February Tot Boxes

This year,

I have had a goal for the little I watch

to direct their playtime

with a little bit of learning using

Tot Boxes.

Here are the boxes I have had on hand for them

during the month of February...

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What's in the Hearts?

Since Valentine's Day is in February,

some of the boxes have a heart theme.

My littles love to open and close things,

so I filled several heart shaped boxes... 

...with different Valentine erasers, words, etc.

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Measure My Love

I placed several Valentine erasers,

a couple of heart shaped ice cube trays,

and a set of heart shaped measuring spoons

in this box.

The kiddos played with this box like they
were baking up some cookies-
I wish i had gotten pictures of them playing
because it was so cute!

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Stamping Up Some Love

Filling this box with scraps of paper,

a child-friendly stamp pad,

and...

...some toddler friendly stamps...

...led to some fun discoveries.

One of the biggest discoveries was...

...stamp pads CAN also stamp on your face!

Imagine that!

Play with this box also resulted in...

...some fun play in the tub!

:0)

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Lovely Blocks

I got these foam shaped block a little while ago

(at the Target Dollar Spot, I think),

and I had no idea how much fun the littles-

AND big kiddos-

would have with them...

(Isn't he sweet?)

***

Besides Valentine themed boxes,

I also had a few Olympic themed one

in honor of the Sochi Winter Olympics...

Olympic Ringer

The idea for this box was for the littles

to throw the red pom poms

into the pipe cleaner Olympic rings.

This lasted for about-

oh-

1 minute.

Not a big hit with my littles,

but it might be for yours.

***

Olympic Ring Trace

I laminated a couple of pictures

of the Olympic Rings and placed them in the box

with some dry erase markers.

 These kept Pretty Princess Pants quite entertained

for a good 20 minutes or so...

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Nice-to-Meet-You Nesting Dolls

The nesting doll is a symbol for Russia,

and since the Olympics were held in Sochi,

I thought these would be a fun addition to our

Olympic tot boxes.

I printed out these Russian Nesting Dolls

from Paging Supermom,

laminated them,

cut them out,

and pasted them onto toilet paper tubes.

This little was so expressive

while she played with them...

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I do believe the tot boxes are a hit!

I hope to keep this up

so my little have new "toys" to play with

every month!

***

Linking up with

Preschool and Kindergarten Corner...

Olympic Snacks

As we have been watching and learning

all about the Sochi Winter Olympic,

food has become an

excellent resource to add

to our fun!

Here are some of the snacks/meals

we have enjoyed in honor of the Olympics:

Ring-a-Ding-Ding Drinks

I saw this idea over on

Savannah Smiled.

We placed Gummy Lifesavers at the bottom

of clear cups

(to symbolize the Olympic Rings)

and poured Sprite

on top of them.

To eat with the drinks we had...

USA! USA! USA! Chips and Salsa

All that is needed for this snack is some

yellow or white tortilla chips,

blue tortilla chips,

and serve it with a side of salsa.

These snacks were espscially popular with my crew,

ESPECIALLY the Gummy Lifesavers-

they went CRAZY over them!

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Olympic Pizza

Gotta have a themed pizza night for the Olympics!

I made a pepperoni and mushroom pizza

for Super Dad and I...

...and cheese pizza for the kiddos.

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Olympic Torch Snacks

I fixed these one afternoon for the kiddos

and their friends.

SO super easy and fun!

I found this idea via Pinterest at

Living Well Spending Less.

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Olympic Lunch Trays

For lunch one afternoon

I served a lunch fit for an Olympian.

The meal included:

Winter Themed Chicken Nuggets

Olympic Apple Rings and Carrots with Ski Poles

Gold Medals for dessert

(made from Golden Oreos and Fruit by the Foot)

I found the idea for the medals via Pinterest at

Living Well Spending Less.

(Ah- the calm before the storm...)

The kiddos ended up playing with their food a bit

while they ate,

which I didn't mind,

since it was all in the spirit of the Olympics.

They made skiers...

...and Ice Dancers...

...and even a snowman running the Skeleton!

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