Happy May Day!

What a happy May Day!

We danced around a maypole (pool noodle). Well, we started off dancing and then kind of passed each other up in a dizzy spin-race that would have made Curly Howard proud.

Step 1. Obtain a maypole from horseback riders.

Step 2. Stuff some tissue paper streamers into the top hole.

Step 3. Give each dancer one streamer.

Step 4: Turn on the music. I used the music from this video.

Step 4. Look out! Dancers really get going.

For the ribbons, I used the zig-zag cutting technique with some tissue paper. Maybe I'll post about how to do that sometime. A sheet of paper can be turned into a really long streamer.

The top photo seems to indicate I don't know what comes after the letter O. Lies! 

We're working our way through the alphabet, letter by letter.

Have a lovely day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today we matched numbers on a shamrock!

I got the idea here but changed it a bit. We didn't use stickers. I glued the numbers on the shamrock with a glue stick then printed and "laminated" their numerical mates. This goes home with the little ones for play later.

Here is how I fake laminated the mates:
I put one strip of packing tape, sticky side up, on the counter.
Then I stuck the numbers onto it.
Another strip of packing tape, sticky side down, made it like a sandwich.
Then the pieces were snipped, ready for matching with the numbers on the shamrock.

We also made rainbow bracelets with Fruit Loops.

I chose against necklaces, because I didn't want them to have something around their necks. You've got to be careful with these bracelets, too. Kids are quick. And tricky.

Tonight for supper we're having pastrami and Swiss sandwiches on rye bread. I bought the stuff for it on Saturday. I was told last night that pastrami is NOT corned beef. Of course it isn't.

But can't a mom get some credit for thinking ahead?

Hope you're having a lovely St. Patrick's Day!!

Elephants on a spider web

Yesterday we each made a hand print elephant and glued it to paper along with a big letter E.

I was glad we created a hand print template, because today I used it to make props for the Five Elephants Counting Song.

We also did the number sticks game. Matching colored Popsicle sticks are put in the appropriate tubes. One stick goes in the #1 tube, two sticks go in the #2 tube, etc. I would have a photo of this, but my handiwork turned out less than photogenic.

Here is what it is supposed to look like.

After the game, the kids made a Popsicle kitchen, a facility where they made and sold Popsicles. For pretend! They also used the tubes as microphones and sang into them.

Who am I to get in the way of innovation?

Oh and I stuck one yellow stick in a tube and set it in the middle of the floor for some Jack Be Nimble fun. I recently heard another verse to Jack Be Nimble, by the way.

Jack Be Nimble, the extended version:

Jack be nimble.
Jack be quick.
Jack jump over the candlestick.

Jack be nimble.
Jack be spry.
Jack jump over the apple pie.

Now I want apple pie.

Have a lovely day!

Personalized memory game

Hey, this was a fun activity!

You know the classic game, Memory?

Well in that spirit, I took photos of the little neighbors as well as our pets, Kitty Baby, Little Weirdo, and Mr. Cool.

Two of each photo were printed and then snipped into game cards. 

I turned all the cards face down and then told the kids I had a fun game. They were skeptical at first. But once the cards were flipped over... 

They loved it!

The older ones enjoyed the play of the game while the younger ones just wanted to carry around photos of themselves. 

Awwww. Can you blame them? 

Remember to have a lovely day!