Rock Ghosts

I saw this fun and easy idea on MADE the other day and we tried it this week.  Both my 4 and 3 year olds loved it!  These little rock ghosts are great for some imaginative play.

We just used normal white paint (not spray paint) and then sharpies once they were dry to make face.  Fun and festive!  Happy Halloween!

Learning to write letters

Isaac has been able to write his name for a while, but he still prefers me to write the letter s.  I didn't understand exactly why until a few weeks ago I was reading about teaching children how to write letters.  Here's what I learned:

The letters of the alphabet can be separated into three groups that differ in writing difficulty. 

The easiest group are the straight line letters:

Next are the curve line letters:

And finally, the most challenging are the circle letters (or letters that have a circle, or most of one, in them):

And now I understand why s seems so scary for Isaac!  So we're taking it easy and not forcing any letter writing that he doesn't want to do.  I'm hoping that as his fine motor skills continue to improve he'll one day discover that he can easily write that tricky letter s.

Knife Cutting Practice

Isaac is very into cutting things right now.  Mostly paper with scissors, but lately he's been wanting to cut with a knife at dinner.  Our solution to help him learn how to cut with a knife without cutting himself, the table, or meeting frustration has been bananas.

Given half of a banana Isaac will meticulously cut it into at least 20 pieces before eating them.  I must say that in the few weeks that he has been doing this his cutting has gotten better and we're no longer seeing banana pieces fly all over the kitchen! :)

Reading Eggs

Isaac (almost 4) is really getting the hang of using a computer mouse and can play some basic preschool computer programs by himself.  We love Starfall (and I love that it is always free!) and have recently discoverd a site called Reading Eggs. 

Anyone can sign up for a free 14 day trial without needing to put in any credit card information.  We're just in the free trial mode, and I'm not sure if we'll actually subscribe, but both Isaac and myself are enjoying their program.

I love that they focus on letter sounds rather than letter names.  Because it's the sound that each letter makes that a child will be using as they decode and read workds!

Any other suggestions for great preschool online learning games?

Preschoolers and Their Collections

Did you ever have a rock collection that mom made you keep out in the backyard?  Well if you did you're not alone.  Collecting things is a popular hobby, and preschoolers are beginning to understand the draw of collecting like items.

As preschoolers learn more about the world around them they become very good at sorting and categorizing.  One manifestation of this is by preschoolers collecting things.  It could be anything from rocks to sticks to cars or stuffed animals.  Even things we parents would call junk!

And it isn't uncommon to find your preschooler sorting, organizing and playing with their collections as well.  I love watching this interaction!

Here's Isaac with his cousin Spencer (both 3.5  years) as they play with Spencer's shell collection:

What does your preschooler collect?

Dot Markers at the Dollar Store!

Many of the free preschool printable available online contain worksheets for Do-A-Dot Markers.  Since we don't have any of those markers I was so excited to find a "bingo dot marker" at the Dollar Tree!  (I think it was in the art/school section.)

(Please ignore the fact that the picture is sideways and my three year old is trying to lick the marker!)

Instead of looking for one of the printables and printing it, I just drew circles for Isaac to "dot" in.  The letter S is the trickiest for him when writing his name, so I thought the extra practice with a dot marker would be useful:

 

Isaac enjoyed the project and took his work seriously to fill in each circle I made.  We'll be doing this again!

Cutting Practice

All preschoolers need to learn how to cut paper, which can be a slow and frustrating process for some kids as they never seem to be able to cut just right.  Our solution for Isaac?  Give him an old magazine, a pair of child safety scissors and let him have at it.

When he was done cutting he brought me the pile of shred and proudly showed me his "project."  He felt accomplished, and it gave him a chance to practice holding and using scissors in a nonthreatening way.

How Many Apples on the Tree? Felt Game

I saw a paper version of this on a blog (I can't remember which one!) recently and immediately thought, I can make that out of felt!  It's also similar to the children's board game, Hi Ho Cherry-O.

The premise of the game is taking turns rolling a dice and placing that many apples on the tree.  This is great counting practice!  You can also do addition and subtraction.  We used one die at first, then added a second to practice larger numbers.  I've added a How Many Apples on the Tree? felt game to my etsy shop, check it out here.

Happy Counting!

Some New Favorite Preschool Printables Blogs

Does it ever amaze you how many wonderful blogs there are?  I need to keep my blog reading in check or it can begin to take over my life!  Here are a few of my new favorites for free preschool and tot printables:  (And you'll notice one theme common between them all are lots of free printables!)

Calendar Time

I {finally} finished the calendar I've been thinking about for my kids!  We've begun having family calendar time (where we talk about what day it is, the weather, what season it is, what we're doing that day, etc.) and it's been a blast.  The calendar is on a little wall by our kitchen, so we can't miss is, and Isaac certainly won't let me forget to do it each day!
  (This picture was taken a few days ago)

I laminated (oh, I love me new laminator!) the little number pieces and used Velcro circles on the back and on the calendar so that we can reuse the pieces each month.  The days of the week caterpillar is something my husband's aunt gave to me, although making one similar wouldn't be too hard. 

Now we just need an days-of-the-week song.  Any ideas?

Free Preschool Printables

I love when I can find free preschool printables that are easy to use!  We've printed off several pages from different preschool packs made by Homeschool Creations and have really enjoyed them.  You can find all of her free printable packs here.

Here is Isaac playing a Robot Graphing Game from the Robot Preschool Pack and Amy playing with Animal Sorting Cards:

Montessori Sorting

I've seen this Montessori type of fine motor skill activity and finally created one for Isaac to work with. We used a bath decal, turned upside down as the base. For the activity, Isaac picks up a bead with the tongs and places it in one of the suction cups on the dinosaur.

Thankful Cornucopia

I saw this idea on the Little Learners Lounge, although my son got frustrated with the cutting part. The original idea was to have him cut out foods he likes and is thankful for from the grocery store circular. But after cutting one picture he was done with the scissors. So instead he chose the foods and I cut out the pictures. Then he got to glue them onto our cornucopia (made from a piece piece of brown paper). What he disliked about cutting he made up for with love of gluing! Happy Thanksgiving!

Fine Motor Skills Practice with Tongs

Anything with water is a hit at our house. So this week we filled a bowl with water and I added a collection of cookie cutters, magnets and lids.

The objective of the game was to pick things up out of the water one by one with the tongs. The cookie cutters were a hit...the other things got left in the water or taken out by hand.

It was fun to watch my son's face focus in concentration. He stayed with this until every cookie cutter was moved into the empty bowl, then asked for more!

Homemade Matching Games (2 versions!)

We love to play memory and matching games at our house! Here are two ideas on how to make your own quick, easy, and cheap matching games. These are great to keep in the car or diaper bag to use while waiting at the doctor's office or any other place you need to stay in one spot for a while!

1. Color Matching Game using paint swatches:
Materials:

~index cards or other small pieces of paper cut to the same size (about 3x5 inches)

~glue or glue stick

~paint color swatches available from a local hardware or paint store. I chose the Mickey Mouse shaped ones because I knew they'd be a hit with my children! Make sure to pick up two of each color in your game

Making the Game:

Glue one swatch to each index card or piece of paper.

2. Sticker Matching Game:

Materials:

~variety of stickers (at least two of each one)

~index cards of paper cut into matching sized pieces

Make the game:

~Make sets of cards by using two similar stickers, one on each card.

Playing the Games:

For younger children keep the cards color face up (or sticker face up) and take turns finding matches. For older children turn the cards color side down (or sticker side down) and take turns flipping over two cards, searching for matches.

Learning Wheels

(These are based off a similar idea I saw on The Activity Mom here.)

I loved the idea of a color wheel. It's a simple circle of paper divided into section. Each section has a color on it. One way to use it is for a color hunt. The child must find something of each color and place it on (or next to if it's too big) the corresponding section of the circle.

We had so much fun with the color wheel that I had to make two others.

One is a shape wheel. Each section of this circle features a shape. We went on a shape hunt, which was trickier than a color hunt, and found objects in our house of each shape.

The other learning wheel has just four sections: hair, wheels, smooth and bumpy. For this one we searched for some object that had one of those characteristics. A doll or stuffed animal for hair, a car for wheels, etc. Since my son can't read yet I drew pictures to help him out.

These learning wheels are so fun for playing "hunting games"!

Do you have any ideas for other learning wheels?

Giant Venn Diagram

To practice categorizing I made a giant Venn Diagram (two large circles that overlap) on a piece of tag board. My son helped me pull out all of his little toys that were white, black or both. Then we set about sorting them. White in one circle, black in another, and those toys that had both black and white were placed in the overlap of the circles.



He caught on to this quickly and was able to complete the project with only a little intervention from me.

Other ideas for sorting with a Venn diagram:

-herbivore, carnivore, omnivore (although using these titles is up to you and the age of your child!)

-Animals are how they move (swim, walk, hop, run). A duck can overlap walk and swim because it does both.

-things that are smooth, poky, or smooth and poky

-other colors besides white and black

You can use actual object, clip art printed out, or sketches drawn by hand.

Sequencing Cards

After seeing sequencing cards on a few other blogs I thought I'd give them a try. My son (who is 32 months) struggled a little at first with them. I would have to put them in order, talking through what I was doing, and then he could repeat the process. We'll keep practicing with these.

Here are the 4 sequence groups I did:

Making cookies:

Building a house:

A person growing up: (This one was the easiest for him)

A Seed growing

What other sequences would you do?

Slippery Fish

A few weeks ago it was my turn to teach my son's pre-preschool swap that we do with a few other families. Our theme was the ocean. We had a delightful morning, but my two favorite activities were reading Over in The Ocean: In A Coral Reef by Marianne Berkes and singing "Slippery Fish".

First off, Over in The Ocean: In A Coral Reef is an underwater version of Over in the Meadow by Olive A. Wadsworth, one of my all time favorite children's books. (If you haven't read it, or sung it, I'd suggest reserving a copy from the library today!)

In Over in The Ocean: In A Coral Reef each page is a new verse about a different sea creature. The pictures are astounding...illustrations made from clay. We read this book twice during preschool, and my son and I have read it again and again since!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Slippery Fish is a song I remember from my days in college teaching at a day care center. The repeating pattern makes it easy for children to pick up on. And hand actions make it easy to remember.

You can listen to Slippery Fish by Charlotte Diamond on her website.

Here are a copy of the lyrics, also available on her website.

Slippery fish, slippery fish, sliding through the water,
Slippery fish, slippery fish, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh, no! It’s been eaten by an …

Octopus, octopus, squiggling in the water
Octopus, octopus, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh, no! It’s been eaten by a …

Tuna fish, tuna fish, flashing in the water,
Tuna fish, tuna fish, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh, no! It’s been eaten by a …

Great white shark, great white shark, lurking in the water,
Great white shark, great white shark, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh, no! It’s been eaten by a …

Humongous whale, humongous whale, spouting in the water,
Humongous whale, humongous whale,
Gulp! … Gulp! … Gulp! … BURP!
Pardon me!

To get ideas for actions, check out this YouTube video (It's taken by a parent of one of the children, and isn't the best quality, but I think it will make you smile). You can get a taste of the excitement preschooler feel when singing this song!



I'm linked to:

More Felt Ideas

I think felt is great! You can make so many flannel board activities/games/stories with it. Although you can buy them, you can make your own with some creativity and a little felt. I find that looking online at other people's work helps me figure out ideas for projects. Here are a few ideas:


-Freight Train felt story (you need a train car out of a variety of colors, similar to this idea, read the book by Donal Crews and place the train cars on the board, or have your little one retell the story with the pieces.)

-Old McDonald's Farm (make a barn and animals and sing as you put up the animals one by one). If you want some templates to make your animals, try this website, or google coloring pages for the animal you're trying to make. You can make it as simple or elaborate as time allows!

-Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed (make a bed and five monkeys. I used a die-cut as a school district office to cut my monkeys, but that's not necessary. Just search on etsy.com for monkey ideas)

-Snowmen (easy shapes to cut out and then assemble on the board). You can even sing this song to go along.

-Felt People/Face (cut out a basic person shape and clothes to go on him/her. Or cut a large circle for a face and then pieces for eyes, nose, etc.)

-Shapes (use different colors and cut different shapes. Use them to practice shapes, colors, counting, fractions, or make things as if they are felt Lego's)

-Five Speckled Frogs (I love this story and song! Here's one pattern you could use from Early Learning Activities.) Here are (one version of) the words of the song:

Five little speckled frogs,

Sat on a speckled log,

Eating the most delicious grub.

Yum! Yum!

One jumped into the pool,

Where it was nice and cool.

Then there were four green speckled frogs.

(Repeat until all are in the pool)

These are some of the ones we do at our house. What other felt ideas do you have?

Side note: If you have access to a die cut machine (either a home machine on one in a school district office) you can cut felt with it, although you'll want to put a piece of paper on top of the felt for the machine to work best. Our local school district lets anyone use their machine, and it was great for cutting things like vehicles and animals!