SMMART TIME-OUT FOR TIDBITS

I think that this would be a fun idea for a birthday party...all different colors of crazy straws (names written on their water bottles with a permanent marker or tear off the label and tape on your own).

Poke a small hole into the top of a water bottle cap (The Costco Kirkland brand little water bottles have a cap that allows for easy poking). You can use a small screw driver, ice pick, meat thermometer...just be careful.

The hole should just be big enough to squeeze in the crazy straw...and instant FU N !

Lisa

SMMART READING: LETTERS READY AND AVAILABLE

Whatever method you choose, it is a great resource to have letters readily available and OBVIOUS for your child to play with.

You can have magnetic letters on your fridge or on a whiteboard.

You can post letters up on your child's door or wall with tape. Make sure that the letters are easily reachable for your child to explore and play with.

You can keep foam letters out and about.

My husband purchased this Leap Frog Alphabet/Number learning toy. We keep all of the letters and the audio player on the side of our fridge within reach of our children. This toy is great because it engages little minds and is fun to play with. Put a letter into the audio player and: "P says 'puh', P says 'puh'. Every Letter Makes a Sound. P says 'puh'." I often ask my youngest to bring me the letter "X" and she'll run right over to the fridge and bring it to me...she loved this game even before she could speak!

Whatever the method, be sure to have letters available so your child can become familiar with their shapes and sounds.

Lisa

WATCH for SMMART ART on "GOOD THINGS UTAH"

Tune in on JULY 3- "Good Things Utah" at 10:00am on abc4

for some SMMART ART ideas!

SMMART ART: MAKE SIMPLE FABULOUS!

I was thinking of some ways to make simple crayon/marker drawings a more special and exciting experience for children. My 4 year old enjoys drawing...but what could be better than giving her a clean sheet of paper and a few crayons?

-Cut up an unused cardboard box (or cereal box) and let your child draw on a large portion from the box

-Let your child draw on an empty paper towel or toilet paper roll

-Give your child a paper plate to draw on

-Let your child use a marker to draw on a scrap piece of cloth

-Use a marker to draw on a paper towel (observe how the towel absorbs the marker and may "bleed" a bit)

-Let your child use a pen or marker to embellish the pictures of an old calendar or pictures from a magazine

-Draw on popsicle sticks or real wooden sticks

-Dare to let your child use permanent marker to decorate old plastic Easter eggs, recycled peanut butter jars (and other recyclables before they hit the recycle bin)

-Color the envelopes from your junk mail

-Use markers to decorate a rock


Just some thoughts...any more ideas to make a simple crayon drawing a more spectacular experience?

Lisa

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SMMART MUSIC II: JUMP ROPE RHYTHM

Hold one end of a jump rope and let your child hold the other end. Turn the jump rope together or shake the rope back and forth. You can also let your child hold both ends of the jump rope and try to jump over the rope as you help him. As you play with the jump rope, sing a simple song or chant to keep the beat of the moving jump rope. You could also count to 10 to the beat of the jump rope.

Reciting poems or counting, and singing songs to the jump rope beat helps build rhythm skills.

You can practice spelling words or spelling your child’s name to the jump rope rhythm. Take turns spelling the letters of a word each time the jump rope taps the floor.

Lisa

SMMART MUSIC I: SING SOUNDS

Write down the letter combinations that make different sounds. Show your child the letters. Sing a familiar tune while saying different letter combinations.

For example, you can sing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” while making the sound for “CH”,"SH", "TH", or "GH". Sing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” while making the sound “SH”, “TH”, “La la la” or “Doo doo doo”.

Ask your child what other sound he’d like to substitute and sing. Write down those letters and show him how the sounds are spelled.

This activity also works well for deciphering between hard and soft sounds of a letter. You can hold up a feather as you sing the soft sound of a letter and then switch to a rock to sing the hard sound. Switch it up so your child must pay attention to see what sound you will sing for each line of the song.

Lisa