Thursday, March 23, 2023
Did you know that March 23 is known as National Puppy Day?
We couldn’t let such a sweet day go by,
without remembering our own sweet pups (and grandpups, too)!
Today we are bringing our next installment of Household Happies! your way!
We’ve heard from many of our readers
that this is a favorite feature…
We love it, too!
We love thinking up new and creative ways
to use simple household items!!
You may recall that our goal in creating these posts is to focus on a household item each month that we, as Grands, can use to easily create fun and engaging experiences with our Littles - from infancy on! There’s nothing better than having items already available at your home that you can pull out for extra fun when your Littles visit!
Here’s our criteria when choosing our monthly Household Happies!
The item is probably already found in most people’s homes!
If not - the item needs to be inexpensive to buy
AND
it needs to be easily accessible for purchase anywhere!
In addition…
The item needs to be able to be used in at least two ways for each age level!
So far, we’ve shared fun ways to explore with these household items:
In January we shared Household Happies! Q-Tips & Cotton Balls!
In February, we shared Household Happies! Muffin Tins & Ice Cube Trays!
Be sure to check them out if you are looking for fun ideas
for babies - school aged Littles!
Today we continue to get creative
using a common item, found in many household drawers…
Post It Notes!
Are you ready for some sticky fun
as we offer this month’s edition of Household Happies?
Post-it notes, also known as sticky notes,
are a versatile and inexpensive item that can keep Littles of all ages busy!
Today, we will highlight some of the ways we’ve used them
with our own Littles - our infant and toddler grandkids!
We’ll also share some other fun ways we’ve bookmarked
for the days when our own Littles are preschool age or older!
Post-it note activities for babies and toddlers
are quite simple but will keep them very happy!
All you really need are the post-it notes
and maybe 1 or 2 other items at the most!
Pull, Drop & Pick It Up!
Babies, when they are about 6 months old, begin to learn about cause and effect. Have you noticed how they like dropping things over and over again? If your Little can sit up on his/her own or stand, give this activity a try! If you have a Little who sits independently, place a few post-it notes on the wall directly in front of him/her. If you have a standing Little place the post-it notes higher on the wall so that he/she can stretch to reach for them! Your Little will love pulling the sticky notes off the wall and then letting them drop to the floor! Some post-its may get all crunched up in the process (oh well!) or go in the mouth (so watch closely)! You may have to work fast to keep up with your Little, as he/she will most likely pull off the post-it’s just as quickly as you can put them back up on the wall!
For walking Littles, you can place the post-it notes in different places around the room (on the wall and windows). Have your Little travel around the room, finding the sticky notes and then adding them to the container (if you’ve provided one) or simply bringing them back to you as they are found!.
NOTE: Your Little will probably notice that the post-its stick to fingers, too! Watch as your Little works to figure it all out!
Peek a Boo Books with Post-It Notes!
What a fun way to build vocabulary, learning the names of colors, animals and more!
Create an engaging experience,
using your Little’s board books and post-it notes!
Little L kept wondering what had happened to the animals in her story. We used the post-it’s to turn the pages into a book with temporary flaps! I’d say, “Where is Little Quack?” and she would lift up the flap and giggle! Peek-a-Boo!
This is one of Little L’s favorite board books! She loves to read it when she comes for a visit! We have sat and read it together countless times! It’s a wonderful book for playing “Peek-a-Boo,” too! Little L’s favorite page is the one with the pets, especially the puppy photo! 💗 Of course, that’s the one we played “Peek-a-Boo” with the most! Fun! Fun! Fun!
Don’t forget…
Our Littles are learning so much
while it may seem soooooo repetitive to you as the Grand,
repeated experiences provide security and confidence for your littlest Littles!
Watch and take your lead from them!
6 More Simple Activities!
Post-It Notes with Babies & Toddlers!
#1 For your littlest Little, have him/her sit on your lap. Set individual post-its on the table or surface in front of you. Let your Little reach for the post-its and pull them up! Model how to drop a post-it and watch it float to the floor!
#2 Give your Little a small stack of post-it notes. You can also provide a container, too (a bowl, basket or tupperware container works well). See if he/she can pull the sticky notes apart and put them into the container. (You may want to model this for your Little, but let him/her try to figure it out for themselves, first.)
#3 Make a tower of post-it notes! This activity is great for building fine motor skills! Find a plastic bottle or jar. Place the post-it notes all over the bottle. Your Little will be excited to find out what’s hiding under the sticky notes as he/she grabs them and pulls them off!
#4 We don’t know a baby or young toddler who doesn't like to play peek-a-boo! (See above... remember? 😊) Here’s a fun version, using a favorite puzzle! Before you begin to play, remove all the pieces from the wooden puzzle and put them to the side.
Stick a post-it note over each empty puzzle spot. To begin play, you will take off a post-it and, as an example, say, “Peek-a-Boo! Where’s the cow?” Then help your Little find the cow puzzle piece and put it in its place! After a few times of playing this way, encourage your Little to pull off a post-it note. You respond then, “Peek-a-Boo!” Where’s the snake?” and so on! Continue until all the post-its have been pulled off and all the puzzle pieces have been placed.
#5 Pull out your trusty muffin tin and fill each cup with a small object. Cover each cup with a post-it note and let your Little have fun exploring while also developing memory skills and object permanence - a developmental skill that describes a Little’s ability to know that objects continue to exist even though they can no longer be seen or heard!
#6 This activity is for older toddlers (18 months and older)... Using different colored post-it notes, place them around the room. Then ask your Little (older toddler or preschooler) to find all the pink post-its… the yellow ones, and so on! .
Variations of this activity include the following:
(1) Put different colored post-it notes on the walls and/or windows (use at least 3-4 different colors). Give your Little one post-it note at a time. He/she needs to find the post-it on the wall that’s the same color, and put the one in his/her hand next to it, matching the color!
(2) Draw shapes on the post-it notes and place them around the room. Give your Little a post-it with a shape on it, one at a time. Your Little then hunts for the matching post-it on the wall (the one with the same shape) and puts the one in his/her hand next to it. (You can do this same activity with letters or numbers, too!)
When we taught kindergarten, our students would each bring
a package of post-it notes as part of their annual school supplies!
We’d find multiple ways to use them throughout the year
and our kindergartners were especially excited and proud to use them…
all by themselves!
Here are some of the fun ways we’ve used post-its in the classroom!
Your preschool and older aged Littles will enjoy them at home, too… we promise!
Post-It Note Hunts!
While these activities are similar to some of the ones
described above for babies & toddlers,
the focus is a bit more challenging to meet the interests of older Littles
Depending on the age of your Little(s) you can put the post-it notes in easy to spot areas or you can hide them around the room! You’ll need to do a bit of prep ahead of time but then your Littles will be all set for fun!
Here are 4 ways to plan a Post-It Note Hunt for your Littles!
Each of these activities will provide fun learning opportunities!
Going on a Name Hunt! This activity is fun for Littles who are learning to recognize the letters in their names! Write out your Little’s name on post it notes - one letter on each post-it note. On a separate piece of paper, write your Little’s name so he/she can put the post-it note letters they find in the right order. Hide the post-its around the room. Once everything is ready, have your Little go in search of the hidden letters and put them in order on the sheet with his/her name.!
ABC/abc Match Up! This activity will use a lot of post-it notes! Write the capital letters A-Z on post-it notes and put them on the walls or hide them around the room. Write the lowercase letters, a-z, on another set of post-it notes. Give your Little the set of lowercase letters and have him/her move around the room, matching the lowercase letter to its capital partner. If giving your Little all 26 post-it notes at the same time seems overwhelming, give him/her 5-6 at a time. You can also time your Little to see how fast he/she can complete the task. Another idea - if you have more than one Little who would like to play/race, create two sets of lowercase letters, a-z, preferably in two different colors of post-it notes! Final challenge… can your Little(s) put the post-its in ABC order? (Capital letters only.... lowercase letters only... all together?).
Sentence Scrambles! This is a fun activity for Littles who are beginning to read on their own! Write a sentence, printing one word on each post-it (i.e. The dog has a big ball. OR I see the little man in the hat.) Hide the post-its. Your Little will then build the sentence as the post-its are found, using all the words!
Let’s Make a Number Line! Write the numbers 1-10 on post-it notes. Challenge your Little(s) to find the numbers and put them in a number line, ordering them from 1-10. For older Littles, practice counting by 10’s or 5’s, writing and ordering those numbers on post-its instead! (10, 20, 30…. 100 OR 5, 10, 15, 20, 25…. 100)
Post-It Note Puzzles & Games!
And now for some ideas we've bookmarked for the future...
perhaps these are ideas you can use sooner rather than later!
Post-It Note Puzzles for Preschoolers from Happily Ever Mom
These shape puzzles, using post-it notes, will keep your Little challenged and on the move!
Find complete directions here!
Smack the Number Counting Game from Fun Learning for Kids
This counting game will really appeal to preschoolers and kindergartners!
It’s a fun way to practice number recognition and one to one correspondence!
To play, you’ll need a die, post-its with one number (1-6) on each and a fly swatter (which is optional)!
You can also play with two dice, but then you’ll need 12 post-its with one number (1-12) on each.
Read here for further directions!
4 More Simple Activities!
Post-It Notes with Preschoolers & Older Children!
These activities may provide more challenging experiences
for your older grandchildren!
Post-It Memory Game from Happy Toddler Playtime
Memory games are a great way to improve attention span and concentration in preschoolers and kindergartners. They are also great for practicing a whole host of skills - letters, numbers, sight words, shapes!
Eight Sticky Notes Cool Ideas from Krokotak.
If you have older grandkids (upper elementary to middle school) who love to make and build things, have them try some of these cool creations!
Build a Post-It Note Tower from Homeschool Den
Using a pack or two of post-it notes, give this engineering challenge a try! If you have multiple Littles they may have fun building a tower together OR they may want to have a contest, building the highest tower!
Post-It Note Activities On the Go from Nurture Store
These are great ideas if you are on the go with your Littles! Pack a package or two of post-it notes in your bag and a pen or two and you’re all set! We especially like the Post It Note Monster Game! We can imagine playing it while waiting for dinner to arrive at a restaurant!
We hope this month’s Household Happies! post provided some
Grand inspiration for you and your Littles!
If you have any other ideas for us to add to our lists, please share!
Next Monday, we look forward to sharing our post,
An Easter Extravaganza!
In the meantime, we may just have to run out
and grab a few packs of post-it notes
to add to our Littles’ Easter baskets!
😉
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We post there regularly with reminders and additional content!
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