smooch!

Happy Valentine's Day!

love

according to preschoolers...

Love is making people laugh.
Love is taking care of people when they are sick.
Love is a dog.
Love is when you hug someone.
Love is something that makes
people feel happy and kind.
Love is if you live in the woods
you can give horses food.
Love is me.
Love is my mama.
Love rhymes with ruv and glove.
Love is always in your heart.


Couldn't have said
it better myself!
:)

rodent love

Any idea what this is???

I won't hold it against you for not knowing!
I forgot to take a "finished" pic,
so I'll just tell you...
2 mice smooching
awwww!

I saw this on make and takes
via the crafty crow
a week or two ago, and, as always,
I stewed about it for awhile,
imagining how to make it into a lesson
that a child could do independently.
So, here it is...

I prepped the lesson by folding paper
and drawing heart halves along the fold.
I also drew a line down the centers.
I actually only did this on 1
piece of paper - then I made copies!

The child cuts along the lines,
and ends up with 2 heart halves.
Also, the child in these
cutting pictures is only 3 years old.
Isn't his concentration lovely?! :)

Next, he applies glue with a paint brush.
I'm loving this method
not only because it requires fine motor control,
but because the child gets glue
where he wants it,
without squirting out the whole bottle.
YAY!

The ears are tiny hearts.
(I prepped these, too.)
The tails are pieces of pretty yarn.
The child draws the face on
with brand-spankin-new markers.

Oh, and if you were wondering, YES,
gak was a hit!!!

We made it this afternoon in groups of four. Each child had his or her own bowl, and I poured the Elmer's, coloring, and liquid starch. We made observations about the ingredients all being liquid. And, as we stirred, exclamations were made as the gak became solid.

It was a blast!

sweet and slimy

Remember how I'm taking a class? Of course you do, right? One of my assignments is to read 5 picture books a week, and to think of some activities to go with them. This book was so precious, I decided to share a little of my homework tonight!

Marylou is secretly in love with Herbie. Don't you love their names? She is too shy to approach him, so she leaves love poems written in slime around the garden instead. Herbie is intrigued, and he starts writing her poems back. In the end, they finally meet and fall in love. And, awww, they live happily ever after, too!

Activity #1

Marylou and Herbie's love poems rhyme, and, in my classroom, we just so happen to be totally into rhyming. We've been singing this goofy song a lot lately:

**Invite the child to think of 2 words that rhyme OR you can give them one word and they can come up with another word that rhymes (the words don't have to be real words).

a slug gives a hug
a slug gives a hug
hi ho the derry-o
a slug gives a hug

Activity #2

What's as slimy and as gooey as a slug? GAK! I found this homemade gak recipe at Polliwog's Cakewalk, which is quite a cool blog, btw. Anyway, I think I'm going to make it with the children next week, so I did a gak test run at home today.

Elmer's glue & liquid starch
use in equal parts (for example, 1 cup of each)

Mix the glue with a little food coloring first.

As soon as you add the liquid starch,
the mixture becomes really thick, gooey,
and incredible!

Also, this is my 100th post! WOW! Look for a little give-away sometime this week! :)

the quantity splitting box

I just have to show you this ingenious little

addition lesson I've been loving lately!
Prepare to be amazed...

First, the child counts how
many marbles are in the dish.
The quantity of marbles is up to you.

Next, he or she pours the marbles
onto the top of the box.
See that tab on the right side?

PULL!
The marbles drop to the next level,
and roll into the hole.

How many are on the green side?
How many are on the red side?
The red side plus the green side equals
the quantity of marbles that were in the dish!
The child can continue to pour the marbles
into the box to find out all the possible
addition combinations of that quantity.
Cool, huh?!

Almost as cool as these hubcaps
we found at the junkyard.
Maybe it's just me,
but I think they look lovely
hanging on a wall!
Find your own at the junkyard
for $2.50 each. :)

OH! Sidetracked! Sorry!
You can buy your own
Quantity Splitting Box here.
It's nearly $40, though. Yikes!
I have a feeling that some of you creative
mamas out there can create your own
clever variation of this game.
Please share if you do!