My Favorite Apps for Toddlers

One of the big questions I get asked a lot about is screen time! Yes, my kids do get screen time.  Screen time in our house comes in 2 forms: TV and tablet (we call it game time). Each morning our boys each get to pick a show to watch while we all wake up. The other time my kiddos get screen time is during Avery's nap. Cohen is allowed to play his game for an hour. I know, I know. That's a long time but hear me out:

1. I know my kid best. And I know that for him, game time is used productively and helps him to calm his body and center himself

2. It is the only time he gets to play anything without brother wanting to take everything he has 

With all things, I believe in moderation and screen time is no exception. And we are lucky that we live in a time where so many educational apps are available for our little ones so I don't feel as bad letting him play as much!

Below is a list of some of our favorite apps for game time. As always, I would recommend downloading and trying them yourself first before introducing to your kiddos! This is what I always do! The BIGGEST issue I have/advice is if you like the free version - spend the $2 for the paid version! The only reason I say this is because the free versions play commercials and they are NOT always kid friendly. The paid apps have no commercials! 

Educational:

Balloon Pop!: 

This is a very basic one and is one of Avery’s favorites (he's 18mos)! There are balloons you pop to practice colors and letters. Super simple, not much substance but a good beginner game to get your little one used to operating a game.

Toddler Games for 2 year olds: 

This is another popping game but is a little more substantial. You pick the skill to focus on and then it increases in difficulty asking them to tap that letter/shape/color/etc. 

ABC Mouse: 

I 100% recommend this one hands down. I used this in the classroom too and loved it. It does cost $10/mo but you get a free trial to test it out! My favorite is that you can customize the skills and lessons to your kiddo and you can use the app on your phone to track their progress as they go!

ABC Kids: 

This one has pros and cons! Pro: It’s really good for pre-writing! That's the main reason I like it! They help your little one practice tracing the letters. It also has lots of other letter practice. Con: it doesn’t have the letter sounds correct. For example for B they say “buh” which is linguistically not correct. Most apps/teachers make this mistake too (putting an /uh/ at the end of letter sounds which is confusing). I didn't let Cohen start playing this one until he had mastered his letter sounds AND was old enough to understand that these sounds weren't correct.

Alphabet Aquarium: 

I like this one because each letter has several activities to practice the name and sound. Your little one starts by building the letter, building an animal that starts with that letter, beginning sound picture puzzles. There's a lot of fine motor and repetition of each letter which is great!

Epic!: 

This is another subscription but also has a free trial and it is BOOKS. So. Many. Books! Audio books, read to me books, it’s amazing! Definitely worth a trial!

Just for fun:

Tap Color: 

This is a color by number app - Cohen is obsessed! They have kid versions too but he likes the adult challenge! While I put this app in my "just for fun" list it does work on color recognition, number recognition and fine motor skills (just not explicitly).

Car Wash: 

Exactly what the name is, the kids wash cars. Cohen loooooves this one.  

Pipe Art: 

This one is really challenging but really good for spatial awareness! It starts easy and gets harder. The goal is to make each pipe so that it fits within the box and doesn't overlap with another pipe. It's a lot harder than it looks! 

Homescapes: 

This is probably the funniest one that Cohen is into! There’s a little game you play to earn stars and then you use the stars to remodel a house 

There you have it! Our favorites! What are some of your little one's favorite apps? I'm always on the look out for new and exciting educational (and fun) apps!

7 Tried and True Tips for Traveling with Toddlers

Traveling with little ones - that's a daunting topic isn't it!? Gone are the days of carefree travel where you can choose any flight, leave any time, stay anywhere and eat anything. There's a lot of preparation that goes into traveling with little ones but I can help you with some of that!

You know how much I love to plan activities so it's no surprise that I prepped all kinds of activities for our various travel adventures! I'm here to share some of our favorites with you to hopefully make your planning a little easier! Whether you’re traveling by airplane or by car these tips are sure to keep your little one happy and engaged!

1. Cookie Tray: This is my favorite tip! Seriously, if you do nothing else, do this! This tray is the perfect catch all! I can be used a a snack tray, an activity table and they’re even magnetic! Plus they're a dollar! Can't beat that!

2. Magnetic Puzzles - This was quite possibly the activity that gave us the most bang for our buck! Just add magnets to the back of puzzle pieces so they stick to the tray! This can even be done with foam puzzles for the youngest of travelers. 

3. Countdown Strip: To curb down on those “Are we there yet?” questions, use masking tape and mark off the hours of travel! Bonus if you print out a little car or plane and move it along the strip as you go!

4. Water Wow: These things are magical (quite literally!). You paint with water to make the colors show up on the picture. Then once they dry, you paint again! They are the perfect travel size, reusable and mess free! 

5. Gel Window Clings: These are really fun to use on airplane windows or on those cookie trays in the car! My little ones love to put them on and take them off over and over again!

6. Snacks: This one is obviously a no brainer - but lots of snacks! Think of things that are mess free and take awhile to eat (raisins, cheerios, etc).

7. Scavenger Hunt/Map: Before each trip I research the route to our destination and draw up a little map for the boys. Nothing fancy (if you've seen my drawing skills, you know I'm not kidding 🤣). I include any land marks we might see (bridges, lakes, waterfalls, buildings, etc.) Even the youngest of travelers like the know what to expect and follow along on the adventure! And engaging them in the travel is part of the fun!

That's it! Those are my favorites! I hope they help you plan out your next trip!

Enjoy your adventures! 🛪🚙

Tiny Toddler Box Launch!

I know I haven't posted in awhile but that's because I've been working on something really exciting: the launch of my Tiny Toddler Box!

Throughout my toddler schooling adventures I have gotten so many questions and comments about the activities we do and how we find the time to do them! It seemed like there was a need out there for activities geared towards toddler development that busy families could easily whip out with no prep work required! That where the #tinytoddlerbox comes in!

Here's the quick and dirty - you can find additional information by clicking subscription box or FAQ above!

Who: 

The Tiny Toddler Box is geared toward toddlers of varying ages and abilities primarily focusing on the 1-5 range. All activities are easily adaptable to your child's level and abilities. You may need to provide more guidance and assistance for the younger toddlers while exploring the activities to help build their language and motor skills whereas the older toddlers can play independently. It's all about what's right for you and your little one(s)! 

What: 

A monthly themed toddler box shipped right to your door! Each box includes 6 activities prepped and ready to go! Each activity corresponds to one of the key developmental areas of toddlers: Movement, Cognitive, Language, Sensory, Social/Emotional and Art Development!

**To see some of our past boxes click on the subscription box link above**

When: 

Boxes ship on the 1st of the month! To sign up for the "current" box you need to sign up by the 25th of the previous month. For example, in order to get "April's box", you must sign up before March 25th. 

April's theme is SPACE!   🌚🌞⭐☄

Where: 

Boxes ship right to your door!

How:

Just follow the link below! Signing up is quick and easy - just choose the right subscription level for you! 

Why:
There are so many reasons that I could list for why you should give it a try - but until you try for yourself you won't know the benefits for sure! 

I can tell you this: I started these toddler activities with my oldest (now 3 1/2) when he was 1. He is now exceeding the benchmarks for 1st grade in reading and math! The activities are made to be fun and engaging but also prepare your littles ones for school in a play based way!


If you have any questions just let me know! I would love to answer them!  

Confessions from Toddler School: The 5 Senses

This week we focused on our five senses! We started with a little picture of Cohen that we used to label his five senses and we spent the rest of the week exploring them! I really enjoyed this week! He's at the perfect age to really enjoy the activities and start making the connections! It was really exciting to see him so focused on these activities and using his five senses in other ways throughout the week!

Here's what we did this week:

You can get my blank thematic planner here.

Books:

Truthfully we didn't have any themed books this week! The list above are some of my favorites from teaching but we didn't have much luck at the library when we went this week.

Activities:

Sight Scavenger Hunt:

This activity was all about our sight! We made these simple DIY binoculars from toilet paper rolls and then went on a scavenger hunt around the house! The binoculars were the perfect fine motor activity for both boys - even Avery loved it! 

Cohen's favorite toys right now are his "Moana babies" (I did't realize that was "weird" until I typed it out 🤣). So I hid them around the house for him to find with his binoculars! 

I also printed off this little checklist for him to check them off as he went! I had a feeling he would really like this activity so I laminated the sheet ahead of time so that we could play over and over again. And let me tell you, I'm glad I did! 

Sound Tubes:

This little sound activity was super easy to throw together! I took some empty playdough containers and wrapped some white paper around them, numbered them and filled each one with small items I had around the house. We used coins, pom poms, q-tips, rice and small lincoln logs! I love the flexibility of being able to switch it up whenever I want as well 👌

I made these little picture cards to help Cohen identify the mystery items inside - you can find these picture cards along with a blank set of # cards in the activity pack below! Both boys loved shaking and listening to the items inside. And Cohen was surprisingly good at identifying what was inside by just the sound!

Smell Bottles:

These smell bottles were a huge hit and I had so much fun making them too! I used these little sauce cups we had just laying around, poked some holes in the top and put in some scents we had around the house. I used:

- vanilla

- lemon

- lavender

- peppermint 

- coffee

but you can totally get creative! The possibilities are really endless with this one - just rummage around your kitchen! 👌

Taste Exploration:

I had so much fun putting this one together! I scoured our fridge and pantry for a nice combination of sweet, salty, spicy and "other" for the boys to taste. Luckily my boys are not picky eaters and will eat anything put in front of them so I knew this would be a hit! If you've got a picky eater on your hands this is a great way to get them to try new things too! 

If you'd like this rating sheet you can get it in our activity pack below! 👇

What's in the Box?:

We did not get to this activity this week! But honestly I am okay with that! While Cohen is a super adventurous eater he isn't so adventurous when it comes to tactile stuff (even with all the sensory activities we do). And Avery just makes everything a mess so I'm relieved we got busy this week and didn't have time for this one!

It's pretty explanatory though - put different tactile things in boxes and have your little one reach in. Some ides:

- cooked noodles (nice and slimy)

- cotton balls

- beans

- dirt

Literally whatever you think would be fun to touch! Let your little one explore and guess what might be hiding inside!

Want any of this week's printables?  You can grab them here!

Up next week: Nursery Rhymes