Flying Saucer CD!

I hadn't cut the hole in the top of the container for the alien yet!

Day 3 of the week - The theme this week is Outer Space. The letters of the week are 0, P, p the number of the week is 13.

Project - Flying Saucer CD- This is the last formal day of our Space theme. Connor loved all of the Space stuff - especially the idea of Aliens, so I thought we would end our theme with a Flying Saucer. I've seen the idea for making a flying saucer out of CD's on numerous sites, but I "created" our own flying saucer with our left over and random materials and got to work. Directions: Glue 2 CD's together (shiny side facing out), glue milk cap onto bottom center, and applesauce container on the top center. Add foam shapes all over the flying saucer. Cut a hole in the top of the applesauce container for the alien! (You can use any materials you have lying around the house for this project!) Materials Needed - 2 CD's, 1 milk cap, 1 applesauce container, foam shapes, craft glue, scissors, Alien - optional!

Learning Activities:

Today's Activities:

Numbers - 13, one more, one fewer

Reading Readiness - next to,in front of, in back of

Beginning Sounds - Consonant Review
Colors -brown
Writing Letters -Lowercase p

Moonscape!

Day 2 of the week - The theme this week is Outer Space. The letters of the week are 0, P, p the number of the week is 13.
Project - Moonscape- Today we focused on the moon. We had checked out some "moon" books at the library and have been reading the books the last couple of days. Connor has a good amount of knowledge about the moon now! Our project today is called moonscapes, I saw it on the site http://prekinders.com/spaceunit.htm Directions: take Model Magic and flatten it out. Place it on a paper plate. Use small rocks, and a toothpicks to make "craters" and other indentations in it. Then paint with gray paint. We made our own American Flag and stuck it in the painted moon. Materials Needed - model magic, gray paint, small rocks, toothpick, paper plate, paint brush

Learning Activities:
Today's Activities:
Numbers - 13, number review, more, counting, one-to-one matching
Reading Readiness - near, far
Beginning Sounds - Vowel Review

Colors -brown

Writing Letters - Uppercase P

Cardboard Tube Rocket Ship!

Day 1 of the week - The theme this week is Outer Space. The letters of the week are 0, P, p the number of the week is 13.

Project - Cardboard Tube Rocket Ship- I always save my paper towel cardboard tubes, just in case I need one for a craft. I knew that we could make a really cool rocket out of a tube, but I wanted to find easy to follow, kid-friendly directions. I found the perfect step-by-step directions on www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/astronomy.shtml The directions are very easy to follow, and they even give step-by-step diagrams - not that you really need them, since this project is very easy. Connor and I constructed this rocket ship in less than 10 minutes. He added stickers for decorations and started playing with his rocket ship immediately! Materials Needed - cardboard tube, construction paper, tape, scissors, stickers, markers

Learning Activities:

Today's Activities:

Numbers - 13, number review, writing, counting one-to-one matching

Reading Readiness - bottom, low, high

Beginning Sounds - Consonant Review

Colors -blue
Writing Letters - lowercase o

Ice Cream Pail Alien!

Project - Ice Cream Pail Alien - Instead of throwing away our empty ice cream pail I decided to put it to good use. Connor chose to make an Alien "helmet" out of it. Directions: I cut slanted eyes out of the pail. Then we covered the entire pail with green felt. Connor added tri-beads and two green antenna's (chenille stems) for finishing touches.

Materials Needed - Ice cream pail, green felt, craft glue, scissors, green chenille stems, tri-beads

Mosaic Paper Earth!

Day 3 of the week - The theme this week is Outer Space. The letters of the week are J, j, O the number of the week is 12.
Project - Mosaic Paper Earth- Before we started the project. Connor, Lauren and I talked about the planets in our solar system. When we talked about Earth, I asked them what colors they see when you see Earth from space. They both said, green and blue! Connor is really getting into this outer space theme. At the library today, he found a lot of space books, including a huge book about the moon. We read the moon book this afternoon and he had a ton of questions. I think we will have to do a craft about the moon next week.

Directions: Connor and Lauren ripped blue and green construction paper into small pieces. I traced a circle onto white card stock (I actually traced the lid to my smallest cooking pot!) Connor and Lauren cut out their circles and glued the green and blue paper pieces onto their circle. Once the circle was covered, Connor and Lauren glued the covered circle (Earth) onto a piece of black construction paper. Then, to work on their writing and letter skills, they each wrote the word "Earth" beneath their Earth with chalk! Materials Needed - blue, green and black construction paper, white card stock, glue stick, scissors, white chalk

Gluing the paper pieces The finished mosaic projects

Learning Activities:

Today's Activities:

Handwriting - tracing lines

Numbers - 12, counting, writing numbers

Reading Readiness - on top

Colors -yellow and blue, coloring, writing, recognition

Writing Letters -Uppercase O

Pom Pom Frog and Rock Frog!

Pom Pom Frog and Rock Frog!

***This is a project that we did back in July of 2009. I was looking at my older posts and I came across this one. The frogs were easy to make, so cute and fun, so I thought I would post this project again. Lauren especially loved her little frogs!

Day 3 of our Week - Our theme this week is Ponds! Our letter of the week is the letter B, and the numbers of the week are 7 and 8 and 0-10.

Project - Pom pom frog. I traced a top from a soup can onto green foam and cut a triangle shape out of it. Then Connor and Lauren glued 1 large green pom pom onto the lily pad with hot glue ( I helped). Then they glued 2 googly eyes onto 2 small green pom poms with hot glue. Then they glued the two pom poms onto the large green pom pom to finish the project! Materials needed - green foam, 1 large green pom pom, 2 small green pom poms, 2 googly eyes, scissors, hot glue or craft glue.

Project - Rock Frog. Connor and Laurent found two smooth rocks by our driveway. They painted their rock green and let dry. Then I drew a frog body onto green foam (2 front legs, and 2 hind legs). After the painted rock was dry, Connor and Lauren used the hot glue gun to glue on googly eyes. (I helped) Then, they glued the rock to the foam from body and the project was done!! Very simple, but fun. They wanted to make more. Materials needed - smooth rock, googly eyes, green craft foam, scissors, green paint, paintbrush, hot glue or craft glue.

Connor and Lauren's completed frogs!

Additional websites for a pond theme unit - http://www.prekinders.com/pondlifeunit.htm http://www.thevirtualvine.com/frogs.html

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 numbers 0-10 - number recognition, fine-motor skills

2. Matching like items - matching and fine-motor skills

3. The letter B, b - recognizing the letter B, b.

4. Shape - Rectangle - recognition.

I always do letter/number reviews and they always write their names.

Name Rocket Ship!

Day 2 of the week - The theme this week is Outer Space. The letters of the week are J, j, O the number of the week is 12. Project - Name Rocket Ship- I saw this craft on the website http://www.prekinders.com/ under the Space theme. Before making the rocket ship, Connor, Lauren and I counted backward from 10 and blasted off like a rocket ship -they thought this was hilarious!

Directions: Connor and Lauren cut out 6 squares each (one square for each letter in their name). Then they glued the squares onto a piece of white paper. They glued a larger paper triangle on the top of the squares and two smaller triangles underneath the squares. Next, they wrote their names on the squares - 1 letter to each square. As a finishing touch they used gray and orange marker to add smoke and fire to the bottom of their rocket ships. Materials Needed - 1 large piece of white paper, colored construction paper (for the squares and triangles), glue stick, black, orange and gray markers

Learning Activities: Today's Activities:
Handwriting - tracing lines
Numbers - 12, and one to one matching, number matching, and counting
Reading Readiness - on top
Colors -yellow, coloring, writing, recognition
Writing Letters - Lowercase j

Coffee Filter Planet!

Day 1 of the week - The theme this week is Outer Space. The letters of the week are J, j, O the number of the week is 12.
Project - Coffee Filter Planet- I saw this craft on the website http://www.prekinders.com/ under the Space theme. Before making the planet. Connor, Lauren and I discussed things that are in space and then we named the planets - Connor even told me that Pluto isn't a planet anymore, because it burned out!

Directions: Connor and Lauren painted a coffee filter with watercolor paints. When the coffee filter was dry, they glued the painted filter onto black paper. They used white chalk to make stars. Then, they each named their planet. Lauren's is "Quanky" and Connor's is "Butterk" - I think they are great names! Materials Needed - coffee filters, water color paint, paint brushes, water, black paper, white chalk, glue stick

Learning Activities:
Today's Activities:
Handwriting - tracing lines

Numbers - 12, and one to one matching

Reading Readiness - up and down
Colors -purple

Writing Letters - Uppercase J

Glitter Heart Bugs!

Day 3 of the week - The theme this week is Valentines Day. The letters of the week are d, G, g the number of the week is 11.

Project - Glitter Heart Bugs- Thursday is our busy day. Lauren doesn't arrive until 11:00, we have story time at the library, so that pushes lunch and nap time back, by the time Lauren and Addie wake up from their naps, there isn't much of the day left! So, I guess what I am trying to say is, today is our "speed craft day." Again, I am using the foam glitter sticky hearts. We have a lot of them and they are really cute. This is a super easy craft - Connor and Lauren did the whole thing themselves! I actually think for being a "speed craft" it turned out pretty cute!

Directions

1. Stick 3 medium glitter foam sticker hearts on top of one another to form the body.

2. Stick a larger foam glitter sticker heart on top of the 3 "body"hearts for the head.

3. Glue googly eyes and a mouth on to the head. (I just cut a rounded sliver out of an extra foam glitter sticker heart)

4. Cut a pipe cleaner into 1 inch pieces (2 for each bug) and curl with a pencil. Then stick the 2 curled pipe cleaners onto the back of the bug's head.

5. Stick 2 larger foam glitter sticker hearts onto the sides of the bug (for wings).

6. Glue glittery or sparkly beads onto the wings.

7. OPTIONAL - Glue a magnet on the back!

Materials Needed - Glitter foam sticker hearts - 3 smaller, 3 larger, googly eyes, sparkly beads, pipe cleaner, glue

Learning Activities: Today's Activities:

Handwriting - tracing shapes

Numbers- number review, writing

Colors - red, writing, coloring, recognition

Reading Readiness -up and down

Different Shapes -shape review

Writing Letters - lowercase g

Cookie Cutter Valentines, A Card for Daddy!

Project - Cookie Cutter Valentines - I saw these in the Family Fun Magazine (issue February 2007) www.familyfun.com/magazine Connor is going to give these to his two preschool teachers for Valentines Day. Directions 1. Connor traced the inside of each cookie cutter and cut the heart shapes out. 2. I wrote "Cut out to be my Valentine" on the center of each heart. 3. I punched a hole in the top corner of each heart and strung red ribbon through the hole and tied it to each cookie cutter heart. These are super easy and cute - I hope his teachers like them! Materials needed - cookie cutter, red ribbon, hole punch, card stock, scissors, pencil, red marker

Project - Card for Daddy - Instead of buying a card for my husband this year (from the kids) we made one - it is simple and it is using up a little of our left overs, but oh well, he won't know! Connor sponge painted a paper heart with pink and purple paint. After it was dry, he glued it onto a piece of card stock that I had folded into a card shape. Then, he stuck on 2 large glitter, foam hearts. These have been used a lot in our Valentines Day projects, but they are really cute and we have a lot of them. In the inside, we wrote, "We Love You, Happy Valentines Day." Materials Needed - card stock, pink and purple hearts, 2 foam hearts, white paper

Mutts About You!

Project - Mutts About You - Connor's preschool class is having it's Valentines Day on Friday, so we decided to make Valentines, instead of buying them! I took out all of the ideas I have been saving over the last 4 years and Connor chose this cute dog idea from the February 2006 issue of Family Fun Magazine. http://www.familyfun.com/magazine So, we gathered our materials and got to work. Materials Needed - white or beige card stock, brown card stock, red foam sticky hearts, googly eyes, scissors, glue stick, candy, tape
Directions -
1.Cut a large heart from white or beige card stock (I traced a very large heart cookie cutter - about 4 1/2 inches wide). Cut 2 smaller, longer heart-shaped ears from brown card stock.
2.Glue the ears and googly eyes and stick the red foam heart nose to the large heart (the magazine calls to cut a red heart out of card stock, but the sticky foam heart is easier).
3.Tape a piece of candy (we used skittles, the magazine used Kit Kat) to the back of the heart so one end sticks out below the mouth like a tongue. (I rounded the edges of the candy a little bit. You can also add a message and names to the ears of the back of the heart - I am not sure what we will be writing just yet!

You are my Sole mate!

Day 2 of the week - The theme this week is Valentines Day. The letters of the week are d, G, g the number of the week is 11.
Project - You are my Sole mate- I saw this craft on the blog http://www.momentsofmommyhood.blogspot.com/ I thought it was adorable! Directions: I painted the kid's feet and stamped them onto a large white, heart doily in a heart shape (Addie's on a white paper heart). Then, the kids glued the footprint doily heart onto red and pink construction paper. I wrote, "You are my sole mate!" next to the doily heart along with each child's name and date. Lauren added red glitter for "toe nail polish" on her toes. Thanks again to http://www.momentsofmommyhood.blogspot.com/ for the great idea. Check out her blog too - it is great! Materials Needed - Red and pink construction paper, marker, glue stick, red paint, large white heart shape doily

Addie's finished project!

Learning Activities:
Today's Activities:
Handwriting - tracing shapes
Numbers- number review, writing
Colors - red, writing, coloring, recognition
Reading Readiness -up and down
Different Shapes -shape review
Writing Letters - uppercase G

Heart Name Caterpillar!

Day 1 of the week - The theme this week is Valentines Day. The letters of the week are d, G, g the number of the week is 11.

Project/Learning Activity - Heart Name Caterpillar- I saw this craft on the website http://www.pre-kpages.com/ under the Valentines Day theme. Directions: I traced 1 larger heart on colored construction paper for each child. Then, I traced a smaller heart cookie cutter onto colored construction paper - enough for each letter in Connor and Lauren's names. (I used white, red and pink paper). Connor and Lauren cut out the hearts. Next, they created a pattern with the colored hearts, using the larger heart as the starting point. Then, they glued the hearts together - larger heart as the head and the smaller hearts for the caterpillars body. Next, they spelled out their names using foam letters and placed them on the large and smaller hearts (the first letter acts as the nose for the caterpillar). Then, they added curled,1 inch, red pipe cleaners on the back of the head with tape. Finally, they drew eyes (or googly eyes), and a mouth for the caterpillars face. Connor named his caterpillar Googly - and Lauren gave her caterpillar a kiss. This activity focused on patterns, names and cutting. Materials Needed - Red, white and pink construction paper, marker, glue stick, scissors, googly eyes (optional), foam letters, red pipe cleaner, tape

Learning Activities:

Today's Activities:

Handwriting - tracing shapes
Numbers- number review, writing

Reading Readiness -belongs with and in and out

Different Shapes -shape review
Writing Letters - lowercase d

Mosaic Paper Heart!

Project - Mosaic Paper Heart - This is another project from a couple of years back. Connor was only 22 months when he made this paper heart. Directions - I ripped different shades of red construction paper into pieces. I drew a large Heart on white paper. Connor used a glue stick to glue the ripped paper onto the heart shape. I remember that Connor didn't have much of an attention span for this project, but he still did a good job - I think I will try this project with him again, now that he is almost 5! Materials Needed - white paper, red, maroon, pink construction paper, red marker, glue stick

Stamped Heart Hanging!

Project - Stamped Heart Hanging - This is a project from a couple of years ago - I think Connor was only 22 months (he is almost five now!) I cut out hearts from white paper. Connor dipped a heart shape cookie cutter and a heart shape sponge into white, red and pink paint and stamped the white paper hearts. When the paint was dry I punched holes into the top and bottom of each heart and strung a red ribbon through, so I could hang it the hear string up! I hang this up every year at Valentines Day - it is a cute and simple project. Materials Needed- white paper, heart shape cookie cutter, heart shape sponge, white, pink, red paint, red ribbon, scissors, hole punch

Candy Count!

Learning Activity - Candy Count - I saw the idea for this on http://prekinders.com/ under the Valentines Day theme.Directions - I glued pink, purple, blue, green, yellow and orange paper hearts onto red construction paper (use the same colors as hearts in the Conversation Hearts bag). I put 40 conversation hearts into each child's container. Connor and Lauren sorted the hearts out by color using the paper heart mat. After the Conversation Hearts were sorted, Connor and Lauren counted their groups of Conversation Hearts. I had them write down on the paper hearts how many Conversation Hearts they had in each group. Then they compared the results, telling who had more hearts. I added the writing down how many Conversation Hearts on each paper heart, so they could practice writing their numbers. They had fun sorting their Conversation Hearts - and even more fun eating the Conversation Hearts after they were done! *I had Connor and Lauren wash their hands before sorting the Conversation Hearts* Skills - sorting, colors, counting, one-to-one correspondence, writing numbers, more and less Materials Needed - red construction paper, pink, blue, purple, green, yellow, and orange construction paper cut into heart shapes, glue, pencil, Conversation Hearts

Lauren and Connor sorting their Conversation Hearts

Lauren recording her numbers

Connor recording his results

Love Bug!

Day 3 of the week - The theme this week is Valentines Day. The letters of the week are C, c, D the number of the week is 10.
Project - Love Bug- I saw this craft on the website http://prekinders.com/ under the Valentines Day Theme. It was too cute to pass up! Directions: I traced 1 smaller circle and one larger circle onto red construction paper. Then I traced one larger circle onto pink paper. Connor and Lauren cut out the 3 circles. They glued the smaller red circle onto the larger red circle to form a head and body. Then, they folded the pink circle in half and cut on the folded line - to make the love bugs wings. I overlapped the wings on the tops and punched a hole with a hole puncher. Then, I poked a brad fastener through the punched holes and through the body of the Love Bug to form the wings. Connor and Lauren drew faces on their Love Bugs (Connor used googly eyes), and wrote "I Love You" on the body between the wings. Then they added glitter foam sticky hearts to the wings! They turned out really cute. I love that Connor and Lauren did all of the cutting, gluing and drawing for this project! Materials Needed - Red and pink construction paper, brad fastener, hole puncher, markers, glue stick, scissors, googly eyes (optional), foam hearts

Addie wants to make a Love Bug too!

Learning Activities:
Today's Activities:
Handwriting - tracing shapes

Numbers- number review, writing
Reading Readiness -belongs with
Different Shapes -shape review

Writing Letters - Uppercase D

Wagon Wheel Pasta Heart!

Project - Wagon Wheel Pasta Heart - Connor created this project. He saw the bag of colored wagon wheel pasta (Addie was raiding my cupboards again!) and said he wanted to make a heart for me out of the red ones! I thought that was a wonderful idea, so I traced a red heart shape onto white cardstock and Connor glued the wagon wheel pasta onto the heart. As a finishing touch, I cut around the heart and glued it onto red construction paper, that I also cut into a larger heart shape. He loves doing projects and he was proud to have created this one all on his own! Materials Needed - red wagon wheel pasta, white cardstock, red construction paper, scissors, craft glue, red marker(to draw the heart)

The Finished Project!

Connor's Heart!

Banner of Hearts!

Day 2 of the week - The theme this week is Valentines Day. The letters of the week are C, c, D the number of the week is 10.

Project - Banner of Hearts- I decided we needed a fun Valentines Day hanging, so I cut out some red and white hearts out of felt and had Connor and Lauren arrange them on larger pieces of felt. They also added red and white foam sticky hearts and red, white and black buttons. They had a great time designing their banner. Both of the banner designs turned out great! I sewed buttons onto the top corners of the banners (to attach the ribbon - I sewed the ribbon to the back of the banner) The banner looks great hanging in our house. Materials Needed - Red and white felt, scissors, craft glue, buttons, foam sticky hearts, ribbon, thread and needle

Learning Activities:

Today's Activities:

Handwriting - tracing shapes
Numbers- number review, writing

Reading Readiness -belongs with

Different Shapes -shape review
Writing Letters - Lowercase c

Doily Glitter Snowflake Prints!

Project - Doily Glitter Snowflake Prints - It was snowing this morning, so the kids wanted to make a snowflake craft. I had some doilies that my mom had given me, so we put them to good use. Connor and Lauren sponge painted both sides of the doilies white and placed them on blue construction paper. They also used one of the doilies to stamp their construction paper. Their was no need for glue since they stamped both sides of the doilies. Then, they sprinkled silver glitter on top of the wet doilies for a finishing touch! This is a simple craft - but effective! Materials Needed - doilies, white paint, sponges, silver glitter, blue construction paper

Love Note Tote!

Day 1 of the week - The theme this week is Valentines Day. The letters of the week are C, c, D the number of the week is 10.
Project - Love Note Tote - I saw this project in the February 2007 issue of Family Fun Magazine - www.familyfun.com/magazine Directions - Fold 2 paper plates in half. Tuck one inside the other to form a heart. Staple them together at the bottom and round top edges with scissors. Punch matching holes in the center front and back of the pocket. Add paper or foam hearts or anything else you want to add! (We used foam sticky hearts, sticky letters and red glitter glue) Finally, add a strap by threading ribbon through the holes and tying the ends with a knot. *I had saved all of Connor's old Valentines so he put all of them in his new heart tote. Materials Needed - 2 paper plates, foam or paper hearts, stapler, hole punch, ribbon, scissors

Learning Activities:
Today's Activities:
Handwriting - tracing shapes

Numbers- the number 10, writing, counting
Reading Readiness -belongs with
Different Shapes -shape review

Writing Letters - Uppercase C