Archive for October 2011
I have been putting off the J because I wanted to do it the week leading up to Halloween for Jack-O-Lantern! I got an email a while back asking how I do letter of the week. Right now I am not doing it at all to be honest, my daughter at 16 months is not interested in letters yet and my son does a letter of the week at preschool and I don’t feel the need to enrich. That said when I was actively doing them at home and as a teacher I did a letter craft on Monday and we’d reference back to the letter when it came up in other activities, ususally read one book with a subject matter starting with that letter and a craft to match that book. I didn’t focus all my energies on that one letter because letters and words work together as a whole dynamic alphabet. Introduce, explore, and have fun but don’t focus only on the letter of the week. I hope that helps anyone with that same question.
{ Letter J Crafts}
{Crafts and Activities Starting With J}
Cupcake Liner Jelly Fish - Dry Erase Jack-O-Lantern - Jack and The Beanstalk - Jackson Pollock - Jasper Johns- Jelly Fish- Rock Jack-O-Lanterns - Sandpaper Jack-O- Lanterns
{Whole Alphabet Activities }
Glue Letter Tracing – Muffin Tin Letter Game - Pumpkin Patch Letter Match
I got an email this week asking me if I would allow a homeschool blog to link up OF COURSE! Link & Learn is for everyone, homeschool, preschool, having fun at home so the tv is not on all day, however you and your child or student learn we want to hear about it. Link up your favorite post of the week for all the readers here looking for lessons, crafts and insights about the little people who consume {much} of our lives.
Have a great week and if it’s your first time here- please join in!
Craving a pumpkin with a toddler is not my idea of fun , especially without another adult handy for supervising the littles when you are doing the actual carving. I will leave the slimy insides ( that make my son gag – also not fun) and sharp knives for the weekend when my husband is handy, but that doesn’t mean we can’t decorate a pumpkin! I was just going to do this with my daughter who is 16 months old but my son came running to the playroom asking to join in. They had a great time and my foyer is all blinged out for halloween now!
- Gather your materials. You will want a drop cloth for this, white glue, glitter, paint brushes, a plate and a small stool, box or something else you don’t mind getting glitter on to hold the pumpkin at your toddler’s level so they can stand and move around as they create.
- Pour the glue onto a plate.
- Paint on the glue.
- “Wait for me I want to do it too Mom!” <— music to my ears!
- Shake the glitter on.
- Change glitter colors and keep shaking.
- Let dry overnight, gently shake any loose glitter off.
- Display!
Exploring nature doesn’t have to be in a far off place, a neighborhood park , school yard or your own backyard will work just great. Explore , talk about what you see, hear and smell. Touch things even they aren’t going into your bag for the collage, explore and take note of how the garden, forrest or park you are in has changed since the spring or summer. I love when I can do an activity with both kids seemlessly and this one was super easy .
- Gather your materials. You will need 1-2 paper grocery bags, scissors,crayons, glue and a yard , park or forrest to explore.
- Start by handing each child a bag and heading outside. Can I just say that my little paint covered point and shoot camera works great for inside crafts when movements around too big or fast, but getting a good shot of either child was next to impossible. Especially a wobbly 15 month old.
- Explore- let your child lead the way. Hopefully the other child( or 5) agree and go the same way, or at least in the same general vicinity.
- Put everything they find and want to glue to the collage in the bag . Don’t say no to little things yet, let them discover later of it won’t glue.
- Huge sticks are totaly ok to refuse, but let them figure it out by asking how it will fit in the bag. Offer scissors to cut a small piece off.
- Head back inside and prepare for part two.
I did this while they played in the playroom around me, but don’t feel like you have to do this all in one go. Do this after bed time and continue with part two in the morning if that works best for your family. You will want to empty out the contents and place them on a table – or even a shallow box. Using the bag cut it open and draw an acorn. Tape it to the table to stay steady. - Now invite the children to chose from their treasures and glue them to the acorn.
- Hmm the pine branch is too big to glue down… what could we do?
- Cut it!
- I helped my daughter add the glue and she happily banged the leaves she gathered down.
I was so surprised to see she remembered exactly which leaves she found and used them in her collage. - Gluing is my son’s favorite part of most art because he pretends it’s a bomb ( yes this stage is still driving me batty but I am trying to roll with it)- his sound effects surprised his unamused little sister…
- Let everything dry overnight.
- Cut out. Display if possible – kids love seeing their own creations displayed with pride.
More Acorn Crafts!
If a nature walk isn’t possible for you try another one of our acorn crafts .
Click the images for the original posts
” Mom how do you spell ______? “ is that a common phrase at your house? Since my son has started reading more and more fluently he has been eager to spell words as well. The catch is he’s not the most enthusiastic writer. I want to fill that desire to spell without creating crazy stress over writing . This is an easy way to make spelling into a puzzle and not a test. If you are a long time reader you probably know I am a terrible speller and I so want my kids to love the challenge of spelling that I never had for fear of being wrong. Games and activities like this are a great way to start.
- Gather your materials. You will need some( many) letter stickers ( you can just write on the blocks but I prefer to do something temporary), blocks, a spinner, animal stickers and time to sit down and play with your child.
- Start by placing animal stickers on the spinner. I chose animals my son would be able to spell with encouragement. Which means a parent helping him sound out when he got stuck. Not quite all by himself, there needs to be some challenge.
- Now add the letters. Spell each word yourself to make sure that you have them correct, remebering that some letters can be used for multiple words… it’s only a little tricky.
- Time to play . It’s simple, they spin the spinner then spell the word corresponding to the animal the spinner landed on.
- Spin and spell! My son kept landing on lion, after a few I thought he’d get annoyed but instead he said ” I know this word L-I-O-N ”
Remember you can break this down for non readers too by looking for the first sound, or for even younger children by providing a basket of toys with matching animals. Lots of options.
