Tot Trays – Page 2 – Jack of All Trades

Teacher Guide versus Little Goose…Which Guide to Use?

leslie November 4, 2016 0 Comments

Okay, I am a teacher at heart.When I taught public school, my bedside table was filled with curriculum books... that I LOVED reading (it's okay...I know I am a total nerd). I just like to see what the ideas are, where we are going, and how it all builds together. So for me...the teacher... looking into these 2 guides from Mother Goose Time was fun and interesting! Should I buy the...

Making and Playing with Our Food

leslie November 1, 2016 0 Comments

It's "Wheat Day" as we study food produced on farms this week. We read The Little Red Hen (A First Little Golden Book) and played in flour, but the best part was when all three of us (mom, dad, and Sweet Pea) got into the kitchen to cook together!Mother Goose Time included this wonderful "recipe card". All I needed was dough (you could totally use a roll of cookie dough here) which I...

Muddy Day Play

leslie October 24, 2016 1 Comment

Oh MUD day! How much fun are you?! Except for little girls who hate to get dirty.But that's okay when you pair mud with bath time. So here in Texas, someone forgot to tell October that it was Autumn, and the temps have been in the 90's and super humid. Awful.Finally last Friday, October got the message, and we were blessed with some of the most beautiful weather! So...

Watching a Child Create

leslie October 14, 2016 0 Comments

Sweet Pea is a cautious observer. Always has been.. and hopefully, always will be.I have always known this about her, but I had never seen it so prevalent in her creations as it was on the day we had an Invitation to Create a Muddy Pig.She did not pick up the picture of the pig, or study it any more than she normally looks at something. But as I watched her place her "mud" aka brown...

Getting a Handle on Emotions

leslie September 25, 2016 0 Comments

This month has been an emotional month FOR SURE. We have endured a flood of emotions this past month. Sadness reigned as we went to a funeral for one of my best friends, my pastor, and co-worker, Ryan King and his sweet brother-in-law, one of the finest men God let grace this earth, Bryson Adkison. That happened at the beginning of the month. However during that time, my...

Art: Process vs. Product?

leslie September 10, 2016 0 Comments

I went to college to be an art teacher. In fact my degree is in Fine Arts with an emphasis in painting, and I graduated with an EC-12 Art Certification. I was blessed to be able to teach high school Art I for 2 separate years out of my 8 years of public education (art positions are hard to find and keep with all the cuts yall). Please allow me to tell you something about my experience...

Tot School: 5 Little Speckled Frogs

leslie May 3, 2016 0 Comments

I have scavenged, pinned, researched, downloaded, printed, and created our first Tot School Unit on PONDS. For the next several weeks, Sweet Pea and I will do all things pond related and specifically talk about frogs and turtles more than other animals. Today I wanted to share a little game I made for my girl based on the song, 5 Little Speckled Frogs. Let me apologize in advance for the song...

How Does Your Garden Grow?

leslie April 19, 2016 0 Comments

What did we do before Pinterest?!?! It's amazing what you can find on there. I know a lot of people can look on there and get overwhelmed especially with the comparison game, but for me Pinterest is like a visual encyclopedia. I type something in, and boom, research is done. Millions of ideas, thoughts, and visual representations are there to GUIDE me. And that's the...

Making Play dough (with no cream of tartar)

leslie March 11, 2016 0 Comments

I wanted to play with play dough with Sweet Pea...but I did NOT want to go to Walmart at 8 in the evening. Have you been then... its like all the cashiers go home and everyone in town heads to the store!!! Lines backed up to the clothes and I thought I was going to be the only one there. Wrong...So I decided I would make play dough following this 3 minute YouTube video ...

Sensory Easter Eggs

leslie March 1, 2016 4 Comments

Sweet Pea is 19 months, and it is like her brain is a dry sponge just ready to soak up any and all things placed around her. She's grasping things faster than I expected, and I am so enjoying making these Tot Trays to challenge her into learning new things.Easter is around the corner, and here in Texas, we didnt have winter. We've had a most enjoyable spring that sprung like a month...