Little Hands, Big Work

Welcome

2012-01-23T21:06:00.001-08:00

Sorry I have been MIA!

I have been busy with

my newest little guy!

Welcome to life

Brandon James Packer:)

Science with Daddy!

2011-12-29T11:34:00.001-08:00

For Christmas I made My husband and our boys a “Science with Daddy kit”!

The inspiration for this idea was these cute little science stands that the boys made at a Lowes Building Clinic. They also got a free pair of goggles each!

It came with experiment idea cards and I had more of my own to add(No idea where to get them, they were left behind here when we bought our house). We stuck all of the cards into a page protector on the front of the lid.

Anyway, I went through all of the cards with my husband and he picked out ones that sounded fun to him. Then I went to work making a list of every material and then filled the bucket!

I plan to share the activities they do and the first one they chose was the volcano! Not surprised!

So cute in the goggles and the little play-doh cans were perfect for holding the test tubes!

That super red color is thanks to half a packet of dollar store cool aid

Technorati Tags: Science with Daddy

They absolutely loved this time with Daddy and can’t wait to do more! I have some plans to add to this with a dry erase sheet where they can write predictions and out comes and “Why it works”. For now they are just having fun with their Daddy!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T11:44:00.001-08:00

From Nathan, Samantha, Caden, Drake, Jack, Ally, and baby Brandon(coming soon January 12th)

Balance the Marble

2011-12-14T12:48:00.001-08:00

This is how the activity looks on the shelf.

First the child dumps the marble out of the cup and turns the cup upside down.

Next they use the 2 spoons(pampered chef) to grab the marble.

Then balance the marble on top of the cup

Once that is accomplished they use the spoons to move the marble back to the tray and turn the cup over and use the spoons to get the marble back in the cup.

Return it to the shelf. Very tricky work but the kids enjoy the challenge!

What’s Out Wednesday

2011-12-14T12:31:00.001-08:00

Last week I gave Ally this magnetic wand along with the jumbo jingle bells from the dollar store. She loved it, so…

I decided to add all of the bells and ornaments from the trays we were done with to the sensory bin along with two magnetic wands! The kids really liked seeing what would stick and what wouldn’t.

Our nativity figures continue to come out! ( I plan on using this as our props for our Christmas book during circle time)

Shocking how popular these cookie cutters as stencils were! The kids love them and use them every day so I added the other shapes and they loved them too!

My Caden was especially in love with this activity!

Roll a Christmas tree adapted from Confessions of a Homeschooler. Roll a number, put that color “ornament” on the tree, and let a friend roll till the tree is full and colorful! You could easily make this game by drawing a tree(or cut it from green construction paper), find some colored buttons or beads or candies, and have fun! (The “tray” is a puzzle board)

I helped each child make a dot Christmas tree! I made a printable for this last year and this year we just used plain paper to place on top! Worked great and the kids love it!

Christmas color patterns!

Christmas Activities Preview

2011-12-01T20:30:00.001-08:00

These activities are NOT all out right now. But I decided to take pictures incase you want to try some this month:)

Writing Center, I will likely be adding more to this but there are several other writing activities so we’ll see.

Manger scene activity. The manger is from the Target dollar spot for $2.50:) In the golden ornament box is a miniature nativity set.

They were ornaments that my Mom gave me but I snipped the gold ribbons off of the top so that the are just figurines now.

Drink stirrers in to an empty bacos container.

Tic-tac-toe game

Spooning ornaments into a pattern on an egg tray. This a little trickier then it looks because the spoon is very shallow.

Tonging giant bells

Chocolate tin turned into a stationary box. There is a stack of about 50 cards in 5 different styles with envelopes. These were all purchased on clearance last year by my sister for next to nothing!

Large gingerbread people to trace and then hopefully decorate in some way(I’m leaving that up to them, they could choose any of the art supplies we have out. We’ll see what they come up with?) I got these cookie cutters in a big box of cookie cutters from Joann's.

Sorting Erasers(dollar store last year)

Christmas Do a Dot that I made and posted about last year! This year we will be pressing a white sheet of paper on top:)

Dollar store game

Christmas Sensory Bin, White beans(snow), Jewels, pom poms, tiny ornaments, laces with letter beads, ceramic trees(salt and pepper shakers on clearance from last year) finger puppets, Santa bag, cups and scoops:)

What’s Out Wednesday!

2011-11-30T11:13:00.001-08:00

This is actually from last Wednesday too

We reviewed our colors by giving each child a color card to find something in the playroom that matched. They loved it and did really well!

We are learning the letters B and D this week so I took to of the covers of books we read and laminated them. Then I cut them up and put magnets on the back for quick puzzles.

Magnifying glass and shells to sort and explore

Front and back sorting

Dinosaur Stamps

Dino matching

Dino sizing by Confessions of a homeschooler

B and D puzzles

Thanks giving stickers

Jack used his name card with a dry erase marker

Sand writing tray is always out

Our first Christmas activity is the Christmas sensory bin! It’s a huge hit!

Drake got this Ice-cream shop for his birthday and shared it with the class

Crayon Rocks

Magnetic dressing boy

Dry erase letter work by Confessions of a homeschooler(I put them in page protectors and then on a clip board)

Magnet builders

Next What’s Out Wednesday will be all decked out for Christmas!

Toddler Fun

2011-11-19T20:33:00.001-08:00

These have all been taken since September(12 months old) to now (15 months). So this is a 3 month span and she works like this about 3 times a week because that is how often I teach preschool from my home.

This first picture is the only one I have of Ally out of her buckle chair. She wanted to get out every activity on the shelf and she loved it and was doing pretty good but it just required my UNDIVIDED attention and I need to focus on all of the kids so the rest of the pictures she is buckled in but she doesn’t mind:)

Spooning flat marbles

Tiny plastic bears and metal containers

Stacking wooden blocks

One big pom pom with a table spoon and nesting cups

Nesting cups with little plastic cats

Golf tees to stick into the straw hole of a Red Robin kids cup

Small pom poms and a plastic rolling pin from a playdoh thing. She LOVES this one! When it gets full they start popping out of the bottom. One of the boys may have shown her how to shoot them out by blowing…hmmmm.

Sensory bottles(plastic test tubes). I made 4 for her at this time Glitter in water, Jewels in water, Beads to shake and the last one has a single marble to roll back and forth. She loves these and says “Ooooooo” as she shakes them around. She also loves putting them in the holder!

Shape sorters

Little hoops

(party section of the dollar store)

Halloween peg game(I grabbed a Christmas one at the dollar store that I know will be a big hit as well)

Color wheel (by crazyart at wal-mart)

Wood bead onto a dowel

Plastic Beads on a drink stirrer

YOU KNOW YOUR OWN CHILD! PLEASE WATCH THEM AROUND SMALL OBJECTS!!!

Learning Board

2011-11-19T19:14:00.000-08:00

I’ve mentioned our “Learning Board” in previous post and I wanted to elaborate:) So here’s an old shot, pretty self explanatory. The books to the side are ones I am reading for circle time that week. I bring the whole board down off of the rain gutter shelf each circle time but it is also very easily viewed while up on the wall(but out of reach).

The kids love to play games with the “Learning Board”! The “find it” game is the most popular! With the number I ask each child to go find “3” of something(all at the same time). When they come back to circle they get to put their 3 things on the tray and we all count together. Fantastic counting practice for everyone.

Find the color!

We also sing some silly songs and do other random games! The kids love it and it’s very easy for me to switch out and keep up with. I’m posting a video to explain it better and sing the songs(I sing them more joyfully with the kids but it’s kind of embarrassing on a video;) Also, excuse my 2 year old in the background! He loves the learning board and refers to it often!

The Learning Board

Teaching the Passing of Time

2011-11-19T18:38:00.001-08:00

This is how I like to teach the passing of time.

The thing I like most about my method is that it is all on the walls all of the time and that makes it easy to reference to it when the kids are interested in a date or event coming up.

On our “Learning Board” We have our day’s of the week pockets with Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow on popsicle sticks. (I got his idea from “Counting Coconuts” and the pockets are from the dollar store)

Then we have our magnetic month Calendar! I LOVE this! It is so easy to switch out every month and every piece is stored on the back! The glare makes it hard to see but I made my own Sunday-Saturday magnets because they only had the abr. printed on the board. It comes with lots of little holiday and birthday magnets but you can also easily make your own to add to it. Every circle time I take off the Season, Month, Year, Day of the Week, and Date of the month, and the children get to put them back in the right spots as the class say it together:)

Last but not least is our months of the year! Sorry for the terrible picture but I didn’t want to show the children’s names and birthdays. January is at the beginning and there is a picture of a baby(That is the month I am due with our little boy) and the other months have shapes of different colors with the kids birthday’s on them. Also there are holiday pictures. I have loved doing this because the kids are always asking when the baby is coming and when their birthday’s are. We used to do this when I was a teacher but just with birthday’s not holiday’s and special events. Also there is a little red arrow(on November) that I move each month:)

What’s Out Wednesday!

2011-11-16T19:12:00.001-08:00

Spooning tiny marbles into a tiny vase

Using tongs to stack a block tower! Trickier then it looks;)

Spooning cedar balls(from the dollar store in the closet stuff section) into an egg tray

Number tracing book, dry erase(dollar spot at target)

Today at small group with played with color mixing

Once we mixed the colors I gave each child a paper plate and a dropper to experiment on their own. They loved it!

Afterwards we went out side and used bath color tablets(red, blue and yellow) to create a rainbow color wheel! It was so pretty! As the colors started to merge and swirl the kids would yell out new colors they could see!

We also opened our Cultural Exchange package from Switzerland! It was so fun and the kids love looking at all of the things in the packages! Caden surprised me at dinner tonight and said, “Daddy, In Switzerland they speak 4 languages!” Love it! They really are gaining an awareness of different places around the world!

Caden is 5!!!!

2011-11-14T20:15:00.001-08:00

I’m so proud of my sweet 5 year old! He was so grateful for his birthday presents, and party and guests! He shared all of his new toys with his very excited brothers and he thanked everyone about a million times! I could not ask for a more awesome 5 year old!

Want to see some of our traditions?

I always do some kind of balloon or streamer thing for them to wake up to so this time I decided to streamer up his door so that he can make a grand entrance into his big day! He absolutely loved it!! This was a pinterest find!

His 3rd year taking a picture with all of his favorite things, Before he opened any presents!

They get to choose whatever they want for breakfast and we stick a candle in it and sing to them! This is a birthday breakfast burrito!

The Party!!!

The theme was a “Messy Art Party!” Caden helped me with everything and loved being involved in his own party and he had some great ideas!

We started by having every child make a crown as they arrived. I had the crowns precut in a variety of colors and bought a 5 dollar bag of shape foam stickers from Wal-mart. This was a big hit with all of the kids!

Smelly Paint!

koolaid packet mixed with a little water! Smells so yummy and it’s a really cheap way to make water colors! IT STAINS!!

Ball Painting

Shower curtain, tennis balls, paint! Tape a paper up and fire away!

Car Painting

We took a rectangle table and folded down one side. Add butcher paper and start rolling cars!

Huge Hit!!!

We finished up with shaving cream! Nice way to clean up:)

The favor!

Inside is play-do and Bath color fizzies!

What’s Out Wednesday!

2011-11-09T12:17:00.001-08:00

Peg board with NO hammer so that they could use your fingers and work those fine motor skills

Letter stamps with ink pad(target dollar spot)

Long strips of paper with small stickers

Some just put stickers and took them home and others decided to cut between the stickers (my intentions)

Magnet disks, the kids love the floating!

My sister got me these plastic beads(I think from the dollar store) and I found drink stirrers(dollar store) and I stuck them together! It was a hit!

Tonging acorns

Spooning marbles

Since we explored South Africa this week I put together an African Animal sort(elephant, giraffe, rhino, and lion)

Magnetic Alphabet puzzle

Large floor alphabet puzzle(Costco and I LOVE it!)

Tic-Tac-Toe (these 2 kids just took turns and said “I blocked you!”, every time, it was cute!

Magnetic Numbers and black circle magnets. My little stink face loved this one.

He is really in love with addition right now:)

Cultural Exchange

2011-11-07T14:56:00.001-08:00

This week we opened our package from South Africa! It was awesome and we had a lot of fun looking through all of the pictures and nick-naks. She also sent a lot of work sheets that I am doing with Caden during Kindergarten time. Saving some for later because they are harder.(I also added flash cards of animals and landmarks from the Target dollar spot) Isn’t their money beautiful!

I’m really surprised at how interested Caden(5) is in the flags. He drew a picture of each of the ones we have studied on his own free time, just because he wanted to:)The Flag is on the learning board and the kids are excited about it. We have done one country a month so far but might step it up to every 2 weeks to get it moving faster. All I do at this stage(preschool) is open the package and we briefly talk about the items and how they our different or the same as the things we have here in America. I am saving everything to use later as we get older and can go into more depth.

We also look at it on the map and talk about how far it is from us and how we would get there(walk, drive, boat, plane). The kids seem to like it:)

Still several more countries to go!

Chicken Scratch Pool

2011-11-04T12:35:00.001-07:00

I bought a 50 lb. bag of chicken scratch(broken bits of corn and a variety of small seeds) for 14 dollars at my local feed store:)

I poured the whole thing into our plastic baby pool. The kids LOVE it! Ally is the biggest fan and then Jack so I guess this is geared toward the younger kids but they all loved it! The best part is that anything that spills gets swept into the grass and eaten by my chickens(a huge treat for them)

These nesting bowls are in it right now(LOVE these!! Put them on your Christmas list, All of my kids find so many uses for them, ages 4, 3, 2, and 1. Fisher price, Wal-Mart) along with dinosaurs(Ally loves dinosaurs!)

I also put dollar store flowers and plastic pots for flower arranging!

The boys surprisingly liked this!

If you don’t have chickens or don’t have a feed store near you then maybe try to get a big bag of wild bird seed instead.

You could also buy a smaller bag and just put it in a tub that comes with a lid:) Sensory tub style.

Warning: You need a LID. I used an extra baby pool to put on top(it has a crack so it’s no good for water anyway). You don’t want birds IN IT, but just cleaning up the spills:)

What’s Out Wednesday

2011-11-02T20:08:00.001-07:00

I’ve been in a blogging funk and I thought bringing back What’s Out Wednesday might help me get out of it! So each Wednesday I will snap pictures of what the kids worked on that day.

Fall Sensory Bin; Popcorn kernels, tiny pumpkins and acorns, Farm animals, leaf dishes, and scoops

Color wheel(made this like 3 years ago!)

Magnifying glass and leaves(laminated last year)

Tonging fall colored pom poms

World Map Puzzle

Sweet Ally Spooning stones

Memory

Sorting foam shapes(dollar spot at target)

Lacing letter beads

Fall colored paper in the art area

Magnet Spelling Activity(I spelled the words and then helped them sound it out so they could find the right picture)

Halloween Preview

2011-10-16T21:36:00.001-07:00

Staking blocks with a Jack o Lantern on top. I put a sticker 1-5 on each jack o lantern. They are hard to see in the picture but easy in “real life” :)

Writing Center: Purple and Orange paper, Decorative scrapbook paper from the target dollar spot(cut in fourths), Halloween pencils(target dollar spot), Halloween stickers (Target dollar spot). It cost me 3 dollars to put this together but totally worth it. I love putting out things that get the kids using their writing skills!

Stamps and little books

Sorting Erasers (dollar store)

Pegs and Boards(dollar store)

Pouring Corn kernels

Tweezing Bats into their “Cave”

Peg game. The dice will stay in the Tupperware so that it doesn’t go all over the room. A little idea I picked up on Piterest!

Pumpkin Order and How a pumpkin grows.

Die cut shapes for art

Counting Pumpkins on counting mats

Sifting for Arachnids

Sorting Halloween colors into pumpkins

They can color on the white paper to test the crayons color

Preschool

2011-10-16T21:06:00.001-07:00

Small Group

(this is a time where I lead an activity with all of the children together)

Finish the Picture

I gave each child their choice of a sticker from a sticker book and they finished the picture. Then I wrote their words.

Water color painting was a huge hit! We will be doing it again soon.

Another day we worked together to complete a number train puzzle.

Lacing Beads

Word Puzzles

Work Time

Art and Writing

(Crayon rocks, new pencil grips, pens and paint cards from Lowes, collage materials with glue sticks)

Trays

(Push pins with cork coasters, puzzle turned magnets, Animal puzzle, butterfly life cycle puzzle, Pop together beads, shape puzzles)

Sensory Tub

(Theme: Colors! beads, pom poms, pipe cleaners, colored stones, nesting barrels, scoops and cups)

Circle Time

(This is where I lead the children in Calendar time, Learning board, finger play songs and a story read by me)

Every circle time we choose one element on our learning board to play a game with. The children's favorite game is to find some thing in the room.

Here they looked for 3 things and then took turns showing the rest of the class and all counting together.

Here they all looked for something green.

Here we focused on our first Country and talked about the coins, money, animals, and flag.

Can’t wait to fill in the rest!

Play Time

(free play in the playroom until moms pick up, There are many more toys but this is what I took pictures of)

Pizza Play, Mr. Potato Head, Fire Station

Telling Time

2011-10-11T12:21:00.001-07:00

Source: peacelovelearning.blogspot.com via Samantha on Pinterest">I saw this idea for telling time on Pinterest! I love
Pinterest! I decided to create my own but with a few twists! Caden has been interested in time for over a year(He’s about to be 5) so I bought a clock for our playroom for 4 bucks at Wal-Mart. I created a few paper clocks to demonstrate the times of common events in our day. I also put a paper adjustable clock from the dollar store(pack of 4 that I replaced with a new brad in the middle to make it tighter) so that if something is coming up that day I can show him what time it will be when the event occurs.

One interesting concept of time for Caden is that there are 2 7o’clocks! It’s pretty much the only time he sees 2 times Unless he stays up late or gets up too early

Halloween Arachnid Match Up!

2011-10-03T16:39:00.001-07:00

This is NOT on our shelves YET!

I am putting together some fun Halloween inspired activities and I am sharing them early incase you’d like to try them with your little one

To do this activity the child uses a slotted spoon or tweezers, or their hands to sift out the arachnids one at a time. Then they match them to the pictures.

I bought the spiders for a dollar at the target dollar spot(all in a pack but I added the scorpion from some other bugs I had). The big Halloween bowl is also from the target dollar spot. I just bought these so they should still have them. Now pour in some rice

To make the photo matching page, put all of your items onto a white sheet of printer paper(thanks for the tip Chasing Cheerios!). Take a picture from right up above it in a very well lit room. I upped the contrast and then the brightness to make my background whiter. Then print it and put it in a page protector(I put a piece of cardstock in with it to firm it up)

Preschool!

2011-09-29T22:42:00.001-07:00

Outside

Lots of Chalk drawing!

The sand box and rope swing are always very well loved!

Small Group

(we all sit together at the table and I lead a group activity)

Patterns with Unifix Cubes

Empty vs. Full

We all worked on this, the basket is full of picture that I laminated of things that are empty or full.

Arranging Elephants by size from Confessions of a Homeschooler

Counting practice with number mats.

Work Time

(During this time the kids can choose anything on the shelves freely)

Art and Writing

(dot paints, stickers, cutting practice, sand writing tray, letter E practice, Art caddy full of coloring materials)

Trays and Table Toys

(magnetic exploring, puzzles, Styrofoam with hammers and golf tees, sorting large buttons, matching nuts and bolts, unifix cubes(added orange), tonging cedar balls, little connecting guys, snowflake builders)

Circle Time

E egg hunt! I hid the eggs all over the room and the kids found them and put them on the side with the upper or lower case E.

The learning board! The kids LOVE playing games with our “subjects” and figuring out “Today, Yesterday and Tomorrow”

Play Time

(dolls, dress up, blocks, toddler toys, reading, pretending with stuffed animals)

First two Weeks of Preschool

2011-09-18T22:14:00.001-07:00

Outside Time

This week we just played! Getting to know the rules of the backyard:)

Small Group

We focused on the basics this week; cutting, gluing, name writing, play-doh, and learning to use the art caddy. All of these things are available everyday during work time so I wanted to make sure that they knew how to use them.

Here, the children cut strips of paper between the stickers or dot paints.

The next day we glued the cut pieces on to paper to learn to use the glue sticks.

we learned how to get down the play doh and put it away properly.

Work Time

This is a free time in the school room when we work on activities on the shelf.

Art and Writing

Art Caddy is full of different art supplies. (Jack’s favorite activity lately)

Stickers, great fine motor activity!

Little letter stamps from the Target dollar spot.

Trays

Sorting red objects

Clothes pin transferring pom poms

Color sorting cards from Homeschool Creations

Table Toys

Shape sorting

Magnet builders

Puzzles

Circle Time

We sing songs and read a book everyday and also play a game with one subject from our learning board. We also have calendar time where the kids take turns each day putting the pieces of the calendar on as we say them together.

Playtime

Dinosaurs

Cooking

Zoob builders

Lots of block play

I’m still here

2011-08-16T20:26:00.001-07:00

I have been sick all Summer with a new Baby in my tummy I am feeling much better now and we will be getting back to our normal school routine soon Thanks for the concern of a reader. We found out today that we will be having a boy

testing

2011-08-13T20:09:00.001-07:00

testing

A Tarp Plus Water Equals FUN!

2011-07-08T21:09:00.000-07:00

Our slide on our playground lifts easily so we put a tarp under the end to make a slip n' slide and a splash pad! The hose has a 2 dollar sprinkler head on it that sprays straight up! It looks like the head of a watering can:)

It keeps the slide and tarp wet and creates puddles all over for splashing! Good clean(cheap) FUN!
The tarp is from Costco! It comes in a 2 pack for 20 bucks and we use them for lots of other things. It's 16 by 10 feet:)

Chalk

2011-07-07T22:41:00.000-07:00

Wet the side walk, then color with chalk! The difference is amazing and beautiful!!!!

It uses up the chalk faster but so worth it for beautiful chalk "paintings" like this!

Five Senses

2011-05-22T21:04:00.001-07:00

The sensory tub was solar system themed but you can hardly tell in this picture.

Target dollar spot puzzle

Sorting geometric solids by color or shape

I don’t know what this is called but the kids loved using their sense of touch to explore it

Kaleidoscope!

Smelling bottles made form dollar store salt and pepper shakers

Play dough

For Group time we took turns reaching into a bag to see if we could feel for the matching object that we chose.

We also did some taste testing. They all took this VERY SERIOUSLY! You would have thought they were at a wine tasting or something!

We also took a few walks in the garden to see what we could smell and see

The Solar System

2011-05-06T13:44:00.001-07:00

Outside

I drew the sun and then all of the planets in order with our Easter Egg Chalk. I helped each child jump form planet to planet while shouting out their names. They are all waiting on the Sun in the background.

We did an experiment to help the kids understand why the stars look so small and the Sun doesn’t. We took balls that were the about the same size and then kept one close to us and had the other ones far away (can you see them back there). I asked which ball LOOKED the smallest? But is it the smallest? No, it just looks that way from far away. Just like the Sun and the stars.

Paper Mache Planets

Ooops! How did this adorable picture of Ally get in here! Tee Hee, she was playing with a trickling hose

After we talked about constellations we used push pins to poke holes in black paper….

To look like stars when taped up on the windows.

This has nothing to do with the solar system but we got a package(new car stereo) with these peanuts that dissolve so we used paintbrushes with water to make them stick.

Drake made a star

Free School Room Time

Space flash cards to explore

Planets made from dollar store Styrofoam balls, paint and magnets. They lined them up some days….

and I drew orbits another day.

Solar System on Clearance at Wal-Mart

Matching and exploring “Moon Rocks”

Spooning “Planets”

Solar System floor puzzle

As always there was a lot of free Art happening and the new art caddy my sister snagged at a yard sale was a hit too!

Spring/Plants/Easter

2011-04-24T20:37:00.001-07:00

Our focus these last two weeks has been on plants, Spring, and a little bit of Easter fun

Each child picked what ever seed they wanted to grow from my collection of seeds…

Most of them grew and the ones that didn’t got sent home with new seeds so that they can try again We also put seeds in a large Ziploc bag so that we could study the roots and growing patterns. We learned that the roots come first and then the stem and leaves come out. The squash seed was the coolest because it’s root system was so large easy to see! To do this experiment yourself put a wet paper towel in a bag and add seeds that’s it…Should I explain again LOL

We created flower garden’s with these neat stickers that I got at the dollar tree. I liked this because it looked beautiful no matter how they colored the rest. I only put out green crayons.

I put the extras out in the art area and the kids had fun creating more beautiful gardens.

I made some word cards and we practiced writing garden words and drawing pictures to go with them.

Free Choice

(activities that are out during work time that the children choose as they please)

The following three activities came from Homeschool Creation’s Garden Pack

We used clear stones to mark the beginning sounds

We matched up parts of the flower with the words.

We also put these seedling pictures in order

I made these pumpkin growing cards from a work book we have and put them out with a dry erase marker for writing the number of order in the white boxes

Button Flowers!

I also have a very small collection of insects for the kids to look at. I hope to find more but I have a “moral” thing that I won’t kill a bug for display purposes so I have to wait till I find them dead and not crushed! I got lucky with these two! I used a sewing pin and a little pieces of floral foam inside of a test tube so that they won’t shake around and brake. We’ve talked a lot about how beneficial insects are for plants.

Sorting flowers and butterflies

Easter Fun!

I got these glittery foam stickers at the dollar store and made pattern cards to continue.

Tonging bunnies

Listening and matching Easter eggs (2 with rice, 2 with a bell, and 2 with 3 pennies)

Letters W and X

2011-04-03T00:57:00.001-07:00

My Camera situation is annoying and not worth explaining but I will get it figured out soon

On the shelf

Magnets to create W’s and X’s

Weather Sensory Tub inspired by Counting Coconuts. Huge hit and a huge mess so…

I switched it to this!

Counting whales

Small Group

Colored water with droppers on a paper towel

We used white chalk on black paper to draw X-rays of our skeletons.

Outside

Enjoyed our Spring Flowers some more!

Letters U and V

2011-03-31T22:13:00.001-07:00

My amazing friend Brittany came and played her viola for us! It was beautiful and the kids really enjoyed it. For one song I gave each child their own musical instrument so they could play along

V is for vacuum

On the shelf

Spooning Acorns

Sorting U and V beads

Coins in an Easter egg bank that I got from the Target dollar spot

Celebrating spring with some flowers and butterflies

V is for Vehicles

U shaped glass things

Small Group

Talking about vegetables and all of the healthy vitamins and minerals in them and then we drew pictures of our favorite veggies!

V is for Volcano! We learned about volcanoes and then did the classic volcano experiment! I lined up 8 test tubes and put baking soda in each one. Each child got a turn to use a bulb syringe to squirt red colored vinegar to make their explosion!

Outside

We welcomed Spring with fake flowers and pots in the sand area, Huge Hit

Trying out Windows Live Writer

2011-03-31T21:24:00.001-07:00

So here is my cute Ally!

Ok I love this!!!! I totally recommend it!

Frustrated

2011-03-27T22:16:00.000-07:00

I have been losing interest in blogging because it is so frustrating and time consuming to do my post on blogger. I have to upload pictures slowly and in reverse order and then delete a bunch of spaces? Does anyone know a better way? I have already bought my domain name http://www.littlehandsbigwork.com/ but I don't know what to do with it. Any helpful tips or sites out there? Thanks:)

Garbage to Games: Letter Ball

2011-03-21T07:17:00.001-07:00

This is one of those apple containers from Costco! I love getting the organic apples for the kids! I took the container and wrote every letter of the alphabet...

...then start tossing balls and see what you get:)
Happy Garbage Gaming!!!

Letter Q and R

2011-03-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

SO LATE! But I had to get it written so that I could remember the activites the next time we do these letters:)

R is for Rainbows

I colored the holes as a guide to make the rainbow...

...but it looked cool even if you didn't follow the colored holes:)

For this rainbow I started the 6 color rainbow pattern and then tied a knot on the ends. The child uses the rest of the beads to continue the pattern. And doesn't the pipe cleaner look like a puffy cloud?:)

Tweeze a rainbow with pom poms

Or just tweeze;)

Number matching Rainbows from Confessions of a Homeschooler with magnets on the back!

Q is for quilt! I made these color by number quilts and the kids matched the color cube with the right number to see the quilt pattern.

Q is for Quiet Vs. Loud. Shake-Listen-Sort:)

Size sorting quilts from Confessions of a Homeschooler

Counting Octopus Printable

2011-03-16T16:54:00.000-07:00

I found my pictures that I lost so I updated the post for O and P and found this little guy:) I printed him out on purple card stock. Then laminated, cut, and stuck on magnets.

Every kiddo tried it at least once and some several times:) You just match the numbers up:)

If you would like to make your own, click the links below:)

Octopus Body Printable

Octopus Legs Printable

Letters O and P

2011-03-06T18:59:00.000-08:00

Everything we did this week is not pictured. If you would like to see my entire lesson plan, click below:)

Lesson Plan for O and P

Play Room

Two girls in my class (my nieces) had flower clips in their hair so we decided to count them and talk about more and less. The kids were so into it that we started sorting everybody. By eye color, number of ponytails, boys vs girls. It was very fun and a great way to practice more and less!

I have so many of these baby links so I put them out for the kids to make chains:)

White Board

Number Matching Octopus
(I made this, get it here)

On the Shelf

O is for Octopus patterns

P is for spooning Pink and Purple beads

P is for Dot Painters

O is for ocean sensory tub! Huge hit so we will be keeping it out for another week:)

O is for exploring the ocean in our Encyclopedia Britannica book

Small Group

Patterns with unifix cubes

O is for Orange! We played a memory game were I take something away and they guess what it was:)

I gave each child an opposite card and as I held one up they all looked at their cards to see if they had the opposite to it. I got these from my sister and she got them out of a workbook.

Outside

O is for Obstacle Coarse. They best part of this was hearing them cheer each other on!!!

P is for Popcorn Picnic in our Pajamas!!! (they were so excited! You'd think I was serving chocolate cake!)

We spotted a Gila Woodpecker and identified it in our nature book

P is for paint! I got the paint rollers and trays for less then 2 bucks at Lowes and then let the kids go to town on this plywood(left over from boarding up my windows). Huge Hit!

Reading Cards

2011-03-02T20:59:00.000-08:00

Drake has been begging me to teach him to read like Caden! He is so excited but we are taking it very slow, because his skills might not meet up to his excitement! So to start practicing I made these reading cards. The idea is that Drake will read the words and then get to lift the flap and see the picture!

If you would like to print your own, click the link below. Cut them in half and fold down from the top just enough to cover the picture and not the word. I printed them on card stock so that they wouldn't be see through.

Peek-A-Boo Reading Cards

Letter M and N!!!

2011-02-26T19:28:00.000-08:00

Everything we did this week is not pictured so if you would like to see our entire lesson plan click on the link below

Lesson Plan for M and N

Play Time

The kids all love these foam blocks!

Computer Time

Blaster!! The kids really enjoyed this reading game

On the Shelf

***M is for Magnets***

Magnetic dressing boy

Magnet rings (depending on the way you place them they float or stick)

Horse Shoe magnet with sand and metal shavings activity

Magnet wand with test tubes containing magnetic and non-magnetic things

New Puzzles

M is for different sized marbles

Collage Materials and glue sticks

N is for Nuts and Bolts

Tonging Cedar Balls

M is for Mirror. I put out a little basket of objects for the kids to place on the mirror and study the reflections

M is for Monkeys!!!

Letter M graduated order

N is for Nest and sorting eggs into them:)

Small Group

We wrote our names in our journals with these mini gel pens that I got from the Target dollar spot. We used our name cards for reference as we wrote. The mini gel pens were great for encouraging them to write because they were excited about the new writing tool! I'll be saving these for more exciting writing adventures:)

Friday Wrap-Up K and L

2011-02-20T17:59:00.000-08:00

I washed my camera!!!!!! Grrrrrrrr! I got this nice little camera so I can just take pictures quickly and then put it back in my pocket:) It was perfect till I left it in the pocket when I put my laundry in the washer! I felt so dumb! Live and learn! Anyway, so I had to use my bigger camera so it was hard to get as many pictures this week but we did have a very fun and full week!

We passed out or Valentines and the kids were all so excited and so cute!!! Even Jack handed his out and I loved watching him:)

K is for Kitchen:) Lots of fun in the kitchen EVERY week:)
Some really good and creative block play going on this week!

Still enjoying the Valentines playdoh:)

K is for kites! I love Confessions of a Homschooler!

I introduced the computer this week and everyone was excited but we haven't all gotten turns yet:) We use headphones so we don't disrupt the rest of the class:)

L is for Lizard!!!!! A friend brought in his Bearded Dragon Lizard and the kids thought it was sooooo cool! When ever I have a visitor come I prep the kids before hand. I ask them what questions we could ask and help give them some ideas. That way when our guest arrives their little brains are already cooking with questions and interest:)

Friday Wrap-Up! (last week)

2011-02-18T15:35:00.000-08:00

So Last Monday was spent like this:(
We were all sick and so were several of the other students:( We postponed Letters K and L for the following week:)
While we waited for our friends to all getter better we had a lesson on germs!!

Friday Wrap up I and J

2011-02-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

This week we learned all about the letters I and J!

Everything we did is not pictured. To view our entire weekly plan click below.

Lesson Plan I and J

Circle Time

We sung a fun song called "Jack in the Box" at circle time and it was loved by all! It goes like this;

Jack in the box

still as a mouse,

deep down inside your little dark house

Jack in the box, resting so still,

Will you come out?...

YES I WILL!!!!!!

Playtime

Or animals and babies got a lot of love this week

We had out the doctor kit that my sister let me borrow and we had a lot of sick animals on our hands!

On the Shelf

I is for investigating stones

We got these new pipsqueak markers the I and and the kids Love!!

See and spell by Melissa and Doug

I is for insects in the sensory bin

I is for igloo building inspired by the Rocker Mom

I is for inches. I taped a little home made measuring tape to the tray and as they measured they would put the correct number next to the rod.

I put out some February Playdoh:)

J is for Jar. Spooning marbles into a jar I is for sorting insects with tongs

Number Puzzles

Lots of block play as usual!

I is for insects. I love this book! I have the kids wear head phones. Small Group

I is for inches. We took turns getting thing from the shelves to measure with 1 inch cubes. I is for insects! We talked about all of the parts that make up an insect and then drew pictures of the ones we had in our sensory bin.

Outside Time

I is for looking for insects! We actually found a very large fly that was to cold to fly. The kids all helped count his body parts and then we put him on a tree to warm up:)

J is for Jungle Gym. Grandpa built this for the kiddos! It is the most popular toy in the backyard!

Organizing Your Play Kitchen

2011-02-02T19:50:00.000-08:00

This is our kitchen! It is one of the most popular areas in our playroom and it was driving me crazy!!! It was always a mess and I think it was discouraging quality pretend play!

First I took pictures of each thing in it's proper place. Then I taped down the pictures:) I didn't put anything in the oven, or on the counter or stove top. I did that so that the kids only pull out what they want to use instead of digging a bunch of stuff out just so they can use the oven/dishwasher/dryer.
I also screwed in some small brass hooks for the aprons to hang on the side...

...and the hot pads above the stove.

I Love this Kitchen and, now it's getting even more use then it was before, because it is more inviting! I had a new girl in my class say, "Hmmm, I need to put the pizza away, oh there's a picture, I know where it goes!" I was in teacher heaven:)

Friday Wrap Up G and H

2011-01-30T08:23:00.000-08:00

Every thing we did is not pictured. If you would like to see our entire lesson plan for the week click below.

Lesson Plan for G and H

Playtime

Mega Blocks

I had one of the girls in my class help me organize the kitchen area and then help me take picture so that we could make labels! She enjoyed being my helper for the morning.

The music instruments got a lot of use this week:)

On the shelf

Shape puzzles, the kids all really like these

Letter G and H writing Practice

New sand in the sand in the writing tray. Jack dumped out the other color;) It's one of his favorite activities along with the rest of the class.

G is for sorting green things

H is for house building. I made a little idea card

My sister got these word building cards in the Target dollar spot and turned a few into magnets:) These were a bit hit with the older kids! I love that so many of my students are starting read and spell!

H is for Hippos!

H is for Hungry Hungry Hippos!!! So exciting that I hand to help everyone take turns and then put it away after the first day:) H is for Hammer G is for Glitter and Glue! I poured some glitter in their hand so that they could pinch it out with the other hand.

Thrift store connectors:) H is for Hearts! Jumbo playing cards to put in order

Small Group

G is for Geometric Solids

Each child had a basket with one of each of the Geometric solids. We took turns picking one and then I would teach them the name for it and then everyone would search in their own basket for the same shape...

And put it in the middle of the table until we had them all:) This was a lot of fun!

Outside Time

G is for Gumball Machine!

We took turns being at the top of the slide. Someone at the bottom would give them a coin(dollar tree) and tell them what color gumball they would like...

The "Gumball Machine" would then find that color and send it down the slide! So much fun and it was great color practice. Also the kids would slide down once they had three coins so that someone else could have a turn!
H is for Hoops! My little sister got this for the kids and it's so fun! The balls roll out of the bottom:)
G is for Go! We played stop/go and the kids go to race back to the gate on the count of 1-2-3 GO!!!

Friday Wrap Up E and F

2011-01-21T20:52:00.000-08:00

Another Great week!!! This isn't all that we did but it is all that I got pictures of:)

Lesson Plan for E and F

Playtime

Collecting things that start with E and F (the watermelon and Kiwi were Fruit)

Fishing for letters! The kids loved this and I really want to make a fabric set.

On the Shelf

F is for counting and sorting Fish

F is for farm animals. I put out pictures and farm animal figurines.

E is for elephants all in a row:)

F is for flipping frogsElephants and Flowers in the pattern tray, this was a little tricky for some:)

Gone Fishing;)

In our writing area we had our practice sheets and envelopes!

I used the magnets on the white board to spell out words that they wanted to write on their cards! The envelopes were a huge hit!

F is for flower arranging

E and F sorting, pretty tricky! F is for fire!!!! Another huge hit!

Empty/Full sorting!

Small Group

Sink or Float Outside

Painting with little brushes!

Letter E egg hunt!

E is for Egg Hunt!

2011-01-18T03:54:00.000-08:00

I made these capital E and lower case e eggs to hunt for in the backyard! The kids loved it! I hid them all over the backyard and the kids hunted! The rule was that they could only find one at a time and had to run it to me before searching for a new one. I had the older kids tell me whether it was Capital/Lowercase and the sound and the younger kids just said the sound each time:)

If you would like to make your own Letter E hunt I have the print out for you!

Letter Ee Egg Hunt

I printed it twice because more kids will be playing it. I cut each egg out and then laminated them because we will be using them out doors so they needed a good seal all the way around.

I plan on making another set of A-Z eggs for Easter! As the kids find them we will put them in alphabetical order:)

Fire Blocks

2011-01-17T12:16:00.000-08:00

I used some 1 inch cubes and dollar store glitter leaves to make some fire blocks! I just glued some of the smaller ones along the top and then larger ones along the bottom so that they would over lap! I made 4:)
I added some fire trucks to the building blocks and the kids had a blast pretending that their buildings were on fire!

They would pretend to spray the fire and then knock the fire blocks off the building:)

These fire blocks were meant to encourage more building and pretend play but for a little while the kids were just playing with the trucks and fire. I took away the trucks and explained to them my purpose for putting out the fire blocks. Once they started building burning buildings I gave them the trucks back and they all realized how much more fun it was to actually build something:)

Reading Tip

2011-01-17T12:03:00.000-08:00

Caden has a little trouble telling the difference between the lowercase B and D. Since he knows the sign language for the letter D I asked him to place his hand on the page. If it matches then it's a D and if it doesn't then it is a B. This has actually completely solved the problem for him and he does it all on his own without me reminding him:) I thought it might help some other kiddos out there and I wish I had known it when I was a kid! Make sure they use their right hand(if they don't know the right hand tell them it's the one they hold their pencil in). Caden uses his right hand to point at words he is reading so it's easy for him:)

Friday Wrap Up C and D

2011-01-14T15:03:00.000-08:00

We had a great week learning all about the letters C and D!!!!

Lesson Plan for C and D

Play Time

During play time we got to get a live show!! We got to watch a tree cutting service use their bucket truck cut down trees.

C is for car garage
D is for dressing up

Collecting things that start with C and D
On the Shelf

D is for dinosaurs by Confessions of a Homeschooler

Writing practice from Confessions of a Homeschooler

Lacing C and D things

D is for roll a dinosaur I made this from a sticker book, roll the dice and put that many on and the same for taking them off. It's hard to tell but there is a match for each dino.

C is for Clocks to explore C and D beginning sounds sorting

D is for dinosaur stamps! Huge hit!!

C is for counting Caterpillar, from Confessions of a Homeschooler

Encyclopedia Britannica books from Costco

C is for counting and sorting cats

Small Group

C is for Candyland

We play this with just one piece and all work together to get to Candyland!

D is for dollars

We counted the dots on the dice and received that many dollars. If we didn't have enough to buy the toy we wanted then we would roll again. This was great counting practice:)

C is for Cold!

I filled three test tubes, one hot, one regular, and one cold. We all touched the test tubes with our eyes opened and closed. We talked about the opposite of Cold...Hot:) Outside

The kids love the animals as usual!

we loved digging in the sand with our dinosaurs:)

Friday Wrap-Up A and B

2011-01-07T11:15:00.000-08:00

We are starting our Letters of the week and this week was A and B. We had so much fun this week I am going to post my weekly lesson plans if anyone would like to see them.

Lesson Plan for A and B

Playtime

Cool book I got from Costco that came with 9 blocks to create the 9 pictures that are in the book

B is for building

We collected everything we could find that started with an A or a B! I was surprised at how excited they were to do this!

Lesson

(Our lessons are very short, probably not even 5 minutes)

The kids shouted out things that started with the letters A and B and I drew them on the chalk board

We practiced a new word that has both of our letters in it
On the Shelf
Magnetos continue to be a favorite

The sand writing tray is out almost the entire work period! The kids love it!!

I downloaded this Aa sorting apples activity from Confessions of a Homeschooler! Here site is AWESOME!! You will see a lot more of her things her but I sometimes change them a bit so that the whole class can use them over and over. In this case I laminated them and put magnets on the back.

Our writing area has 2 clip boards with letter A and B practice writing sheets, also from Confessions of a Homeschooler. I put them in page protectors so that we could use them with dry erase markers. These have been a huge hit with the older kids, especially Caden.

On the back there is a work sheet from this site.

There are also little books that my sister made for the kidsA is for Animals

B is for butterfly, blue, baby, and bear sort A is for tonging airplanesA is for tweezing Apples(actually cherries from the game Hi Ho Cheerio)

A is for lacing and making patterns with airplanes

A and B sort(this only came off the shelf once)

Winter Play dough with numbers

A is apple sizing

Small Group

Sorting front and Back opposite cards

Drawing our favorite animals and telling one fact that we know about them

Outside

Fake snow in the outdoor sensory tub!

Balloon painting! HUGE hit!!! The balloons are half filled with water and half with air and then tied to yarn. The kids dipped them in in paint and then bounced them all over the paper! The colors started to mix and several kids said they looked like fireworks!

Caden got really into it once the other kids were done:)

Merry Christmas!!!!!

2010-12-23T15:18:00.000-08:00

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas full of Family and Fun!!!!!

Friday Wrap-Up!

2010-12-17T19:03:00.000-08:00

Small Group

Writing in our journals about Christmas

We worked on our magnet stones for our parents Christmas presents! The kids all put them in little holiday bags with a few candies!
White Board
Numbers 7-10 with magnet buttons to count. Jack love to stack the magnet on the board and take them apartBlock/Floor area
All of the kids love our wooden unit blocks! Caden built this all by himself and was so excited to show me!
On the Shelf
Our new pet fish, Philip!

Roll a Christmas tree

Little connectors that I got from the thrift store for 50 cents

Counting Christmas erasers

Pattern tray with Christmas colored bears

Animal puzzle from the Target dollar spot Do a Dot Christmas tree

Christmas art materials! Tonging cedar balls that I got from the dollar store. They are supposed to be used for putting in drawers and stuff:) I put out the little try that they came in for them to transfer them into.

Tweezing red and green pom poms

Outside

We adopted a bunny rabbit and the kids LOVE her! She is so friendly and love them petting her!

Circle Time!

2010-12-11T20:01:00.000-08:00

I forgot to add circle time into my Friday Wrap-up post so here it is!

We read "Not Until Christmas, Walter!" We have school 3 days a week and this book had three chapters! Perfect! It was great to recall the details of the book with the kids and predict what we thought would happen next! All of the kiddos seemed to really enjoy the book!

We sing a lot of songs at circle time so I won't list them all but the kids really loved this one! We all get hand fulls of silk leaves(dollar store) then we shout "Winter Spring Summer...Fall!!!!" then we let the leaves fall! The kids love pretending they are trees!

Link is up now

2010-12-11T18:11:00.000-08:00

Sorry my linky provider was on the fritz! It's up now if anyone would like to link up:)

Friday Wrap-Up!

2010-12-09T20:04:00.000-08:00

Small Group
(An activity that we all do at the table together lead by me)
Worked on some art work for our Parents Christmas presents. Shhhh

Jingle bell bracelets. Some of the kids were just working on their fine motor skills but other were making patterns. Caden did a different pattern on each side of his bell:)

We played roll a Christmas tree which I modified from Confessions of a Homeschooler:) They loved this one and it will be a shelf activity next week:)
White Board

Numbers 1-6 with circle magnets. Some stacked, some grouped and some kids put them in lines:)

Block/Floor Area
Color matching cars on the color wheel

Jack LOVES his Ikea abacus(and yes he stayed in his jammies for school :p)

On the Shelf
(activities that the children take out during work time and work on independently)

Melissa and Doug See and Spell puzzle. I'm just putting out on at a time and they are double sided

Christmas colored stones in the pattern tray

Dollar connect four game from Fry's

Tonging (great for strengthening hand muscles and improving hand eye coordination) Jingle bells in to a tall narrow cup

Jack really liked this one and got it out every day!

Party hoops

Dressing doll puzzle-Target

Christmas collage! HUGE hit! The kids LOVED this! There were 2 glue bottles in the center but they are both being used when I took the picture:)

Outside
New sand box! My dad and husband built this because our other one was too small(the size of the canopy is how big the old one was). It still needs more sand but the kiddos are loving it!

Painting at the easel with red paint and Christmas cookie cutters:)

Christmas Fun

2010-12-07T14:05:00.000-08:00

Christmas Do a Dot

Click the link above to download these fun do a dot pages that I made for school. I laminated mine(the present is on the back) so that we could use our Do a Dot markers to fill them in and then press a paper towel on top to absorb the paint! The kids haven't done it yet but I did and I thought it was super fun! This will be out next week but I wanted to put it out there just in case anyone wanted to print it before Christmas:)

You could also not laminate it and use crayons, markers, stickers, those little colored stones?? Really fun:)

Friday Wrap-Up!

2010-12-02T13:02:00.000-08:00

No more What's out Wednesday:( When I started doing What's out Wednesday I was in an apartment and doing very little school and now I am teaching preschool from my home so a Friday wrap-up is much better:) I will still do a link up if anyone would like to link up:) The biggest difference will be a lot more action shots and I will include Small Groups and some Circle Time Activities:) Enjoy!

Small Group
Decorating wooden Christmas Ornaments that a parent brought in for the kids:)

Making Patterns with Unifix cubes

Block/Floor Area

Jingle bells with counting mats

Legos, I like putting them in a large shallow tub so that they are easy sift through

Farm animals with the Unit blocks

Magnet Board
Manger Scene

On The Shelf

Magnet builders

Play dough with Christmas cutters: Green Peppermint Scented

White Vanilla Scented

Red Cinnamon Scented

Sorting red and green objects

Pattern tray with Christmas balls:)

Wood Christmas tree with Ornaments

Manger figurines in a velvet lined wooden box

Sand writing tray

What's Out Wednesday!

2010-11-17T15:28:00.000-08:00

Letters to match
Laminated leaves to explore

Marble transfer with a spoon

Leaves, acorns, pine cones, tongs and treasure boxes in the sensory tub.

Sorting little purple gems by size. Small, medium, large.

Color Mats

2010-11-12T20:02:00.000-08:00

I made these color mats by laminating sheets of construction paper. I wrote the name of the color on one side before I laminated them. During play time we spread them out on the floor and started running around the playroom getting toys to sort on to them. The kids loved it and it was great for practicing colors. All of the kids told me that we needed a pink and grey one:)

I have a lot more activities in mind for these but this one alone was great fun!

Hold them up when you sing color songs
Lay them out and shout colors to jump to
Hide them around the playroom and hunt for them
Put them in rainbow order
Use them to practice writing the colors

Link is up now

2010-11-10T10:30:00.001-08:00

Sorry I didn't know the link wasn't up:)

What's Out Wednesday!

2010-11-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to What's Out Wednesday!!!!! WOW is where I share what I have out for my children! I may post about my whole school/play room or a single activity that I have out! I will post every Wednesday and the Linky will be open for the week and close as the new week starts. If you would like to share what you have out just write about it on your own blog and add a link to that EXACT POST(click on the title of your post to get the link). Please snag this picture up top and hyperlink it back to this post:) Thanks!

On the Block shelf I added some little Disney figurines

I put out the counting mats with some colorful bears

I new writing center from Ikea!

Sorting tray was filled with geometric solids that the kids can sort 2 different ways

Our Add It tray has colorful buttons!

I made some manipulative for the kids to retell one of our favorite books, "Dog's Colorful Day".
I plan on making this magnetic and using it on the white board along with some magnetic numbers and a sponge to give him a "bath".

Color sorting on the white board

Colorful pom pom sensory tub

Lacing Extension

2010-11-03T20:12:00.000-07:00

So no What's Out Wednesday this week! I have to get my act together;) My Tuesday nights are starting to get packed with church activities and then it's also the only night that me and my husband can get a date:) I'm just going to try and prepare my post earlier so that it will be ready on Wednesdays. In the mean time the kids thought this activity made lacing cards a little more interesting. I put out pony beads so that they could string them as they laced the card.

What's Out Wednesday!

2010-10-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

This week Drake had a huge melt down at church because he couldn't take a lacing card home with him??? That's right..a Lacing card! So I made some to put out in our school room:)

I just laminated whole sheets of card stock with extra thick laminating sheets. Then I cut out some basic shapes and punched holes in them:) The boys really enjoyed them. I am thinking of using a sharpie or stickers to put numbers or letters next to the holes. Kind of like a dot to dot? We'll see:)

Link up if you have a What's Out Wednesday to Share!

What's Out Wednesday!

2010-10-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't post last week. We had a huge hail storm here and it broke most of our windows and rip our roof up:( It's all being repaired now:) I only really changed 2 things.

Our Art Shelf has stickers, markers, crayons, scissors, tape, glue sticks, and grocery ads. The kids had been cutting up all of our art paper and then not doing anything with their clippings:) My sister thought of putting out the grocery ads so that they can practice without wasting paper.

Our sensory tub is a HUGE hit but, really simple! Just rice, scoops, pumpkins, and little acorns.

Link UP if you have a What's Wednesday to share!