charm and apologies to immediately get out of it. You're also incredibly sensitive to my feelings and frustrations. If I'm not smiling, stern or visibly upset about anything, you are quick to ask, "Mama, you happy?" which just melts my heart. If my answer is no, then you smile, give me a huge kiss and say, "You happy now?" I mean, I can't even. I don't know where this came from, but please don't ever stop.  

Physically, you're quickly catching up to your brother in strength and height. You're getting so tall these days and losing the baby fat quickly because you're so active. You're not quite as coordinated as you think you are and end up with so many bruises and black-eyes. I'm not sure you know that you're only two - you insist on doing everything that the big kids do and you get so frustrated when you can't keep up. You run everywhere (there's no walking) and refuse to crawl up or down stairs (must be upright), both of which have given me multiple heart attacks. You love to twirl and swing and jump. You love slides, the higher the better and insist on climbing up all by yourself. You've been taking gymnastics for the past year and absolutely love it. You are also quite the little fish and have taken to water in a way that surprises and terrifies me and your dad. You refuse to wear floaties and insist on being underwater as much as possible. You'll probably be swimming all by yourself by next summer at the rate you're going. You're also quite the little daredevil. You love jumping off the diving board (no matter how high it is), which shocks everyone that sees you! You have zero fear. Lord help us. 

You are still a very good eater, but you've become a very SLOW eater. Sometimes it takes you over an hour to finish a meal...and I think you'd sit there for two hours eating if we'd let you. You love chicken and fish, mashed potatoes and mac & cheese, bananas and grapes. You've got a serious sweet-tooth (you get that from me) and eat ice cream with such excitement that by the time you finish (by drinking the melted ice cream and licking the bowl), you're covered head to toe in the stuff and need an immediate bath. You are pretty good at using utensils, but you do get in trouble multiple times a day for banging your fork/spoon on the counter, which drives me nuts.

For the most part, you are the sweetest little thing, but every now and then the Terrible Twos strike and we are all shocked by your temper, attitude and defiance. You've been getting sassy lately when we ask you to do something you don't want to and you can throw a fit (albeit a fake one) with the best of them. Although they never last long. When you want something, you know exactly how to get it and do not stop until you do. It's hard to get mad at you because you're so stinking adorable about it all and it doesn't happen too often. Mainly we just laugh at you and give you kisses and whatever you want, which pisses you off and you say, "No kiss me!!" And then I have to kiss you a million more times because it's so cute. Occasionally you'll get sent to time-out, which you don't seem to mind at all, but then you fake a sad face and tell me, "Mimmy in trouble. Sorwee mama."

I know I'm totally biased, but I think you are just one of the prettiest little ladies I've ever laid eyes on. I am madly in love with your blonde curls. No one really knows where they came from, but they are absolutely adorable and I hope they stick around for a while. You also have the biggest, prettiest hazel-colored eyes that shift in color from brown to green to gold, depending on the light. I still have yet to be able to capture the unique color of your eyes in a photo. But despite being pretty and your mama putting you in dresses, you are one of the dirtiest kids I've ever seen. You are always sticky and messy and covered in dirt, snot, food, bubbles or something disgusting. You love jumping in mud puddles, playing in the sandbox, digging for worms, rolling in the grass and dumping cups of sand/rocks/mud on your head. You need a bath every single night and sometimes I have to literally scrub you down to get all the grime off your skin and the muck out of your hair. You're such a dirtball.

Oh Mimmy love, you are such an absolute delight and add so much sunshine to our lives. You are funny and sweet and kind. Sassy and opinionated. Easy-going, silly and lovable. Your personality is just the best and I thank my lucky stars everyday that I get to be your mama. Thank you for being you. Thank you for being mine.

xoxo
Your mama

Flags of Valor

To commemorate the 15th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks on the United States, America's Heartland Remembers put 7,021 flags on display at Art Hill in Forest Park. Each flag has a photograph and dog tags of a fallen member of the military killed in the war on terror. The flags were arranged in rows, spanning the entire hill, and were a spectacular, powerful, heartbreaking and haunting sight. I took Mim to see the flags and we were just in awe - it was so humbling and overwhelming. We spent a lot of time looking at the photographs of the service men and women and visited the flag representing all those that died in the 9/11 attacks. My heart hurts just thinking of explaining all of this to her someday. I so badly want her to grow up in a world without hate and violence, but I'm also proud that there are so many unbelievably brave and honorable people willing to sacrifice so much for that goal. May we all never forget.