Number: 5

Theme Of The Day: The Number 5

Age: 21 months

Lauri Puzzle

I gave Honey Pot the next in her set of Lauri puzzles. She played with this for a good long while this morning, and it was a nice introduction to the number 5. We counted the houses multiple times, and she was able to identify the written number too.

Magnetic Pom Poms

It has been a while since we played with Honey Pot's magnetic pom poms, so I pulled them out again today. The printable came from Making Learning Fun, and ties in nicely with the next activity we did today!

Five Little Monkeys

This is a popular song and book that I thought would be fun to include in our activities today. I found a short video at Super Simple Songs for me to introduce the theme to Honey Pot. We watched it once through, then I pulled out a worksheet I made (using the printables at 1+1+1=1). Honey Pot jumped the little monkeys on the bed while we watched the video a second time. Afterward, we counted the monkeys and she placed them on the numbered spaces above the bed. I laminated these so they would withstand future use too!

High Five

I wanted to include this in today's number 5 unit, because it is something she does so often without understanding its name. I traced her hand-print (from our Left and Right unit) onto cardstock, cut it out and labeled the fingers 1-5. Then I glued a craft stick to it. After she pointed out that it was a hand, I asked her to count the fingers on the hand. We did this a couple times. Then we talked about how when we say "gimme five" we are asking for all five fingers. So she started high-fiving the hand. :)

Shape: Triangle

Theme Of The Day: Triangle

Age: 21 months

Which Is A Triangle?

As always, Honey Pot enjoyed this activity. I created the sets of shapes in Photoshop Elements. After first pointing out to her what a triangle looks like, I asked her to point to the triangle in each sequence. She did very well with this.

Triangle Cut and Paste

I found this fun printable at Kiz Club. While I was cutting out the triangles for her, she ran to her craft bucket to get her scissors too. So I provided her with strips of scrap paper to practice her cutting skills. She is mastering the art of holding the scissors, which is a great start! She still just lacks the ability to squeeze them sufficiently to cut through the paper. When we were done setting up, I had Honey Pot identify the shapes for me. Then I showed her where to dab the glue to create the various images (ice cream cone, sailboat, etc.) and she positioned the triangles as best as she could. All in all a fun activity! And I like how it not only enforces the shape of a triangle, but true life examples too.

Paper Towel Art

We have done this activity before with much success, so I decided to do it again. I drew a few triangles onto a paper towel with washable markers. Then I supplied Honey Pot with a cup of water and a paintbrush. She enjoyed dipping the brush into the water and "painting" onto the paper towel. It was fun to watch the colors spread. And it was a nice way to help Honey Pot explore the shape of a triangle in a creative way.

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...