Bugs Week One

Book - Bug Safari

Movement - Bug Spray
I colored bugs onto a white garbage bag with waterproof markers.  Then hung it up outside.  I let the kids have spray bottles and spray the bugs off.  This was a lot of fun and they thought it was so cool to watch the bugs spray off and the colors mix together.

Learning - Get the Bugs Off
I printed out pictures of bugs and put letters on them.  I then taped them all over myself and told the kids I needed help getting the bugs off of me.  They took a bug of and named the letter and its sound. They thought this was silly.  And they wanted to have the bugs on them so we took turns but bugs ion each other and then taking them off.

Learning - Colorful Bug
I printed a picture of a beetle and put numbers on its shell.  The kids took turns rolling two dice.  They had to count all the dots and then find that number on the bug.  When they found the number they used daubers to mark the number.  We played until they colored the whole bug.

Art/Craft - Rock Bugs
We went outside to find each kid a rock.  We cleaned them in the sink and then painted them.  After painting we glued eyes on and I was planning to let them cut and glue pipe cleaners but realized I was all out.  So we called them our rock slugs:)

Game - Ants in Pants
Always a fun game to get out.




Book - Diary of a Worm

Movement - Bug Hunt
I got bug nets and magnifying glasses for each kid and we went in our back yard to find as many bugs as we can.  This was so fun.  We found bugs but the most exciting thing was we found a frog.

Learning - Bug Matching
I printed out pictures of 16 spiders and on the opposite side I wrote words on them.  The took turns picking to spider and I read the words.  They had to tell me whether it matched or not.  They got to keep the spiders if it rhymed.  We did this until all the spiders were gone.

Learning - Save the Flies
I put tape up to look like a spider web.  I printed pictures of flies and put them on the web.  On the back of the flies I wrote numbers.  They had to pull the flies of and name the number before the spider ate them.  We are starting to recognize numbers above 10 now.

Art/Craft - Bugged Out Hat
The kids glued and colored pieces of the hat.

Really easy and the kids loved them.  They wore them the rest of the day.

Game - Cooties
This game takes a little while so they struggled with finishing but enjoyed it for the most part.

Spring

Monday's Schedule - Flowers

Book - Mouses First Spring

Movement - Flower Walk
We went to pick wild flowers and plants that we thought were cool.  So we could use for our art project later.  The simplest activities often make them the happiest.  They loved it!  We collected our cool finds in ziplock bags.

Learning - Pick the Flowers
I cut out 26 flower shapes and wrote a letter on them.  Then I laid them all over the yard.  They had to "pick" the flowers and name the sound.  They enjoyed it and it was even more fun because the wind was blowing and kept blowing my flowers away so it became a game of chase the flowers:)

Learning - Water the Flowers
I drew flowers on the sidewalk with chalk and wrote numbers 0-10 on the flowers.  I would say a number and the kids had to spray/water the flower with the number on it.  They love playing with spray bottles.

Art/Craft  - Flower Collage
They got the flowers and plants out that they collected on our walk.  I laid contact paper down and they went to town sticking flowers/plants on the contact paper.

Game - Flower Cake Walk
I cut out large flowers and laid them in a circle on the ground.  I played music and they walked on the flowers.  And when the music stopped they stopped.  They had to name the color of flower they landed on.



Wednesday's Schedule - Bird's

Book - Mouse's First Spring

Movement - Eat the Worms
I cut pieces of yarn and laid them around the room.  They had to use clothes pins and collect the worms like they were birds using their beaks.  They really liked this activity and we did it over and over again.

Learning - Worksheets
Beginning sounds and matching - http://thehappyhousewife.com/homeschool/bird-worksheets-free-printable/

Art/Craft - Binoculars
I cut up paper towel rolls and taped two together to make binoculars.  They colored with markers and stickers to make it their own.

Game - Bird Hunt
We went for a walk and used our binoculars to spot birds.  They were very serious about this and we didn't walk far because every time we spotted a bird we put our binoculars on and watched the bird.

Career Week Four

Monday's Schedule - Doctors

Book - He Bear, She Bear

Movement - Check Up
McKay has a Doc McStuffin's doctors bag.  I got that out and explained what each tool does did a check up on each kid.  Then they got to do check ups on me and each other.  Always fun to pretend.

Alphabet - Band-aids
I printed 26 (per child) pictures of body shape  and wrote lowercase letters on each one.  Then I gave them each 26 band-aids with uppercase letters on them.  They had to put the band-aids on each person matching the lower to the upper case.  They loved this!

Alphabet - Eye Chart
I printed an eye chart and taped it to the wall.  They got to take furs being doctor and playing patient. The doctor would point to a letter on the chart and the patient had to cover one eye name the letter and sound.

Art/Craft - Arm Cast
I had saved three paper towel rolls.  When then traced their hands, cut out their hand, and taped it to the paper towel roll.  Then I gave the kids gauze and let them glue it on.  It wasn't the prettiest craft but it was fun.

Game - UNO
We got uno out and played.  A great game to work on color, numbers, and taking turns.  We love this game:)

Wednesday Kathryn did Chiefs!

Easter

Monday's Schedule -

Book - Five Little Ducks

Movement - Bunny Hop
I wrote each kids name on an egg.  I hid their egg and they had to find the egg and hop back like a bunny.  They really enjoy hide and find games.

Alphabet - Egg Matching
I took plastic eggs wrote uppercase letters on the top half and lower case letters on the bottom half.  The had to make the eggs and put them together.  and then name the sound once it was put together.  Putting the eggs together was hard for them but good fine motor practice.

Numbers - Find the Basket
I had 8 baskets (don't ask why I have so many I am not sure why) and put numbers in the basket.  I hid eggs with numbers on them.  They had to find the egg and then match it to the basket.

Art/Craft - Stripped Eggs
I cut out stirs of different colors and patterns of paper.  I had them glue them onto a piece of paper and fill the whole thing.  Then I glued on a white piece of paper with an egg cut out of the center so the egg looked stripped.  It turned out really cute:)

Game - Egg and Spoon Race
I decorated hard boiled eggs with my kids the night before so we used those.  Each kid had a spoon and had to race holding the spoon with an egg on it.  This was difficult and really fun.  They wanted to play for ever.

Wednesdays Schedule -

Book - Fluffy Animals

Movement - Piñata
I bought a Easter egg piñata and filled it with candy.  The kids took turns swinging at the piñata until it opened.  Of course this was a big hit!

Numbers - Egg or Bunny
I printed pictures of Easter eggs and wrote numbers on them and then printed pictures of bunnies.  I cut them out and put into a basket.  They grabbed piece of paper out and either had to name the number on the egg or hop like a bunny if they pulled out the bunny.  They loved pulling out the bunnies.

Rhyming - Which Rhymes?
We are just introducing this to them.  I printed pictures of different objects that rhymed.  Then hid that into eggs and hid them.  They found the eggs, opened then and then we worked together to match the pictures that rhyme.  This was a great introduction to rhyming.

Art/Craft - Potato Stamp
I cut potatoes in half and then cut strips, criss-cross, polka dots, and zig-zags out of the potato to look like decorated Easter eggs.  They dipped the potatoes in paint and stamped them onto paper.

Game - Egg Roll
Each took a plastic egg and we went to my drive way.  One the count of three they would roll the egg and see who's egg got to the bottom first.  They loved this game and even though it started to rain they insisted on playing longer:)

Career Week Three (plus St. Patricks Day)

Monday's Schedule - St. Patricks Day

Book -  Alice the Fairy (I didn't have a St. Patricks book so I just grabbed one I thought they would like)

Movement - Find the Pot of Gold
Evan's mom, Denyal, made cute pots for gold for each kid.  I hid them and put gold coin clues around the house that helped lead to the pot of gold.  Each clue was finish the sentence.  There were four clues totally nothing super fancy.  They loved this and loved the prize at the end!  The pots of gold were a big hit.  Thanks Denyal!

Alphabet - Coin Toss
I cut out 26 shamrocks and laid them on the ground.  The kids were given golden (chocolate) coins. They tossed the coins and when they landed on a shamrock they told me the name and sound the letter makes.  If they were right they got to keep the coin and shamrock.

Numbers - Worksheet
If I was good I would have remembered and pinned where I got the worksheet, but I didn't:/  Anyway it was a gold coin count.  They counted the coins and matched that to the number.  Then traced the number with a pen.

Art/Craft - Leprechaun
We had to do this in sections.  First we painted the paper plates.  Then let them dry.  Next we cut the paper plates to make it look like a beard.  And pasted the leprechaun hats together and onto the plate.

I think they turned out pretty dane cute!

Game - Toss for Coins
I had a pot of gold in the middle of the floor.  The kids were told to toss pom-poms into the pot.  And if they got it in they would get a gold coin to add to their collection of gold coins.

Wednesdays Schedule -Scientist

Book - The Very Grouchy Caterpillar

Today Kathryn mixed it up a little and had different science experiments for the kids.

Experiment 1: Milk Painting -  Kathryn poured milk into a shallow dish. Had the kids put drops of food coloring into the center of the dish.  Dip a QTip into and show that nothing happens, then put dish soap onto Qtip and watch colors repel from the QTip. 

Experiment 2: Glitter Volcano - Kathryn poured baking soda into a flower vase along with food coloring and glitter, then poured in vinegar. And watched it explode! They did this a few times and she showed the kids how putting in 2 different colors of food coloring made the volcano would be a different color (like blue & yellow = green).

Experiment 3: Soap Explosion - Kathryn put ivory soap in the microwave and watched it explode. We then crushed the exploded soap in our hands to make snow. 

Experiment 4: Mentos & Diet Coke explosion - Kathryn put mentos in diet coke and then they would watch it explode.  

Art/Craft - Painting

Kathryn got out butcher paper and paint and let the kids go tot town painting.  Without direction they wanted to paint their names.  

The kids loved all the experiments and had a blast that day!

Careers Week 2

Monday's Schedule - Fire Fighter and Police Officer

Book - He Bear, She Bear

Movement - Fire House Field Trip
I put together a trip to the local fire house.  It was a great field trip.  The kids LOVED it!  The fire fighter that gave us the tour was amazing with the kids.  He played games, taught them about fire safety, and was able to keep their attention.

Numbers - Put out the Fire
I cut out flames on orange paper (suggestion get foam so you can reuse again and again).  I put numbers 0-10 on them.  Each kid got a spray bottle filled with water.  I would shout a number out and they had to find that number as fast as they could and put out the fire (spray the flame).  They really enjoyed this and wanted to play over and over again.

Alphabet - Alphabet Jail

I made a jail out of card board and black construction paper.  I talked to the kids about police officers and what they do.  That they are here to keep us safe and put people who could hurt us in jail.  Then I explained that there are letters have been really bad and need to be taken to jail.  But before you can place them in jail you have to name them and their sounds.  

Art/Craft - Fire Truck
I cut out a body of a fire truck, window, wheels, ladder. and hose.  They had to paste the pieces into place.

Game - Stop
I made police officer hats and cut out stop signs.  They colored in the police hat.  We took turns playing stop and go.  They got to take turns being the police officer.

Wednesday's Schedule - Dentist

Movie -
They watched a couple short clips about what to expect when going to the dentist and how to brush their teeth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy8JurvYlH4.

Movement - Brush and Clean
Kathryn made them each a mouth of pretend teeth made from a plastic egg carton. She talked about what they ate today and then made marks with a dry erase marker on the teeth representing what is left behind. I also put tissue paper and pom pom balls in between the teeth. They then used little foam brushes and pipe cleaners as floss to clean their teeth. A good activity for them to learn about how to care for their teeth.

Numbers - How Many Teeth?

Kathryn wrote down the numbers they are having troubles with on a large dice. They rolled the dice and that was the number of marshmallow teeth to glue on their mouth. They had a lot of fun with this and did well.

Art/Craft - Tooth and Tooth Brush

Kathryn made shaving cream/glue mix before hand. They covered the tooth in white paste.
She also glued together a large toothbrush made of paper. They wrote their names on the toothbrush. She then drew lines on the brush part for them to cut to make the bristles.

Game - Duck Duck Goose

Careers

Monday's Schedule - Architect/Contractor

Books - He Bear, She Bear

Movement - Build a Fort

We moved chairs and got out blankets.  The kids helped build a fort.  Then we played in the fort.

Numbers - Hammer Time

I got a box out.  The kids got a toy hammer and safety goggles.  They rolled a dice with numbers on it.  They had to name the number and then hammer nails to match the number they landed on.

Alphabet - Work Site

I got little toy tractors out and my alphabet letters.  I told them it is time to clean up the work site and put all the letters away.  They would pick up the letters using the tractors and place them on the correct letter and name the sound it makes.

Art/Craft - Gum Drop House

I got toothpicks and gum drops.  They kids put together structures/towers.  I learned through this that none of the kids like gum drops.  Oh well I guess I have to eat them all:)

Game - Follow the Plans

I built towers out of legos before hand and took pictures on my phone.  Then one at a time they had to look at the picture and build the exact same tower.  This was good for them to work and problem solve together.

Wednesday's Schedule - Vet

Movement - Pretend Play
Kathryn made the kids each a card with different animals on them with check boxes so that they could mark off which animal they had given a check up to. She also had a paper with body parts and things to check on their patients (example eyes, heartbeat, temperature). 

Numbers - How Many Animals?

Kathryn had them take turns drawings numbers. They then got to pick out that many stuffed animals from the pile and hide them around the room for the others to find.

Art/Craft - Doggies 

Kathryn cut up yarn and gave each of them a picture of a dog. They glued the yarn/hair onto the dog with some goggly eyes and a tongue.  They turned out really cute.

Game - Animal Food

She had 4 colors of paper and 4 cups with one of the colors on them and a picture of an animal. They cut up the paper and put it in the cups for the pretend animal food.  Great for fine motor and sorting.