R is for Robot!

In an effort to finish our alphabet before we begin homeschool preschool, Sweet E and I are speeding up our letter themes. Here is letter R! Keep scrolling to see what we did today, or click one of the links below to take a look back at similar themes from the past!

R is for Robot - 2015

Letter R - 2014

Robots - 2013

Books

The library had all of our favorite robot books today! "Boy + Bot" has been a longtime favorite, but we also really loved "And the Robot Went" for its cumulative type of storytelling. Perfect picture books for Sweet E's current age.

Introducing the Letter R

We did our usual introduction page this morning. I was going to switch it up a little bit, but Sweet E says she really likes these. So I'll keep making them! Here she is tracing, stamping, poking and forming the R with playdoh!

Fine Motor + Color Matching

This free printable came from Preschool Mom, though I did edit it a bit to suit our pom pom colors!

Kitty was very interested in what Sweet E was doing!

Sorting Magnetic vs. Non-Magnetic

I gathered some various materials, and provided Sweet E with a magnetic wand.

She used the magnetic wand to help her determine what was magnetic, and what wasn't.

Sometimes it picked up multiple items at once!

Sometimes she tried an item, and it didn't stick, so I encouraged her to try all sides!

We found quite a few magnetic things, and some surprised her!

She loved this so much, she did it a second time.

We added a few more items this time too!

Matching

I found these robot stickers at the Dollar Tree, and decided to make a matching game for Sweet E. This was her first time drawing lines like this, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

She quickly caught on!

She draws her line across the page, and then looks at where she's going...hence the sharp turn lol.

She loved this activity so much that we actually did it again the next morning. I peeled the stickers off the paper (Dollar Tree stickers come up easily I've noticed) and put them right on the table, so we didn't waste any more paper.

Though Sweet E doesn't wear diapers anymore, we still keep wipes in the house. I like to keep a container near the activity table. They are SO HANDY, and this table cleans so easily.

And she loves to help clean up! We did this activity three times in a row.

Craft + Alphabet Review

We did a simple paper bag craft today!

Sweet E loved using the glue.

Then she added all of the robots "buttons" by matching all the letters we've learned so far.

Isn't he cute! And great for pretend play. 😊

R is for Robot!

Books

We borrowed these fun books for our robot day. Another favorite, which we discovered during our Robot Unit two years ago, is Boy + Bot. This is always such a fun theme!

Letter Recognition

For our letter R activity today, I gave Little M&M and Honey Pot a template of the letter R to fill with robot stickers. I found these at the Dollar Tree, and we had plenty leftover for future sticker activities.

Robot Tinker Tray

We had done a tinker tray for the first time last Halloween. It was one of the most engaging activities we had ever done! We had done foam pumpkins at the time, but with most of the same supplies we used this time.

    

For this activity, I used floral foam and foil, both purchased from the Dollar Tree.

And here is what I provided at the kids' craft table: pom poms, straws, pipe cleaners, rubber bands, toothpicks, paper clips, hole punch reinforcements, thumb tacks, brads and googly eyes. I also set out some glue and a pair of scissors.

They were so excited to get started! Little M&M was a big fan of the rubber bands.

While Honey Pot went crazy with toothpicks.

Here she is attaching two foam blocks together to make a larger robot!

And Little M&M loves scissors. He cut all of the straws into teeny tiny pieces.

I sat right beside them, working on my own robot, so I could watch them closely with the sharper pieces. They were both very careful.

Here is Honey Pot's first finished product:

Mine:

And Little M&M's:

We used these for pretend play, all the while rearranging their parts and adding more pieces. Here, Honey Pot added rubber band bracelets:

Lots of pom pom antenna:

And here is the little baby robot she made.

It was a super fun activity and, just as the Halloween version, lasted a long time!

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Letter R

Honey Pot is 3.5 years old

Leap Frog Fridge Phonics

Introducing the letter of the week: we listened to Scout's song and identified two animals that start with the letter R.

Connect the Dots Worksheet

Honey Pot practiced prewriting as well as number identification by completing this worksheet from Education.

Pushpin Poking

She also familiarized herself with the letter's shape by poking a giant pushpin through it. 

Pattern Blocks

We printed out the letter R page from Confessions of a Homeschooler to use with her pattern blocks.

Prewriting Practice

We printed out dotted uppercase and lowercase R's for her to trace.

R Maze

Honey Pot was finally stumped by these mazes from Education. She ran into a couple dead-ends on her way to the finish!

R is for Rockets

This may have been the favorite activity of the week, inspired by Dollar Store Crafts. We printed out mirror-image rocket clipart, taped them together, leaving the bottom open, and put them at the end of a straw. Then Honey Pot could launch her own rockets!

She did this again and again. And she practiced backwards counting before each launch. First from 5-1 and then from 10-1! A fine number review.

Later, after seeing how much fun Honey Pot was having, Little M&M and Daddy each wanted their own rockets too.

Red Rover Game

Honey Pot has a fun game that reviews colors, as well as a few shapes, letters and numbers. She hasn't played it in a while, because she has outgrown it a bit. But she saw it up in the closet with her other games and actually requested it. She did awesome and it kept her quite entertained.

Sticky Wall Rainbow

This idea comes directly from Mama Papa Bubba. This was a perfect activity for both kids this week, as it aligned with Honey Pot's R unit, as well as helped Little M&M review all six colors he has covered so far. First I drew a rainbow onto contact paper, and I cut little pieces out of scrap paper.

The kids enjoyed sticking the pieces up there. Honey Pot had no trouble, but I often had to help Little M&M find the right color. Great review though!

Once it was finished, I put another piece of contact paper on top of it.

Playdough Rainbow

Playing House had a fun idea for our playdough play this week. We finally made a new batch of homemade playdough together. Then we squished two pieces of it into clouds, and Honey Pot created a rainbow out of pipe cleaners.

Plus we did some R cutouts, which she pretended was rain, falling beneath the clouds.

R is for Road

We started our last craft by cutting up strips of white paper for the road lines.

Then Honey Pot glued the R onto the paper.

And added the road lines that she cut out.

I found a set of cars to print out that she could add to the road too.

She loved her creation!

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