Alphabet Based Activity Plan – QRST

Are you looking for some loosely planned activities to do with your little? How about ones based on the alphabet?

I started on November 9th with my alphabet based activity plans (you can find my previous posts linked at the end of this post). We have completed A through P. It’s been a bit of a struggle to come up with interesting activities but I’m committed to keep trying. I’m sure some weeks will be much better than others.

Either way I like the pre-planned structure and I’m sure little M likes the additional activities.

I’ve been pretty bad lately at keeping up with this. I’m having trouble coming up with interesting activities to do and my little has been sick and hasn’t been very interested in doing much which hasn’t left me very motivated.

Alphabet Based Activity Plan - Q&R

Last week we did the letters Q and R.

  • Monday we didn’t do an activity.
  • Tuesday we painted with q-tips.
  • Wednesday we played with ribbons.
  • Thursday we watched videos about rockets.
  • Friday we planned on doing activities related rain and rainbows.

Alphabet Based Activity Plan - S&T

This week we did the letters S and T.

  • Monday we drew stars.
  • Tuesday we played with sponges.
  • Wednesday we coloured tulips.
  • Thursday we had a tea party.
  • Friday we didn’t do an activity.

A few things I learned over these past couple of weeks:

  • Painting with q-tips worked better than I thought it would. Little M actually tried using them as a paintbrush. I only have finger-paints so it didn’t work the best but I think it would be great with paint meant for paintbrushes.
  • Little M wasn’t very interested in the ribbons. She preferred playing with the cardboard spool the ribbon came on.
  • I originally planned on making a rocket out of a paper towel roll but I’m not as crafty as I had hoped.
  • Although I intended on making plans related to rain and rainbows we didn’t do anything letter related – mommy fail.
  • Drawing stars was a bit of a lame activity since it really was just little M colouring randomly on a page where I drew a bunch of stars.
  • Ok, new favourite toy. Little M loved sponges. She used them like blocks and build towers. She also liked taking them into the bath. I showed her how to squeeze them to suck up water, then squeeze them again to let the water out.
  • Again colouring tulips was a bit of a lame activity but little M likes to colour so still fun for her.
  • Tea party time. I just used cups we already had and put water into her cup but she liked pretending and any reason to have cookies is a great activity.

The post about A & B and C & D.

The post about E & F and G & H.

The post about I & J and K & L.

The post about M & N and O & P.

I thought it may be helpful to include links to my favorite sites for ideas:

Have you planned this sort of thing to do with your little? How did you organize the activities (like I did by letter)? Do you have any other ideas for activities to do for the letters Q & R and S & T?

 

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Alphabet Based Activity Plan – MNOP

Are you looking for some loosely planned activities to do with your little? How about ones based on the alphabet?

I started on November 9th with my alphabet based activity plans (you can find my previous posts linked at the end of this post). We have completed A through L. It’s been a bit of a struggle to come up with interesting activities but I’m committed to keep trying. I’m sure some weeks will be much better than others.

Either way I like the preplanned structure and I’m sure little M likes the additional activities.

I’ve been pretty bad lately at keeping up with this. I’m having trouble coming up with interesting activities to do and my little has been sick and hasn’t been very interested in doing much which hasn’t left me very motivated.

Alphabet Activity Plan - M&N

Last week we did the letters M and N.

  • Monday we did an activity from the previous week – we painted using lemons and limes.
  • Tuesday we made paper plate masks.
  • Wednesday we had an indoor snowball fight using large marshmallows.
  • Thursday we played with noodles and made noodle necklaces.
  • Friday we did the same as Thursday; the little really liked it.

Alphabet Activity Plan - O&P

This week we did the letters O and P.

  • Monday we searched for Oranges.
  • Wednesday we played with homemade playdoh.
  • Friday we had some pudding.

A few things I learned over these past couple of weeks:

  • The lemon and lime painting was not worth the prep work. The little didn’t care for it.
  • I learned that my little doesn’t like to wear masks or to see me wearing a mask. She was not impressed.
  • She laughed when I threw the marshmallows at her but she didn’t get that she was supposed to throw them back at me. She would pick them all up off the floor then run away from me and throw them down the stairs.
  • My little absolutely loved playing with dried noodles. I put a few containers and measuring spoons in a large Rubbermaid tub and filled the bottom with dried noodles. She would scoop and sort. On occasion she would try to move them from the bin onto the coffee table but would listen when I told her to return them to the tub. It was a great activity so we did it again the next day.
  • I was not very good at coming up with activities for the next week but that was kind of ok since the little got sick and wasn’t too interested in doing much later in the week.
  • The oranges were fun. I would hide them around the living room and she really enjoyed looking for them. I need to do this with more objects.
  • It was pretty easy to make the playdoh and since it was made with Jell-O it smelled delicious. Here’s the recipe I used, it’s easy and makes great playdoh.
  • Like all other things chocolate my little really liked chocolate pudding but I think she prefers straight milk chocolate or chocolate ice cream.

The post about A & B and C & D.

The post about E & F and G & H.

The post about I & J and K & L.

I thought it may be helpful to include links to my favorite sites for ideas:

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Have you planned this sort of thing to do with your little? How did you organize the activities (like I did by letter)? Do you have any other ideas for activities to do for the letters M & N and O & P?

 

Alphabet Based Activity Plan – IJKL

Are you looking for some loosely planned activities to do with your little? How about ones based on the alphabet?

I started on November 9th with my alphabet based activity plans (you can find my previous posts linked at the end of this post). We have completed A through H. It’s been a bit of a struggle to come up with interesting activities but I’m committed to keep trying. I’m sure some weeks will be much better than others.

Either way I like the pre-planned structure and I’m sure little M likes the additional activities.

Alphabet

A few weeks ago we did the letters I and J.

  • Monday we ate ice cream.
  • Tuesday we played with toy insects.
  • Wednesday we played with ice (I froze some of the toy insects into a block of ice).
  • Thursday we made jellyfish.
  • Friday we created a jumping obstacle course.

I took a longer than expected break over the Christmas season and when I did try to start up again I had some things going on that didn’t allow me to focus. Because of this the timing of the letter activities is a bit messed up.

Alphabet

Last week we did the letters K and L.

  • Monday we recited Old King Cole and made crowns.
  • Tuesday we made a kiss painting (put on lipstick and kissed a paper plate).
  • Wednesday we kicked balls.
  • Thursday we painted with lemons and limes and watched a video about lions.
  • Friday we skipped letter based activities (I know I’m bad).

A few things I learned over these past couple of weeks:

  • She prefers chocolate ice cream over vanilla and strawberry, although I think she likes all three J.
  • The toy insects were a hit and she liked that I froze them into a block of ice. I think she likes anything ice related. I should get more small toys like these.
  • Although I knew that my little couldn’t do all the steps of making a paper plate jellyfish I thought she may like colouring on the plate. Nope, she was not interested. She only did a couple of scribbles before she lost interest.
  • She didn’t want to wear her crown but thought mine was funny. She preferred to rip them apart.
  • The lipstick “painting” didn’t hold her interest very long.
  • She laughed when I kicked balls around the house but wasn’t very interested in trying to kick them back. She more into throwing lately.
  • I only have finger paints so I used those with the lemons and limes. She watched me use them but was more interested in smearing the paint around than doing what I did.
  • The lion video kept her interest. I should try another animal.

Here are the links to my previous posts.

The post about A & B and C & D.

The post about E & F and G & H.

I thought it may be helpful to include links to my favorite sites for ideas:

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Have you planned this sort of thing to do with your little? How did you organize the activities (like I did by letter)? Do you have any other ideas for activities to do for the letters I & J and K & L?

Let the Cookie Eating Begin!

I’ve spent every day of the past week baking cookies.

This year’s Christmas dessert was specifically requested and I was very happy to deliver. It provided me with the perfect opportunity to become the Christmas cookie baker I’ve always wanted to be but never got around to actually doing.

Since there are five days in the work week I figured I should make one type of cookie per day. My husband wasn’t too happy about this. He didn’t want to spend the week eating cookies. He’s usually pretty good about saying no to tempting food but thought having the cookies in the house was going to be too much for him (it was).

If you’ve been following me on Instagram or Twitter, you would have seen this list along with a daily picture of the process (little M helping or eating the cookies).

Shortbread Meltaways

Day 1 – Shortbread Meltaways – http://www.robinhood.ca/Recipes/Cookies/Shortbread/Shortbread-Meltaways

The shortbread was amazing. I kept having to move the pans of the cooling cookies to keep them away from little M. She usually doesn’t care for sweet things but these she loved! I think I ate a few too many. Lucky it makes enough that there are still leftovers to share.

Gingerbread

Day 2 – Gingerbread – http://www.chatelaine.com/recipe/desserts/gingerbread-cookies/

The gingerbread was a lot of work. I kept having to put the dough into the fridge because it was too soft to lift the shapes to put on the baking pan. It’s a decent recipe but I guess you’ve got to love gingerbread to put in the effort. Once they cooled they were a little harder than I would have liked but that could be my fault I think I tend to overcook my cookies.

Almond Snowballs

Day 3 – Almond Snowballs – http://www.chatelaine.com/recipe/snack/almond-snowballs/

I can only describe these as meh. Not bad, not great, very neutral. Little M wasn’t into them either. I won’t be making them again. That is all.

Ginger & Lemon Madeleines

Day 4 – Ginger and  Lemon Madeleines – http://www.foodanddrink.ca/lcbo-ear/RecipeController?language=EN&recipeType=1&action=recipe&recipeID=5700

These are delicious. Little fluffy cakes of yum. Little M loves them, big M loves them, I love them. One mistake to share, I had to do the butter twice. Made burnt butter rather than brown butter the first time. Next time I should do a double batch.

Brownie Cookies

Day 5 – Brownie Cookies – http://www.marthastewart.com/336847/brownie-cookies

These are pretty chocolatey. I guess their quality is as good as the quality of the chocolate you use. I was able to find Ghirardelli brand bittersweet chips. My husband complains when I use bakers chocolate. I don’t have an issue with them but because of his complaints I’m always looking for better “quality” brands of baking chocolate.

Little M liked them although I‘m not sure how much she liked them. I thought she would go crazy for them since she usually loves chocolate. Unfortunately, she has a cold (yup just in time for our early family Christmas dinner tomorrow) and I had to trick her into trying some.

Let the Cookie Eating Begin - End

I’ll update this post after the weekend once everyone has a chance to try the cookies and little M can try all of them all over again.

Let the Cookie Eating Begin

Although I had fun making all these cookies I don’t think I’ll do this again once I’m back at work. It was quite a bit of work. It’s one thing to do this while at home during the day. I think it’ll be another baking them after work (after 6pm) every evening for a week.

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Have you done any holiday baking? Planning any for next week? What did/will you make? Any baking traditions you keep up with every year?

Alphabet Based Activity Plan – EFGH

Are you looking for some loosely planned activities to do with your little? How about ones based on the alphabet?

I started on November 9th with my alphabet based activity plans (you can find my first post here). We have completed A & B as well as C & D. So far sometimes it’s a bit of a struggle to come up with interesting activities but I’m committed to keep trying. I’m sure some weeks will be much better than others.

Either way I like the preplanned structure and I’m sure little M likes the additional activities.

Alphabet Activity Plan - E&F

Last week we did the letters E and F.

  • Monday we watched videos of elephants.
  • Tuesday we coloured pictures of faces and discussed the different parts like eyes and ears.
  • Wednesday we had hard boiled eggs (always have some on hand) and made scrambled eggs.
  • Thursday we coloured pictures of flowers.
  • Friday we sang Old McDonald and watched videos of farm machines (little M loved heavy machines).

Alphabet Activity Plan - G&H

This week we did the letters G and H.

  • Monday we pulled out everything we could find that was green.
  • Tuesday we tried grapes (again).
  • Wednesday we pulled out all the hats we could find and tried them on.
  • Thursday we traced our hands and coloured them.
  • Friday we watched videos of hippos.

A few things I learned over these past couple of weeks:

-E and F were hard letters for me. I don’t feel like I came up with anything too interesting. Maybe if I go around the alphabet again I’ll come up with something better next time.

-Little M still doesn’t care for grapes.

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Please note over the week before Christmas and the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s I’ll be taking a break from these activities. This break will delay my next post until January 8th (will be about I & J and K & L).

 

Have you planned this sort of thing to do with your little? How did you organize the activities (like I did by letter)? Do you have any other ideas for activities to do for the letters E and F or G and H?

Cardio Burst – Four Workouts to Try

Are you looking for some quick bursts of cardio to add to your daily routine? Well look no further, I have created four cardio routines for myself that I’m sharing below. Read on!

If you read my post about creating an exercisers creed (you can read it here) then you already know I’m not that into cardio. I guess when I say cardio I mean running. I do get into a running plan on occasion but it takes me so long to get comfortable at it (read: stop complaining about how hard it is) I’m rarely motivated enough to start.

Since I take such long breaks, each time I start I’m back to square one and need to work up my endurance and physical ability again (get my feet, legs and hips used to pounding the pavement). I may be more likely to stick to running if I had a treadmill since the changing weather creates great excuses for why I don’t want to run outside. I can be the queen of excuses at times.

Since I’m not currently doing any formal cardio and I know that as part of a well-rounded health plan I really should be including some sort of cardiovascular type activity (over and above chasing a toddler around) I’ve created several short HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) type routines to do first thing in the morning.

I’m planning them for the morning since that’s really the only “free” time I have left in the day and I know I’m more likely to come up with excuses why I can’t get to it later in the day.

The four routines I’ve come up with use three different methods to complete a Hiit type workout. The first method is timed, the second is done by counting and the third, for which I came up with two routines, is a ladder style.

So without further delay here are the routines I will be trying out. At the end you will find links to samples of each exercise.

Note: if an exercise works each side of your body separately, like lunge jumps or high knees, complete both sides as a single count.

MN Cardio Burst - Timed

– MN Cardio Burst – Timed –

For this routine you will do work for 20 seconds then rest for 10 seconds and repeat this for 8 rounds for each pair of exercises. The workout should take you 15 minutes.

So more specifically…

Your first round will consist of 20 seconds of Jumping Jacks, 10 seconds of rest, 20 seconds of Butt Kickers, 10 seconds of rest. You will do this for 8 rounds then rest for one minute. You then move onto the next pair of exercise and do those for 8 rounds. Then again rest 1 minute. And finally move onto the last pair of exercises.

I use my gymboss timer and set it for two intervals – the first for 20 seconds, the second for 10 seconds and set it to repeat 8 times.

Cardio Burst - Count

– MN Cardio Burst – Count –

This routine is done by counting repetitions. You will complete a specific number of repetitions for each exercise. Once you complete one set of the listed exercises rest for 30 to 45 seconds. You will repeat this 10 to 12 times. Depending on your rest time and how many times you repeat the set this workout should take you 15 to 20 minutes.

So more specifically…

You will do 10 jumping jacks, 15 high knees, 15 butt kickers, 10 mountain climbers and 5 burpees, rest for 30 seconds (or 45 seconds) then repeat 10 times (or 12 times).

MN Ladder Workout #1

– MN Ladder Workout #1 –

My ladder style workouts are done by working your way from 1 repetition of each exercise up to 10 repetitions then back down to 1. This workout should take you about 20 minutes.

So more specifically…

You will do 1 flutter squat, 1 high knees, 1 burpee, 1 jumping jack, then 2 flutter squats, 2 high knees, 2 burpees, 2 jumping jacks and so on until you get to 10 flutter squats, 10 high knees, 10 burpees, 10 jumping jacks. Then rest 1 minute. This time you will start with 10 flutter squats, 10 high knees, 10 burpees, 10 jumping jacks and work your way back down to 1 flutter squat, 1 high knees, 1 burpee, 1 jumping jack.

I find my memory works better if I say the thing I’m trying to remember out loud so I’m going to suggest counting out loud to prevent yourself from losing your place in case you need to pause (I paused a number of times).

MN Ladder Workout #2

– MN Ladder Workout #2 –

Done in the same manner as the previous workout but will different exercises. Again this workout should take you about 20 minutes.

You will do 1 lunge jump, 1 push-up, 1 butt kickers, 1 jump squat, then 2 lunge jumps, 2 push-ups, 2 butt kickers, 2 jump squats and so on until you get to 10 lunge jumps, 10 push-ups, 10 butt kickers, 10 jump squats. Then rest 1 minute. Now you will start with 10 lunge jumps, 10 push-ups, 10 butt kickers, 10 jump squats and work your way back down to 1 lunge jump, 1 push-up, 1 butt kickers, 1 jump squat.

Here’s a list of the exercises with links to how they are performed:

– Jumping Jacks

– Butt Kickers

– Burpees

– Speed Skaters

– Plank

– Russian Twists

– High Knees

– Mountain Climbers

– Flutter Squats

– Push ups

– Jump Squats

 

Let me know what you think once you’ve tried any of these. Do you have a similar workout routine you love? I’d like to hear about it. And of course if you have any questions feel free to contact me.

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