Explorations

Tot School: Week of December 7

2009-12-12T22:00:00.000-06:00

Lauren is 38 months. Illness interrupted our tot school routine but we were able to get a few things done.

I want to include more literacy activities in our tot school so this week I suggested that Lauren and I draw a picture and write a story. Lauren didn't want to draw but she was very excited to write her own story. As you can see in the picture she drew squiggly lines across her paper. I was happy to see that she wrote from left to right, top to bottom.

Lauren then read her story to me. I regret that I did not write down what she said!

Lauren wrote letters in colored salt.

We worked on the alphabet puzzle.

Lauren loves to sort by color so she decided the sort the letters.

After reading Clifford's First Christmas we played this activity from Making Learning Fun. We took turns hiding Clifford under a stocking. This activity provided a fun way to practice reading family members' names.

Lauren got lots of counting practice. Here she is creating counting cards. I gave her an index card, told her a number, and she placed the correct number of dots on the card.

She then used the counting cards with our Christmas tree counting activity.

For more Tot School fun visit 1+1+1=1.

Decorate a Tree Activity

2009-12-09T12:10:00.000-06:00

The girls love this simple Christmas activity. The reindeer basket holds a variety of small ornaments. The girls enjoy decorating the tiny tree over and over again. Thanks to Itty Bitty Love for the great idea!

Christmas Track Game

2009-12-07T12:00:00.000-06:00

Who will reach the Christmas tree first? Roll the die, read the cards, and see!

To make this track game I used a red file folder, white square stickers, and Christmas stickers. I placed the white stickers in a track leading to the Christmas tree sticker. I placed stocking stickers on several of the white squares. To play you will need markers (we used Christmas Little People figures) and a bag of either letter or word cards. When I played this with three year old Lauren I used letter cards. For five year old Julia I will use sight word cards.

The directions are placed at the top, left corner of the game board. The players roll a die and move the correct number of spaces. If the player lands on a space with a sticker then she must read a card from the bag.

Two of the spaces are labeled "Poinsettia Patch". a player who lands here must read three cards.

Play continues until everyone reaches the Christmas tree. We like to have the Little People sing a Christmas song around the tree but I guess that is optional!

Activity Advent Calendar

2009-12-06T15:45:00.000-06:00

It seems every blogger has shared her activity advent calendar this past week. I am enjoying the great variety of calendars and thought I would share mine. I made calendar last year after I saw it on My Montessori Journey.

Twenty four little stocking hang from red ric-rac strung across our bookshelves in the playroom. The stockings are numbered and inside each stocking is a card detailing the Christmas activity that we will do that day. Simple, fun!

Tot School: Week of November 30

2009-12-05T06:00:00.004-06:00

Lauren is 38 months old. Lauren worked on the following skills this week:

recognizing letters
functions of print: following a recipe
fine motor control: manipulating playdough and buttons, using tongs
ordering objects by size
recognizing shapes
sorting objects by color and size
extending and creating patterns
counting up to six objects

Here are a few of her activities this week:

Lauren helped me make green playdough.

She used cookie cutters to make playdough trees and then decorated them with buttons.

She matched shapes on this wreath from First School.

Lauren used tongs to sort pom poms. The pom poms can be sorted by color or size.

She ordered felt Christmas trees by size.

Lauren sorted small present ornaments by color.

I created a pattern with the presents and Lauren extended the pattern.

Then Lauren surprised me by creating her own pattern with three colors!

We played our Christmas tree grid game.

Lauren has been enjoying typing on the computer. I select a large font, Lauren chooses the font color, and then she types letters.

For more Totschool fun visit 1+1+1=1.

Christmas Tree Grid Game

2009-12-04T16:17:00.005-06:00

Little present ornaments make fun counters for our Christmas Tree Grid Game.

To play this game the child rolls a die and sets out the correct number of presents on the Christmas trees. Play continues until the grid is full.

Grid games are great for developing left to right movement, one to one correspondence, counting sets of objects, and creating equivalent sets of objects. Download this grid game here.

Taking a Break

2009-11-23T14:29:00.002-06:00

Things are a bit busy around here right now so I've had to examine my priorities and practice the art of leaving nonessential things undone. Although this blog is fun, it is nonessential so I am not going to post for the next week or two. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I hope to have some Christmas posts soon.

Tot School: Week of November 11

2009-11-13T21:23:00.008-06:00

Lauren is 37 months old. Her objectives this week were:

fine motor control: crumpling paper, gluing, using tweezers, pouring
observing seasonal changes
sorting pictures by season
identifying pictures as the same or different
putting together puzzles

Here are some of the things she did this week:

We read Corn: On and Off the Cob by Alan Fowler. I provided Lauren with an ear of Indian corn, a magnifying glass, tweezers, and a cup. Lauren could examine the corn with the magnifying glass or use the tweezers to pluck kernels. Kernel plucking was very challenging for Lauren but her five year old sister loved this tray. After a few rows of kernels were removed the plucking was much easier.

Last week Lauren cut strips of fall colored paper for one of her tot trays. This week she glued the clippings onto this Indian corn craft. I got this idea from My Montessori Journey.

Popcorn kernels were an interesting material for dry pouring. They made a very pleasing sound as they poured and it was easy for Lauren to pick up any kernels that did not pour into the cup. That cute little glass pitcher was $1 at the thrift store!

We revisited our neighbors' fruitless pear tree to see how it has changed since September.

Lauren then created a project to represent the pear tree in the fall. She crumpled red and green tissue paper squares and glued them to a construction paper tree.

The front of a greeting card made an inexpensive seasonal puzzle.

Lauren sorted pictures of summer and fall clothes. This is a free download from Montessori for Everyone.

I read the simple, non-fiction book, Scarecrows, by Lola M. Schaefer and then we did a few scarecrow activities. In this activity Lauren chose a scarecrow picture and then used the parts to recreate the scarecrow. I downloaded this from Kidssoup.

Here is another fun activity that I printed from Kidssoup. Lauren needed to pay close attention to detail to find the matching scarecrows.

This is another Kidssoup download. She matched to leaf to the leaf's shape.

She used our turkey stamp with the playdough.

For more Tot School fun visit 1+1+1=1.

Tot School: Week of November 2

2009-11-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

I was thrilled to see that the leaves had finally started changing colors around here. Yippee, we can finally do some fall themed activities! But then the weather turned quite warm, with high temperature reaching into the 80s. Somehow talking about cool fall weather just didn't make sense. So, I set aside most of what I had planned and we spent a lot of time playing outside and even snuck in an awesome trip to the zoo. Even so, Lauren enjoyed her tot trays and a few mommy directed activities.

Her objectives this week were:

Fine motor control: using tongs, squeezing a sponge, cutting, pin pushing, stamping, manipulating playdough
Counting up to six objects
Sorting objects and pictures by color and shape
Identifying opposites
Identifying letters
Examining leaves and acorns

Here's a peek at her week:

Tot Trays
Transferring acorns with tongs,

transferring water with a sponge (this was a huge hit),

Lauren picked up a rock on one of our walks so I set up a rock cleaning tot tray.

cutting strips of fall colored construction paper,

stamping letters into orange playdough,

pin pushing an outline of a leaf (This is another great activity from My Montessori Journey. Unfortunately Lauren didn't enjoy it very much.),

examining leaves and acorns with a magnifying glass,

sorting buttons,

and sorting pictures by shape.

Mommy Directed Activities

Lauren had a great time collecting acorns.

We played our squirrel grid game (click here to read about this and download the materials)

Lauren had fun with M&M math.

We read Tana Hoban's Exactly the Opposite and then matched opposite pictures.

For more Tot School fun visit 1+1+1=1.

Squirrel Grid Game

2009-11-05T12:03:00.000-06:00

**I have fixed the link to the squirrel grid. My apologies for the error.**

Lauren enjoyed feeding the squirrels as we played our newest grid game. For this game I made acorn counting cards and a grid of twenty squirrels. Real acorns made fun counters but feel free to use any small counters that you have available.

Download the squirrel grid
Download the acorn counting cards

To learn more about grid games check out my explanation of grid games and Teach Mama's additional insights.

M&M Fun

2009-11-03T14:24:00.002-06:00

What do you do with that bag of M&Ms left over from Halloween?

Sort them,

graph them,

and play this great game from Making Learning Fun.

Tot School: Week of October 26

2009-10-31T12:25:00.000-05:00

Lauren is 36 weeks old. Her objectives for this week were:

fine motor control: squeezing an eyedropper, using playdough, stringing beads, lacing, spooning, painting

gross motor control: balancing while walking on a line, throwing a bean bag

recognizing and identifying letters (A,C,L,O,P)

counting up to six objects

identifying shapes

matching identical pictures

creative expression: painting, sculpting playdough

reciting songs and poems

Tot Trays
For Tot Trays this week I followed Karen at Monkeyin' Around's idea and set the activities at each of the chairs of our kitchen table. Lauren moved around the table doing the activities that she wanted to do. This worked out really well! One day my older daughter, Julia, joined us for Tot Trays so you will see a few pictures of her.

Painting with fall colors was a fun activity. An ice cube tray makes a nice paint tray. When Tot School was over I covered the tray with foil and put it away until the next day.

Orange playdough with rolling pins and pumpkin cookie cutters are always a hit.

I bought this puzzle at Target's dollar spot. She loved this tray and chose it everyday.

Stamping pumpkins with orange ink was only slightly interesting to Lauren. Later in the week I put the stamp on the playdough tray and Lauren made impressions in the playdough.

For this activity she used a spoon to transfer orange and green pom poms into a pumpkin ice tray.

The idea behind this tray is to push the chenille sticks through the holes in the salt shaker and then put the beads on the chenille sticks. I got this idea from My Montessori Journey.

Julia enjoyed pushing the sticks through the holes but did not want to add the beads.

On the other hand, Lauren loved stringing the beads onto the sticks but did not want to push the sticks into the shaker. Either way, each girl enjoyed this tray and had some practice using that all important pincer grasp.

This was a fun activity. Lauren chose a small pumpkin card and then used the magnetic facial features to recreate the pumpkin. I downloaded this from kidssoup.com. Kidssoup is a subscription site that I have used frequently this past year.

For this tray Lauren paired the matching pumpkins. Later in the week I added three more pumpkins so she could match six. The pumpkins are very similar so she needed to look closely to make sure they matched. This was another Kidssoup download.

Mommy Directed Activities
She really enjoyed playing Latches and Letters. Here is a post that explains what we did.

We sang this rebus shape song to the tune of Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. I printed this chart from the Mailbox Magazine online companion a couple of years ago when I subscribed to the magazine.

Lauren practiced counting to six during this activity. She rolled the die, counted the dots, and then placed the correct number of little gourds on the mat.

She laced a paper pumpkin. She has lots of experience with lacing cards but usually she laces haphazardly. This was the first time I showed her how to lace around the card.

For more Tot School fun visit 1+1+1=1.

Latches and Letters

2009-10-29T13:22:00.005-05:00

In this activity Lauren was able to exercise her hand muscles, memory, and letter knowledge all at the same time. But don't tell her she was learning, she was sure it was just a lot of fun!

To play this game we used our Melissa and Doug Latches Board, six sandpaper letters, and six small letter cards.

Lauren chose a small letter card, identified the letter, and hid it behind one of the doors. She continued until all of the letters were hid.

Then I showed her a sandpaper letter and she traced the letter, identified the letter, and searched behind the doors until she found the letter. She continued until she found all of the letters. I knew this activity was a hit when she asked to play it again the next day!

Tot School Week of October 19

2009-10-24T12:00:00.001-05:00

I had more planned this week but illness in our family made this another light week for tot school. Lauren's learning objective this week were:

Fine motor control: pouring, tracing with finger

Balancing while walking on a line

Throwing and catching a bean bag

Understand that print carries a message

Tracking print from right to left, top to bottom

Identifying letters

Ordering objects by size

Here are a few pictures of this week's work:
Lauren had fun painting pumpkins as part of our stART project.

Here she is pouring beans into a cup.

Lauren ordered five lids from smallest to largest...

and then stacked them.

She also ordered five pumpkin pictures from smallest to largest.

She enjoyed walking along a six foot long piece of rope. This took a great deal of balance.

It was even more challenging to walk the rope while holding an object. Lauren carried a bag and walked on the rope to me. Then she said, "Trick or treat" and I put a block in her bag. She liked doing this so much I thought she would never stop!

Lauren tracked the print while we sang her Lauren Song.

We also read our Halloween Pumpkins poem.

She had fun using her finger to write letters in colored salt.

After Lauren traced each of the sandpaper letters I named a letter and she held it up.

When big sister Julia spent some time writing in her journal Lauren decided to join her.

So, here she is "writing" in her journal. She worked hard making several rows of small, pink circles. I love the look of concentration on her face.

Lauren also enjoyed a scooter ride along a local nature trail.

For more Tot School fun visit 1+1+1=1.

stART- It's Pumpkin Time

2009-10-22T09:19:00.000-05:00

Michelle at A Mommy's Adventures has a great weekly feature called stART. She reads a book to her little girl and then they do an art project. I've enjoyed seeing the great projects that other bloggers have done with their kids so I thought I would join in this week.

For our story we read It's Pumpkin Time by Zoe Hall and Shari Halpern. This simple story chronicles the growth of a pumpkin. The simple, bold illustrations inspired our project this week.

We copied the style of the illustrator to make these pumpkin vine mobiles.

We began by tracing pumpkin shapes on white construction paper. We used the medium sized pumpkin from Preschool Express' pumpkin patterns.

The girls painted the pumpkins orange.

Then they used a little red or yellow paint to add dimension to the pumpkins.

I love the different colors of the pumpkins!

To make the vine, the girls painted a paper plate green and then added a little yellow paint. They also cut out and painted leaves.

We cut the plate into a spiral.

We used curling ribbon to attach the pumpkins to the vine and hung them from the ceiling fan.

To see what others have done for stART visit A Mommy's Adventures.

Halloween Writing Center

2009-10-21T12:28:00.002-05:00

We have some fun new Halloween themed additions to our writing center.

The girls and I had fun making these glittery cards. We glued some white paper inside each card for the girls to write on.

I used Microsoft clip art to make these. The girls can use them to make cards for their friends or they can write a short story inside. Download the cards here.

We have several sheets of Halloween words bound together in sheet protectors.

Here is a sample of what is inside our Halloween words book. I purchased these words from kinderreaders.com.

The writing station also has our usual materials: journals, blank books, story paper, pads of paper, and various writing and drawing tools. The addition of a few new, interesting materials always renews the girls interest in using the writing station.

Halloween Pumpkins Poem Chart

2009-10-20T12:10:00.002-05:00

The newest addition to our poem chart collection features simple text with strong picture/text match. The text is easy for my three year old to follow as she practices following text from left to right and top to bottom. This poem can also be used to emphasize descriptive words and opposites.

Download a copy of this poem here.

Tot School: Week of October 12

2009-10-17T13:02:00.000-05:00

I didn't have any written plans for tot school this week so we had to wing it. Here are some snapshots from Lauren's week:

sorting letters on the white board,

making a caterpillar c,

cutting paper strips on the lines,

gluing the cut paper and glitter onto an apple shape,

using an eye dropper to transfer water,

playing in the pom pom tub with friends,

trying to make play dough balls,

scooping and pouring rainbow rice from the rice tub,

using a slotted spoon to scoop and shift magnetic letters from a bowl of rainbow rice,

and making Mr. Potato Head's friends.

To see what others did for Tot School visit 1+1+1=1.

Bread Dough Creations

2009-10-12T08:23:00.000-05:00

Honey Wheat Rolls are a favorite in our home. When I make these I use two bread machines to make a double batch and then freeze them.

The girls love to play with their own pieces of dough. They stretch, roll, and shape the dough over and over again. The elasticity of the dough makes it a very pleasing sculpting material.

When they are done playing, we bake their creations. Fun and delicious!

Tot School: Week of October 5

2009-10-10T07:45:00.000-05:00

Three year old Lauren had a fun week of playful learning. As she played she learned:

counting up to six objects
left-to-right movement
identifying letters (L,O, and A)
small motor control

Lauren kept busy:

playing a pumpkin grid game with her big sister (thanks Teach Mama),

practicing counting with our Pumpkin Game.

tracing sandpaper letters,

playing with Fridge Phonics.

spooning orange and green pom poms into a pumpkin ice cube tray,

squeezing playdough (I love that face!),

attempting to sweep beans into a 12 x 12 square. This was really hard so,

she used the hand broom instead. This was much easier! I need to set up more sweeping activities for her.

For more Tot School fun visit 1+1+1=1.

Pumpkin Path Game

2009-10-08T12:00:00.001-05:00

I have recently introduced three year old Lauren to simple path games. I keep the paths short (10-12 spaces) and straight to make it easy for her to follow. She plays these games with a homemade die with 1-3 dots. As she plays she is developing the concepts of left-to-right movement, one-to-one correspondence, and equivalent sets.

The pumpkin path game is played with a game board, a die, and a small pumpkin decoration (I bought a bag of six at Hobby Lobby).

To make the game board I taped together two 4 1/2 x 12 pieces of tan construction paper, glued a clip art scarecrow to the right side of the construction paper, and used yellow sticky dots to create a path leading to the scarecrow.

Each player needs a game board and a pumpkin. A player rolls the die, counts the dots, and moves the pumpkin the correct number of spaces. Play continues until the pumpkin reaches the scarecrow.

For more information about path games check out Sally Moomaw and Brenda Hieronums' excellent resource, More Than Counting.

Halloween Countdown

2009-10-06T15:55:00.001-05:00

We've been counting the days until trick-or-treat with our Halloween countdown. Each day the girls color one pumpkin and count how many pumpkins are left. Julia writes the number on a small Post-It note and we read the sentence together. Countdowns provide a fun reason to practice left to right movement, counting, and writing numbers.

Tot School Week of September 28

2009-10-03T06:00:00.001-05:00

Lauren turned three years old this week! Our tot school objectives for this week were:

Recite rhymes and songs
Small muscle control activities
Count up to six objects
Recognize letters
Extend simple patterns
Recognize shapes

In honor of Lauren's birthday I pulled out the birthday cake counting boards. Lauren placed three candles on each cake.

Later we played a birthday counting game. We set out several stuffed animals and placed a birthday cake counting board in front of each animal. We took turns choosing an animal to be the birthday friend. We rolled the die to see how old the animal is and then placed the correct number of candles on the animal's cake. Then we sang "Happy Birthday" to the animal. This was a fun, playful way to practice counting.

We played a game with our unit blocks. Lauren and I each had a matching group of five blocks. One of us would make something with our blocks and the other would copy the creation.

Lauren smashed bananas for banana bread. Thanks to Michelle from A Mommy's Adventure for this idea.

Lauren enjoyed our Very Hungry Caterpillar lacing activity.

Lauren spent a lot of time exploring the unifix cubes this week.

I showed her how to make patterns with the blocks. She repeated this activity several times.

Lauren has been very interested in letters lately so I have started to do a little letter work with her. Here she is sorting Ls and Os.

Lauren used tongs to transfer small apple ornaments from the tree to the basket.

Lauren and big sister Julia enjoyed Teach Mama's fabulous shape activity.

Check out 1+1+1=1 for more Tot School fun!

Tot School: Week of September 7

2009-09-12T06:00:00.001-05:00

Lauren is 35 months old. We began our week with a fun family trip to the zoo. Our tot school objectives for this week were:

identify body parts: neck, chest, shoulders, waist, stomach, back
recognize written first name
balance a bean bag on various body parts
find an object that is being described
describe attributes of an object
small muscle control activities
sort objects
identify a pair of objects as the same or different
observe seasonal changes

Here are a few pictures of Lauren's week:

We sang "The Lauren Song" while tracking the print with a pencil.

I named various body parts and Lauren tried to balance a bean bag on that part.

I set out four pictures at a time and described one of the girls. Lauren listened to the description and found the girl.

Lauren and I looked at an elephant toy and described its attributes: gray skin, four legs, long trunk, short tail, etc.

Lauren sorted lids by color. She first tried to sort by size but there are too many sizes for her to handle. I plan to set up a size sorting activity for her next week.

I put pairs of lids into two bags. Lauren and I each reached into our bag and pulled out a lid. Lauren would identify if the lids were the same or different.

We took a walk to look at our neighbor's pear tree. Lauren described what the tree looks like in summer. Then we came home and she crumpled pieces of green tissue and glued them to her tree trunk. This was a great fine motor activity and took an amazing amount of concentration to finish.

When Lauren was finished with her tree I recorded her observations. We will visit the tree again in the fall, winter, and spring.

For more tot school fun visit 1+1+1=1

American Girl Collages

2009-09-09T12:00:00.000-05:00

The American Girl catalog provides fun cutting practice. The girls like to cut out their favorite dolls and glue them to a piece of paper.

Name Writing Practice

2009-09-07T12:00:00.003-05:00

I made Julia and Lauren personalized chalkboards to help them practice writing their names. Julia usually uses a capital L and A when she writes her name so I wanted her to practice writing it correctly. The name painted at the top provides a correct model for her to follow.

Lauren attempted to write her name before scribbling on her board. Way to go Lauren!

Thank you to Jennifer at The Write Start for this great idea!

Tot School Week of August 31

2009-09-06T05:00:00.017-05:00

Lauren is 35 months old. Her learning goals for this week were:

recognize written first name

identify parts of the face: eyes, nose, mouth, cheek, chin, ear, earlobes, forehead, lips, eyebrows, eyelashes, nostrils

recite nursery rhymes: This Little Piggy Went to Market

small muscle control

tear and glue paper

identify color red

find an object that is being described

identify pairs of objects as the same or different

Here are some snapshots from our week in tot school:

I named parts of the face and Lauren used a pencil to touch those parts on the baby's face.

Later in the week, I gave Lauren a picture from a magazine. I named a part of the face and Lauren colored that part red.

Lauren worked on tearing red paper .

After finding red objects in our collage collection, Lauren made a red collage.

She sorted toys into "red" and "not red" piles,

She colored a simple red book. To make this interesting for her I provided various red coloring tools: a thick marker, thin marker, glitter marker, crayon, and pencil.

Lauren matched pictures of red objects.

I set out four princesses at a time and then described a princess. Lauren listened to my description and found the correct princess.

Each of us had a pile of color bear cards. We would take turns turning over a card and Lauren would decide if the pictures were the same or different.

We used the color bear cards to play a memory game.

Lauren loves to help me cook. Here she is stirring the broccoli, rice, and chicken.

We also read lots of books including The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry , and the Big Hungry Bear, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and Who Said Red?

Check out 1+1+1=1 for more tot school inspiration.

Transparent Drawings

2009-09-04T12:00:00.001-05:00

One afternoon we made transparent drawings, an activity in the wonderful resource Preschool Art by Mary Ann Kohl. The girls drew and colored pictures with crayons, pressing hard.

Then they used a cotton ball to apply a coat of vegetable oil to the back of the paper.

We dried the papers overnight on a piece of newspaper. Now lots of light shines through the paper.

Colorful Sun Catchers

2009-09-01T12:00:00.001-05:00

We always have seasonal sun catchers hanging on our kitchen door but I had a hard time coming up with a sun catcher for August. During a trip to the Lakeshore store I saw these and decided to make a simpler version. When I set out the materials, Julia had her own idea of what she wanted to make (yeah!).

To create a frame for her sun catcher Lauren attached 9"x 1.5" strips of black construction paper to the perimeter of a nine inch contact paper square.

She placed several colors of tissue paper squares on the contact paper and glued sequins to the frame.

Julia created a flower using tissue paper for the stem and leaf. The flower sequins made lovely petals for her flower.

Tot School: Week of August 24

2009-08-30T06:00:00.001-05:00

Lauren is 34 months old. Now that big sister is in kindergarten I have turned my home-preschool efforts toward Lauren. I am using the Core Knowledge Preschool Content and Skill Guidelines to focus my teaching.

This week Lauren's learning objectives were:

recognize written first name
small muscle control activities
tear and paste
recite nursery rhyme: Pat-a-Cake
place objects in a row
start and stop movement in response to a signal

Here are a few snapshots of Lauren's week:

putting together Cootie bugs,

sorting marbles,

matching the shapes on the bottom of the ducks,

walking when I said "start" and stopping when I blew a whistle. She loved this!,

matching the bandannas on the puppies,

taking her baby for a daily walk,

making playdough snakes,

tearing paper (this was harder than I expected),

gluing paper,

matching the letters in her name,

placing crackers in a row,

screwing nuts onto bolts,

spreading glue,

shaking glitter,

making banana bread,

and washing dishes.

Be sure to check out 1+1+1=1 to see what other families are doing in tot school!

After School Fun

2009-08-29T12:00:00.000-05:00

Julia started kindergarten this week so I want to plan fun and creative after-school experiences for her. This week in addition to a trip to the pool and the spray park the girls did the following activities.

We baked and decorated gingerbread boys and girls. Julia has been listening to gingerbread man stories and doing gingerbread man activities at school so she really wanted to make some gingerbread cookies. Gingerbread dough needs to be refrigerated for three hours so we made the dough as soon as Julia came home from school and the cookies were ready to decorate after the girls took their bath.

Lauren did a great job with the eyes and buttons.

One night I set out the watercolor paint sets. Watercolors are easy to set up and clean up so they make a great spur of the moment art experience.

Lauren painted a tree. I think this is the first time she's painted a real object. Way to go Lauren!

Paint Blending

2009-08-27T12:00:00.001-05:00

This art exploration came from the book I Made It! Process-Oriented Art for Kids.

We squeezed small amounts of tempera paint onto construction paper.

After covering the paint with a piece of wax paper, the girls used their hands to blend the paint.

Once the paint was blended the girls peeled off the wax paper to reveal their design.

Lauren enjoyed using a paint scrapper to add texture to her designs.

Off She Goes

2009-08-25T14:01:00.004-05:00

Julia started kindergarten and our family has begun a new phase of life. She was so excited that she practically ran all the way to school the first day. No tears from her but plenty from me!

Making Peanut Butter

2009-08-13T14:00:00.002-05:00

With all the convenience foods on the market today, kids easily get the wrong idea that food just comes prepackaged and ready to eat. They are amazed to learn about the process involved and love to make their favorite food from scratch. After reading From Peanuts to Peanut Butter by Melvin Berger and Peanut Butter and Jelly by Nadine Bernard Westcott, we made our own peanut butter.

First the girls shelled and hulled 1 cup of roasted peanuts. What a great way to build those little hand muscles. I think more peanuts went into Julia's mouth than in her bowl!

We put the peanuts in the blender with 2 tablespoons oil and tried to grind them. We were not successful . We then tried using a food processor and had much better success. The girls loved our homemade peanut butter!

Poem Charts

2009-08-11T14:38:00.000-05:00

We have fun reading our poem charts together. The poems on the charts are easy to memorize so the girls can successfully read along with me and even little Lauren feels perfectly confident that she can read them on her own. We read the same charts multiple times over the course of a few weeks and sometimes revisit old charts. As we read the charts, I am able to address different learning goals for each of my girls.

I use the poems to help two year old Lauren:

1) develop a love of language and reading

2) understand that print carries meaning

3) understand that we read the print from left to right and top to bottom

4) recognize known letters when embedded in print

5) begin to recognize rhyming words

I use the poems to help five year old Julia:

1) continue to develop a love of language and reading

2) recognize high frequency words

3) practice phonics skills within the context of meaningful text

4) practice reading fluently

How many other activities can you do with children of such diverse needs and be sure that you are meeting each of their needs? I feel so strongly about the power of reading poem charts with children that I am excited to share them with other parents and teachers. I would also love to see any poem charts that you have made!

Here are two charts that I have not published on this blog before:

Sheep poem
Horse Poem

To see previously published poems click here.

I bought my chart stand from Lakeshore but you can use the poems without a chart stand. They can be clipped to an art easel, attached to a wall with sticky tack, or attached to a refrigerator with a magnet.

Watermelon Seed Counting Game

2009-07-29T06:00:00.000-05:00

Here's a fun counting game that we played with our watermelon counting boards. Each player used one board with twenty seeds.

We took turns rolling the die, counting the dots, and removing that number of seeds from our board. Play continued until there were no more seeds on the boards. This was an easy, quick way to practice counting!

Does It Get Any Better Than This?

2009-07-27T06:00:00.001-05:00

I was busy making dinner when I heard Lauren's little voice say, "Julia, you read me this book?" A moment later they are cozy in the recliner enjoying a book together. Ahhh, mommy bliss!!

Bug Racers

2009-07-24T04:00:00.002-05:00

These adorable bug racers are fun to make and fun to play with! This craft idea came from Evan-Moor's Crafts for Young Children.

I cut apart a cardboard egg carton and the girls painted each cup. We threaded chenille sticks through two holes that I poked in the top of the cups. We finished the bugs by adding googly eyes and drawing mouths.

We placed a marble under each bug and raced them down our ramp.

Tissue Art

2009-07-22T06:00:00.002-05:00

This art exploration is as easy as it gets. I provided some liquid starch, paint brushes, white construction paper, scissors, and colored tissue paper. Lauren brushed some starch onto the white paper and pressed on pieces of tissue that she tore or cut.

Julia cut her tissue paper into shapes and used them to make a clown face. I love to give the girls art materials and see what they create on their own!

Writing Numbers

2009-07-20T11:25:00.000-05:00

Julia needed some practice writing numbers so I cracked open my copy of Math Their Way by Mary Barrata-Lorton for a little guidance.

In Math Their Way children are introduced to numeral formation using purple and green cards. The first part of each numeral is written in purple and the second part is written in green. That author states that these cards help "to eliminate reversals and gives the children a sequential pattern to follow when writing the numerals."

Each numeral card is traced several times and then Julia practices writing the numerals...

...in shaving cream,

..in colored salt or her favorite writing substance: Jello powder (thanks to Teach Mama!)

...using the "wet, dry, try" method (Thanks to Handwriting Without Tears)

..and finally, after lots of practice, she fills in a row on her practice sheets.

Big Painting

2009-07-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

My latest order from Lakeshore arrived with several large, crumpled sheets of paper. The girls are using the paper to make these wonderful murals. Painting on such a large surface is a new experience for my girls who have had many opportunities to paint at the easel. Julia loves the freedom of painting outside. She has been exploring splatter painting and making prints with different body parts.

Counting Watermelon Seeds

2009-07-08T05:53:00.000-05:00

These watermelon math mats are perfect for counting and addition practice in the summer months. I have had them so long that I can't remember where I got the idea but I think they are from Workjobs 2 by Mary Baratta-Lorton.

To make the mats I used green poster board and red, white, and green felt. For the seeds I used small, white beans and spray painted half of them black. I made eight of these watermelon mats.

To practice counting, the child places a number card on a mat and then places the correct number of seeds on the watermelon,

To practice addition, the child places an addition card on a mat and then uses the black and white seeds to solve the addition problem.

Salt Drawings

2009-07-06T19:22:00.000-05:00

Mix a few drops of food coloring into a bowl of salt. Let the salt dry over night or spread it on a cookie sheet and place in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes.

Use a paintbrush or cotton swab to apply glue to a piece of construction paper.

Sprinkle the colored salt over the glue. Shake off the excess salt.

When the glue is completely dry, gently tap the paper to remove any loose salt.

Enjoy your bright, textured drawings.

Glittery Fireworks

2009-07-02T12:30:00.000-05:00

Glitter is probably my girls' favorite art material so they were thrilled to make these glittery firework pictures.

First they used a cotton swab dipped in glue to paint a firework on black paper.

They covered the firework with red, white, or blue glitter. After shaking off the extra glitter, they oooed and aaaed at their sparkling fireworks.

Have a fabulous Fourth of July!

Patriotic Sun Catchers

2009-06-30T15:40:00.001-05:00

We love to hang seasonal sun catchers on our kitchen door. These Fourth of July sun catchers were easy and fun to make.

Materials and adult preparation:

clear contact paper cut into nine inch squares
1" x 9" strips of red, white, and blue construction paper. Use a star craft punch to punch little stars from the strips.
4 1/2" stars cut from red, white, and blue paper
Red, white, and blue glitter

Procedure:

Remove the back from the contact paper and place on table sticky side up.
Place the strips of construction paper around the edges of the contact paper to create a border.
Place a large star in the center of the contact paper. Use the small stars and glitter to decorate the sun catcher.

Patriotic Star Mobile

2009-06-19T04:00:00.001-05:00

Julia is in the Fourth of July spirit after creating these sparkling stars hanging from a red, white, and blue spiral. The picture does not do the mobile justice, it is much prettier in real life.

I prepared for this craft by cutting several stars from red, white, and blue construction paper. I gave Julia a small lid full of white glue and a cotton swab. She spread glue on a star and sprinkled it with glitter. She repeated this process multiple times, adding different colors to her star. She glittered several stars, each with their own unique design.

She then painted both sides of a paper plate. When the paint dried, we cut them into a spiral. I used white thread and tape to attach each star to the spiral. Her mobile now hangs from her ceiling fan's pull chain.

A sticky lint brush is a fun and effective tool for removing glitter from the table (and chairs and floor and clothes and skin and just about everywhere else).

Shape Graph

2009-06-17T12:00:00.001-05:00

I made this shape graph by dividing a sheet of butcher paper into a six by six grid. I cut a circle, rectangle, triangle, diamond, oval, and square from black construction paper and glued each shape to the bottom of the graph. I also cut five of each shape from black poster board. The die is a one inch wooden cube. I used a black paint pen to draw a shape on each side of the cube.

To play the game we lay out the graph and place the shapes below each column. The kids take turns rolling the die, identifying the shape, and placing that shape on the appropriate column.
After each turn I ask a question such as: Which column has the most? Which has the least? Are there more squares or circles? How many more triangles do we need to fill the column?

The first shape to fill its column is the winner!

Julia's Reading

2009-06-15T11:22:00.000-05:00

I try to have a simple reading lesson with Julia several times a week. To begin, Julia chooses three or four books from her book box. These are books that she has already read with me. Some of her favorites have been read several times and are quite familiar to her. Rereading familiar books allows Julia to practice reading fluently. Because these books are usually rather easy for her she builds confidence right from the start of her lesson.

After she reads each book I usually praise a specific strategy that she has used effectively. For example, I might turn to a page and tell her, "Wow, you noticed that what you said didn't make sense, so you went back and read that line again. You know that what you read always has to make sense!" About once a week I'll go through her box and remove any books that are too easy or not interesting to Julia.

We spend a few minutes on word work. In this picture she is changing the first letter or letters of words to make new words. I started this by showing her the word 'make' and saying, "This says 'make'. I can change the 'm' to 'f' and make the word 'fake'. When I put the 'm' back I made 'make' again. Now you try. Can you change 'make' to 'fake'? Now make 'take'. How about 'shake'?" Julia moves the letters to make the requested words. Then I'll make words for her to read.

Finally, Julia gets some new books. I choose books that I know will provide some challenges but are within her grasp. I always begin by introducing the book to her, making sure I discuss any unfamiliar vocabulary or concepts. Julia then reads the book to me.

We really enjoy this time together. We discuss the stories, laugh at the silly parts, and learn from the non-fiction books together. My purpose of these lessons is not only for Julia to develop reading skills but more importantly to develop a love of reading. This is a natural extension of the wonderful experiences we have had exploring books together since she was a newborn. Now Julia is the one reading to me!

I have lots of leveled books that I purchased when I was a classroom teacher. Books for beginning readers can also be found at:

Fancy Nancy Day 4

2009-06-10T11:00:00.001-05:00

We're still having fun with the Fancy Nancy books! In Fancy Nancy Poison Ivy Expert, Nancy gains some personal experience with poison ivy. Children can relate to the mistakes Nancy makes and the consequences she must face. Best of all, Nancy is surrounded by caring family and friends who support her through her disappointments.

Nancy and her best friend Bree used some rope, a basket, and pulleys to send messages to each other. Julia has been enjoying the pulley system her daddy made for her.

Nancy wrote about her new knowledge of poison ivy in her journal. We turned ordinary journals into...

extraordinary journals! We covered plain composition books with pretty scrapbook paper and sequins. Of course, you need to use a plumed pencil to write in such a posh journal! The journals and pencils are the newest addition to our writing station.

Lauren immediately made marks in her journal, grabbed a chair, and read her story to me! I am thrilled to see my two year old show such confidence that she is a reader and writer!

Listening to my girls read their stories was definitely a happy mommy moment!

We also checked out poison-ivy.org to see pictures of poison ivy and poison ivy rashes. We've been looking for poison ivy at a local nature trail but haven't found any.

Fancy Nancy Day 3

2009-06-08T15:47:00.004-05:00

Fancy Nancy Bonjour, Butterfly inspired our activities for day 3 of our Fancy Nancy adventure.

At her grandparents' anniversary party Nancy enjoyed the delicious tiny hot dogs. Julia and Lauren helped make their own pigs in a blanket with frilly toothpicks.

We also made lemonade and sipped it through straws with fancy butterfly toppers.

Nancy pretended the hotel bathroom was a beauty spa. We had our own spa, complete with manicures.

The girls made fancy butterfly necklaces. The butterfly is cut from sparkly fun foam. The girls glued on sequins and laced the butterfly on a string with some pony beads.

One thing I appreciate about the Fancy Nancy books is Nancy's fancy vocabulary. Julia has added a few words to her vocabulary. I love to hear her describe something as posh or spectacular!

Next up: Fancy Nancy Poison Ivy Expert

Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy

2009-06-05T12:00:00.000-05:00

For our second Fancy Nancy adventure we explored Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy.

Using a few accessories the girls turned their puppies into posh puppies. I followed this tutorial to to make little doggy tutus. I also made tutus for the girls but they refuse to wear them. :( At least the dogs appreciate them!

For snack we made puppy chow (AKA Chex Muddy Buddies).

The girls made fancy dog collars. I attached velcro to the ends of a piece of satin ribbon. The girls glued sequins to the ribbon.

Little Barker is looking posh!

Next up: Fancy Nancy Bonjour Butterfly

Fancy Nancy Day 1

2009-06-04T10:30:00.000-05:00

I plan to have a lot of fun with my kiddos this summer! The girls and I had such a fun time with our Mrs. Wishy Washy day that I decided to hold several book themed days. So, here we are beginning our summer with Fancy Nancy week!

Summary (from the book jacket): Meet Nancy, who believes that more is ALWAYS better when it comes to being fancy. From the top of her tiara down to her sparkly studded shoes, Nancy is determined to teach her family a thing or two about being fancy. How Nancy transforms her parents and little sister for one enchanted evening makes for a story that is funny and warm- with or without the frills.

All the Fancy Nancy books are a huge hit in our home. Don't let the fluff fool you, these books have substance. Children can relate to the mistakes Nancy makes and the disappointments she faces. I appreciate that at the heart of each of these stories is a loving, accepting family.

Julia, Lauren, and our friend Mary Ann got together for some Fancy Nancy fun! We began our festivities by gathering on the couch to read the book.

Then the girls helped each other dress in fancy ensembles.

Don't they look exquisite?!

Nancy loves to write her name with a pen with a plume. The girls had fun writing their names on fancy paper with plumed pencils. To make these pencils I taped a feather to the end of a pencil, wrapped the tape with ribbon, and secured the ribbon with a small piece of tape.

Nancy gave her family lessons on the difference between plain and fancy. We sorted plain and fancy items.

Nancy had disastrous results when she tried carrying her ice cream tray like a fancy waiter. My girls had fun carrying a tray of pretend ice cream across the room.

Although Nancy says there is no fancy or better way to say "I love you" we still found a way to make fancy "I love you" signs.

Feathers, lace, and sequins turned our plain signs into fancy signs.

The girls enjoyed eating sandwiches and fruit with frilly toothpicks while sipping apple juice from china teacups. Pinkies up, of course!

We couldn't celebrate Fancy Nancy without parfaits for dessert!

On our book theme days, we have a great time reading and experiencing fun books. I enjoy the challenge of coming up with book related activities on a shoestring budget! We have activities planned for each of the Fancy Nancy books. Next up: Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy

Tot School 3

2009-05-31T21:18:00.005-05:00

Lauren is two years and seven months old. This week in Tot School she...

Put together rhyming puzzles with my help.

Strung ocean animal beads.

Sewed with our Filo Design with Laces set.

Stamped flowers.

Explored glue and glitter.

Stamped farm animals.

Played with shaving cream. This is an exciting development for us. Until recently she was not willing to put her hands in finger paint or shaving cream.

Big sister Julia has never hesitated to get her hands messy!

Sorted buttons. We currently have on the shelf a set of six colors and three shapes of buttons. She sorted by shape and then by color.

Matching bear counters to picture cards. She worked with bears of six colors and two sizes.

For more Tot school ideas visit 1+1+1=1

Tweezing Beads

2009-05-29T18:25:00.000-05:00

Tweezing beads is a classic activity to help develop the finger muscles needed for writing. Here Julia is picking up beads with the tweezers and carefully placing them in a mini ice cube tray. Thank you Laura from My Montessori Journey for the ice cube tray!

Five Little Pig Puppets

2009-05-27T12:00:00.000-05:00

The girls made these cute little pig finger puppets to go with our Five Little Pigs poem. To make the puppets we cut rectangle strips, folded them in half and glued along the sides. We cut circles for the faces and triangles for the ears. After gluing the pieces together the girls used a pen to draw the faces.

Collage Box

2009-05-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

Creating collages is a popular activity around our house. We use this compartmentalized box to hold various collage items. Our current materials are sequins, small shells, aquarium rocks, feathers, googly eyes, died pasta, paper and foam confetti, popcorn, and a string of beads.

My two year old uses a paint brush to spread a little glue to attach her items to her paper. Collage is a great sensory and fine motor experience for toddlers. The materials offer a variety of textures for her to explore. She develops finger muscles as she picks up and carefully places the items on her paper. As she decides how to arrange the items on the paper she develops spatial reasoning and problem solving skills.

Five year old Julia uses a bottle of glue to adhere the items. Sometimes she creates pictures from the collage materials and other times she enjoys just gluing to items to her paper. Below are some of Julia's creations:

Tot School 2

2009-05-24T06:00:00.001-05:00

For more tot school ideas visit 1+1+1=1!

Lauren is two years and seven months old. She had a fun week:

Sorting buttons by shape.

Using a funnel to pour rainbow rice into bottles.

Dumping the coins out of her piggy bank and sliding them back through the slot.

Putting together a puzzle I made from an empty fruit snack box.

Cutting her own puzzle.

Making Do A Dot pictures at the easel.

Gluing items from our collage box.

Painting with puffy paint. Thank you My Two Happy Homeschoolers for the great idea!

Cleaning the table. I am teaching the girls to spray once and wipe until all the water is gone before spraying again.

"Reading" our I Went Swimming chart.

Writing a story! This is my favorite picture of the week! Lauren saw an ant by the back door and then decided to write a story about it. When she pretends to write, she carefully says the words and makes verticle lines for her "letters". I can tell she has been watching mom and big sister write.

Balancing a bean bag on various parts of her body.

Throwing and attempting to catch a bean bag.

Riding a scooter all the way to the playground and all the way home (about one mile round trip)!

Watering the plants.

Playing in the sandbox.

With a Moo Moo Here...

2009-05-22T12:00:00.000-05:00

As part of our farm theme we learned about cows. We started by reading The Milk Makers by Gail Gibbons.

We sang the Making Butter Boogie while making our own butter. Download the poem here.

We each took turns shaking the whipping creme in a baby food jar.

When the butter was ready we ate it on bread while I read Click, Clack, Moo to the girls.

Then we read our cow poem chart and Julia illustrated her own copy of the poem. Feel free to download the cow poem and the child's copy of the poem.

Farm Books and Felt Board Stories

2009-05-20T12:00:00.000-05:00

During our farm unit, I've devoted one of the shelves in our playroom to farm books. The small tub holds two plastic bags, each with a story book and story pieces to use on the felt board (more information below). The other tub holds a variety of farm books including:

Storybooks:
Little Chick's Breakfast by Mary De Ball Kwitz
"Not Now!" said the Cow by Joanne Oppenheim
Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin
The New Baby Calf by Edith Newlin Chase
Good Morning Chick by Mirra Ginsburg
Night is Coming W. Nikola-Lisa
Several Mrs. Wishy Washy books by Joy Cowley
Hello, Farm Animals by Eileen Curran

Rhyming Books:
Down on the Farm by Merrily Kutner
Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
I Went Walking by Sue Williams
The Day the Goose Got Loose by Reeve Lindbergh
Old Mac Donald Had a Farm by Siobhan Dodds
On the Farm by David Elliot
Barnyard Banter by Denise Flemming
Big Fat Hen by Keith Baker
Cock-a-doodle-doo Barnyard Hullabaloo by Giles Andreae

Counting Books:
Let's Go Visiting by Sue Williams
Cock-a-doodle-doo A Farmyard Counting Book by Steve Lavis
Ten Red Apples by Par Hutchins
Click, Clack, Splish, Splash by Doreen Cronin

Nonfiction:
Animal Babies on the Farm by Vicky Weber
The Milk Makers by Gail Gibbons
My Horses by Heather Miller
My Pigs by Heather Miller
My Sheep by Heather Miller
My Chickens by Heather Miller
Farm Babies by Russell Freedman
Eye Openers Farm Animals

I would like to add a few farm alphabet books to this tub. Any recommendations?

Hattie and the Fox by Mem Fox is our first felt board story. The pictures are from the Arkansas Department of Human Services and can be downloaded here.

Here is Lauren pulling the fox's nose out of the bushes and saying, "Goodness gracious me! I see a nose in the bushes!" Yeah Lauren!

Mrs. Wishy-Washy is our other felt board story. The pictures can be downloaded here. Both Hattie and the Fox and Mrs. Wishy-Washy are simple and highly repetitive stories that little ones can successfully retell.

Five Little Pigs

2009-05-18T12:00:00.001-05:00

Materials:

Five Little Pigs poem. Print the second page (the numbers) on card stock.

Pigs printed on card stock

12x18 green construction paper

9x12 brown construction paper

lamination film (if you do not laminate, then place a piece of clear packing tape under the velcro)

Velcro

To make the chart:

Glue the poem to the top of the 12x18 green construction paper. Cut the brown paper into the shape of a mud puddle and glue to the bottom of the green construction paper.

Laminate the poem, number cards, and pig pictures. Cut the pieces apart.

Attach a small strip of velcro above the word 'five' on the poem and to the back of the number cards. Attach five pieces of velcro to the mud puddle and to the back of the pigs.

To use the chart:

Place the pigs on the puddle.

Read the poem with your child using your finger or a pointer to track the print.

After you read "The farmer took one piggy out." your child removes a pig.

Count the number of pigs left in the puddle. Cover the word 'five' with the word 'four' and read the poem again. Continue until all the pigs are removed.

Sticker Addition

2009-05-18T12:00:00.000-05:00

Julia used farm stickers to practice addition. First she cut apart the equation and answer cards. Then she placed the correct number of stickers on each equation card and found the correct answer. Download the addition page here.

Lauren's Tot School

2009-05-17T06:00:00.001-05:00

I have enjoyed checking out Tot School on 1+1+1=1 and seeing all the wonderful things moms have done with their tots. This week I want to share the fun Lauren had working with her activity trays and tubs.

Lauren matched pictures of mommies and babies.

She used the tray of cut shapes to create a shape collage.

Lauren worked on spelling her name. For this activity I spelled Lauren's name with magnetic letters and traced the letters on a piece of paper. Lauren places the magnetic letters over the black letters as we name each letter.

She created with little Legos.

Here she is stringing pony beads onto Rex Lace.

She sorted buttons by color. They can also be sorted by shape (circles, squares, and triangles).

I cut cheese and fruit and Lauren used a toothpick to make fruit kabobs.

Lauren choose to paint at the easel several times this week.

Who Was In the Barn

2009-05-15T06:30:00.000-05:00

Children practice animal names and sounds with this easy to memorize poem. The changeable pictures and word pieces add extra appeal.

Materials:

Who Was in the Barn printed on printer paper
Word cards and animal pictures printed on card stock. The animal pictures are from prekinders.com.
one piece of 12x18 construction paper
a small piece of yellow construction paper
lamination film (if you do not laminate, then place a piece of clear packing tape under the velcro)
velcro

To make the cart:

Glue the poem to the top of a 12x18 piece of construction paper. Glue a yellow construction paper haystack to the bottom of the paper.

Laminate the poem, word cards, and animal pictures. Cut the pieces apart.

Attach velcro to the end of the last two lines of the poem, on top of the haystack, and to the back of the word cards and animal pictures.

To use the chart:

Lay out the animal pictures, name cards, and sound cards as shown in the picture above.
Place an animal on top of the haystack. Attach the animal name and sound cards to the poem.
Read the poem with your child. Track the print with your finger or a pointer as you read.
Change the pieces and read the poem again. Continue as long as your child is interested.

Feed the Chicks

2009-05-14T11:13:00.000-05:00

Lauren practiced counting 1-3 objects with our latest counting game. This game uses a chick counting board, dot spinner, and popcorn kernels. The counting boards came from Workjobs by Mary Baratta-Lorton but they would be easy to create with clip art.

The child spins the spinner, counts the dots, and places the correct number of corn kernels in a chick's dish. Use a die if your child is practicing counting six objects. Use two dice to practice addition.

Wishy Washy Day

2009-05-13T12:00:00.002-05:00

As part of our farm theme the girls and I had a wishy-washy day! We started by reading a few of our favorite Mrs. Wishy-Washy books.

Mrs. Wishy-Washy- The cow, pig, and duck jump, roll, and paddle in the lovely mud until Mrs. Wishy-Washy comes along with her brush and tub. Children love to see the animals get the last word in this fun, predictable book.

Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Farm- When the cow, pig, and duck get fed up with Mrs. Wishy-Washy and her tub they leave the farm and head to the city. They soon learn that there's no place like home!

Mrs. Wishy-Washy Makes a Splash- It's bath time but all the animals hid. Guess who ends up in the tub instead?

Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Splishy-Sploshy- The meanies invade Mrs. Wishy-Washy's shed and play splishy-sploshy with her paint. No mess is too big for Mrs. Wishy-Washy and her trusty scrub brush.

We went outside to enjoy a few activities inspired by the books. The girls stomped and rolled our plastic farm animals in a tub of mud (potting soil and water). Oh, lovely mud!

Along came Mrs. Wishy-Washy! Using a tub of soapy water and child-sized scrub brushes, the girls scrubbed the animals. It was fun to hear them quote the books as they played.

Next the girls scrubbed the outside toys.

Time for some more messy fun! The girls finger painted with brown finger paint. I have tried finger painting with Lauren before but this is the first time she was willing to put her hands in the paint. You can tell by the look on her face that she was not sure what to think. She spread the paint so carefully. Julia on the other hand has no reservations about messy art. She would jump head first into the paint if I let her!

We ended our wishy washy day by eating mud (chocolate pudding with crushed Oreos) and rereading our wishy-washy books. We had so much fun that we're already planning our next book themed day. Check back soon to read about our Fancy Nancy day!

Jungle Colors

2009-05-11T10:00:00.002-05:00

Jungle Colors by Julie Fletcher is a simple rhyming book that features colors and animals. Lauren and I have fun practicing colors and shapes while playing with this book.

The book has a pink flamingo, yellow lion, red ant, blue butterfly, and green crocodile. To match the animal colors, I made a pink heart, yellow star, red circle, blue square, and green rectangle and attached the shapes to craft sticks.

As I read each page Lauren matches the color. Then she names the color and the shape on her stick.

After we finish reading the book, Lauren holds up a stick and we sing about the shape:

For the star:
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

For the heart:
Love somebody, yes I do.
Love somebody, now guess who.
Love somebody, have you guessed
that your the one that I love best!

For the circle:
A circle is like a pizza.
A circle is like a pizza.
Round and round
it never stops.
A circle is like a pizza.

For the square:
A square is like a box.
A square is like a box.
Four sides and four angles all the same
A square is like a box.

For the rectangle:
A rectangle has four sides.
A rectangle has four sides.
Two are short and two are long,
A rectangle has four sides.

Goop

2009-05-07T12:00:00.000-05:00

Now that the weather is warm, Julia has been having a great time with one of her favorite things: goop!

First we put two cups of cornstarch in a pan and the kids explore the dry cornstarch with their hands.

Then we add one cup of water and a few drops of food coloring. The girls mix it with their hands and spoons. Is it liquid? Is it solid? I don't know but it sure is fun!

Julia and her friend had a messy, good time playing in the goop!

Ocean Animal Book

2009-05-06T12:00:00.003-05:00

We prepared for our trip to the aquarium by making a book of the unusual animals that live in the sea. After reading about each animal Julia created a picture and dictated a fact about that animal.

To learn about jellyfish we read Jellyfish by Lloyd G. Douglas. This simple non-fiction book has interesting photographs and basic facts about jellies. We also visited the website of Monterey Bay Aquarium to see pictures of jellyfish and to watch a jellyfish swim. To make this jellyfish craft, Julia stuck strips of translucent paper to the bottom of a bell shaped piece of contact paper. Then she covered the bell with small squares of translucent paper.

Stars of the Sea by Allan Fowler is filled with fascinating pictures and information about sea stars. After reading the book we made bumpy sea stars. To create the sea stars, I cut a star from coarse sand paper. Julia placed the star under a piece of white paper, rubbed it with the side of a crayon, and cut out the star. (After seeing this picture I realize that I spelled 'stomach' wrong. I'm off to correct Julia's book!)

Julia loved the "Don't Just Sit There" activity in Sea World's Ocean Discovery for Early Learners Teacher's Guide. First, Julia had to pretend to be a sea anemone. She sat on the floor and used her tentacles (arms) to try to catch her prey (bubbles). Then she pretended to be a shark. She ran around catching prey. We discussed which animal is able to catch more prey and which animal uses more energy catching prey. We also enjoyed the simple text and awesome pictures in Sea Anemones by Lola M. Schaefer.

Julia is so proud of her sea animal book. I love it when she chooses this when I ask her to choose a book for me to read. Our study of these animals paid off during our visit to the aquarium. Julia was so thrilled to see the tank with sea stars and anemones!

I Went Swimming Chart

2009-05-04T10:00:00.003-05:00

The girls and I enjoy reading our song and poem charts together so I created a new ocean themed poem. I cut this poem into strips and placed them in a mini pocket chart. The ocean animal word cards are also cut apart. We read the poem several times, changing the animal word card each time.

I Went Swimming Chart
Ocean animal word cards

After reading the poem several times, Julia reconstructed cut up sentences.

I gave Lauren a magnetic letter s. She traced it with her finger while saying "s". Then she searched for the letter s in the poem.

Lauren also used a card with a cut out window to frame the letter s.

Very Hungry Caterpillar Extension

2009-05-02T18:46:00.000-05:00

Like many little ones, Lauren loves to hear The Very Hungry Caterpillar again and again. I am happy to reread it because I know that repeated readings of favorite stories builds a love of books, increases comprehension, and motivates the child to pretend to read the book independently. The following activity allows Lauren interact with the book in a meaningful way and practice counting skills too!

Materials:

fruit pictures (from dltk-teach) printed on card stock

green yarn

green button

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Preparation:

Cut out and laminate the fruit pictures. Punch one hole in each piece.

Cut a four inch length of yarn. Tie a button to one end and wrap a piece of tape around the other end.

I place each piece of fruit on the ground as Lauren and I count them. I give her the "caterpillar" (green yarn). As we read about what the caterpillar eats, Lauren feeds her caterpillar by lacing the yarn through the hole in the fruit. We count each piece as she laces it onto the yarn. Lauren loves this activity and chooses to do it a few times a week.

Literacy-Enriched Play Settings

2009-04-27T13:20:00.000-05:00

After reading Building a Foundation for Preschool Literacy by Carol Vukelich and James Christie, I've been thinking of ways to create what they call "literacy-enriched play settings". Simply put, these play settings provide materials for children to explore reading and writing while they play. While playing in a literacy-enriched play setting, children:

Learn why people read and write
Practice the conventions of reading and writing
See reading and writing as something they want to be able to do

I've made a few additions to our spring flower sensory tub and the girls are loving it! Next to the flower tub we now have a tub that holds a cash register, a wallet with pretend credit cards, two phones, a small notebook, a clipboard with plain paper, and a cup with pens and colored pencils.

To introduce the materials, I suggested to Julia that we set up a flower shop. While she was arranging some flowers I pretended to answer the phone and take an order from a customer. I asked the customer questions and wrote the order on a page in the notebook. Then Julia and I worked to fill the customer's order. Julia decided that I should pretend to be the customer and pick up the order. She rang up my order, swiped my card, and gave me a slip to sign my name. Soon Julia was answering her phone and writing down orders. In the picture above she is using the flower sign to help her spell "pink daisies". Another time I suggested that we make a sign for our flower shop and draw pictures of our arrangements to make advertisements. It only took a few suggestions and a little modeling from me for Julia to understand what to do.

Here Lauren is writing down an order. She doesn't write any letters yet but her writing is a series of lines that look similar to letters. By the way, what can be cuter than a little bumblebee working in a flower shop?

The girls will now play flower shop for over an hour! I spent about ten minutes to gather the materials for an activity that provides tons of fun and playful learning. By using this flower shop the girls:

Learn why people read and write- to remember a customer's order, to make a sign, to make an advertisement, to sign a credit card slip
Practice the conventions of reading and writing- write from left to right, use resources to help with spelling
See reading and writing as something they want to be able to do- for over an hour!!

I am so excited to try some more literacy-enriched play! I'm thinking we can try a restaurant, a pet groomer, a bakery, a pizza shop...

Additions to Ocean Writing Station

2009-04-24T14:00:00.001-05:00

I found these great ocean themed shapes and stationary on storyit.com to add to our ocean writing station. Set your printer to landscape before printing.

Fish shape

Starfish shape

Ocean border

Sensory Tubs

2009-04-23T10:00:00.001-05:00

The girls have enjoyed two new sensory tubs. The spring sensory tub has a base of styrofoam covered with a thin layer of paper grass. A basket holds several silk flowers, small pots with foam and paper grass, and flower cards on dowel rods.

The girls pretend to plant the flowers by poking them into the styrofoam. They can use the flower cards to label their rows of flowers. I am planning to add a few more materials to this tub to make it a more literacy rich play set. I'll write a follow-up post when I'm done.

The ocean sensory tub is simply a tub of water and plastic ocean animals. This tub combines the sensory experience of splashing in water with exploration and imagination. As the girls play with the animals they often act out what we have read about sea creatures. Such play allows them to gain mastery of new information. One day Julia pretended the octopus sprayed his ink to get away from a moray eel. Another time I heard her talking about one of the animals escaping from his enemy. Oral language develops as the children communicate using newly acquired vocabulary. This has been a popular activity that is as fun as it is educational!

Fish Mobile

2009-04-22T10:00:00.003-05:00

After admiring the pictures of colorful fish in an old copy of Your Big Backyard the girls made these beautiful fish mobiles.

To make a fish mobile you need a paper plate, blue paint, sponges, scissors, fish shapes cut from construction paper, colored chalk, sugar, water, string, and tape.

1. Mix 1/3 cup sugar into 1 cup water and soak the chalk overnight in the sugar solution. Now the chalk will have bright colors that will not smear. I found this procedure in Preschool Art from Mary Ann Kohl.

2. Sponge blue paint on the paper plate. When the paint dries, sponge paint the other side of the plate.

3. Use the chalk to draw designs on both sides of the fish.

4. Cut the plate into a spiral.

5. Cut string into 8-12 inch lengths. Tape a string onto each fish and tape the other end of each string to the spiral. Hang your mobile and enjoy your beautiful fish!

Fish Pattern Blocks

2009-04-21T10:00:00.001-05:00

I found these great pattern block fish cards at Prekinders.com. Five year old Julia uses the black and white cards and reproduces the fish on the floor or table. Two year old Lauren uses the color cards and places the blocks directly on the card.

Black and white small fish

Color small fish

Black and white big fish

Color big fish

Fish Song Chart

2009-04-20T08:00:00.005-05:00

We've added I'm a Little Fishy to our song and poem charts. For an explanation of the charts please visit this post. We sang the song a few times while tracking the print with a pointer and then we did a few follow up activities.
The big girls played fishing for sight words. I cut several construction paper fish and on each fish I wrote a high frequency word from the song. I clipped a paper clip to each fish and made a fishing rod by taping a magnet to a string that I tied to a pencil. The girls took turns fishing for words.
After catching a fish, the child read the word and found it on the chart. We then read that line of text together. This game could also be played with letters written on the fish. The child would catch a fish, identify the letter, and find the letter on the song chart.
I also used the chart to practice the /sh/ sound. We read the word 'fishy' and noticed that the letters sh made the /sh/ sound. The girls have already been introduced to sh so this was a review. We used these cards from My Montessori Journey to practice reading sh words.
Finally, the girls enjoyed Jello fish bowls while I read Into the A,B, Sea by Deborah Lee Rose to them.

Ocean Writing Station

2009-04-17T12:20:00.001-05:00

I've changed some of the materials in our writing station to go along with our study of ocean animals. It is amazing how a few new materials can renew a child's interest in a familiar activity. Along with the writing materials I have also set out a tub of several nonfiction ocean books. The girls can look through the books for inspiration for their writing.

The writing station holds a booklet containing several pages of ocean words and pictures that I downloaded from Kidssoup.

An envelope holds some pictures of ocean animals that the girls can glue onto a page and then write their story.

I've added story paper with a blank space at the top for drawing a picture and lines at the bottom for writing a story.

A mini clipboard holds sheets of blue paper. I have also provided blue flip books and white flip books. I am going to add some small stapled books with blue covers cut along the top to look like waves. This tray always sits on the playroom table. The girls can choose from a variety of materials including crayons, markers, pencils, scissors, glue, and hole punches. We also have a tray of white 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper on a nearby shelf.
Here Julia wrote about a sea turtle. Her writing says, "Daon at the bobdm" (Down at the bottom). I suspect she had more to say but ran out of room and decided to stop. Notice the number 8 on the turtle's back. The girls have been enjoying Somewhere in the Ocean by Jennifer Ward and TJ Marsh. Each page in the book has a hidden number and Julia incorporated that idea into her work.

Here she used story paper to write a shark fact after we read about sharks. Usually I do not write on a child's writing station work but (for some reason that I cannot remember) this time I did.

Julia's DIY Birthday

2009-04-16T10:25:00.006-05:00

Julia celebrated her fifth birthday this week! She made my life much simpler by requesting a family party. I thought it would be fun to let her do a lot of the party preparation and I was right!

First, Julia and I made her pinata. We tore newspaper into strips and used liquid starch to adhere the strips onto an inflated balloon. We covered the balloon with three layers of newspaper and let it dry for about 24 hours (the last few hours the balloon was hanging outside in the sunshine).

When the newspaper was completely dry we popped the balloon. Julia then painted her pinata and covered it with stickers. I punched holes in the sides of the pinata and threaded a piece of yarn through it.
Looks great, Julia!
Julia also decorated her cake. I frosted a cake with white frosting and gave Julia the cake and a tube of pink frosting (I refilled the tube several times before she was done). Julia had so much fun squeezing designs onto the cake and then spreading the frosting with a knife.
She was very proud of her creation and so was I! I think allowing the birthday girl to decorate her own cake is going to be a tradition in our family. It's fun, inexpensive, and relieves Mommy from the stress of trying to make the perfect cake-yippee!

For goody bags the girls used Do-A-Dots to decorate plain white bags.
Fun party!

Counting Nemos

2009-04-14T21:15:00.010-05:00

In preparation for an upcoming trip to the aquarium we have begun a study of ocean animals. The girls played a counting game using Finding Nemo fruit snacks. This game is a variation of "Hunt for It" in Developing Number Concepts Book 1: Counting, Comparing, and Pattern by Kathy Richardson. Developing Number Concepts is essential reading for anyone who teaches math to young children.

Materials:

Finding Nemo fruit snacks
six small bowls
tray or cookie sheet
paper bag
number cards

Preparation: Hide sets of Nemo fruit snacks under the bowls to match the numbers on the number cards. Place the number cards in the bag.
A child pulls a number card out of the bag and reads the number. She then lifts a bowl and counts to see if the number of fruit snacks matches the number on the card. The child continues to lift bowls and count until she finds the correct set.
The number cards I used have a numeral on one side and a set of pictures on the other. The children can read the number or they can count the pictures to determine how many fruit snacks to hunt for.

Butterflies

2009-04-13T15:03:00.004-05:00

My friend, Liz, and I have been doing a preschool exchange for the past two years. On Tuesdays Liz's daughter, Abby, comes to our house for two hours of preschool and on Thursdays Julia goes to Liz's house. This arrangement has been wonderful! The girls love being together and they've learned so much.

Our preschool theme for March was life cycles. Here are some of the activities we did for butterfly life cycles.
After reading Butterfly Life Cycle by Jeff Bauer and From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Deborah Heiligman the kids put together these butterfly life cycle puzzles that I printed from Kelly's Kindergarten.

The girls practiced reading cvc words while putting the wings on the butterflies (another download from Kelly's Kindergarten).

For math the girls put together pattern block caterpillars and butterflies. The big girls used the black and white model and the pattern blocks to recreate the picture on the carpet.

I gave two year old Lauren the blocks that she would need and she placed the blocks directly on the colored model. I downloaded these from prekinders.com: b/w caterpillar, colored caterpillar, b/w butterfly, colored butterfly.

Liz made this great butterfly life cycle mobile with the girls.

Toddler Eggs in a Basket

2009-04-09T10:21:00.006-05:00

This version of the eggs in a basket counting game is designed for children who need practice counting up to three objects.

Materials:
mini Easter baskets
mini Easter eggs
egg counting cards (I used clip art to create mine on Power Point. Stickers on cards would work well too.)

The child counts the eggs on a card and then places that number of mini eggs in a basket. The child may choose to place the mini eggs directly on the card while counting.

I made cards with one, two, and three eggs for Lauren. You may want to make cards with more eggs for your child.

Easter Song Charts

2009-04-08T20:39:00.004-05:00

The girls and I have been reading Easter songs on charts. I introduce each song and sing it to the children while using a pointer to follow the print. We reread the chart several times over the course of several days or weeks. As we read and reread the songs, the girls gain valuable insights into how print works. They learn that printed words match spoken words, that print is read left to right and top to bottom, and they gain knowledge of letters and sounds. Most importantly, we have fun reading together!

Lauren is completely confident that she can read our "Bunny" song all by herself. She is using our bunny pointer- an unsharpened pencil with a bunny eraser on the end.

Here she is reading Did Jesus Really Live Again?. This chart has much more print than I would usually use with young children but I used it because I want to emphasize the message of the song.

Here are the songs we are currently reading:

B-U-N-N-Y (author unknown)

I know a rabbit with long pink ears

And bunny is his name-o!

B-U-N-N-Y

And bunny is his name-o!

Did Jesus Really Live Again

by Mabel Jones Gabbot

Did Jesus really live again?

Yes, when the third day came

He wakened and he left the tomb

He called Mary's name.

Did Jesus come to those he loved?

Yes, people touched his feet

And of the fish and honeycomb

He did truly eat.

And there were nail prints in his hands

And a spear wound in his side.

Did Jesus really live again

After he had died!

Oh yes! And so shall I!

Easter Writing Station

2009-04-06T15:49:00.001-05:00

Our writing station sits on a shelf near the table in the playroom. Providing a variety of interesting writing materials encourages Julia to explore writing. She loves to use the blank paper and envelopes to write letters to friends and family. Changing the materials occasionally keeps the writing station fresh and exciting.

The writing station holds various materials to encourage the girls to write. Books with blank pages, envelopes, blank paper, an letter/sound chart, a clipboard, and cards with family names are always available. Other materials change to reflect the current season or area of study. Here is a glimpse of what is currently in our writing station.

A letter/sound chart that I downloaded from Hubbard's Cupboard.

Family names written on cards.

A booklet of Easter words and pictures that I downloaded from Kidssoup. I would like to create another word booklet that reflects the spiritual meaning of Easter with words such as Jesus, tomb, resurrected, etc.

Here is Julia writing a flip book. This type of book is good for labeling pictures.

Here is Julia's completed flip book.

Here Julia is writing in a blank book. This type of book encourages Julia to write sentences or stories.

Color Sorting Eggs

2009-04-01T14:58:00.001-05:00

This activity combines the early math skill of sorting by color with the excitement of opening eggs to see what's inside. Lauren wanted to do this activity again and again!

Materials: plastic eggs, pom poms, and bowls

Preparation: Fill each egg with 3 pom poms.

The child opens each egg, empties the contents, and sorts the pom poms into the bowls.

Word Eggs

2009-04-01T14:48:00.001-05:00

In this fun activity the kids practice spelling simple cvc words.

Materials: plastic eggs, pictures of cvc words (cat, bug, pot, etc.), magnetic letters, and a magnetic board

Preparation: Place a picture and the letters needed to spell the word in each egg. I made two sets of six eggs.

The child opens an egg and dumps out the picture and letters. Then she names the picture and repeats the word slowly, listening for the sounds. She lays the picture on the left side of the magnetic board and uses the letters to make the word.

Coffee Filter Eggs

2009-04-01T14:24:00.001-05:00

We made these eggs when Julia had a friend over. The girls were completely engrossed in this project and made several eggs each.

You will need coffee filters cut into egg shapes, markers, and a spray bottle.

Scribble or draw a design on the coffee filter egg.

Lightly spray with water and watch the colors run together.

Each egg is unique and beautiful. These look great hanging on a window.

We're Counting the Days

2009-03-31T17:25:00.002-05:00

At our house we have two exciting events in April: Easter and Julia's birthday! Of course Julia wants to know how many more days until each of these events so we created an egg hunt countdown and a birthday countdown.

The egg hunt countdown is a large construction paper egg labeled with black dots. Each day the girls place a sticky dot on one of the black dots and then count the remaining days until the egg hunt. We have a pencil with a rabbit eraser and a pencil with an egg eraser to use as pointers when they count. After they determine how many days remain, Julia writes the number on a sticky note and places it on the record sheet.

I created Julia's birthday countdown in Power Point using clip art. Each day she colors a cake, counts the remaining cakes, and posts the number on the record sheet.

Easter Sensory Tub

2009-03-30T16:45:00.001-05:00

Our sensory tub is filled with paper Easter grass, plastic eggs, empty egg cartons, yellow pom poms (chicks) and Easter baskets. The girls have had a great time exploring and playing with the materials.

Lauren enjoys opening and closing the eggs and placing them in the cartons or in her basket.

Julia has incorporated the eggs into her pretend play. One day she was the hen and I was the fox who tried to steal the eggs. Later she pretended to be an egg delivery girl. From small and simple things comes big fun!

Spring Play Dough

2009-03-30T16:40:00.000-05:00

We have been so excited to see the wild flowers growing on the side of the roads lately. Wild flowers are even popping out of our play dough! The girls have been exploring green play dough and silk wildflowers.

Eggs in a Basket

2009-03-29T20:38:00.002-05:00

Young children need lots of opportunities to count real objects. These cute little baskets and tiny, colorful eggs provide plenty of interest to motivate children to work with this counting game.

Materials:

mini Easter baskets (I only had eight baskets but I think ten would work better. You can find these at a craft or party store.)

mini Easter eggs (I found these at Hobby Lobby)
number cardsThe child lays down the cards in order, places a basket above each number, and counts the appropriate number of eggs into each basket. To make this activity self checking, provide the exact number of eggs the child will need

Variation: If your child does not recognize numbers you can provide cards with dots. The child counts the dots on each card and places the corresponding number of eggs into the basket.

Here is a variation of this game that I made for my two year old.

Rabbit Counting Grid Game

2009-03-27T21:54:00.004-05:00

I learned about grid games in the book More Than Counting by Sally Moomaw and Brenda Hieronymus. The authors write that grid games are an important part of preschool and kindergarten math because they "provide opportunities for children to create mathematical relationships by using interesting manipulative counters to create, compare, and quantify sets."

Children are highly motivated to play grid games with fun counters. As soon as four year old Julia saw this rabbit grid game she was excited to feed the rabbits!

To make this game I used:

two grids of 15 rabbits (created with clip art and printed on card stock)
30 carrot erasers
die

Each player rolls the die and places the corresponding number of carrots on the rabbits. Play continues until a player covers all her rabbits. Julia had lots of practice counting and comparing as she decided "How many more carrots do I need to cover each rabbit? Who has more- mommy or I?"

Can you guess who won?

I created an easier grid game to play with my two year old. In this game we use a grid of 10 heads of lettuce, a die with 1-3 dots on each side, and rabbit erasers.

These games are great to play after reading Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit or Muncha, Muncha, Muncha by Candace Flemming.

Egg Lacing

2009-03-26T18:27:00.001-05:00

The girls had fun developing fine motor skills during this project.

Gather construction paper cut into egg shapes, hole punch, scissors, tape, and yarn.

For young preschoolers, punch holes around the perimeter of the egg about one inch apart. For older preschoolers, draw dots on the egg to show where the holes will go. The child punches holes over the dots. Cut a length of yarn. Tape one end of the yarn to the egg. Wrap a small piece of tape over the other end of the yarn to create a needle.

The child laces the yarn through the holes in any pattern she chooses. When the child is finished, tape the other end of the yarn to the egg.

Great work girls!

Jumping In

2009-03-24T14:36:00.000-05:00

I am so excited to begin this blog. Over the past several months I have enjoyed learning from the blogs of other mommies. When I taught in the public schools my fellow teachers and I longed for the chance to linger in each other's classrooms and check out the wonderful things each teacher was doing. Unfortunately, there just wasn't time to do this. Now through the world of blogging I have the opportunity to see into the homes of fellow mommy-teachers and learn from their experiences. I am grateful to all the bloggers who continue to inspire me and I hope that I have something useful to contribute.