Explore Geography with Two Jet Set Pets

We recently had the chance to read and explore the world around us, with the fabulous Bella and Harry. A pair of jet set chihuahuas traveling the world. I knew right when I received The Adventures of Bella & Harry my kids would love them. They are strong hardback books with wonderful and fun kid friendly illustrations. We are an animal loving family, so Bella and Harry fit right in. The Adventures of Bella & Harry Series is perfect for not only the young child just beginning to learn about geography, but much older children as well. 

We have been lucky enough to Explore Rome, learning about the Roman Forum, Circus Maximus, the Spanish Steps and much more. We learned Italian words and phrases and took advantage of the free curriculum provided on the Bella & Harry website. The curriculum was great, the lesson plans included crossword puzzles, question and answer pages, as well as a place where the child could write their own story. You can also visit the website for fabulous games and activities, we did. The books are filled with quality information that keep the kids engaged and excited to learn and read more.

We have step danced our way through Dublin crossing the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, eating only Irish stew and soda bread. Our clan has searched the Loch for Nessie in Edinburgh, wearing our family tartan.  Next up who know's where Bella and Harry will take us, but we can't wait to have the next adventure.

The Adventures of Bella & Harry have received several awards, including the Mom's Choice Award, and the Creative Child Magazine Book of the Year Award.
With several hardcover books in the series available now and more coming soon it is the perfect time to add this wonderful series to your library.
Visit The Adventures of Bella & Harry today to start your kids on a great adventure.  

I received The Adventures of Bella & Harry to explore and enjoy with my children in return for my honest opinion. I hope you enjoy them as much as we have. 

The Perfect Winter Nature Table for Toddlers

O how we love our nature tables here at Natural Beach Living. If you haven't had the chance to look at a few, please check them out here. This week I decided to put together a table for my daughter. Although I feel children of all ages can enjoy this table, I catered it to the younger group by making sure everything could be handled by a baby and toddler. Since toddlers have the tendency to put things in their mouths, I wanted to be careful everything was safe and clean. So here you have it, our sweet toddler friendly winter nature table. 

I would love to tell you my daughter has a favorite thing here, but she loves it all and so do the older boys.

A child can learn so much from a nature table. It is a multisensory experience, being able to see, touch and especially feel the natural items. These little Puddlefoot drizzles are made of natural materials and are in the shapes of stars, clouds, and the moon. My daughter has been loving these up ever since we got them. I added a large Amethyst Stone to our table this month. Amethyst stones are associated with February and was the stone of St Valentine. Known for faithful love, it is believed by some that it carries the energy of  fire, passion, creativity, and spirituality.

 You always have to have a few nature books on your shelves, so for this table I choose Wonders of Nature Little Golden Book. To go along with it, a winter bowl of clean pine cones, and a cleaned off branch. I also posted a little sign that reads "This is Winter", great for the visual recognition of words. Sitting on a white play silk, you'll probably notice one of my favorite nature felted pieces. Mother Winter and baby, made by Lavender and Ladybugs . 

I love anything natural and handmade, put the two together and it's perfection. 

Let's not forget about the beauty of the living things outside. Whether it is the winter trees, the birds, critters, or something else. Spend the time watching out the window with your toddlers. It's so wonderful to see the excitement in your child's eyes as they watch and explore nature. I would love for you to click over and read "Nature through a toddler's eyes." 

The wonderful cards that I have displayed are the Winter Toddler Montessori cards from Free Spirit Kids. They can be seen in depth here.

I hope you enjoyed our perfect winter nature table for toddlers. If you have a winter nature table I would love to see pictures or hear about it, visit me on Facebook to share.  

Be sure to check out the nature loving mommas listed below, there are so many fabulous nature tables to see. 

How Wee Learn 

Rain or Shine Mamma

My Nearest and Dearest

Mommy Loves Trees

Visit Natural Beach Living's profile on Pinterest.

Strawberry Scented Edible Cloud Dough

Strawberry Scented Cloud Dough sounds scrumptious to us.

It's hard for me to believe it's February already, and when I began thinking about our sensory play for this month, of course a few key things came into my head. Those things were Valentine's Day, the color red, and strawberries. So how can we mix these things together for a fun sensory play, make it toddler safe and get some learning into our activity for the older boys? I'll show you... 

The Cloud Dough Recipe used for this activity was

4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup cooking oil (examples-coconut, veg. canola)

1 packet of strawberry kool-aid

1/3 cup water

First mix the flour and oil in a large bowl, then in a separate smaller bowl mix the water with the kool-aid. Then add the kool-aid to the flour mixture. Viola! 

Strawberry smelling edible but probably still not tasty cloud dough.  

To get in some Valentine and reading fun, I added a bag of candy conversation hearts to the older boys batch. Their activity was to find the hearts and read them to each other. They had a blast and thought it was hilarious telling each other to " Call me", "Be Mine", and "I Love You". When the older boys were finished and I checked to make sure there were know more candy hearts, the toddler was allowed to play. The great thing about this dough is it is completely toddler and baby friendly.
I wish you could have had the chance to smell the dough- YUM!
Now it's your turn, link up your dough recipes or comment below if you love cloud dough.

Check out these other great blogs to see how they explore cloud dough

Lemon Lime Adventure~Look! We're Learning!~Glittering Muffins~Still Playing School~ Little Bins for Little Hands~Natural Beach Living~The Eyes of a Boy~Powerful Mothering~ Wildflower Ramblings~I Heart Crafty Things~Delightful Learning

Please read the following guidelines before linking up: 

Share family-friendly posts related to the month's theme. Feel free to link old or new posts that highlight your favorite recipes for sensory dough. Failures and unsuccessful attempts are welcome.

We ask that no posts are linked with copy/paste recipes from other sources. If you use a recipe from another source, please link back to the original recipe. By linking up, you give permission to share your post and one photograph in future posts and through social media channels.

Visit 2-3 other posts that others have shared. Discover new ideas and meet new friends! 

If you would like to, please grab the 12 Months of Sensory Dough button for your blog. The linky will remain open for two weeks. 

On the 12th of each month, all co-hosts will post a new dough with their spin, highlighting at least one post from the month before and pin each post to the 12 Months of Sensory Dough Board.

An InLinkz Link-up

Nature through a Toddler's Eyes

You know those times with toddler's, when what you have planned doesn't actually go as planned? 

That is just how this amazing day played out. 

If you missed out on how this day started, you should definitely check it out here. In the pictures you are about to see, is what happened after we had spent time on our Valentine activities. 

So this is what happened when I turned my back.
Like many toddler's my Bells likes to climb. She saw something out the window that intrigued her and decided to go look.

Of course I'm always close by, so I stood next to her and let her watch and watch, and watch some more. At that moment I knew everything else could wait. This was a special time for her.
She concentrated for a long time up on top of the bookcase, (don't worry,that is not a regular thing).

 It was so enjoyable to see her excitement. 

Do you wonder what she was so excited about?

Squirrel's!!!
That's right we spent a good 30 minutes watching the squirrels run back and forth on our deck. Leaping on and off the trees and gathering corn that we left for them.
These moments are why I truly believe in allowing the child to have plenty of time to lead.

Have you had the chance to enjoy nature with your child today?