Mobile

Here's another homemade "toy" for small babies. I had thought about buying a mobile when preparing for the little guy's arrival but some of the things we were doing in preschool at the time inspired me to make one instead.
What you see here is super simple! The shapes are made from paper dough cut with cookie cutters and decorated with glitter glue. They are attached to a hanger/popsicle sticks with embroidery floss. I also made the middle section removable by tying the floss to a clothes pin. This allows me to change the hanging objects for added versatility.
Another variation that we tried was using origami for the hanging shapes. Anything would work really as long as the weight can be balanced.
I'm not a super crafter but If I could figure this out I'm sure anyone can!

New Favorite Book

Zilla has a new favorite book and song. Take a look at "All God's Critter's".
I have no clue when I first heard the song as it must have been when I was really little. We sang it at camp growing up and probably in Sunday School or at VBS too. It's one of the songs that has always stayed with me.

Between the fun pictures and great song you can't go wrong!
I've discovered though that everyone has their own version of the song!!! Check out the following video to hear a recording of the song.
Enjoy!

Our Newest Books

Christmas Around The World by Brenda Trunkhill

Christmas will be here before we know it! I hope to give the little guy a tour of the world this year through Christmas traditions.

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton

This is such a classic book! We read it over and over again as kids.

Baby's First Easter by Emily Tuttle

I like the "Baby's First" series because they are beautiful board books. The handle also makes it easy for me to hold the book while the little guy is looking at it.

Follow and Do - The Lord's Prayer by Joni Walker

Here is another series which focuses on bringing the basics of faith and Christian life to kids in a way they can understand. Since I know 4 yr. olds can recite the Lord's Prayer from memory and the little guy hears it at least twice every Sunday (in Japanese) we're going to start with it.

The Story of Creation from Standard Publishing

This was a gift and what a great idea! It is probably more for kids over 3 but with supervision we still enjoy it. Each page has a part of the creation story and a felt space for the objects of that day of creation.

Toddler Tote

The Toddler Tote by Lauri is one of the toys that I've avoided buying for a long time. I'm not a huge fan of plastic toys but as I've been looking at home school curriculums for 2 yr. olds the Toddler Tote has come up again and again. I finally gave in and the timing is perfect.

I've separated the contents into 4 activity sets to be rotated through on our activity shelf. The first set is the pegs for stacking. The little guy turned them into a golf club almost right away!

The other sets are the puzzles divided up by size. They haven't had a chance to be on the shelf yet but I anticipate that they will be well used.

The age on this is 2-5 years old. I think it's took easy for most 5 yr. olds but great for the 2-3 year olds!

While the package would fall apart quickly with our travel style it serves well as a storage container for the pieces not in use. Also, on the box it says that the pieces are crafted in the US and that lost pieces can be replaced.

I wonder if the Toddler Totes are being sold anywhere in Japan...

Hanging Toys

It can be hard to find interesting toys for little babies.
One of the places we go to play inspired this idea. They have silk scarves hanging from the ceiling on bungee cords. Here is my own version of that. This simple toy can serve so many purposes!
For babies who can't roll over it is good eye and hand exercise to have something to look at or just out of reach to try touching. With moving babies (crawl/walk) hanging things are a great motivation to keep moving. Even a toddler can have fun swatting at a ball or learning what happens if you pull and let go!
This is so simple to make. All you need is a clothes pin, some elastic cord and a soft object for the end. The ball is actually a dog toy with a jingle bell inside. It had a little loop to tie the elastic to. The other thing is a bandana. A light weight silk scarf that will move with the slightest breeze would also work well.
Tie one end of the elastic to the clothes pin and the other to the object.
Use the clothes pin to clip onto a curtain rod, door frame, etc.
As with any long string supervision is important. If the child manages to get a good grasp on the object he/she could also get wrapped in the string. I regularly shorten the string to keep the challenge in the activity.