Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Preschool Planning September 19-24

Hey friends! I know I am behind on tutorials from last week, and will have a few to post from this week. Be patient with me. We are digging out from the lovely beginning of the Autumn Yucks (colds, tummy bugs). Doesn't it always seem to go that if mom is down, the house isn't far behind? Here are the lesson plans that I've started for this week. You will notice I decided to spend a few more days with last week's number, letter and shape. I really felt like Phillie needed it. If you are following and find that your kiddo seems ready to move on, don't be afraid to comment here or contact me and I will help you figure out how to get the first two lesson plans for this week to work for a different letter, number, shape, etc.

Day 1: Practice sorting colors and counting to 3 as you make paper bead necklaces. If your child is ready, you can throw in a pattern as well. This one does take a little bit of prep time to make the beads. I made them myself as I found that them curling construction paper for our bugs' antennae was difficult for them. However, it goes fast, and I promise, I will make sure to post a tutorial for how to make the beads. All you need is some glue and construction paper.

Have a #3 hunt outside (I went outside and had the kids bring me objects. I asked for things like 3 leaves, 3 sticks, 3 berries, etc.) We also took some time to write #3 on the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk and have a bear hunt. The song is above. Have them sit in a circle and pat their legs as they sing. You can add actions like putting your hands up to your eyes for binoculars, swishing arms or rubbing hands together for swish, etc. My kids had a blast and decided to spend some more time outside hunting bears and singing the song together.

Kid Science: Make Lava Lamps! This one is easy and has big effect. You can talk about how some things have more density than others, teach them the definition for density (ie how heavy it is) . It also make s a huge impact. You just need an empty water bottle, fill it about a third of the way with cooking oil and then pour water mixed with food coloring over the top and Shake, shake shake... You don't need the alka seltzer unless you want it to move on its own. it works fine just shaking it. Glitter is also optional. Find instructions HERE

Day 2:
Make Handprint Birds (start by asking them to remember the sound B makes and letting them try to think of things that start with B)  I made homemade fingerpaints for this project. That recipe can be found HERE or watercolors will also work.

We made Butterflies again out of the #3 (since my kids love butterflies) They were made kind of like stained glass and hang on the windows. I used the same paint from our previous activity and some wax Paper. I traced their Number 3 with a sharpie and let them paint inside it however they wanted. You can always do traditional mosaic/stained glass material by using tissue paper glued to some sort of base, but I was trying to be thrifty, and while this doesn't have the same effect, its easier than helping kids glue a thousand pieces of tissue paper. LOL Tutorial to come.

Three little Kittens poem. Make kitten face masks using string, paper plates, construction paper and glue. Help your child see how they can make a mouth for their kitten mask using the number 3 on its side. Once the masks are made, have the child act the nursery rhyme out with you.

Day 3: Beginning the Letter D, shape Continued study of the Circle addition of the Triangle, Number 1

Read I'm a Dirty Dinosaur , introduce the Letter D. Let kids be "dirty dinosaurs" and write the letter D in some flour on a plate.
Have pre-prepped Letter D's and necessary attachments cut out. Help them glue and make a Dirty Dinosaur of their very own. If they want to , let them decorate the body of the dinosaur using markers, paints, etc. tutotial HERE

Trace #1 on paper with playdough.

Day 4: read Dirty Dinosaur again. Let the kids pick a piece of construction paper and help them make a dinosaur tail out of a large triangle. Help them cut out circles of another color to glue onto their tail and let them put some glue down and sprinkle things like flour or dirt and other items to make it dirty. Attach it to some string so they can tie it around their waists and wear it.

Start science project for next week. Cover some raw eggs in vinegar. Talk about how fertilized eggs have ONE baby. that these eggs are not fertilized, and you will get to see what babies that  live in eggs eat so they can grow later on. Add some food coloring to the vinegar if you would like the egg to be colored. More on this next week. Be sure to put them in a place they won't be disturbed.
Have precut eggs waiting. Help them glue it onto another piece of paper. Have them write a #1 and then Let them draw any kind of animal that they think grows in an egg. Remind them that there is only ONE baby in the egg.

Happy learning. darlings.


Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Creatively Lazy: Christmas Tree Edition

So...

Saturday, we went out yard selling....

And we managed to pick up this monster for a steal of a deal


A 7.5 foot Christmas tree that usually retails for close to $200 for $10???? Ummm...yes, please!

Well, on Monday, Jeff decided to set it up to make sure our steal of a deal wasn't too good to be true...

It wasn't. Besides needing to tape up some of the ends to keep the string that is wrapped around the branches from unraveling, it was in pretty much perfect condition.

Then, Jeff said the words that got my wheels a-turnin'...

"I'm just going to leave it up. I really don't want to have to haul it out of the closet again. It's heavy."

I couldn't just leave an empty Christmas tree sitting up in the corner of my living room.  When guests come over what do you say? "We were just too lazy to take it down..."?

My brain worked in its brilliant fashion and I not only came up with an awesome excuse to put the Christmas tree up in October and LEAVE it up....but also some really neat family traditions that I'm pretty sure we're going to carry on...

So...for all of you that want to space out your holiday decorations, these ideas are for you.

Why not have a Halloween Tree?  Stay with me here...

Think of the movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Watch the movie and put up your tree along with some Halloween ornamentation so that you can please Jack Skellington the Pumpkin King.  on Halloween Night, you can even take it one step further and leave some gross out candy under the tree or something. (Our kids are too young to appreciate it this year, but you can bet your bottom dollar that it WILL be happening when they are old enough.)

Decorations don't have to cost a million dollars either. If you have a steady hand, you can do what I did and, using some craft foam, draw some caricatures of Nightmare Before Christmas characters or, if you're less steady with a sharpie, you can print out some Nightmare Before Christmas or Halloween coloring pages, color them and, using the sticky back foam, make some Halloween ornaments that will last for a while.

Since its mostly for your family enjoyment anyway (and to stop guests from wondering why on earth you would set your Christmas tree up at the beginning of October), you don't even have to cover the whole tree.  I'm still planning on making a few more with my husband when he gets home (since he enjoys drawing, I wanted to let him in on the fun...) but you can see that it looking pretty decent and I've just covered a section of the tree. A few more ornaments and some artsy fartsy fun with my hubby and we will have made it look all the way decent...

And, because I figured you should see some of my free-hand artwork, I decided to zoom in and take a picture just for you (because I know you're just dying to see it!)



So, what do you do for November?  Simple...you do a Thankful Tree.  Everyone in the house takes a piece of construction paper and writes on it what they are thankful for that day.  You can either wrap it around a branch and staple it, add some string, or make a chain that will snake around the tree or along the front of it.  At Thanksgiving dinner, remove the "thankful notes" and read them at the table. It will be awesome to see all the things you've had a chance to be thankful for throughout the month.

My family tradition has always been to decorate the Christmas tree after Thanksgiving dinner.  It was one tradition my biological dad had started with us before his death, and one that my step-dad really enjoyed and kept up after he joined our family.  So...you can just pull out the Christmas decorations and let the kids go to town...

A big hello to all my creatively lazy peeps out there...I hope you enjoy using this idea...and YOU'RE WELCOME...LOL

Hugs and loves until next time darlings!