Personalized Job Chart

I've decided it is time to have a job chart. Eden can't read yet so I wanted to use images. After spending a few minutes looking for cute, free clip art for each of her jobs, I decided I was done with that. Then it occurred to me, I have a camera! Duh! So, I had Eden pose for each of her jobs (which reinforced what her jobs are) and then printed them on photo paper, laminated them, cut them out, put magnets on them, and voila!

There are three rows: Morning jobs, Night-time jobs, and eXtra jobs. She has to do the morning and night-time jobs just because but she gets an allowance for the eXtra jobs. The eXtra jobs include things like setting the table, washing windows, dusting, emptying the dishwasher, straightening her books and toys.

Here is a picture of the job chart today:

Tutorial Tuesday - Learning Road

It is fairly simple to create a game board like this:
Draw your road:
Cut it out:
Glue it to a piece of construction paper in a contrasting color:
Draw the broken line down the center of the road (you can also draw grass or flowers or something along the side of the road):
Decide what you want your child to practice (in this case it is vowels) and make little signs and then glue along the road:
You can laminate to extend the life of your game board or you can slip in a sheet protector. (Hint: to save on laminate and paper you can do another game on the backside.)

When it is finished you can find some small cars and have your toddler drive and tell you what the signs say or you can say, "drive to the letter E" or whatever you come up with.


We've done this with shapes and numbers and colors. You could also do it with stickers of different animals or pictures of grandparents (if they live far away and you want your child to learn their names) or whatever your mind comes up with. Feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments.

Tutorial Tuesday - Musical Squares

If you have a laminator (or access to one)
and if you have a toddler or preschooler (and therefore not much time), then
this is a project for
you!

Materials List:

• Several (you determine the number) pieces of cardstock cut to squares (approx. 6" x 6")
• Glue
• Desired Images (found on the internet, made by yourself, cut out of a magazine, etc.)
• Laminator
• Source of Music
• Scissors

Instructions:

1. Decide what you want to teach your child.
   
2. Find images that will meet your need (shapes, letters, numbers, colors, etc. - see suggestions below).
3. Cut cardstock to squares.
4. Glue images to cardstock. (Suggestion: use both sides, I did shapes on one side and vowels on the other thereby getting two games out of one.)
5. Laminate cards.
6. Trim laminate as needed.
7. Turn on the music.
8. Dance.
9. Stop the music and call out an image (e.g. "Triangle!") and watch your toddlers scramble to find the right card to stand on.
10. Repeat steps 7-9 until everyone is tired and ready for a nap.

I know, it sounds simple but toddlers LOVE it and it is a great way to teach. Depending on what you are trying to teach your child, you can put various images* on the game pieces. You can find free clip art online by simply doing a search such as "triangle clip art" and then click on "images" when the results pop up.

*Some Ideas for different types of cards:

• Alphabet Cards
• Various Animal Cards
• Number Cards
• Shape Cards
• Color Cards
• Scripture Cards (images from different scripture stories)
• My Family Cards (pictures of different family members: aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.)
• Simple Word Cards (CAT, DOG, HAT, etc. - you could include an image of the item too)

Another variation is to layer your images so that you have a yellow card with a cat and a "C" on it. That way you can call out the color, the animal, or the letter.

Be creative and share your ideas in the comment section.

P.S. Any wonderful suggestions for how I can clean up that fireplace (seen in the video)? We haven't used it and it is driving me nuts!