Chronicles of Summertime: Day 12

Day 12:
Today, we did a lot of indoor play. Snugglepuppy helped me put together an Elmo floor puzzle that was almost as big as him!

Snugglepuppy and I engaged in some dramatic play with food. We cooked some burgers and hot dogs and even baked a cake. All pretend of course. Being the cashier, he rang me up and gave me a total which, of course, I paid for with coins (or sometimes pickles, they look almost the same in our set, lol.)

Then I suggested we get out his little animals and some blocks to make a zoo as we haven't had the animals out in a while. We sorted the animals by water, insects, animals that fly, and all the rest we classified as animals with 4 legs. We also made a tree for the monkeys and gorillas with Megabloks. The snake didn't really have a home, so he kinda roamed free.

(Yes, he is sitting on a potty chair, lol)

After a while, the lion got a little naughty and started attacking other animals and biting them. They had to go to the doctor and rest for a while. Some of them needed bandages or surgery. But in the end, we just had to separate the lion into his own enclosure. 

We checked our seeds that we planted a few days ago, but they haven't started growing yet.

Tutorial Tuesday: Puzzle Sight Words

Puzzle Sight Words 

Happy Tuesday! I am so excited to be joining Cachey Mama's Classroom today. I am Jillian also known as A Mom with a Lesson Plan. One of my favorite lessons to plan is sight words. Making sight word practice fun and easy is one of the ways I keep my kids excited about learning new words.

How to Prepare

Do you have any old puzzles with missing pieces? Don't worry if all your puzzles are full sets, you can find a cheap puzzle at a garage sale, thrift store, or dollar store.

 I used a puzzle with big pieces but any size pieces would work.
  
Put the puzzle pieces together. Make sure you have enough pieces connected to match the letters in the word you are making. Then flip the puzzle over so the back of the puzzle is up.
 Write one letter of the word on each puzzle piece. That's all the prep you need. Easy right?

3 Ways to Play

I love this idea for a couple of reasons. Puzzle sight words is perfect for a quiet classroom activity or for at home practice. I also love that it can be varied to work with kids of different levels. 1. Lay out the sight word card right next to the letters needed to make the word. Mix the letters up a bit and then have your little one put the "puzzle" together to match the card.

2. Lay out the sight word cards. Mix up all the letters and have your little one create the words by finding the letters in the pile.

3. Mix up all of the pieces and ask your little to make words from the pieces available. This is a good one if you've already practiced these words quite a bit.

Besides a love for her kids (and well just kids in general) Jillian has a degree in Early Childhood Education and 10 years experience as a preschool teacher. Right now her “students” call her mom. Jillian believes that life offers an abundance of learning opportunities. She loves figuring out what they are and how they can be expanded on. Join the journey at amomwithalessonplan.com.