We used flowers to create a math garden that reviews number identification and order! I was thrilled that both our preschooler and toddler loved this activity plus it only required a few materials!
Preschool Number Flower Garden
By
Devany
| Labels:
fine motor
,
homeschool preschool
,
math
,
preschool
,
spring
,
summer
,
toddler
,
water
9
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Moon Box Subscription
By
Devany
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Celebrate and honor the full moon each month with a subscription service from Moon Box! We received the Full Flower Moon Box. We can't wait to reveal what was inside and how much we enjoyed it!
Condiment Cup Flower Craft
Condiment cups open up to craft the prettiest blooming flower art! Kids love watching their flowers grow!
Cupcake Liner Flower Craft: Fine Motor Art for Kids
In order to hurry spring along we created our own indoor cupcake liner flower garden using fine motor art techniques!
Creating Beside Your Child - Recycled Flower Art
I had a whole post ready to write about spring, flowers, Earth Day, and recycling. Yet, when I sat down to do this project with E, I ended up learning so much.
When we had new cookware shipped to us, I saw these packing pieces. I knew I had to keep them to make something out of them, but what? Spring = flowers of course!
Here was my dilemma: I always strive to provide E with activities that are so fun that they engage my attention as well, because then I know that they are sure to be a hit with her! So I was super tempted to create one of these flowers myself.
At first, I felt a bit silly and selfish to be taking her materials to make my own art. But then I thought, we encourage parents all the time to play along side their children. We are advised to eat dinner together, read together, do everything together. Why not create together? Splat Studio advertises that their preschool classes allow parents to have materials to work along with their child, which was a huge draw for me. I decided to make a flower, too.
While we were working something happened. I was using Do-a-Dot stampers while E chose paint. She started mimicking my stamping motions on her flower.
If I would have suggested she try that, her two year old stubborn streak probably would have resisted. I would never have taken her materials to "show" her how to do it on her own flower because that feels like disrespect to her as an individual and artist.
Yet, by creating beside her, she had the freedom to make the decision to do it like Momma or in her own way, neither of which was wrong or right.
I was talking to my mom about this on the phone and she brought up how this is the way animals learn how to behave in nature. The mother chimpanzee doesn't take something from its baby, say "No," and show it the proper way to do something. Instead, the mother performs an activity as she's always done and the baby follows her lead and imitates her. It's such a natural way to learn!
So I want to encourage you to create art beside your child. Get messy with him, buy extra materials for yourself so you both have your own space, and have fun creating masterpieces but also memories. You can also ask your child if you can work on one project together, but respect their answer. Collaboration is a choice.
read more "
Creating Beside Your Child - Recycled Flower Art
"
When we had new cookware shipped to us, I saw these packing pieces. I knew I had to keep them to make something out of them, but what? Spring = flowers of course!
Here was my dilemma: I always strive to provide E with activities that are so fun that they engage my attention as well, because then I know that they are sure to be a hit with her! So I was super tempted to create one of these flowers myself.
At first, I felt a bit silly and selfish to be taking her materials to make my own art. But then I thought, we encourage parents all the time to play along side their children. We are advised to eat dinner together, read together, do everything together. Why not create together? Splat Studio advertises that their preschool classes allow parents to have materials to work along with their child, which was a huge draw for me. I decided to make a flower, too.
While we were working something happened. I was using Do-a-Dot stampers while E chose paint. She started mimicking my stamping motions on her flower.
If I would have suggested she try that, her two year old stubborn streak probably would have resisted. I would never have taken her materials to "show" her how to do it on her own flower because that feels like disrespect to her as an individual and artist.
Yet, by creating beside her, she had the freedom to make the decision to do it like Momma or in her own way, neither of which was wrong or right.
I was talking to my mom about this on the phone and she brought up how this is the way animals learn how to behave in nature. The mother chimpanzee doesn't take something from its baby, say "No," and show it the proper way to do something. Instead, the mother performs an activity as she's always done and the baby follows her lead and imitates her. It's such a natural way to learn!
So I want to encourage you to create art beside your child. Get messy with him, buy extra materials for yourself so you both have your own space, and have fun creating masterpieces but also memories. You can also ask your child if you can work on one project together, but respect their answer. Collaboration is a choice.
Flower Name Puzzle
Preschool is all about learning how to read, spell, and eventually write one's own name. Kids love this flower garden name puzzle mat for Spring! Just print, gather a few bottle caps, and this activity is ready to go.
Sticky Window Flower Garden
By
Devany
| Labels:
fine motor
,
homeschool preschool
,
preschool
,
spring
,
summer
,
toddler
1
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Our preschooler is enchanted by flowers lately. From creating bouquets from her grandmother's garden to planting our own, it's the perfect time of year to add flowers everywhere. We created a suncatcher flower garden in a window!
E & Mommy Library Book Review - Part 1
By
Devany
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2
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We were at the library for story time last week so I chose a week's worth of books at random to check out. Each night E picks one for us to read (along with some of our favorites from her collection at home). Here are our thoughts on them!
The Colors of the Rainbow - Jennifer Moore-Mallinos
Comparing the differences of people to the colors of the rainbow, this Let's Talk About It book inspired conversation. We discussed how people can look and act and dress differently (like D's "orange" hair) before we were in the awkward situation of her bringing it up in public. Now when she inevitably does, I can remind her of this book!
My favorite part: From clothing worn, holidays celebrated, languages spoken, to skin color, I loved the examples this book gave. Every page sparked something we could discuss, like how E's uncle is bilingual because he is from Turkey.
E's favorite part: "The haircut page!"
Still Playing School grade: B+
Everett the Incredibly Helpful Helper - Sue Ann Morrow
Everett thinks he is helping his parents, but he is really making more work wherever he goes! Sound familiar? This book has a super realistic story line with cute colored pencil illustrations. (On the last page the mommy was reading a book to the preschooler while the daddy rubbed her feet and, I kid you not, we were doing the exact same thing!)
My favorite part: I liked discussing real life lessons as Everett made his messes. "Uh, oh, do you think he should just grab things in the grocery store or ask his daddy first?"
E's favorite part: "The grocery store!"
Still Playing School grade: B
The Thingamabob - Il Sung Na
The elephant isn't quite sure what this umbrella is so he tries lots of activities and asks his friends before he figures out! I found myself making sound effects for almost every page, which is not something I typically do while reading, but the book was that much fun!
My favorite part: The illustrations of the different umbrellas on the inside cover. They are from the top down perspective, so it took E a minute to figure out what they were. We had fun choosing our favorite umbrellas!
E's favorite part: "The animals coming to him."
Still Playing School grade: A
What Do Bunnies Do All Day -
Have you ever spent a whole day on an adventure with your preschooler, only to have them tell someone later that they did, "Nothing," all day? Little Bunny is the same way. He ventures out for the first time without his momma, attempting to find our what his kind should be doing all day, all the while doing precisely what a bunny does all day.
My favorite part: I am partial to when he returns to Mother Bunny, of course! The illustrations are whimsical, too.
E's favorite part: "The flowers!"
Still Playing School grade: C
Well Done - Richard Morgan
Confession: I didn't read this one to E. Mr. SPS did. I just called him to ask what his favorite part was and he said, "I didn't like any of it. It was entirely too young for E. It was beneath her comprehension level. I should have read it to D. If it was our book, I would put it in the recycling." Well, then.
My favorite part: It would be great to spark discussions about independence, probably, but not according to Mr. SPS.
E's favorite part: "He washing his hands!"
Still Playing School grade: A scathing, resounding F from Mr. SPS
Dear Bunny - A Bunny Love Story - Michaela Morgan
I...found myself really struggling to follow this story line. The bunnies are writing love notes to each other, but do they know each other? They are addressing each other by name...so? Have they met? They put the notes in a hollow log (The same hollow log, so why doesn't the second bunny get the first bunny's note when she puts her note in?), mice go to nest in the log, ripping up the notes. When they mice realize what they've done, they feel remorseful so they put together a kidnapper-style note or found poetry or what have you for the bunnies from the two destroyed letters. I am also bothered that the female bunny's note says that the flowers are tender and then again that they have exceptional tenderness. Redundant, Bunny!
My favorite part: When the horribly written notes get ripped up. KIDDING!
E's favorite part: "The hearts!" (Spoiler Alert: The bunnies fall in love and there are hearts!)
Still Playing School grade: D
In the Trees, Honey Bees - Lori Mortensen
This book is poetry written about honey bees with elaborated facts included on each page. I would highly recommend this for later elementary grades, not only to teach about bees (it's effective for that, even at E's age) but because it would be fun to pick a subject and write about it in the same style!
My favorite part: Factual poetry!
E's favorite part: "They get flowers!"
Still Playing School grade: A
My overall favorite book: The Thingamabob for the preschool level, but In the Trees, Honey Bees is a close runner up.
E's overall favorite book: Everett the Incredibly Helpful Helper because "he makes the mess!"
What's your favorite children's book that you've read lately?
---
This post contains Amazon Affiliate links which just means if you click over to Amazon from the links this page and purchase anything, we get a bit of money for sending you there!
read more "
E & Mommy Library Book Review - Part 1
"
The Colors of the Rainbow - Jennifer Moore-Mallinos
Comparing the differences of people to the colors of the rainbow, this Let's Talk About It book inspired conversation. We discussed how people can look and act and dress differently (like D's "orange" hair) before we were in the awkward situation of her bringing it up in public. Now when she inevitably does, I can remind her of this book!
My favorite part: From clothing worn, holidays celebrated, languages spoken, to skin color, I loved the examples this book gave. Every page sparked something we could discuss, like how E's uncle is bilingual because he is from Turkey.
E's favorite part: "The haircut page!"
Still Playing School grade: B+
Everett the Incredibly Helpful Helper - Sue Ann Morrow
Everett thinks he is helping his parents, but he is really making more work wherever he goes! Sound familiar? This book has a super realistic story line with cute colored pencil illustrations. (On the last page the mommy was reading a book to the preschooler while the daddy rubbed her feet and, I kid you not, we were doing the exact same thing!)
My favorite part: I liked discussing real life lessons as Everett made his messes. "Uh, oh, do you think he should just grab things in the grocery store or ask his daddy first?"
E's favorite part: "The grocery store!"
Still Playing School grade: B
The Thingamabob - Il Sung Na
The elephant isn't quite sure what this umbrella is so he tries lots of activities and asks his friends before he figures out! I found myself making sound effects for almost every page, which is not something I typically do while reading, but the book was that much fun!
My favorite part: The illustrations of the different umbrellas on the inside cover. They are from the top down perspective, so it took E a minute to figure out what they were. We had fun choosing our favorite umbrellas!
E's favorite part: "The animals coming to him."
Still Playing School grade: A
What Do Bunnies Do All Day -
Have you ever spent a whole day on an adventure with your preschooler, only to have them tell someone later that they did, "Nothing," all day? Little Bunny is the same way. He ventures out for the first time without his momma, attempting to find our what his kind should be doing all day, all the while doing precisely what a bunny does all day.
My favorite part: I am partial to when he returns to Mother Bunny, of course! The illustrations are whimsical, too.
E's favorite part: "The flowers!"
Still Playing School grade: C
Well Done - Richard Morgan
Confession: I didn't read this one to E. Mr. SPS did. I just called him to ask what his favorite part was and he said, "I didn't like any of it. It was entirely too young for E. It was beneath her comprehension level. I should have read it to D. If it was our book, I would put it in the recycling." Well, then.
My favorite part: It would be great to spark discussions about independence, probably, but not according to Mr. SPS.
E's favorite part: "He washing his hands!"
Still Playing School grade: A scathing, resounding F from Mr. SPS
Dear Bunny - A Bunny Love Story - Michaela Morgan
I...found myself really struggling to follow this story line. The bunnies are writing love notes to each other, but do they know each other? They are addressing each other by name...so? Have they met? They put the notes in a hollow log (The same hollow log, so why doesn't the second bunny get the first bunny's note when she puts her note in?), mice go to nest in the log, ripping up the notes. When they mice realize what they've done, they feel remorseful so they put together a kidnapper-style note or found poetry or what have you for the bunnies from the two destroyed letters. I am also bothered that the female bunny's note says that the flowers are tender and then again that they have exceptional tenderness. Redundant, Bunny!
My favorite part: When the horribly written notes get ripped up. KIDDING!
E's favorite part: "The hearts!" (Spoiler Alert: The bunnies fall in love and there are hearts!)
Still Playing School grade: D
In the Trees, Honey Bees - Lori Mortensen
This book is poetry written about honey bees with elaborated facts included on each page. I would highly recommend this for later elementary grades, not only to teach about bees (it's effective for that, even at E's age) but because it would be fun to pick a subject and write about it in the same style!
My favorite part: Factual poetry!
E's favorite part: "They get flowers!"
Still Playing School grade: A
My overall favorite book: The Thingamabob for the preschool level, but In the Trees, Honey Bees is a close runner up.
E's overall favorite book: Everett the Incredibly Helpful Helper because "he makes the mess!"
What's your favorite children's book that you've read lately?
---
This post contains Amazon Affiliate links which just means if you click over to Amazon from the links this page and purchase anything, we get a bit of money for sending you there!
Foam Stickers Process Art
By
Devany
| Labels:
art
,
fine motor
,
homeschool
,
homeschool preschool
,
preschool
,
spring
1
Comment
We might be addicted to process art at our house! Our latest project is super simple using foam stickers and a rolling pin to create print making painting with the kids. There is a ton of fun fine motor work involved, too!
Madeline Snack for Kids
By
Devany
| Labels:
cooking
,
fine motor
,
homeschool preschool
,
literacy
,
preschool
,
reading
,
recipes
,
toddler
7
Comments
This month for Virtual Book Club for Kids we read the book Madeline. Our kids created a snack to go with the story, too. They loved making and eating Madeline hat cookies!
Puffy Paint Cake Decorating
We created a pretend bakery by inviting my preschooler to decorate a cardboard cake with puffy paint icing! She loved this art activity with fine motor work involved.
Nest Nature Hunt
By
Devany
| Labels:
elementary
,
homeschool
,
math
,
outside
,
science
,
spring
,
summer
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We combined science and math by taking the kids on an outdoors nature hunt to find birds' nests! We loved being outside for this part of our homeschooling day.
Hundred Chart Patterns on the Light Table
By
Devany
| Labels:
elementary
,
homeschool
,
homeschool preschool
,
light table
,
math
,
preschool
2
Comments
During any creative play with math manipulatives patterns will emerge. We put a hundred chart on our light table to explore numeric patterns in a colorful way!
Yarn Wrapped Turkey Craft
Our preschooler created a colorful yarn wrapped turkey from recycled material! This gobbler is the perfect fine motor craft for Thanksgiving.
10 Ideas for Outside Play for Kids
We love to get outside to play as much as we can. Here is a list of our favorite ways to play outdoors as well as some ideas that are new for us to try this season!
Clean Mud Gem Dig
By
Devany
| Labels:
fine motor
,
homeschool preschool
,
preschool
,
sensory
,
toddler
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We made clean mud sensory dough for the first time! It smelled amazing but my kids weren't too taken with the texture until I hid gems inside to invite them to a fine motor treasure hunt!
Thanksgiving Writing Tray
By
Devany
| Labels:
art
,
fine motor
,
homeschool preschool
,
preschool
,
sensory
,
thanksgiving
,
toddler
,
writing
2
Comments
For Thanksgiving, we created a writing tray with an irresistible material for our kids to practice their fine motor skills through relaxing sensory play!
Tissue Paper Projects, Crafts, and Activities for Kids
By
Devany
| Labels:
art
,
baby
,
craft
,
elementary
,
fine motor
,
kindergarten
,
preschool
,
sensory
,
toddler
1
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Do you save tissue paper when you receive a gift? Even if you don't reuse it for gift giving there are tons of crafts, projects, and activities for kids to create with tissue paper!
Valentine Sensory Bin
We created a Valentine's Day themed sensory bin. The contents were irresistibly fun for our daughter as she worked on both early math and fine motor skills!
Creating a Grieving Book for Children
When her baby sister died, E lost the only sibling she had (at the time). She had watched my entire pregnancy progress and we had talked about the baby, who we then learned was a girl, who we then named Violet, who we then learned would die.
It was a lot to process for my oldest girl who was about to turn two when she met and said goodbye to her baby sister. I have done so much research regarding grieving, both for myself and for my children.
One thing that has helped us all is having resources at our finger tips to regularly visit and discuss our situation and how much we all miss Violet. I want to teach that death is a part of life and grief is normal. Along with books like We Were Gonna Have a Baby, But We Had an Angel Instead and I Miss You: A First Look at Death, I wanted E to have one specifically about herself and her sister. I used Shutterfly to write one about their relationship.
The words tell the story of how E couldn't wait to be a big sister while Violet was in Momma's tummy. There are photos of what we did as a family as we waited to meet her illustrating that we already loved her so much.
The book highlights E's time with Violet, starting with how V wanted to meet E first! I purposely wrote in the present tense that E is the big sister and V is the little, that E loves V and that V loves E. It is so important for her to feel her sister's love, even still.
I don't write details specifically about what happened to Violet, but I end with a page about how we all miss her and can still remember her in many ways. E has internalized so much of this tough subject in her own way which is evident when she talks about Violet. Last week, she said she wished flowers would die so that her sister could enjoy them. Yesterday, she wrote her a note and asked me to send it to Violet.
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