The Best History Books for Early Childhood

If you are looking for child-friendly books in introducing history to little children, I highly recommend this Usborne Beginner's History book set. I bought this entire box set recently and it contains 10 books, and it is absolutely worth it! 

Jerry Pallotta's Alphabet Books

Ever since my eldest was a toddler, we love reading alphabet books of animals plants and animals, and we just used to borrow them at our local library. Mavi loves associating any objects to the alphabet sound, so he truly enjoys reading these books with me. Unfortunately, most of them are out of print.

Collection of Weather Books for Kids

Sharing our book collection on weather.  These are so easy to read to a child, and less cartoonish... perfect for preschoolers and older kids as well.

Collection of Winter Books for Kids

Christmas books are back in the storage and winter books are out for us to explore!  Here are some of the books we own and will be reading throughout this winter season.

Our Collection of Autumn Books

I have a growing list of autumn books which I’d like to share with you.  This is a collection of fiction and non-fiction books, so they are perfect for kids of all ages.  We read them day and night these days to understand and appreciate this beautiful season!

Favourite Books about the Arctic and Antarctic Regions

I'm sharing our favourite books on winter animals, about the arctic and Antarctic regions.  Hope you find this list helpful.

My Favorite Montessori Books

I'm sharing the Montessori books I read and has been using at home.  These books will give you a better understanding of the Montessori philosophies and will give you ideas on the activities that you can do with your child at home.

BOOK REVIEW: Farmer Falgu Goes to the Market

We can’t get enough of Farmer Falgu!  Here’s another book that we totally love, Famer Falgu Goes to the Market.  It’s market day and Farmer Falgu has to transport his goods to the market.  Though it seemed like an easy task, but strange things happened on his way to the market which sabotages his vegetables and eggs!

Montessori Inspired Bird Unit Activities for Preschoolers

The inspiration behind this unit activity is because we’ve been seeing a lot of birds now and that Vito loves chicken. In my IG account, I shared how much he adored the chickens in the park and can’t stop talking about them.  So I've put up these activity trays for him to work on while he’s still interested in birds.  We started with some of these already and so far he’s having fun!

Old Tracks New Tricks for Train Enthusiasts

Oh the boys and I love to play trains! And in fact, I love creating train tracks with them too.  The only problem these days is that, our train sets were long forgotten due to Bruder trucks which they recently received last Christmas. But boy, oh boy, that changed when Old Tracks New Tricks arrived in the mail one day, and my 3 years old upon seeing the book immediately requested to play with his Thomas Train!

 

B4FIAR: Harold and the Purple Crayon

I love book extension activities.  This is one of the reasons why I enjoy doing Before Five In a Row with the boys.  So when I introduced the book Harold and the Purple Crayon, I knew that its a story that we can explore beyond than just reading.  The book itself is enjoyable to read, engaging and the boys found it funny.  Vito was glued to it for a long time.  At times, he would even “pretend” to read it by himself, mimicking how I read it to him at night. 

If you love this book, or if you plan to get one (highly recommended!) I listed below the areas of learning we touched by just  doing this simple easy to set-up activities:

Book Review: Danny Dingle’s Fantastic Finds

I was quite surprised when Mavi finished this book in one day!  It arrived on the mail last week, and when I opened it in front of him, he excitedly asked if he could bring it to school so he can read it during the break. 

Advent Books for Christmas Countdown

Now that the boys are older, I’m starting a new Christmas tradition (other than having  a Christmas tree) that will have a meaningful effect in our little family.  Aside from the festivity and receiving presents, I want the boys to feel the love of the family, drawing us closer to each other, to other people and to God.  I want them to remember that Christmas is all about giving, not receiving things for themselves.

We’ll open and read one advent book each day (but for sure we’ll be reading them all throughout the month!).  It’s similar to the Advent calendar but instead of having toys, we’ll read a really good book about Christmas.  I wrapped the books already, and randomly select a few to display under the tree for Vito open.  (Mavi said Vito can open all of these everyday)

 

Kingdoms of Life: Animal Kingdom

Mavi borrowed this book from the library so we can revisit the Animal Kingdom and he wanted to explore more of the other kingdoms of life.  We’ve done a couple of times before (here and here) and he loves revisiting this over and over.

Fish Theme: Hooray for Fish Craft

Our first activity for this week for the Fish Theme!  We love this Hooray for Fish book so much! I say this is one of the best books I’ve read for toddlers.  The images are so colorful, bold and it contains some silly stuff like numbered fish, big and small fish, fish with different patterns etc.  This is the reason why it is perfect for our unit this week!

Faith Formation Books

Aside from The Bible, do you have favourite books to read with kids that tells about Jesus (if you are a Christian) and Godly stories?

How to Study The Story of the Universe and The Origin of Life

It’s time for another 12 Months of Montessori Series and today I am sharing Mavi’s favourite book series.  We have been using these books for years now.  The books are all about the cosmic history to the evolution of man.  The stories are accompanied by stunning images and time-line to follow.  Everything in these books are just too magical and enlightening for him!  In this post you will also see the activities that the kids did in order to make the Study of the Universe and the Origin of Life a lot more interesting.

Goodnight Moon Storytelling Basket

Oh my, Goodnight Moon is one of my kids favourite and I can’t wait to share with you the contents of our storytelling basket!  I assembled it over the weekend and both Vito and Mavi are having fun tinkering and exploring the objects.

I read this book every night.  It’s calming, relaxing… makes them ponder what’s out there in the night, letting them observe their room and the silence of the night.  And may I just say, there is so much love in the story.  The old lady as I would always say to the boys, is lovingly watching her little kid go to sleep, just like most Mommies do!

B4FIAR: Jesse Bear and {Learn & Play Link Up}

I am starting Before Five in a Row with Vito.  I am a fan of FIAR and I’ve been doing it with Mavi for years. 

Last week, we did Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?  Vito loved it instantly!  He can relate to the daily activities of Jesse Bear and how amazing he recognizes most of it as part of his routines.  Like changing his shirt, high chair and mealtime, bath time and when running towards Daddy when my husband arrives from work. 

Now here are the activities we did to go along with Jesse Bear:

Morning

We played in the yard, put on his jacket and red pants  

Then try to play sand just like Jesse Bear. That is Kinetic Sand and we are loving it!

Noon Time

Lunch time, he ate some steamed veggies, then apple and drank milk.  He insisted that we place the book in his table to make sure he’s doing what Jesse Bear is doing.

 

Afternoon Time

To kill time we played with colored rice and scooping because Jesse Bear was playing with his rice! 

We also played matching shoes game!    When your child is about 1.5yrs old, they’re able to discriminate objects. Try matching games as simple as matching their shoes! Vito is such an expert!

Bedtime

Vito’s bedtime routine includes brushing his teeth (like Jesse Bear), washing his face and putting on his PJs.  I say this out loud as I do it so he’ll understand what we are doing.  And just like what I did with Mavi, I would read him books while I put him to bed.  This actually calms him down…. and make us both sleepy LOL. 

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Welcome to the Learn & Play Link Party!

Here are the featured literature-based activities for this week!

 

 

Harry Potter Sorcerer’s Stone Unit from Every Star Is Different

Fall Book Basket for Preschoolers from Homeschool Preschool

Peter Pumpkin Eater Printables from Embark on the Journey

Madeline Sensory Tray Writing from Growing Book By Book

 

Now it’s time for this week’s link party! This is a BRAND new link up for all blog posts that include learn and play activities and hands-on education for kids. We are excited to read your blog posts and to see what you have to share! Please link up below and grab our button to display on your blog.

If you are a blogger, share your family friendly posts here. We are looking for things which include:

• Montessori Education
• Homeschool
• Sensory Play
• Tot and Preschool Trays
• Fine and Gross Motor Activities
• Kids in the Kitchen
• Healthy Recipes for Kids
• Arts and Crafts
• Natural Living
• Free Educational Printables
• Family-Oriented Activities
• Healthy Living

Your post will be featured on each of our blogs where we will pick our favourite posts every other week. That means there is more of a chance that you will be featured!

Everyone, please meet our link party hosts:

Christian Montessori Blog ~ Please visit our CMN FB group ~ Pinterest

Vanessa from Mama’s Happy Hive~FB~Pinterest~Instagram~Twitter

Jennifer from Study at Home Mama~FB~Pinterest~Instagram~Twitter

Marie from Child Led Life~FB~Pinterest~Instagram~Twitter

Jae from Pinay Homeschooler~FB~Pinterest~Instagram~Twitter

Heather from Golden Reflections Blog~FB~Pinterest~Instagram~Twitter

Renae from Every Star is Different~FB~Pinterest

GUIDELINES FOR LINKING

• Please link up 1-3 posts
• Follow each of the hosts on social media
• When you link up, please add our button and place it at the bottom of your shared posts or link back with text link.
• By entering a link, you’re giving us permission to feature an image on our blogs. Proper credit & links will ALWAYS be given.
• Please visit a couple of shared posts and leave a comment for them
• Remember that you must link back in order to be featured

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Teaching Animals to Toddlers

What is it with animals that kids love? My husband asked me this question when he saw my pile of Safari Toob animal figures years ago and asked me why I incorporate animals in our homeschool activities. I have no scientific answer to his question but all I know was that Mavi was enchanted with animals (until now!). The way I see it, it's because of the unique sounds they make and how different they look from their parents and siblings LOL. 

As a young boy, Mavi loved singing the Old McDonald song because he enjoys making the animal sounds. He can get hooked for hours to any animal-related activities and play. Of course, a visit to the zoo completes all these lessons and activities. We've been to four zoos for the 6 years, all of which are in different countries. As of this writing, Mavi is obsessed with dinosaurs even if he haven't seen one. 

Now comes Vito. He also loves animals. The first animal sound that he ever made was that of the dinosaur's (thanks to his big brother!). Aside from dog, cow, bird and cat, Vito identifies other animals through their sound. Now with this sudden interest, I am joining the bandwagon of "invitation to play". If you haven't heard about it yet, here's an amazing tutorial from Teach Preschool.

So this is my first attempt of setting up an invitation to play of animals for Vito.  Oh boy! He was so happy, kept on jumping and clapping his hand showing his excitement!   As we play, I keep telling him the names of the animals and their sounds.  This is what he likes best. See the picture on the left? He's asking "what's this?" and that's a cue for me to answer and make the sounds LOL.

 But guess who enjoyed it the most??? The big brother! 

I wish I could get rid of all the furnitures in the sitting room and replace it with a huge play table for these boys lol.

He specifically loves this popsicle stick cage Mavi created for him.  Vito still mouths objects so I'm not letting him use our Safari Toob animal figures.  What we are using here are Schleich animals and Duplos.  The stacking cups you see there are Playskool Barrels which are my son's favourite toy.

Now this was an awesome and unplanned activity, and it turned out enjoyable for the boys!  Why not start doing your invitation to play?

You don't need to buy new toys. Just make use of what you already have, set it up in  table accessible for the kids, add some craft sticks.. papers, baskets and playdough and you're all set!

Now be sure to pin this for later!

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We do a lot of fun and educational activities at home. To keep up with the updates, visit in the blog The Pinay Homeschooler, or in Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.