W is for Watermelon

Apparently I’m dreaming about summer weather and backyard BBQs already. Hopefully we can find watermelon at the store to sweeten our Watermelon Day!

• Read “One Watermelon Seed” by Celia Barker Lottridge.

  

• Read “Peter Spit a Seed at Sue” by Jackie French Coller … another fun watermelon book to read. Great rhyming text and a funny story. Check out the preview on Amazon.

• Watermelon Life Cycle … Did you know there is a National Watermelon Promotion Board?! They have a great website with lots of information about watermelon!
  • Print this life cycle page here
  • Color the page and talk about each step.
  • Cut the cards apart, mix them up, and put them back in the correct order!
  • NOTE: this page also tells how to grow watermelon from the little black seeds in your next slice of watermelon!

 

• Edible Watermelon Seed Counting … love this counting activity inspired by Toddler Approved.
1. Make several watermelon slices. I cut out a few red circles, then glued them onto the white paper and cut around those a little bigger. Then glued those to a green paper and cut a little larger around to make the rind.
2. Cut each circle in half to make watermelon slices.
3. Write a number on each slice.
4. To Play:
• Turn all of the watermelon slices upside down.
• Choose one, identify the number and add that many chocolate chip seeds to the watermelon slice.
• NOTE: You could also leave the slices blank, then roll a dice and add that many chocolate chip seeds to a slice. Roll again & repeat!

• Make Watermelon Pops … these sound delicious! Check out a full menu of watermelon recipes at www.watermelon.org. Wow.
  1. Add watermelon (without the rind) to a large ziploc bag.
  2. Mush and mash it with your hands.
  3. Pour or scoop the watermelon mash into a popsicle mold.
  4. OPTIONAL: add small chunks of fruit (peaches, grapes, kiwi)
  5. Freeze and enjoy!

A Windy Day

 

• Read “The Wind Blew” by Pat Hutchins
1. I just discovered Pat Hutchins’ books this fall and love them. This is a cute story about the mischievous wind that blows away items one by one. I love how the illustrations makes it actually feel like the wind is blowing!
2. Print the page above on lightweight paper and cut out. These are all of the items the wind blows away in the book.
3. Turn on a fan and let the kids feel the wind. I always have to remind my kids to keep their fingers away from the fan blades!!
4. As you read the story, let them find the item that matches what the wind is blowing in the story.
5. Let them put it in front of the fan and watch the wind blow it away.
• Sing W-I-N-D-Y
1. Sing to the tune of BINGO. Click here for the music.
2. Continue each verse by substituting a clap, or blow a puff of wind for each letter. So … “puff”-I-N-D-Y, then “puff-puff”-N-D-Y.
• Windy Fan Experiment … if it’s windy enough, try this outside. If not, turn on a portable fan inside!
1. Gather several items that will float with the wind and several that will not.

   a leaf a rock a balloon a ball

   a piece of paper a small scarf a shoe a pinwheel

2. Choose one item and hold it in front of the fan. Let go!
3. Does it float in the wind?! Does it not?
4. Record your findings on a simple chart.

photo source                                                 photo source

• Make a Windy Whirligig!
1. Put a small blob of paint in the middle of the paper plate. Use a straw to blow the paint in all direction around the paper plate (like wind blowing!) Use a hair dryer (more wind) to help the paint dry faster.
2. Starting from the outside edge, cut the paper plate in a spiral, about 1-2” wide.
3. Punch a hole in the very center. You may want to reinforce the hole with tape.
4. Tie a string to the hole.
5. OPTIONAL: Tie the other end of the string to a short wooden dowel or unsharpened pencil.
6. Take these out in the wind and watch them spin! Or make your own wind by running around with them!

W is for Wonderful Weather

• Read “Maisy's Wonderful Weather Book” by Lucy Cousins … informative, colorful, interactive Maisy book!
• Sing “The Weather Song”
  1. Each day this week, look out the window at the weather
  2. Sing this song to the tune of “Oh My Darling Clementine” … click here for the tune.
  3. Then decide what the weather is today!

The Weather Song What's the weather? What's the weather? What's the weather today? Is it windy is it cloudy? Is there sun or is there rain?

 

• Weather Sticker Chart … my kids love stickers, so I know this will be fun for them each day.
  1. Print out this weather log from Montessori for Everyone.
  2. Each day, look out the window and discuss the weather.
  3. Let the kids choose which weather sticker(s) they think fit best. If they notice that the weather has changed during the day, let them choose another sticker to add to the day!
  4. OTHER OPTIONS:
     • You can also just draw the weather (a sun, a cloud, a raindrop, squiggly lines for wind…)
     • Or print these free weather cards from PreKinders.
     • Or use a simple weather pocket chart. This Weekly Weather Calendar Chart comes with days of the week cards, 1-31 number cards, 56 weather cards and more.

• Raindrop Counting … we get a lot of rain around here, so chances are our weather will be rainy. My kids will love this raindrop counting game inspired by PreKinders!
  1. Use a piece of blue paper as a counting mat.
  2. Have a bowl of clear, flat, floral marbles (they are the raindrops!) The dollar store always has these.
  3. Have the kids listen to thunderclaps (me clapping my hands).
  4. They place that many “raindrops” on the paper.
• Weather relay
  1. Gather several items (clothing & accessories) for different types of weather and put them at one end of the room. Ideas:

     Rainy rain boots rain coat rain hat umbrella

     Sunny shorts flip flops sunglasses sun hat

     Snowy boots winter coat winter hat scarf gloves

  2. Have the kids start at the other end of the room.
  3. You say, “The weather is … rainy!”
  4. The kids take turns running down, choosing one thing they would need for rainy weather (they could even put it on!) … and run back.
  5. Let them explain why they chose what they did, then start again with another type of weather.

Watermelon Waffles & a Game

Okay, these taste just as delicious as they look. My kids love helping me in the kitchen and they had a ball helping me sprinkle chocolate chip seeds onto their waffles.

• Watermelon Waffles
  1. Kelli from Random Thoughts of a Supermom is seriously a supermom. What a fun breakfast or snack at any time during the summer or W week.
  2. Click here to get her simple directions (with chocolate chip seeds!) for watermelon waffles.
• Watermelon Slice Dice Game
  1. Let the kids paint a paper plate to resemble a watermelon. Red in the middle and green around the rim. Let dry.
  2. Draw lines and let the kids slice (cut with scissors) their watermelon into 6 big slices.
  3. Glue 1-6 black seeds (black pom-poms, black paper dots from a hole punch or anything else you can think of) on each slice. I’m sure you get the idea … one slice has 1 seed, next slice has 2 seeds, next has 3 seeds … up to 6.
  4. Playing the game … take turns rolling a die. If you roll a three (help count the dots) remove the slice with 3 seeds from your watermelon. You can even pretend to eat it. Keep playing until all of the slices have been eaten!

Worms

• Cooked spaghetti worms
  1. My kids loved playing with a bowl of cooked spaghetti and it makes great slimy, wiggly worms!
  2. Write the kid’s names on a piece of paper
  3. Then use the cooked spaghetti to trace the letters.
  4. Let them dry and you can carefully pick them up in their letter shapes!

• Egg Carton Worm
  1. Using an egg carton, cut down the middle so you end up with a long egg carton “worm”.
  2. Give the kids several paint colors and let them paint each section of their “worm”
• Sneaky Mr. Worm ... perform this rhyme 5 times, using the actions given.

[Five] shiny apples hanging from a tree

(Hold up five fingers … apples)

Teased Mr. Worm, “No, you won't get me!"

(Move hand from side to side)

Along comes Mr. Worm as sneaky as can be.

(Wiggle pointer finger on other hand.)

CRUNCH!

(Wrap pointer finger around an apple.)

He eats one apple - munch, munch, munch!

(Fold down one finger.)

• Rubber band Worm Rhyme
  1. Cut a rubber band so it is long like a wiggly worm.
  2. Use the worms to say the rhyme to the beat! To the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot”

I'm a little earthworm in the ground

I love the soil and that's where I'm found.

I can wiggle waggle -- watch me go

Deeper, deeper down below!

W is for Wheels

• Read “Bears on Wheels” by Stan and Jan Berenstain … a simple counting book with lots of bears and lots of wheels!

• Glue W page
  1. Draw a large W on your paper.
  2. Glue wheel-shaped pasta onto your letter W alphabet page.
  3. While we were doing this, we tried to think of everything we could that has wheels ... cars, trains, airplanes, bikes, scooters, dump trucks. My 3-year-old liked it when I threw in funny things like "Do bugs have wheels? Do books have wheels?"

• Wheel Search
  1. Search your house for anything with wheels. I was surprised at what my 3-year-old noticed with wheels ... his car slippers, the baby stroller, plus all the cars. He lined them all up around the house with his sister’s help.

 

• Add the Edible Wheels!
  1. Print out several clipart of cars, buses, trains, trucks … anything with wheels. I like to use Microsoft Clipart.
  2. Cut them out without the wheels.
  3. Then use mini oreos or mini nilla wafers as wheels!
• Wheels on the Bus Coloring
  1. Learn "The Wheels on the Bus" with the kids. Click the link for music!
  2. Cover a table with a large sheet of paper and supply crayons.
  3. Play the song while the kids use crayons to reflect the song "round and round" ... making swirls all over the paper.

Wind

 

• Go out and fly a kite!
• Make a pinwheel.
• If possible, visit a turbine field and watch them spin in the wind!

Worms

We had to include worms this week. We read a non-fiction book about worms from the library. Now we know:

• Worms don’t have eyes
• They do have mouths at the end of their body.
• They eat dirt and leaves
• They dig tunnels in the dirt
• They like it wet.
• Frogs, fish and birds like to eat worms.

Pick a book with lots of pictures, those are the best. I told my 3-year-old he could go dig worms in the dirt … when Dad gets home.

• Finger Puppet Birds
  1. Print out these birds on sugardoodle.net. Click the link.
  2. Cut out the openings.
  3. The kids can stick their little fingers in the holes for the beak.
• Birds eat Worms!
  1. Scatter gummy worms (those are my kind of worms) all over the floor
  2. Use the finger puppet birds to fly around the pick up the worms.
  3. Then eat them!

Snack Idea: Dirt cups (chocolate pudding with cookie crumbs on top and gummy worms in a cup)

W is for Wyatt book

You can easily adapt this to your child’s name (all about ME). W week happened to be Wyatt’s week. We made this book “W is for Wyatt”.

You could do whatever pages you like. These are the pages we included.

1. Draw a picture of themselves.
2. Let them write their name.
3. A picture of something they like to do and let them glue it on.
4. Trace both of their hands.
5. Include a picture they have recently drawn.
6. Print some fun pictures and let them glue them on.

    

For the last page I included lots of questions I asked him … favorite color, favorite food, favorite place to go, favorite thing to do in the backyard, favorite song, friends, favorite book, favorite game to play, etc. I put them in page protectors and then all together in a folder. We read it for bedtime stories last night.

WINTER

• Winter Sorting ... Cut out copies of clipart relating to a variety of holidays including several Christmas & winter pictures. Place two hoola hoops (or yarn circles) on the floor and label one "Winter" and the other "Not Winter." Have the kids sort the pictures appropriately!

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

• Storytime Idea ... read "Where the Wild Things Are" by Jon Sendak
• Make several monster cutouts in several different colors (The Mailbox, 2006-2007 Yearbook Preschoo, pg. 201 has a cute monster ready to copy). Cut out several different foods from magazines or ads. Place monsters and food on the floor. Tell the kids that the monsters are very hungry, then name a particular food a particular monster wants, but change the beginning sound. For example: "The green monster would like to have some dananas." Let the kids pick the food the monster wants and place it on his tummy.
• Listening Teeth ... Give the kids a simple monster cutout face with a large mouth (a blue circle with purple horns, eyes, nose, etc) and a napkin with Bugles corn snacks (teeth). Say a simple sentence, like "The monster is hairy." Repeat and pause after each word. Encourage the kids to place one tooth on his monster for each word he hears. Then count the teeth on the monster.
• Make 2 monster cutouts with 2 different paper colors. Attach them to popsicle sticks. Introduce them to the kids as "Beginning Monster" and "End Monster". Tell them that one only knows how to say the beginning of words and the other only knows how to say the end of words. Say several words and let the kids combine the segmented words to figure out what the monsters are saying (ex: pre-school, can-dy, foot-print, car-pet)
• Make a cave out of a cardboard box. Make several cards with rhyming clipart (one card has a pie, one card has a tie ... one has a bell, one has a shell, etc). Place the rhyming clipart cards in the cave and let the kids tiptoe to the cave and quietly pick out 2 rhyming words before the monster comes back to check in!

WEB

• Dip a foot-long piece of yarn into a plate of white paint. Drag the yarn across a sheet of black paper to make a web pattern. Dry & cut into a web shape. Attach a paper spider to your web!
• Weave a yarn web ... Hole punch around the edge of a plastic lid (prepare several different sizes). Cut several lengths of yarn and dip one end in glue to prevent fraying. When dry, tie the other end to the plastic lid. Help the kids lace/weave their web. Give them a few plastic spider rings to weave into their web for fun!