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Sunday, January 30, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Seasons of Snow
Letter: Dd
Color: Orange
Shape: Triangle *
BRRRRR! I think I need to switch our weekly theme to Beaches and Hot Weather, I must be jinxing us! It is the first winter in a long time that we've had this much snow I think...at least since I've had to navigate children in it. Layers, layers and more layers!!! But it's so much fun! Playing in the snow, sledding, skiing, snow days...have I convinced you yet?? ;)
This week we are continuing our winter exploration. Using our Triangle Shape as a base, we are making snowflakes! I've folded the construction paper squares into triangles for the kiddos to start with.
We have had a low Teacher/Student ratio (1:3) the past few weeks, so it's a good time for us to work on Scissor skills. I remember when my oldest did his preschool screening they said he had poor scissor skills. I was dumbfounded and looked at them like they had four heads. " He's two years old people!! I spend my time keeping them AWAY from him! Of course he has poor scissor skills." But little did I understand this is actually good fine motor practice for them, somewhere between my education degree and my first son turning three I must have lost that little tidbit of info - along with things like how old I was. To this day I blame childbirth and am still claiming to be at least five years younger than I really am. ;)
So don't be afraid of the scissors! Get a good pair, I recommend the Fiskars brand of kid scissors. They are nicely rounded, have large finger holes so that you can get in there and help them with their grip and they are sharp enough not to cut skin but able to cut construction paper no problem.
If you'd like to practice scissor skills at home, here are some printable worksheets that you could use to practice on. Scissor Skills Try using other fun items to practice on like Play Doh and Spaghetti...remind them to avoid the hair.
We opened our Triangles and realized we had been making snowflakes!! How exciting! We decided to add to some tissue paper decorations for a little more fine motor practice. Today less was more as far as the tissue paper went...more important matters loomed like Power Rangers needing to go down the slide and Little Einsteins needing to go on the Firetrucks...
Some other great books for you to check out this winter are:
* BTW, just kidding with the above Triangle link...just making sure you're paying attention! Check out THIS one instead.
Color: Orange
Shape: Triangle *
BRRRRR! I think I need to switch our weekly theme to Beaches and Hot Weather, I must be jinxing us! It is the first winter in a long time that we've had this much snow I think...at least since I've had to navigate children in it. Layers, layers and more layers!!! But it's so much fun! Playing in the snow, sledding, skiing, snow days...have I convinced you yet?? ;)
This week we are continuing our winter exploration. Using our Triangle Shape as a base, we are making snowflakes! I've folded the construction paper squares into triangles for the kiddos to start with.
We have had a low Teacher/Student ratio (1:3) the past few weeks, so it's a good time for us to work on Scissor skills. I remember when my oldest did his preschool screening they said he had poor scissor skills. I was dumbfounded and looked at them like they had four heads. " He's two years old people!! I spend my time keeping them AWAY from him! Of course he has poor scissor skills." But little did I understand this is actually good fine motor practice for them, somewhere between my education degree and my first son turning three I must have lost that little tidbit of info - along with things like how old I was. To this day I blame childbirth and am still claiming to be at least five years younger than I really am. ;)
So don't be afraid of the scissors! Get a good pair, I recommend the Fiskars brand of kid scissors. They are nicely rounded, have large finger holes so that you can get in there and help them with their grip and they are sharp enough not to cut skin but able to cut construction paper no problem.
 | |
| 2 yr old Owen cutting away! (with some help of course) |
If you'd like to practice scissor skills at home, here are some printable worksheets that you could use to practice on. Scissor Skills Try using other fun items to practice on like Play Doh and Spaghetti...remind them to avoid the hair.
 | ||
| 4 year old Dean, cutting solo with finger positioning reminders |
Some other great books for you to check out this winter are:
 |
| Gooseberry Goose by Claire Freedman |
 |
| The Mitten by Jan Brett |
 |
| Dream Snow by Eric Carle |
* BTW, just kidding with the above Triangle link...just making sure you're paying attention! Check out THIS one instead.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Snowflakes and Snowballs
Letter: Bb (activity page)
Shape: Rectangle (coloring page)
Color: Red (online coloring page)
Books to read at home:
First Snow by Bernette Ford
Snowballs by Lois Ehlert
Books we Read at the Shop:
Snow Day by Barbara M. Joosse (and we had two of them this week!!)
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
We had a quick week of activities at the shop this week with two snow days!! Perhaps I shouldn't have picked Snow Day! by Barbara M. Joosse as one of our Read Aloud Selections! I must have given Mother Nature some ideas...
Short week or not we still had a lot of fun! For our craft this week we used pre-cut rectangles (and one square) to make 'self' portraits playing in the nighttime snow. We used a glue stick to glue the different colored shapes to a black peace of paper and then added snowflakes with pieces of pasta and pencil erasers dipped in white paint.
We recommended some fun things to do during Snow Days on our Facebook Page, but if you didn't see those, here are a few suggestions the next time you are home and stranded with tons of snow all around (along with a few new suggestions)!
Create "Snow Spraypaint". Use water spray bottles, fill them up with water and add a few drops of food coloring to each spray bottle. Use those to spray paint the snow. Experiment with different color combinations and see what new colors you can come up with!
Make a Snow Castle! Those buckets you use at the beach can come in handy during the winter! Fill them with snow (the kind that is good for snowmen not the really fluffy kind) and make a Snow Castle! Use your spray paints to decorate your castles. Don't leave those buckets outside though, the cold weather will probably crack and break them.
Make Candy Snow! I grew up in Maine and we always had snow...we didn't take snow days as often it seems, but this was a memorable activity! My sisters and I loved eating the hard candy right off the piles of fresh snow. Make sure your snow is fresh and clean for this activity!! Heat the 1 cup real maple syrup and 1/4 cup salted butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to avoid a boil over. (Heating syrup is strictly a parent's job if doing this with kids.) The mixture is ready 6 to 7 minutes after it boils (220 to 234 degrees on a candy thermometer). It should stiffen when dripped onto a plate. Remove from heat and cool for 2 minutes before pouring over the snow, ice cream, or ice. It cools so quickly that kids can taste it right away. We used to dump ours right on the snowbank, but you could also collect some snow in pans to make this an indoor activity.
We hope you enjoyed your Snowy Days!! If you do any of our activites, we'd love for you to share them with us!
Please remember to leave us a comment if you enjoy what you read here!
Shape: Rectangle (coloring page)
Color: Red (online coloring page)
Books to read at home:
First Snow by Bernette Ford
Snowballs by Lois Ehlert
Books we Read at the Shop:
Snow Day by Barbara M. Joosse (and we had two of them this week!!)
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
We had a quick week of activities at the shop this week with two snow days!! Perhaps I shouldn't have picked Snow Day! by Barbara M. Joosse as one of our Read Aloud Selections! I must have given Mother Nature some ideas...
Short week or not we still had a lot of fun! For our craft this week we used pre-cut rectangles (and one square) to make 'self' portraits playing in the nighttime snow. We used a glue stick to glue the different colored shapes to a black peace of paper and then added snowflakes with pieces of pasta and pencil erasers dipped in white paint.
We recommended some fun things to do during Snow Days on our Facebook Page, but if you didn't see those, here are a few suggestions the next time you are home and stranded with tons of snow all around (along with a few new suggestions)!
Create "Snow Spraypaint". Use water spray bottles, fill them up with water and add a few drops of food coloring to each spray bottle. Use those to spray paint the snow. Experiment with different color combinations and see what new colors you can come up with!
Make a Snow Castle! Those buckets you use at the beach can come in handy during the winter! Fill them with snow (the kind that is good for snowmen not the really fluffy kind) and make a Snow Castle! Use your spray paints to decorate your castles. Don't leave those buckets outside though, the cold weather will probably crack and break them.
Make Candy Snow! I grew up in Maine and we always had snow...we didn't take snow days as often it seems, but this was a memorable activity! My sisters and I loved eating the hard candy right off the piles of fresh snow. Make sure your snow is fresh and clean for this activity!! Heat the 1 cup real maple syrup and 1/4 cup salted butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to avoid a boil over. (Heating syrup is strictly a parent's job if doing this with kids.) The mixture is ready 6 to 7 minutes after it boils (220 to 234 degrees on a candy thermometer). It should stiffen when dripped onto a plate. Remove from heat and cool for 2 minutes before pouring over the snow, ice cream, or ice. It cools so quickly that kids can taste it right away. We used to dump ours right on the snowbank, but you could also collect some snow in pans to make this an indoor activity.
We hope you enjoyed your Snowy Days!! If you do any of our activites, we'd love for you to share them with us!
Please remember to leave us a comment if you enjoy what you read here!
Friday, January 7, 2011
Months of Winter
Color: Blue
Shape: Circle
Letter: Aa
Our theme this week is The Months of Winter. The winter months are December, January and February.
Suggested books for you to read at home:
Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft
Dream Snow by Eric Carle
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
The Twelve Days of Winter by Deborah Lee Rose
Books we read this week in the shop:
Six Snowy Sheep by Judith Ross Enderle and Stephanie Gordon Tessler
All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle
Craft:
This week we made snowmen out of pre-cut shapes.
Due to the ages of our kiddos, I do most of the cutting before their appointments so they can focus on the gluing and construction, vs. trying to handle the scissors. Since our shape of the week is the Circle, this worked great with our theme and we were able to remind the kids of the shape they were working with as they handled them.
And as always we enjoyed a ton of free play!! One of the best things about our sessions here at the shop is the huge variety of toys we have. While some kids do have their favorites...they always enjoy exploring and finding new things to play with!
Above we have some links to take you to fun places with your children. Our color, shape and letter of the week will lead you to activities for you to try at home (just click on the words).
If you need an appointment, remember to give us a call or email!
Shape: Circle
Letter: Aa
Our theme this week is The Months of Winter. The winter months are December, January and February.
Suggested books for you to read at home:
Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft
Dream Snow by Eric Carle
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
The Twelve Days of Winter by Deborah Lee Rose
Books we read this week in the shop:
Six Snowy Sheep by Judith Ross Enderle and Stephanie Gordon Tessler
All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle
Craft:
This week we made snowmen out of pre-cut shapes.
Due to the ages of our kiddos, I do most of the cutting before their appointments so they can focus on the gluing and construction, vs. trying to handle the scissors. Since our shape of the week is the Circle, this worked great with our theme and we were able to remind the kids of the shape they were working with as they handled them.
And as always we enjoyed a ton of free play!! One of the best things about our sessions here at the shop is the huge variety of toys we have. While some kids do have their favorites...they always enjoy exploring and finding new things to play with!
Above we have some links to take you to fun places with your children. Our color, shape and letter of the week will lead you to activities for you to try at home (just click on the words).
If you need an appointment, remember to give us a call or email!
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