Does Your Child Run To You?

He ran to me! 

My 8-month-old baby ran to me from the other end of his crib. He is just starting to walk. He can only make a few steps on his own before he would fall again. 

Last night, he ran to me with so much excitement and joy!

His joy was evident and contagious! His smile and excitement were contagious! I could see it in his eyes. I can see it in the way he smiled and moved forward with eagerness. I could see it in his outstretched arms.

Look how big my baby's smile is!
We can see his two lower teeth (his first two teeth) already!

He fell before reaching my hands at the opposite end of his crib but it's okay. His spirit was not dampened. He was simply happy to see me there... present to him... watching him... cheering him... encouraging him... lovingly gazing at him and celebrating his every step.

He was happy, confident and brave enough to run even though he is still struggling with this new skill simply because I was there. My presence spurred him to do something that is beyond his current skill set. I am pleased that this was the effect of my presence to my son.

I am blessed to have these moments with my baby. Actually, I had been so blessed to have these kind of moments with all of my children.

I had been home since I got pregnant with my first child. Thus, I was there to witness and celebrate almost every single day and moment in their young lives.

Then, it dawned on me that my children will not always run to me. So, it's good to seize each and every opportunity to embrace them every time these opportunities come.

I realized that as our children grow older, they will run to us less often. I have seen this in my eldest child who is now 6 six years old. He still runs to me a lot but now that he's older, he runs to many other things as well and to other people. He runs to his toys and his books. He runs to his playmates. He runs to things that make him curious and that excite him or make him happy.

But he still runs to me many times each day. He runs to me to show me the products of his wild imagination. He runs to me to show me something he built using his building blocks or wooden blocks like the very detailed car park building, house or robot he designed. He runs to me to show me his drawings or art works. He runs to me to share something new he has discovered or learned. He runs to me to show the worksheets he has answered. He runs to me to share his accomplishments like the "books" he finished writing and illustrating. He runs to me to share his stories, his plans and his dreams. He runs to me when he is excited, happy, hurt or afraid. He runs to me for help. He runs to me when he has questions.

The same is true with my younger child who is 3 years old. He runs to me to do most of what his big brother does and so much more. He runs to me when he wants to listen to a story or read a book. He runs to me when he wants a kiss and a hug. He runs to me when he wants to be defended or protected. He runs to me when he wants to learn or know something. He runs to me when he wants someone who will listen to him. He runs to me when he wants to sing and dance. He runs to me when he wants his picture taken. 

My children run to me because of many reasons. When they were still babies like my third baby now, they run to me for milk most of the time. They run to me for assistance in doing many things. But as they grow older, they run to me less because they had been learning to do things on their own and to discover new things on their own. But I love that they still run to me to share their new learnings and discoveries afterwards.

I think that running to me has become their default because I have done three things consistently over the years that made them behave this way. And if you want your children to run to you as well, I suggest that you also do these three.

3 Things To Do So Your Children Will Run To You

1. Make running to you an option. Your children wouldn't consider this an option unless you make it known to them that this is something they can do. Let them know that they can run to you through your words and through your actions. Call them or tell them that you are there and that they can approach you. If your children are not used to running to you, encourage them. Don't force them. But keep inviting them. 

2. Be consistently present to your children. You need to be present to your children most of the time especially when they need you the most. That would powerfully convey to them that they can run to you when they want to or need to. Your presence is the most poignant proof that they really can run to you. Your presence will give credibility to your words that they can come to you. When you are not consistently present, they may think that you will not be there next time they want or need to run to you.

3. Make them want to run to you. There are many ways to make your children want to run to you. But these are all rooted in how you make them feel when they run to you. I do not claim that I do all these perfectly all the time. But I do strive to make my children feel this way as often as I can. 

Here are some ways:

• Make them feel welcomed. We parents are always busy and it can be very           challenging for us to make them feel welcomed all the time. I have learned that when we are busy, it's alright to be honest with them by letting them know what we are currently doing and why we are doing the task at hand. But it's also crucial that we still make them feel welcomed most of the time and when they are still little so that when they are older, they know that they are welcomed. Mom/dad is just busy at the moment. When you have deposited much in your child's emotional bank account and made your child feel welcomed early on in his/her young life, your child can accept more easily the times when you will tell him/her that you are currently busy doing something and that you will spend more time with him/her later when your current task is done.

• Make them feel loved. You can make them feel loved with your words. The way you speak to them also communicates your love. Make your actions or gestures communicate love as well, including your facial expressions when they turn and run to you. Children notice a lot of things. You'll be amazed to discover what they usually notice if you take time to ask them and listen to their answers. So do your best that your words, tone of voice, facial expression, gestures and actions all communicate love. 

• Make them feel important. Children feel important when their parents make time for them and the things that matter to them. If your kids are still small, their play time matters to them. Their stories matter to them no matter how trivial these stories are or even when they do not make sense to you. Your presence and willingness to make time to listen to them and to their concerns make them feel important. Your willingness to help them when they need assistance on something or when they have questions communicate to them that they are important enough to be heard.

• Make them feel happy. The wonderful thing about children is that it is easy to make them happy. The simplest things make them smile, laugh and bring them joy. A lot of times, if we just allow ourselves to spend more time with them, we will also catch their joy and find humor in ordinary things or situations. When we regularly make time to pause and make them happy, we teach them to associate happiness with our presence or company. That makes them want to run to us more and often.

• Make them feel safe. One way to make them feel safe to run to you is by being open to them and their feelings. Let them get used to expressing themselves to you whether they are experiencing positive or negative emotions. When they know and have experienced this with you over time, then they will automatically run to you because they know that it's okay to be honest with you. They are safe to be themselves when they are around you. They will feel comfortable with you. Your presence will be a source of comfort in times of trouble and distress. 

Our children will eventually grow up and need us less but if they experience having you as someone they can always run to for anything, they will remember you not only with fondness and gratitude but they will continue to run to you even when they are already adults and parents themselves.

Does your child run to you? What moves your child to run to you?

Do you want to be remembered by your child as the kind of parent he/she can always run to? 

I believe that most parents want to be present to their children but are struggling to do this because of financial concerns. If you are serious in becoming a parent whom your children will always want to run both in good times and in bad, I invite you to take a look at my coaching program called iHOPE with Teresa Gumap-as Dumadag. It's a 3-Step Success System that can help parents like you to become present to your children while at the same time earning money for your family. You can read more about this here.

Simple Matching Games for Toddlers (Teaching Letters and Numbers)

I have mentioned in my previous posts on our letter of the week program that on top of these activities, I also let my toddler (2-year-old) play some matching games to help reinforce the lessons we have on letters and numbers.

 

Let me share with you some of these simple games which are so easy to prepare and are so easy to grasp by toddlers.

 

1. Matching letters and toys - We use small foam letters here. We began with the letters of my toddler's first name (MATEO). I noticed when we were still starting with our alphabet lessons that my toddler's attention wanders away after a few minutes when we use all flash cards or when we use all the foam letters to study the alphabet. Good thing I read in several blogs by other moms that it's more helpful and easier for a child to begin studying the letters of his/her name first. That way, the child does not get overwhelmed with the need to recognize too many letters right away.

 

So, I chose some of my toddler's favorite toys that start with the letters of his first name. (Mango, apple, tomato, eggplant and orange to match the letters MATEO). I showed him first how to match them correctly, sounding out the letters and the names of the toys and matching them with each other.

Then, I mix up the toys and the letters and ask my toddler son to match them. I began with arranging the letters correctly and asked my child to match the plastic toys. He easily learned the letters of his name through this matching game. I was also glad that I was inspired to use his favorite toys since this made the game more interesting for him.

Mateo matches the toys to the foam letters of his name.

When I saw that he got this correctly, I then mixed up the letters and arranged the plastic toys in order. My son also answered it correctly even when we played the matching game in reverse.

 

After playing this matching game for a couple of weeks, we tried asking my toddler to match the plastic toys with the letters in his puzzle mat. This time, all the letters of the alphabet were there already and they were arranged in order. My son was still able to find the letters of his name after some tries. When I noticed that he still gets a bit confused with a lot of letters, we limited the letters again to his first name. After practicing by playing this matching game for a number of days again, we let him try finding the letters of his name again with the entire alphabet puzzle mat laid out. This time, he was able to answer correctly even with his first try.

 

2. Matching flash cards and clothes pins with letters - I got this idea in another blog. It's so simple and budget-friendly as well. We still have a lot of wooden clothes pins at home so I adapted this activity right away as soon as I learned about it.

 

You simply need a permanent marker, clothes pins and flash cards. Again, we began with the letters of my toddler's first name (MATEO) to prevent overwhelm and confusion. I wrote one letter per clothes pin and separated the flash cards with the letters of his name. I showed him how to match them correctly, sounding out the letters and showing him the clothes pins with the corresponding letters. I mixed up the flash cards and clothes pins again and asked my son to match them to each other. At first, I asked my toddler to clip the clothes pins to the flash cards.

Then, when I found some yarn and a place in the house where we can hang our "toys," I asked him to hang the flash cards there as he plays this matching game.



Mateo hanging his flash cards using the clothes pins with the letters of his name.
 



My toddler happy and proud of his accomplishment!

  

3. Matching DIY Thomas and Friends trains and clothes pins with numbers - My toddler son loves Thomas and Friends so much that I try to connect as much homeschool lessons as I can with this character. Since I'm also teaching him numbers and helping him to become more familiar with them, I thought of using the character of Thomas and Friends for this lesson. The trains in this series have numbers so I researched the names and colors of the trains and began with the first 10 trains in the series to help my toddler become more familiar with numbers 1 to 10.

 

I asked the help of my two sons in this homeschool project. They helped me make the trains. I cut the rectangles from the scrap colored papers that we have while they traced circles and painted them to become the wheels of the trains. Then, I numbered the trains based on the story of Thomas and Friends. Next, I introduced them to my toddler son and pointed out the numbers of the trains.

 

Then, I wrote one number on each clothes pins again using a permanent marker. I read out the numbers to my son and asked him to match the clothes pins with numbers to the trains with numbers on their bodies. Like with our matching game with the letters of his name, at first I asked him to clip the clothes pins to the trains.

Our DIY Thomas and Friends homeschool project.

Then, when we had a yarn set up near our hallway, I asked him to hang the trains in the yarn as he plays this matching game. My son found this game interesting and fun. It's a short game but very effective in teaching him to recognize numbers. It's also very simple and easy to prepare.

Mateo matches the clothes pins with numbers to our DIY trains.

Mateo with Thomas and Friends, our version. ;)

 

If you have a son who also likes trains or the character of Thomas and Friends, I highly recommend this matching game to you and your son when learning numbers and colors. 

Here are names and numbers of the trains in this series:

1 - Thomas, blue
2 - Edward, blue
3 - Henry, green
4 - Gordon, blue
5 - James, red
6 - Percy, green
7 - Toby, brown
8 - Doc, green
9 - Donald, black
10 - Douglas, black

These are the simple activities that we do on top of our letter of the week activities. Based on our experience, they are effective ways to reinforce the lessons that my toddler learns in our letter of the week activities. Feel free to use the same activities in teaching your little ones if you think they would also work in your family.
 

Letter of the Week Activities with the Letter T

We will conclude our activities for the letter T today. It has been a T as in Terrific week for me and my sons!

 

Let me enumerate the activities that we had in the past days.

 

First, we kicked off our letter of the week activity for the letter T by doing activities related to trains. My boys love trains so I thought that it would be a good idea to start with this concept. After finger painting the letter T in upper and lower case, we made trains from colored cut outs.

 

Second, I let the boys play with toys starting with the letter T. My eldest son who just turned 6 the other day helped me choose the toys he and his younger brother played with. He identified toys that start with the letter T and we set them aside as their main playthings this week.

 

Third, we read books about trains, trucks, a taxi, a tricycle and a book about a tiger. You may read my previous post here where I detailed the activities we had on our first day with the letter T.

This is the book we read this morning.
We used our boys' toys as props as we read it.

 

Fourth, we also had T as in Trinity activities. We painted some cut outs that symbolize the Holy Trinity and my eldest son wrote a Bible verse about the Holy Trinity. We watched a video where the Holy Trinity were manifested. Read more about the details of this activity here in my previous post.

 

Fifth, we talked about the lives of Saints whose names start with the letter T like St. Therese of the Child Jesus, St. Teresa of Avila and St. Timothy. These discussions were very timely because the two Saint Teresa's celebrated their Feast Days this October while my son who was named after St. Timothy celebrated his birthday the other day. Thus, one of our activities this week is T as in Timothy Day wherein we granted most of my eldest son's wishes. You may read more about it here.

 

Sixth, we made flags of countries whose names start with the letter T. We made big flags. We also made flaglets, which we stuck in my son's globe cake. Good thing the flags of these countries were quite easy to make.

I simply asked the boys to use their star shape sorter toy and trace its shape on bond paper and red colored paper. Then, my eldest son cut the traced shapes. He and his younger brother glued them based on my instructions. We used my eldest son's poster on the flags of nations as our guide/reference for this activity.

T as in Turkey flag by Mateo.

T as in Tunisia flag by Yanthy.

 Seventh, we watched a video about how the tiger got its stripes.

 

 

 

These are all simple activities but they are very effective in teaching little boys about the letter T. Watch out for my next post about our next letter of the week! We will have the letter E next!

 

If you have not read my posts about the previous activities we had for our previous letters of the week, here are the links:

 

Letter of the Week Activities with the Letter A

Letter of the Week Activities with the Letter M   

Letter of the Week Activities for Letter M

We ended our letter of the week activities for the letter M yesterday. It has been one M as in magnificent week for us! ;)

 

Let me share what activities we had in the past week.

 

First, my toddler son finger painted the letter M in both upper case and lower case. That same day, he and his older brother who is 5 years old painted a mango using their handprints.

 

 

Below is the step-by-step procedure in making the mango handprint painting.

 

1. Paint the child's hand/palm with yellow paint using a brush (or your finger or a sponge).

 

2. Ask the child to press his palm (fingers together) into a bond paper.

 

3. Use a brush dipped in yellow paint to smoothen the portions near the child's thumb and pinky finger to make the handprints look more like mangoes.

 

4. Clean the child's hand while air drying the paint.

 

5. Ask your child or guide your child in painting a leaf for the mango using a paint brush.

 

6. Air dry. 

 

7. Ask your child to label or put a caption on his painting (as part of his writing and spelling practice).

 

Our second activity this past week was writing a Bible verse about Mary. we did this activity when we celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary.

Our third activity was making Mary and the Magi crafts using toilet paper tubes and colored papers.

 

You may read more about how we celebrated her Feast Day and how we made these crafts in my previous post here. 

 

As usual, since we love music very much, we reviewed another song about Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary on her Feast Day. My husband taught our son how to play this in the piano. Thus, this was the new song he has been practicing in the past days.

 

 

 

On the same day that we made these Mary and the Magi crafts, my older son and I had Math lessons as well using Level 3 of Fun Thinkers. I introduced division to him through the concept of sharing since we have already discussed fractions in the past. I used our previous discussions as spring board to this new lesson. Since we were talking about sharing, my son used the angels, Magi and Mama Mary crafts that we made together with his wooden blocks as manipulative toys for our Math lessons. He enjoyed 'playing' Math with these crafts and toys in the past days.

 

Another activity that we had was making a diagram of the different phases of the moon since we just had a lunar eclipse the other day. You may read about this lesson and art activity in detail here in my previous post.

 

We also read books about the moon, (the planet) Mars, Mary, the Magi, monkeys and a book where mangoes or a mango tree was included. I also used props while reading the books to them to make our storytelling sessions more fun. The boys pretended to be winged monkeys while we were rereading the story about The Wizard of Oz. :) My eldest son read the book Can we live in Mars again. The book is recommended for 9-12 year-old kids but my son wants to learn more about Mars so I bought him this book last month. That's why I love homeschooling because we are not limited by books that are recommended for his biological age. He can go ahead and read more advanced books if he is ready and interested in them. He has learned so much through this interest-led approach to homeschooling. He remembers so many things from the books he has read because he likes the topics that he's reading. Of course, being gifted is a factor as well why he retains a lot from what he reads.

 

 

We had macaroni soup with sausage the other day and my husband made a mango float last Friday night, which we ate for dessert yesterday to celebrate our magnificent week with the letter M. :)

 

Yesterday morning, the boys woke up to a wonderful surprise from their Dad -- a new toy motorcycle for each one of them! They played with this using the transportation-themed page I made on the letter M. (You may download a free copy of this transportation-themed curriculum that I customized for my son Mateo by signing up on my blog's side bar.)
 

Our last activity was an art activity for M as in Mass. Since we go to Mass daily, I thought of helping the kids understand better what's really happening during the Mass.

 

Let me share the steps in doing this activity step by step:

 

1. I asked the kids to use a round shape sorter toy to trace a circle on a bond paper.

 

2. I asked my older son to cut the circle.

 

3. I gave each boy a blue bond paper which I folded in half.

 

4. I asked each one to glue the white circle on the right side of the bond paper.

 

5. I cut a yellow-colored paper in the shape of a cup.

 

6. I asked each child to glue this cut out under the white circle.

 

7. I reminded them that these are what the priest raises during the Mass. I also explained what these are to them.

 

8. I asked them to finger paint grains on the left side of the bond paper to symbolize the grains which are used to make the host.

 

9. I mixed red and blue paint to make purple paint.

 

10. I asked them to use the purple paint to finger paint a bunch of grapes, explaining to them that the wine comes from grapes. I briefly explained how wine is made. I also explained that during consecration, the host becomes the body of Christ (specifically His heart) and the wine becomes His blood.

 

11. I asked them to finger paint drops of blood under the host. 

 

12. We air-dried the paintings while we cleaned their hands.

 

 

While the kids were painting the grains and grapes, we were also singing a (Filipino) Mass song about the grains and grapes being gathered and formed into the host and wine.

 

 

 

Isang Pagkain, Isang Katawan, Isang Bayan

 

Katulad ng mga butil na tinitipon

Upang maging tinapay na nagbibigay buhay

Kami nawa'y matipon din

At maging bayan mong giliw

 

Koro:

Iisang Panginoon, iisang katawan
Isang bayan, isang lahi

Sayo'y nagpupugay

Katulad din ng mga ubas

Na piniga at naging alak

Sino mang uminom nito
May buhay na walang hanggan
Kami nawa’y maging sangkap
Sa pagbuo nitong bayang liyag
(Koro)

 

That's it for our maginificent week with the letter M! Watch out for my next post about our activities with our next letter of the week!

M is for Moon Lessons

I'm so glad I chose to make the letter M our letter of the week this week! First, it was Mama Mary's Feast Day yesterday as Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary. Today, there is a lunar eclipse!

 

Let me share with you our activities for today.

 

First, we read our book about space again. This time, we read only the pages on the sun and moon. Click here to read my review of our Space book.

 

Second, I discussed the phases of the moon and the lunar eclipse to the kids in detail using three of their rubber balls (of different sizes) to illustrate my points. The biggest ball represented the sun, the second biggest, the earth and the smallest the moon. I also showed them pictures of the moon during a lunar eclipse like the one below. 



Photo source here.

 

Third, I asked the boys to make a diagram of the phases of the moon. For my 2-year-old, I asked him to make the 4 main phases only. I asked my 5-year-old to make all the phases.

 

Here's how we made the diagram:

 

1. I asked the boys to get a circle/round object that they can use for tracing a circle on their bond paper. My older son used the circle in their shape sorter; while my younger son used a small cup from their stacking cups.

 

 

2. Next, I asked my 5-year-old to cut the circles that he traced. I asked our helper to cut the circles traced by my toddler.

 

3. After cutting the 3 circles they traced, I asked them to fold 1 of the circles and cut it in half to make it into quarter moons.

 

4. Then, I asked them to spread glue on the cut outs.

 

5. I folded blue bond papers for them and asked them to glue the phases of the moon in sequence.

 

6. I showed them a diagram to follow while at the same time guiding/supervising them.

 

7. Then, I asked my 5-year-old to label the phases of the moon. I helped my toddler put a caption of his moon diagram.

 

 

8. We posted our diagrams on our wall again by the study area.

My 5-year-old's diagram of the phases of the moon.

The phases of the moon by my 2-year-old.

Then, we thought of songs that have moons in their lyrics (like Hey, Diddle Diddle and The Man on the Moon) and sang them.

 

After lunch, we watched some videos about the phases of the moon, about night and day and the lunar eclipse.

 

Later this afternoon until evening, we will observe the sky and watch the lunar eclipse happen. We hope and pray that it will not rain later so the sky would be clear.

Letter of the Week Activities for Letter A

We have just concluded an A as in Awesome week in our homeschool! The kids and I enjoyed the activities we had last week. My 2-year-old has been telling us in the past nights that among his high points were painting apples, ants and an angel. I'm so glad I lined up those activities for the kids! We had a lot of opportunities to bond while having fun and learning!

 

Let me now share with you what we did in the past week as part of our Letter of the Week Program. Our first letter of the week was the letter A.

Our letter A activities on one wall of our study area.

  

First, we painted an angel using the kids' handprints. You may read about this activity in detail here in one of my previous posts.

 

Second, we made an angel craft using paper plates. You may read about this activity in detail here in one of my previous posts.

 

Third, we painted apples and ants.

 

Fourth, we read books that featured A as in Adam and A as in Noah's ark as part of our Catholic ABC program. We also read The Giving Tree on the same day that we painted apples and ants.

 

Fifth, I let my 5-year-old to practice his handwriting, listening and spelling skills by asking him to write a verse about angels that I dictated to him.

 

 

Sixth, each of the boys painted an apple tree. Mateo, my 2-year-old finger painted the letter A in upper case and lower case. You may read my post about this activity in detail here.

 

Seventh, I let my 2-year-old play with items that start with letter A after letting him trace his finger over a foam letter A. These items include an airplane (that he can assemble and disassemble), ambulance and a plastic apple. He also played with the angel craft that we made. He used the transportation-themed letter A that I printed as roads for his toy airplane and ambulance. This is part of the Transportation-themed Alphabet Curriculum that I made for him. You may download a copy of this by signing up at my blog's sidebar. It's absolutely free! :)

 

 

 

Eight, my kids being very musical, we sang songs about ants and angels during these days.

Last but not least, there were days when the boys had fresh apples for snacks. :)

 

Those are our fun and simple activities for the Letter A.

 

Today, we began our activities for our next letter of the week -- the letter M! Yes, it's M, not B! I learned from another blog by a mom who follows the Montessori style of teaching small kids that we need not teach the alphabet letters in order as we try to help kids recognize the letters. We can begin with the letters of the child's name. That's why I have decided to start with activities for the letters M, A, T, E and O first.

 

One activity that I let Mateo play is a matching game between the foam letters of his name and some of his favorite plastic toys. This helps me help him recognize the letters of the alphabet in a fun way. Moreover, by limiting the game to only 5 letters or the letters of his name, he doesn't get overwhelmed in the process.  

 

Here's how I do it.

 

First, I show my 2-year-old son where each item should be placed. I say out their names like M is for mango, A is for apple, T is for tomato, E is for eggplant and O is for orange. Then, I remove the toy fruits, mix them up and ask him to put a fruit in front of the correct letter. After that, I remove the foam letters, mix them up and ask my toddler to match the letters to the fruits. He easily learned our matching game and answered correctly. You can play this game several times within the week or once a day to give your child a chance to master or to get familiar with the objects and the letters of the alphabet that you are currently teaching him/her.

 

Hope these activities help you have fun teaching your kids! Until my next post!

 

Finger Painting Letter A and Apple Trees

We painted apple trees tonight. Since it was a holiday, I've decided to do our homeschool activities this evening after going to Mass. That's one of the things I love about homeschooling. We are not tied to a specific time only. We can choose to do our activities or lessons in the morning or at night.

 

So, the boys had plenty of free play all day while Mommy and Daddy had time to rest and watch a movie while they had their nap. ;)

 

Now, let me share our simple activities for today.

 

First, I traced upper case and lower case Letter As using a pencil on a bond paper. Then, I let my 2-year-old son dip his index finger on a red paint. I guided his finger to demonstrate to him how to follow the line. Then, he did it on his own. We did the same thing with the small letter a. After that, we air-dried his work.

 

Our second activity was painting apple trees.

 

Here's our step-by-step procedure in doing this activity:

 

1. I gave each of my sons a bond paper.

 

2. I painted one palm/hand of my son with a green paint. You can use your own finger, a brush or a sponge. I simply used my hand to put and spread paint on my son's hand.

 

3. Press the child's hand on the bond paper gently for a few seconds and lift. To practice their counting skills, I let my kids count from 1 to 20.

 

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 twice or up to 4 times until you form a canopy for your apple tree using the child's hand print.

 

5. Clean the child's hand with a wet wipe or wash his hand.

 

6. Paint brown paint on your child's upper index and middle finger and guide his hand to make a tree trunk for your apple tree by pressing his fingers on the bond paper. Keep adding paint and pressing until you get the desired height of your tree trunk.

 

7. Clean the middle finger and paint the index finger with brown paint again and use this finger to guide your child to paint the branches and roots of the tree.

 

8. Clean the fingers again using wet wipes.

 

9. Air-dry your painting for at least 5 minutes.

 

10. Use your child's pinky or index finger to paint the apples on your tree. Dip the child's finger on red paint and let him press it gently on the canopy. Instruct your child to press his finger only within the green paint. You may ask your child how many apples he's like to paint on his tree like what I did. Then, let him count as he paints.

 

11. Clean your child's hands with soap and water and dry his hands as you air-dry his painting again.



My 5-year-old's apple tree.



My 2-year-old's apple tree.

 

12. Ask your child to label his painting. You can ask him to write Mateo's Apple Tree for example. If your child doesn't know how to write yet, you can guide his hand as he holds a crayon or pencil and help him label his painting.

 

That's it! Then, display your child's painting!

 

This is our last activity for our Letter of the Week Program for Letter A. Watch out for our next Letter of the Week activities in my next posts!