Pets Prop Box

This week, we began our study on pets. With the help of one of our parent volunteers, we used this nicely decorated cardboard box as a prop box to introduce the topic of pets.

We put several different items in the box including a dog leash and collar, a food/water bowl, and a dog toy. Also I added photos of different pets.

I also checked out a box of puppets from our resource room to use with the kids. They seem to really be interested in the puppets.

More pet activities to come!

Playdough Cupcakes with Sprinkles

This week, we are beginning our study on pets. We are reading this great book, If you Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff. I love this series of books. They are so great for sequencing and retelling. Then, since my class has been so into playdough recently, I decided to put a little twist on that. 

We made cupcakes with playdough and then added "sprinkles" on the top using glitter. The children had so much fun with this activity. To add a little more literacy to this, I had them choose a friend to make their cupcake for and write the friend's name on a card. If they couldn't write the letters on their own, I made the letters with dotted lines for them to trace.

What have you done with this book or any of the "If you Give a..." books?

Potato Printing and String Painting

Potato Printing 

I'm sure you've heard of this and probably have done it as a kid. I decided to try it out with Snugglepuppy. He thought it was pretty great. Here are some pics of what we did. I cut the potato in half and carved some lines and dots into the cut surface. Then used them as stampers to print on the paper.

I decided to try mixing some colors with a toothpick, so of course Snugglepuppy wanted one too.

The we decided since we already had a mess, we would try some string painting. 

String Painting

We each got a medium length piece of yarn and dipped it in the paint. Then, we pulled it across the paper to make lines and patterns. Snugglepuppy decided he wanted to form his string into letters. You can see his P below.

What are some other types of painting you have tried with your little ones? I am thinking about trying some edible paint with baby Ladybug.

Playing with Light and Color Patterns

Snugglepuppy and I have been playing with different apps that allow you to create with light. I will list the ones we have found that we like that are free.

Android:

1. KidsDoodle

This app is lots of fun. You can draw or write with many different brushes including the ones shown in the pic above. You can change the background color, undo and redo brush strokes and the really fun part is you can watch a video of how you made your creation!

2. RotoDoodle

This app is a digital version of a spirograph. It is fun to play with. You can choose the size, color, and pattern. We decided to look for an app like this after buying a spirograph from the dollar store for Snuggle Puppy's prize box and then realizing that it requires a lot of hand strength and hand eye coordination. He's not quite ready for it yet, but this one is much easier to work with.

3.Magic Brush Box (Kaleidoo)

This one is similar to the last spirograph type app. The difference is you can control more of the factors on this one. You can change the type of brush you use and you can draw your own pattern instead of choosing a pattern that will just keep repeating. This app is by the same people as KidsDoodle and you can do the video of how your created your drawing on this one as well.

4. Glow Spin Art

This app is so fun to play with. It spins and you put your finger or stylus on the screen to make spirals out from the center. You can change the speed at which it spins, the size, color, and shape. You can also stop the spinning to take a closer look at it.

Ipad or Iphone

1. Art of Glow

This app is kinda like fireworks. Wherever you touch the screen, shapes explode out everywhere. You can control the shape, color, amount of shapes, size, length of time they last, speed, blink speed, and whether they will renew or burn out. Kids love this one. You can stare at it for hours!

2. Forge of Neon

This is by far my favorite one. You can make patterns in symmetry of 2,4,8,16, or 32. The picture shown above is with 16. Then you can also choose your shape and color. The best part about it, is your pattern is 3-dimensional. You can pinch and zoom, use 2 fingers to move the image on the screen, or use 3 fingers to rotate the image around. It is very interesting to play with.

Hope you found some apps you will try that can be great for teaching math concepts to your kids!

Green Eggs and Ham

Today, I decided to make green eggs and ham for breakfast. Snugglepuppy has really been getting into the Dr. Seuss books and that book and The Cat in the Hat are his favorites. He pretty much became the character from the book and I, Sam I Am, of course :) He refused the first few times I asked him to try it, but eventually when I held a spoonful right up to his mouth, he agreed to take just one bite. Lo and behold, he liked it! He proceeded to eat the rest of his bowlful.

Just the eggs and green food coloring.

After the eggs started to cook, I added some butter, milk, cheese and the ham chunks.

Here is the final product. Not too bad and very tasty!

Also, I have made up a bag for each of the most popular Dr. Seuss books with different activities and the accompanying book inside. See my previous post to see what the bags look like.

What's your favorite Dr. Seuss book and what activities do you do with it?

Marble Painting

We did marble painting this week as we have started a new study on balls. This is a pic of one we did in class. We  laid the paper in the bottom of a box, put some paint in the middle and the marbles. Then the kids shook the box to roll the marbles around and paint a picture.

I also did this activity at home with my son.

Before

During

After