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 - 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 - 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!

Week Four - Beach - Read!

Let's hit the beach! If your weather is anything like ours, the weather week seems more appropriate, but maybe this will serve as a nice get-away. I will need it after these three days of rain. Remember when you were "single" (this is how I refer to before kids) and rainy days were the best - pjs, a good book or movie? Now, I would rather take my kids to the dentist then spend another day inside.

This week we will make some sand dollars (need: white paper plates and some form of barley or tan construction paper), a sun catcher (construction paper and paint) and a personal ocean (a clear jar with lid, baby oil, glitter, and a plastic floating toy).

The books for the week are: On the Way to the Beach by Henry Cole, A Day at The Beach by Ed Briant, At the Beach by Mandy Stanley, Sunny Bunnies by Margie Blumbert


Sight words for the week: find, here, the, for, to, well, am, be, our, at


Here is the book for the week: 
Beach

Tomorrow we will get crafty. Have a good day - and here is hoping we survive rain-ageddon. 

In case you want to share!

Week Three - Weather - Read

This week we will focus on all types of weather, especially weather we see in the summer. Think, rain, hot sun, clouds, hurricanes, tornados, etc. If you see weather (and obviously you will unless you live in a bunker) over this time period make sure you talk about it with your little ones. A quick easy way to have the conversation is turn on the weather channel - see what they say about your day and others around the country. Ask your child to guess what each weather graphic means and why they think that. Then go outside - does it match what the saw on TWC? If so what do they see that matches the graphics shown on tv, what else could have been included? If not, which graphic should have been used, why?

I found a couple of great experiments and a fun craft for this week. There is not much needed that you don't probably already have in your home: construction paper, cotton balls, yarn (or any type of string), a hole punch (you could work around this), and a resealable glass jar.

The sight words for this week are: big, not, is, in, it, no yes, was, now, too.

Here is a quick story to help reinforce this week's words:
The Big Boom

Also, as a reminder here is a link to some sight word flash cards. I mentioned in an earlier post about placing these on the wall but they are also great for playing reinforcing games. One we like at our house, is picking one of the words we have learned from a bowl (using the flash cards) and then being a "word detective." You can be a word detective in the grocery store, errands, while you read a book together or around the house. Just have them bring the flash card they picked with them and find its match.

Books this week: All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon; Blue Sky by Audrey Wood; Split Splat by Amy Gibson; Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane by Joanna Cole; Hide and Seek Fog by Alvin Tresselt; Albert by Donna Jo Napoli

Week Two - Night Sky - Movies, Shows and Father's Day

Once again we have reached the end of the week. I hope your family enjoyed our trip to outer space as much as my family did. Below is a list of some movies for family time over the weekend that still bring in our space theme.

Also, as a reminder - if you were planning on grabbing the card for Father's Day I posted about on Tuesday don't forget to visit Kiki & Company's site today!

Here are the movies/shows:

Wall-E: This is a favorite at our house. Little man (who is slightly below the age suggested) is enchanted by the visuals and loves laughing at little misfit Wall-E. This is a good one for parents as well - it is a pleasure to watch. There is not much dialog in the film Wall-E mostly communicates through beeps and electronic noises - so make sure to talk about how great it is that we use words but other ways that we can communicate. Not much scary fare in this one, some loud spaceship landing and weather if your child is sensitive to that sort of thing.

Space Chimps: We have not seen this one at our house, but I can imagine great delight at the idea of monkeys doing...well...pretty much anything. Monkeys are a source of great humor to Little Man so I couldn't pass up including it, but watch at your own risk.

Muppets from Space: Who doesn't love the Muppets? This is classic Muppet fare with a focus on Gonzo, one of my personal favorites. This is still a little old for my family, but might be a perfect fit for yours - and I know the adults will get a kick out of it, sample quote "Midnight. The lone alien stands before a naked sky. The mood is tense. My hair looks *great.*" - Miss Piggy

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Space Adventure - This is for the younger set who love Mickey. This is great if you have a book you would like to read while watching, but not ideal if you will be actively watching with your child. The antics get a little grating after a while. It is a nice shorter movie/show option and Mickey is always a younger set crowd pleaser.

Disney's Little Einstein's: Race for Space - Ok, the characters on this show can be a little much (I am looking straight at you, Annie) (oh and you Quincy when you can "not believe it!", I mean how shocked are you really? You ride in a rocket made from mobile, and who lives under your friends house in a garage he built himself and you play every instrument known to mankind - you have to know something incredible is going on, just embrace it)...BUT the show is great for teaching musical basics and giving kids experience with classical music. Little man LOVED this show (if you can't tell by my ..ahem..slight animosity), and he learned a ton about musical vocabulary and music in general.

Have a great weekend, enjoy Father's Day with your family.  On Monday we start with weather. Talk to you soon.

Week Two - Night Sky - Craft Time

I have a bunch of crafts to choose from today. I will start with the ones for father's day and move to the space/night sky theme.

Father's Day:

I found some great free printables for a superhero themed gift for dad. This can easily be personalized, and if your house is anything like mine your kids will get a kick out of talking about superheroes. All you will need is card stock (thick paper - but it can be regular paper if you don't have any), a printer, and if you want to add a gift - some of Dad's favorite snacks.

First the card. From Kiki & Company and featured on Today's Creative Blog comes an adorable plaque for dad. It reads: "The most incredible, powerful, strong & daring superhero lives here. We know him as dad."Suggestions for making this personal: Have your child draw a picture of "Dad the Superhero" either on the back or a separate piece of paper. If you do a separate paper frame both together either with actual frames or paper ones. If you are doing it on the back, add a piece of yarn or ribbon to hang on Dad's door. If you have access to it, laminate it! Kiki & Company has a whole adorable set that you can get free for signing up for her newsletter.

You can also ask your child some great questions and help them write their answers. I have provided a sheet for Dads (below), Papas, and Grandpas. If you would like another version - leave a comment and I will post.
My Superhero Dad

For the gift: Alpha Mom has a great printable to place on all of dad's favorite snacks. You will need a printer, glue or tape, and nice bags (if you want them). Alpha Mom also suggests a wooden box to keep the treats, but I think they are cute enough to stand alone, or go in a gift bag. Combine this with the Superhero craft above and I think you have a sweet gift. You could also theme the snacks and add a movie (Sherlock Holmes 2 just came out and might be a dad fav) or a TV series. Have fun!

Crafts for the Night Sky:

I have two great options this week, all from Busy Bee Kids Crafts.

This is a great time to talk about traveling to space. Here are some great resources to explain the solar system and space travel from KidsAstronomy.com. The site is interactive, so have the kids nearby and ready to help navigate. I love the questions below to help me answer little man's questions.

First option, create a space shuttle. This is a super simple way to create an eye catching rocket to the stars. Kids will love launching these - and how often do you have a craft that they can play with?  Suggestions: set rules on how high it can fly - if it is a concern perhaps a toilet paper role would be better (and lighter). This would make a great indoor activity on a rainy day, especially with high ceilings. If you have several rolls - make a couple of rockets. "Race" them - see how far the go, launch them together, etc.

Second option, help them make a planetarium you can hang on their window. Construction paper, glitter glue, and wax paper are all that is needed to create a very cool discussion piece. I love how the sites planets look perfect ever though they are created from construction paper - but lets be real - not all of us are that artistically capable. Feel free to print out your planets after running a quick google search. If nothing else you can use them as guides (especially if you find your inner artistic paper goddess) or be like the rest of us and use the printed version - card stock for those will probably be best.

This is a ton to do, but I didn't want to wait until the last minute to give you Father's Day options. Hopefully this can help reduce stress instead of causing it. Enjoy the time with your little ones!

Week Two - Night Sky (space) - Read!

It is time for week two and exploring the night sky. This will be fun because kids are naturally curious about the sky and I found some great activities to keep everyone involved! We will review the planets, stars, and space travel.

Also, this Sunday is Father's Day so I will also be including an activity to create a custom gift (or card) for Dad.

Look forward to; launching rockets (pick up a film canister or two at your local drugstore, and some Alka-Seltzer tablets to be prepared), Father's Day craft (card stock, and some of Dad's favorite snacks), and choice between some great crafts (paper towel roll, glitter glue [nice but not needed], construction paper).

Books this week: The Best Book of Spaceships by Ian Graham, Rocket to the Moon by Lerryn Korda, The Sky is Full of Starts by Franklyn Branley and Felicia Bond


Sight words this week: up, look, down, a, and, saw, are, so, that, was


Here is a story for the sight words: 
The Night Sky

Have a great day! Tomorrow, let's get crafty.

For sharing!

Week One - Summer - Movies, Shows and Games

We have reached the end of week one - time for a treat for kids and grown-ups alike. Here is a list of movies and shows that review the ideas of summer and seasons and that kids can enjoy. As a note - not all TV/movies are appropriate for all children. You decide what you want to show your child. My little man is very sensitive to scary images so I will provide a note if he has had a negative reaction to anything to help with your decision, but I would do a quick internet review if you are concerned.

Movies:

 Up by Disney/Pixar - the ultimate summer vacation movie. Lots of adventure and fun. There are some mean dogs that some children (mine included) can find scary. I love this movie, the love story, the cutest little boy ever...to me this is a win when it is picked over say, any of the millions of Land Before Times.

Lilo & Stitch by Disney - a sweet movie about the importance of family. It takes place in Hawaii so the whole movie is in the sun and on the beach. There is a cute alien and some larger loud aliens, but this does not bother my little man. One of the themes of this movie is the loss of parents, so if you child is especially sensitive to emotional drama you may want to talk about it before viewing.

Madagascar by Dreamworks - Follow some humorous animals as they get stranded in the wild. This is a funny movie that has a lot of things that preschoolers find funny. There are some lion type predators and one of the main characters has trouble overcoming his natural predator tendencies. A few scary scenes. My little man needs to have someone with him to view this movie for the scary parts, but I would suggest watching these with your child either way - they are all parents friendly :)

Shows:

Peep and the Big Wide World (found for me on Sprout) - this is a great show that explores pre science and math. Enjoy the simply drawn show that explains things about the world in such a masterful way that you don't even realize you are getting information about science and math. This show takes place outside in the sun. There is a new adventure every day. Bonus - it is narrated by Joan Cusack. Extra bonus - the website is awesome, they have a list of children's books that reinforce every episode, science ideas for families, and coloring pages. Specific summer themed shows: Go West Young Peep, House of Sand and Frog, Peep Prints (just like bubble prints)

Word World (found on PBS) - Pre-reading mania! All of the characters in this world are made of the letters that spell their name. This is all about understanding that letters and words make the things around us. The stories are super cute (although some of the voices are a bit grating) and they have some catchy songs (I dare you to stop singing the OO song after you hear it). Specific summer episodes: Dog Wants to Play Ball, Dog's Camping Adventure, Castles in the Sea, Play Ball

Some other things to do over the weekend:

Sight word flash cards (choose the pre-primer version). This is a simple flash card that includes the words and a colorful border. A nice quick reminder. I like to use these to create a word wall. Once your child knows the word use some tacky putty (the blue stuff that you can reuse, what is the name of that??) and stick it to the wall. My little man gets a huge kick out of adding words to his wall and it is a nice way to acknowledge the accomplishment of reading.

Free online sight word memory game from Dolchword.net

More games to encourage reading on Starfall.com

Next week we start on the night sky and space. I really enjoyed this week - and survived it, so two gold stars for me. Gold stars for you as well. See you on Monday, and remember feel free to leave a comment if you have any other suggestions. Enjoy the weekend!

Week One - Summer - Craft time

Are you ready for a craft project that turns into a game, and just so happens to be adorable?

created by Eat Drink Chic

Over at Eat Drink Chic she has created a Do It Yourself popsicle memory game that is as fun to look at as it is to play. My little man got a kick out of the different popsicles and loved playing the memory game. The best part - you need a printer, popsicle sticks, glue (or double sided tape) and scissors - simple. Eat Drink Chic has more detailed directions if you want your game to be perfect, and possibly used as a cute gift - but we got along fine with folding and cutting. She also is kind enough to include the memory game directions, if you need a refresher.

In order to do this with your kids (and give them all the educational benefits) here are my tips:

1. The popsicles need to be cut out reasonably well - kids just learning to cut will not be able to accomplish this. Draw a square around each popsicle and let your child do the cutting work on the straight lines - then you fold and take care of the details. Although you do not need me to remind you - supervise carefully. Children with scissors can be a danger to themselves, others, and everything near them including pets, drapes, etc. Seriously - those little buggers are quick - keep your eyes open :)

2. Make sure you have the child count each of the pieces you are using (sticks, popsicle papers)

3. Ask them to guess the flavors based on the pictures - no wrong answers, play along if they use their imagination. Ask leading questions: What makes you think it is ____ flavor? What flavor would you pick to eat? What are silly flavors of popsicle? Make sure you add your thoughts. The more you are out there - frogs toes and peanut butter, princess kisses and poison potion - the more they will stretch their minds and the more fun you will have.

4. If you are using glue - let them squeeze (it will make a mess - embrace it)

5. While they are drying, have a popsicle - or make your own :) Popsicle ideas here!

6. Play the game you just made, and enjoy!

Tomorrow the focus will be on movement and songs. I will also put together another way to review this week's site words. I hope you are having fun - and adapting to the new summer schedule. We are getting into the new routine slowly - I am hoping for easier days coming soon! Thanks for reading.

Week One - Summer (seasons) - Read

The goal of this week is to talk about things associated with summer, and the differences between the seasons.

The sight words this week are: play, run, we, I, you, me, my, ate, eat, they. 


Here is a quick story you can print that incorporates all of the words for the week:

Summertime

Here are some of the books for the week: Swimsuit by Kit Allen, Daddies are for Catching Fireflies by Harriet Ziefert, Season Song by Marcy Barack, Flip Flop by Dana Meachem Rau, All Around the Seasons by Barry Saltzburg

Make sure to include any of your suggestions in the comments. See you tomorrow with a super cute popsicle craft!