Don't forget to Play{ground}!

 

Little K is going to be 4 this Halloween, so I have started a bit more

structured "preschool" for her. We're working on letters, colors, numbers, etc...

Trying to be sure to have lots of different themes, working on a loose schedule.

I try to be sure that she has each subject daily: Math, Science, Reading, Sensory play, etc.

I'm sure lots of parents out there are doing the same thing right now.

However, as important as writing their names and knowing the ABCs are, lets

not forget one of THE MOST important part of the early years of childhood: PLAY!

 

Kids love to run, jump, hang, climb, swing and slide! It's built into them.

The funny thing is - they aren't JUST playing. They are growing. They are learning.

They are developing their muscles, and their minds and discovering their boundaries and skills.

 

Kids are only little once. These days, everyone is such a hurry to make them grow up.

Play is forgotten. It's old school. It doesn't teach them to read or recite math facts.

That's the point! A 3 or 4 year old child doesn't need to know those things. That is what

they have us for. They will learn it when they need to.

 

So, while planning your homeschool preschool time, don't forget to just

let them be kids. Let them run, swing and slide in the sunshine. Enjoy the giggles.

Let them Play.

All About Me theme

Our first theme of the "Mommy School" year is All about Me.

We talked about what color hair and eyes she has, how old she is, when

she was born and who she lives with.

 

Then I pulled out a mirror and dry erase markers and had her draw a

picture of herself - on the mirror! She thought this was just awesome.

(It's kind of funny to watch her draw. Even when she is smiling,

she draws a frown.)

 

 

 

The next thing I did was print this mirror template, and attached a piece of foil to it.

Then I had her look in the mirror, while drawing her face on the foil.

You can find the mirror template here.

 

Our last activity was talking about how everyone is different,

and everyone is special... just like our fingerprints! I traced her hand,

then helped her place her fingerprints on each finger.

 

Have you done any fun activities for the All about Me theme?

If so, share your link here! :)

Apple theme

Apple Week!

 

 

This week's theme was APPLES and the letter A! So I put together a few

activities. First was our sensory bin. I filled it with split dry peas, then added in a few fake apples,

letter A magnets and blocks, and some red gems. She had fun scooping with measuring spoons,

and of course ended up getting her little princess dolls involved.

 

 

 

K is too young to know how to bob for apples, so I thought up

a different way for her to do it. I filled a tub

with water, threw in 2 different sizes of fake apples,

then also added in 2 real apples. Then I gave her tongs and let her go to it!

 

She really enjoyed this activity, throwing them back in and bobbing for them again

and again.

 

 

 

 

Next we made applesauce play dough. There wasn't really a recipe for this one.

We took about 2 TBS of applesauce, a LOT of cinnamon and added about 2 cups of flour and food color. Then when we took our walk, we gathered sticks and leaves to use for stems.

 

 The last activity I drew a tree with circles and had her put stones on the circles to make an apple tree.

 

Name recognition activities

We have done a few different name recognition activities.

 

 

First, I put wrote her name on a sheet of printer paper and

slipped it into a page protector. Then we made play dough "snakes"

to spell out her name.

 

 

 

Next I gave her cookie cutters that spelled out her name.

She had fun cutting out the letters and putting them in the correct order

to make her name.

 

We love Target's dollar zone. They have foam cut outs for every holiday.

I usually pick them up to use for different activities, such as math or

matching. In this photo, I wrote her name on the bunnies and mixed them up.

Then she put them in the correct order to spell out her name.

 

 

She really loves her letter magnets.
For this activity, I just wrote her name on a sheet of paper and

put it on the refrigerator with her magnets below it.

She spelled out her name, then asked me how to spell other words as well.

 

For the next activity, I wrote her name on a 3x5 index card, then the letters of her name on

clothes pins. This is not only good for name recognition, but for fine motor skills as well.

 

The last activity was simply writing her name on a sheet of paper,

and having her glue fruit loops on the outline.  (While eating a few, of course!)

 

As you can see, these activities are very simple, yet will help your child recognize their name!

Please share a link if you have done any name recognition activities!

Fire Safety Week Ideas for kids

It's Fire Safety Week!

Teaching fire safety is very important.

Here are a few things we've done.

 

 

Handprint firefighter! made by my 2 yr old.

 

showed her how fire needs oxygen to burn.

 

handprint flames. also a great lesson in color mixing!

 

firefighter hat made from a paper plate!

 

fire safety bath! talked about stop, drop and roll.

dyed the water red, gave her the hat she got at our local fire dept.

open house. Painted flames and gave her a squirt bottle to "put them out".

This bath was fun!

 

Using a squirt bottle to put out the flames... this is also great for

fine motor and little hand muscles!

 

Visited our local fire dept. open house!

Apple Theme Ideas

Apple theme ideas!

First we cut a tree top out of green paper and used her finger to paint little apples. :)

 

 

Great tip for apple prints - cut a notch in the apple to make

it easier for tiny tots to hold onto!

 

Don't forget to show them the star in the center.(pic below.)

(Apple must be cut horizontally to show the star.)

 

Handprint apples! Paint only the palm red, add stem and leaf with

finger prints!

 

Apple printing on the patio!

 

Awesome book for apple week!

 

10 apples up on top!

Baking Soda & Vinegar Ice experiment

We did a little baking soda & vinegar experimenting today.

 

To start off, I mixed some red food dye with vinegar and filled

one side of our ice tray. Then, I mixed a little water & blue food dye with baking soda,

and spooned it into the other side.

Freeze overnight.

I put some baking soda on a plate, and she added a vinegar cube.

 We let it sit & melt, but nothing happened.

Then she dropped a baking soda cube in a small bowl of vinegar.

This one worked. It fizzed up & dissolved the cube.

Our last try was to put one cube of each in a small bowl to

see if there would be a reaction as they melted. Nothing happened.

We ended up pouring a little vinegar in and that caused the typical reaction.

 

Even though not all of these worked, they

were still Lots of fun.