QUOTE OF THE DAY :)

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...” 
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Introducing your child to love math at an early age with fun activities....

Any activities that help children get a sense of numbers and what they look like is a good way to introduce math to your child starting from the age of 3.

Activities that help your child develop a foundation for mathematical understanding:

• Building blocks 
• Jigsaw puzzles or anything else that involves moving, rotating, or fitting objects together.
• Look for anything that relates to numbers, like house numbers, and patterns in nature.
• Reading books that relates to numbers.
• Play games that help children think logically and spatially.
•  Playing games with dice can help children when they are learning to add and subtract.

These simple things can lay the foundation for your child to start loving math at an early age, and also give children a better chance of being excited about the subject throughout their school years. Above are just a couple of games I use with my girls. There's many creative ways to make it fun. I'll be posting links of other fun math activities, as well as websites that have free printables. Remember Be Interested, and Interesting!

Are you on a budget ? Here are some free or low cost places to take kids.....

1.  Chuckie Cheese, Mcdonalds, Burger King, etc. Many of these places have free toy structures to play in. You don't have to buy the meal or pay for the tokens, just walk in grab a seat and let them go. I highly recommend hand washing and sanitizer though. Haha or do what my mom does take a sandwich and snack to give them over there lol....

2. The park: Playgrounds are always fun especially if you join the fun.


3.  Library's and city community centers in some areas set up a room full of toys and games for young children during the morning hours. Most libraries offer story time.


4. Go to the museum. Sometimes there are programs just for the youngest kids that are free or cheap. Art museums sometimes have arts and crafts for younger kids on certain days before noon.


5.  Pet stores are almost as good as the zoo to younger kids. Let them watch the birds, fish, reptiles, and other animals to their hearts content. My daughters love going to the pet store.


6. Head to the mall, I know you might have to resist from shopping though, but Malls often have kids   activities going on for free.


7. Go on a play date to your friends house or invite them to yours.


8. Head to the beach for treasure finding. Watch carefully what they pick up. If seashells are available great, but sometimes finding the soft, smooth, shiny rocks that can be just as entertaining.
  
Here is some free and low cost events going on in Los Angeles for those who live in the area:


 Click the link or copy and paste: http://losangeles.parenthood.com/directory/event/

How to get you toddler to clean up after themselves?

With my youngest this was a hard task, she's the queen of messes and my oldest was tired of picking up after her sister. I tried the clean up song with her, but that didn't work like it did with my six year old. What I did is join in and made it a game, who can pick up the most toys. Then I would change it the next day by giving her a little warning, that play will be ending when the timer rings and that something else is coming, and in 2 minutes we will be cleaning up so we can have a snack. Another day I would say, " I need a good helper to help me pick up this mess, hmm where can I find such a terrific helper" she would quickly jump up and say, " me mommy me!" This worked for me and there's many ways to get your child to clean up after themselves. You just need to make it fun and keep it interesting... :)

Gianna My little Artist :)

Love it!! All by herself except her name, I kind of helped her with that one lol