Wednesday, October 30, 2013

October Week 4

Alphabet: letter Hh
Math: shapes (rectangle and triangle)
Theme: water transportation (boats)
Bible: creation day 6



Alphabet: 


Letter of the week box: hanger, helicopter, heart, horse, hammer, hay, hard hat, hands, and flash cards.

Give name of the object as your child takes it out of the box. Emphasize the beginning sound. Ex: "That is a hammer. /h/ /h/ /h/ hammer. Hammer starts with H" (point to the letter h on the flash card).


Letter Hh craft: H is for hearts

Have child trace finger over letter. Then add dots of glue for them to add paper hearts on the letter H.


Letter H activity: sensory tub

What's inside: hay, toy hammer, bolts, foam blocks (covered in craft paper: house), holes made in the foam blocks, and toy hand noise-makers.

I bought foam blocks and circles at the dollar store. With a knife, I cut the foam into small pieces. I wrapped the foam pieces with craft paper. Then I drew doors, windows and a roof on the blocks. 

I pre-made holes on the foam and highlighted the holes with a black sharpie.  


1. I originally bought bolts for E to use to build the homes, but the bolts were not long enough. So, I used screws we already had to build the homes. I had E find the hole, I placed the screws in the hole and E hammered them in. 

2. Then I made some foam blocks with holes for him to use the bolts with. 

3. The bolts are not sharp, and after seeing how I did it (with the screws) he knew exactly what to do. He grabbed a bolt and placed it in a hole and hammered away! He loved it!

4. I also showed him how to hold the foam block while hammering. This kept the block from moving around.

5. After all the bolts were used up and all the hammering was done, E enjoyed throwing the hay in the air! :)

*Here is an overview of the Alphabet Sensory Tubs we've done so far:




Theme:


Theme craft: Shapley Sailboat

We reviewed rectangles and triangles to make the sailboat. First E used finger paint to to paint the water. Once the paint dried we glued the shapes on.

As we worked on the shapely sailboat we talked about where do sailboats sail? On road, sky or water?

Theme activity: sensory tub

I grabbed one large boat and one small boat and placed them in E's sensory tub. On one side of the tub I filled with clean water and on the other side I filled with dirty water (chia seeds and blue food coloring was added to water).

As E played we discussed all sorts of subjects. 

We talked about the boats: which boat is the small/big one? How many boats are there? Where do boats go? On the road? In the sky? Or in the water?

Then we talked about the water: what does this water (dirty) feel like? Which water is clean/dirty?


These are books we read, throughout the month, while learning about transportation.



Bible:


Memory Verse of the Month: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth." Genesis 1:1

Memory Verse Song: "God is Creator" by Seeds Family Worship

We are continuing to talk about that God is Creator. This week we focused on the sixth day of creation. On day  6 of creation God said, ‘Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds... Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness..." (Genesis 1:24, 26 NIVUK)

As E glued the man and women on the paper, we talked about how God made people. He made boys and he made girls. He made you and he made me. 

Then we talked about that God made all the animals in the world. As E placed an animal sticker on the paper, I would ask him what animal that was. He would respond, and I would tell him that God made that animal. As he was finishing I asked him these type of questions: Who made people? Who made all the animals? Who made you? Who made me? 






What a blessed week! 
The first week in November we will learn about community helpers transportation. 

Thanks for your support and stopping by! Hope these ideas inspire you!  

Blessings,
Erica


Love to hear from you!


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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

October Week 3

Alphabet: letter Gg
Math: number 4, counting with pumpkins and shapely pumpkin craft
Theme: air transportation 
Bible: creation day 5



Alphabet:


Letter of the week box: glue, glue stick, gift, green, garbage can, golf ball, golf club, girl, goose, gorilla shirt, guitar, flash cards.


Letter Gg Craft: sprinkle gold glitter on letter G {I added the glue on the G and my son loved sprinkling the glitter over the G}

Letter Gg Activity: sensory tub


***Update: a week after posting this, I found a recipe for ALL natural, safe and edible Gak!!! Oh how I wish I had this recipe a week earlier! The recipe is by Fun At Home With Kids. Here is the pin from Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/345721708866346627/
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What is inside the sensory tub: Green Gak, Gold plastic beads (from an old cheap plastic necklace we already had), two googly eyes, glitter, letter G magnet and a plastic knife for play.

I found this recipe for GAK on Pinterest. This recipe is very easy and simple to make! You will need Elmer's glue, borax and water.

E loved pushing the beads into the Gak and then cutting the Gak into pieces. 


Math: 


Math activity: counting with pumpkins

I drew four pumpkins on a piece of card stock paper and numbered the pumpkins 1-4. I paired it with a bowl of plastic pumpkins, pumpkin ice cube tray and tongs. 

Number 4 Activity and Craft: count four pumpkin stickers and add them on a number four cut out. 


Shape Craft: shapely pumpkin


This was a fun and easy way to review shapes! 



Theme:


All week we played with airplanes: at home, in the bath, at restaurants, in the car and so on! As he played with them I would ask him questions like: where do airplanes fly? Do airplanes fly in the sky? In the clouds? Do airplanes fly in Water? Do airplanes fly on the road? 


For this activity I created an airport landing strip with painters tape. At one end I had 4 (number of the week!) airplanes covered with cotton balls (clouds!) in a small plastic container. E would find an airplane,in the clouds, and have it fly out to land on the airport strip. He would have it park at the end or fly back again in the clouds. E had a blast flying the airplanes in the air and hiding them in the clouds.


Memory Verse of the Month: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth." Genesis 1:1

Memory Verse Song: "God is Creator" by Seeds Family Worship

We are continuing to talk about that God is Creator. This week we focused on the fifth day of creation. On day five of creation God said, "let the waters teem with living creatures, and let the birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky."

As I played the scripture song E placed the bird stickers in the sky and the fish stickers in the water on the paper. When the song ended we talked about who made the fish? Who made the birds? We also talked about that fish live in water and birds fly in the sky.




What a blessed week! 
For the fourth week of October we will learn about water transportation. 

Thanks for your support and stopping by! Hope these ideas inspire you!  

Blessings,
Erica


Love to hear from you!



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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Busy Bags: Pizza Pizza!


Pizza Pizza!

Materials:
Felt or flannel squares in-
Light brown
Bright red
Yellow 
Dark red 
&
Scissors


Directions:
This is very easy and simple to put together! Cut a circle out of the light brown felt square (I used a small plate to trace). Cut another square, just a bit smaller, out of the bright red felt. Cut small circles from the dark red felt (I used a jumbo glue stick cap to trace). Then from the yellow felt, cut small strips for cheese. 

That's it! So simple and easy!

*I chose to keep the pizza as one whole pie, for now. You can cut the two circles (tan and bright red) into four pizza slices!

{this learning activity craft was inspired by a Little Family Fun Pinterest post}

Thanks for your support and stopping by! Hope these ideas inspire you!

Blessings,
Erica


Love to hear from you!


Monday, October 14, 2013

October Week 2

Alphabet: Ff
Science: pumpkin report
Math: measuring and sizing
Theme: pumpkins
Field Trip: pumpkin patch


Alphabet:

Letter of the week box: fish, fishing pole, farmer, fire truck, football, fly, fork, flower, and flash cards.

Letter Ff craft: F is for feathers


Letter Ff Activity: sensory tub

What's inside: 
Foam, fish and fishing poles, the number four and five.

To make the foam you will need:
Blender 
Dish soap 
Water
Food coloring

I got this recipe from Learn Play Imagine. Her recipe called for 1Tbs of dish soap to a little bit of water. I use Trader Joes' dish soap (which doesn't foam much) I had to add 4-5 Tbs of dish soap to about 1/4 cup (or less) or water. Just blend on high until it stops foaming, about 2-4 min (I didn't keep time!)

I repeated this about 5 times and didn't get a lot of foam, but it worked for the time being. I might need to get the good stuff next time I want to make foam. I added the foam to the sensory tub with the letter Ff items. E played with the foam for a bit and then I added water, which he enjoyed more.


Theme: 

Field trip: pumpkin patch

We started the week with a trip to our local pumpkin patch. E loved the pumpkin patch!  We talked about the different colors, shapes and names of pumpkins. E also loved playing on the tractors and climbing the hay bale hill to ring the bell!

Theme Activity: pumpkin report




This is a fun science activity, which I've done many variations of, to study the ins and outs of a pumpkin.

E learned the parts of a pumpkin: stem, skin, flesh and seeds.

He learned shapes (circle, rectangle), sizes, length, width and so much more in this one activity. This activity did take a few days to finish! A two year old's attention span is not very long! But it was lots of fun!

*This activity idea came from The Mailbox. My favorite teaching resource! ;)

Fine Motor/Life Skill Activity: Pumpkin Sweep


I found these cute little acrylic pumpkins in the dollar bin at Target. I wasn't sure what I going to do with them, but I just couldn't pass them up. The next day I found the small green garbage can and hand sweeper at CVS. E loved this activity! He swept, scooped, poured and tossed the pumpkins in and out of the garbage can. He also really loved the fact he could open and close it!





This was a busy week, we didn't get around to doing Bible! Next week we will continue to talk about transportation. We will focus on air transportation.


Thanks for your support and stopping by! Love to hear from you! 

Blessings,
Erica


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Wednesday, October 9, 2013

October Week 1

Alphabet: Ee
Math: counting 1-5, #3, shapes
Theme: land transportation - cars
Bible: creation day 4


Alphabet:

Letter of the week box: envelope, egg, emerald, elephant, evergreen tree, flash cards


Ee Snack: Egg

My son was very interested in the egg object in the letter of the week box! 

First, I cracked the egg into a small bowl. I pointed out the parts of the egg: shell, egg yolk, and egg white. Shared with him that eggs come from chickens.

Then I had him stir the egg with one of his small forks.

I placed the egg in a small saucepan on the stove. I placed him on a high chair so he could see the egg cooking. But kept a close eye that he did not touch the burner! I let him stir the egg in the pan as well.

Once the egg was done, I placed it on a plate for him to eat! 

As he ate the egg he watched Elle the elephant eat her eggs on the UTube video: "The E song", by KidsTv123
The video encouraged him to eat all the scrambled eggs! My son usually does not care for eggs ;)


Ee Craft: E is for eggs


Ee Activity: Sensory tub


What's inside: elbow macaroni, three empty envelopes, three empty eggs, 4 eggs with evergreen trees, 4 envelopes with items starting with E (egg, eggplant, 11, and evergreen), and scoopers.



My son loved to open the eggs and envelopes to find treasures inside. It was too cute when he would open an empty envelope or egg he would say, "Oh no! Missing!" 

I cut out four items that start with E (eggplant, eleven, evergreen, and egg) and placed them each inside an envelope. Has he opened an envelope he would match that item onto the outline. In advanced I traced each item on the card stock paper.


Math:



Number Activity and Counting Craft: counting with cars


Shapes: truck




Theme:


Theme craft: shapely truck (see above in math)

Theme activity: floor road made with masking tape.

E loved driving the cars on the road. We discussed sizes of cars: small, medium or large. E balanced while walking on the road (not to veer off) and discussed directions: turn right, turn left or go straight. 


Theme Activity: sensory tub


What's inside: 

Erupting soap: baking soda, water and blue food coloring. Mix and pour in muffin tin or container.

Paint brush for washing

Baking soda to sprinkle all over cars

Squeeze bottles with vinegar

Extra vinegar for pouring 

*the inspiration for this idea came from a Pinterest pin pic from What We Do All Day.


Bible:


Memory Verse of the Month: "in the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth." Genesis 1:1

Memory Verse Song: "God is Creator" by Seeds Family Worship

We are continuing to talk about that God is Creator. This week we focused on the fourth day of creation. On day four of creation God said, "let there be lights in the...sky to separate the day from the night..."




What a great week! 
For the second week of October we will learn about pumpkins! Stay tuned for our Pumpkin Report.

Thanks for your support and stopping by!  I would love to hear from you, like My Little Sonbeam in Facebook.

Blessings,
Erica


Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Game: Noisy or Quiet?





Materials:
-Tin container with lid
-Quiet and noisy items from around the house

What I placed in the tray
Quiet Items: tissue paper, card stock paper, straw, foam number 1, plastic fly, tin foil, wax paper, pom pom ball, sticker, and pipe cleaner.

Noisy Items: coin, apple button, earring, car, basketball easer, whistle, plastic letter D, small metal cookie cutter, and glass pebble.

*I found this small (magnetic) tin container at Michaels in the dollar bins.


How to play:
I had E place an item in the container and he would shake it to see if the item is quiet or noisy. 

To begin I placed an item in the container, shook it and said, "This is noisy!" And then I I took that item out and replaced it with a quiet item, shook it and said, "This item is quiet."

I asked him if he would like to try. Of course he did! He would pick an item to place in the container and as he shook it I would state wether the item was noisy or loud. Then I would prompt him by asking if the item was noisy or quiet.











*This would be a great game activity when learning the five senses: the sense of hearing. Throughout the month I will share game activities for the sense of taste, sight, touch and smell. :)

Thanks for your support and stopping by! Love to hear from you. 

Blessings,
Erica