Category Archives: learning at home

Fall Leaf Colour Sort

Fall Leaf Colour Sort | Mama Papa Bubba

Honestly?  I wasn’t ready to dive into all things fall just yet, but when we returned home from our Seattle and Vancouver trip to freezing cold weather (we’re talking zero overnight and 4 degrees by the time we were heading off to school), I decided we’d better get on it in case we skip fall altogether this year and transition straight into winter {fingers crossed that DOES. NOT. HAPPEN.}  So today, while Sam and I were out on our morning walk / scoot, we kept our eyes peeled for beautiful fall leaves and collected them in a little bag along the way.  Once we got home, we rinsed them off, dried them, and put them to work in all kinds of really fun, really simple activities, one of which was this fall leaf colour sort.

Fall Leaf Sort | Mama.Papa.Bubba.

Here’s what we found…  There wasn’t ton of colourful leaves on the ground just yet, but we still managed to find several leaves in browns, reds, oranges, yellows, and greens which was good enough for us!

Fall Leaf Sort | Mama.Papa.Bubba.{this post contains affiliate links}

Now just for fun, we decided to do this little activity in our beloved Ikea sensory table…  When we were down in Vancouver, I picked up 4 of the smallest TROFAST  bins with sorting activities just like this in mind (previously we just had the 2 larger bins) and they worked perfectly.  I folded pieces of brown, red, orange, and yellow card stock in half, pressed them down into the base of the bins, and our fall leaf colour sorting game was ready to go!

That being said, you certainly don’t need a fancy sensory play table for this activity…  You can just as easily tape 4 pieces of card stock or construction paper to the table or floor or use a set of 4 bowls or containers. Work with what you have on hand!

Fall Leaf Sort | Mama.Papa.Bubba.

Next up, I set the leaves around the edges of the table and invited Sam to come and take a look.

Fall Leaf Sort | Mama.Papa.Bubba.

Given that he’s 3 {soon turning 4} and we’ve done plenty of sorting activities (our car and truck colour sorting was one of his faves), this leaf colour sort was a total breeze for him even though I wondered if a few of the leaves might be a little tricky….

Fall Leaf Sort | Mama.Papa.Bubba.

They weren’t (hah!)  He basically moved at this speed until every last leaf was in the bin of the corresponding colour.

Fall Leaf Sort | Mama.Papa.Bubba.

Sorting is such an important skill and building block for other future skills that I absolutely would not consider something like this – something that’s really “easy” for him – a waste of time.  Reinforcement is super important for kiddos and “easy” activities are excellent for building confidence, so go on and do those too easy activities anyways!

Fall Leaf Sort | Mama.Papa.Bubba.

See that yellow and read leaf over the edge of the table?  When activities are fairly easy for your little one, it’s a great opportunity to guide the learning a little further, really discuss what’s happening, and model new language.  When Sam decided that that leaf should go in the yellow bin (I would have done the same), I said, “Oh interesting.  How did you decide to put that leaf in the yellow container?”  We then went onto to talk about how it’s MOSTLY yellow, more yellow than red, even though the TIP is red, etc. and it was the perfect chance to reflect on his choice and use some comparison language in our conversation.

Here’s a peek at the other two fun little things we used our leaves for…

 

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This simple leaf matching game from Little Pine Learners…

 

 

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And our super simple fall leaf crown from years past.  {Isn’t he darling??  I just want to smush on him!}

Colour Sorting With Fall Leaves | Mama Papa Bubba

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Morning Routine Flip Chart

My summer wish? Slower mornings that are still productive enough to get out of the house and have some fun before nap time rolls around at noon. Plus, with Brad home for the summer, a couple of hours to work each morning too…  Hah!  Too much to ask maybe, but we’re giving it a go and so far this morning routine flip chart has been super helpful!

Here’s the thing – while I usually work on all things blog / writing gig related from about 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. during the school year, I find that during the summer, I’m just more tired and less motivated at night…  I don’t know if it’s because we spend a good amount of time hosting guests and travelling during the summers, but when we’re at home and without houseguests, I honestly just want to go for a walk, tidy the house, prep things for the next day, and then chill on the patio or watch a show with B at night.  And since he’s off work for almost all of July and August, I figure that a couple of hours each day where Brad’s the go-to parent is a reasonable request, right?  Not going to lie – he wasn’t super on board with the plan because a) he loves nothing more than sleeping in and would happily stay in bed until 10 or 11 everyday of the summer and b) because having to get up AND feed the kids breakfast and get them ready for the day is just something he’s not used to doing. But since making our morning routine flip charts, the kids are able to be more focused and independent, which I think has been helpful for everyone.

{this post contains affiliate links}

Here’s what we used to make the charts:

{This brilliant file folder idea came from this chore chart I saw on Pinterest back in the day, so I can’t at all take credit for that aspect of the project.}

Bahahaha – can we just stop for a moment and appreciate the hilariousness that is taking blog photos with a toddler?!?  Gotta get in where you can, right?? Oh, Sam!

Alright, back to it.  With all of our materials gathered, Sam and I got to work putting together his morning routine flip chart.  First job?  Colouring in his ‘job pictures’.  As he coloured, we talked about each picture and what they meant and I helped him out here and there when he asked me to. (Don’t mind the pencil grasp…  We’ll be working on that soon… He’s not shown a ton of interest in pencil / paper activities just yet, so I want to be very gentle with my guidance so as to keep his interest up when it does arise.)

Done!  {You’ll notice that there’s an extra empty box on the printable… This can be used if you want to swap one of the jobs out for something that better suits your little one’s morning routine – just drawing a little picture, write in the name of the job along the bottom, and you’re good to go!}

Next up, I cut the job cards out just outside the dotted lines.  While I did that, Sam worked on cutting up some of the scraps using his spring scissors. {Because cutting scraps into the teeniest paper shards is still scissor practice after all, right? HAH!!}

Next, I opened up the file folder and set the job cards out in the order I thought made most sense for how our mornings go, but obviously these can be put in any order that works best for your fam!  Because the file folders I bought had some text on the inside, I opted to use them inside out, so you’ll notice that I’ve placed them on what is actually the back of the file folder here. Once I had them placed and spaced how I wanted, I glued the job cards down using a glue stick.

At this point Miss G joined us to make a morning routine flip chart of her own…  She doesn’t ‘need’ one like Sam does and is very used to getting ready for school in the mornings either on her own or using her morning routine jaror morning routine chart, but I find that a) having a visual does help her stay focused and on track and b) switching up the visuals every now and then helps to keep things fresh and interesting.

With all of the job cards glued down, I used a ruler to draw straight lines down from in between the job cards to mark where I’d need to cut to create flaps.

Then I trimmed the bottom of  the file folder off {making sure to leave enough space to add a magnet above each job} and cut along the lines I had previously drawn to make the flaps.

Next up, I measured out one inch chunks of magnetic tape, ensuring I had 14 magnets total.

Then I adhered one magnetic strip above each job.

In order to get the placement bang on, I stuck a second magnetic strip {magnetic side down, sticker side up} on each of the adhered magnetic strips, then removed the sticker backing one at a time, and closed the flaps, pressing the magnets down firmly to ensure a good stick. (Does that make sense?)

Then I added “Sam’s morning routine” to the top of the chart…

And trimmed off the excess file folder at the top.

This is what it looked like once done and hung on the side of our island in the kitchen and I’m happy to report that it’s been a total hit.  His morning routine flip chart has totally let him take charge of getting ready for the day and even though he does need help with a few of the tasks, he’s able to be the one driving the process, which I think is really empowering.

He just checks in with his chart to see what’s up next…

Goes and does it…

And then returns to close the flap!

 

Ready to make your own morning routine flip chart?

Find the printable here:  Morning Routine Flip Chart Printable

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Spring Texture Hunt

Spring Texture Hunt | Mama Papa Bubba

Whew…  After a long, snowy winter here in the Okanagan, I *think* spring might actually be here and I can’t tell you how good it feels!  We arrived home on Good Friday after a week in Vancouver to find nearly all of our snow gone and despite the fact that it briefly snowed on both Easter Sunday and Monday, I feel like we’ve officially turned a corner.  Sunshine, warmer temperatures, and little bits of green beginning to appear after months of snow and grey skies?  Yes please!

Spring Texture Hunt

In celebration, we spent a good part of our weekend outside…  We brought the kids’ bikes out, set up our trampoline, did some yard work, and best of all – we did our very first nature activity of the season – a spring texture hunt!  I can’t tell you how sweet my two little nature explorers were out in the yard searching for different textures with their clipboards in hand.

Spring Texture Hunt

Now at 2 years old Sam absolutely didn’t need a clipboard or printable to collect / record his findings, but because he wants nothing more than to be exactly like his big sister at the moment, I decided to make him a modified spring texture hunt printable too and thank goodness I did!  The moment he saw Miss G with her pencil and page clipped on her board, he shouted his go-to, ‘Too!  Too!  Sam too!’ and was pleased as punch when I passed him a clipboard of his very own.

I’ll share both down below, but for Grae I designed a more open-ended observation sheet that allowed her to sketch out the nature items she found  plus come up with her own words to describe their textures.  For Sam, I simplified and gave him boxes pre-labelled with texture words.  Now for his recording sheet you could very well have your child draw the items, but Sam’s not there yet of course and in an effort to keep it as tactile and simple as possible, I decided that we’d help him glue his nature items right onto his sheet {which actually worked out really well}.

Spring Texture Hunt

Kids, clipboards, and a glue stick in hand, we headed outdoors to see what we could find as far as interesting textures in nature go.

Spring Texture Hunt

Needless to say, nature is FULL of all kinds of amazing textures and finding a bunch of different ones was a breeze right off the bat.  I followed Sam’s lead and went off into this little corner filled with rocks, shrubs, a tree stump, and our little patch of remaining snow and together we gently touched things and talked about how they felt on our hands.  I will say that while the whole clipboard part of this activity is totally unnecessary for little ones like Sam, the actual touching and describing part is fantastic. He carefully ran his little hands over the items and listened so intently as I used words like ‘bumpy’, ‘rough’, and ‘hard’ to describe them – so awesome for his vocabulary development!

Spring Texture Hunt

Miss G immediately got to exploring, feeling things along the way, and recording the ones that really stood out as having an interesting texture on her observation sheet.

Spring Texture Hunt

She really enjoyed coming up with words to describe the different textures and many times she had several words to describe a single nature object. This very cool leaf, for example, led to words like, ‘fuzzy’, ‘soft’, ‘furry’, and ‘tickley’, though in the end, she decided that its softness was its most prominent feature when it came to touch.

Spring Texture Hunt

Sam actually really enjoyed adding to his observation sheet too.  Brad or I would put a thick layer {or little clump} of glue down in a box, and he’d run over with his nature item and really press it on to ensure it would stick.

Spring Texture Hunt

More than anything this was just a fun way to display his little collection of nature items he was so proud of.

Spring Texture Hunt

Now I will say that not all of the nature items the kids found were necessarily ‘spring’ items (the crunchy brown leaves that have been hidden under the snow since fall, for example), but I decided that that really didn’t matter.  It’s spring, the items were found during spring, and that was good enough for me!  If you were doing this activity with your kiddos or students and wanted the focus to be specifically on spring items, however, you could of course specify that.

Spring Texture Hunt

This whole idea, believe it or not, was inspired by a show the kids have been watching {and loving!} lately called SCOUT & The Gumboot Kids.  Have you seen it before?  Now if you know me, you know I’m not a huge fan of television for kids, but my kids do enjoy watching a show now and then {Grae especially} which leaves me bouncing between Netflix and Common Sense Media trying to find something that is not only appropriate, but also hopefully little bit inspiring or motivating too?  {A tall order, I know…}

Well, I’m so glad I came across SCOUT & The Gumboot Kids.  In the series, Scout, a sweet and smart mouse introduces the Gumboot Kids to a collection of clues that leads them outdoors to uncover the wonders of nature…  Things like sunflowers filled with seeds, echoes, falling acorns, shadows, and constellations – all of the most important things!

Our spring texture nature hunt was inspired by this episode, The Soft Rock.  Take a watch and let me know what you think.  Easily my favourite thing about SCOUT & The Gumboot Kids is that the episodes truly inspire you to get outdoors with your kiddos – and how many television programs do that?!  I also really love that each episode includes a mindful moment {something Miss G has been practicing since Kindergarten} and music by Jessie Farrell that is actually really enjoyable {because we all know that not all kids’ music is – hah!}  I also really like that the episodes are around 5 minutes each and best of all?  At just over two and at 7 and a half, both Sam and Grae find the shows interesting and engaging – win!

{US friends, you can watch by subscribing to Curious World or Kidstream.  You can also subscribe to Kidstream via Amazon or Comcast Xfinity.} 

Spring Texture Hunt

In addition to SCOUT & The Gumboot Kids, I was lucky enough to preview two ‘spin off’ shows – DAISY & The Gumboot Kids {a crafty version filled with nature DIYs and led by SCOUT’s best friend DAISY} and JESSIE & The Gumboot Kids {a fun music-focused version featuring the talents of the same artist, Jessie Farrell who just released her third children’s album, Sparkle & Shine} and both are every bit as wonderful and inspiring as the original!  Fun fact:  SCOUT & The Gumboot Kids has won several awards both here in Canada and internationally, and while DAISY & The Gumboot Kids is brand new, it’s already been nominated for both Canadian and international awards too!

Spring Texture Hunt

Alright, now back to our hunt…

Spring Texture Hunt

Here’s how things ended.  Grae probably could have kept on texture hunting for another hour or so, and Sam found a bunch really cool nature items but was ready to move onto other things before his collection sheet was fully complete – perfectly age appropriate in my opinion.

Spring Texture Hunt

If you’d like to try this activity with your kids or students, feel free to use our printable observation sheets:

BLANK SPRING TEXTURE HUNT OBSERVATION SHEET (Grae’s)

LABELLED SPRING TEXTURE HUNT OBSERVATION SHEET (Sam’s)

Spring Texture Hunt

Enjoy your time outdoors with your little ones and be sure to check out The Gumboot Kids series when you have a chance!

And if you already have little SCOUT & The Gumboot Kids fans like I do, be sure to check out their new merchandise line.  Miss G and I recently picked out a few things and she’s anxiously awaiting their arrival in the mail!

Spring Texture Hunt long | Mama Papa Bubba

This post is sponsored by The Gumboot Kids.  As always, all opinions and stories are my own and I only ever share things that we truly enjoy.

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Car and Truck Colour Sorting

Car and Truck Colour Sorting | Mama Papa Bubba

Oh my goodness…  This boy and his cars and trucks.  He’s nothing short of obsessed.  The other thing he’s been really into for months?  Colours.  Smack the two together and you’ve got a car and truck colour sorting activity that’s incredibly easy to pull off, but super engaging for little car and truck lovers like Sam.

Car and Truck Colour Sorting {this post contains affiliate links}

Here’s what you’ll need:

Car and Truck Colour Sorting

Set up couldn’t be easier…  Basically choose a surface {we went with our coffee table, but a floor would be great too} and loosely tape sheets of construction paper in various colours down to it.  These will serve as your colour categories or ‘parking spots’ or ‘garages’ if your little one is as obsessed as mine is.

Car and Truck Colour Sorting

Now this activity was actually inspired by something I saw Sam doing in the playroom a few days earlier {he was colour matching his cars and our SPRI balance pods {CAN} while carefully placing the cars atop the pods} so I knew I probably wouldn’t have to give him much guidance…  I simply set out a little basket filled with his cars and asked if he wanted to park them in their spots and with that, he got started.  My favourite thing was watching him with this little aqua car…  He went back and forth between green and blue several times before deciding just to hang onto it – hah!

IMG 2455

After that it was smooth sailing though…  He’d often tell me the name of the car and then its colour as he was placing it in its spot.

Car and Truck Colour Sorting{aqua car makes a reappearance}

Car and Truck Colour Sorting

At the beginning, he’d announce the colour of the truck or car and then simply place it down on the coordinating piece of construction paper…

Car and Truck Colour Sorting

But before long he was ‘vrrooooooming’ his cars across the coffee table and slamming on the brakes when they’d reached the parking spot.

Car and Truck Colour Sorting

Doesn’t this look like a total blast?

Car and Truck Colour Sorting

I’m guessing Sam thinks so because we’ve already played it again TWICE!

Colour Sorting with Cars and Trucks | Mama Papa Bubba

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Where I Live Stacking Cups

Where I Live Stacking Cups | Mama Papa Bubba

Lately Miss G has been asking about ‘home’.  Like where it is and which home is actually our home and if this is going to be our home for a long time. I don’t blame the poor kid for being a little unsure…  While she was born in Vernon {where we live now}, we brought her back to Kuwait when she was just 19 days old, we lived in the Middle East for a while before moving home to Vancouver, then we moved BACK to Kuwait, then BACK to Vancouver, and then to Vernon just recently.  Of course during our time in the Middle East we also took her on trips to France, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, and made a bunch of stops in other countries along the way, so I can see why ‘home’ doesn’t feel like one static place for her like it does for other kiddos.

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Exploring Colour Theory With Ice Cubes

Exploring Colour Theory With Ice Cubes | Mama Papa BubbaYou know what I love?  I love fun little activities and explorations that both Miss G and Sam can enjoy despite their 5.5 year age difference. I also really, really love colour theory and how magical it is in the eyes of little ones, so this super simple exploring colour theory with ice cubes activity was a total win in my eyes.  For Sam, it was colourful and cold and full of noise and movement {a true delight for the senses!} and for Miss G, it was cool and chilled out and a perfect reinforcer for what she already knows and understands about primary and secondary colours.  I did the activity just a little bit differently with each of the bubbas, and I’ve got to say that both methods worked perfectly well {though one was definitely more baby safe in my opinion}.  

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Tin Foil Boat Float

Tin Foil Boat Float | Mama Papa Bubba

While I don’t usually bring activities along on vacation with us, I knew a classic tin foil boat float would be an awesome way for Miss G and I to spend one of Sam’s nap times {not to mention that it’s a pretty perfect fit given the fact that we’re staying directly across from the water} and boy, was I ever right. 

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A 100 Day Snack

100 Day Snack | Mama Papa Bubba

Ahhh… 100 Day.  Such a big deal when you’re 6 and have been looking forward to it all year long.  I used to love celebrating 100 Day as a teacher, so I can only imagine how excited Miss G is to be celebrating her 100th day of Grade One today.  I’m not sure how they’ll be celebrating at school, but you can bet I sent her off with a little mama-made 100 Day Snack in her backpack.  Grae loves snack mixes {especially when they involve chocolate!}, so these always go over really well. Last year she came home from school, raved about how great her 100 Day snack was, and requested we make another batch as an afternoon snack, so I figured why not?  My Kindergarten kiddos used to love creating their own custom 100 Day snacks and I knew Miss G would too.

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Season Sensory Bottles

Season Sensory Bottles | Mama Papa Bubba

With Grae and Sam being 5 years apart in age, you’d think that they’d be into completely different things, but I’m actually realizing that there are many projects and activities that we can do and tweak just slightly so that both munchkins enjoy them.  These season sensory bottles are so much fun and definitely one of those projects that both kiddos got something out of.  {Not to mention that they look super pretty sitting on a playroom shelf or window sill.} 

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Practicing Sight Words With a Salt Tray

practicing-sight-words-using-a-salt-tray-mama-papa-bubba

Now that Miss G is in First Grade {first grade!!} she’s given a new list of sight words to take home each week.  At the moment, the expectation is that she’s able to read them aloud, but since she’s already quite advanced with her reading, we’ve been practicing spelling them too.  She loves sitting down with mama to do her ‘homework’, but it goes without saying that we keep it lighthearted, hands-on, and FUN.  One of our very favourite ways to do so?  Practicing sight words with a salt tray!

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Play Dough Apple Tree Life Cycle

play-dough-apple-trees-through-the-seasons-mama-papa-bubba

If you know us well, you know we loooove play dough.  We almost always have 3 or 4 play dough kits on hand and for the past several years, they’ve been something Miss G has regularly taken out and played with.  That being said, we’ve sort of been on a play dough break recently…  Miss G has other things she’s super passionate about at the moment {mainly ‘inventing’ and reading – always reading} and with her being in school full days this year, I honestly just find that there’s not a lot of extra time in our days {*insert sad face here*}.  That being said, we’ve recently been all about apples and apple trees, and when Miss G asked about when the different stages of an apple tree’s life cycle occur, I figured it would be fun to explore the different seasons with some play dough and simple play dough mats.

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Printable Morning Routine Chart

Printable Morning Routine Chart | Mama.Papa.Bubba.

As much as I’ve been willing it not to come, back to school is just around the corner.  Truth be told, I’m not ready.  The rushed mornings, not seeing my girl for most of the day, helping Miss G emotionally work through all of what goes on at school…  It just doesn’t sound like a ton of fun compared to the leisurely mornings, outings and adventures, and laid-back days we’ve been enjoying this summer.  That being said, this year is a new year and I’m hopeful that Grae is going to have a wonderful teacher she connects with and feels comfortable with, which would be a total game changer for us.  My ultimate hope?  That she enjoys Grade One and is excited to go to school! {*fingers crossed*}  Oh, I so hope she does.

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Easiest Ever DIY Geoboards

Easiest Ever DIY Geoboards | Mama Papa Bubba

When we first moved back to Kuwait in 2013, the first month and a bit was certainly challenging…  Miss G had just turned 3 years old, it was the end of August and the heat was unbearable, and I was stuck at home in our next to empty apartment with no mode of transportation and a busy little lady who had just been pulled away from her life as she knew it.  Being our second time moving to the Middle East, we’d been smart and brought very little along with us, but it meant that until we had a vehicle and time to collect things to fill our home with, we just had to make do.  If nothing else, the situation certainly forced me to get creative!  Miss G and I spent our days building things with cardboard boxes, painting packing packing paper, creating with things like dry rice and pasta that we had in the kitchen, and filling our freezer with homemade popsicles.  We made the best of it.  

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Make Ten {an easy card game for kids}




Miss G loves playing all sorts of card games, so when I came across Make Ten, a simple game that focuses math skills and uses just a generic deck of cards, I knew it would be a total hit.

UPDATE: Since sharing this game and our Make Ten printable play mat, I’ve had countless requests for play mats using larger numbers…  Well, I’m so happy to say that I’ve finally gotten around to creating a couple of options and best of all – they’re customizable and can be used with any larger number you choose!  Scroll to the very bottom of this post to find them.

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