Valentine’s Day Power Word Pom Pom Toss

Valentines Day Heart Power Words Pom Pom Toss Game

Yesterday, I posted our Power Word Hopscotch, and I also wanted to share this game that we played to practice my daughter’s vocabulary (or sight words) for Valentine’s Day.

This was a versatile way to play with some of the words she needs to know.  Her school calls them power words, so this is our Power Word Pom Pom Toss.

And since it was February when I made it, I just had to do it with cute little hearts!

Valentines Day Heart Power Words Pom Pom Toss Game 2

I picked up some Valentine-colored pom poms and dollies at the dollar store.

Being February, it was easy to find these things in red and pink, but you can often get this stuff when it’s not Valentine’s Day.  For example, you can buy heart dollies most of the year, sometimes in the cake baking section of a large retail store, or in a party store, and the pom poms are usually stocked in the craft section all year, though maybe not with little hearts on the label.  :)

Valentines Day Heart Power Words Pom Pom Toss Game 3

My daughter had a list of 60 power words, so I bought two packs of 30 dollies each and wrote out each word on a separate heart.

Then we would pick a handful and lay them out on the floor.  For the game above, we would call out a word and then try to throw a pom pom onto that word.

Even for me it took a few tries, but that allowed up to repeat the word a few times.

Then, we would trade those few words out for a few others.

Valentines Day Heart Power Words Pom Pom Toss Game 4

Then, we did a game where we would call out each word and hop onto them, kind of like our Power Word Hopscotch from yesterday.

Just be careful with this one, and be sure to put the dollies onto carpet or something similar.  If you put them onto tile or some wood floor, they will slip right out from under you when you jump onto them.

Valentines Day Heart Power Words Pom Pom Toss Game 5

And for the younger crowd, like preschoolers, you could substitute individual alphabet letters for the sight words!

Have fun!

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How To Make Pom Pom Acorns

How to Make Pom Pom Acrons

These cute little Pom Pom Acorns are not adorning our home as festive fall decorations.

And they were SO simple – and cheap – to make!  {Have you noticed that’s a theme with me??}

Anyway, the pom poms can be picked up at the dollar store or any craft store, and the acorn tops were free.  You know:  from our yard.

The girls had fun collecting the acorn tops all around the driveway and sidewalk.  They were easiest to find in the cracks in the cement.

How to Make Pom Pom Acrons

You can see from the photo that the pom poms we used are pretty small.  Some of the acorn tops we found were even smaller, and really unusable.  I tried to pick out the largest ones, but even they weren’t terribly big.  I guess it depends on what kind of trees you have near you.

I set out the pom poms in a little art palette dish that we have, and let my daughters match up the acorn tops with which color pom pom they wanted.  This made them feel more involved in the assembly, even though I wouldn’t let them touch the hot glue gun.

How to Make Pom Pom Acrons

To put the acorns together, I squeezed some hot glue into the acorn tops and pressed the pom pom into it.

It only takes a second or two for the glue to start working.  Just be careful – if you add too much glue it will squeeze out the sides.

How to Make Pom Pom Acrons

I think these little things are just adorable!

I intended to use them mostly for decoration, but we’ve also practiced some counting and color matching with them, as well.  So if you’re homeschooling, they’re a great tool for lessons in autumn.

And as I mentioned, I usually pick up my craft pom poms in the dollar store, but if you’re having trouble find them in a store near you, here’s my recommendation for ordering some online {because you can never have too many pom poms}:

Half Pound Bag of Pom Poms for Crafts

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Exporation Bottles for Sensory Play

Oh, how babies love noise!

Big noises, little noises, repetitive noises…

So, kids make noise.   As mothers, this is something we know.  It’s also something we come to love (sometimes).

What I guess I’m trying to say is, sometimes we can make it fun.  For instance, I made these “exploration bottles” for my girls a little while back, but never got around to posting about them.  And, not only did my youngest daughter love them (who was probably about 8-months-old at the time), but her big sister (2 years her senior), loved them, too.

exploration bottles

exploration bottles 2

They’re kind of musical in a way, especially since there are so many options when it comes to filling them.  I used some two kinds of beads and some pom poms – all from the dollar store.  I put them in dried out water bottles in the 16 oz. and 8 oz. sizes.  I also added a little hot glue to the caps (after the photo was taken) to make sure that the contents wouldn’t end up in my daughter’s mouth.  Like everything else she gets her hands on.

I’ve also seen them done where you fill them with water, so the kids can watch the stuff float around.  I like what I did, because each bottle made a different sound when you shook it.  And yes, even the pom pom bottle made a sound, just a very light and swooshy one.  It’s great for comparison, especially with my older daughter.

Have you done something similar?  Let me know!