Making Tiny Clay Pumpkins

 

Last week, the twins (4 years old) and I made some cute little pumpkin decorations out of Crayola  Model Magic.  It was super easy and lots of fun.  Here's how we did it..

Early Mapping Skills - Picture Copying

This simple learning activity doesn't take many materials or preparation, but it boosts all sorts of cognitive abilities in your little ones...

Open-the-Door House Craft

My mother gave me the idea for having the girls (3 years old) make their own interactive books with flaps to open, things that pop up, etc..  We started with this simple craft featuring a house with a door that you can open and close.  Although they needed assistance, I tried to let them do as much as possible on their own.  Here's the process..

Mazes on the Whiteboard

E (3) has really been interested in mazes lately.  It's great pre-writing practice and takes a lot of fine motor skill control and concentration.  We've already gone through a bunch of maze workbooks, so I thought I'd draw some mazes for her on the whiteboard.  She absolutely love these!  She's even started drawing her own mazes for her sister to complete.  Here are some photos of my sweet girl in action..

Tricycle Reading Game

For the twins' 3rd birthdays, they each received adorable tricycles from my parents.  They've been happily riding them in a loop through the living room and kitchen every day (and are getting fantastically good at turning the tight corners!).  Since the girls (especially L) are demonstrating a 'sweet spot' for phonics at the moment, I reinforced what we've been learning by creating this game for them...

Grocery Store Dramatic Play

I introduced L and E (3 years old) to money recently.  They already knew the concept of money (taking it to the bank, buying stuff, etc..), but were not familiar with the coins and their values.  I promised them that they could use their plastic play money to play 'Grocery Store', so that is the first thing they asked for the next morning, even before breakfast.  It was really simple to set up, and they've been requesting the 'Grocery Store Game' all week...

Preschool Science: Learning about Air

A couple days ago, the girls (3 years old) and I did some science experiments to learn about the properties of air.  They were inspired by both Building Foundations for Scientific Understanding (BFSU) and the book Science in Seconds for Kids by Jean Potter (which contains over 100 experiments that have very little setup time).  Here are the four experiments we did...

Creating Designs with Toys and Household Objects

One of L and E's favorite activities is to use various toys and household objects to create large-scale artwork on our floor.  I have to admit that this is a fun activity for me, as well.  The above photo uses pieces from a letter construction game, but we've used everything from building blocks to markers to plastic animals to create our masterpieces.  Here are some more examples I just have to share..

Paper Cup Stacking

Sometimes the best toys are the least expensive ones.  The other day, E (3 years old) spent the entire morning (yes, multiple hours) stacking paper cups...

Masking Tape Resist Painting

I mixed up our usual painting routine by giving L and E (3 years old) some painters tape and creating tape-resist artwork.  It's really easy to do and produces neat results.  The tape (both sticking it on and peeling it off) added some new fine motor-skills practice, and the girls had a great time..

Sticky Mosaics

I usually don't review many products on this blog because, well, I haven't been approached by any companies to do reviews, so if I mention a specific product it's because I really really like it.  I do want to mention something fun that engaged both my girls (almost 3 years old) for well over an hour this week.  It's the My First Sticky Mosaics activity from The Orb Factory.  It is basically little foam stickers in various shapes and colors which are placed on color-coded spots on sturdy cardboard to make a mosaic.  We've had this product since the girls were 2 years old, but at the time, only L had the fine motor skills (and patience) to complete a picture (with a lot of assistance from me).  Earlier this week, I took this activity out and was amazed at how carefully and patiently the girls finished their mosaics...

Preschool Science: Baking Soda and Vinegar

I don't know anyone who hasn't heard of the classic experiment where you add vinegar to baking soda and watch the chemical reaction (which produced carbon dioxide bubbles).  For L and E (3 years old this month), the scientific details of this chemical reaction is beyond their level of comprehension.  However, this fun experiment is a great way to reinforce the concepts of the scientific process and observation...

15 Activities with an Alphabet Puzzle Mat

When the girls were 5 months old, they received a Foam Letter & Number Floor Mat Puzzle.  It was useful to keep them from getting hurt as they learned to crawl, stand, and walk, but they soon discovered that they could take the pieces out (and throw them / put them in their mouth), so it was retired shortly after their 1st birthday.  Recently we re-discovered this puzzle mat when cleaning out a storage closet.  I was debating whether to even keep it, but L and E (35 months) have been asking for their Alphabet Mat every single day this week.  Accordingly, I've been making up tons of new activities with this toy, and wanted to share some of these ideas...

Fine Motor Skills Practice with Playdough and Whole Cloves

I love activities that involve multiple senses.  This one combines fine motor skills work with the lovely aroma of cloves.  We've been going through the Story of the World, and just finished the chapter about the start of farming in the Nile Delta.  I decided that it would be fun to invite L and E (almost 3) to plant some 'crops' next to a playdough river using whole cloves...

Caps for Sale Activity: Dramatic Play with Hats

Dramatic play with hats is an activity we've done many times before (nothing's easier than taking a bunch of hats out of the closet and letting the kids have fun with them), but I haven't blogged about it yet, so I thought I'd share.. Today we read Caps for Sale by Ephyr Slobodkina.  We have an audio version that has sound effects and songs in it, and L and E (almost 3) love to sing along.  After the story, we did a number of activities.  I contemplated printing out some of the free printables for this book, but playing with hats sounded like a lot more fun than doing worksheets!  So here's what we did...

Art Inspired by the Book Swimmy

This morning we read the picture book Swimmy by Leo Lionni and made our own artwork inspired by the beautiful illustrations in the book.  Here's what we did..

Nomads Game - Story of the World Activity

I recently started reading The Story of the World Volume 1: Ancient Times to L and E (34 months).  Before we went on vacation, we discussed history and archeology, and today we read about how ancient people were nomads.  I made up a simple Nomad Game, which the girls were very excited to play after dinner.  I wanted them to know that ancient people lived in caves, hunted and gathered food, and moved from place to place when the food ran out.  So that's exactly what we did...

Paint Exploration

What do we do when my mess-averse husband is away all morning?  We paint!  The girls and I had fun exploring different ways to paint, from golf-ball painting, to painting with cars, to making bubble-wrap prints.  It wasn't so much about the final product, but the experience of exploring this medium in different ways...

Learning About Plants

The girls (34 months old) planted some pinto beans in a clear container with some wet cotton balls last week.  Within a day, two of the beans started growing.. and growing.. and now one of them is over a foot tall already!  L and E were very excited to check on their beans every day, and I was amazed at how quickly they grew.  Today we learned more about plants...

Homeschool Preschool Weekly Update

Apologies for not blogging more - I've been trying to wrap up my project for work so I can be done with my job and focus more on homeschooling and other projects.  We've actually been doing a lot of fun learning activities this week, but I haven't been good about taking photos.   Here are some of the things we've been up to...