Plenty of fun with hearts...even after Valentine's Day!

   Ok so I am a little bummed that my plans for the classroom Valentine's Day party were ruined by yet ANOTHER Snow/Cold Day last Friday!
   I was all geared up for some fun...Check out how cute our bulletin board was!

   But my preschoolers did get a very small taste of some Valentine fun with heart themed activities, earlier in the week.
   I added hearts and gems into our rice sensory bin for the munchkins to work on their fine motor skills, as well as counting skills:

   They also worked on measurement & size in our Playdoh Center, with pretty pink playdoh and different sized heart cutters:

    I had quite a few Valentine activities prepped and ready to use but with the snow day, we never got a chance. So I tweaked one activity for my munchkin to have some learning fun at home too!
   She has been working hard on CVC words and she played a fun word building game:

 I found this great FREE resource on Vowel Sorting from Make, Take, Teach.

And I found these fun mailboxes from Target.

    We also hit up the after Valentine's Day sales for some candy to have some Math fun, which I will share next time!

Mad Science Monday: FROZEN Slime!

   I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend!  The weather was perfect and it was a pretty quiet and relaxing 4th of July for us this year.
   I know some of you are in the same boat as me when I say that my little munchkin is stilll very much obsessed with everything FROZEN. So, I have been thinking- why not have some learning fun with a FROZEN theme?? There are TONS of ideas all over Pinterest lately and I am eager to try a few and have some FROZEN fun!
    Today, we squeezed in some Mad Science Monday fun.... and we made FROZEN slime!

    There are many different ways to make slime, but the one I chose was very simple and required only 2 ingredients and it was a recipe from Growing a Jeweled Rose:
1) Liquid Starch (I found it in the laundry detergent section at Walmart)
2) Colored Glitter Glue (It can be found at Walmart, Michaels or any craft store.)

The munchkin poured the glue into a bowl and I slowly added in the liquid starch, one cup at a time. 

    We mixed it together and kneaded it for a few minutes until it reached a soft, slimy, yet not too sticky consistency. If it is too sticky, add a little more liquid starch, but not too much or it can take on a consistency of playdoh. (We made 2 batches- one purple and one blue and added her Elsa, Anna and Olaf toys.)

The slime was so fun to stretch and twirl!!

She engaged in slime play for over an hour. Elsa, Anna and Olaf each got slimed!

And Elsa got a brand new blue glittery (very see through) dress!!

And then she put them to bed!

This was so much fun! I even enjoyed playing with it myself... great sensory play for any age!

I know this is just the beginning to all the fun we are going to have with a FROZEN theme!

Relaxing Sensory Play!

   There are some days that the little munchkin comes home from preschool and I can tell she had a long day. The look is right there in her eyes and the crankiness kicks in...right around dinner time.
    Then there are the days where all is well, she starts to wind down after dinner time, and then a second burst of energy kicks in...right before bedtime. Sometimes I feel that I just can't win!
   Some days she is good about taking some time to play quietly, with quiet boxes that I have out and available for her to use and explore as she pleases. But there are some days where she just walks around aimlessly and can't be entertained by anything. She slowly gets crankier by the minute, and it is usually between dinner and bedtime.
  She loves to play with any kind of little figurine toys, so I came across the idea of a Calming Sensory Bin at Nurture Store, for her to explore on those days where she is on the verge of a meltdown and it isn't quite bedtime yet.
   I have dyed uncooked rice once or twice before and relearned it here, using a little bit of a different technique, as I searched for and found purple food coloring and lavender oil. (I was excited to make this and grabbed the first thing I saw that said lavender oil!)

   I dyed the uncooked rice by puting some uncooked rice in a ziploc bag, a few drops of purple food coloring (or just mix red & blue food coloring) and then dropped in some lavender oil. I sealed the bag and mixed it all up until all the rice looked colored in purple.

I left it to air out for two days. 

    After ensuring that it was completely dry, I dumped it all into a large serving tray (it was deep enough so that I didn't have to worry too much about rice spilling out easily), added some little bunny and dog toys and some dollhouse furniture with some small squares of felt.

   Playing with uncooked rice alone, is a great sensory experience.... and with an added pop of color and a calming lavender scent and some toys, this was awesome! I am not going to guarantee an easy bedtime routine afterwards (because who wants to stop playing in rice and go to sleep?)... BUT it does offer a calm, relaxing and somewhat quiet playtime!
   She dumped rice in and out of the little tub and buried some of the dogs in the rice and just enjoyed some quiet play.

    And if rice spilled over the side of the tray, it was no biggie. I added a kid-sized broom/brush and dust pan for her to use to clean up after herself!

Sensory Fun with shaving cream and sight words!

   So, the snow is back... We enjoyed a few snow-free days and then got hit with reality once again. Ugh, this Buffalo winter sure has been long! And sadly, I don't think we are done with it quite yet!
   Anyhow, as much fun as snow can be to play in (and it is easy to just bring some indoors), the little munchkin and I opted for some sensory fun with another awesome white and fluffy substance: Shaving Cream!!
   She has been learning just over 20 sight words in the past two months, and can correctly identify almost all of them.  I try to do fun games and activities with her to reinfore sight word learning every day. Today, she went on a "Snowball" sight word hunt.  (This is a type of activity that can easily be adapted to learn letters, numbers, etc.)
    I bought some ping pong balls at Dollar Tree awhile back and actually forgot I had them until a few days ago. I wrote sixteen of the twenty sight words she has been learning, onto the pig pong ball. I filled up a bin with shaving cream and hid all of the ping pong balls inside of the pile of "snow".

She dug into the "snow" to find the "snowballs".

    I added another bin of warm water when I noticed that her hands were so full of shaving cream, she couldn't wipe the shaving cream off of the ping pong balls very well. 

She dipped the "snowballs" in the water to reveal what sight word was written there.

    And then of course, once she found all sixteen "snowballs", she begged to play in the shaving cream for awhile longer. She was elbow deep in shaving cream and it kept her busy for awhile, which is exactly what mommy needed in order to get a few things done around the house. Hey, whatever works some days, right?

    So, every few days we review some sight words and we have since reated an "I Can Read" sight word display in her playroom, right on the basement door.

    Every few days, we review the words and once she is able to correctly identify the word at least 3 different times and sometimes on three different days, I know she has mastered it and I give her a star with the word written on it. She colors it (in rainbow colors) and proudly puts it on the door!

    Teaching and learning sight words has been so much fun. I constantly seek new ways to teach her sight words in a fun, engaging way. I know learning sight words can be difficult or even an unattainable skill for any preschool child, as it used to be something that was taught in the later part of Kindergarten or even First Grade. So I always, always try to make it fun at home, no matter what!

    For now, we are both so excited how much (and how fast) she is learning and I love to hear her read the little sight words books that her teacher sends home with her sight word list every few weeks. It gives her so much confidence and I know she is proud of herself everytime she reads a word she knows!

Letter Mm and other fun play -- in a Montessori-Inspired Way!

   So after spending time learning about the world of Montessori and learning more about her philosophy and methods, I have decided to incorporate a little bit of Montessori in my learning area for my little munchkin. I have been enjoying searching homeschool blogs and seeing how moms implement Montessori with their little ones everyday.
    I am still learning about different aspects of a Montessori curriculum, but after reading a few things here and there, I wanted to get started right away!
    Here is what I learned (or rather re-learned, because I did briefly study Montessori topics way back in my undergrad work) about the importance of the learning environment.

    So the first thing that I did was look to the environment where I was doing most of my learning activities. First thing I noticed when I really stopped to look: Clutter. Too many toys; some slightly organized in small baskets and bins (as they are in a typical classroom) and some just scattered. I usually like to try and keep the area organized, but some days, it just gets overlooked. In a Montessori classroom, things are simple and clutter free. So I put away some toys and cleared a few shelves, which fortunately are a child friendly size! I found (and bought) a few trays from the Dollar Tree and Walmart and began our new Montessori-Inspired set up.
       Because of my 9 years of teaching experience, embracing Montessori 100% seems too overwhelming of a task. Not to mention, too much of a change all at once for the munchkin. So I will try to find a nice balance of Montessori activities and activities that I know and love to use!
       Anyhow, this week we went right back to work, and our Letter of the Week is Mm.
       Here is how our learning area is now set up.

                   

     I chose to start off with 8-9 activity trays for her to begin with. I plan to switch up maybe 2-3 activitiy materials mid-week, depending on her interests. I plan to only change the materials, not the concept. For example, once she completes the art activity (cotton ball painting), then I can add another type painting activity.

     Here is what is on our shelves this week:

     On the top of the shelf, I have 3 trays:  Letter Mm Tray (using my awesome Alphabet Soup Cans that I was so excited to finally purchase- and some items that begin with the Mm sound), another Letter Mm tray with coloring and letter search activities and an Art Tray where she could use stencils, paint, clothespins and cotton balls to paint.

      On the lower shelf, I put out a Puzzle Tray (20 wooden pieces), a Lego Tray and a Writing Tray (which you can't see from this pic)

             

             Letter Mm Trays

             

            Letter Mm Tray and Art Tray

             

          Writing Tray

(with my DIY Sandpaper Letters)

             

     On another lower shelf (an old tv stand) I put out a  Play Doh Tray, a tray for Water Pouring, a tray to Measure & Pour Rice and a Math tray with M&M patterns and graphing activities that I have from the Letter of the Week Curriculum by Confesssions of a Homeschooler.

              

     The first things we did was read our Letter Mm books and she selected one of the Letter Mm Trays. (The Alphabet Soup Cans just arrived this weekend and she was eager to get her hands on them!)

     After reviewing the sound of Mm and talking about the pictures, she wanted to draw each one.                                                                        

                   

     The other popular activity was Water Pouring. (I found some super cute, measuring pitchers at Walmart). I placed 2 cups, a funnel and a towel on the tray as well. I demonstrated how to use the materials and how to clean it all up when it was done. In this manner, she will learn to use the materials correctly for her exploration and respect them as learning materials. And she does need work in the respect area because she tends to make a mess and walk away!!

     Anyhow, this Water Pouring Fun occupied 55 minutes of her time!! I kept track because as she worked, I sat back and played the observer. I was so happy when I caught glimpes of her little smirks as she worked hard and focused. Pouring can be hard work!!

                                   

     And the pouring fun continued with the Rice. She learned how to measure and pour rice!

               

               

     And with her newfound pride and confidence, she begged to make her own lunch! Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich with Strawberries (that she cut herself) and a glass of milk, that she poured herself, of course!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

It was a fun, Montessori-Inspired day!

Yummy "Ice Cream" Sensory Fun!

   This weekend, I was browsing Goggle+ posts and Pinterest, as usual and I came across an awesome Sensory activity posted by Crystal Underwood at Growing a Jeweled Rose that I knew my little munchkin would enjoy! Check out her blog, as she has several awesome sensory activities for little ones to enjoy!

   As for the munchkin and I...we created our own 

"Ice Cream" Scented Sensory Dough!

Three SIMPLE ingredients for loads (and hours) of sensory play!!

1: Baking Soda

2: Water

3: Kool Aid Packets

   Add baking soda to your bowl (in whatever amount you wish to make).  Then, slowly add water.  If you add too much water at once, the baking soda will begin to turn into a liquid, so make sure to add the water SLOWLY.  

   We then added the Kool Aid packet and then begin mixing it altogether.

   She observed a fizzing reaction when she started mixing it!!

 Check out the little munchkin’s face when she finally got to touch it! 

   Then I threw in a few snow cone cups and an ice cream scooper! She was busy for a good 20 minutes. I thought it would keep her interested for a bit longer but she “noticed” a tiny cut on her thumb and that was the end of it all… well until later that night when she asked for it again.

   We did some work on Sight Words this weekend too.

   She colored the word "I" and then used dot stickers to decorate the sight word “see”.

   Then she did an Ice Cream Sight Word spelling activity and “scooped” letters to spell the sight words that we have been learning.

She made ice cream cones and ice cream bowls!

So much yummy sensory fun!