R is for Robot!

In an effort to finish our alphabet before we begin homeschool preschool, Sweet E and I are speeding up our letter themes. Here is letter R! Keep scrolling to see what we did today, or click one of the links below to take a look back at similar themes from the past!

R is for Robot - 2015

Letter R - 2014

Robots - 2013

Books

The library had all of our favorite robot books today! "Boy + Bot" has been a longtime favorite, but we also really loved "And the Robot Went" for its cumulative type of storytelling. Perfect picture books for Sweet E's current age.

Introducing the Letter R

We did our usual introduction page this morning. I was going to switch it up a little bit, but Sweet E says she really likes these. So I'll keep making them! Here she is tracing, stamping, poking and forming the R with playdoh!

Fine Motor + Color Matching

This free printable came from Preschool Mom, though I did edit it a bit to suit our pom pom colors!

Kitty was very interested in what Sweet E was doing!

Sorting Magnetic vs. Non-Magnetic

I gathered some various materials, and provided Sweet E with a magnetic wand.

She used the magnetic wand to help her determine what was magnetic, and what wasn't.

Sometimes it picked up multiple items at once!

Sometimes she tried an item, and it didn't stick, so I encouraged her to try all sides!

We found quite a few magnetic things, and some surprised her!

She loved this so much, she did it a second time.

We added a few more items this time too!

Matching

I found these robot stickers at the Dollar Tree, and decided to make a matching game for Sweet E. This was her first time drawing lines like this, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

She quickly caught on!

She draws her line across the page, and then looks at where she's going...hence the sharp turn lol.

She loved this activity so much that we actually did it again the next morning. I peeled the stickers off the paper (Dollar Tree stickers come up easily I've noticed) and put them right on the table, so we didn't waste any more paper.

Though Sweet E doesn't wear diapers anymore, we still keep wipes in the house. I like to keep a container near the activity table. They are SO HANDY, and this table cleans so easily.

And she loves to help clean up! We did this activity three times in a row.

Craft + Alphabet Review

We did a simple paper bag craft today!

Sweet E loved using the glue.

Then she added all of the robots "buttons" by matching all the letters we've learned so far.

Isn't he cute! And great for pretend play. 😊

R is for Robot!

Books

We borrowed these fun books for our robot day. Another favorite, which we discovered during our Robot Unit two years ago, is Boy + Bot. This is always such a fun theme!

Letter Recognition

For our letter R activity today, I gave Little M&M and Honey Pot a template of the letter R to fill with robot stickers. I found these at the Dollar Tree, and we had plenty leftover for future sticker activities.

Robot Tinker Tray

We had done a tinker tray for the first time last Halloween. It was one of the most engaging activities we had ever done! We had done foam pumpkins at the time, but with most of the same supplies we used this time.

    

For this activity, I used floral foam and foil, both purchased from the Dollar Tree.

And here is what I provided at the kids' craft table: pom poms, straws, pipe cleaners, rubber bands, toothpicks, paper clips, hole punch reinforcements, thumb tacks, brads and googly eyes. I also set out some glue and a pair of scissors.

They were so excited to get started! Little M&M was a big fan of the rubber bands.

While Honey Pot went crazy with toothpicks.

Here she is attaching two foam blocks together to make a larger robot!

And Little M&M loves scissors. He cut all of the straws into teeny tiny pieces.

I sat right beside them, working on my own robot, so I could watch them closely with the sharper pieces. They were both very careful.

Here is Honey Pot's first finished product:

Mine:

And Little M&M's:

We used these for pretend play, all the while rearranging their parts and adding more pieces. Here, Honey Pot added rubber band bracelets:

Lots of pom pom antenna:

And here is the little baby robot she made.

It was a super fun activity and, just as the Halloween version, lasted a long time!

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Robots!

Honey Pot is 3 years and 4 months old

Little M&M is 17 months old

Books

I chose a bunch of robot themed books to jump-start our unit this week! Little M&M was keen on See Pip Point, perhaps because he loves balloons so much. Honey Pot's favorite, as well as mine, was Boy + Bot. This is the type of book I would add to my collection at home in a heartbeat. Such a sweet story-line.

Robot Worksheets

I sat the kids down to each work on some robot worksheets. These came from a preschool pack by Homeschool Creations. I gave Honey Pot the prewriting practice pages while Little M&M played with the magnetic pom poms.

Then I gave Honey Pot another worksheet which comes from Ben's Coloring Pages. It is a robot made entirely of shapes. I had her identify each shape, then count up how many of each there were. Then I wrote the number in the space at the bottom. Originally I was going to have her color in the shapes, a different color for each type, but she didn't want to.

So I handed it over to Little M&M to color!

And then Honey Pot had her turn with the magnetic pom poms.

Build-A-Robot

This idea originates from No Time for Flashcards. I cut the pieces out of foam, and glued on a few details. Then I placed magnetic tape on the back of each piece. Here is what each of the two robots were intended to look like.

Then I placed all of the pieces on the dishwasher, and let Honey Pot create her own robots.

Here is her final result. She named them Nell and Belle. I explained to her that robots are machines, like computers. And we talked a little bit about them, and what her robots could do. From our conversation, I gather that her robots do tricks and get rich, LOL.

And then Little M&M had a turn to play. He mainly just wanted to "beep" and "boop" all the robot's buttons!

Build-A-Robot, revisited

We also built a robot on a larger scale. I provided the kids with aluminum foil, markers, toilet paper rolls and an empty shoe box.

First they used their markers on the aluminum foil, which was a fun new way to color.

Little M&M even donned his robot shirt for the occasion.

Then Honey Pot started to roll up our robot pieces in foil.

And I asked her to draw a face on the robot.

Here it is! I asked her if she wanted to give the robot a name. She called it "Mary." And, revisiting our idea that robots have a function, I asked her what Mary can do. She plays!

Alphabet Robot

I drew up a robot and placed it on the dishwasher to complete our unit with some alphabet practice. Honey Pot had to name each letter, find the matching fridge magnet and then push the buttons!

"Beeep. Booop!"

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