https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 05 Jun 2026 03:05:57 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1662061 Wed, 28 May 2014 09:38:16 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 1662061@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hope everyone had a great weekend :) Anyone think of anything else? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1656283 Sat, 24 May 2014 10:08:19 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 1656283@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Confetti: I was honestly just thinking about this too. I was reading how one mom did her colors over the span of a week and I looked at all the different colored items could/would probably be reused for other weeks. So I may just make a conscious effort to incorporate colors in every theme week.</p> <p>I was going through the weekly themes outline that @Boogs: found - the alternativelearning one - and I'm surprised that she didn't start with letters and numbers since you can use those in all the other theme weeks to cement the understanding of your LO. Anyways I started breaking up her lessons into more logical groups for me.</p> <p>Things like art, reading, music, and learning to take care of ourselves ('life lessons'). But some themes that I've come up with just from browsing and thinking would be:</p> <p>- the Seasons and different aspects of nature<br /> - Planting and taking care of a seed (on going theme)<br /> - Animals (like on the farm, ocean, jungle, etc)<br /> - Colors, patterns, shapes, textures (on going theme)<br /> - Outer Space<br /> - Building/construction<br /> - Transportation (land/air/water)<br /> - Occupations/ local heroes<br /> - Places around the neighborhood<br /> - Body parts/ clothing/ moving fitness (on going theme)</p> <p>I know its pretty broad right now but these are things I think I can explain and he'll actually understand but it will probably need a lot of repetition. Like A is for Ambulance, the fire truck is red, firemen drive the firetruck, they drive on the roads, etc. Bringing out new aspects as we move along. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1656027 Fri, 23 May 2014 22:52:39 +0000 travelgirl1 1656027@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm definitely interested. My LO is 18 months and I nanny for a 16-month-old so fun stuff to keep them busy is always good in my book :) They are both super into running around exploring, are doing well with talking (for their age, it's still words not sentences) and almost out of the must-put-everything-in-my-mouth stage. We had a horribly dire winter so anything that can be done outside is a plus! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1656011 Fri, 23 May 2014 22:35:59 +0000 Mrs. Confetti 1656011@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@NaturallyCathy: I feel like focusing on colors for a week is limiting, since you could incorporate it into all the weeks. As am example, if you did a car themed week, you could identify colors of cars on a walk, count cars that drive by, Sing car songs, read car books (and identify colors/count in the books), do car crafts etc. if the next week was trains or weather or whatever, you could incorporate colors/counting/abcs etc with the same formula. I have been thinking about this a lot today and here are the weeks I am thinking of so far: cars, construction vehicles, trains, weather, chicago (where we live), space, fish, and cooking. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1655899 Fri, 23 May 2014 20:30:12 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 1655899@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sorrycharlie: Great :) That's why I'm trying to keep it fluid. I figure we're all looking for similar (but slightly different) things when we search for an activity or craft. We'll approach an idea in different ways and hopefully expand our repertoire when it comes to keep our kids engaged and entertained! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1655895 Fri, 23 May 2014 20:27:17 +0000 sorrycharlie 1655895@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Following! Not sure how much I will DO but curious nonetheless :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1655886 Fri, 23 May 2014 20:24:38 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 1655886@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Question: What would be important for you (and your LO) to accomplish in a day? </p> <p>For example, let's say we're setting up a curriculum and we've set aside different time slots for a certain activity and lots of free time in between. I would like to try and have certain foods match certain themes, like different fruits for snack during the week we'll work on colors. But it's also important for me to find different books to teach and check their understanding on colors. Art will play a big part during this theme. And I'd like to dedicate a time to singing a little song and wiggling around because i know how much my kids like to get dizzy when I sing nursery rhymes. Field trips would be as much as the weather allows.</p> <p>So what would be important for you to engage your LO? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1655853 Fri, 23 May 2014 20:03:58 +0000 Tidybee 1655853@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Also following. DD is 19 months and I love structured activities! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1655852 Fri, 23 May 2014 20:03:53 +0000 Boogs 1655852@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This looked like a great place to start: <a href="http://www.oopseydaisyblog.com/mommy-school" rel="nofollow">http://www.oopseydaisyblog.com/mommy-school</a> and I'm reading more on their site right now.</p> <p>Here's another that might be looking through: <a href="http://allternativelearning.com/weekly-learning-themes/" rel="nofollow">http://allternativelearning.com/weekly-learning-themes/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1655842 Fri, 23 May 2014 19:57:51 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 1655842@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@winniebee: That's kinda where I am too. If we can bounce ideas off each other, try things on Pinterest or blogs we find and share our results, then we're more likely to be engaged and be able to engage our toddlers! At least that's my hope. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1655810 Fri, 23 May 2014 19:30:04 +0000 winniebee 1655810@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Following!</p> <p>T just turned 2 so I think this would be perfect! I'm a little tired thinking about it but I need some motivation. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1655806 Fri, 23 May 2014 19:27:03 +0000 Smurfette 1655806@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@blackbird: this is what we pay day care for </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1655797 Fri, 23 May 2014 19:21:42 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 1655797@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Dandelion: That's going to be the tricky part. I'm open to suggestions! I'm going to backtrack and look at Mrs Train's list from last year :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1655785 Fri, 23 May 2014 19:15:02 +0000 Dandelion 1655785@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This could even be a good idea for D. I might ask him if he's interested in this. Any ideas for themes? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1655784 Fri, 23 May 2014 19:14:47 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 1655784@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Confetti: I think my biggest problem is going to be trying to stretch a theme for an entire week (or at least the five days hubs is working). I'll be looking to you for guidance ;)</p> <p>@Boogs: Yay! Welcome, this'll be fun :D </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1655768 Fri, 23 May 2014 19:08:54 +0000 Mrs. Confetti 1655768@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>C is two (tomorrow!) and I was thinking about doing something like this. Want to include weekly library trip to get books for theme, an activity, a craft, coloring pages etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1655741 Fri, 23 May 2014 18:49:45 +0000 Boogs 1655741@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This can be fun! My LO is 3 and I would like to work on his letters and numbers. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1655728 Fri, 23 May 2014 18:32:59 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 1655728@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Shameless bump to see if anyone else is interested in this :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1654738 Fri, 23 May 2014 10:13:09 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 1654738@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@cmomma17: Ooo that sounds like fun. I'm actually looking at Pinterest right now and came across a few color matching games that look like they might be fun. And there were some nifty crafts that I know one of the bloggers did with their brothers that maybe your older kids would like... I'll see if I can find the post... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1654490 Fri, 23 May 2014 09:01:33 +0000 cmomma17 1654490@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@NaturallyCathy: I'd love to do a little bit of this during the summer! My LO is 13 months, but we will also have a 12 year old and 8 year old under foot for most of the summer!<br /> I really want to do a colors/rainbow themed week! Make homemade playdough, maybe do a rainbow rice sensory bin, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1654476 Fri, 23 May 2014 08:57:51 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 1654476@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@blackbird: Anything worth doing is worth doing well ;) Even if it leaves us exhausted. Gotta keep these kids engaged!</p> <p>@RsMom: Yay! Welcome, this'll be fun :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1654467 Fri, 23 May 2014 08:55:12 +0000 RsMom 1654467@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>R will be 2 years tomorrow. He loves anything outdoors and is really into his duplo blocks lately. He also just had a language explosion and we're working on colors, numbers and the alphabet. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1654450 Fri, 23 May 2014 08:49:31 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 1654450@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'll start - P is 2 years and change (nearly 28 months), loves building wooden tracks and playing with his trains, reading books, and coloring. He just had his language explosion within the past month and is adding new words every day and is in the process of mastering his colors and alphabet.</p> <p>R is 1 year and change (nearly 15 months), pretty much just wants to do whatever big brother is doing but really loves doing the bead mazes and stacking things. I'm not sure how much she's retained from me teaching DS but I can tell she's paying attention - even if she isn't listening to the directions :P </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1654441 Fri, 23 May 2014 08:48:33 +0000 blackbird 1654441@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sounds like a great but exhausting idea :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/theme-weeks-for-the-summer#post-1654420 Fri, 23 May 2014 08:41:47 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 1654420@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When I first read about Mrs. Train's theme weeks last year, I thought "Genius! This would be so much fun!" but admit that I was too exhausted with a newborn and a toddler to attempt it. This summer I want to do better. I know we had a sensory play theme every week a while ago but I was wondering if anyone wanted to start a summer theme week for our toddlers.</p> <p>I know each of our toddlers are differnet - some know their alphabet and numbers, some don't. Some can sort by colors, some can't. I thought if we made a group effort, tried different activities with different levels of difficulties, and shared here that it might inspire others and create a well rounded learning experience. We could encourage and help each other and generally just make the time go faster.</p> <p>Anyone interested? We can tell a little about our LOs (age, interests,etc) and what we hope to teach/learn this summer, and generally just have a great time. :) </p>