Week Three - Weather - Movement and Songs

Time to dance! This week I provided the usual action and teaching songs, and kid songs but I also gave you some parent friendly music - in case you (like me) are getting a little tired of all of the kid stuff :)

Enjoy!

What’s the Weather Like Today

(to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”)

Fill the blanks in with the type of weather (sunny, rainy, snowy, cloudy, etc)

What’s the weather like today?

Like today? Like today?

What’s the weather like today?

Let’s go look and see.

Outside it’s a ______ day

__________ day,

___________ day.

Outside it’s a _______ day,

Look outside and see.


The Rain Rain Rain (came Down Down Down)

Lyrics

Rain (spoken)

When the rain comes down drip drop drip drop,
(flutter fingers down in front of you)
Windshield wipers flip flop flip flop,
(bend arms in front and move them side to side)
Boots in puddles plip plop plip plop,
(move feet up and down)
I wish the rain would never stop.

(cross hands over heart and shake head)
Drip drop drip

(flutter fingers down in front of you)

Flip flop flip

(bend arms in front and move them side to side)

Plip plop plip plop

(move feet up and down)

PLOP! 

(jump!)

When it Rains - Lisa Loeb

Whistling Wind
Tune: If You're Happy and You Know It
If you hear the whistling wind,
Cup your ears.
(Cup your ears)
If you hear the whistling wind,
Cup your ears.
(Cup your ears)
If you hear it in the trees
(Raise hands up high like branches)
Making music with the leaves,
(wriggle fingers in your tree pose)
If you hear the whistling wind,
Cup your ears.
(Cup your ears)
If you feel the Blustery wind,
Whirl around
(turn around)
If you feel the blustery wind,
Whirl around.
(turn around)
If you feel it lift your hair
(lift up hair)
Like a kite up in the air,
(hold out hands like flying)
If you feel the blustery wind,
Whirl around.
(turn around)

Umbrella - Mandy Moore

Lyrics


Weather
Tune: BINGO
There was a day, when it was hot and sunny was the weather
S U N N Y
S U N N Y
S U N N Y
And Sunny was the weather.
Other Verses
There was a day when it was wet and rainy was the weather.
There was a day when it was cold and snowy was the weather.
There was a day when I got blown and windy was the weather


The Rainbow Connection - The Muppets

Lyrics

Pocket Full of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield

Lyrics

Week Three - Weather - Craft time

I don't know where you are, but this week is coming at the perfect time for Florida. We are full on into the every afternoon showers, and it is so nice to have something planned to do while we are stuck indoors.

Today is craft day, and I love the little weather mobile I found at Education.com. This is great because it gives you some freedom to let your child's inner artist roam. Do not feel that you have to include only the snowflake, sun, rain, and cloud. There are plenty of other options - hail stone (balled up piece of grey construction paper), tornado (cut a funnel shape and paste on yarn), hurricane (cut a hurricane shape - use the internet! - and glue down cotton everywhere except the center eye), wind (a leaf you find outside, plastic wrap with blue waves inside, use your imagination) - the choices are endless.

Talk with your child first to see what four items they would like to make. Use Weather Wiz Kids (left side bar) to find the weather choices made by your child and explore the science of it together. I love the pictures, and animation and Little Man loves it too. Then using your inspiration (and in some cases newly acquired knowledge) get to crafting. I have to say I am surprised at how much I don't know. As a note - Little Man LOVES it when I don't know, so I make sure to tell him. I think it makes learning that much easier because he isn't doing it on his own.

Speaking of learning about weather, this is a great time to talk with your kids (and spouse) about disaster preparedness. There are great options online for kids, that help them be ready without being terrified. Sesame Street, one of my personal favorites, does this better than anyone (in my very biased opinion). Go to their site and find a video, printed step by step plan, and printable activities. The Weather Channel has a more adult focused information that can help make sure we are all ready.

Enjoy!

Share with your friends!

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 - Science Fun

Today's experiment is a winner! I enjoyed this as much, if not more than little man. Of course that being said (you will be surprised to know science is not my strong suit) - the blog where I pulled this gem, Science Bob, would want me to tell you that it is a science demonstration - because you are not actually testing anything.

You will be creating a simple rocket. As I mentioned at the beginning of the week, this is where the film canister and Alka-Seltzer comes in.

The experiment calls for safety goggles - since it is summer you can use your sunglasses. As a note, these things really fly so we instituted a count down and I would suggest drawing a circle around in chalk and making that a "no fly" area. Little Man loved running in with me to set down the canister and then running back outside the circle - bonus calorie burn!

How your child will see this!

Questions to get the discussion going - how high do you think the rocket went? Taller than a giraffe, the house? two of mommy? how many of you? Where would you take a rocket? How would it feel to fly that high or go that fast? Why do you think it makes that popping noise when it blasts off? What noise do you think a real rocket makes?

Hint - my canisters were the black version, not the white Science Bob suggests, and the first times we tried it didn't blast off. In order to create a tighter seem I used masking tape around the mouth of the canister and it worked perfectly.

Enjoy and get ready for plenty of giggles!

Week Two - Night Sky - Movement and Songs

Time for songs and movement. This is a favorite in our house, and I hope you enjoy it as well. There was a ton to choose from for the theme, so I grabbed our family favorites.

Before we get to the songs, I had to share something that I saw the other day on the internet. This is what I think we are trying to do over the summer, remind kids there is life beyond technology - enjoy!

Here are today's songs:

WE’LL BE ORBITING ‘ROUND THE MOON

Tune:  “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain”

We’ll be orbiting round the moon, yes we will, 

We’ll be orbiting round the moon, yes we will.

We’ll be orbiting round the moon,

We’ll be orbiting round the moon,

We’ll be orbiting round the moon, yes we will.

put a ball in the center, and walk around the "moon"

                                   

Continue with other verses, such as: 

We’ll be landing on the moon

 jump in place, then slowly squat down

We’ll be walking on the moon 

exaggerated walking, with big steps

We’ll be blasting off again

jump and pretend to fly

We’ll be landing back on Earth

jump in place, slowly go into a squat, pretend to step out and wave

 Jean Warren

                          © Warren Publishing House

Rocketship Run by Laurie Berkner

Lyrics

I'm a Little Rocket  

  TUNE "I'm a Little Teapot" 

I'm a little rocket pointing at the moon.     

Raise arms above head and fingers tips touching 

Now I'm getting fueled up     

Wiggle hips 

We'll be ready soon.      

Stand up straight and tall 

When it's time to board me, then I'll say     

Slowly bend knees and crouch down - arms still above head 

Blast off! Zoom!   We're on our way.  

  Jump up and shout!

Moon Moon Moon by Laurie Berkner

Lyrics

Since we are talking music and this made me smile, here is a little something for your day - enjoy!

See you tomorrow!

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!