End of Valentine Week: Get Ready for Garden Week

Valentine's Day is long gone and so is our week on Love & Hugs.  Truth be told, I'm so relieved.  It was a long week, trying to come up with ideas that were fun and interesting for a toddler (and mom).  I guess I wasn't feeling "the love" or maybe I was just plain tired.  Solar System week was a tough act to follow.  We all learned something that week, mom and dad included, and the activities flowed so naturally.  Valentine Week; um, not so much.  

This was our attempt at fun with hearts.                 

 

There's lots to sort out Little Mama: colors, sizes, and numbers...

Hmm, maybe we better add water and food coloring to make things fun...

Everything's better with water!

One of my favorite stories of the week was Little Pink Pup, by Johanna Kerby.  Although not a Valentine story per se, it's a wonderful story about unconditional love and acceptance. The story is about Pink, a runt of a pig litter, who is so small his owners are concerned he won't survive.  He's brought inside and placed with a new dachshund mom, Tink, who eventually nurses him back to health.  Talk about true, unconditional mommy love--who cares he's pink and not a pup.  His new family loves him.  He loves them. The pictures are just too cute of puppies snuggling with a piglet!    

How could you not love this story?!

With all the talk about love and babies, what better time to whip out the animals and discuss baby names.  Lots of vocab to talk about...

Meet mama kangaroo and her baby joey.
Below, cow and her calf.  

More mamas and babies...

While we were at it, Little Mama corralled the horse family together...

One of our nighttime stories, If Animals Kissed Good Night, does a nice job naming baby animal names while not making a big deal out of it.  

Sensory table time!

Our rainbow pasta

Little Mama had a blast coloring pasta.  We had some packets of tiny pasta that had been lying around for quite some time and I finally decided to crack one open.  I poured it into different bowls and together we added food coloring to each container.  Little Mama loved mixing it up.    

We then added the pasta to heart confetti, and voila - a sparkly valentine sensory table!

Our week wouldn't be complete without some painting.  We sponge-painted hearts on a brown paper bag that had been cut open at the seams.  Brown paper bags are such great simple canvases.  Thanks Trader Joe's.   

 This painted canvas also made for a great Valentine, although I forgot to take a picture.  Just imagine red construction paper glued to the other side.

 Of course, Valentine cookies were a must.  Little Mama has become quite the baker...

Garden Week starts tomorrow.  I can't wait!