Monday, June 30, 2008

marshmallow mountain

Materials needed:
*marshmallows ( I found pink strawberry ones we used with the white.....made it even more fun!)
* plates
* plastic knife
*can of frosting
* card that says Marshmallow Mountain

While continuing to study the letter M, we made a snack that focused on that letter, Marshmallow Mountains!

This is such an easy and fun activity for the kids. And they actually remember that Marshmallows and Mountain start with M!

Place the marshmallows on a plate with a couple of spoonfuls of frosting. They can build their "mountains" on the other plate using the frosting as the glue to hold the marshmallows together. Just let them create, snack, and have fun!!!





Thursday, June 26, 2008

ABAB patterns

Materials needed:
* several copies of a picture ( I used birds this week, will use apples next week)
* markers
* scissors



This is a simple activity to start teaching patterns with little ones. Make several copies of a picture of any kind. I used birds since Z & K are fascinated with them right now. As you can tell, I also let them help me color the sheets. (To make this activity even easier, copy your pictures on 2 different colors paper). Then show them the pattern and even explain to them it is an ABAB pattern. After we made the pattern with our birds on the table we taped the birds to the wall in the ABAB pattern.

This is a skill very important to math and spatial skills later on and an easy lesson to start teaching now. This also reinforces colors.
My kids loved it and I plan on reinforcing it weekly. You can add more complex patterns once they master this skill!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

letters collage

This is a good way to study letters and introduce vocabulary to younger children.

Materials needed:
large piece of paper
marker
old magazines
scissors
glue

Using old magazines, find pictures that start with the letter you have chosen. Cut out the pictures and paste to your piece of paper. I let my 2 year old practice cutting with his scissors while we do this too.
Write the name of your object by its picture. Practice saying the words and letters throughout the week or as long as you study that specific letter.




Don't be afraid to paste pictures of things your child doesn't recognize. Like I said, this is a great way to build vocabulary. My husband was amazed when my son was 1 1/2 and could recognize a picture of a Beluga Whale and say "Beluga" after we did our B words with this activity!

Monday, June 23, 2008

magic nuudles

Materials Needed:
thick paper or foam sheet
magic nuudles (can be found at craft & hobby stores)
wet washcloth or paper towel
marker

This can be used to practice fine-motor skills and reinforce shapes. You could also use this activity with letters or numbers.

Take a marker and draw a shape on your paper or foam. I also like to write the word out for the kids.



You use your magic nuudles by slightly wetting them to stick to each other or the foam surface. Use the noodles to outline the shape, letter, or number.
Note: The noodles are nontoxic if your child does happen to put them in his or her mouth.





This is a super easy, educational activity......ENJOY!!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

workbooks

I certainly don't think workbooks should take the place of a parent or teacher for learning but often they can be a fun way to reinforce concepts. My son (who is 2 1/2) loves "playing school" on occasion and working with the pre-printed activities.

I found these wonderful books yesterday at Walgreens. They say ages 4-6 but I think much younger kids could use them with adult assistance. I'm going to try the shapes and colors book with my 1 1/2 year old today. The best part about the books.....they were $2.99 each. There are several different kinds for different ages.....worth a try!



Sunday, June 8, 2008

shaving cream fun

Materials needed: shaving cream
a flat surface
lots of water and towels for clean up

This is a fun activity to practice letters and numbers.

Find a flat surface ( I prefer outside so I can just waterhose the mess away) and cover with shaving cream. Practice drawing in the cream and have a blast making a mess!!
I also let the kids stamp some letters in the cream with letter molds. You could extend this activity by adding food coloring to the cream. I may do that when we start talking about the color wheel.





Thursday, June 5, 2008

fun fruit salad

Materials:
a variety of fruit
knife (for you, not the kids)
cookie cutters
LOTS of towels (to clean up!)
bowl

Activity:
Creating a fun fruit salad while cutting out fun shapes, discussing the colors, and enjoying the sweetness of the fruit! Easy!!!

With the summer season here upon us the selection of fresh fruit is delightful (and less expensive). My kids love making our weekly fruit salad. This week I decided to make it a little more fun, though!


Let the kids watch you cut out the different melons if you buy them whole. Mine love to still guess which color will be inside!
After you cut some thin slices of fruit ( seedless watermelon seems to work best for little ones), give each child a plate and a cookie cutter to start making shapes out of their fruit.


Tip: Give them separate fruit and you cut your own if you plan on serving this to anyone else.....they will lick the cutters and eat their stars and hearts.


Make a variety of shapes for fun. We cut our grapes into ovals, made balls from the honeydew, made shapes & letters from the watermelon, and triangles for the cantaloupe.
Enjoy eating and talking about shapes and colors for a few days!!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

magnets




Materials Needed:
a large magnet
paper clips (and staples if you wish)
2 clean plastic containers (I used a juice bottle and bubbles bottle)
sand
water
recording sheet if you want to do predictions


Basic Activity:
Use a magnet to pick up paper clips. Extend the activity by placing paper clips in sand and water and observing if the magnet will still pick up the clips.

We first talked about how magnets pick up certain items and then I recorded our predictions on this page I got out of Mailbox magazine. You could just talk about these things and not record also.


After predicting, start the fun....
Pick up some clips with the magnets. It always thrills my son, time after time!


Next, place some clips into a bottle filled with sand. Shake the bottle well then try to move the clips with the magnet. Tip: We had to place the bottle on its side to see the clips move better.





Next, place some clips in water and see if you can move the clips!



When you are finished talk about whether your predictions were correct. Then have fun finding other magnetic items in the house!

We discovered the corncob holders that were on the table (since I had yet to clean the dishes from dinner) were magnetic.


We also discovered we had a magnetic door!!!