Archive for February 2011
This simple activity requires very few supplies. All you need are scissors, craft foam, yarn, a marker, and a hole punch (can use scissors instead).
First cut strands of yarn about 4-5 feet long. Tie them to something extremely sturdy, such as a doorknob. This yarn is going to see a lot of action. Make a strand for each child playing.
Cut craft foam in squares and punch or cut a hole. Be sure to make the hole large. Your children will be threading the yarn through this hole.
Draw shapes, letters, words, whatever you would like them to practice learning onto the craft foam squares.
Ask your child to grab the square that is a specific color or has a certain shape/letter on it. Have them thread the yarn through the square.
The best part of this activity is that it is perfect for different stages in development. I instructed one child to do colors (2 yrs old), while the other child did shapes (3 yrs old). Later on when my 4 yr old returned home from preschool I had him play along with letters.
Now to get some great use out of competitiveness and sibling rivalry. Have each child hold the end of their yarn strand with the square at their hands. Tell them to shake the yarn to get the square to the doorknob. Make it a race!
This activity is also great for one child, too. Use their determination (which we all know they have) to jump and shake that square to the doorknob.
Be prepared for a lot of jumping, wiggling, and giggling. This was so much fun for everyone, especially me standing back watching them burn off some energy while learning and having a blast.
PLEASE NOTE: This activity is designed to be parent involved. Do not use this activity as a busy activity while you leave the room. The long strands of yarn can be dangerous with young children if not supervised. You will need to monitor your children closely and be sure they do not wrap themselves with the yarn.
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Kim is a contributing writer for No Time For Flash Cards, a mom to a toddler, a preschooler, and a foster parent, too. She juggles her day by trying out fun activities and crafts with the kids. After all, she is just a big kid herself. See what she has been up to over at Mom Tried It.
Every day items make great math manipulatives . When my son’s preschool class did a similar lesson using nice counting bears I knew I wanted to do it at home but with stuff I already had in my art closet. This activity was great because it gave my son a chance to do things he loves like estimate and count as well as things he resists doing like writing . All with things I had around the house!
- Gather your materials. You will need some jars or clear plastic containers, small items to pop in them , paper, a pencil, and a clip board. For some reason if I put paper on a clip board my son is way more excited to write than plain old paper.
- Start by filling the jars with small objects. I used corks, pom poms and plastic frog toys. Make sure there are enough to make it a little challenging, they shouldn’t be able to easily count the manipulatives when they are in the jar.
- Write a simple chart to record the items are in each jar .
We only recorded the estimates but you can also write the results. I want to encourage my son to write but without pushing. - Time to estimate!
- Write it down.
- Open and count.
- Repeat with other jars .
I love wreaths almost as much as I love garlands! This Valentine’s Day craft is fun , easy to make and easy on your wallet. The foam hearts are super light and I was able to tape the wreath to a door in our house using only blue painters tape . Also if you want you can turn it into a patterning lesson as well or just randomly glue the hearts on.
- Gather your materials. You will need a paper plate, glue, foam heart picks ( got mine 9 for a dollar at the dollar store), red markers and scissors.
- Start by coloring the paper plate with markers. We used red but use whatever color your child wants to.
- Start by having your child pull the tops off the heart picks. I twisted them so they were easier to pop off. This step was really fun.
- While they do that cut the middle out.
- Add a lot of glue. If you don’t normally let your child do the glue because they use too much, let them with this one. You need a lot of glue so let them at it!
- Add your hearts. Randomly or in a pattern. I just let him do it however he wanted and he quickly settled on a pattern and sang it out as he added it. You can also sneak counting in here if you want.
- Let dry.
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For the past few weeks the most popular searches bringing traffic to my site have been “Letter of the Week” and ” Valentine’s Craft” so today I thought I would try to satisfy both and make a Valentine’s Day Letter of the Week. This L is super easy to make and fast too. You can make it easier with paint , or more complex by having your child draw pictures of the people they love instead of using photos. The goal is to have fun with the letter so tailor it to your child and their favorite materials.
- Before gathering your materials, sit down with your child and ask them who they love. Find photos or have your child draw pictures of these people.
- Gather your materials. You will need some cardboard, tissue paper, tape, family photos, heart punch , red paper, glue and scissors.
- Start by cutting the cardboard into a L .
- I used gift wrap tissue paper to cover the L but this was only per my son’s specific request. You can paint, color with crayons, glitter… whatever your child is into . Keeping crafts fun means keeping your kids learning and playing with letters!
- If you are using tissue paper tape it on – another big treat for my son, using the tape!
- While my son taped I trimmed the family photos.
- Next add glue for the photos.
- Pop them on. Let dry.
Books We Love
Valentine’s Day
If You’ll Be My Valentine 
I Lost My Kisses
This week flew by and I can honestly say this meme will no doubt be a highlight of my busy week. If you have never linked up before please do, it’s open to all sorts of posts, I just ask that you share your best post from the week. If you want to grab by button or link back to this page in the post you are sharing feel free but it’s not a requirement. Do not miss out on reading some of the other links, I am not exaggerating when I say they are consistently awesome!
Have a fantastic week
