Ll is for lion...

Sometimes the cutest ideas are the ones thrown together at the last minute, like this lion craft. The kids loved how their lions turned out.  We did this craft for our letter Ll day.  Very easy.. all you need is a paper plate, construction paper, glue and a marker.  I used a pink streamer for the tongue but you could use pink construction paper or felt. 

 

You can help them put the glue around the rim and then press the strips onto the plate or they can glue each individually.  It would depend on your child's attention span.  Also, I cut the strips ahead of time, but an older child may enjoy cutting their own.

More Ll fun...

 

I taught them the Ll sound and we sang a La La lion chant to help them with the sound as well.  Also, we went on an Ll hunt.  I made 5 lowercase and 5 upper case Ll's with construction paper and hid them around the room. 

Enjoy creating and learning with your little ones!
Jen

Bb is for Bat and more Batty Activities...

 

We made this simple bat craft and had fun flying around the house! 

 

Above you can see how the parts that I cut out for little man. I guided him as he glued them together.  After making our bats, I thought that this would be cute attached to a toilet paper tube.  You could have them paint it black first. Just a thought. 

Other activities..
We focused on the letter Bb and the sound it makes.  Sing a song.. Bb is for bat.. ba ba ba, Bb is for bat... ba ba ba.

Read a bat poem/song..

Bats Are Sleeping
Tune: Frere Jacques

Bats are sleeping
Bats are sleeping
Upside down.
Upside down.
Sleeping in the morning sun.
Waiting for the night to come.
Then they'll fly all around.
Then they'll fly all around.

Read a book.. my favorite.. Stellaluna

 

Pretend you are a bat. Be prepared to hear the kids squeal as they see a grown person flapping their wings and running around.

Learn about bats.  When do they sleep?  What do they eat?  What other animals are similar to bats?  How are they different.

So many more bat ideas here... Going Batty from Kinder Korner.

For older children..

My kids (8 and 10) love to research animals.  They would enjoy learning more about different types of bats and then using this info to create a PowerPoint slide show.

The following are  links to bat websites...
KidZone: BAT FACT INDEX
Smithsonian: Bat facts
Bats4Kids.org
Discovery Kids: Are bats really blind?

Write a poem or funny story about a bat?  Write an interview for a bat.. what questions would you ask a bat?

Read Stellaluna with older children and then watch the cartoon.  Have them compare and contrast the movie with the book.  Which did they like better and why?



Enjoy!
Jen

The Letter Ss Activites: Part 2

Sensory fun with Snakes with a Sssss sound and letter focus!

And now the reveal from our Ss painting project....

And one more surprise.....

A poem that I wrote for our little ones to enjoy!

           Five Silly Snakes 

Five silly snakes sliver by the shore,

Out jumps a bear and then there are... four.

Four silly snakes sliver by a tree,

Our jumps a skunk and then there are... three.

Three silly snakes don't know what to do,

One slithers away and then there are... two.

Two silly snakes laugh and have some fun,

Out jumps a fox and then there is... one.

One silly snake is feeling all alone,

Until he sees the other snakes

Have slithered...

All the way home!

Have a SUPER day!

Jen



The Letter Ss Activities: Part 1

Little man and I had fun searching for the letter S in newspaper ads. I cut out the large S and then he glued all of his finds on.

Finger painting the Swirly letter S was fun! Find out in our next post what we made with his painting.  Hint: It's an animal that begins with the letter S.

S is also for St. Patrick's Day, so I hope you have a good one! 

Unfortunately it is also for the word sick :(- we've been oh so sick this week.  It has passed one by one though the five of us- not fun. Momma held on strong until the end. 

Here's to looking forward to a better, healthier week! 

Take Care!

Jen

St. Patrick's Day Learning Center

These adorable Leprechaun hats jumped out at me at the $ store and I knew I had to create some learning fun for the kids with them. 

I created these 5 activities.....

1. Match the colored pom poms to the colors in the hats.

2.Hide one or more leprechauns under the hats.  
Have your child try to find it and then give
them a chance to hide the leprechaun.
Leprechauns from FamilyFun.

3.Use a pom pom or a gold coin
and ask your child to find the letter.



4. Count the shamrocks. 
(laminated shamrocks glued to small straws)



5.  Or just let your little one pretend to be a 
 leprechaun! 



Okay, I fibbed, I have one last activity for older kiddos.  Line up the hats in a row.  Put the number 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 inside the hats. They are going to be like targets.  Next, toss a ping pong ball or pom pom into the hats.  The smaller number will be closer and the highest number will be farther away.  Have your child toss the ball three times and add up the score.  The person with the higher number wins!

What ideas do you have for these cute little hats?

Jen

Tt is for Turtle...

Little man loves the letter Tt!  Do you want to know why?

Well, I'll  show you....

Do you know how stinkin' cute it was to hear him trying to sing this- oh my goodness!

Well, after that, I just had to do a Tt craft with him.

Turtle Craft

Materials: green and yellow construction paper, google eyes, glue, brown paint, and a sponge or large pom pom

After cutting out a half a circle for the shell, I  had little man paint brown spots on it.  He used a large pom pom. Cut out the other parts of the turtle. Cut a yellow Tt.

Let the shell dry before helping your child glue the parts together.

Last, with assistance help glue the Tt on the turtle.  Talk about the letter and the sound.

He's so proud of his Tt  turtle!

Turtle song

I had a tiny turtle,

His name was Tiny Tim.

I put him in the bathtub,

to see if he could swim.

He drank up all of the water,

He ate up all the soap,

He tied to swallow the bathtub,

But it wouldn't fit down his throat!

(different versions online)

I made a paper bathtub and acted out the song with a stuffed animal and the bathtub. I think I had more fun with this than little man.  Oh well!  Maybe your little one will like it! 

Have fun learning

with the

letter  Tt!

Great Resource- Printables and More

One of the things that I love about the education blogging world is the willingness to share ideas!  So today I'm going to share a site that I came across this week that I think will benefit educators/parents. 

Kiz  Club

The story & props link features great books with manipulatives that you can use for a felt or magnet board.  I printed out the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree with letters to laminate for little man.

I hope that you enjoy this resource. Let me know if you find anything useful!

Jen

Rr is for Robot ...

Little man LOVES robots, so it was easy for me to pick my Rr craft for him- a life size robot.  Well, at least toddler size! 

Make your own robot...

Materials: glue stick, construction paper, and scissors.  Pre-cute shapes and the letter Rr. 

Directions:
Talk to your child about the letter Rr.  Show him or her the parts of the robot.  Discuss the shapes and colors as your child glues the parts together. 

Robot coloring page

I'm sure you can find something better, but this page I drew made little man happy!

We also pretended to be robots and walked around singing..
"I'm a little robot.  I'm a little robot."


Robots Around the Web....

JDaniel4smom- Valentine's Day Robot

Down With Clutter- Card Board Robots

Homeschool Creations- Robot Preschool Pack

Nick Jr. - Widget's Build a Robot (ages 4-6)

Books I want to explore...

Robot ideas or links?  Please share!

Jen



Hh is for Hippo....

Isn't this hippo adorable? I saw this craft from DLTK and just had to have an Hh day with little man.  Plus he has really been into hippos lately since he got a super cute hippo bath set for Christmas. 

We actually only made the face, because the bottom didn't print for me for some reason. 

I also found a cute hippo song to sing from the same site.



Peanut also decided to join in on the fun and sang this song to little man...

I can spell cat..  C-A-T
I can spell hat...  H-A-T
I can spell bat... B-A-T
But I can't spell hippopotamus!!

Hippo mini- poster: And then I search online for actual pics of hippos on google images and let little man pic out his favorite images.  I printed and cut them out or him and he glued them on to paper.  Hh is for hippo is in the center of our mini-poster. 

Other activities we did we Hh-
bingo dabber letter
hopping
Hh is for happy- If your happy and your know it, clap your hands....

And here is the bath toy, he's been enjoying.  It has also been great for color recognition- hand Momma the yellow hippo, etc. or what color is that hippo? 

Bruin Whistling Hippo Bath Toys

Wish I had taken a trip to the library before doing an Hh day, but sometimes I'm just throwing things together at the last minute based on his interest that day.  Anyways- these books look adorable for a Hippo day.....

Disclaimer: I didn't receive any compensation for mentioning the above product.  It is my son's toy and he loves it, but other toddlers may not!  Also, haven't read the above books, but would like to in the near future.  :)

Ii is for ice cream and ice cubes....

Oh, I've been finding so many AWESOME ideas on your blogs and on Pinterest! Thank you, thank you, thank you.... I love this community.  Today I am excited to work on letter Ii today, because you have inspired me to do so!! 


 Here is where I found my ideas for today's letter fun with little man.....



Ii for icecream from Preschool Playbook...

   Ii is for ice cubes from H is for Homeschool....



Our snack today is going to be....

ICE CREAM- Yeah!! with sprinkles on top, of course. I'll see if little man can scoop it out and then I'll let him put on his colored sprinkles. 

I scream, you scream, we all scream for Ice cream!!

Other ideas...

*ice cream playdo cones

    review colors and poem

Ice Cream Colors

We have ice cream, the best in town,
Let us begin with chocolate brown.


Now, let us scoop us some bubble-gum pink,
It is sweet and yummy, the best, some think.


Here is ice cream minty and green,
It is the creamiest I have ever seen.


Yellow ice cream is lemony and tart,
We like its taste from the very start.


Scoops of blueberry would make my day,
Look at all this ice cream, hip, hip hurray!


Red ice cream is a strawberry delight,
All these scoops are a heavenly sight.

Vanilla white is a popular flavor,
It tastes very good to an ice-cream craver.

Purple ice cream really gives me a kick,
Good and yummy till the very last lick.


Ice cream, ice cream, what a cool sensation,
We love ice cream in any combination!


(This could also be made into a flannel board story.)
~Submitted by Cheryl's Sweethearts ChildCare

Enjoy your day!  What are your letter Ii ideas? 


Jen









Bb is for....

Day 1

*Starfall : letter B

*Review B on ABC poster. Sing ABCs. (daily)

*Bb discover bag.
*Color the letter B template- decorate. Hang on wall.
*Bb segment on video: Animal Alphabet: Learning Your ABCs with Animals
*snack: blueberries

Literature


Day 2:
*Bear: Go on a bear hunt!  Hide Teddy bears and find them. 
*Color Bear page or glue yarn pieces.  (color Brown)
*Act out the 3 bears- stick puppets. (with sisters)
*snack- teddy grahams
*song- The Bear Went Over the Mountain...

Literature



Brown Bear, Brown Bear Clip Art

Day 3:
*Bubbles and Bath
*blow bubbles outside- try different ways to make bubbles
*bubble play in bath with toys or play with bubbles on tray
*glue pictures that start with the letter Bb on a bathtub cutout


Day 4:
*Bugs-sensory bin: hide plastic bugs in colored rice or noodles- put in bug catcher
*Bumble bee- act like a bee-bzzz,bzzz
*Finger play- Here is the Beehive
*Sing "I''m bringing home my baby bumble bee...." with motions

Literature
 Buggy for books!!!!

Day 5

*Bird: Talk about pictures of different birds, backyard bird watch

*Bonnie Bluebird poem- color birds

*Play with bird and nest puppet

*Play with feathers, make a birdhead craft with the feathers

*snack- banana

Literature

Other Bb activities....
Bead Sticks from Preschool Alphabet

B is for....

Bye, Bye!!

Jen