Fibonacci Sequence for Preschoolers

I'm a math nerd (MS in Statistics) and have a love for patterns.  Today I set out to teach my 3-year-olds the Fibonacci sequence, not because I think they'll actually remember it, but because I want to open their eyes to the fun of playing with numbers and discovering patterns in the natural world.  I created a series of activities that are appropriate for Preschoolers (matching, counting, drawing, coloring, gluing) around the topic of the Fibonacci sequence...

Pumpkin Faces with Playdough

A Halloween-themed activity we did last year, which the girls could do much better this year as 3-year-olds, was decorating craft pumpkins with playdough.  This year we used black playdough and accessories such as googly eyes, yarn, feathers, and hats, and they turned out great!

Colorful Beads Made from Magazines

I remember making beads out of the Sunday comics in an art class at age 9 or 10.  I tried a similar activity with my own kids - making beads out of magazines (or catalogs in my case), and not only did the girls (3 years old) absolutely love creating them, but they also turned out beautiful...

Montessori Practical Life Snack: Banana Skewers

This Montessori-inspired snack takes no prep-time, and kids get great practice with fine-motor skills making it themselves.  Here are the steps..

Rain-Themed Preschool Activities

We live in a state where it seems like we hardly get rain (it's either really sunny or snowing), so I took advantage of a rainy day to put together an impromptu rain theme for our Homeschool Preschool.  I'm surprised that I was able to come up with so many creative activities without any preparation, and the kids had a lot of fun.  Here are some of the things we did:

Week in Review (On Vacation)

We were on vacation for a family wedding all last week, so our usual homeschool Preschool schedule didn't happen.  However, the kids did get lots of new and fun experiences and plenty of time outside.  Here are some of the things we did..

Three Dimensional Art with Colored Paper

The kids have really been into cutting and pasting lately.  I wanted to show them that their creations don't always have to be two-dimensional, so one day when we were all working side-by-side, I started manipulating my scraps of paper to make them stand out from the page in different ways.  L and E were very interested and asked me to show them how to make these types of creations too...

Discovery Bottles for Baby H

I wanted L and E (3) to make Baby H some presents for his 1st birthday so they would feel included rather than jealous.  They made these great Discovery Bottles for him.  I didn't share this post earlier, because I was planning on making them cooler by adding some glitter (and wanted to include photos of the results), but I haven't had time to pick up the glitter.  The process of creating these gifts was a good fine-motor activity for H's older sisters...

Homemade Matching and I-Spy Game Using a Photocopier

Homemade games are even more appealing when kids are involved in the process of creating them.  When I invited my girls (3 years old) to make their own games, they were ecstatic.  They got a lot of creative freedom to choose their own objects, lay them out, and photocopy them.  I was not at all surprised that they really enjoyed playing the activities they created over and over.  Here's what we did ..

L's Magic Word Box

L (38 months) is getting better at sounding out CVC words, but she goes through periods where she resists reading so I have to be creative with reading activities and cater them to her interests.  In the girls' many creative dramatic play sessions, L often likes to pretend that she is "Magic L-" as she waves her wand and casts magic spells.  This gave me an idea for a very simple reading/writing game we've been doing -  L's Magic Word Box....

Wordless Wednesday

Nothing cuter than dancing baby feet!

Homemade Counting Game from Catalog Pictures

I'm starting to get piles and piles of catalogs in the mail ('tis the season!).  Instead of throwing these directly in the trash, I decided to cut out some of the photographs to create a seasonal counting game.  It was really easy to put this homemade math game together, and the girls (3 years old) loved it...

Going on a Bear Hunt: Making Maps

I've been doing the "Going on a Bear Hunt" chant with the girls (3 years old) since they were tiny babies, and it's still a favorite.  Even Baby H enjoys doing it with us.  If you don't know what I'm taking about, watch the dramatic reading of Going on a Bear Hunt by it's author, Michael Rosen, on YouTube.  I'm trying to reinforce what we've been learning about maps with the kids before we go on a road trip later this week, so I created a map for us to follow on our bear hunt.  Then L and E drew their own maps of our journey...

Little House on the Prairie Cooking: Making Butter and Cheese

L and E (3 years old) love the My First Little House picture books (based on the Little House on the Prairie chapter-book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder) .  For our Cooking Day last week, we made two items inspired by these books:  butter and cheese.  This was the first time making butter and cheese from scratch for me too, and I think I had as much fun as the kids did.  I'm very proud to say that the results were quite successful.  Here's how we did it:

Autumn Tree Craft

We celebrated the first day of Autumn with this fall tree craft made out of a paper towel roll and colored paper.  I actually did this activity with the girls last year, and it is so neat to see how now as three-year-olds they can complete the project almost independently.  It was really easy, and I think the results are beautiful.  Here's the process...

Homeschool Preschool: Week 5

L and E are almost 38 months old.  We seemed to get our groove back this week with our Preschool routine, and fit in lots of fun and educational activities.  I've already shared many of our Preschool activity boxes on this blog, so I'll just include the ones that were new this week...

Learning About Frogs

The latest issue of Zootles magazine was about frogs, so the girls (3 years old) and I decided to learn all about frogs and do some extra frog-related activities.  After we read through the magazine, I got on YouTube and showed the girls various videos of frogs eating insects, worms, and even birds.  We found videos of frogs jumping in slow motion, and even male bullfrogs fighting each other.  The girls were fascinated and pretended they were frogs the rest of the day.  Here are some of the other activities we did on the topic..

Baby H Turns 1

Yes, there's a baby behind that gift.  And, yes, I used Christmas wrapping paper (he didn't know the difference).  When the twins were little, I couldn't wait for them to grow up, but I'm in much less of a hurry with Baby H.  My little 5 lb 6 oz baby is now a year old, and I just don't know where the time went...

Phonics Jumping Game (with Video!)

This morning the girls (37 months) helped me use painters tape to make letters on the floor.  Then we played a phonics reading (and jumping!) game that I made up.  It was so much fun that we ended up playing for over an hour and L forgot that she was on a reading-strike!  I even caught one of the rounds on video.  Here's how to play...

Homeschool Preschool: Week 4

This Week-in-Review post is pretty late, but we had a busy weekend.  Last week was very full for us, but mostly with non-traditional learning.  Here are some of the activities we managed to fit in: