The Easiest Glider You'll Ever Make!

After reading an article in Click Magazine on flying squirrels (and how they glide rather than really fly), we made our own gliders.  It literally took me less than 5 minutes to make three of these gliders with the kids (including finding supplies)...

Pond Life Theme in Homeschool Kindergarten

We completed this mini-unit about pond life earlier this school-year in Homeschool Kindergarten, but I totally forgot to post about it.  After reading some books about the various animals that live in ponds, the twins had a chance to make some cute crafts which I'd love to share...

Learning About Sheep

We're reading through Among the Farmyard People by Clara Dillingham Pierson (free on Google Play Books and Project Gutenberg).  After reading a chapter about a lamb who bragged about his long tail, I decided to let the kids make a quick (and cute) sheep craft.  The one pictured above was H's (2.5 years old) - I made the sheep and he glued the cotton balls for the wool.  The twins (4.5 years old) made their own..

Holland {Netherlands} Learning Unit

The twins (homeschool Kindergarten) and I just finished reading The Dutch Twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins.  It's the first book in a series about twins from different countries.  Since it was written in 1911, it's in the public domain and we read about The Dutch Twins on Google Play free on my iPad.  My own twins absolutely adored the stories of Kit and Kat (the Dutch twins) as they went to market with their father, churned butter with their mother, drove the milk cart, learned to ice skate, and met St. Nicholas.  The book also taught them a little bit about Holland, so I decided to include some Holland-themed activities: craft windmills, painting tulips, baking Dutch apple cake, and more..

Diaper Science {and Sensory Experience!}

The other day, the kids were playing out on the deck when they ran to me with a gooey substance in their fingers asking what it is.  At first I was worried that it was something toxic or some type of insect egg and freaked out a little as H (2 years old) wanted to put it in his mouth.  A couple hours later I realized that H's diaper must have torn and this was the absorbent substance from his diaper (called sodium polyacrylate).  This inspired me to try an experiment with my twins (homeschool Kindergarten) to learn about The Science of Diapers...

Montessori-inspired DIY Weight Cylinders

If you love Montessori manipulatives, but can't afford the price-tag, try this easy DIY version of the Montessori Weight Cylinders using empty Play-Doh containers and dry beans.  Here's what we did for this little sensory / math activity...

Tot School - 30 Months

Now that H is 2.5 years old, we've decided to put him to work on the farm.  Here he is milking the cow..  :)  Actually, H's "Tot School" time has been full of playing, exploring, fun, and learning (even on vacation).  He loves to participate in "circle time" with his older sisters and soaks up new information like a sponge.  Here's a tiny peep into some of his favorite activities lately..

Graphing Rainbow Goldfish Crackers

Here is another easy edible math activity that kids just adore...  When my children begged for some rainbow goldfish crackers, I put a bunch into a bowl made a curious face and started asking them questions:  How many fish do you think are in there?  (More than 100?  More than 10?).  Which color fish do you think there are the most of?  etc..  After piquing their interest, the girls were eager to investigate further...

Elementary Color Theory in Kindergarten

The kids have wanted to paint every day this week, so I decided to throw in some activities to allow them to learn more about color mixing...

Cheez-It Math Worksheet for Kindergarten

The kids love edible math manipulatives, and this snack cracker worksheet that I quickly put together was a big hit in our homeschool.  Just because Common Core doesn't cover area and perimeter until 3rd grade doesn't mean that Kindergarteners won't understand it..

Colored Celery Science Experiment for Kids {Capillary Action}

Back when we were learning about plants, the twins (4 years old) did an easy little science experiment to learn about capillary action (how water travels up a plant's stem).  Here's how its done..

Homeschool Kindergarten Lesson Plans - Weeks 21-25

Although we've been doing a lot of themes recently in homeschool Kindergarten, there is plenty of playing and learning activities that don't exactly fall within the context of those thematic units.  This post will be a mishmash of all that "other stuff" we've been doing that I haven't had a chance to blog about...

101 Chapter Books to Read Aloud to My Kids

It's no secret that I love to read.  When we visited a furniture store last weekend, the girls pointed out every (fake) stack of books that was displayed, yelling "Mommy, look at the books - your favorite!".  I've been reading chapter books aloud to the twins since they were 2.5, and it's still something special we enjoy every day.  I had assumed that when the girls learned to read they would be eagerly seeking out books and enjoy reading on their own, but that didn't quite happen.  They're technically amazing readers for their age, but don't have the passion for independent reading quite yet (I need to remember they are only 4.5 years old).  So for now I'm just reading lots and lots of book aloud to them (and starting to include my 2.5 year old boy too, although he doesn't quite have the attention span yet and wanders away).   I love being able to share classics from my own childhood with my children, as well as discover some "new-to-me" books as well.  Amazon recently released its updated list of 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime.  Since surfing Amazon is my "hobby" (yes, really!), I was inspired to come up with a list of 101 read aloud chapter books for kids (33 that we've already read, and the rest on my "wish list").  Here goes...

Combinatorics in Kindergarten {What Will Little Bear Wear?}

It's been a bit chilly here lately so the girls and I have been reading plenty of stories about cold and snow.  One of the stories in circulation this week is "What Will Little Bear Wear?" from the book Little Bear by Elsa Holmelund Minarik.  I threw together a fun little math activity related to the book. (It would also go great with the book Jesse Bear What Will You Wear? from Before Five in a Row)...

Learning about Africa in Homeschool Kindergarten

This week our theme was "Africa".  I'd like to do some activities for Black History Month later in February, so I thought a good start would be to learn a little big about Africa first.  This involved a lot of crafts (like the African mask art pictured above) which the girls really enjoyed.  Here's more of what we did..

Homemade Math Game: Feed the Clown

We've been working on math facts in Homeschool Kindergarten for what seems like forever.  Instead of flashcards and pop-quizzes, I prefer to mix things up by playing lots of math games.  Here's an easy homemade math game that I put together in a couple minutes and turned out to be a roaring success with the twins...

National Braille Literacy Month Activity

Did you know that January was National Braille Literacy Month?  We spent a whole day last week learning about blindness, Helen Keller, and braille..

Shoes Theme in Homeschool Kindergarten

One of the days last week, the girls and I worked on learning activities that were all centered around the theme of "shoes".  I had fun putting it all together, and the twins really had a good time with all the activities..

Half Birthday Party for the Twins

The twins celebrated their half birthdays last weekend.  In L's words: "It's not our real birthday.  It's just a holiday that Mommy made up".  I didn't invite any other kids in fear that their parents would think that celebrating a half-birthday was a little too self-indulgent, so we just kept the day low-key and fun.  Childhood goes by so quickly - why not take the time to celebrate all the little milestones?  Here's how our "party" went...

Chinese Paper Lantern Craft {for Chinese New Year}

One of our crafts for Chinese New Year (and our Kindergarten thematic unit on China) was to make this cute paper lantern craft.  I thought the kids would enjoy this activity because they love arts and crafts, but I had no idea how much they would get into it.  The girls kept asking to make more and more lanterns and now our house is completely covered in them!  It was a great way for the twins to practice following directions and to use their scissor skills.  Here's how you make them..