ajpassey - Because Babies Grow Up

#SmellsClean for the Win

March 31, 2015 by ajpassey Leave a Comment

I partnered with the #SmellsClean campaign in the fall and have so enjoyed my experience. The quality and pleasantness of the air in our home was never a high priority for me. I loved going into friends’ or neighbors’ homes and being greeted by fresh air and sweet scents, but I didn’t really know how to transform my home into that environment.

Last week my sister-in-law was visiting. She’s 8 months pregnant and has a 2 year old daughter. I consider her to be rather on top of it when it comes to keeping her home lovely, tidy and fresh. So when she walked in our home and commented on how she loved the way it smelled, I knew I had finally arrived! There were still piles of toys and folded laundry tucked into various corners of the front room and there were remnants of breakfast left on the table. But by golly, it #SmellsClean!

So I thought I would walk you through how the air care aisle has helped me transform my stuffy home into a fresh environment that fosters creative expression and hours of play. My journey started with the recognition that we had a problem. I have the best mother-in-law in the world. She raised 8 kids and is bursting with wisdom and help. She was visiting in May one year and gave me my first experience of Spring Cleaning. She started the day by walking around the house opening windows. Honestly, I cringed inwardly because all I could think was, “Now I have to walk around and close them all late. Ugh!” Maybe she sensed my apprehension because in a totally random, cheerful ways she said, “I just love bringing in the fresh air to sweep out the slept-in smell a house gets overnight. Huh, awareness was dawning in my sleepy brain.

An Environment to Invigorate

The problem with “slept-in” air is that it is lifeless. It hangs heavily about me and dims my motivation to get going with the day. I had been opening windows and bringing new life into the air in our home, but in this new house, we had a hiccup. Our bedroom windows don’t have screens. Plus, they are dangerously uncooperative. The style of window is heavy with a sharp edge. Brent had cut his finger on one downstairs so severely he required a trip to the ER and stitches. So I was a bit hesitant to mess with the ones in our room. Then Ben became the King Climber of our family. The thought of an open window with no screen on the second story of our home that he could likely find access to despite my best efforts made my heart sick. And then, he became obsessed with devices. So I started shutting them up in our room. So now our room had extra, extra stuffy, slept-in air making each morning more and more difficult as I tried to get up and get kids one their way to school.

Enter the candle. Simple, I know. I should have thought of it eons before now. But remember that I lacked the “how” to transforming our home? Yea, I was slow. I love the candle over a plug-in because it felt like the burning candle burned up the yucky of the air while the scent released spread life through the room. I closed the door and let the candle burn for about 15 minutes. When I went back in to blow it out I was shocked at the transformation. There was an energy in the room and I couldn’t help but want to tidy up and make the appearance match the clean smell.

I’ve kept something going in the kitchen, whether a warmer or a plug-in, and it is seriously my most productive room now! I enjoy spending time in there cleaning up the counters and dishes and making dinner. I am even drawn there inspired to do extra baking just because I now love it in there.

Whenever I have a mess to tackle, I just bring along a treasure from the air car aisle. The fresh air invigorates and motivates me to tackle big jobs like sorting Barbie shoes from Noah’s Ark animals and finding homes for all the mixed-up toys in our playroom. In fact, this weekend’s task is the garage and if the cold weather refuses to warm, I’ll be relying on my tiki colada candle to help me get the job done.

An Environment to Inspire

There’s nothing I love more than to see my children’s creativity come alive. They are at their most creative when they have a clean slate. My favorite is having the craft room completely cleaned up with the house smelling like a spring explosion of daffodils and rain and seeing what they create when they get home. We currently have a sprawling beach scene along the long blank wall in a darker area of our home. Every so often they create something new for the wall: sea stars, surf boards and even a coconut tree on a deserted island.

As we’ve moved through the seasons and the changing scents of each one, the kids’ projects have really reflected how their environment inspires them.

An Environment to Calm

So with all the creativity comes lots of messes and chaos. As an only child parenting 4 children, I find the one thing I want more than anything else is peace and calmness. After the adrenaline rush of an awesome creative project wears off, or the exhaustion of cleaning the house top to bottom sets in, I am ready to sit down. But the kids rarely are. I stumbled on a post from Planting Peas about the Montessori Silence Game. After watching the video of her darling son being silent in anticipation of blowing out a candle, I knew this was my ticket to helping the kids unwind and calm down.

Not only did they sit still and silent when it was their turn to blow out the candle, but they were still and silent during everyone else’s turn, too! We created 10 minutes of calm and mindfulness. I actually found that filled my need and got me ready to get back to life than 30 minutes of vegging on the couch has ever done.

I love that spring is a time of new life. The increasingly long days, the warmer weather and the signs of new growth invigorate and inspire. If you are looking to bring Spring in to your home, check out your local air care aisle at Walmart or where ever you regularly shop.

This post was sponsored by the #SmellsClean campaign. This is my personal story based on my own experience.

Adventure Outside the Checklist by Alisha Gaddis

March 10, 2015 by ajpassey Leave a Comment

We’re planning a family trip to NYC for Spring Break. As I’m pouring over travel guides, maps, and museum reviews, I remembered this gem first published in Growing Up Magazine last year. Thanks to the lovely Alisha Gaddis of Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band, I’m excited to bring you her epic adventure taking their daughter to NYC for the first time. Also, Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band has a campaign on Indiegogo right now where you can help fund their next album, Adelante! They are the real deal when it comes to artists who give everything to their craft. Please, check out their campaign and consider how you’d love to help them get this album into your hands.

Adventure Outside the Checklist

Guest post from Alisha Gaddis, comedienne, singer, creative extraordinaire

I am a planner. I love charts and lists, spreadsheets and itineraries. My planning obsession works fabulously in my favor, due to the fact that my husband and I run our own business, Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band, we get the opportunity to travel the country creating music and performing for families. You need a lot of checklists to make our tours go smoothly!

When it comes to our own little family, I plan trips months and YEARS in advance. Since we get the opportunity to do a lot of joyous activities for our jobs- we try to take special time trips that don’t include any business and focus on reconnecting and celebrating!

Such is the case with our recent Big Apple extravaganza. I lived and went to college in New York City for quite some time before moving to Los Angeles, and NYC will always hold my heart. Nothing quite beats the hustle and bustle. The pulse of the city, the magic of the lights, the feeling that you could be lost and found at the same moment. Nothing beats New York.

I had been hyping NYC up to my stepdaughter since she was 5 years old. We promised her we would take her there on her 10^th birthday- not before, not after. In kid language- 5 years is torture.

But all this time caused her to burst at the seams with excitement and anticipation with the build up. In the years leading up to this particular trip, she collected maps, memorabilia and we googled pictures online together. Every time my husband and I traveled there to perform (about 3-4 times per year), we left her begrudgingly at home- promising a magical adventure in the Empire State…eventually. This may sound odd or harsh, but one of the aspects I believe most in about parenting- is the perpetuation of hope, delayed gratification, and above all else- MAGIC!!

Was the nearly five year wait brutal? Yes. Did it sometimes seem ridiculous? Yes. Did we continue to take her other places including: Paris, London and more in the meantime? Yes. But did NYC become a goal, a dream and something for her to yearn for? YES!

Was it all worth it? ABSOLUTELY!!

The day she woke up for our mecca- she sprang out of bed like Christmas morning with a caffeine injection! We could not get there soon enough.

We only had three days for our adventure and the giant stormageddon that rocked the east coast threatened to shut down our plans! But it didn’t. I still don’t know how- but we made it, and from the moment she saw the twinkling lights of the skyline coming across the bridge to Manhattan- I knew she was hooked!

My itinerary of extravagant delight was ready (I had 5 years to plan after all) and included: go to the top of the Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day, visit the Statue of Liberty, ice skate in Central Park, feast on her first slice of NY pizza, razzle dazzle backstage at a hit Broadway show to meet the cast and crew, journey to the Metropolitan Museum of art for a massive dose of cultural delight, hail a taxi, ride a subway, gobble up a black & white cookie from a proper bakery, wave to Radio City Music Hall, visit NYU’s campus, and more.

And guess what- we did it all!

She enjoyed and relished in each moment. We all did.

But like always, the things that weren’t on my epic adventure checklist were also fabulous, perhaps even more so! Isn’t that how life is? No matter how much we plan- it is always the moments that sneak in from the side, the glimpses of life, the bursts of joy that truly make up the journey.

Whilst fulfilling our to-do list of tourism gone wild- we stumbled upon a man playing a grand piano. In the snow. In the middle of Central Park. Stunning, haunting and profound. My stepdaughter got to see snow fall from the sky for the first time, squealing with excitement each time she caught a flake with her tongue. We raided FAO Schwartz with dear friends of ours, and our children played for hours amongst the giant stuffed animals and the piano for ‘BIG.’ Their excitement and shiny eyes made everything perfect. We all held hands and had snowballs fights. We took a break in a café that served tableside smores and dried our wet socks. We laughed and got fresh bread from the café under the apartment our best friends so kindly let us stay in. We made memories and had communal dinners and enjoyed each other completely.

Those were the moments.

Were my plans a success? YES.

Were my plans just the jumping off point for living our best lives? ABSOLUTELY!

And we must be NUTS….We have now promised her a trip to China for her 13^th birthday! Better get to planning!

{You guys ARE nuts, Alisha! Good luck getting to China.}

Don’t forget to check out the Indiegogo campaign to get Adelante!, the next album from Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band, in production and into your family’s musical library.

Four New Board Books by Jim Benton

March 4, 2015 by ajpassey 6 Comments

Move over Sandra Boynton, Jim Benton is bringing his own take on adorable board books for the 1-3 crowd. You may know Jim Benton as the author and illustrator of the Dear Dumb Diary series. Or maybe you know Franny K Stein and her antics. After these successful books for elementary age children, Jim Benton released four new board books through Scholastic in January.

Four new board books from Jim Benton

As Scott and I read these books through together for the first time we were both in a fit of giggles. At the end of almost every page Scott asked to read the whole book again when we were finished with it. And they were just as funny and clever the second time through, too.

But even better, these books are the perfect level for my first grade reader! She read all the books to us after school. It was so fun to have all the kids piled around and on me while listening to Ellie read book after book to us. I loved seeing her experience these books for the first time. She stopped at each new page to take in the pictures before reading the words. I loved her little giggles as the stories unfolded. Also, I loved Scott chiming in on the lines he remembered, trying to spit them out before Ellie could finish the sentence.

New Board Books from Jim Benton

Five Stinky Socks is the tale of an adorable monster finding his socks in a variety of places, all of which are very silly, stinky, and totally relatable to young children. But the reason why he’s willing to wear stinky socks is my new favorite ending to a board book. Read more reviews on Amazon.

Piggy Paints is full of the grand artistic plans of a little piggy. The pages showcase the creative process of young artists whether the canvas is big or little. Ellie loved the finished pictures revealed at the end of the book. They would easily be adapted to some fun craft projects for you little artist. Learn more on Amazon.

Where’s My Fnurgle? is a search for an imaginary friend. It wasn’t until our second read through of this book that I really got it. Then we had fun looking on each page for the fnurgle who is never where the words say he should be. Read more reviews on Amazon.

Robot Kitties looks totally adorable! Unfortunately we received two copies of Where’s My Fnurgle and not a copy of Robot Kitties. Look inside this book on Amazon.

I guess that means a little giveaway is in order! Just leave a comment and I’ll randomly choose one to receive our extra copy of Where’s My Fnurgle? I’ll email the winner on Tues, March 10, 2015.

So tell me, what book are you giggling through with your little one?

Christmas Poems for Kids

December 11, 2014 by ajpassey Leave a Comment

We are now in full Christmas festivities around here. Our bedtime songs are all Christmas ones and most of the books we’re reading are Christmas or winter themed. I love this time of year because despite the crafts we do all year long, we seem extra crafty in December. Over the top of all these activities, are the rhymes and fingerplays about Santa, reindeer, Christmas trees and snowmen that make us giggle and collapse in snuggles on the couch. Seriously, it’s the best!

Christmas Poems for Kids

Here Is The Chimney

Reindeer Pokey

5 Little Christmas Trees

Christmas Bells

5 Little Snowmen {free printable}

Find even more Christmas poems for kids on Laptime Songs.

Poems and Early Literacy

Learning nursery rhymes at a young age has proven to benefit those children as readers at 8 years of age. For a full review of the literature on this, visit Mel’s Desk and follow through all the comments. Great information there!

Here’s my take on it: Nursery rhymes expose young children to the structure and sounds of language. The more exposure they receive, the stronger the foundation they build. When their language foundation is strong, especially in the sounds of language, they can transition from spoken to written language more easily. These benefits, while valuable, are also long term and will take years to see the fruits of your labors.

For more immediate gratification, here are some fruits you can see almost right away when children are exposed to nursery rhymes, and I would extend that to rhymes, songs and fingerplays in general. Repeating rhymes builds the early literacy skill of phonological awareness. Helping children hear the individual sounds of language and how those sounds work together to form words builds vocabulary and grammatical patterns. Nursery rhymes are perfect for helping little ones get a sense for the feel and rhythm of the language. They also begin to recognize rhyming schemes that show them how sounds are used in the language. Setting words to music is another way to slow down the language and help little ones hear the individual sounds that make up words.

Ready for all that awesomeness to unfold for your little one? Start right now by sharing these Christmas poems for kids from Laptime Songs.

Two Turtle Doves Craft and Ornament

December 2, 2014 by ajpassey 8 Comments

I’m joining up with a few other bloggers to celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas. Yesterday we kicked off with a fun Partridge in a Pear Tree ornament and snack from Silly Sparkles. Today I’m sharing a cute Two Turtle Doves craft and ornament. Tomorrow you can head to Learning and Exploring Through Play for a fun project with 3 French Hens.

Two Turtle Doves Craft

Inspired by these sweet birds that popped up in my Pinterest feed, we set out to make two turtle doves out of simple shapes. After studying a google search of turtle doves, we decided to go with white and brown for our colors and to create a fanned tail. Since turtle dove bodies appear to be rather long, we added a circle head to the original bird. We used cookie cutters to make our circles and triangle that we cut out of the paper. We dabbed the cutters on an ink pad then pressed the cutters to the paper to leave the shape that we used as a guide for cutting.

Cut out of white paper:

two large circles

four small circles

Cut out of brown paper:

two medium circles

two triangles

hole punch four circles

Cut out of orange paper:

two triangles

Assemble Your Two Turtle Doves

To assemble the body: Fold each of the large white circles in half. Do the same with the medium brown circles. Using a glue stick, attach the brown circle to the large white circle placing the fold in the brown on the fold in the white. Fold the brown triangle in half and glue to the underside of the white circle, again placing the folds inside each other.

To assemble the head: Fold the bird in half along the fold. Apply glue to one small white circle and place at the tip of the bird opposite the tail. Place the orange triangle for the beak on the glue side of the small white circle. Apply glue to one side of the other small white circle and place on the small white circle attached to the body. The beak and the tip of the body should be sandwiched between the two small white circles. Glue hole-punched brown circles, one on each side of the head, for eyes.

Repeat again for the second turtle dove. My older girls were able to stamp the cookie cutters on to the paper and cut out their shapes without my help, just my supervision. For my younger ones, I would prep this activity by cutting all the pieces ahead of time and then beginning this activity from the assembly directions.

These two turtle doves are just darling! Since the bottom edge of the body isn’t glued together, they can rest on a flat surface. We found that our turtle doves rocked with the beak dipping down to the table. We imagined the two turtle doves were pecking for seeds. By giving the tail a slight push, we enjoyed watching our turtle doves rock back and forth for quite some time.

Turn Two Turtle Doves into an Ornament

Since turtle doves represent love and devotion, we created a heart shaped pocket for them. Again, we used a cookie cutter to make the shape and cut out the heart from thick scrapbook paper. Then I hole punched up the sides and sewed the yarn through tying it in a bow at the bottom. Now the two turtle doves have a lovely home on our Christmas tree.

Happy Holiday season! What fun memories are you making with your family this year?

This post is part of a festive blog hop series for the ’12 Days of Christmas’ – a lovely collection of craft ideas hosted by Silly Sparkles!

Click on the image above to follow each of the 12 Days of Christmas craft ideas!

Taking part in this blog hop are:

Silly Sparkles – A Partridge in a Pear Tree

Because Babies Grow Up – 2 Turtle Doves

Building Blocks and Acorns – 3 French Hens

Messy Little Monster – 4 Calling Birds

Multicrafting Mummy – 5 Golden Rings

Swords and Snoodles – 6 Geese a Laying

Craft Ideas for Kids – 7 Swans a Swimming

Three Foot Cooks – 8 Maids a Milking

Making Memories in the Chaos – 9 Ladies Dancing

Adventures of Adam – 10 Lords a Leaping

Play Explore Learn – 11 Pipers Piping

Learning and Exploring Through Play – 12 Drummers Drumming

Snowman Crafts and Activities

December 1, 2014 by ajpassey Leave a Comment

Today I’m over at ALLterNATIVE Learning sharing some snowman crafts and activities. There’s even a free printable for snowman finger puppets to use with a cute snowman poem. Read about all the snowman fun here.

Welcome ALLterNATIVE Learning readers!

I’m so excited to have you stop by today and check out Because Babies Grow Up. My babies have been growing up on this blog for about 5 years so the archives are a treasure of fun activities, crafts, play ideas that have been a big hit with our crew.

If you love to craft with your little one, this Twinkle Twinkle Little Star craft for preschoolers has been a big with with our kids when they were preschoolers. Another favorite with our kids was when we tried to guess what babies were thinking with this fun craft inspired by the song Mama Dada Blues.

If you’re after ways to make reading fun, check out our Three Little Pigs Store or our I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly activity. For more information on early literacy skills and how to help your little one develop them, check out this series on Emergent Literacy. (It starts at skill #1 and links to all of them within the post.)

I’d be remiss if I didn’t invite you to enjoy some awesome music that is perfect for kids with a sound you’ll love as well. This genre of music, called Kindie, is growing quickly as more musicians are making quality music for the whole family to enjoy together that draws on experiences and topics of interest to children. Some of our favorites are Bari Koral, Recess Monkey, and the Okee Dokee Brothers.

Thanks for visiting! Hope you enjoy your stay. You can keep up with Because Babies Grow Up on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest.

I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment letting me know what you loved about your visit today.

Bring On The Christmas Season

November 28, 2014 by ajpassey Leave a Comment

Yay! We made it to the day after Thanksgiving. Now the Christmas season officially begins in our house. I absolutely love the excitement and cheer of the Christmas season and all the lovely traditions we’re creating with our children. So why do I insist on waiting until after Thanksgiving to open the Christmas boxes and set up the tree? Because I also love Thanksgiving.

Leftover cherry pie mingling with sparkling spruce in the kitchen.

I love savoring each day in November and watching as early fall turns into late fall. I don’t want to rush through this season in favor of the Christmas season. And, sometimes I get a little burnt out on the Christmas hype before we even get to Christmas Eve. I want our children to remember that Christmas is a time to celebrate Christ’s birth and should be a season of giving, not of making wish lists a mile long. So to be mindful of how we celebrate Christmas, I like to wait until after Thanksgiving.

With that said, I did make one exception this year. I mixed my fall pumpkin spice scent with sparkling spruce. It was actually a lovely combination. But it soon gave way to just the pine scent. I love pine, apple, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg all mixed together. That is THE smell of Christmas for me. I so enjoyed my fall baking to the scent of spruce.

Since I was enjoying the pine scent so much, I decided it would be okay to bring out the gingerbread playhouse. On a last minute whim, I invited a family over for pizza and movie night. The house totally wasn’t ready for guests, but I knew that this mama needed a night with friends. So, I plugged in the gingerbread playhouse in the playroom where we would spend most of our time and tidied what I could in the midst of two doctor’s appointments and making pizza from scratch. I definitely felt like the house was much more inviting because of the aroma of pizza warm from the oven and gingerbread sweetness from the playroom. And it truly was a lovely evening.

This week, as the kids and I were making our final trip through the grocery store in preparation for Thanksgiving, we couldn’t help but stop at the air care aisle to smell all the different scents available. It was right there on display at the end of the aisle. So hard to walk past without smelling all the varieties. The kids seriously wanted one of everything! My top favorites were hot chocolate and mint and merry citrus melody.

I haven’t always been a scent lover, but I’m beginning more and more to appreciate the value that these sweet scents have added to my life. I feel more energized in getting chores done around the house. I feel more at ease when I sit down to enjoy a book or a game with the kids. And I’m definitely less worried when we spontaneously invite an extra 5 people to join us for the evening! Who knew so much good could come when the house #SmellsClean?

What smells like the holidays for you?

This post contains sponsored content.

It’s a Beautiful Rainbow World

November 26, 2014 by ajpassey Leave a Comment

My heart’s desire is to travel the world with my children. I love planning trips with them because it gives us the chance to see what’s out there in this big world. Currently we are talking about Paris as Ellie loves the Eiffel Tower. We’ve not done any international trips, yet, but we’ve had a fair number of road trips and cross-country flights to visit family. I’m working, slowly but so far successfully, to help them cultivate a love for all the beauty found throughout the world.

We had the opportunity to review Beautiful Rainbow World, a book and accompanying song, that brings to life faces and places from around the world. (linked to Amazon for your convenience) This book is a great foundation for developing in my children a desire to travel far and wide with me. The text of the book is the sweet and simple lyrics of the song. The images are stunning. We’ve been drawn in by how bright and engaging the eyes of these children are. The younger ones, especially, have just poured over the book looking closely at each page. The song has a mellow folksy sound with a lovely instrumental accompaniment. Scott was even singing the chorus to himself as he played after dinner last night.

While reading Beautiful Rainbow World with my children I loved that they always found things that were similar to them or their environment. They’ve also noted things that are different. We have had several terrific discussions about how people can look different but still have similarities to us. I think this book is a great addition to our home library.

The pictures in the book were contributed by families from around the world. If I had contributed an image that represented to me the joy of childhood and was picturesque of our new home in New York in the fall, it would have to be this picture of Ben playing in the fall leaves just as the weather turned cold.

You can read my review and that of others on Amazon.

Thanksgiving Poems, Books, and a Craft

November 21, 2014 by ajpassey Leave a Comment

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! I love taking the month of November to enjoy fall, family, and food. We’re so lucky this year to be close enough to a few of Brent’s siblings that we are able to all get together for Thanksgiving. Since our kids will have a cousin and some other friends to play with, I thought I’d organize a little activity to help them get in the mood for their turkey dinner. I’ve collected some Thanksgiving poems as well as a couple books and a craft to keep them busy while they wait for dinner to begin.

When we lived in Utah I volunteered at the Orem Library as a story time teller for the youngest age group. Since it was for babies and young toddlers, it was called laptime. I loved learning how to incorporate rhymes, books and songs into a 20 minute experience that brought the joy of language and reading to little ones and their caregivers. I still use these skills when I plan playdates or community programs, or holiday gatherings. That’s why there’s a mix of Thanksgiving poems, songs, books and a hands-on craft in our Thanksgiving plans. Combining all of them together builds on the learning for each child as it’s easier to make connections from new information to already known stuff.

Our (hopefully) 20 Minute Plan

Start with the hands-on craft. Starting with the Feather Letter Turkey from Jodie at Growing Book by Book, the kids have something active to do while they transition into learning the Thanksgiving poems and songs. There are lots of ways to start a story time, but I’m choosing the craft this time because I think it will be something fun for them to use while we sing the Thanksgiving songs and learn the Thanksgiving poems.

Introduce the Thanksgiving poems and songs. While I’m crafting with my kids, (or cooking with them, or folding laundry with them) I often sing whatever song I know that our craft brings to mind. I find my kids are really willing to join in with me in reciting poems or singing songs during craft time. So while the kids are cutting feathers and coloring their turkey, I’m going to introduce the songs and poems. Here are the five I’m using next week.

Thanksgiving Poems and Songs

Mr. Turkey (sung to Are You Sleeping)

If You’re Thankful and You Know It (play on If You’re Happy and You Know It)

Hello, Mr. Turkey (also sung to If You’re Happy and You Know It)

Thanksgiving Day (4 line poem)

Turkey Poem (4 line poem)

Once everyone has their turkey finished, we will recite and sing the Thanksgiving poems and songs. Kids love repetition! Especially if they like something, they want to do it again and again. They are hardwired this way to facilitate learning. Once we’ve gone through all the poems and songs, I usually ask which is the favorite and we’ll do that one again. If there are multiple favorites, then we’ll do each one. I know it sounds like a lot, but it takes about a minute to recite the Thanksgiving poems and only a couple minutes for the longest song.

Once the wiggles are out, we’ll cozy up with our turkeys and read two books. Both of these books have great rhythm and rhyming so make for fun read alouds. We’ve had Gobble-Gobble Crash for a few years and have loved it. Though this year Scott is particularly fond of it. He requests it at lunch time frequently. Thanks for Thanksgiving is new to us this year and and I’m excited to add it to our collection of Fall/Thanksgiving books that I look forward to pulling out each year.

And that’s it! I’ll leave the kids with the books and their turkeys and run off to help with anything else that needs doing.

In keeping with the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’m so thankful for the time I was able to volunteer at the Orem Library. It changed my life and has continued to shape who I am and how I spend my time with my kids. I’m also very thankful that we have four kids who ALL love books. Sammi has started to disappear and I’ll find her in her room totally engrossed in a book. I love that!

What are you thankful for this year?

10 Bedtime Poems from Mother Goose Treasury

November 18, 2014 by ajpassey 5 Comments

It’s the end of a busy day full of playing and yet, your little one seems more wound up and full of energy than should be possible. The crazy activity of little ones at bedtime is mind boggling. I call it tired energy! It seems that when little ones get tired, they are less able to regulate their behaviors and control their impulses. As their tiredness increases, their behavior seems to spiral out of control.

I’ve heard countless stories of parents abandoning bedtime plans because their child doesn’t appear tired and so they let them play in an effort to wear the child out to be ready for bedtime. But it could take hours for the child to behave in a way that looks tired to an adult. So, the second I see tired energy taking over, we double our bedtime efforts. Part of our bedtime routine is reading books and singing songs. The books are usually read just before getting into bed with songs finishing up our bedtime routine. These two activities, books and songs, are the perfect way for our kids to settle down and drift off to sleep.

Some nights it feels like we’ll never get to that point, though, with all the tired energy creating chaos as we move from bath to pajamas to teeth brushing. On nights like this, I reach into my bag of tricks and pull out these bedtime poems. I’ll choose whichever comes to mind or seems to relate to what we’ve done during the day. Instead of nagging to please come back to the bathroom with that tooth brush! I’ll just recite a poem. The rhyming and the rhythm of bedtime poems naturally draws children’s attention in. Some nights I just repeat the same rhyme a few times adding in tickles or silly faces. Other nights we’ll run through all the poems I can think of.

Let’s build your arsenal of bedtime poems to help you fight the tired energy. These 10 bedtime poems are a great start. They are found in the Mother Goose Treasury. Often, after we’re done and ready to read, we’ll find the poems we recited together in the book and read it one more time. The illustrations are so beautiful in the Mother Goose Treasury published by Parragon. It’s a great way to transition into the reading portion of our bedtime routine.

10 Bedtime Poems

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Star Light, Star Bright

Go To Bed Late

Bedtime

Wee Willie Winkie

Just click on each title to find the full lyrics in case you need a little reminder. Also, to help with remembering the lyrics in the heat of battle (agains the tired energy) I created this printable with the words to 6 of these bedtime poems. Just print it out and cut it up. You can keep them in the bathroom, on the dresser in your kids room, or where ever the tired energy seems to interrupt your bedtime routine.

Bedtime Poems Free Printable

Instructions: Print this sheet of bedtime poem cards on sturdy paper. Cut out the cards. Laminate if desired. Keep cards in the bathroom or on your little one’s dresser. Choose a poem to focus on each night or each week. Recite the poem during your bedtime routine to help your little one stay focused on getting ready for bed.

Don’t forget to follow up your poem by finding it in Mother Goose Treasury. This helps your little one learn so much about books and develops early literacy skills that will help them as the become readers.