Wednesday, March 28, 2012

I like...

Our Goodwill has an excellent section of books and most are in good condition.   Awhile back I found a collection (almost complete) of sight word readers.  I thought this would be a good part in our easy reader collection and since they were half-off I thought why not.

We have been reading Animals and did an easy extension using "I like to" as the prompt.


I asked them to use at least three colors in their drawing.  I also told them not to worry about the lines for writing.


Scholastic has Sight Word Readers for downloading and printing.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Windy Days

Last Sunday it was really windy and we had the opportunity to fly kites kicking off our windy week.  Many of the activities stayed the same, but I included some shapes, art, and science.

Fine Motor - I taped together a piece of paper and had Mister and Ladybug cut along the lines to make a windsock.  They punched a hole in the top and we put string through so we could attach it to our tree.




Sensory - How do these triangles fit? 

Mister and Ladybug had a diamond kite and they had to put on four triangles to decorate their kite. 


Science - We talked a lot about tornadoes, hurricanes, and how wind moves. 

Cotton ball races - Mister and Ladybug found they couldn't go on top of the cotton ball to make it move.


Art - Paper bag windsocks - Mister and Ladybug created a weather scene using dot markers and added streamers to blow in the wind.




Movement - We created wind with our bodies and made the scarves move in the wind.


Thursday, March 22, 2012

Mini-Food

Each week I ask Mister and Ladybug what they would like for dinner and lately they want mini-food.  During dinner we had a brainstorming session for mini-meals we could add and they came up with some good ideas, but mini tacos has been their favorite.  I combined the mini tacos with muffin tin lunches and you would have thought Disney World moved into our house.

Left-to-Right, top-to-bottom: tomatoes, lettuce, green onions, sour cream, bell peppers sauted in olive oil and lime, homemade Spanish rice, beans, cheese, wonton wrappers baked for 5 minutes.

I have never seen Ladybug eat so much. 

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

I'm Puzzled

The ages on puzzles make me question my own puzzle ability.  Admittedly I am not very good at puzzles and it seems like my children have fallen in my foot steps.  The Wee One picked out a set of three puzzles at the store the other day and I couldn't say no because they were $3 plus she really loved them.



I set out the color puzzle on her shelf and I knew that it would be difficut for her.  The shapes are odd and they are hard to fit.  I had an "aha!" moment when I was looking at the puzzle and the pieces.  Using the dot markers, I put a dot where the piece should go.  Now, with my help to get them to fit, she can complete the puzzle a little easier. 

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Cloudy Days

We had a week of sunshine outside and clouds in our room.
Literacy

Raindrop to Rainbow word family
Letter writing practice in the clouds
-og family - writing in the clouds

Sensorial

1/2 c water
1/2 c cooking oil
2 c flour
2 c salt
food coloring - omitted
peppermint oil - omitted

This made the biggest mess, but they loved it. 
Shaving cream clouds - the preschoolers and the toddler loved this.
Science

Cloud in a bottle - no matches needed.  Warm water and an ice cube. 

Mister and Ladybug were very interested in how the clouds were formed especially the part about the sun evaporating the water, so we did our own evaporation.  They were curious to see if we could make a cloud.

We made a few observations and added to our predictions. 

We poured water on the deck and made predictions about what would happen.

Using the pictures of cirrus, stratus, and cumulus clouds they made their own cloud books and put on the correct lable for the cloud type.
Cloud matching
Three part cards

Art


Cloud crayon resist watercolor
Texxture painting a cloud
Dot painting from Make Learning Fun
Food


 

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Pour a Little Rain

The Goodwill is on the way to Mister and Ladybug's preschool and I feel the need to stop in there all the time.  I am pretty sure we will be greeted as regulars soon.  On our last trip the Wee One spotted a white ceramic pouring thing (I call it a thing because I have no idea what it is - creamer?) and she would not put it down.  For $.50 I couldn't refuse, but it's too bad they didin't have a matching one.

Monday, March 12, 2012

We're Up to Four

Colored popsicle sticks and my childhood cups make an easy color matching activity.