Shape: Arrow

Theme Of The Day: Arrows

Age: 22 months

Which Way?

I created these in Photoshop Elements as a way to introduce our shape today. I told Honey Pot what the shape was called, and explained how it is pointing in a certain direction. Then I said, "If I want to find the dolphin, I would go this way," and then point to the right. It seemed like a difficult concept for her to grasp. So I decided to use these arrows another way!

Follow The Arrow

I cut out the arrows from the worksheet above. As I was doing so, Honey Pot went looking for her scissors too. I provided her with the scraps to "clip, clip" while I set up the game. She loves her Minnie and Mickey Mouse. So I set the arrows up on the floor and told her to have Minnie follow the arrows! I demonstrated with Mickey first.

She did so well with this! We changed the direction of the arrows a few times, to help enforce the idea that they are pointing which way to go. (Sorry for the last blurry pic - but Minnie Mouse was in a hurry to "fah-woh" the "ah-woh" that time!)

Tracing The Path

We have never used our dry erase markers on the window before. I knew Honey Pot would really enjoy it, so I incorporated it into today's theme. I first drew some arrows onto the window, and then asked her to take the other marker and draw along the path. She started off really well!

Then she just went a little color-happy from there!

And the eraser was a lot of fun too!

Trying to return to the theme at hand, I drew an arrow and asked, "Is the arrow pointing up or down?" She answered correctly, then went about drawing again. Not sure if it was just a lucky guess or not. We'll have to return to it again sometime!

Letter: G

Theme Of The Day: The Letter G

Age: 22 months

Leap Frog Fridge Phonics and Which Is G?

I love introducing our letter this way. First I pulled her toy off of the fridge, and set it up on our tray. I placed the "G" inside so Honey Pot could see it and hear what it sounded like.

Then I created groups of three letters, and asked her to identify the "G" among them. She did really well with this!

Even the baby doll helped point to the "G" for us!

Play-Dough G

We continued the theme of the day with Honey Pot's homemade play-dough. First she helped me roll it out.

I pulled out the "G" cookie cutter, and asked her what letter it was. Success - she remembered! Then she pushed the cookie cutter down with all of her might!

We played with the "G" and the rest of her play-dough for a good long while after that.

G Is For Giraffe

I came across this fun idea at a blog called The Blessed Country Mom. First I traced the letter "G" onto yellow paper, as well as a giraffe head template that I found online. (There was no way I could have free-handed it!) Then I cut out some giraffe spots from orange paper. Another glue craft - Honey Pot was so excited to try it.

I placed the "G" flashcard (from a set I made for her wall) as well as her stuffed animal onto the craft table for inspiration.

She placed the two googly eyes onto the face.

Then she dabbed a bit of glue onto the "G" and placed a spot onto it!

Going glue crazy...

And finally, with a bit of prompting, she finished placing the spots onto the giraffe's body.

The final product!

Colors: Black and White

Theme Of The Day: The Colors Black and White

Age: 22 months

Notes: Little M&M is due to arrive in three weeks, and so our tot school activities will gradually become fewer. Just three things today, but Honey Pot really enjoyed each one. And I think they were very successful in showing her the difference between these two colors, as she had been getting them confused!

Bah Bah Black/White Sheep

This is a classic nursery rhyme that we have read many times in Honey Pot's Mother Goose book. I think it was nice for her to hear it in song, as she sang it all day long afterward. I printed this clip art from the Internet, matted them to cardstock and then glued a craft stick onto each one. As I held up the black sheep, I sang:

Bah, Bah, black sheep,

Have you any wool?

Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

Three bags full.

One for my master,

One for my dame,

And one for the little boy who lives down the lane.

Bah, bah, black sheep,

Have you any wool?

Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

Three bags full.

Then I would hold up the white one and sing the same song, replacing the word "black" with "white." Honey Pot loved hearing and singing along to the songs, as well as playing with the sheep as toys. So as we played, I tried to insert their color names into their dialogue. IE: "Hello, black sheep!"

Which Is Black/White?

I created these sets in Photoshop Elements. It is getting harder to think of images that I haven't yet used, but I managed! Honey Pot and I went over these a couple of times today, and each time she seemed to get the answer right more and more. I'm so pleased that she considers this more of a game than a quiz, because it definitely is effective in teaching her colors.

Sheep Craft

The idea and free printable for this craft came from All Kids Network. I asked Honey Pot if she wanted to do a craft. When she saw the glue, she grabbed it with a nod and hurried to her craft table. This girl loves glue! Without any instruction, she squeezed glue out onto the sheep's body.

Then I encouraged her to place the cotton balls onto the glue, and push them down.

We added the head, facial features and legs.

(See Daddy's hands! He had off work today, so he got to help!)

And here is the final product! Honey Pot was so proud of her artwork, as always! We pointed out which parts of the sheep were white, and which were black.

And for once when I asked her to pose for the picture, I got a not-so-cheesy smile out of her. Hooray!

Dr. Seuss!

Theme Of The Day: Dr. Seuss

Age: 22 months

11 Books

Here are all of the Dr. Seuss books we currently own (minus The Grinch, which is put away with our Christmas decorations). I am happy to report that we read all of these books today, in celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday! And there are still so many more I want to buy...

The Cat In The Hat

We made another paper plate hat today! The idea for this one came from a blog called I Can Teach My Child. I cut out the shape, and provided Honey Pot with a glue stick and strips of red paper. She initially placed the stripes vertically, but without enough glue. So I helped her dab the glue, and place the strips in the right spots. As soon as we finished, she wanted to "look in mirror" to see how it looked! Then we read the book, of course!

Ten Apples Up On Top

Honey Pot really enjoyed this activity, because she loves stickers! I created the worksheet myself in Photoshop Elements, complete with a picture of Honey Pot so she could stack the apples on top of her own head. A collector of stickers as a child, I happened to have a whole bunch of apple stickers for her to place into the numbered boxes. It was a nice review of the numbers 1-5, which we covered over the last few weeks. We ended this activity by reading the book.

Green Eggs and Ham

For lunch we ate green eggs and ham! I just added some green food coloring to the eggs before scrambling them, and gave her some ham roll-ups with it. I read her the book after I was done eating.

After her nap, we continued the theme by reviewing the shapes we had covered so far in a green egg game. This idea came from The Princess And The Tot. I created the worksheet in Photoshop Elements. She identified each shape, and placed them in their proper spots.

Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?

We tried our first Roll and Graph activity today, using a template from 2 Teaching Mommies. I did alter it slightly in Photoshop Elements, as well as create my own sound die. (I just inserted paper squares into each side of one of her photo blocks.) I decided to use this game as a review of the colors she's learned so far too. So I colored each side of the sound die a different color, and that was the color of the dot marker she would use on the graph.

First she rolled the die...

Then I would read the sound that landed face up, and ask her, "Who/What says ___?" She'd point to the picture that corresponds to the sound. I'd then ask her to find the appropriate color, and show her where to make a dot. You can probably tell which dots I made and which she made!

She seemed to enjoy this activity somewhat, but lost interest quickly. It may be a game better suited for older children, but I'm glad I introduced her to the concept anyway. And I had fun. :) We concluded the activity by reading the book.

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