H is for House Shape Review

Today, we learned about the letter h as well as shapes by making a shape house.

I cut out lots of shapes, and Mr. T glued them on the paper to construct his house.

Bubble Snake

My kids love bubbles...I, however, am not a fan. I hate the spills, the sticky mess, etc., but because I love my kids, I blow bubbles. Today's activity was amazing! We didn't get sticky, there weren't any spills, and both of the kids loved the result.

Supplies needed: an empty water bottle, a rubberband, a piece of material, water, and dishsoap.


Cut the bottom of the water bottle off. Secure the material (I used a square cut from one of my hubby's old t-shirts) with a rubberband to the waterbottle.


Squirt some soap into some water, dip the bottle in, and blow. BUBBLE SNAKES! Mr. T was amazed, and we didn't have a sticky mess to clean up!

What Do You Do When It's Outside?

You get a popsicle stick.

You poke it in a pudding cup.

You put it in the freezer.

You go outside and run through the sprinkler.

You find a baby frog.

You show the baby frog to your baby sister.

You enjoy your frozen treat much later that evening.

Octopus for Lunch

OK, maybe not...but sort of. I have found that when I make lunch fun, Mr. T really eats a better lunch, so...

We had Octopus for lunch!

Cook a wiener and then cut it into eighths 3/4 of the way up. Add a couple of dots of mustard for eyes and enjoy! So easy and so fun! Don't worry, we had other nutritious sides to go along with our turkey wieners.

Gold Fish Sorting

This snack time activity took a whole 30 seconds to prepare, and Mr. T loved it!

Supplies needed: 2 fish cut from construction paper and colored goldfish.



I cut two different colored fish from construction paper and then dug out some goldfish to match.



Tuck sorted the goldfish before enjoying his mid morning snack. As he gets older and masters sorting two colors, we'll add an additional color to the fun.

MIA

Sorry, I haven't posted in a while. We've been learning how to get in the swing of things with two kiddos at home. We're back in the swing of things, so check back for fun activities very soon!

Earth Day Goop Bag

Well this was supposed to be posted last night, but the OKC Thunder game was just too exciting! I had made these bags before when I was introduced to them while working on my teaching degree as well as in my years in the classroom. We would use them as a fun way to practice writing letters and words. A non-cooking method for the classrooms that I often used involves putting hairgel in a ziplock bag before adding glitter. I was reminded of the fun when reading this blog. Since we were at home, I opted for the true goop. Tuck kept saying "Tis is so cool!"

Supplies needed: cornstarch, water, sugar, and plastic bag with a large circle drawn on it.

In a large pot, mix 1 cup of cornstarch with 4 cups of water and 1/3 cup sugar. Stir over low/medium heat until the mixture thickens into goop. I then added it to two bowls before adding a few drops of blue and green food coloring.



Tuck and daddy mixed the goop with the food coloring. We then added the goop to the bag and squished away!



Note: In the classroom, I always taped the seal of the bag with clear packing tape so little fingers couldn't open the bag spilling the contents.

Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! I meant to post this yesterday, but we had a busy day/evening hanging out as a family enjoying the beautiful weather and working in the yard.



Supplies needed: paper towel, blue and green food coloring, eye dropper, 2 cups of water, and scissors.

I had originally planned for us to dye a coffee filter, but the colors didn't show up very well so we scratched that plan.



Tuck dropped drops of blue and green water onto Viva paper towels before we cut it out to symbolize the earth.



We are doing another Earch Day activity with daddy tonight, so check back later for more fun!

I Spy Something Yellow

Today we focused on the color yellow. During our library time, I spotted the book In My New Yellow Shirt by Eileen Spinelli that's all about the color yellow. We read the book before going on a hunt throughout our house for yellow objects. Tuck found lots of blocks, a ball, a hard hat, and a stuffed chick. Tuck loved searching throughout the house, but I had to remind him a few times that we were looking only for yellow things. He really wanted to just collect balls in his tub!

F is for Face

Today we made a face for the letter F. This project took a little more prep work for mommy as I had to cut out all of the pieces, but Tuck loved gluing the pieces onto the face.



Supplies needed: construction paper, scissors, and a glue stick



Begin by cutting out the parts needed: an F, an oval, a mouth, eyes, a nose, and a heart cut in half for the ears.



I then let Tuck glue the different pieces on the face, and we were finished. I loved how it turned out! This may be my favorite letter we've done so far!

Bunny Ears

Sunday is Easter, so here's another Easter craft that Mr. T and I made.



Supplies needed: construction paper, scissors, pink marker (he loves markers right now), and glue]

I began by cutting 2 strips of off-white paper as well as two ears from 1 sheet of construction paper.



Mr. T then colored the ears pink with a marker before we attached them to one of the strips of paper. I then glued the strips of paper together so that headband would fit him. He's a huge fan of wearing his ears around the house!

E is for Egg

Pardon our little break from creating...we've been loving on Mr. T's new baby sister, Miss A.

Easter is this weekend, and we just happened to be on the letter E. So E is for Egg!

Supplies needed: construction paper, markers, scissors, and glue



Before starting, I cut out a large E and an egg from construction paper. Then I allowed Mr. T to decorate the egg with markers. We reviewed color names while doing this.



After he had finished decorating the egg, he glued the E to the Egg and we were finished.

D is for Door

Today's letter was D. There are so many options to do with D, but I chose door.



Supplies needed: cup of water, water color paints, construction paper, scissors, glue stick, and stapler.



I cut a letter D and a rectangle about the same size as it from construction paper. I then let Mr. T paint the rectangle (door) with water colors.

We glued the D on the paper. Then I stapled the door over the D since staples could withstand opening and closing better than glue.



Mr. T loved opening and closing the door!

Dr. Seuss

Tuesday is Dr. Seuss's birthday. We are planning on going to a community wide birthday celebration at our library Monday night, so I decided today we would make a Cat in the Hat hat today. I've made these many times with the kiddos that have passed through my classroom, so I modified it a bit for my little guy.



Supplies needed: construction paper, scissors, stapler, and glue stick.

This activity was more parent involved than child involved. I started by folding a piece of red construction paper in half hot dog style and free handing a hat pattern from it. In first grade, I typically gave the kiddos a pattern copied on red construction paper that they cut themselves. I also cut a long band and strips of white construction paper.



Mr. T then glued the strips on the hat. I stapled the band around the back and let him try it on. In my classroom, we always cut two pieces of red paper and stapled it to a band and again at the top for stability. I wish I would have done that here in that it doesn't stand up when he is wearing it.

Dental Hygiene Month

As a first grade teacher, we always celebrated dental hygiene month. We would talk about the importance of brushing our teeth and even chew on the little pink tablets. I must admit that it would often make my stomach turn looking at the results from those little pink tablets.

Anyway...Tucker and I created a big toothbrush last week. During this activity, I let him use safety scissors for the first time. I was a little worried, but he did great!



Supplies needed: copy paper, construction paper, glue stick, marker, and scissors.

To begin, I cut the copy paper in half hamburger style and the construction paper in half hot dog style. I then drew lines on the copy paper for him to use as a guide for cutting.



I then showed Mr. T how to hold the scissors and even helped him cut a few inches. Then I turned him loose! He did great for it being his first time. As much as I would have liked him to cut along the black lines, I didn't care if he did or not...I just wanted to him to start getting a feel for cutting.



After cutting the copy paper, Tuck glued it to the construction paper to make his toothbrush. Then he begged to go brush his teeth!

Color Clips

This was a fun activity working on fine motor skills while also focusing on color recognition and matching that we can do over and over again.



Supplies needed: construction paper, scissors, clothespins, and magic markers.

During nap time, I cut squares from construction paper and colored the ends of clothespins to match. I then modeled the activity for Mr. T before letting him loose matching the colored squares to the clothespins.



Tuck loved this activity, but he had some problems figuring out how to pinch the end of the clothespins to attach to the squares. After lots of modeling and practice, he seems to be grasping the concept better.

Just a little side note...My child does own pants, but we are potty training and he does much better when we're at home without pants on.

Muffin Tin Monday: Red

Today we began Muffin Tin Monday at our house to try to spice up our boring lunchtime routine as well as implement some learning fun. Today's theme was red.



We had spaghetti o's with weiners, strawberry jello with diced peaches, heart toast with strawberry jam, and red goldfish crackers all served up in a heart muffin tin.

C is for Corn

Today, we worked on the letter C. Tuck loves to eat corn on the cob (and I had some in the freezer) so it was an easy choice.



Supplies needed: construction paper, glue, yellow paint, paper plate, and corn.

Cut a letter C from paper before allowing your child to glue the letter to the construction paper.



Roll the corn in the yellow paint and then roll it on the paper.



As I have mentioned before, Tuck hates having his hands dirty. We are trying to let him know that it isn't going to hurt him, so I'm encouraging him to get his hands dirty as much as possible. Today was not the day that he was going to be OK with it! He got a little bit on his fingers, and he was finished! I finished painting for him to show him that it was alright before showing him that the paint washes right off. Oh, well! Another day!

Valentine Fun

We had a VERY busy week last week, so I'm just getting around to posting our Valentine treats that we made for Tuck's classmates and teachers at Mother's Day Out.

I found this idea somewhere on the internet, but I can't remember where to link back to it. I found these shovels at Hobby Lobby for 99 cents with 30% off. Using a white paint pen, I wrote "i dig you" on the front and "happy v-day love tucker" on the back. I completed them with a bag of mini M&Ms, and they were a hit.

I also found another idea for his teachers' gifts from another blog. (I again forgot where, so I'll try and find it and link back to it later.) These were so inexpensive to make! I bought a box of fortune cookies at Wal-Mart for less than $2. There were 13 cookies in the box. I had some white almond bark left from Christmas, so I melted it and added a few drops of pink food coloring. I dipped each cookie into the chocolate and set it aside to harden. I put them in boxes that I found very cheap at Hobby Lobby, and added a tag that read (We are so fortunate to have you as a teacher! Love, Tucker and family. Viola! So easy and cheap!