Mortimer’s First Garden

Planting a garden is a great way to celebrate Earth Day. I absolutely loved this book the first time we read it. This is the same mouse from Mortimer’s Christmas Manger. My kids love Mortimer Mouse.

• Read “Mortimer's First Garden” by Karma Wilson … Mortimer hears the big people talking about planting seeds in the dirt. He has one sunflower seed left and decides to see if this miracle is true!

 

• Match the seeds … we can grow so many delicious foods. This fun matching game from Montessori for Everyone shows the inside and outsides of several fruits we eat.
1. Print these wonderful, free matching cards here.
2. Click on the “Whole and Half Fruit” link
3. Cut the cards apart and laminate.
4. Lay all of the whole fruits on the ground.
5. Choose a half fruit and make a match! Be sure to examine the different seeds inside!
6. OPTIONAL: Have a real piece of each of these fruits. When you find a match, cut open the real fruit, examine it, and try a slice!
• Let’s Plant a Garden Fingerplay … a fun fingerplay from The Friend magazine!

photo source: simple kids

• Plant a mini garden … just like Mortimer, let the kids plant a few seeds and watch them grow!
  1. Carefully remove the lid from an empty egg carton. 
  2. Lay newspaper out on the table (or do this outside!)
  3. Use a spoon to fill each section 1/2 full with soil.
  4. Plant a seed in each section. We will plant sunflower seeds!
  5. You may want to label the sections if you plant a variety of seeds.
  6. Top with more soil and spritz with water (use a squirt bottle)
  7. Place in a sunny window.
• Snack Idea: Fruit & Sunflower Seeds!

The Very Busy Spider

So many fun Spider activities. I’m excited to do these for S week!

• Read ‘The Very Busy Spider’ by Eric Carle … available here!

• Very Busy Spider Stick Puppets … Use these free printables from Making Learning Fun as you re-tell the story!
1. Print each page.
2. Color and cut out.
3. Glue to a craft stick.
4. Lay these on the ground and have your child choose the animal mentioned and make their noise as you read through the story.
5. Or use the puppets to re-tell the story from memory without the book!
6. OPTIONAL: of course, we had to do some running with these. Put all of the puppets at one end of the room. As we read through the book, we took turns running down to pick out the right animal and running back with it.

• Spider Web Lacing
  1. Use a black paper plate (or paint one!)
  2. Cut out the middle of the paper plate leaving the rim
  3. Punch holes all around the inside of the plate
  4. Use a lacing needle and black yarn (or simply tape around one end of the string to keep it from unraveling) and let the kids randomly create a web.
     • TIP: tape the yarn and needle together so it doesn’t slip off.
  5. Color a small spider (or use a plastic spider) and attach it to the web!

photo and idea from Preschool Teachers Talk

• Beaded Spider Legs
  1. Decorate a sturdy paper plate with crayons, markers or paint.
  2. Hole punch 8 holes around the outside of the paper plate.
  3. Attach a small pipe cleaner to each hole.
  4. Let the kids make a pattern with beads on each leg, then twist the ends so the beads don’t fall off.
  5. Glue on 8 google eyes (spiders have 8 eyes!)
• Sing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” … click here for music and lyrics.

 

• Treat: Oreo Spiders! … fun idea from Preschool Teachers Talk
  1. Insert 8 pretzel sticks into the cream of an Oreo
  2. Add 2 eyes with red frosting

Frosty the Snowman

 

• Read “Frosty the Snowman” … The original Little Golden Book is one of our favorites. There are several versions available here and here. Check your library!

• Dangling Snowman Craft … a cute snowman from Family Fun
  1. Cut out three circles from white cardstock or white craft foam paper
  2. Glue or tape spaced out along a length of string (loop at the top).
  3. Use glue dots to attach buttons and a carrot nose.
  4. Add coal eyes and mouth with a marker or crayon.
  5. Tie on a ribbon scarf.

 

• Snowflake Counting … photo and idea from Making Learning Fun
  1. Print these great snowman counting cards from Making Learning Fun.
  2. Use wagon wheel pasta (you can spray paint the noodles white to look like real snowflakes)
  3. Count out the number of snowflakes to match the snowman’s number.

• Snowman Names … love this idea from Under the Big Top
  1. Make a simple snowman head from a white circle, black top hat and decorate with coal eyes and a carrot nose.
  2. Cut out enough white circles for each letter of your child’s name (first or last)
  3. Write one letter on each snowball.
  4. On a long blue paper, glue the snowballs stacked up to make a tall, tall snowman name!
  5. Or make a small version with white dot stickers and use as a bookmark!

 

• Snowman Snacks … a couple of variations
  1. Use three slices of banana (skewered or just on a plate)
  2. Add two pretzel stick arms.
  3. Use blueberries or mini chocolate chips for buttons & eyes.
  4. A small apple slice topped with a grape for a hat.
  5. A sliver of carrot for a nose.

• Frosty the Snowman Bagel … from Family Fun
1. Spread cream cheese on a bagel
2. Put a baby carrot in the bagel hole.
3. Add 2 black olive eyes (or grapes!)
4. Slice a red pepper stick to make a mouth.

Click here for more Snowman activities!

Still hoping for an early Spring!

I know the Groundhog saw his shadow, but we’re still looking forward to Spring around here!

• Read “Mouse's First Spring” by Lauren Thompson … I love the colors and simplicity of these little Mouse books.

 

• Paint a Spring Tree … I can’t wait to try this project with spring colors! Photo and idea from La Classe Della Maestra Valentina.
  1. Draw or paint a simple tree trunk on a piece of cardstock.
  2. Add a few bare branches (I love how simple her design is!)
  3. I thought it was a great idea to draw a circle around the tree top with a pencil as a guide.
  4. Put a small amount of several spring colors on a plate … greens, pinks, yellows…
  5. Use a Q-tip (one for each color) to dab small dots onto the tree branches. Do as many or as few as you want!

• Springtime Flipbook … you can do this from scratch or print the little flipbook above that I put together! Just click & download.
  1. Print the springtime flipbook above.
  2. Fold along the grey line.
  3. Cut along the four black lines. Now you have your blank flipbook!
  4. Lift up the first flap and make one fingerprint with paint or a stamp pad.
  5. Lift the second flap and make two fingerprints with paint or a stamp pad.
  6. Repeat for each flap … 3, 4, then 5 fingerprints.
  7. Use a fine-tipped marker to add detail to each fingerprint (some legs and antennae to the bug, wings to the butterflies, wings & a beak to the birds …)
  8. Fold down the flaps and read your Springtime Flipbook!
  9. NOTE: you could even write a larger 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 on the front of each flap.
• Make a clothespin sun
  1. Cut a circle out of yellow cardstock.
  2. Place several sun stickers (or any other sticker) around the outside edge of the circle.
  3. Give the kids several clothespins and let them clip a clothespin on each sticker ... making a sunshine!
  4. NOTE: you could also write some ABCs around the outside of the circle, with several extra S’s mixed in. Have the kids clip a clothespin on all of the letter S’s!

Snowflakes

We have snow!

This is pretty exciting news around here because where we live, it does not snow very often. Maybe once or twice each winter we’ll see an inch of snow … if that.

Well, with snow in the forecast and a school holiday, we had a Snowflake Day at home. We did several of these activities and may do a few more this week…

 

• Snowflake Pancakes … we started of the morning with these warm snowflake pancakes topped with strawberries and cream.
  1. Mix up regular pancake batter (whole wheat doesn’t work as well. It clogs the squeezy bottle.)
  2. Pour into a squeezy condiment-type bottle.
  3. Design your edible snowflakes!

• Read “Snowflake Bentley” by Jacqueline Briggs Martin … I had never read this book before and it’s pretty fascinating. It tells the story of Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley who discovered how to take pictures of snowflakes.
  1. We actually got the read-along CD with the book from our library. It was fun to listen to with the kids.
  2. The story is a simple biography in story form with more detailed facts on the sides that you can read. Very interesting.

 

• Read “The Art of the Snowflake” by Kenneth Libbrecht or “Snow Crystals” by W.A. Bentley.
  1. These books are AMAZING. The are full of beautiful pictures of snowflakes. My whole family has loved looking through them.
  2. “Snow Crystals” is Snowflake Bentley’s own book of photographs that he had published just before he passed away.

 

• Fold and Cut Paper Snowflakes … After looking at the amazing snowflakes in the books, we had fun making our own.
  1. Use this tutorial to fold your paper to make a six-sided snowflake.
  2. This was a little tricky for my 4-year-old and my 2-year-old could not do it by herself. They ended up telling me where to cut, then they unfolded it!
     • TIP! Kelly from Little Wonders’ Days told me that they folded snowflakes with magazine pages which are much thinner and easier for younger kids to cut. Brilliant!!

 

• Make-a-Flake … this online game was a hit with all three of my kids.
  • Go here to play Make-a-Flake.
  • The computer folds a piece of paper for you.
  • Then you click to make the scissors cut out any design you like.
  • Click “Preview Flake” to see your snowflake.
  • Start over and make as many as you want!

  

• Marshmallow Snowflakes
  1. You’ll need large marshmallows, mini marshmallows & a box of toothpicks
  2. Poke 6 toothpicks into a large marshmallow
  3. Use the mini marshmallows to make a snowflake design.
  4. My kids liked eating the marshmallows afterwards

•  Read “Millions of Snowflakes” by Mary McKenna Siddals … another great snowflake book.
1. Cut out 5 small snowflakes.
2. As you read, count out 1, then 2, then 3… snowflakes on a piece of black paper.

My sister-in-law made these popsicle stick snowflakes with her cute kids. I think they turned out great! Thanks for the pictures Lindsey!

• Popsicle Stick Snowflakes
  1. Crisscross and glue 3 craft sticks together with hot glue to form a 6-sided snowflake.
  2. Use sequins, jewels, glitter, stickers and even crayons on to make a unique snowflake.
  3. Hang up your snowflake to enjoy!

• Letter S Snowflake
  • Cut out a large S for each child from blue cardstock. Or print the letter S above (click, download, print) on blue paper.
  • Glue white cotton balls inside the bottom of the S to make a snowy ground
  • Stick white snowflake stickers inside the top of the S.

• Crystal Snowflakes … I’ve had this pinned on my Pinterest board for quite a while now. They grow overnight!
  • Cut 3 equal pipe cleaners and twist together to form a 6-sided snowflake.
  • Cut 6 small equal pipe cleaners and twist to the end of each side (see above)
  • Follow the tutorial here at Silver and Chalk. You suspend the pipe cleaners in a borax solution overnight to grow amazing snowflake crystals!

Snowmen at Night

We had preschool with friends again today! Today was my turn, so we used one of my favorite winter time books…

We actually read this one year round because we love it so much. We also have these other two and my kids love them just as much…

  

Today we used a Snowman theme and focused on Shapes!

• Puzzles … as the kids come, it’s always fun to have an activity for them to do together. Today I just pulled out several wooden puzzles that they did at the table. Then we can say hi to everybody and chat for a minute before we start!
• Read “Snowmen at Night” by Caralyn & Mark Buehner. I love the illustrations in this book and the rhymes are so fun!

• Snowman Shapes … this worked out well and the kids did a great job! I wish I would have taken a picture of all of them together. They all turned out different, but so cute!
1. Beforehand, cut out the shapes:
• 3 white circles (small, medium & large)
• 1 black oval (bottom of top hat)
• 1 black square (top of top hat)
• 1 orange triangle (carrot nose)
• 2 brown rectangles (twig arms)
2. Use a piece of blue paper and a glue stick.
3. Have the kids follow directions as you glue the large, medium & small circles on. Then the top hat, carrot nose and arms.
4. Use shape words as you work on your snowman:
• “find the biggest white circle”
• “glue the black square on top”
• “glue your orange triangle for his carrot nose!”
5. Add buttons! We used circle dot stickers. I’ve also glued on real buttons before.
6. Use a white crayon to write your name and add snow!

• Sing “Once There Was a Snowman” and do the actions. Words and music here!

 

• Paint Bags … We practiced drawing shapes! Simple & worked great.
1. Use a gallon size Ziploc freezer bag (I used Target brand)
2. Pour a good sized blob of paint in the bag. I used Crayola washable paints. I’m guessing any paint would work.
3. Carefully squeeze the air out of the bag and seal. You can also tape the opening closed. We didn’t have any problems.
4. Squish the paint around so it fills the bag.
5. Use a Q-tip or fingers to draw shapes, letters or pictures!
6. To “erase” use your hand to smooth the paint.
7. NOTE: my friend’s comment was, “This is my kind of painting!” Seriously, it’s fun, but there is no mess!!

• Melted Snowman S’mores
1. We put these together for the kids to take home and make with their moms.
2. Use a sandwich-sized ziploc baggie.
3. Place 4 graham cracker squares, 2 large marshmallows, 1 small chocolate bar.
4. Print, cut out & fold the “Melted Snowman S’mores” topper. Click the picture to download the topper!
5. Staple it to the top of the bag!
• Snowman Races … I had the kids work for their melted snowman s’mores They were so cute racing and it was a lot of fun! The book says …

Then the snowman games begin: They line up in their places. Each one anxious for his turn in the snowman races!

1. Line the kids up at one end of the room.
2. Give them an empty ziploc baggie.
3. Put a bowl of marshmallows and a bowl of chocolate bars at the other end of the room.
4. Take turns racing down to get a marshmallow, put it in their bag, race back and sit down.
5. Repeat to get a chocolate bar, then another marshmallow (we added the graham crackers later)
6. Cheer each other on during your snowman race!

• Shape Snacks … Find snacks in several shapes. We had circle crackers, triangle Bugles, square cheese slices and rectangle fruit strips. Mmm.