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Tuesday, December 16, 2014

The Kissing Hand

 

I love this book and it is an easy transition to a video conversation with your grandchild.  I sent heart stickers ahead of time, so during the call, Chase can also put a heart on his hand and cheek.  And of course, read the book together!!

Sunday, November 9, 2014

A frog hopping on the piano!!



I recently heard about a piano teaching method called Musicopoly, created by Lyndel Kennedy from Australia.  This is a fun introduction to children as young as 4-years-old and can be adapted to your Skype/Facetime conversations.  Check out the website to see if there is a teacher in your area: https://musicopolis.com/find-a-teacher.html.

I grew up playing the piano and would love to share music with my grandchildren.  This is going to take some planning though.  First, I have borrowed a keyboard from a friend and my daughter needs to get a keyboard for Chase.  Then I will start lessons from one of the registered teachers.  Knowing Chase will not sit for a regular lesson, I think I can convert my lessons to 3-4 minute segments for Chase.

The mini-clip I showed you is just a snippet of the creative way to make the piano fun.  The first thing I did was have a frog toy for him to play with. Then I will find a frog story to tell Chase.  Next, I will have him "hop" like a frog.  And finally, add the music component of how a hopping frog would sound on the piano.  The child only needs to pick 2 black keys, use fingers 2 and 3, do a sequence of 2 at a time for the hopping sound and go left-to-right up the keyboard. As you can see in the short video, it is easy and quick.  I will need Lindsay to assist with his hand position and which fingers to use.

The Musicopoly method has more details about building on techniques for playing the piano at this age.  It's amazing to see the concepts of hand position brought in to the story.  There are more animal sounds and fun ways to learn piano basics once you get started.  I am really impressed with Musicopoly.  Check it out!!

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Gary and Hadley looking for Rio

 
Pets and Grandchildren - the perfect combination!!
 
Grandchildren will love to see your pets, especially if they have met the pets during a visit.  When Hadley is at her grandparents, Gary and her often search for Rio, the cat.  Rio is usually hiding and they have to look under the bed and in all the closets.  In this video, Gary takes the iPad with him as he searches for Rio.  This time there is no Rio, but he does find the dog, Scout.  If you listen closely, you can hear Hadley talk to the dog and say "Woof."
 
 
 


Thursday, October 9, 2014

3 Little Kittens



One little, two little, three little kittens
Were napping in the sun
One little, two little, three little puppies
Said come lets have some fun
Creeping Creeping Creeping Creeping
As quietly as can be
One little, two little, three little kittens
Went scampering up the tree

This is short enough to be done before your grandchild wanders off.  Have a parent help them with the finger motions at first.  After a few times, your grandchild will copy you without help.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Find it!



I just discovered this great toy!  It is called “Find It” and the design is ingenious.  In the clear cylinder are thousands of tiny colorful pellets with fun hidden objects.  If you roll it around or shake it, you discover a butterfly, maybe a fish and (if you are really lucky) a penny.  I have the web site listed with this post, so check out the different themes:  Christmas, the Wizard of Oz, Sports and several others.

If I was doing this just for playtime on a call, I would have Chase call out what he finds and I could keep score.  If we each had one, we could take turns calling out what we find.

This would be a good toy to ship to your grandchild for a long car or airplane trip when they are on the way to visit you.  Here’s my idea:  Have the parent give it to the child as they are ready to board the plane, or in the car.  I always want Chase to know when the toys are from me, so I would have a quick Facetime/Skype call before they board to tell him about the objects inside.  His parents can keep track of the objects he finds on the plane.  When they land, I will be waiting and we will talk about the fun objects he found.

The parents and everyone on the plane will thank you!!
 
You can find this at www.finditgames.com.  Buy 2, keep one and send one to your grandchild.
 

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Fun little toys

I buy 2 and send one to Chase, but you can find these on Amazon.  Look for the Dragon Squeeze-n-Pop by Toysmith and a Whoppee Cushion.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Five Little Ducks

Five Little Ducks
 
Five little ducks that I once knew
Fat ones, skinny ones, tall ones, too.
But the one little duck with the feather on his back,
He ruled the others with a quack, quack, quack!
Quack, quack, quack! quack, quack, quack!
He ruled the others with a quack, quack, quack!
Down to the river they would go,
wibble, wobble, wibble, wobble, all in a row.
But the one little duck with the feather on his back,
He ruled the others with a quack, quack, quack!
Quack, quack, quack! quack, quack, quack!
He ruled the others with a quack, quack, quack!
 
You might need a parent to do this too the first few times to help their toddler with the motions.  Kids will love the quacking motion.
 
 

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Up and Down



Up and Down
Up! Tall! and High! (but not necessarily in that order.) by Ethan Long
I liked this book because of the flaps and each page only has a few words.  Action and fast-moving are the keys to reading on Facetime/Skype.
 
I've experimented with reading books but struggle with the shot.  I don't know whether to have the video on just the book or to include me in the shot.  I always want my grandson to associate me with the playtime, but it's hard to turn pages that way.  What do you think?  Has anyone had better luck reading on the video call?

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Old MacDonald Had a Farm





My sister, Tammy, helped me with this one.  She sings this to her grandkids a lot and has the kids pick the animal for each verse.  It's a great way to keep the kids involved in the song, even if they don't know the words yet.

Old MacDonald had a farm
E-I-E-I-O
And on that farm he had a cow
E-I-E-I-O
With a moo-moo here
and a moo-moo there
Here a moo
There a moo
Everywhere a moo-moo
Old MacDonald had a farm
E-I-E-I-O

Animals to use in the verses:
horses - neigh
cat - meow
dog - bow wow
pig - oink
duck - quack
rooster - cock-a-doodle
lamb - baa
chicken - cluck

Monday, September 1, 2014

Dissolving capsules

Tonight Chase and I played with the dissolving capsules.  Here is what we did:
I sent 6 capsules to him ahead of time.  I told my daughter to put his capsules on his bed.  When we were ready to start, I told Chase to go look on his bed to see what Gabin left him this time.  He doesn’t know what they do yet, but he is excited.  Lindsay got a bowl of water, as hot as she was comfortable with him stirring.  We both dropped 2 capsules in the water and stirred.  It is really important at this point to have the parent stay close to make sure nothing goes in the mouth.  As the sponge fish start to form, we try to guess what it is: whale, stingray, seahorse, crab and so on.  Once all the fish were formed, we played together.  We both had the red fish hop.  The blue fish could fly!  The yellow one walked on the table toward the camera to make it look REALLY big. I think he had fun and I loved the interaction.  He is starting to pick up on the “go to your bed and see what Gabin sent you” routine.  I’m looking for ways to be consistent in our calls and this one is really catching on with him.
 
You can buy these at the dollar stores and Toys R Us.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Going on a Bear Hunt


This is a fun activity and can be lengthened as the child gets older.  Thanks to my friend, Rhonda, for letting me video her version.  Here are the words we used:

Going on a Bear Hunt
Gonna catch a big one
I’m not afraid
What’s that?

Oh no! Tall grass
Can’t go over it
Can’t go under it
Gotta go through it
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish

Repeat all of the above, and replace the part in italics with

A wide river
Splish splash, splish splash, splish splash, splish splash

Yucky mud
Squish, squish, squish, squish, squish, squish, squish, squish

A dark forest
 Climbing sounds, hand motions go up and down trees

A big snowstorm
Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo

A dark cave
Tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe

What’s that?
Fuzzy fur
Big eyes
Wet nose
Sharp teeth
It’s a bear!

Back through the cave

(Retrace steps at double time)
Run in the house and lock the door.
We weren't afraid!!

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

There's a Spider on my Head!!


There's a spider on the floor, on the floor.
There's a spider on the floor, on the floor.
Who could ask for any more, than a spider on the floor.
There's a spider on the floor, on the floor.
 
There's a spider on my leg, on my leg.
There's a spider on my leg, on my leg.
Oh, he's got so many legs, this old spider on my leg.
There's a spider on my leg, on my leg.
 
There's a spider on my stomach, on my stomach.
There's a spider on my stomach, on my stomach.
Oh, he's really, really big, this old spider on my stomach.
There's a spider on my stomach, on my stomach.
 
There's a spider on my face, on my face.
There's a spider on my face, on my face.
Oh it's such a big disgrace, this old spider on my face.
There's a spider on my face, on my face.
 
There's a spider on my head, on my head.
There's a spider on my head, on my head.
There's a spider on my head, I think I'll call him Ted,
There's a spider on my head, on my head.
 
This is fun to add verses for other areas, like toe, hand, arm, feet.  You get the idea.  Just come up with the 3rd line to rhyme with something.
 
I sent 2 spiders to Chase, one for him and one for a parent.  At the beginning, it helps to have a parent join in so your grandchild will copy the words and motions.  As they get the hang of it, you can change it up.  You can pause for each verse, letting them call out the next area for the spider to land.
 
Enjoy!!

Monday, August 18, 2014

 
I love this: Igby
 
When I use Igby, I have small toys in each of the pockets.  I change them for each phone call and try to have things I know Chase will recognize.  Currently he loves the Cars/Planes movies, Sesame Street and Chuggington.  You can find the small toys in any discount or toy store.  I also like to share a snack, so I check with my daughter ahead of time to pull a piece of fruit out of Igby's mouth.  I have her give Chase the same thing and we share a snack on Facetime.
The rubber chick has been a big hit and Chase loves to "pop" it.  As he gets older and is able to let it fly, we can adapt this to do more things later.

To purchase, go to: Stuffies