J is for Jellybeans

G and H sorted jellybeans into ones with dots and ones without dots.  Before they sorted I grabbed 2 jellybeans and asked them if they were the same or different.  I guided them to tell me they were different because one had dots (their word) and one didn't.  I then grabbed two same colored jellybeans, but one with dots and one without dots and asked if they were the same or different.  After they sorted they tasted a few.

J is for Jack-o-Lantern

I saw this activity on another blog, but can't remember which one and it looked like a lot of fun.  H loves jack-o-lanterns and since jack-o-lantern starts with the letter J we were in business.

I cut out shapes for eyes, nose, and mouth out of black felt and a pumpkin.  I made different jack-o-lanterns and took pictures of them.  G and H picked a card and made the same face in the picture on their pumpkin. 

Pumpkin Transfer

I love transferring activities because they are so open ended.  While H was doing this activity she realized they smelled like sugar.

Letter J

We started working on the letter J this week.  H already knows most of her letters and their sounds, but she loves the activities.  G isn't as interested in letters or activities, but he loves being with his sister.

Jack - o - Lanterns on the letter J

Halloween Candy

G and H are allowed one piece of candy from their Halloween stash.  Since 2 year olds have a hard time picking, I put a few pieces in their Halloween boxes. 



I am a glutton for punishment

The boxes only took 3 days to dry. 

Pumpkins and Jack-O-Lanterns

We are starting out Halloween with a bang.  We have a porch full of mums, cornstalks, and critter food  pumpkins.

The squirrls have found a new place to dine and it isn't our bird feeders.

I started off the day by reading "Pumpkin Eye" and then talking about how a pumpkins turns into a jack o lantern when you carve it.  I think we had a lot of fun.


We started by describing the pumpkin.  I have been trying to get G and H to use descriptive words other than good. 

After I cut the top off, I had G and H pull out the pulp and seeds.  They described how the inside of the pumpkin felt.  They came up with great words like "gooey".

G and H helped prepare the seeds by brushing on olive oil and sprinkling salt.  When the seeds were finished roasting G and H determined they tasted like popcorn.

They each drew part of the face on the pumpkin.  This was the hardest part because they had to think about how it should look when I cut it.  As you can see it doesn't really look like a face.

G and H helped me carve the face on the pumpkin.  We then took it to the bathroom and put in a candle to really see it.

We wrapped up the activity by making jack-o-lanterns out of paper plates, paint, and precut shapes.  I had a variety of shapes for the eyes, nose, and mouth for G and H to pick since we are still practicing with scissors.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

We have been reading The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapini.  It is a great extension to the nursery rhyme.  We made spiders to go along with the book and circled all the i's.