Branch and Blossom Atelier: January 2021

Bingo Family Game Night

Bingo Family Game Night is a great way to spice up your weekend! Especially if you are stuck inside with nowhere to go!

This fun activity will only cost you the price of the Bingo game (affiliate link) and a few Dollar Tree prizes. In total I spent $25. $15 for the Bingo game and $10 in prizes.

The children took turns being the Bingo caller. This is a great opportunity to build listening skills. Sometimes we had to repeat the letter and number SEVERAL times.

Even our youngest played along. She just needed someone to point to the number to cover. Picking up the little markers requires fine motor control!

Winners got the Dollar Tree prizes! I threw each prize in a simple brown paper bag before we got started. Literally zero prep!

Some of our prizes:

Toy guitar
Little light brite type toy
Paint with water books
Flavored chapsticks
Fake fingernails (both my girls go crazy for these)
Movie theater boxed candy

Are you ready to play BINGO?

Four Dollar Tree Items for Play Centers

These four Dollar Tree items will make a great addition to your play centers.

My son and I headed to my favorite store this week in hopes of finding some cute Valentine items for our play centers. Unfortunately we didn't find as much as we were hoping. Do not worry, we will hit up another store soon :)

We did find some great items that are great for all seasons of the year.

Foam Alphabet Puzzle

Obviously, puzzles are great for fine motor skill development. But you can use this puzzle in so many other ways.

Take out the letters and throw them in the bathtub! They will float and stick to the side of the tub.
Place the letters in your sensory bin. Children can dig through the rice, sand, or pasta to find the letters and match them to the puzzle board. You can use different utensils (tongs, spoons, tweezers) to grasp the letters.
Use the puzzle board as a stencil in your writing center
Dip the letter pieces into tempera paint and use them as stamps

Wooden Shape Puzzle

Once again this inset puzzle is great for fine motor development, but we can use it in many different ways.

Empty all the shape pieces into a basket for loose parts play. You may want to buy a couple puzzles so that you have more pieces.
Use the puzzle board as a sorting tray for small pieces. You will have 9 compartments.
The puzzle board can be used as a cupcake tin for pretend cooking.

Sand Timer

Brickston was very excited to find this, because we lost our timer from one of our games. You can make anything a game by adding a timer.

Use the timer to show children when to give someone else a turn.
Set the timer to see how many of the letters or shapes your child can find in the sensory table.
Set the timer to see how many jumping jacks your child can do.
Place the timer in your child's calm down kit/corner. Watching a sand timer can be soothing.

Self-Opening Scissors

You know I love these scissors for beginners! The little "lift assist" lever helps the scissors to self-open..

Create a cutting box. Head over to this post to see how I made an open-ended cutting box for children.
Cut playdough
Hang a piece of wrapping paper between a doorway and have your child cut the paper. This will help your child to develop correct thumbs up scissor holding.

How else would YOU use these items?

New Year's Resolutions: Goals for My Family

Do you make goals for your family at the beginning of the new year?

This year I decided to keep it simple and set only 4 goals. I chose what I think are doable goals for my family.

Read a Chapter Book Each Month

I have always wanted to make the habit of reading a chapter book out loud with my kids. I just have NEVER been consistent. Now we are home everyday doing virtual school. No better time to do it than now! We are planning to read The Boxcar Children. We are doing this right after lunch, because when we wait until bedtime it just does not happen.

Keep a Prayer Journal for the Year

I started this last year, but I am embarrassed to say that we missed several months. I love looking back at the things we were grateful for and the concerns we prayed about. It is powerful to see how God worked in all of our lives.

Get a similar journal here. (affiliate link)

Be Outside for 15 minutes Each Day (at minimum)

This might be challenging during the winter months or the bad weather days, but there is nothing like fresh air and hopefully sunshine. Our bodies need the vitamin D and our minds need the respite of nature. Some days we may just bundle up to sit on our porch swing to read our chapter book. Other days, we will spend the time taking our dog for walks or riding our bikes.

Make Sure No Family Member Eats Alone

Let's be honest, not ALL of 2020 was bad. Some of the things I want to remember from our slower year are all the dinners we ate together as a family. I am not ready to let that go. I have a teenager and preteen in my house now. They are busy and have practices in the evenings. Even so, I do not want them to eat alone when they get home. I'm making it my goal that someone sits at the table with them while they eat.

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