June Sensory Box

This month is all about bugs.  Ladybug and Mister have always been a little scared of bugs, but fascinated at the same time.  I can't say I blame them since I get the willies too.  Here is our June Sensory Box.

Mister and Ladybug made a home for the insects.

Tell Me About It

Ladybug really likes art and she is always running up to me to show me her latest creation. Today she showed me this

I know what you are thinking....IT'S BRILLIANT!  I think so too, if I knew what it was.  It could be almost anything and a lot of people would say, "What is it?"  When I am about to ask this question, I will say, "Tell me about it."  Doesn't that feel a little more open ended and nicer? 

So, what was Ladybug's response to me?  It is a machine that throws up balls in the air.  I told you it was brilliant.

All About Seeds and Plants - Part 3

Here is the last set of our seeds and plants.  I hope you were able to find something you or your child(ren) enjoyed!

You can't have a seed and plant unit without this stand by activity.  We talked about how the plant drinks water.



This was review from last year and I was pleased how much they remembered.



I gave Mister and Ladybug 4 cucumber plants and asked them what would happen if the plants didn't get something they needed.  We looked at our plants chart and I told them that we would be finding out what happens when we don't give one plant water and one plant sun.  I had them give me a prediction for each one and wrote it on the cup.  I told Ladybug and Mister that they were like scientists and scientists give  hypothesis.  They really liked this word.  Every few days we take out the plants for observations. 



Ladybug and Mister made a flower and told me each part so I could label.  It as a good assessment tool to see if they could name the parts of a plant.  Mister even told me that the middle of the flower was where the seeds are and with a little prompting he said, "even some flowers have pollen!" 

Y is for Yoga

A few times a month Ladybug and Mister have to do yoga.  They love watching YogaKids.  The poses are fun and it really helps when winter starts to drag.  The best part is Ladybug will stop what she is doing and find a yoga pose to help her calm down. 

All About Seeds and Plants - Part 2

Here are more seed activities we have on our shelves.

Floewer arranging in a May Day basket



We made faces on the pots and are growing hair.  Well we were growing hair until the squirrels knocked the pots off the deck rails. 



How Many Will We Plant? - I chose seed that were large so they could feel each seed as they count. 

Treasure Basket - Shiny Things

The Wee One is a girl after my own heart.  She loves all things sparkly and shiny.  Really, who can blame her?  I put together a Treasure Basket with bedroom items, but she kept going for the sparkly broach and leaving everything else.  After a few days, I added more of what she liked and it changed the whole feel of the basket.

Alphabet Puzzle

Another Dollar Store find and this one has been my favorite.  I put all the pieces into a drawstring bag and they pull out each letter and find it's place.  Today, I used it as an assessment for my daughter.  As she pulled out each letter I had her tell me the name.  If I were thinking, I would have had her say each letter's sound too.  Also, this puzzle is also one of the first things the Wee One goes for on the big kid shelves...after she has attacked the calendar.

All About Seeds and Plants - Part 1

May has been our seed and plant month and even though Ladybug and Mister have a fine understanding of what plants need to grow, a little reinforcement never hurt.    Here are some activities that are on our shelves right now.

Seed Sorting - There are four types of seeds, with two of the seeds being similar.  Ladybug thought the magnifying glass would help her see the seeds better.

Stamp and Count - On the tray was an example of stamping flowers, adding stems and leaves, and then counting how many flowers are in the garden.

Growing a Seed - Ladybug and Mister picked a seed from the basket, wet the paper towel and put it into the clear bag.  I have tapped the bags to the window.  We will watch them grow and observe the parts of the plant. 

Planting a Garden - These are seed packets taped to plant labels.  Ladybug and Mister stick them into the floral arranging block. 

Fabric Box

My mom was asking what she should get for the Wee One for her Easter basket.  What do you get the third child in 2.5 years?  She doesn't need anything, so I had my mom make her a fabric squares box.  I had her incorprate as many textures and colors that she could fing in her sewing bin.  I put 2-3 sets in the box at a time and when she holds one I will tell her it's soft or bumpy.  I will also give her the one that matches.  The Wee One loves to taste her fabric and now she is trying to get everyone in the family to try it too. 

Any leftover fabric will be added to her box, so the possibilities are endless.

Picnic Open and Close

When you live in the tundra you have to take advantage of every nice day, so when the weather gets nice we go on picnics (even if they are in our yard) almost every week.  May is usually the start of picnic season. When I spotted this picnic basket at Goodwill, I knew that it was the perfect size for our activities.  This activity is easy to put together and a favorite.  The Wee One also enjoys picking up each container, studying it, and giving it a shake.  The jars are a great size for her to practice hand-to-hand transfer.

May Sensory Box

I know this is 6 days late, but I have a reason and the reason is the sun and fifty-sixty degree weather.  It's a heat wave and by tundra standards almost bikini weather.  The bonus to a rainy April is the beautiful green lawns and hopefully well watered trees and plants.  Since this is Ladybug and Mister's first May Sensory Box, it had to be about planting and flowers.  It's not original, but they have enjoyed playing in their miniature garden. 

In sensory box are seeds and bugs.  I made identification cards for the seeds and bugs, so they can match them when they find them.  It's going to be a nice transition when we start insects next month.

Spring Pom-Pom Transfer

I might have a little addiction to pom-poms and I can't tell you why.  It might be because they are sparkly and rather inexpensive.  My children will probably reminisce about how their mother always made them do activities with pom-poms even though pom-poms were didn't rank high on the excitement list.  Ah well you can't win them all.

What they did like about this activity is the opportunity to use either the larger or smaller side to transfer the pom-poms. 

Did I mention that I have been looking high and low for my melon baller and just now (literally as I am typing this) realized that it has been on our shelves?