Sample Weekly Theme - Light

I'm hoping you all will add to these ideas.

Light. Ideas for talking about and crafts.
Light - we need it to see, to be warm (put your hand near a light bulb, talk about the sun)
Light makes shadows - watch our shadows as we walk. Make animal shadows using our hands.
Light has all the colors in it - play with a prism. Draw rainbows.
Light can be used to talk. Use a flashlight and/or mirrors to send a simple code. Try SOS (is that 3 short, 3 long and 3 short?) Make up your own codes.

Use this theme to roll to another weekly theme - for example. Plants eat light.

Flag Day

Today is Flag Day! Mason heard about it at school and was very excited to show me his paper flag. Marlee expressed an interest in having a flag, too, so Mason led a craft activity before breakfast. He just got out a blank sheet of paper and counted and drew the stripes, then added stars. I got out a couple of straws and pinched the end of one so it would nestle into the end of the other. Then I used a piece of packing tape to secure the "pole" to the flag. Marlee is so pleased! Mackenna had to make one all by herself, so it's a pretty loose interpretation of the flag, but that's OK. Maia called Kenna "Little Betsy Ross." Anyway, this could be a great activity for the 4th of July with glitter on the stars adding a nice touch. As Maia hums The Star Spangled Banner I am thinking this little impromptu craft is a real hit!

Why Weekly Themes

Weekly themes is how I survived as a pre-school teacher. I could design the walk, the crafts, the field trip, the reading time all around a theme. Got my creativity going. Here are some ideas for weekly themes
Light
Water and Dirt
Plants
Animals
Sun, moon and stars
My body

What are some other ideas for a good weekly theme?

Sample Daily Schedule

My mom told me kids like structure and she was right. And they like focus - but that's a different post. So here's a sample schedule with about 20 to 30 minutes for each activity.

Breakfast and cleanup
Dressed
Take a walk
Play outside as individual
Group play outside
Activity/Craft/Field Trip/Library/or Play Group (this is 1-2 hours; find out when your library has the reading to kids day and go on that day. This along with a couple of good crafts or activities, one interesting field trip and a day with other toddler moms and friends can usually get you through the week)
Pick up/ clean up
Lunch
Jr. Moms and Dads time (chores)
Inside play
Story time
Nap or quiet time (at least an hour. Everyone goes down. If they don't need a nap, they can read or play quietly alone. This is Mom's time!)
Wake up and cuddle
You're on your own
Dinner
Evening activities - family home evening, pool nights, family film night etc.

Introduction - Why This Blog

Because some kids are easily bored and when that happens they, well, make trouble usually. I started thinking about how I might help keep Ethan occupied. Then I started thinking about some summer schedules I'd followed. Lots of variety within a basic structure seemed to work the best.

Then I started thinking you all are creative, good moms (and dads) with lots of different backgrounds and ideas so I decided to create this blog and turn it over to you if you want it. I'm going to post a few ideas from my pre-school teacher days (yes I did that). Maybe you all can help each other come up with more and better.

I called it Monkey moms because all the other names I thought of were gone (moms helping moms, summer fun, toddler moms) . I wanted to get to the writing not spend all my time coming up with a name for the blog. For some reason Chris and his Monkey stuff came to mind so there you go. Monkey moms.