Shape: Rectangle

Theme Of The Day: Rectangle

Age: 21 months

Squares Vs. Rectangles

I created this page by tracing some of Honey Pot's Mega Blocks with markers. I wanted to show her the difference between squares and rectangles, since they may seem very similar to her. It started off very well, with her placing the blocks in the spaces they fit into...

Then we went a little off-course and starting building towers! It was definitely a fun activity.

Rectangle Cut and Paste

We had a lot of success with this activity last week for triangles, so I decided to do it again today. The free printable came from Kiz Club. First I took out my scissors to cut out the rectangle pieces. Honey Pot immediately ran to her closet to get her scissors too. So I provided her with the scraps, and let her "clip, clip" away!

Later, I opened the glue stick and explained to her what each of the images was meant to be. She dabbed the glue on, however minimally, and placed the rectangles where they belonged as best as she could. Again, I love how this craft allows her to see real life examples of the shapes. She recognized many of these!

I think she did quite well!

Short day today, as it was a lazy snow day for us. And we will also be taking tomorrow "off" for the first time since beginning Tot School. I've been unable to get out for the past couple of days, and so I have many errands to catch up on! Looking forward to a fun-filled Dr. Seuss Day on Friday though! Stay tuned!

Letter: F

Theme Of The Day: The Letter F

Age: 21 months

Leap Frog Fridge Phonics and Which Is F?

I like to introduce the letter of the day with Honey Pot's Fridge Phonics so she can get a feel for what the letter looks and sounds like. So I placed the letter “F” in there for her. Then I created sets of three letters, and ask her to identify the letter “F” in each one.

F is For Fish - Magnetic Pom Poms

This handy dandy printable came from Confessions Of A Homeschooler. Honey Pot placed a few magnetic pom poms onto it, and then had her Piggy and Wolf play on it for a while.

Pipe Cleaner Go Fish

Continuing with our fish theme, we went fishing! This idea comes from E Is For Explore. First I cut pipe cleaners in half, and twisted them into a fish shapes. Then I created a makeshift fishing rod. It’s made up of an unsharpened pencil, tape, yarn, paperclip and a magnet. (Look out, MacGyver!) I demonstrated how to dip the magnet into the “fishing pond”, and then let Honey Pot play with it as she wished. She soon got the hang of holding it and grabbing the fish. For some, she named the colors as she pulled them out.

Then when she had had her fill of fishing, she decided to swim all over the floor like a fish!

Fish Handprint

I had seen many versions of this. My favorite comes from a great website devoted to these crafts called Handprint and Footprint Art. First I asked Honey Pot to choose two colors of paint. Then I painted each of her hands, and pressed them onto paper. As you can see, she took the liberty of pressing them down again before I could stop her!

After cleaning her hands off with a wipe, I let her paint freely with her brushes on a separate piece of paper. She got some paint on her finger by mistake, and so I encouraged her to try finger-painting. She did for a minute or two, but I don’t think she likes the mess!

When the handprints had dried I took out her crayons and we drew bubbles and seaweed. Finally, I added eyes and mouths with a black marker. All in all it was a cute and fun craft!

Play-dough F

We ended the day with this activity, which we do on each letter day. Honey Pot pulls out a tub of her homemade play-dough, and I help her squish a cookie cutter into it. It is a nice way to reinforce the shape of the letter in a hands-on way.

Color: Orange

Theme of the Day: The Color Orange

Age: 21 months

Which Is Orange? and Color Walk

Instead of creating new color sets, I gathered the ones I already had on hand from other color days. This is a color that Honey Pot is not too familiar with, and so she had a difficult time with these at first. Despite sometimes getting the answer wrong, she is always so excited to do this activity. As usual, we followed with a color walk around the house, where she pointed out to me other items that are orange. (I don’t have any pictures though!) Again, this is definitely a color we need to return to!

Do-A-Dot Art

I printed off this fun printable from one of my go-to sites, Making Learning Fun. And with Honey Pot's newest art supply, washable dot markers, she went at it. “Dot, dot, dot!”

Snow Paint

I found this fun idea at a blog called Really Quite Lucky. I combined water, food coloring and a small dab of paint in a spray bottle. Then, before the snow from last week completely melted away, we headed outside to paint it. Honey Pot took an interest in it initially, but being outside in the snow is just too much fun! So she gave it a few squirts then spent the rest of our time outside just walking around blissfully. Of course, as soon as we came inside she begged for the squirt bottle! Perhaps when we have more snow, I’ll gather some up in a bucket for some indoor fun…some very supervised and towel-laid indoor fun. :)

Orange with Lunch

Quite impromptu, I decided to emphasize the color orange in Honey Pot's lunch today. I gave her an orange plate, and served oranges and Cheetos with her sandwich. Had I planned this in advance, I may have given her grilled cheese (with orange cheese) or colored her bread orange, as I have seen on Pinterest!

Fruit Loop Necklace

Honey Pot and I sat down at the table with a plate full of Fruit Loops. I asked her to pull out all of the orange ones for me. After I showed her one or two, she was able to help me. But she was very busy eating all of the ones that weren’t orange! Then I strung the orange Fruit Loops onto an orange thread, and tied it into a necklace for her. She thought it was a fun way to eat them! Note we also dressed in orange today!

Music

Theme Of The Day: Music

Age: 21 months

Playing Keyboard

I haven't let Honey Pot play with the keyboard in many months. But she always has a good time, so I knew I had to include it in today's unit. It was a nice introduction to today's unit. When she sees music notes, she knows what they are and says "moosic!" So we played around with the keyboard for a little while before making our own instruments!

Here she is really getting into the music!

Musical Balloons

I came across this idea from Play At Home Mom. We had all of the supplies on hand. I filled three balloons - one with pennies, one with medium pasta shells and the last with water. Then Honey Pot and I shook them up and made music! She loved the different sounds that they produced, and was later able to tell me what item was inside of each. "Noooodles!" "Waddey!" I did keep a close eye on her while playing with these...not only would a pop startle her, but the water one would make a huge mess!

Paper Roll Flutes

This fun craft idea came from No Time For Flashcards. Honey Pot wasn't too interested in the craft part of it, and only decorated the tube minimally. So I added a few music notes myself. :) Then I placed the parchment paper and a rubber band over one end of the tube. And voila - a musical instrument! Honey Pot was perfectly content singing "do, do, do" into the tube...but once in a while she blew into it just right and produced the vibration sound. She played with this for quite a while!

Listening To Music

Ever since Honey Pot was born, I have played her music from a playlist I created on Grooveshark. It includes upbeat and playful songs such as "Little Bitty Pretty One" and "Baby Face." I have no pictures, but I played the music for her today. In addition to dancing a little bit, we tried to keep the beat by patting our hands on our laps. She did pretty well!

Musical Water Glasses

I have seen this activity on Pinterest multiple times, but originally found it at Little Page Turners. It is like a homemade xylophone! You just fill glasses with different levels of water, and stir in a little bit of food coloring. As I tinted each cup, Honey Pot told me what color they became. She loved watching them change color! Then I provided her with three utencils, so she could explore the different sounds they make. Super fun!