No Time For Flash Cards » Snakes http://www.notimeforflashcards.com Educational Activities For Kids Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:03:27 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Rattlesnake Craft http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2010/04/rattlesnake-craft.html http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2010/04/rattlesnake-craft.html#comments Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:04:07 +0000 admin http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/?p=4360

Rattlesnake Craft

If you follow me on Twitter you may have seen my tweet on Sunday that we found a snake in our backyard.  My husband was mowing and saw it. As soon as my son woke from nap, all three of us went searching, and found it again.  I love finding wild life in my backyard ( well when it’s small and non venomous anyway), it makes learning about a specific animal so much more fun . We immediately went online to find the exact species, what it ate and how big it would get. Sadly after nap yesterday my son wasn’t as into making his own snake as I guessed he’d be ( or at all), although he liked the snake book we read . Oh well I can’t win them all!

  1. Gather your materials. You will need 2 toilet paper rolls, or a paper towel roll cut in two, some sticky back foam, some jingle bells, googly eyes ,glue,  scissors , a knee high or leg of panty hose , and a pipe cleaner. Rattlesnake craft
  2. Start by having your child cut the sticky back foam into shapes.  We are using up scraps so they were already in smaller pieces, if you have large sheets you may want to make it easier for your child by cutting them into strips that are easier to handle. Rattlesnake Craft
  3. Put the rolls inside the panty hose, along with the jingle bells.Rattlesnake craft
  4. Tie the end.
  5. Peel off the backing and add the shapes. You can even fit in a patterning lesson if you want ! Rattlesnake craft
  6. Add the tongue . I threaded the pipe cleaner through then twisted it into the right length with a v on the end.Rattlesnake craft
  7. Add glue for the eyes. Rattlesnake craft
  8. Add eyes. Let dry. Rattle snake 008

Books

The Snake Is Totally Tail by Judi Barrett is a great book for teaching about animals. It doesn’t go into great depth for each animal instead if focuses on the one most obvious attribute of them all. What I love is that for toddlers they are able to see that easily in the pictures as you read the story. It seems simple and sorta average at first but sit down with a child, read it and it’s simple genius is blatantly apparent!

greedy python

The Greedy Python by Richard Buckley and  Eric Carle is a fun fable about a snake that is so greedy he eats all the animals in the jungle, even ones much larger than him like an elephant! My son thinks this book is hilarious and loves that the animals work together to escape their fate.  The story gets even sillier when the greedy snake ends up eating his own tail!

Snake

Snake (Watch it Grow)by Barrie Watts is a wonderful non fiction choice to learn a little more about snakes.  The book covers a snakes life from egg right through the life cycle to laying eggs. What I liked about this book was that each page offers the reader main points as well as more in depth text, which makes it easy to adjust to a wide range of ages. For toddlers or young preschoolers you can simply read the page titles and discuss the pictures, where older or more interested kids can sit for the full text. We enjoyed this book a lot.

You May Also Like :

Shape Snake
Snake S
Worm Painting

]]> http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2010/04/rattlesnake-craft.html/feed 6 Snake Craft http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/05/slither-in-the-grass.html http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/05/slither-in-the-grass.html#comments Tue, 12 May 2009 08:00:00 +0000 admin http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/?p=509
Shape Snake !

My son has been laying on his belly and slithering here and there for days so I figured we should channel that energy and throw in a lesson as well. So this activity makes something for my son to push along the floor as well as reinforcing shapes. He was also so excited to use our new paint roller, it’s amazing how something as small as a new paint brush can make art time new again.

  1. Gather your materials. You will need a paper grocery bag or large piece of paper, paint, a brush or roller, 2 googly eyes, some different color foam , a plate for paint, scissors and glue.
  2. Cut open the bag so it’s a one long piece and draw a snake. I taped it right to the table.
  3. Start by choosing your paint colors, I was itching for my son to pick something bright but he chose brown and orange- and I am so happy he did I think it looks great. Pour both colors into a plate.
  4. Start painting.
  5. While your child is painting ( or before you start if that works better for you) ask your child what shapes they want to put on the snake, or decide yourself if they are too young. Cut large pieces for little guys that are still mouthing things. We don’t want anyone to choke!
  6. Time to glue the pieces on! I put the glue on in dots all along the snake.
  7. Cover each glue dot with a shape. Older children should be doing a pattern !
  8. While they are adding the shapes, cut out a tongue from red foam.
  9. Add the eyes and tongue.
  10. Let dry and cut out!
Books!

” Hide and Snake” by Keith Baker is a fantastic book for a wide range of ages. The story follows a snake that hides in multi colored places. It is not too easy to find the snake , but easy enough that this won’t frustrate your child. With older children this book can open a dialog about camouflage and how snakes use it for protection and hunting. Younger children love books likes these because they can stay “busy” while you read the fun rhyming text.

“A Snake Is Totally Tail” by Judi Barrett is a great book for teaching about animals. It doesn’t go into great depth for each animal instead if focuses on the one most obvious attribute of them all. What I love is that for toddlers they are able to see that easily in the pictures as you read the story. It seems simple and sorta average at first but sit down with a child, read it and it’s simple genius is blatantly apparent!


“The Sea Serpent and Me” by Dashka Slater is a sweet dreamy book. A little girl finds a sea serpent in her bath tub and they become friends all the while knowing he belongs in the sea. She promises to take him back but they keep finding reasons to wait. When they do finally go and he returns to the sea you can’t help but get a little lump in your throat remembering all those times you have had to say goodbye even though you didn’t really want to. The illustrations by Catia Chien make the whole book feel like a dream.

]]> http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/05/slither-in-the-grass.html/feed 9 Letter Of The Week ! Ss ! http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2008/05/letter-of-the-week-ss.html http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2008/05/letter-of-the-week-ss.html#comments Mon, 19 May 2008 17:09:00 +0000 admin http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/?p=120

The letter S is pretty distinctive and often one of the first letters many children I have taught can identify, this is a fun easy craft using the letter S.

  1. Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of construction paper, some paint, scissors, some black and white paper or foam, glue, and a red pipe cleaner.
  2. Draw a thick S on a piece of construction paper.
  3. Mix some paint colors together, you don’t need to do this step but I have been noticing since doing this my son has been naming colors more accurately. I ask him ” Which color should we use?” while holding 2 or 3 for him to choose from. It could be a coincidence but it takes an extra 30 seconds so I think it’s well worth the time!
  4. Paint your S, you aren’t going to cut it out until it’s all dry and this makes it less frustrating for little ones who are less able to stay within the S.
  5. While your child is painting cut out 2 black circles of paper or foam sheets, and then small white diamonds and glue together. Of course you can use googley eyes if you want to skip this step.
  6. Let the snake dry.
  7. Glue the eyes on.
  8. Add a tongue, I am using a pipe cleaner but red paper glued on would work great too.
  9. Glue the S onto another full piece of paper for strength, without it the S will be ripped in no time.
Books!

” Hide and Snake” by Keith Baker is a fantastic book for a wide range of ages. The story follows a snake that hides in multi colored places. It is not too easy to find the snake , but easy enough that this won’t frustrate your child. With older children this book can open a dialog about camouflage and how snakes use it for protection and hunting. Younger children love books likes these because they can stay “busy” while you read the fun rhyming text.


” The Greedy Python” by Eric Carle is a fun fable about a snake that is so greedy and keeps eating and eating that eventually he eats everything, even himself! Kids love this silly story!


Additional Activities

Magnetic writing boards

I love this toy, so does my son. You can use it in so many ways and for those of you afraid of unleashing your children with crayons and markers this makes no mess. My son loves to have my husband or me write a letter of the alphabet then he scribbles over it until there is no more space on the screen.

An activity I enjoyed doing with a student who loved this was to play restaurant, she was the waitress and would take my order. I would order letters, shapes, and numbers and she would write them down on the board. Older children enjoy playing hang man on this toy too!

]]> http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2008/05/letter-of-the-week-ss.html/feed 3