Letter: E

Theme of the Day: The Letter E

Age: 21 months

E Is For Elephant

We started the morning with a couple of elephant activities. First, we colored a picture to introduce the letter of the day. Note the first one - Honey Pot was saying, "EEEEE!" The coloring page came from Kiboomu. Then we put on masks (from Animal Jr) and pretended to be elephants! She loved this...until she pulled on it and it broke. Had I intended these for long term use, I might have matted them on sturdy cardstock. But it was fun while it lasted!

Play-dough E

We do this activity every letter day, and although she needs help pushing the cookie cutter down all the way, Honey Pot loves it! We did two colors today. 

Leap Frog Fridge Phonics

As with each week, I used this toy to help introduce the look and sound of the letter to Honey Pot. She still kept calling the "E" an "L" all day though...

E Is For Easter Eggs

I had intended on this being a matching activity, where Honey Pot could put together the matching tops and bottoms. But it turns out the set I bought have the tops and bottoms attached. So she just played with them for a while. "Open!" "Close." Then I brought out a muffin pan to attempt a general color matching. But it was more fun to just open and close them all evening!

E-Card

Honey Pot created an E-card today! (Get it??) Her Daddy has been away for several days, and I thought it would be nice to make a card for his return. I cut out the card for her, then supplied her with a pencil, markers and stickers. She loves to "write" with a pencil! So first she scribbled a message to him...then she added a few strokes of the markers...finally, LOTS of heart stickers! I matted the final product on a piece of scrap paper.

Color: Purple

Theme of the Day: The Color Purple

Age: 21 months

Which is Purple?

I created these in Photoshop Elements as usual. I try to use a wide variety of pictures each week of things Honey Pot is familiar with. The images printed the purple a little darker than I would have liked, which may have made it harder to identify. But after showing her the first one, she did very well with the others. We returned to it a couple more times throughout the day - her idea, not mine! I'm so pleased that she enjoys these so much!

Color Walk

Honey Pot always asks for more after completing our "Which Is __?" activity. So on color days it segues nicely into our color walk. I've noticed that if I point to something purple and ask, "What color is this?" that she doesn't answer correctly. However if I have a group of items and say, "Which is purple?" she points to the right one every time. She's done this with other colors too.

Minnie Mouse helped point out the purple items too!

Harold and the Purple Crayon

A classic story! But unfortunately, we don't own the book...yet. I did come across this video version online though, created in 1959 and directed by David Piel. It was a cute little cartoon, and had Honey Pot giggling in certain spots. (Note: I do not own the rights to this video!)

Monochromatic Picture

After watching Harold and the Purple Crayon, Honey Pot created her own purple picture. I supplied her with a piece of paper, marker, colored pencil, crayon and glitter glue - all in purple. Then I let her create away! She had difficulty squeezing the glitter glue; but other than that, she really enjoyed each instrument. She enjoyed them so much actually, that she asked for more. She helped herself to more markers and colored pencils. The rest of the picture didn't stay monochromatic I'm afraid, LOL.

Water Beads

We finished our purple day with a sensory bin that I have been super excited to try, after seeing all the hoopla about it on Pinterest. The original blog I spotted it on is Play At Home Mom, where the blogger even experiments with them over a light table for an amazing effect. First, the teeny tiny beads need to hydrate in about 1.5-2 quarts of water for 4-6 hours. By the end of that time, they will have absorbed much of the water and become much bigger in size.

I wasn't sure how messy these would be, so I set a towel out beneath it and put Honey Pot's smock on her. She marched on the towel while I drained the excess water from the beads and brought them over. (Note we also dressed in purple today!)

We identified the color of the beads, which she kept calling "grapes," and then she put her hand in it hesitantly. I urged her to dig in with both hands, and when she did, there was no turning back!

I described its properties to her: squishy, slippery, wet. Sometimes they would bounce out of the bin, which made her laugh. I may or may not have lost a bead or two down the heater vent...like I said, they are slippery little things!

Then she touched one to her foot and added another property: "brr cold!"

I brought over a spoon and bowl from her play kitchen, so she could practice scooping and dumping if she wished. She did. She liked pretending to eat her "grapes."

I had heard that standing in these beads is a must. But before I was able to help her into them, she dipped her foot in on her own!

What she liked the very most was standing up in the bin, and squishing her feet into the beads. I must admit, they feel pretty awesome. I definitely look forward to doing this activity again.

I mean, doesn't this look relaxing? I wouldn't mind doing this myself...

Number: 4

Theme Of The Day: The Number 4

Age: 21 months

Lauri Puzzle

I introduced the next in her set of Lauri puzzles. She loved the fish! "Glub, glub, glub!"

Which Is Four?

I made these in Photoshop Elements. After showing Honey Pot what the number 4 looks like, I asked her to point them out in each group of numbers. She didn't do as well as she usually does with this activity. But I'm not surprised. She can count to 15 sometimes, but always skips this number! I'll be doing a review after we cover 5, so we'll get it eventually!

Pom Pom Book

I found these fun printables at Child Care Land. Pom poms are always fun to play with, even if not in the way I meant for them to be. Honey Pot put the pom poms onto the circles once or twice, then had her Mickey and Minnie Mouse toys trample through the box. Oh well! I'll pull this activity out again after we've covered a few more numbers.

Sesame Street Video

I found a fun Elmo video on You Tube to help teach Honey Pot the number 4. I always try to plan my activities during the weekend...and this song has been stuck in my head since then! But she loved it. We watched it a couple of times, and then we acted it out with the duck puppets I made (see below). Note: I do not own the rights to this video!

Shape: Square

Theme Of The Day: Square

Age: 21 months

Square Road

I had done this activity with the letter "C" too, and it was pretty well received. The printables are found on Making Learning Fun. Again, Honey Pot decided to have her toys walk all over the road, instead of driving cars on it. It helps her feel the shape of the square, and hopefully be able to recognize it. I'll keep using these for sure.

Which Is A Square?

I made these in Photoshop Elements. Then I asked Honey Pot to point out which in each group was the square. Today's shape is one that she didn't previously know too well, so I was particularly eager to do this activity. After I pointed out the first square, she was able to show me the others. We returned to it throughout the day for reinforcement. We'll see if it stuck!

Size Sequencing

I created this activity in Photoshop Elements, and cut out the square pieces with paper from my scrapbooking stash. (I love that.) I asked Honey Pot to show me which square was the smallest, and which was the biggest. After identifying those, we placed them in size order. She did really well, and asked for more. So we did it again!

Do-A-Dot Art

I made these squares in Photoshop Elements too, with little circles in them to imitate the popular Do-A-Dot art pages. We used the Bingo markers again. (Yes, I have ordered the washable Do-A-Dots...they are probably waiting for me at the mail room right now!) Anyway, Honey Pot enjoyed this activity. It's always a fun one to throw into the mix, when I am short for ideas.

"Dot, dot, dot!"

Letter: D

Theme Of The Day: The Letter D

Age: 21 months

Magnetic Pom-Poms

I haven't used these in a while, and thought Honey Pot might have a renewed interest in them. She did for a short while, but didn't return to them throughout the day. I found this cute printable at Making Learning Fun. They are all over the Internet, so I had some choices. And how could I not choose the dalmatian?

Coloring Page

I don't often use coloring pages as a tot school activity, since her crayons and pages are always at her disposal. But I came across these fun animal alphabet pages, and decided to include it today. She loves to use her markers, which require my help and aren't always in her reach. So I pulled those out for added interest. She loves to just squiggle on the paper with them, then focus on putting their caps back on. As always, we had wipes handy for quick mid-craft clean-ups!

Leap Frog Fridge Phonics

I brought out Honey Pot's Fridge Phonics toy today with the letter D in it, to have her hear what it sounds like. Then I named a few familiar words that begin with the letter, which she repeated exactly as I had said them: "d-d-dog" and "d-d-daddy" for example.

Play-dough D

This is always a fun and successful activity on our alphabet days. Honey Pot even sometimes goes to the kitchen cabinet on other days, looking for the cookie cutter letters. She identified the letter correctly, chose a color of her homemade Kool-Aid play-dough to use, and immediately got to work. Then she wanted to do it with her other colors too, so we made a few "D" shapes, and turned it into a counting game too!

D Is For Dinosaur Craft

I found this idea at one of my go-to blogs, Totally Tots. I held up the body piece and asked Honey Pot what letter it was. Without hesitation, she called "D!" Next I told her she was going to make a dinosaur. That, combined with the fact that she was about to use glue, made her very excited! I guided her through the craft - explaining where she should dab the glue stick, and place the pieces. Her favorite was the googly eye! And she was so proud of her "arwork" as soon as it was finished - she immediately picked it up and walked out of the room calling for Dad.