Archive for January 2009
Kitchen Grocery
Store
Imaginative play is crucial, it allows your child to test out and use skills they observe all day long. They also learn new words, use math skills , tap into their imagination and so much more. Our grocery store took me 5 minutes to set up and we played with it for ages! Using real food seems to make it extra special, but play food will work just fine.
- Gather your materials. You will need some food from your pantry and /or fridge, a cart or basket, a bag to put your purchases in, some play money and something that can be turned into a register. We used a stool, with a plate and some red paper to make a “scanner”.
- Get your money and grab a basket!
- Start Shopping !
- Time to Pay!
Have fun and remember how important play is!
Pom Pom
Apple Tree !
This is a fun and easy craft that uses up those red pom poms left over from Christmas crafts. If you don’t have pom poms , you can use red paper, or if you make a larger tree you can use apples to make prints! I like the three dimensional aspect of this craft and my son had fun counting the “apples” before gluing them on.
- Gather your materials. You will need some 2 pieces of construction paper, a brown marker, some green paint,paint brush glue, scissors and some red pom poms.
- Draw a truck and the top of the apple tree on a light piece of construction paper. Cut the paper in two so each piece is separate.
- Have your child paint the top of the tree with the green paint. Let dry.
- Have your child color the trunk of the tree with a brown marker.
- Cut both pieces out.
- Glue the trunk on.
- Glue on the treetop.
- Add large globs of glue for the pom poms, my son was rather angry that I allowed him to do the glue for the paper but not for the pom poms. It’s hard to be 2.
- Add the “apples” and let dry.
Books!
“Our Apple Tree” by Gorel Kristina Naslund is a straight forward yet beautiful book about a year in the life of an apple tree. I like that it starts in winter because so often apple tree books start in the fall with the harvest . The pictures are delightful and two little tree fairies follow along with you as the tree goes through it’s life cycle. My son had very little interest in the book, but it wasn’t the book, at 2 he just wasn’t able to sit for so much information. This book is perfect for 4-8 year olds.
” How to Make an Apple Pie and see the world” by Marjorie Priceman cost me a total of 15 cents at a thrift store. It is worth so much more than that. This book is a gem! Perfect for older preschoolers who are getting a sense of the world beyond their own home and city, this book takes you on a ride around the world! You follow the little girl to Italy, France , Sri Lanka, England, Jamaica and back to Vermont! As soon as I read this my mind was racing with classroom activities ! I will be posting some soon. I LOVE this book, I just wish I had read it when I was still teaching it would have been so much fun to teach geography with!
Personalized
Pencils !
Who doesn’t love seeing their own name or artwork on something useful like a pencil? This is an easy way to bring new life to a boring or in our case a holiday pencil ! For those of you who are new here, Naptime Creations are activities for older preschoolers and school age children.
- Gather your materials. You will need some plain sticky back labels, markers, a pencil and pencil sharpener.
- Grab your markers and start designing, I can never find things with Allie on them and even if I use my whole name there are so many ways to spell Allison that I’m lucky if I find my spelling.
- Carefully wrap the label around the pencil. Don’t worry if it wrinkles just smush it down as flat as you can.
- Sharpen it and you are stylin’ ! All the pencils I made sharpened no problem with the labels!
I was reading Teaching Tiny Tots the other day and found this great idea for orange prints. I had to do it, it fit perfectly with our fruit theme and just look at how awesome the prints are. To see the inspiration for this post head over to Teaching Tiny Tots !
- Gather your materials. You will need some heavy paper ( we used card stock), some paint, an orange and a plate.
- Cut your orange in half.
Reserve one half for a taste test after art time. I blotted ours a few times because it was really extra juicy. - Dip in the paint.
- Print !
- Add more colors if you want, or make a beautiful monochromatic print, no matter what it will look awesome !
- Have a tasty snack – after the project.
Win This !
I love Melissa and Doug toys and so does my son. This Stack and Sort Board has been a favorite of mine since using it in my classroom years ago. There are a million different ways to teach everything from colors, shapes and counting with this one little toy! Together with your child there is no limit to the fun this back to basics toy can provide. So here is your chance to get your very own !
I love Melissa and Doug toys and so does my son. This Stack and Sort Board has been a favorite of mine since using it in my classroom years ago. There are a million different ways to teach everything from colors, shapes and counting with this one little toy! Together with your child there is no limit to the fun this back to basics toy can provide. So here is your chance to get your very own !
What you have to do:
*Everything you do gets one entry*
- Add our button to your blog
- Subscribe to No Time For Flash Cards
- Tweet/Stumble/Digg/Kristy this giveaway or NTFFC
- Write about us on your blog
* Leave a comment for each entry*
Also don’t forget to make sure we have a way of contacting you.
Good Luck!
The Contest will close at 10pm PST Tuesday, January 20th Winners will be chosen by Random Integer Generator. The winner will have 48 hours to claim the prize , or another winner will be chosen.
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