Glitter Pine cone!

Day 2 of the week - The theme this week is Fall! The letter of the week is N, n and the number of the week is 12.

Project - Glitter Pine cone - I took two pine cones and coated each one with craft glue. Then Connor and Lauren sprinkled each pine cone with glitter. We set each pine cone in a bowl, so they wouldn't make a huge mess. Materials Needed - pine cones, glitter, craft glue, bowl

Learning Activities - I have been using the workbook Everything for Early Learning Preschool workbook. (I purchased it at Wal-Mart)
Today's Activities:

• The letter N, n - writing, recognition, following directions
• The number 12 - recognition, counting, writing
• Tracing lines - fine motor skills, following directions
• The concept Left - following directions, cutting, pasting, recognition

Fall Painting!

Day 1 of the week - The theme this week is Fall! The letter of the week is N, n and the number of the week is 12.
Project - Fall Painting. Connor and Lauren painted a trunk of a tree on blue construction paper. Then they used leaf, ghost, bat, pumpkin shape cookie cutter to make a fall scene. They also used star and moon shape sponges to make decorate their paper. Connor made his own leaves with his paint brush!! They had fun creating a fall/Halloween scene.
Materials Needed - blue construction paper, paint, cookie cutters, sponge shapes, paint brushes Connor and Lauren's paintings'

Learning Activities - I have been using the workbook Everything for Early Learning Preschool workbook. (I purchased it at Wal-Mart)

Today's Activities:

• The letter N, n - writing, recognition
• The number 12 - recognition, counting, writing
• The concept Right - recognition, following directions, cutting and pasting
• Tracing lines - fine motor skills, following directions

Scarecrow Cookies!

Day 3 of the week - The theme this week if Fall! The letter of the week is M, m and the number of the week is 11.
Project/Treat - Scarecrow Cookies - I saw these treats in the October 2005 issue of Family Fun magazine and I have been wanting to make them, but I wanted the kids to be able to actively participate in the treat making. Here are the directions. 1. Frost the top of each cookie 2. Cut a wafer cookie in half. Add a dollop of frosting to the top edge of the round cookie and stick a wafer half to it for a hat top. 3. Place a whole wafer cookie just below the hat top for a brim. 4. Press chocolate sprinkles into the frosting for hair - around the hat. 5. For the face, press on a candy corn nose, mini-M&M eyes, and a chocolate sprinkles stitched mouth. You can find the step-by-step instructions on the http://www.familyfun.go.com/ - search for Sweet Scarecrows. Ingredients - round cookies, white frosting, assorted sugar wafers, candy corn, mini M&M's, chocolate sprinkles. (I substituted ingredients - the original ingredients used mini chocolate chips - for the eyes and Bran cereal - for the hair)

One of Lauren's Cookies'

Connor and Lauren decorating the cookies

One of Connor's Cookies'

Learning Activities - I have been using the workbook Everything for Early Learning Preschool workbook. (I purchased it at Wal-Mart)
Today's Activities:
The letter M, m - beginning sound
The number 11 - counting, recognition, writing, following directions
Rhyming - following directions, recognition
The concept between - recognition, following directions, cutting and pasting

Acorn Frame!

Day 2 of the week - The theme this week is Fall! The letter of the week is M, m and the number of the week is 11.
Project - Acorn Frame - We collected Acorns, then we glued 4 large craft sticks together to make a square frame. Then I applied craft glue all over the craft sticks and Connor and Lauren glued the acorns to the craft stick frame. Materials Needed - acorns, large craft sticks, hot glue, craft glue THE ACORN FRAMES!

Learning Activities - I have been using the workbook Everything for Early Learning Preschool workbook. (I purchased it at Wal-Mart)

Today's Activities:

1. The letter M, m - writing, recognition, beginning sounds
2. The number 11 - recognition, counting, writing
3. Rhyming - recognition, following directions
4. The concept behind - recognition, following directions, cutting and pasting

Leaf Prints and Window Leaves!

Day 1 of the week - The theme this week is Fall - again!! The letter of the week is M, m and the number of the week is 11.
Project - Leaf Prints and Window Leaves - I traced leaf shapes onto coffee filters and cut them out (2 per child). Connor and Lauren colored the leaves with markers. I mixed 1 part glue with one part water ( I used 1/2 T. of glue and water). Connor and Lauren used paint brushes to paint the colored side of each of their leaves with the glue/water mixture. Then, they placed the wet leaves one at a time face down on a white sheet of paper. We covered each leaf with plastic wrap and Connor and Lauren rubbed the leaves/plastic wrap to transfer the pattern onto the paper. We were able to get 2 prints from each leaf. Finally, we saved the colored leaves to use as window decorations! Materials needed - coffee filters, pencil, scissors, white paper, markers, glue, water, small container, paint brushes, plastic wrap.

Leaf Window Decorations!

The Leaf Prints

Learning Activities - I have been using the workbook Everything for Early Learning Preschool workbook. (I purchased it at Wal-Mart)

Today's Activities:

The letter M, m - recognition, writing

The number 11 - recognition, counting, writing

Rhyming - following directions, recognition

Line Drawing - straight lines, curvy lines

The concept Beside - recognition, following directions, cutting and pasting

Cork Squirrel!

Day 3 of the week - The theme this week is Fall! The letter of the week is L, l, and the number of the week is 11.
Project - Cork Squirrel. Connor and Lauren stretched a cotton ball out to make the tail for their squirrels. They used brown marker to add color to the tail. Then they glued the tail to the side of their cork. Next, they glued 2 googly eyes, a brown foam circle for the nose ( I used a hole punch to make the nose), and two pointy ears from brown foam (I cut out the ears from the foam). They thought their squirrels looked pretty funny!! Materials Needed - cork, googly eyes, cotton ball, tiny brown foam circle -or tiny brown pom-pom, brown foam, brown marker, scissors and glue.

The finished squirrels!

Learning Activities - I have been using the workbook Everything for Early Learning Preschool workbook. (I purchased it at Wal-Mart)

Today's Activities:

1. The letter L, l - beginning sounds
2. The concept farthest - recognition, following directions

Golf Ball Painted Leaves!

Day 2 of the week - the theme this week is Fall. The letter of the week is L, l and the number of the week is 11.

Project - Golf Ball Painted Leaves. I found a leaf coloring page ( http://www.coloring.ws/simple_shapes.htm ) printed it out, cut it out, traced it onto 2 pieces of white paper. Connor and Lauren cut out their leaf. I placed their cut out leaves in the bottom of large shallow bowl. They rolled 3 golf balls in red, yellow and orange paint. Then, 1 at a time, they rolled the golf balls onto their leaves - by rolling the bowl or using their hands to roll the balls. The golf balls leave cool prints on the leaves. After the leaves were almost covered, I took them out of the bowls and let them dry. When they were dry, Connor and Lauren glued their leaves onto a piece of colored construction paper, cut around the construction paper with fun scissors, and wrote the word "leaf." Materials Needed - Leaf template http://www.coloring.ws/simple_shapes.htm , white paper, scissors, marker, red, yellow, orange paint, 3 golf balls, large shallow bowl/container, 3 plates (to roll the golf balls in paint on), glue, fun scissors

The Finished Fall Leaves

Learning Activities - I have been using the workbook Everything for Early Learning Preschool workbook. (I purchased it at Wal-Mart)

Today's Activities:

The letter L, l - writing, recognition, upper and lower case, following directions

The concept above - recognition, cutting, pasting, following directions

Sponge Painted Acorn!

Day 1 0f the week - The theme this week is Fall! The letter of the week is L, l and the number of the week is 11.
Project - Sponge Painted Acorn - I drew a large acorn on a sheet of white paper (1 acorn for each child). Then Connor and Lauren cut their acorns' out. Next, they used a small piece of sponge to paint the "stem" of the acorn a dark brown, and the "nut" of the acorn a lighter brown. After the paint dried, they glued the acorn onto a piece of colored construction paper.
Materials Needed - white paper, marker, brown paint (2 shades), scissors, sponges, glue, colored construction paper.

Lauren's Acorn!

Learning Activities - I have been using the workbook Everything for Early Learning Preschool workbook. (I purchased it at Wal-Mart)

Today's Activities:

1. The letter L, l - writing, recognition
2. Rhyming - recognition, following directions
3. The concept below - recognition, cutting, pasting
4. The concept nearest - recognition, following directions
   

Fall Tree!

Day 2 of our week - (only 2 days this week due to Labor Day). The theme this week is Fall! The letter of the week is K, k, and the numbers of the week are 0-10.
Project - Fall Tree. I used a brown marker to draw a trunk of a tree on white construction paper. Connor and Lauren colored the trunk in with brown marker. Then they ripped, pink, red, yellow, orange and brown construction paper into little pieces. They had a blast doing this, and they ended up with nice piles of paper. Then I squeezed glue on the top of the trunks and Connor and Lauren placed, scattered, dropped, mashed the ripped paper pieces on the glue. They even added ripped paper on the bottom of the tree and some pieces falling from the tree. The end result is a fall tree. Before we started the project, we talked about fall, and what happens to some of the trees in the fall. Materials Needed - white construction paper, different colored construction paper, glue, brown marker

The finished projects

Learning Activities - I have been using the workbook Everything for Early Learning Preschool workbook. (I purchased it at Wal-Mart)

Today's Activities:
The letter K, k - recognition, following directions, beginning sound
The numbers 0-10 - recognition
The concept same - recognition, following directions
The concepts front and back - recognition, following directions, cutting and pasting

Cut and Paste Scarecrow!

Day 1 of our 2 day week - The theme this week is Fall! The letter of the week is K, k and the numbers of the week are 0-10.
Project - Cut and Paste Scarecrow! I drew and cut a body shape, hat, shirt, pants, shoes, triangle nose and yellow two inch strips (the straw stuffing). Connor and Lauren used the body shape as a sort of paper doll, but instead of just dressing the scarecrow, they glued the clothes, hat, shoes nose and "straw" onto the paper scarecrow. We used googly eyes and drew a mouth on the scarecrow. Connor and Lauren loved dressing their Scarecrow! Materials Needed - construction paper (various colors, scissors, pencil, glue stick, googly eyes)

The Scarecrow

Learning Activities - I have been using the workbook Everything for Early Learning Preschool workbook. (I purchased it at Wal-Mart)

Today's Activities:

The letter K, k - writing, recognition

The numbers 0-5 - recognition, counting, writing, following directions, cutting and pasting

The concept different - following directions, recognition
The concepts inside and outside - recognition, cutting, pasting, following directions

Book Buddies!

Day 3 of the week - The theme for this week is School! The letter of the week is J, j and the numbers of the week are 1 and 0.
Project - Book Buddies. I found the idea for this project in the March 2009 issue of Parents Magazine (http://www.parentsmag.com/). You can print the templates for the animals off of the website under the March 2009 website (Book Buddies). I traced the elephant and ladybug head template onto craft foam and cut the heads out. Then Lauren and Connor glued the faces and other details onto a matching colored craft stick. (I used a hole punches for the eyes, cut small round circles for the ladybug, cut two circles for the faces of the elephant and ladybug, and used star shape beads for the inside of the elephants ears). This project is really simple. Connor and Lauren had fun picking out with animal they wanted to make - they wanted to make more. We will save the rest for another day. The Book Buddies are supposed to be used as bookmarks, but Connor and Lauren are using the elephant and ladybug as puppets! Material Needed - colored craft sticks, craft foam (or colored paper), craft glue, scissors, Book Buddies template (from http://www.parentsmag.com/ under March 2009 issue - Book Buddies Template)

I told Connor not to make a funny face!

The ladybug and elephant! Bookmarks/Puppets

Learning Activities - I have been using the workbook Everything for Early Learning Preschool workbook. (I purchased it at Wal-Mart)

Today's Activities:

The letter J, j - beginning sounds,

Letter review - recognition, matching

The numbers 0 and 1 - writing, recognition, counting, following directions

The concept different - recognition, following directions

The concepts above and under - recognition, following directions, cutting and pasting

Craft Stick Easel

Day 2 of the week - Our theme this week is School! The letter of the week is J, j and the numbers of the week are 1 and 0.
Project - Craft Stick Easel - Connor and Lauren painted 4 large craft sticks. After the painted sticks were dry, I hot glued two of the craft sticks together at the top to form an upside down V. Then I hot glued a craft stick to the top back of the upside down v to prop up the easel. Last, I hot glued the fourth stick across the front to create a shelf. Then I had Connor and Lauren draw a picture to display on their new easel. I "matted" the drawing on colored paper - to be more decorative. Lauren drew a frog and Connor drew a one-eyed monster!

Materials Needed - 4 large craft sticks per project, hot glue gun, paint, paint brushes, paper, markers, scissors

Connor and Lauren with their easel's and artwork!

Connor's one-eyed monster and Lauren's frog

Learning Activities - I have been using the workbook Everything for Early Learning Preschool workbook. (I purchased it at Wal-Mart)

Today's Activities:

The letter J, j - writing, recognition, following directions

The number 1 - writing, counting, following directions

The concept less - recognition, following directions

The concept different - recognition, following directions

The concept under - recognition, following directions, cutting and pasting