N is for Nose!

Books

We chose these two books for our N is for Nose day! The first was a simply-written text about various smells, and how some are pleasant and some are bad. The second was just a cute, rhyming book about the many uses of an elephant's trunk. We enjoyed both of these!

Letter Recognition

For our letter recognition activity of the day, we printed dot marker pages from Shannon's Tot School and used our dot markers to fill them in.

Honey Pot did a pattern!

And here is Little M&M's.

Sight vs. Smell

I found this super cool activity from Brilliant Beginnings Preschool. I filled the clear glasses with water, white vinegar and rubbing alcohol. Then filled two more with water + food coloring. Then I asked the kids to tell me, by looking at them, which were filled with the same liquid.

As predicted, they chose the three clear ones.

Then I asked them to use their noses to see if they were correct.

They thought it was pretty neat that their eyes and noses were telling them different things!

In the end, they were able to choose which three were actually filled with the same thing.

Scent-Matching Game

For further smelling games, I created this quick activity out of baby food jars, cotton balls, and various cooking ingredients. I put peppermint extract, lemon extract, vanilla, teriyaki marinade, vinegar and maple extract into two containers each. The kids had to smell their way to finding the matches. It was pretty fun, and a neat variation to usual matching games.

M is for Money!

Books

Here are our books for the day. Very cute stories about kids earning and saving up money. Some parts were a little advanced, since my kids don't know the values of coins yet. But these were a great introduction for them!

Letter Recognition

After reading our books we completed one letter recognition activity. Today we pulled out our salt tray and the kids took turns writing M's and other designs inside it.

Coins - Sorting and Patterns

To begin our letter M activity the kids sorted coins from their pretend cash register. We talked about what each coin was called and how to recognize their differences (color, size).

Then Honey Pot created a few patterns with the coins.

Dollars - Store Pretend Play

To introduce the kids to dollar bills, we set up a little store! I slapped on some stickers with prices ranging from $1-$22...

Sorted their pretend money into piles...

And got out the register for one of us to be the cashier.

First I was the cashier, and the kids went shopping! I had them buy one item at a time.

They read the price sticker, and had to find the right amount of money to give me. Little M&M surprised me with his recognition of all the single digit numbers!

And Honey Pot did a terrific job of figuring out how add bills together. I explained the value of each bill to her, and asked how she might combine them to make, for example, $7. This was a new concept for her, and she did wonderfully.

We continued this game for a while, and each took turns being the cashier. Because it's fun to open the register drawer and put money away!

Then, Honey Pot gathered random items for her own store! She took the price stickers off of my items, and placed them onto hers. And the game went on for a while!

L is for Light!

Books

Here are our books for today's letter of the day. We really enjoyed I See Myself. It really put the concepts of reflection and light into terms young kids can understand.

Here's an example of one of the inside pages, which asks the reader to try to look in the mirror in a dark closet. Loved this book!

Letter Recognition

After reading our books, we completed one letter recognition activity. Placing gems on the letter L (this dot marker page comes from Shannon's Tot School). I printed the page onto vellum paper, and placed it on today's sensorial activity, our light box! It was just our usual sensory bin, with Christmas lights placed inside then plugged in, and a piece of parchment paper taped over the top. Worked out great, without being too fancy.

Light Box - Sensorial Activity

I had been wanting to do a light table for a long time, since seeing them on Pinterest. We did a simple version here today, while exploring light and color-mixing. We observed our water blocks over the light for quite a while.

Then we brought the gems back out, as well as a few small, clear cups.

Little M&M, in particular, enjoyed filling these cups and pouring the gems back and forth.

They also enjoyed scooping and sorting.

Then the kids brought the blocks back onto the light box to combine with the gems.

And Honey Pot, ever the fan of pretend play, brought a little giraffe over to eat some gems while she had her own dinner.

A successful theme!

K is for Kite!

Books

We've transitioned into doing a "Letter of the Day" instead of a "Letter of the Week" over here, to make sure we finish in time for Little M&M to begin preschool. So here are just two books, to kick off our K is for Kite day!

Letter Recognition

After reading our books, and talking briefly about kites, we completed one letter recognition activity. Today's pick: poking holes along the K with a giant push pin. This is always a fun one for the kids!

And here are the completed K's, held up to the window.

Craft

This paper bag kite idea comes from Lovely Commotion. I thought it was just great for their age group! Plus it didn't require a special trip to the park on a wind-perfect day, but merely a romp around the backyard. First they decorated both sides of their paper bags with stickers and markers, and we taped on some streamers.

Then I added a string, tied to a craft stick inside the paper bags, and the kids ran through the backyard, allowing their kites to float behind them.

They had such a great time with their kites!

It was a perfect way to begin our new Letter of the Day adventures!