Composition Book Ideas

Do you remember marble notebooks from grade school? I added these to our homeschool activities back in September & love how this affordable notebook is so versatile!  I want to share several ways that you could use this notebook with your preschooler without downloading a thing & minimal planning & purchases!
You can purchase several versions of these notebooks at any office supply store.  To be honest, I got mine at HEB.  I like the primary grade version because it has the multicolored lines for handwriting practice, but it also has space at the top of each page for drawing, etc. (similar to mine here).  Besides markers, I also use dot markers, stickers, & wooden letter stamps with our composition books.  With all of those supplies, here are some of the activities that we do in our workbooks:

Using a marker, I will draw a letter or a number and ask my kids to trace it with dot markers or with stamps.

To practice basic handwriting, I will make letters and numbers out of dots and get my kids to trace them.  Here we can talk about how to write letters and often I will draw something at the top of the page with them that starts with the corresponding letter.  Occasionally, I will cut out items that start with that letter and we put the items in the shape of that letter, or give them stickers to put in the shape of a letter.

I do the exact same thing with numbers!  I will model the numbers & provide the dots for tracing.  With dots, I put a lot when they are first starting but slowly put fewer so they have to do more and more on their own.

Another activity to practice letters is to put a bunch of letters in rows and columns and ask them to put a dot on, sticker on, or simply circle a particular letter.

Another fun way to practice finding letters, but also learning the difference between uppercase & lowercase letters, I will put a bunch of numbers & letters in rows and columns.  I will assign one color to the uppercase letter and another color to the corresponding lowercase letter and ask Dutch to find them & apply the correct color dots.

Another fun way to practice fine motor skills is to cut out pieces of paper & glue them in the notebook in the shape of a letter/number/shape that you're working on your kiddo with.

To practice numbers, counting, and matching, I will put numbers on one side and dots for the different numbers on the opposite side of the page.  The child has to identify the number, count the number of dots and then match them.

To practice shapes, colors, number recognition, & counting, I will draw different color shapes with numbers inside them.  The kids have to identify the color & number for each shape and put the corresponding number of dots in the same color in each shape.

Occasionally if I have a download or a printable, I will glue the activity in the notebook.  I really like to put the ones that involved cutting and gluing in their notebooks.

To practice motions for handwriting, holding a writing utensil, and size comparison, I will get them to trace different sized shapes, and them ask them, "Can you put a blue dot in the biggest square? Can you put a yellow dot in the smallest rectangle?"

With counting and shapes, I will draw some shapes and ask "Can you put three stickers in the circle? Can you put one sticker in the heart?"

Another really easy task that is great for helping to form great writing habits is to draw dotted lines and get your child to trace them staying on the line.

We also use our books for seasonal celebrations! "Can you decorate the Christmas tree?", "Can you decorate the Valentine's heart?", & "Can you put fall colored leaves on the tree?".

See, for the most part you don't need to print off anything for preparation!  You can draw all of this in their notebooks while they're sitting right next to you.  Really easy and fun! As a selfish desire, I love looking back through these books as a record of how they have improved, & I know that both of my kids love their notebooks and are so proud of their work! Do you use composition notebooks with your preschooler already?

Obligatory Blogger Disclaimer: I was not paid for this review, I just really like these products.

A Real Coffee Break (+FOUR Freebies!)

I figured it out.  I found more time.

We all want more time!  But no one ever figures out how to get more time or how to maximize the time we have.  It's too hard.  We cram too much into the day.  We do too much. We want to do too much. We have to do too much.

Since my bestie just had baby #3 (remember I made this sprinkle bag for her?) I was trying to think of a gift for her.  Not just a gift, but a good gift. I really can't stand giving gifts just to give a gift; it has to be a good gift.  When we have so much to do, we all want more time.  And what mother has time for a coffee break?!  I've never met one!  So I made her a coffee break bag.  Everyone in the workplace (out of the home workplace, just to clarify & not step on any toes) gets a coffee break, and mothers of small children, of all people, deserve and have EARNED a coffee break.  So enters, the coffee break bag without guilt!! 
Allow me to explain this brilliant idea (just play along & let me call myself brilliant; I don't get many chances for those kinds of labels).  There are many times throughout the day where you not only want a coffee break, but you NEED one quite honestly......a time out from what you've been doing.  A time to regroup or collect yourself before you say or do something you later regret or feel guilty about (I hope I'm not the only one here).  With little toddlers this happens on the reg, so the next time you are having one of these moments you just grab your prepared Coffee Break Bag. As I was making this for my bestie, I quickly realized that I needed to make 2 of everything, because I needed a bag for myself too lol
Inside this bag I have packed, with all the instructions and supplies needed, 14 activities that are SIMPLE, but will buy you a few minutes where mom (grandma, auntie, nanny, or dad) can grab a cup of coffee in peace. All of the activities are educational, reusable, & fun; none of them require scissors, glue, or a screen (let the angels sing over that one!). 

I keep my Coffee Break Bag hidden so that we don't play with these activities and they remain novel.  I save my Coffee Break Bag for that moment right before my brain teeters out of my skull onto the floor, & I tell my kids they get to pick a surprise game to play while mama goes to warm up her coffee.  They reach in, without looking, and pick a "game".  Then, once I've collected my brain off the floor with my caffeine, I rejoin the group & participate in the activity.  (Dramatic much, Darby??? Just a little). 

In all seriousness, dramatics aside, sometimes we just need a moment to collect ourselves, and this bag has helped me so much with a terrible 2 & a terrible 3 happening at the same time.  Some people call these activities "busy bags," but I'm not going to lie to myself.  This bag is clearly for a coffee break, but if you were going on a trip this would be fun to pack for the road (other road trip ideas).  I don't like to just throw something at my kids and say "mommy needs a break so do this" (if you say this line, I'm not judging you at all; do your thing mama.  I know you're doing what's right & best for you & your family. That line just fills me with guilt & anxiety so I avoid it at all cost). Instead, I want something to bring them an experience, a lesson, a skill, or some form of development.  I've found that having prepared items helps my kids AND my mama guilt.

Sooooooo let me share some of the activities I put in our Coffee Break Bags (Here are the labels I made, that you can print off---for FREE!!).  I made these labels, printed them in color on cardstock, & then laminated.  Each activity is individually packed in a ziplock bag with all of the materials needed & instructions.  Just to make sure that everything lasts and is reusable, each package was laminated.

Chain Counting- (Get FREE printable here) Using these links, ask your child to connect the links to the card with the corresponding number, e.g. card with the number 6 gets a chain made of 6 links, etc.

Color Clip Matching- (Get FREE printable here)  You could print off images, stickers from your child's favorite show, color stickers, shapes, even sight words, or letters/numbers.... basically anything you want.  I used these sticker dots to just stick on the cards and then I laminated them. Using clothes pins, my kids have to match the colors.  This is such an easy way to customize a task for your child where there is self correction but also usable for various age groups and levels of cognition.

Pipe Cleaner Shapes- (Get FREE printable here) Have your child make each shape on the card out of pipe cleaners.  This is an easy reusable task that will assist in learning shapes and fine motor skills.

Rubber Band Counting- With numbers written on each popsicle stick, the child has to slip the corresponding number of rubber bands onto the popsicle stick.  If your child is past the preschool age, use these sticks to talk about addition & subtraction.

Pom Pom Counting- Count out the number of pom poms for each number shown on the card.  As the child ages you can convert this into an addition/subtraction task.

Make a Bracelet- Thread different color beads onto a pipe cleaner until you make a bracelet or a necklace. Awesome for fine motor skills.

Face Drawing- The psychologist in me loves this task.  The child is asked to draw on the face, with a dry erase marker, the emotion that is velcroed onto the bottom of the card.  This leads to great conversations about emotions, the perception of emotions in others, & the correct way to conduct yourself when you are feeling a certain way.

Popsicle Matching- Match the popsicle with the same color popsicle stick.  A great tactile task to practice colors.

Felt Chain- Wrap the strips of felt & connect with velcro into a chain. Fun fine motor task.

Caterpillar Counting- To practice colors, number recognition, & counting, match the number of pom poms to the caterpillar cards.

Alphabet Connection- Using the plastic chain link, match the upper case letter to the lower case letter.  When your child can do that, then you can progress to spelling the child's name, and other sight words using multiple chain links.

Animal Rainbow- This is a great fine motor & sorting task.  You could ask your child to sort by color or animal.

Lacing- For fine motor development, ask your child to thread the string around the cards. We also like these

Chain Patterns- Using the chain links, create a chain to match the pattern on the card.  Then ask your child to make a pattern for you to copy.If you want to make this as a gift for a new mama, I also threw in some new slippers, a new coffee mug, & book (like she has time for that lol) about how much she means to me as a friend. Do you have something like this?
What do you do for a "coffee break" in your home?
Please share your tips & tricks with me!!!!

Pipe Cleaner Tracing+ FREE Printable

Last Monday I shared a FREE download with you, well this must be a great week, because I have another one for YOU! This is another activity that you can prep & put in a ziplock baggies for when you've got toddlers melting down or when you're taking a trip in a busy bag.  Check it out:
First, go HERE & print these FREE cards and laminate (optional). Get some pipe cleaners and cut them into halves.  Honestly, I got my pipe cleaners at the grocery store in the school section, Ha! Put the cards & pipe cleaners in a ziplock bag.  When you're ready, have your child make each shape on the cards out of the pipe cleaners.  This is an easy reusable task that will assist with learning shapes & fine motor skills!!!

Family Visitors

January was a big month for us!  We had 2 sets of grandparents visit us from VA & WV.  Both visits were so relaxing and nice to have.  The worst part was watching my kids say bye to their grandparents, and then having to explain for daaaaaaaays afterwards where they were.  I really dislike that we have to do that; it stinks.  So the time that we do have together is really precious.  We didn't go and do a million things.  There was a lot of just sitting around and talking.  It as so nice and very cherished.

First, my mom & her husband came at the beginning of January.

The Mr.'s parents came at the end of January/beginning of February.