Potato Heart Print Valentines

Here at the house we have been getting excited for Valentines Day. The house was feeling a little empty without all the decorations and tree so we started with some Valentines decorating and this weekend we made some easy to do Valentines Cards.

I don't know if you remember but we used potatoes to make Heart prints last year while learning about the Letter H and I wanted to use that idea to make Potato Heart Print Valentines!

Its super easy to do, you get a potato and cut into it to make a heart (I did one on each end), grab some paint and paper and have fun making some prints! This weekend was so sunny that we had to go outside and soak up the sunshine so I took out a table and our materials to do the prints outside.

After we made lots of hearts we let them dry and enjoyed being outside on such a beautiful winter day.

Later during the day I cut out a bunch of the hearts in various shades of red and got paper and a glue stick to decide where I wanted them to go. You can put them inside, outside, everywhere! They all look pretty, trust me and its fun for the munchkins to be sticking them everywhere.

I then took out my stamps and started making some messages on the cards. You can always use markers or crayons to write out a special message if you don't have stamps.

They will be a special Home made treat for your loved ones and they are super easy to do so. Hope you make some of your own and have fun while doing them!


Need some ideas on Valentines Decorations?
Check out the two DIY Valentines crafts I made this year here:

1. Valentines DIY Heart Wreath
2. Valentines DIY Heart Wall Decor

And dont forget to check out my Valentines Day Pinterest Board for lots of other fun ideas!


To make sure you dont miss out any new ones Follow me!

Hope you have a great Valentines day with your loved ones!

Our Week with the Letter H

This week has been one of the best weeks for us with his alphabet journey. He has been really understanding the letter H. He can write the letter so clearly and he can sound it out in a word so well. I am really happy with his progress. I feel so proud of him with how far along he has come. Not so long ago he was the little boy in speech therapy who wouldn't speak. Who had zero vocabulary words and who therapists recommended for special education. Now my son just turned 4 and has such an extensive vocabulary that he can talk your ears off. (Never doubt a mothers determination) 

Here's what we did this week:

Monday: We worked on Letter recognition. For every letter of the week I redo his dry erase board with the Letter were working on and an item that represents that letter such as H is for Home or House! I also add to it with a flash card or a letter magnet or foam Letter. Anything with that letter that helps with the connection is welcome.

Right on top of the area that his dry erase board is I hang a recycled poster board type sheet with clippings of the Letter of the week that are recycled from magazines or newspaper or mail. It helps because your child gets to see the Letter there working on in different colors, fonts, sizes and that shows them that this Letter is still the same letter (the back side of the sheet is lowercase).

Tuesday: We worked with letter Magnets and books

Remember that with books there is more to be done than just reading them. You can ask them to help you sound out the pictures they see, find the various letters of the alphabet in the words your reading and ask them to read you the book by telling you what they see is happening in the pictures and go along from there.

Wednesday: We went to the first Play and Learn of November and checked out new alphabet books from the library to work on.

Thursday: We worked with paint to Make Heart prints: A Letter H craft with potatoes. It was a beautiful way to connect paint with letters and shapes. We then worked on some more Letter writing and recognition.

Friday: We went outside to created some fun Alphabet Chalk Art Then we worked on some more letter writing and recognition.

Saturday: We mainly hanged out and relaxed at home. But we did play with popsicle sticks and make the Letter H out of them.
Sunday: We had a family day and are still just relaxing. Happy Sunday ya'll!

I am really happy with all the progress we have done and hope your alphabet journey is going well. Don't let a bad week get you down and just keep going forward! If your child doesn't seem to be understanding that letter then find other activities that might fit your child's learning needs. Don't stress out because every child learns at there own pace. I know its easier to say than to do because trust me It was hard on me too, but don't give up! We are going to be working on the letter I this new week and hope you will be joining us as well.

Here are our weeks with Letter A-G:

A: Our week with the Letter A
B: Our week with the Letter B
C: Our week with the Letter C
D: Our week with the Letter D
E: Our week with the letter E
F: Our week with the letter F
G: Our week with the letter G
What letter activities have worked with your child? Any tips or advice are always much appreciated. Thanks!

Learning your Alphabet with chalk Art

This week we have been working on the Letter H and yesterday was such a beautiful day that we couldn't spend it indoors. So out we went outside and brought out the chalk and started having fun!

I asked my munchkin to help me decorate the driveway with letters! It was a good chance to practice his letter writing skills with a fun object like chalk so off he went making various letters and they looked awesome!

In the meantime I was also making letters everywhere and asking him to identify them for me or helping him out with his letter writing. It ended up becoming a collage of our letters mixed together.

I then started making shapes and he did too and we were identifying them all on the floor by letters, colors and shapes now.

And yes as you can tell that led to making holiday designs. I made a snowman and my sister made a turkey and then her own snowman. Munchkin had so much fun coloring and drawing and making letters while being outside under the sun with a nice breeze.

Isnt having fun the best way to learn? How long has it been since you went outside and went chalk crazy?

If you and your kids are into chalk art then you need to check out this free event they have every year in San Antonio which is Chalk It Up! This years event already passed but its never too early to get excited for next years event. Check out the fun we had at this years event: Chalk It Up 2012