Weather

Theme of the Day: Weather

Age: 21 months

Weather Chart

I created this weather chart in Photoshop Elements, then "laminated" the pieces with Con-Tact paper for stability. This morning when Honey Pot came out to the kitchen for breakfast, we stopped to look out the window. I asked her what the weather was like outside. "Is it rainy," I would ask. "Nooo," she'd respond. And we continued until I asked if it was sunny. She peeled the sun off, and stuck it in the box.

I imagine it'll take some time to identify the weather without so much prompting. But it'll be something we can go over every morning together. Even before the end of today, it became cloudy so we returned to it again. She loves peeling off the Velcro!

Worksheets

I found the first of these on this site, and created the second in Photoshop Elements. She did incredibly well with the first worksheet, identifying the images that were different in each set! The object of the second worksheet was to match the weather to the item that is used in that weather...but the concept was a little difficult for her to understand. I may be jumping the gun here, but I was just so excited to give it a try!

Fingerprint Rain Craft

This site has so many fun ideas and free printables. I was so excited to try this craft with Honey Pot, as it is not only cute, but incorporates so many different types of art (markers, scissors, glue, ink). She was bound to find something to enjoy in this craft.

First she colored the umbrella.

Then as I was cutting it out, she got her scissors so she could "clip, clip" too!

(Glue is her favorite! But unfortunately I didn't plan ahead, and had to quickly charge my camera through most of the cutting and gluing...But imagine here she glues the umbrella onto the paper, and then adds glue to the top of the page for the clouds.)

Next, she placed the "clouds" onto the paper.

Coloring the clouds black to make them "rain clouds." The blog that posted this craft says to use paint and brush it on with an extra cottonball...but we don't have any black paint! This worked just fine.

Now the messy part...dipping her finger (then her whole hand!) into the ink pad, to dab onto the paper and make raindrops! We keep wipes handy during all of her crafts, for quick mid-craft clean-ups if necessary!

And here is the final product!

Number: 3

Theme of the Day: The Number 3

Age: 21 months

Lauri Puzzle

I love these puzzles, and introducing one at a time makes it feel like we are giving her a new toy every week! She enjoyed exploring this puzzle, and even drove the "choo choo chains" around for a bit!

Which Is Three? - Numeral and Picture

I made these in Photoshop Elements. She was better able to identify the 3 among the numerals than the pictures for now. But regardless of giving wrong answers, she always asks for "another one" when we finish! We'll keep practicing!

Number Matching Game

I found this among a ton of other free printables at this site. The object of the game was for Honey Pot to match the numeral to the card with the same amount of dots. A little complex for her age, but we worked on it together!

Caterpillar Hop

We also returned to this game briefly (see this post for description) to review 123 and ABC.

Short day today, as we had a play-date with friends during the afternoon! We'll do plenty of review!

Shape: Star

Theme of the Day: Star

Age: 21 months

Star Sandwich

I cut Honey Pot's sandwich into a star to kick off today's theme. She just loved the surprise!

Sticker Fun

I searched everywhere for those star stickers that teachers often use, but could not find them! So I found this similar pack for a great price at Wal-Mart instead. I asked Honey Pot to draw a moon. After scribbling with the white crayon for a moment, she gave it to me and insisted that I do it. Then I helped her peel off the stickers, and she created the night sky.

"Star on cheek!"

And of course the barn animals needed stars on their cheeks too!

Then Honey Pot stole my camera and took this picture of herself...among other blurry photos of her fingers and the floor.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

This is a classic song, and perhaps Honey Pot's favorite! I had intended on singing "Twinkle High" with Honey Pot, and snapping pictures of her doing the motions to the song. But unfortunately at this particular moment, she wanted to pretend it was nap-time, as we always sing it before her naps and bedtimes. Oh well!

Making Bracelets

I found these star-shaped beads at Wal-Mart and decided they would be a nice activity for us to do today. I used pipe cleaners instead of string, so it wouldn't flop around while she was trying to put the beads on. After starting my bracelet, she quickly wanted to try her own. I think they came out quite nice!

Star Sponge

I had originally planned on ending the day with a different activity that uses this sponge. But I've noticed that I gravitate toward crafts a little too much, and need to branch out. So I grabbed a spray bottle, filled it with water and let Honey Pot clean, clean, clean! She identified the shape of the sponge, and then taught herself how to spray the water from the bottle. She loved it. Water everywhere. But it kept her occupied almost the entire time I was cooking dinner. I'd call that a success!

Letter: C

Theme of the Day: The Letter C

Age: 21 months

"C" Roads

I founds this idea on this blog and thought Honey Pot would really enjoy driving her cars across the letters. I was prepared to make my own, but then found these free printables and decided to give them a try! "C" was meant to be for "car", but Honey Pot had her own idea and had her toys walk along the roads instead. These were left on her tray all day, and she kept returning to them with her little people. A huge success, and so I'll have to do this activity for other letters too!

Caterpillar Hop

"C" is also for caterpillar! The inspiration for this idea came from the same blog as above. Since I was using the game for a younger child than the blogger, I altered it slightly. I thought it would be a great way to review what Honey Pot has learned so far, and added the letters ABC and the numbers 123. (Okay, we're doing 3 on Thursday, so that one threw her for a loop...but she caught on.) The game was a huge success, and closely resembled the Circle Hop we did last week. It quickly progressed from "Jump on the B!" to "Spin in circles on the 3!" We'll leave it taped to the floor for a couple days, so we can return to it when we actually do the number 3!

Play-dough C

We played with Honey Pot's play-dough again for this week's letter. I pulled out the cookie cutter and asked her what letter it was. She answered correctly after thinking for only a second! So we cut out a couple of "C" shapes, squished it around, chopped it up...in every color play-dough that she has. :)

Baking Cookies and "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie"

One of Honey Pot's current favorite books is about the sequence of events that happen when you give a mouse a cookie. Since "cookie" begins with "C" I decided to incorporate it into today's unit. We baked some chocolate chip cookies, and read the book while they were in the oven! Mmm!

Leap Frog Fridge Phonics and Which is C?

We also reviewed the letter C with Honey Pot's fridge magnets. We listened to what it sounds like, then played a few rounds of "Which is C?" with the other letters. She was only confused one time, when there was an "O" beside it.

Color: Yellow

Theme of the Day: The Color Yellow

Age: 21 months

Which is Yellow?

I created another set of images in Photoshop Elements, and had Honey Pot show me which in each group was yellow. She answered each perfectly, and asked for more. She always loves this game! So we immediately moved onto the next activity for her to show off her knowledge to me.

Color Walk

We went on a color walk around Honey Pot's room, where she masterfully picked up all of these yellow items and identified them as such before placing them in her bucket.

Sorting Pom Poms

I set out a bowl of pom poms in the three colors that we have covered so far, as well as three smaller bowls and a couple of kitchen utensils. I showed Honey Pot how to pick up the pom poms, and sort them into the bowls. For a long while, she scooped them up with the ice cream scoop and placed them randomly into the bowls. And she explored further: picking them back up and putting them all in one bowl, dumping the bowl, etc. We kept the activity out on her tray all day, and I am happy to report that when she returned to it later, she sorted all of them successfully! She even managed to use the tongs properly once or twice. I'll buy her one of those small plastic sets from the dollar store soon!

Hand-print Art

I just love all of the hand-print art that I have seen online, and had to try one today! I came across this fun craft and knew it would be perfect for our yellow unit. First I painted Honey Pot's hand yellow with the paintbrush, and pushed it down on paper. Then I let her explore the paint on her own. She painted her hands more, patted them down on paper, squished masking tape into the paint and even finger-painted. Once the original hand-print was dry, I added the beak and feet with orange paint, and drew on the eye and wing. I love the result!

Yellow Bath

We had a lot of fun with the fizzy bath tablets today. Honey Pot watched it dissolve and from there on out kept pointing out the yellow water. She also showed me which button on her bubble blower was yellow, and played with the yellow submarine! A great finish to our yellow day.