As a physical therapy student, I had the opportunity to do one of my long rotations down in Arizona. I loved the weather, my rotation, and to my surprise the desert. Being from the Midwest, I thought of the desert as brown. It turned out the desert was a beautiful place! The desert life and landscape […]
We’ve had a rainy/cool week around here. That combination is hard when you have a busy toddler who likes to be outside all the time. We decided to try a gross motor walk to make inside play a little bit more fun. When C was little he did the gross motor crawl. It was great
It’s finally the time of the year when we can really get out of the house. People are out and about back on the trails and visiting state parks. Even though I’m from Minnesota, I’m not much of a winter person. I don’t love the cold, but I love being outside. As soon as the
The golden rule of the park is climb up the stairs and slide down the slide. I guess we are rule breakers around here, within reason. I let my kid climb up the slide, I even encourage it. Of course, we don’t climb up the slide when others are going down the slide. We climb the slide
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Rainforest themed yoga ideas! A fun way to add movement into your classroom, home, or therapy.
I was at my good friend’s baby shower this week. Of course, one of the topics at a baby shower is about pregnancy. I was chatting with a few of the girls about how our pregnancies had gone. We were talking about swollen feet, being hot, being cold, and being nauseated. I was one of
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Pink Oatmeal is excited to have Darice Cunniff posting today on the importance of free play in our classrooms. Darice has been an elementary teacher for over 35 years with the majority of her time spent in the Kindergarten classroom and how she has seen it change over her time in the classroom. As a
What Happened To Free Play? Read More »
I always believe moving while learning is so important. We expect a lot of our children when it comes to learning, especially our young ones. Kindergarten seems to be the new first grade and preschool is what kindergarten once was. Kids don’t have the opportunities to move like they used too. As requirements and standards go up,
Alphabet Movement Ideas Read More »
I have a tiny problem and I’m sure I’m not alone. I love chocolate, chips, and pretty much all candy. If I’m being honest, it seems to be a problem that’s gotten a bit out of control. The problem tends to be worst when I’m at home, especially during nap time. At work, I have
Spring is finally in the air around here, well, most days. We can see grass again and our getting outside as much as possible. Now is the time that we can get some of the toys back out on the driveway to play. It’s almost like we reconnect with our neighborhood now that the weather
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I love Spring! Living in Minnesota, the winters are long, and nothing is better than seeing that white stuff disappear! I don’t even mind the muddy mess or puddles that come with the melting snow. It’s actually a lot of fun. I’ve been letting my son go crazy playing in them. It’s resulted in several
Spring Gross Motor Game – Puddle Jumping Read More »
Today we are talking transportation yoga! What little boy or girl doesn’t love yoga that that is all about cars and trucks! There is just something about things that “go”. Let’s talk about how we can combine transportation and yoga for some fun gross motor and sensory!
Transportation Yoga Read More »
Continuing with the yoga theme we are onto camping today! I love the thought of camping. Being outdoors, sitting around a fire, and chatting with friends and family. In reality, I love the thought, but when it comes down to it…I don’t camp. I prefer hot showers and my nice comfortable bed. When I was
A water bottle is an excellent material to make a variety of different toys for your baby on up. I started making water bottle toys before C was 6 months old. Most of the toys take only a few minutes and can usually be made with stuff you already have in your home.
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Hooray! March has finally arrived. March brings hope that Spring is upon us, especially here in Minnesota. March means basketball tournaments, shamrock shakes, and St. Patrick’s Day. March also means that we are playing fun gross motor games with a St. Patrick’s Day theme. The clover hop is a great way to get kids up and
St. Patrick’s Day Gross Motor – Clover Hop Read More »
I’ve been sharing about different yoga ideas over the past few weeks. My kids have been going crazy over themed yoga. This week I’m stepping away from the animal yoga, and going to the circus. The circus still has animals of course! It wasn’t until last year that I really went to “the circus.” We visited
This is about the time of year that I start to get a little bit stir crazy. I don’t think our temperature has even hit 10 degrees today! Not only am I stir crazy, but I’m having to keep my little guy entertained as well. Luckily, we have an unfinished basement that we spend a
Simple Sensory Bin Read More »
Play is a huge part of the developmental process for our little ones. It’s easy spend a lot of time, money, and energy thinking about different items to purchase. I don’t know about you, but around here the best part of getting gifts for my toddler is the box. I’ve found that some of the best
Common Household Items For Baby and Toddler Play Read More »
This week we are talking ocean themed yoga and movements. In the past couple of weeks I’ve shared about zoo themed yoga and farm yoga and movements. The ocean is another great place to learn and play. Ocean themed yoga is perfect for toddlers through elementary school-aged children.
I recently read an article, Letting Kids Move Isn’t A Break From Learning, It is Learning. In this article the author discusses how important movement is in the learning process and gives great ideas on how to incorporate movement into learning, not just as a brain break. Now don’t get me wrong, brain breaks are an essential
Kinesthetic Learning – 20+ Ideas Read More »