Saturday, August 30, 2014

Squares

Magnetic Pom Poms

This has always been one of my go-to activities, beginning with Honey Pot's very first week of tot school. I printed this square from 3 Dinosaurs.



Do-A-Dot Art

We then reused this worksheet for a simple dot marker craft. At first he was switching off between colors.


But then my husband and I expressed praise in how well he was doing, he was on a roll and finished the whole thing in green.



Square Road

This printable comes from Making Learning Fun. The object of the activity is to drive along the road and become familiarized with its shape. I gave Little M&M one of his miniature cars, but he wanted to use all three of them at once eventually.




Gluing Squares

I cut out squares from construction paper, and provided Little M&M with a gluestick. This is a skill he hasn't had much practice with yet. At first he wasn't too interested in this, but after I did one for him, it renewed his interest and he finished the whole thing himself!




Stacking Squares

I gathered a few of Little M&M's blocks for stacking. He loves this activity, and attempted multiple towers.




Square Stickers

He loves CARS! When I saw these square stickers at the store, I just had to get them for him. Great fine motor practice, as he learned to peel them off himself.




Tape Resist Square Paintings

We love tape resist paintings. We've done snowflakes a couple of times, and the kids' initials as well. Honey Pot joined us for this activity. And they enjoyed themselves.


They each got to choose their own three colors. Little M&M happened to choose primary, while Honey Pot chose her favorite colors.


Here they are before we peeled off the paint.



And here is the final result!


Sorting Circles vs. Squares - Review

Just as we did with our color units, I wanted each shape unit to include one activity for reviewing what he had learned previously. First he learned about circles, so we included that in our review activity. I decided to create a bath-time sorting activity, using shapes that I cut out of foam sheets. He would pick up a shape, and I'd ask him, "Is that a circle or a square?" He would answer correctly, and stick it on the wall. Saying the words out loud has helped instill their names. He had fun. So this was a success!





Shape Pattern Worksheets

I also wanted to include a general shape review for Honey Pot this week. This printable came from 3 Dinosaurs as well. This was a nice activity for her because she loves patterns, and shapes such as a hexagon and a rhombus are still difficult for her to call by name.



Estimation and Measurement with Blocks

We also used her little brother's blocks for some mathematics this week. I provided her with various objects, and asked her to first estimate how many blocks it would take to equal the same length. She guest right with the chapstick.


And the teapot.


She estimated ten for the Kindle, but the actual measurement was six.


And finally, when measuring her Frozen book, she wanted to make a pattern.


Making Polygons with Craft Sticks

This activity comes from Counting Coconuts. We didn't use the word quadrilateral, though. We stuck with the basics and called it a square, as she's still learning some of these. This was a quiet time activity during one of Little M&M's naps, so she did this leisurely right on my bed. Notice the progression of silliness/laziness as she completes the shapes. She did do them all though!







Tracing Shapes

This is one of our laminated pages from a while back, that I put together with various pre-writing activities. We've brought this in the car for long car rides as well as pulled it out during quiet times. The printable comes from Worksheet Fun. So much free stuff there. I love it! 



Square Color By Number

This comes from Printable Colouring Pages, and goes along nicely with Little M&M's square theme this week. Honey Pot isn't too into coloring (neither is Little M&M). She got to use colored pencils, instead of the usual crayons and markers, which helped keep her interest. And the challenge of matching the numbers to the colors proved engaging for her. It was a hit!









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Friday, August 22, 2014

The Moon

Books

We borrowed numerous books from the library this week, and added two from our home collection as well. I think we enjoyed each of these equally. Each kid had 2-3 that they requested so frequently throughout the week, so we know these books so incredibly well now. My favorite would have to be Cindy Moo though. Adorable story-line with a fun, flowing rhyme. And did you see our Kitten's First Full Moon post from a couple of years ago? Some great activities!


Moon Craters - Science and Sensory

This idea comes from What Do We Do All Day. First I showed the kids a picture from the Internet of real moon craters. We talked about what they are and what causes them.


Then we created our own "moon" (flour, with a dusting of pepper for color) and picked up a few of our own meteoroids and asteroids (rocks) to throw at it.


The kids really enjoyed this part!



When we ran out of rocks we lifted them off gently, and observed the impact "craters" that they had created.


Then we did it again!


When they had had enough of throwing rocks at the moon, the kids dug their hands into the "moon dust" and explored its texture.




Of course, that happened...


But they had a blast in the mess!



Oreo Snack - Moon Phases

I've seen this all over Pinterest, so I'm not sure whom to credit for the brilliant idea. We only had mini Oreos in the house, but I did my best to form moons out of the minimal cream filling. 


We stuck with the basic phases, since this was Honey Pot's first introduction to their names.


She actually ate them in the middle of our conversation. This is her (not so) guilty mug. But somehow the lesson stuck with her, because she can now name all of these phases anyway! Success!


Moon Craft

This idea comes from Fantastic Fun and Learning. We used the 2-pack of Styrofoam circles from the Dollar Tree, and Honey Pot and Little M&M poked crater holes into them with the back of a paintbrush.


Then the kids painted over the circles with a mixture of white paint and flour.




While waiting for them to dry, the kids added star stickers to their night sky paper.


I, um, only had one sheet of black paper left. So Little M&M used blue. He seemed happy to do so!


Then a glob of glue for the full moon!



Fantastic! I love the texture!



Moon Rocks - Fine Motor + Math

A few of our moon books refer to the collection of moon rocks for study. So I thought up a small activity to reinforce this and add some more learning to our mini-unit. First the kids crumpled up small sheets of aluminum foil. (Major fun, actually.) This comes in a box at the Dollar Tree too. Love that store for craft supplies.



Then we used a few simple tools to scoop and grab our moon rocks for our moon rock bag.




And then the kids counted them up. Not sure where the sparkly purple balls came from, but they make nice moon rocks too!


I left this basket out throughout the week and Little M&M returned to it a couple of times. He is having trouble holding the tools the proper way (he uses two hands). But we'll pull them back out with pom poms for practice in-between units!





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