Letter Reinforcement Activity for Early Childhood

Want an activity to keep our hands busy and our minds intent on a project? Try this one!

Lacing Letters is the activity of last Friday morning that captured the attention of these little guys. Ours are created from cereal boxes so no need to worry about them being overly 'loved'.

Cookbooks in Early Childhood

Sharing a post on the Stephanie's Stuff blog about a cooking experience. But I also want to give a little frugal thought to buying educational material for early childhood ideas in your kitchen.

This was $1 at a local antique store. It's copyright is 1932. The pictures are very clear on measurements giving children a good idea at what 1 cup looks like for instance. Those little hole-in-the-wall places have such cool things just waiting for reuse.

Check out your little stores and support small business. 

The Apple of My Eye

The poem of the week for our Apple Theme is pictured here from Pinterest.

 

 Sharing with you some of the "apples of My eye".

 

Our upcycled Apple tree before the leaves are added.

Pardon my primitive artistic ability.

I have a 'little' stash of Red Bags from last Christmas.

Perfect for the trunk and the apples.

I am my mother's daughter. I save stuff.

 Apple paper punches could be a big hit, but ours are pretty hard for little fingers.  So we improvised and turned the punches into strips.

This became cutting practice and letter recognition introduction all wrapped up in one.

Remember it's the process, not the product.

Learning rules like: keep Thumbs Up, only cut paper, start slowly & more.

Some of the strips were used for apple rubbings.

 Feeling and finding the bumps under a sheet of paper is also a texture/sensory experience.

 

The Sorting A/a Activity

     I

 

       See

            You!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laundry List

Upon visiting Pinterest, I happened upon a board for upcycling cardboard.

I was smitten!

We have since created a cardboard washer & dryer.

For this dramatic play feature, we added:

•  doll clothes
• dolls .......some ended up inside the washer :( good opportunity for discussing safety
•  pretend laundry soap
• measuring cup/scoop
• Laundry basket for wet/dry clothes
• Paper & crayon for 'laundry list' notes
• Tool box for fixing broken appliances
• Magazines to read while waiting on the laundry

At the next 'laundry day' I hope to add clothespins, clothesline and sorting items to pin up.

Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash storytime is also in order.

We say 'Sodee' in Missouri

I read about this somewhere, forgive me for not remembering where......

But this is a way to use empty 'sodee' bottles for your kiddos outdoors. We also have a Gatorade bottle included here for good measure. The large 2 liter ones don't work so well for your general information.

First you cut off a portion of the bottom. I chose to use the first natural point where the bottle curves.

Next I applied duct tape for keeping fingers from getting scratched on the sharp edges.

We really like the funky polka dot design :)

Then we apply masking tape to each bottle to label with their names. No sharing cooties here.
And very important.......remove the lid.

Finally the fun begins! (Notice Savannah's new dress her mommy made for her! It's pretty darn cute)

Next to Lou is the 'dipping' bowl for bubble mix. We got ours thanks to Grandma Nancy who finds all the deals at $1 for the bottle. Thanks Grandma!!

What we learned:

• You get the biggest bubbles when you bend forward & point your bottle down. They were huge!
• Taking turns
• Bubbles can pop in your face (or your friends')
• Bubble mix doesn't go well with sand
•  Wind can wreck havock on a great bubble
• Babies won't let you finish blowing a bubble if they can reach your bottle. There were some anger issues. But we worked them out.
• Lots of fun for a morning that was cooler than we've had for a long while. A fabulous Friday!!!

Have a wonderful Summer!!!