Freebie Friday: Fun with addition and jelly beans!

   Happy Friday everyone! This week has flown by fast for me and I can't believe that I missed National Jelly Bean Day, which was on Tuesday!

   Well, who else still has left over jelly beans and plastic eggs??? I know I do.  I made sure we put them to use again and created an addition activity for the munchkin.

    I took some of those cute plastic bunny and carrot shaped eggs and other eggs that I snagged at the Dollar Tree and put jellybeans of the same color in each one. 

    She opened each egg and counted how many were there. She then colored the jelly bean on the paper the same color and wrote down the number. Then she proceeded to open another egg and repeated the process.

She had all the jellybeans from the two eggs and then counted them and added them together.

Click here or on the picture below to grab your own copy of this fun jelly bean addition sheet and have fun!

     Well, now I need to get back to my huge project that I started this week.

(I feel like I start a new project every few weeks, whether the previous one is completed or not.  I know, I have issues when it comes to all that!)

    This time, I have been courageous and have begun to tackle the mess in the garage and started to organize my teaching materials... I have way too much stuff! I joke with my husband all the time that I can open up my own little school with all the materials I have...It seriously is THAT much stuff (excluding furniture of course)

  I usually take time in the summer to organize it all, but then it gets all unorganized during the school year and things aren't where they don't belong. I think I am going to try labeling my bins this time around...

Anyone have any good organizing ideas?? Please share!

'Race to the Basket' game and other counting fun!

   So, last Friday's Freebie was a fun Easter themed gameboard that can be used in different ways. Today, I want to share how the litttle munchkin used the gameboard today to practice counting and one to one correspondence.

I found the cute animal shaped eggs at Target (but anything can be used, really) as markers. We each took a board and an animal marker, rolled the die and moved that number of spaces.

The first to the basket was the winner.

(As you can see here, she only needed to roll a one and she would win!)

    This is a fun, quick game to practice taking turns, work on counting and one to one correspondence (by moving the marker the correct number of spaces)... and of course, encouraging good sportmanship since she did not win each time!

    We played it at least 7 times and then older brother played with her a few times.

Here is the link to the gameboard in case you missed it (click on the picture):

Here is another quick learning activity that she worked on to practice counting and worked on some fine motor skills by peeling off the stickers and putting it on the egg.

 She had eggs numbered all  the way to twenty five.

    We will be working on some more math skills later this week, so if you are looking for fun math activities to keep little ones busy and learning, stay tuned!

Mad Science Monday: Peep Experiment

    I am excited about this week's Mad Science Monday experiment. Last year, the kids and I microwaved Peeps and saw what happened.... it was lots of fun and hilarious to see the end product of the Peep! We couldn't wait to try another Peep experiment this year.

   This Peep experiment idea came from Bernadette over at Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas... again! I love her blog. She does so many  fun learning activities with her girls!
    For this experiment, we wanted to see what would happen to Peeps when we put them in different liquids. We used vinegar, water, soda and orange juice.

    The munchkin poured in 2/3 cup into a clear plastic cup. (A clear cup makes it easier to see what is happening to the Peep.)

    We placed one Peep in each cup and started to think about what would happen. 

    She used a fork and tried to push a Peep down into the liquids to see if it would sink and stay down (seems that she remembered the Sink & Float experiment from a few weeks ago)...but it didn't. Each peep floated on top of the liquid.
   After 3 hours, we checked them:
   (I had flipped them over after like 1.5 hours)
   In the water, the black eyes had come off and the water was turning yellow.
   In the soda, the peep was still yellow, but also starting to turn brown.
   In the vinegar, the peep looked like it was starting to lose its pink color.
   In the orange juice, the pink color seemed to be coming off as well.

  After 9 hours (this morning), we checked on the Peeps and here is what we saw:

    The peep in the water had turned completely white and the water was yellow. 

The black eyes and nose floated in the water too!

    The peep in the soda was completely brown and it looked like the acid in the soda was eating at the marshmallow. (Very easy to see how bad soda is for you!)

The nose and eyes were still there but not very visible.

    The peep in the orange juice was no longer pink and was completely white. 

Eyes and nose were still intact.

    The peep in the vinegar was also mostly white and the nose and eyes were still intact too.

    And then my son poked a skewer through each peep and it easily went right through it!

And then after another 4 hours, we took a peek at them again and didn't notice too much except that the peep in the vinegar lost its black mouth and it looked like the eyes were coming off too.

The little one was pretty disgusted when she saw how mushy they were and didn't want to touch them!

And she definitely did not like the way that the peep in the soda looked!

Afterwards we just talked about what happened to each one and possible reasons as to why it happened. We are going to leave them in there for a few more hours and then see what they look like then.

Now, we are thinking of other liquids to put the peeps into!
This was fun and it allowed both of my kids to make a prediction as to what would happen in each liquid. 

Try this fun Peep Experiment and let me know what liquids you choose to use and what happened!!

Freebie Friday: Race to the Basket!

    Yay! Friday is here and that means it is FREEBIE time for you!

    I really do need to get better though at posting my Freebies a little bit earlier in the day....
    Today marks the beginning of Spring break for my kids and I have a few fun things lined up for us to do, which include a trip to the Buffalo Museum of Science to check out the new Mummies Exhibit, a Spring Sunset Moonrise Hike, and maybe a trip to the movies and a trip to the zoo!
   And of course, the little munchkin and I plan to spend time outdoors (weather permiiting) and inside working on some fun learning activities. (And I am thinking of some creative things for my teenage son as well!!)
   I have been working on a few things for the munchkin. So, here is a  first peek at a quick little gameboard that I created for next week. I plan to use this in a few different ways to work on different skills!

Click here OR on the picture to get your free copy and then come back and tell me how you used this Easter gameboard.

I will be posting about how we use this gameboard next week so be sure to come back and visit!

"Egg-cellent" learning games with plastic eggs!

    The Easter holiday is just around the corner and I am seeing plastic eggs all over the place! From simple colorful ones, to ones with fun designs and characters, to ones in very cute shapes. I LOVE the cute carrot & bunny eggs I found at the Dollar Tree. I bought some last year and went back for more this year!
    All the cutesy eggs that are out there aren't just cute and great for Easter egg hunts and filling baskets...the little munchkin and I are discovering all sorts of fun games to play and different ways to use these little plastic eggs.
   Earlier this week, after I raided the Dollar Tree for their cute eggs, I set out baskets and activity trays of learning games for the little munchkin to do, if it sparked her interest. And I say "if" because since I have been using Montessori-inspired activity trays, I change the trays maybe every 1-1.5 weeks, depending on how fast she completes the activities and how interested (or uninterested) she is with the activity trays.

 (Read more here about how I started with my Montessori-Inspired Activity Trays in her playroom)   

   And all week long, she has been excited about the new activities and has been doing one or two activities a day.

   Here is one activity that I borrowed from Nicole over at Mrs. Ricca's Kindergarten:

    I filled each carrot egg with letter tiles (or you can use magnetic letters).

    She had to choose an egg, dump out the letters and try to put the letters in order to make a sight word. 

(To make it a little easier, I only used the 8 sight words that she has been learning)

    Once she figured out the correct spelling of the sight word, she wrote it on the carrot. 

    This recording sheet is part of an Easter FREEBIE, so head over to Mrs. Ricca's Kindergarten to grab your own copy and make any kind of game you wish! (It could be a spelling word game for older kids or a letter/ number recognition game for preschool kids) 

The ideas are endless!

    For some upper and lowercase letter identification practice, I also made a game where each carrot egg had two letters that did not match. She had to dump the eggs and match the upper and lower case letters.

There's more!! She grabbed another tray and basket with yet another egg game.

    This time she had to open each egg and sort letters from numbers. I also had her name each letter and number as she sorted it into the correct group.

And then I thought of a way to make the classic game of Memory  Match even more fun:

I bought 2 sets of these little erasers at Walmart. I filled small eggs with the erasers and we took turns opening the eggs to try and find a match.

    So, what are you waiting for? 

    Get over to the Dollar Tree and raid their Easter section! There are TONS of fun things to do with these eggs. And the best thing about all this learning fun-- very cost effective!

   And with Spring break next week, you can be sure that the little munchkin and I will be exploring a zillion more ways to have fun with plastic eggs!

 So, stay tuned!

Are you "Egg-cited" about eggs? =)

Happy Easter everyone!

   I hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter! Since we don't have family out here we are laying low today and just relaxing! I am actually waiting to hear from my sister soon so that we can SKype with the family and somewhat spend some time together for this holiday!

   Yesterday we colored eggs in a different way. I found the idea on Pinterest (as I seem to be doing alot of these days), posted from Shannon over at Tot School.

   I remember dying eggs last year and my little one didn't care to eat them b/c once we peeled them, she did not like that they were colored on the inside! So... to try and color eggs without the dye seeping into the egg, we attempted to try this: 

We used white vinegar, food coloring, whip cream and eggs.

First I had her put on an apron. Then I soaked the eggs in the bowl with vinegar for few minutes.

Then I put some whip cream in a bowl and added some food coloring and had her mix it. (We tried not to mix too much so that we could get some kind of swirl on the eggs.)

Once they were done, I used a spatula to get them out of the bowls and onto a plate. 

   One thing on her blog that was  specifically noted was that the eggs need to be refrigerated for at least 8 hours in order for the color to stay on the eggs. And this morning before she woke up, I wiped the whip cream off the eggs (very carefully) and we had some cute eggs! 

   (And when we cracked them open and peeled them, there was very little to no dye on the inside of egg at all!)

    OH--- I just remembered earlier today that I never posted the goodies I made for my daughter's Easter party at school nor the treats I made for my co-workers! It is so funny b/c they already know me and look forward to me yummy  little treats when holidays come around!

   Anyhow, I made little Bunny Tails for the kids at my daughter's school. Rather than use donut holes (which I could not find), I used mini donuts!

   And for my co-workers, I made these cute little butterflies using Reese's Egg Shaped Candy.

   And with Easter and Eggs on our mind the past few days, my little munchkin and I engaged ourselves into some fun and creative Egg Art Projects!

   Again, my fellow blogger over at Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas, highlighted a fun art activity (Wet Chalk and Tape Resist EasterEgg) that involves 4 simple items: Cardstock paper, colored chalk, water and masking tape.

   Anyhow, back to the Wet Chalk Art--- All you do is cut out an oval shape from the paper, place masking tape however you please, then dip the chalk into water and color away!

  

 Even I couldn’t resist making one!

Once we were done, we let them sit out to dry for awhile.

   My little one wanted to take off of her egg all by  herself, and had a bit of a rough time and some of the paper got torn off.

 But they came out so Cute!  And it doesn't smear much as it would if it were dry chalk!

   Then we went on a button search to find enough fun and colorful buttons for our next project:   

A FUN button egg craft! 

(Which I still have to get into a frame!!)

 

  And she didn't want to stop there! OH-- my little one loves arts & crafts! She had randomly picked up an white egg decoration at Michaels last weekend and she wanted to paint it!  

   So she did just that! I was a pink and purple egg because those two are her favorite colors! (as she reminded me 50 times as she was painting it!)

 And well, that was all the "EGG-citing" Egg fun we had!

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