Parenting Preschoolers

It's supposed to be a rainy day today, something that is sure to make Mr. S. sad. But I think I'm going to brighten his dreary Thursday by grabbing his raincoat and rain boots and heading outside anyway. There are lots of fun things you can do in the rain with your preschooler, from jumping in the puddles (always a favorite!) to taking photos with a waterproof camera.

How do you have fun in the rain?

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If you've got a preschooler at home, you may want to be mindful of your television watching habits, especially when it comes to footage of the tornadoes that have ravaged Oklahoma. Images like these can cause young children to get upset because they don't fully understand what is happening. For advice on the best ways to explain what is going on, check out our tips on how to talk to kids about natural disasters and read how other parents explain tragedy to their own children.

How do you talk to your children about what they see on the news?

Related:

• How to Spot Anxiety and Stress in Children
• How Do You Discuss Scary News with Kids?

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If I want to give Mr. S. a treat, and I mean a very-good-boy, special-day surprise, we head to Build-a-Bear Workshop (manufacturer site) so he can make a new stuffed friend. (Come to think of it, if I want to treat Miss A. my 10-year-old and Mr. C. my 12-year-old, we head to Build-A-Bear as well!) The thing that I like about Build-A-Bear is while we always end up with an adorable plush pal, the process of making one is also a lot of fun, from choosing, to stuffing, to washing, to dressing.

Starting today, underwater city Bikini Bottom is relocating to the popular store, bringing residents SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star with it. For $23 each, kids (and grown-ups too) can make their own plush and then dress and play with them with a variety of clothing and accessories including:

• SpongeBob's Pirate Costume ($13.50)
• Patrick's Pirate Costume ($12.50)
• Pineapple House ($12)
• SpongeBob SquarePants Song Sound Chip ($7)
• Pre-stuffed minis Sandy Cheeks and Gary the Snail ($10 each)

In addition, for non-Bikini Bottom residents, there are SpongeBob PJ Pants ($7) and SpongeBob T-shirt ($7).

We didn't have to travel to the store to get ours, it was shipped to our home in a brown box. But inside the box was the telltale Build-a-Bear box, which made Mr. S. super excited. That it was SpongeBob inside, made him even happier. The doll is really cute and super soft, the same high quality that you find will all Build-a-Bear products.

All weekend long the stores will be hosting special events. Guests are being asked to dress up in SpongeBob clothing and costumes; additionally, anyone who buys a new plush will receive a paper pineapple hat. Thanks to Mr. S.'s enthusiastic reaction to his new underwater friend, I suspect we may be stopping by to get another!

Does your preschooler like to go to Build-a-Bear?

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Images: Build-A-Bear Workshop

Disclosure: Review products were provided by the manufacturer. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.

One of my most bittersweet memories of my elder son's childhood involves the preschool rock band, The Wiggles. To say it had been a long night was an understatement. My husband and I had bought a 2-year-old Mr. C. to the ER one evening with a very high fever. One febrile seizure and two panicked parents later, we were finally, wearily released at about 3 a.m. The three of us collapsed into bed, exhausted, emotionally drained, and ready to pull the blankets over our heads for a while.

At least two of us were. While all my husband and I wanted to do was go to sleep, Mr. C. was pretty wired from our adventures, and feeling a lot better thanks to the medicine the doctors had given him. To help him settle down, we hit "play" on our DVD player, hoping whatever preschool show we had loaded in much earlier in the morning would help calm him down.

Heh. Instead of the soothing sounds of Steve and Blue's Clues as I had hoped, we got treated to The Wiggles, and Mr. C. couldn't have been happier. He spent the next 45 minutes dancing and grooving, and even though the sun was starting to rise, and I was as tired as I had ever been, I couldn't help but enjoy the happiness and vitality of my little guy, who hours before had been so sick. So every time I hear about The Wiggles or one of their songs, I smile, and remember the joy they brought to us in what was otherwise not a good memory.

With that in mind, I was pretty excited when I was contacted a few weeks ago and asked if I wanted to have a chat with Anthony Field, the Blue Wiggle and Emma Watkins, the Yellow Wiggle and the first female member of the group. Both were gracious and fun and I was glad for the opportunity! Read my interview here.

Along with other new members  Simon Pryce (Red Wiggle) and Lachlan Gillespie (Purple Wiggle), The Wiggles will tour North America later this year, hitting over thirty-five major cities between August and October in support of their new album "Taking Off!" (compare prices). In addition, the Taking Off! DVD is slated for release later this summer, and a new television series will debut on Sprout in the fall.

For a complete list of tour dates, visit The Wiggles website.

Does your preschooler like The Wiggles? Do you?

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Image: The Wiggles

My homemade Mother's Day necklace from Mr. S. It's so pretty! Get directions here. (Yes, Mother's Day has passed, but it still makes a great gift any time of year!)

Got a Wordless Wednesday photo you'd like to submit? We'd love to see it! Email a JPEG to preschoolers@aboutguide.com.

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Image: Amanda Rock

Lately, Mr. S. and I have been working on his sharing skills. He actually does an OK job of it most of the time, but lately, thanks to a slew of new toys from his birthday, I've noticed he's been a little stingy when it comes to letting his brother and sister check new things out. (Although to be fair, we do have a "new toy rule" in our house--you don't have to share your new things for two days after you get it. Of course it also means that no one has to play with you either, but that's a story for another time.)

That's why I was so glad when we got a copy of Little Raccoon Learns to Share (compare prices) by Mary Packard and illustrated by Lisa McCue in the mail to review. This story, geared directly at preschoolers, tells the tale of Little Raccoon, who has just spent a lovely time gathering berries. But when she sees her friends coming, instead of offering some of her bounty, she hides, so she can keep the berries to herself.

This book has really gone a long way to teaching Mr. S. about the importance of sharing. As we read the book, we talk about how Little Raccoon's friends must feel about not being able to share in her berries. It really has put things into perspective for him. The text is easy to understand and the illustrations are bright and visually appealing, making this a book that your little one will likely want to read again and again.

How do you work on sharing with your preschooler?

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Images: Sterling Publishing

Disclosure: A review copy of the book was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.

The buzzword in our community lately has been kindergarten. Our school district offers a half day program, which while short, is very rigorous in its curriculum. There was talk for a little while of the school board possibly introducing a full day beginning in the fall, but that was ultimately shut down due to budget constraints.

Still, all this talk has gotten me thinking about Mr. S. and how I need to get him ready for his kindergarten experience. He won't start until September 2014, but I feel like to help him get the most out of his first real academic year, there are things I need to start doing now. And while I may review some basic academics with him, I'm really more concerned with preparing him socially and emotionally.

Are you preparing your preschooler for kindergarten? How?

Related: What to Expect at a Kindergarten Screeing

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I think I've mentioned already that Mr. S. LOVES getting mail. It's really a moment of great joy for him when the mailman leaves an envelope for him in our mailbox. Even more exciting? When it is a box. Earlier this month we had a chance to try a new subscription arts and crafts service called Wummelbox (manufacturer site). Designed for kids ages three to eight, each Wummelbox contains all the suplies you need to create a variety of crafts all revolving around the same theme.

The Wummelbox that Mr. S. received (left) focused on time travel and contained all sorts of interesting materials. The box itself is a lot of fun to open because there is just layer upon layer of tissue paper and little envelopes full of goodies. As you dig through everything, you can see the individual projects. There were three in our box:

• Build your own time machine
• Create your own cave painting
• Play a hunter and gatherer game

There was also a card that had "Stone Age Stories" to read.

We started off with the build your own time machine project (right). We could have painted the wooden board with the provided paints, but Mr. S. was a little antsy and I didn't want him to have to wait for the paint to dry. I did the first part of the craft, securing the wooden circles to the board and then Mr. S. helped me apply the stickers. The directions were very clear and easy to follow. Once we were finished (less than 10 minutes) Mr. S. found a cardboard box and headed off with his new time machine to parts unknown. Such a cute craft and one that has provided him with a springboard to imaginative play. We opened this box about a week ago and he keeps the time machine out in his playroom, happy to pick it up at any time to go on a journey!

A few days later we tried the cave painting craft, which was also a lot of fun. You get a cloth as well as some stamps (you need to assemble them, but it's super easy and a lot of fun) and paint and are encouraged to make cave paintings which you can then hang in a room or even a fort (in our case we used blankets and pillows). The stamps, which were in the a variety of shapes including an elephant and a teepee can be dipped into the paint and then pressed onto the cloth (and eventually anything else, they are totally resuable!). I was trying to get Mr. S. to tell a story with his stamps, but he was more interested in just putting the shapes all over the cloth.

He also played the Hunter & Gatherer game with his older sister. The object is to follow animal tracks until you find the mammoth. They had a good time with that one too.

I'm a big fan of the Wummelbox. Not only did I find the projects to be creative and fun to do, but I loved that it truly does include everything you need to do the craft -- even scissors. No hunting around for materials that you are supposed to have "laying around at home." Sounds silly, but it was such a relief to just sit down with Mr. S. and just "do" rather than sit down with Mr. S. and start to "do" and then have to get up and look around for a supply and then sit down again and try to get him to refocus on the "doing" and have become this whole drawn-out process. We really had a lot of fun.

Wummelbox costs $34.95 for a one month subscription. You can also get a quarterly subscription for $24.95 a month or a yearly subscription for $19.95 per month.

Related: Toy Subscription Services

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Images: Amanda Rock

Disclosure: Review products were provided by the manufacturer. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.

Late last week, Mr. S. and I had the honor of visiting the Sesame Workshop offices for a launch party of the new DVD, Elmo the Musical (compare prices).

The "Elmo the Musical" segment debuted during the 43rd season of Sesame Street and is an extension of the STEM curriculum that the show has been incorporating in all of its episodes.

Mr. S. has visited the offices once before, but he was two-and-a-half when we went and couldn't remember much of our trip, so I was excited to bring him again. When we got to the building we headed upstairs with a whole bunch of other kids and their families. Inside we found a big room filled with all sorts of fun activities including cookie decorating, coloring pages, and a chance for the little ones to try the new Elmo the Musical app (manufacturer site). Spencer played on an iPad, but it is also available for the Kindle Fire. 

The app, developed by Dreamkind, was really cute and gave us a preview of what we could expect from the movie. Kids are asked to create their own stories featuring Elmo by choosing various characters and settings. Mr. S. for example, created a tale about Elmo eating pizza in space with a couple of hungry aliens. It was a lot of fun.

After we had a quick breakfast (featuring Sesame Street products from Apple & Eve and Earth's Best), we screened a portion of the movie. The overall premise is that Elmo engages in a series of musical adventures that take him to a variety of places. To solve any problems he encounters, Elmo must use math. As with everything Sesame Street, the movie is very kid-appealing: bright and colorful, featuring a ton of music, humor, and familiar characters to teach kids important subjects. For example, we learned about "first, second, and third," when Elmo imagined himself as the president, living in the White House.

After the movie, the kids were in for a special treat, as they were visited by Sesame Street grown-up Alan, and of course, Elmo himself! Mr. S. and two other children were called up to help demonstrate "first, second, and third," again and had a great time singing and dancing. All in all a very fun day!

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Image: Sesame Workshop

Mr. S. hops on his brand new (birthday) bike and gets ready to take it for its inaugural spin!

Got a Wordless Wednesday photo you'd like to submit? We'd love to see it! Email a JPEG to preschoolers@aboutguide.com.

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Image: Amanda Rock