Green Eggs & Ham, Anyone?

  “Would you, like them in a house? Or would you like them with a mouse?”

   I love Green Eggs & Ham! Such a fun book that my kiddos loved!

   We had a parent come in to read this book  and the kids were thrilled to hear someone else read- other than myself or my assistants!

   I actually struggled with thinking of a fun activity linked to this book that I felt the kids would really enjoy.  

   When my assistant and I put our brains together, we came up with a way to use this cool solution that we have in our art closet. We have a paint product called Bio-Color that can be used in many ways! We have used it to create water colors (using one type of solution) and then have used it to create a gooey putty like substance, using a different solution.

   So we decided to make a green egg!

   We put a few drops of green paint into a bowl of solution and they mixed it up until they had a putty like substance. Then they had a blast playing with it and slapping it onto an egg yolk shape!

   During gym time, we worked on balancing skills, as each child had a turn in balancing plastic green (and yellow) eggs on a plastic spoon. It was funny to see them so concentrated and focused on not dropping the eggs!

 And for snack, we had green pudding with vanilla wafers. We poured the pudding onto a plate and then stuck a wafer in the middle to make a Green Egg! (Sorry, no ham here!) 

    I can tell that the kids are having such a fun time learning about Dr. Seuss and the classroom library has been a popular place this week, as they have been exploring all the books I have put out for them!

   Tomorrow I will share some of the other books and activities that we have read and done this week!

   But right now, I need to go raid my closet and put together a wacky outfit for our Wacky Friday fun! I can't wait to see what kinds of wacky outfits the kids come to school in! 

Hats Off to Dr. Seuss!

    Well, with finishing up mid-year assessments and kicking my butt into Party Planning Mode for my little one's birthday, I haven’t had a minute to blog about our Dr. Seuss fun!

   This week is our Dr. Seuss week! Along with Read Across America, my Head Start program has devoted this week to honoring Dr. Seuss.

    Each day we have committed to reading one book and then have followed it up with different  activities! We have encouraged parent participation and have asked parents to sign up to come and read one of the books in the classroom.

   On Monday, I introduced the author Dr. Seuss and my preschool munchkins were so surprised when they saw my wide collection of Dr. Seuss books!

   I didn’t have a parent signup for Monday to read The Cat in the Hat—which was OK with me. I was planning on reading it myself anyway. I even dressed for the part, wearing all black, and a Cat in the Hat headband... and I forgot my red scarf!!   (Don't laugh!  This is one of the rare photos that you will actually see me in!) 

   Our activities that day focused on patterns and the kids painted a red & white striped hat.

    Another activity focused on the word: READ. They learned how to spell it, as they painted each letter.

   And after reviewing the data from my mid-year assessments, a skill that my kiddos need a little more practice on is rhyming. So this week is a perfect time to dive right into it!

   I found this “-at” word family packet on TPT, from Live, Laugh I LOVE Kindergarten, to use with the kids.

    I had to tweak it a little bit to  use in small groups,  to fit the needs and abilities of my students. It is a great packet that offers differentiated printables!

   First we labeled words that rhyme with “cat” and then we played a rhyming game. I took the pictures from the packet and glued them onto Dr. Seuss hats (to keep the consistency of the pictures so they wouldn't get too confused) and then I gave each child a pair of words and asked if they rhymed or not.

    (I noticed that a few of them used the word mats to reference back to and if they word/picture was not there, then the word/picture did not rhyme with “cat”.)

    Then I utilized a few of the worksheets with them to practice writing the rhyming words.

Stay tuned tomorrow to see what fun we had with Green Eggs & Ham!

Joining the Virtual Book Club for Kids in saluting Dr. Seuss!!

  The Dr. Seuss fun is underway and I am VERY excited to be linking up with the Virtual Book Club for Kids, hosted by The Educator’s Spin On It !

   In my household, the buzz is ALL about Birthdays!! My son’s 14^th birthday  is tomorrow, my mom’s birthday is the 20^th, my little girl’s birthday is March 10^th and my husband’s birthday is March 13^th!

   So, there is LOTS of birthday talk going on these days. It made PERFECT sense to read Dr. Seuss ‘ book, “Happy Birthday To You!”

   I read it to my little one, my husband read it to her… and then SHE read it to the dog! (I wish I would have gotten that picture! It was sooo sweet)

   There were so many activities that we could do with a birthday theme. We started off by talking about when every family member had a birthday and then wrote the names down on the calendar. 
   We also earned the letters in the phrase “Happy Birthday”.

    I found this awesome Birthday theme pack from Over the Big Moon.  

And I purchased the Letter Bb pack (which included fun Birthday graphics) from Analia over at Ingles 360. She has awesome products in English & Spanish! And her blog is pretty awesome too! 

   Both were GREAT packs to get my little one all excited about Birthdays!

   One of the first things I did when we chose the book, was make a trip to Dollar Tree to buy some party items to create a Birthday Box. It included the party essentials (plate, cups, tablecloth, banner, etc and her everyday kitchen food.). Her cake by Melissa & Doug is one of her favorite toys and she uses it any chance she gets! And we took everything and decorated a corner of the den aka the ‘playroom’.

   I thought it would be AWESOME to make our very own 3 tier cake!! Using craft materials, of course! 
   Ha… I could never pull of a 3 tier cake!

  I purchased 3 different sized boxes at Michaels and found some cute ribbon on clearance for $1. I pulled out my Modge Podge, some foam stickers and punched out circles and hearts from scrapbook paper.

 And my little one and I went right to work!

 TA-DA!! Here is the end result!! How I wish we could really make a 3 tier cake that gorgeous!!

Then we made play-doh cupcakes with real candles and silicone cupcake wrappers!

  And OF COURSE we HAD to have a BIRTHDAY PARTY!!! (The playroom has been decorated for a few days, but yesterday was the day we actually had the party.)

   We got her American Girl Bitty Twins all dressed up and had a PARTY! It was complete with music and everything!

Look! Even our kitty joined in on the fun!

    It was the perfect way to end our Birthday fun!

    It has been so much fun doing all these birthday activities with her. She is now SUPER excited about her own birthday party…which is actually going to entail everything Dr. Seuss!

I need to do a little catching up....!!

   So Valentine's Day came and went and I wanted to share just a few more activities that my little one and I did...but things go crazy for the remainder of the week, so I just forgot!

   So, before this weekend is over, I just want to share my pics from Valentine's Day!

   This year, the hubby and I went for handmade/homemade gifts this year:

   He found his crafty side and made this for me:

   And I took a stab at a new homemade protein bar recipe, just for him:

   And of course, the little one had some fun activities that she did throughout the week, in anticipation of Valentine's Day!

   I took my Valentine Ten Frames and used them as Ten Frame mats, instead of having her cut and paste.

Click the picture to get yours at my TPT store!!

   This next idea I found somewhere on Pinterest (and if I remember right, it was used as a literacy activity), and I wish I would have pinned it!-- Don't you hate when that happens???

I used heart dice and heart containers filled with Conversation Hearts to have her practice her counting, and matching number to set.

   Her favorite part was that she was able to eat some after she was all done!

   And then I picked up these play-doh mats from Jennifer over at Pink Polka Dots & PreK and I told her that I would feature them on my blog. I am just sad that I could not get a chance to do so sooner. Sorry Jennifer!
   I mixed these with my pink glitter play-doh (that I had also made for my preschoolers) and some fun heart cutters, and she was playing with this even after her pjs were put on!

So, there you have it... all my Valentine's Day fun!

   This past weekend, when I wasn't getting ready for my son's bowling party or starting my plans for my daughter's birthday party next month, I ventured on over to some of my homeschooling blogs and came across The Virtual Book Club for Kids, hosted by The Educator's Spin On It blog. This blog is AWESOME!!

  This month, the featured author for the Virtual Book Club is none other than---- Dr. Seuss!!

I am excited to be sharing my fun Dr. Seuss book activity this coming week!! (Tomorrow, actually!)

Stay Tuned!!