busy hands

squeezing pink water from a dropper

into a heart-shaped ice cube tray

{when all the hearts are full,

use the dropper to suck the water back up

OR just stick the tray in the freezer}

 constructing with 

the pink tower AND the broad stair

 using the 100 board to count to 100

on the 100th day of school

{yes, that IS a muffin tin holding the number tiles}

writing and illustrating 

a book of planets

 

painting a wooden bead 

with liquid watercolor

 two friends wearing their hand-painted

valentine's day necklaces

{we can't wait for v-day around here!}

happy birthday, hubs!

Let's go skiing!

100 days of love

Today was our 100th day of school! Yeee haw!!!
{it goes by SO fast}

One activity we did to celebrate this special day
was make this lovely heart mosaic...

As you may know, I love mosaics.

Cutting snips alone strengthens fine motor control.
But, if you combine YOUR snips with all your classmates' snips
and make a giant mosaic,
you strengthen the whole community.

TLF, ya know?

First, you need a simple outline of a heart drawn on a big piece of paper.

Then, you need to gather these supplies:
scissors
glue
paint swatches {we wrote the numbers 1-100 on ours}

Have everything? Now cut and glue!

Three children worked on the mosaic at a time.
They were sometimes the most unlikely trio, too.
{I love when that happens!}

This mosaic was finished in one morning work period,
and now it hangs by the snack table for everyone to enjoy.
The children love looking for "the 100."

counting valentines

Sung to the tune of Michael Finnegan {listen to Michael Finnegan here}:

1 red, 2 red, 3 red valentines
4 red, 5 red, 6 red valentines
7 red, 8 red, 9 red valentines
10 red valentines!
10 red, 9 red, 8 red valentines
7 red, 6 red, 5 red valentines
4 red, 3 red, 2 red valentines
1 red valentine!

I love using felt manipulatives to go along with the songs we sing at line time, and counting these felt hearts has been quite a hit! In the past, I only used the manipulatives at line time, but now I make them available for the children to use during the work period, too. As you can see, they LOVE singing the song and moving the hearts all by themselves!

The hearts were cut from red felt. I numbered and decorated them with fabric paint and sequins. {This was my favorite part!} If you wanted to be really profesh, you could glue on the same quantity of sequins as the number on the heart. {the 4 would have 4 sequins, etc}

After the decorations were dry, I hot-glued magnets to the back of the hearts. The magnets I used are almost too burly for the felt - smaller magnets probably would have worked better.

At the beginning of the song, I stick the magnets to the back of a baking pan. As we count up, I bring each number to the front of the pan, and as we count down, I move each number to the back of the pan. When the song is over, the children always beg to see where the hearts are hiding on the back of the pan!

busy hands

grinding up chunks of dry bread

{a new twist on the ever popular bread grating lesson}

The child in this photo is 4, but this lesson is perfect for 3 year olds, too.
This activity helps develop organization, fine motor control, and problem solving. Children love the grinder and the sound the dry bread makes as it's being crunched up.

What does one do with a bag of bread crumbs?

Here are our most favorite uses:

• feed them to the birds
• sprinkle them on a salad
• nibble on them - straight out of the bag - at the snack table

{That last use makes me laugh at least once or twice a day!}

Read more about grating lessons here.

a display of spheres

The children often use the geometric solids to go on shape scavenger hunts around the classroom.

Other shapes include:

• cubes
• cones
  
• cylinders
• rectangular prisms

This activity is enjoyed by all ages in our classroom, especially the 3 and 4 year olds.

Buy geometric solids here or make your own set {I bet you could!}.

reading 3 letter words

The word is on the front and the picture is on the back, so the child can challenge himself AND double check his work.

To play the game:

The first child reads the word on the top of the stack. If she's right, she keeps the card and passes the stack to the next child. If she gets the word wrong, she she puts the card back in the stack and tries the next one.

The children in this picture are 5 years old and just beginning to develop accurate word recognition. We play LOTS of word games before we present readers with books.

Find awesome reading materials and info here.

clipping carabiners together

This lesson builds concentration and strengthens fine motor control.

Ta da!

The 3 year olds cannot get enough of constructing this chain. I think you can find inexpensive carabiners at most sporting good stores.

Have a great weekend!

Edit: The grinder used in the bread grating lesson is a nut grinder I found at the thrift store. Ebay has several, too. Here's the link!