Week Seven - Travel - Science

Today is the day for air, water, and road experiments.

Air: You will need a balloon (get a couple, accidents happen and you wouldn't want the fun to end early because of a popped balloon), string, tape, and items of different weight. Blow up the balloon and attach the string. Have your child place the objects you gathered from around the house in order of lightest to heaviest. Attach the lightest one to the sting and see if the balloon caries it to the ceiling. Continue with each item and see if they were right about the weight. If you want, add another balloon to see how much more it can hold or see which item weighs more in a head to head.

Water: Will it float? You will need a large container for water (preferably outside - this gets wet) (a kiddie pool works well), waterproof items (or items you don't mind tossing after you play) and a record sheet for their hypothesis and actual outcome. Create the record sheet with your child - you draw the grid lines (I would suggest 5 - 7 rows, 3 columns [object, hypothesis, outcome]), then have them come up with the objects. Depending on time you can have them draw the object in the object column or you can write them in. This is a great time to work on beginning sounds and corresponding letters. Then have them guess if the object will sink or float. Record their guess and head outside to see the outcome. While they are placing the object in the water you record the outcome and talk about why that happened. This is a great time to talk about how boats stay afloat.

Roads: You will need objects that can be made into ramps (anything will do as long as it makes it easier  for cars to roll down hill - even a steep driveway), toy cars of all types (different wheels are best) and objects/textures found around the house (examples: towels, pencils, paper clips, cardboard, etc). Take the items to your ramp and start by rolling the chosen cars down the ramp without any items on it. Then add the items. Talk about how the speed and successful completion of the ramp changed based on what you added. Ask them if they would rather ride on a bumpy or smooth road. Talk about all the textures that real cars drive over.

This is sure to be a fun one, enjoy!

Week Seven - Travel - Songs and Movement

Time to move and sing!

Lyrics

Little Airplane

Tune: Frere Jacques

Little airplane, little airplane,

In the sky, in the sky,

I can see you soaring,

I can see you soaring,

Up so high,

Up so high.

Lyrics

Twinkle Twinkle Traffic Light

Tune: Twinkle Twinkle

Twinkle Twinkle Traffic Light 

Open and close hands

Standing on the Corner Bright 

Point with finger

Green means GO, we all know 

Roll arms

Yellow means WAIT, even if you're late 

Check watch

Red means STOP...... 

Hold hand up in Stop gesture

Twinkle Twinkle Traffic Light, 

Open and close hands

Standing on the Corner bright

Point with fingers

Lyrics

Transportation

Tune: Old Macdonald

Pete the Pilot has a plane. 

Zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom.

Hold arms out like a plane 

And on that plane there are some wings. 

Use arms like wings

Zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom. 

Hold arms out like a plane 

With a zoom, zoom, here......a zoom zoom there, here a zoom, there a zoom, everywhere a zoom zoom

Pete the Pilot had a plan - zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom

(other options for airplane - there is a propeller (turn fingers around))

Dan the driver has car

beep, beep, beep, beep, beep

Pretend to drive a car

On that car there is a horn

Beep the horn

Beep, beep, beep, beep beep...

(other options for car - a wheel (drive car wheel), tires (roll arms), door (shut door) etc) 

The engineer has a train

Chug, chug, chug, chug, chug

Chug your arms

And on that train there is a smokestack

Make hands poof like smoke

chug chug chug chug chug...

(other options for train - a whistle (pull down on the whistle), a caboose (get in line and pretend to be a train) etc)

Lyrics

Train Fingerplay

Have fun!

Week Seven - Travel - Craft Time

Today we are going to have fun with some car art, juice box boats, a straw car, and (for the intense at heart) an actual rolling car (plus bonus links to build your own paper planes).

For the "car art" all you will need is the toy cars found in your home (if it is anything like mine - found EVERYWHERE in my home), some washable paint, markers, paper and masking tape. You will want to do this in an easily cleanable place (outside is best). Put the washable paint into a paper plate, ride the cars through the paint and make tire track art. You can also tape markers to the back of cars and roll them across the paper. Use different surfaces under the paper for different results.

Inchmark has step by step instructions for juice box boats. You will need an empty juice box with tape over the straw hole, a small wooden skewer, and a water resistant paper (or paper covered in tape - you can decorate the paper and then cover it with clear packing tape for a pretty and waterproof solution).

No Time for Flash Cards has a great fine motor truck craft. You will need straws, paper, marker (for the outline) and glue. You can make this easier (and last less time) if you just cover the outline with straws instead of the whole truck.

The very adventurous will want to try the Marvelous Motor-Car. Brought to you by the folks at SolidWasteDistrict.com (what??!! Seriously, when I first saw this I was stumped as to what was going on over in Indiana - but it is all about recycling and they apparently reprinted a craft found in Creating by Recycling). This car actually rolls - but is probably above the attention span of a pre-schooler. It might be a great option for a dad/kid project.

Last, but not least paper airplanes. Here is a resource that has step-by-step instruction of literally 50 different paper airplane models. Alex's Paper Airplanes has videos on paper airplanes and helicopters.

Week Seven - Travel - Read!

This week we return to the summer over-arching theme with travel or things that go. We will discuss all things that move, planes, trains, cars, boats - you name it.

Topics to get the week started: what is your favorite way to "go"? How would you get across the country, over the ocean, to the store, etc? What do you think moves the fastest a car or a train, a plane or a boat? There are different words for the people who are in control of vehicles - a car has a driver a boat has a captain, plane- pilot, train - engineer, etc. When you grow up you will learn to drive a car, is there another type of vehicle you would like to drive/pilot/captain?

The books this week are: On the Road by Susan Steggall, Along a Long Road by Frank Viva, Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat by Phillip Stead, The Last Train by Gordon Titcomb, The Trucker by Barbara Samuels, My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann, Going Places by Todd Parr


The sight words for the week: go, where, away, jump, can, ran, ride, there, with, went


Here is the sight word book for this week:

Go

Enjoy!

Week Six - Dinosaurs - Movies and Shows

This has been a really fun week in our house. I love introducing new things to Little Man but there is such joy in sharing something he is always interested in exploring.

There are so many great choices for movies and shows about dinosaurs. Enjoy your weekend!

Movies:

Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaur: The first in the Ice Age franchise to talk about dinosaurs. Big appeal for the little ones, but it is a more intense look from the Ice Age folks. I love these movies because they look at unconventional families (herds) and encouraging the characters to be themselves and play to their own strengths.

We're Back! A Dinosaur Story: Talking, non-violent dinosaurs in this cute offering. A cute piece of fluff that will delight the dinosaur obsessed.

The Land Before Time: This is a wonderful movie that Little Man can't get enough of (stick with the original - believe me I have seen all of the sequels and they do not compare to the innocence and beauty of the first). Be prepared the the main dinosaur baby looses his Momma in the beginning of the movie and there are some scary moments with "Sharp Teeth".

Shows:

Dinosaur Train: I know I have talked about this all week, but I really can't say enough. This is a sweet, cute show that combines two of Little Man's favorites. It is educational and so well done. The music, and frank way they deal with the realities of dinosaurs in a fantasy setting is wonderful. You need to watch this if you haven't yet seen it. You can catch it on PBS. Check out the site for cute (free) online games.

Wonder Pets: Save a Baby Dinosaur: This offering from Nick Jr. is all about team work between the three main characters.

Sesame Street: Dinosaurs!: This covers healthy eating, the alphabet, taking turns and all that Sesame Street has to offer.

Games:

Caillou Dinosaur Game

Dinosaur Dash

Dinosphere

Week Six - Dinosaurs - Science Time

This will be a short post because one of the links I will provide is such a wealth of options that anything else I would provide would be superfluous.

First, keep it simple. Break out the play doh (recipe for make your own) and the dinosaur toys (other bone shaped objects optional) and make your own fossils. In my house this is often an explosion of imagination. Talk about how long it takes to make a fossil in play doh vs how long it takes in real life, what makes a fossil, and how heavy do they think are (info here).

Second, dig your own dinosaurs using ice. You need bowls of different shapes (balloons, ice trays, anything that will hold water and freeze without damage), dinosaur toys or other plastic items to freeze, water, tools to liberate the toys once frozen (rocks will do), a place to set ice and pound on it, and a freezer. Working together fill your containers with water. Then place the toys in the containers. Freeze the containers (about two hours). Remove your ice from containers and get to work "digging up" your fossils. Talk about what dinosaurs they are finding and how hard it is to get the dinosaurs out of the ice. Ask them to imagine digging out real fossils from layers of rock. Talk about the differences between your "digging" and actually digging for fossils.

Last (and I apologize in advance - if your child is as interested in dinosaurs as Little Man you will be here forever) the Dinosaur Train parent site. The have detailed instructions on over twenty different activities grouped by games, arts crafts and cooking, investigating nature, and hands on. As a Jim Henson company product these activities bring in dinosaurs to other core learning for the preschool set including; colors, senses, movement, etc.

They also have a great program called Nature Trackers Club that has a monthly science challenge, activities, and printable pages. This is all about getting kids involved in nature and the environment. Fun and nice to have someone else come up with the ideas once a month!

On a side note - is your child asking more questions about dinosaurs? here is a link with lots of facts on all types of dinosaurs. Amaze your child with all the things you know about their new obsession!

Week Six - Dinosaurs - Sing and Move

So many great choices today, that I had to edit myself (and still probably gave you too many options). Enjoy!

Lyrics

All Around the Swamp

Tune:"The Wheels on the Bus"

The Pteranodon's wings went flap, flap, flap,

Flap, flap, flap, flap, flap, flap,The Pteranodon's wings went flap, flap, flap,

All around the swamp.

Flap hands like you are flying

The Tyrannosaurus Rex went grr, grr, grr,

Grr, grr, grr, grr, grr, grr,The Tyrannosaurus Rex went grr, grr, grr,

All around the swamp.

Stomp feet and hold hands like claws and walk around

The Triceratops' horns went poke, poke, poke,

Poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke,The Triceratops' horns went poke, poke, poke,

All around the swamp.

Put pointer fingers up on the head to make horns

Additional Verses:

The brontosaurus went munch, munch, munch.

Pretend to eat

The stegosaurs' tail went spike, spike, spike.

Swing hips like you are wagging a tail

The dinosurs went zzz, zzz, zzz,

Zzz, zzz, zzz, zzz, zzz, zzz,The dinosurs went zzz, zzz, zzz,

All around the swamp.Shhhhhhhh.

Pretend to sleep and then put finger to lips and say shhh

Lyrics

Dino-Pokey

Tune: "The Hokey Pokey"

You put your claws in,

You take your claws out,You put your claws in,

And you scratch 'em all about.You do the dino pokey,

And you turn yourself around.That's what it's all about!

Additional Verses:

feet in
feet out

and stomp them all about

teeth in

teeth out
chomp them all about

tail in

tail out
wag it all about

Lyrics

T. Rex
Tune: Do Wah Ditty
Here he comes just a stomping with his feet singing,
"Dino ditty, ditty dum, ditty do."
Searching all round for something good to eat singing,
"Dino ditty, ditty dum ditty do."
He's huge, (He's huge), He's strong, (He's strong.)
He's huge, he's strong, won't be hungry very long.
"Dino ditty, ditty dum , ditty do."
"Dino ditty, ditty dum, ditty do."

Lyrics

I'm a Mean Old Dinosaur 
(Tune:  I'm A Little Teapot)

I'm a mean old dinosaur (Make a mean frown)
Big and tall.  (Stretch arms high and wide)
Here is my tail,  (Point to imaginary tail)
And here is my claw. (Curl fingers on one hand)
When I get all hungry,  (Rub tummy)
I just growl. (Growl the word "growl" with hands round mouth)
Look out kids . . . (Reach out arms)
I'm on the prowl. (Lunge left and right)

Week Six - Dinosaurs - Craft Time

Three great options today; a faux relief drawing of a dinosaur skeleton, a dinosaur fossil made of pasta and a hatching baby dinosaur. I have added a few bonus options, because the web is a wealth of ideas for dinosaurs - obviously Little Man is not the only obsessed four-year-old.

I found the great idea for a faux relief dinosaur print on The Do It Yourself Mom. She took a easy fossil printable (here's one) and had her boys trace it with a white crayon on a different piece of paper (one on top of the other). Then they brushed over the white crayon tracing with water colors (use dirt colors for the biggest impact). The end result was a super cute final product. Get all of the details here.

Two options from Busy Bee Kids Crafts. First, dinosaur bones pasta style. You just need glue, paper, the printable provided on the site and some pasta - penne worked great! Little man loved crushing the pasta, so that got a little out of hand, but he was very proud of the final product.

Second, a hatching dinosaur egg. You need paper bowls, paint, other options for decorating (use your and your child's imagination), a paper fastener (if you don't worry about it sliding open you can use a staple or poke through with a twisty tie), and either a dinosaur toy or the free printable found on the site for inside the egg. This is too cute! This would make a great extended play day - hide and seek with the egg, what else fits inside, what other animals lay eggs, make nests outside - the options are endless.



Bonus - here are some fun dinosaur gems I found while searching for ideas for this week.

Here is a set of dino flash cards. My two cents - print two and play memory, print several and write easy word foundations (-ed, -at, -up, -ast, -all, etc) on the bodies with letters that would create words on other same bodies to work on sounding out words. Tons of options, and these are so cute!

This is a set of worksheets and educational files some of which may be a bit above the preschool age range, but sweet and useful now and in the future.

Week Six - Dinosaurs - Read!

Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday week. We are getting back into the swing of things slowly (I miss having family close by - but not more than my kids who do not understand why they only have my attention during the day). I decided to try to make everyone happy and break from the overarching theme of summer and throw in dinosaurs. My little man loves them, and I have fun when he has fun - so hopefully this will make the transition easier.

Items that can be covered this week; dinosaur names, differences between dinosaurs (meat eaters vs plant eaters, walk on four legs vs two legs, horns vs no horns, etc), size of dinosaurs (what do they compare to today), etc. The best thing to discuss with kids about dinosaurs is the unknown. There are still dinosaurs to be discovered and things that might never be known (what did they sound like, what color were they, etc) and that lets kids use there imagination without fear of being wrong. It also can spark an interest in science and the discovery of it all.

There are a ton of great books on this topic, but our family favorites include: Dinosaur Train by John Steven Gurney, Dinosaur! By Peter Sis, Ten Terribel Dinosaurs by Paul Strickland, The Magic School Bus and the Time of the Dinosaur by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen, How Big Were the Dinosaurs? By Bernard Most. I am always looking for suggestions, because these are winners so if you have anything to add - post in comments!




The sight words this week are: funny, who, will, came, did, what, say, do


I hope that you are enjoying seeing your preschooler learn sight words and build a foundation for reading. This has been a great journey for Little Man - he is reading more and more every day as he becomes more confident about knowing the words. Remember to make this fun and supportive. This may not be your child's time to read the words on their own, but the more they hear them from you the more they will grow. Here is the free book of the week:
Dinosaurs

This week we will make a dinosaur egg, a relief painting, and I will introduce you to some great songs, movement and shows that are for young kids and have taught the adults in my house (I mean me) a few things. You don't need much that you won't find in your home, so relax and enjoy. I will leave you with a little laugh. 

Week Five - 4th of July - Movies and Shows

Getting ready to get into the car for our non-stop (who am I kidding) drive home from the beach. We had a great time and enjoyed the time together but are ready to sleep in our own beds.

I went for more a broad theme so I could provide you with a couple of options.

Movies & Shows:

This is America, Charlie Brown: Beloved characters explore US history. This may be a little old for preschool children - but it sounds like a great way to teach history. It is a series of eight episodes  that cover the Constitution, NASA, Wright Brothers, Inventors and Music and Heroes.

All Aboard America: I don't know anything about this except what I read on the IMDB page. Apparently, a giant bald eagle takes you around the country to meet other patriotic friends including a steam engine, stars (dog) and stripes (cat). This is a musical adventure that includes landmarks, historical figures and American standards.

School House Rock - Election Collection: "I'm just a bill here, yes I'm only a bill sitting here on Capitol Hill..." These are classics are over the head of our kids, but the animation is cute and the songs are catchy. Maybe they could pick u the concepts for later :)

Little Einsteins: Mission Celebration: This is themed around birthdays, but it is celebrations so stick with me. Another great option from the Little Einstein gang (as always watch for Annie's voice and Quincy "not believing it" [Journey would be pissed]). 

Week Five - 4th of July - Science Time

Here are a couple of activities you can enjoy with your child now that the 4th has passed. This is a great time to talk about what you saw, what was their favorite part, and what was their favorite tradition. Let them talk and see what parts they want to relive.

How about some firecracker cookies? These sugar cookies from CakeSpy.com with food dye and pop rocks look amazing, if a little intense. I like the option at the bottom with the sugar cookies and frosting on the top - but hey it is a holiday week - knock yourself out :) P.S. If you are trying to lose weight DO NOT go to CakeSpy! It is (forgive the language) food porn at its best!

Make your own fireworks. No, not the ones that will blow up and possibly cause you our your precious little ones to lose fingers, firecrackers in a jar. A clear glass, food coloring, oil and and water are all you need for this interesting and quick way to be part of the explosive parts of the 4th.

It is all about density. Use different densities of liquid to create a red, white and blue layered final product. Kids will get a kick out of the liquids not mixing and you can play with this all you want - any colors will do. Make are you talk about weight and what weighs more - and stretch it to the density concept if you feel so inclined.

Have fun!

Week Five - 4th of July - Songs

Happy Independence Day!

Just fun music for today - have fun with your family celebrating!

Lyrics 

Lyrics

Lyrics 

Lyrics


Lyrics

God Bless the USA. 

Week Five - July 4th - Crafts

Hello from the beach! I hope you are enjoying your holiday week.

Here are some simple crafts to celebrate Independence Day.

First, make a noise maker for the parade. You will need a drinking straw, 2 craft sticks (popsicle sticks will work), and a wide rubber band.
1. Cut two 1 1/4 inch pieces from the straw
2. Stretch a rubber band over one of the craft sticks length wise.
3. Put one of the straw pieces under the rubber band at one end and the other straw piece over the rubber band at the opposite end.
4. Put the other craft stick on top of the craft stick you were working on sandwiching the straw pieces in the middle
5. Put the sticks together using rubber bands around each side
5. Decorate and enjoy

Tip: Give this to your child out of doors for sanity!

Second, create a shirt for the 4th activities. The involved version and the not-so-invovled version. Both come up with adorable final products that the kids can be a part of helping you make. These would be perfect if you have a bunch of friends and family getting together as gifts for the kids.

Last, firework art! Paint, water, paper and another straw make a craft that your kids will love creating.

Also, tons of patriotic printables from Disney Family Fun. Enjoy!

Week Five - July 4th - Read!

Can you believe we are at week five of summer already? The time has really moved. This week we are at the beach celebrating Independence Day and I thought it would be a perfect time to talk about holidays. We will talk about holidays throughout the year and talk about why we celebrate and traditions for our families - with the main focus on the 4th. These will be shorter than normal so I have a chance to spend time with my family.

Prepare yourself for July 4th crafts that include noise makers for the parade (break out the left over popsicle sticks from week one), screen printed tee (white tee and paint for a cute 4th themed outfit), and a firework painting (paint, straw, water).

Books this week: Fourth of July Mice by Bethany Roberts, Happy 4th of July, Jenny Sweeney by Leslie Kimmelman, Hats off for the Fourth of July by Harriet Ziefert, A is for America by Devin Scillian

Sight Words: come, pretty, please, must, new, want, get

Here is the book this week: 

The 4th of July

Enjoy!