This was one of our first service-to-others activities.
Hands may be small, but they have the potential to help in big ways!
Little hands can:
- Tidy dishes
- Clap for a friend
- Plant flowers
- Hug a friend
- Tidy toys
- Draw a picture for a friend
We taped our hand prints to the wall and talk about this topic often.
They love to put their hands on top of their construction paper hand prints.
"Are these my hands, Miss Kris?"
"Yes," I say, "And what good things can we do with our hands?"
Don't you wish more adults pondered this question?
Have a lovely day!
Lots of tape + NOISE = Fun City!
Each maraca:
2 spoons
1 small container
Beans
Scotch tape
Duct tape
This project is self-explanatory. The little ones filled the cups with beans and I did the rest. I secured the whole thing with Scotch tape to hold it in place. Then I wrapped it with white duct tape.
By the way, I missed the boat regarding plastic Easter eggs. Those would have been perfect to use instead of the little plastic salad dressing containers. I should have reserved some plastic eggs while I had the chance.
Oh well.
Hope you're having a lovely 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!
N is for nest.
And our color of the week is grey.
OK. This might be a stretch of an activity.
We made nests for our grey squirrels.
We loaded some mini cake pans with yarn and shredded paper. I attempted to draw a squirrel (hmmm?) and made copies so we could color all the squirrels grey.
Even if I wasn't terribly proud, the kids seemed to enjoy this project.
That's what counts.
Have a lovely day!
Today is the last day of March.
The little neighbors and I had a slight discussion about March going in like a lion and out like a lamb. I think I made the point, even though they take everything literally:
"It goes into what?" I was asked.
I rephrased it a bit--comparing snowy and cold days with today's warm and sunny weather.
We made these lambs and I think they turned out cute.
This week's color is purple, so we had frozen purple cows. I just made milk shakes with grape juice.
Frozen purple cows are yummy!
We also played outside in the gorgeous lamb-like March morning.
Have a lovely day!
It's a beanstalk that goes high up into the clouds. And it has leaves on it.
We can see it in our imaginations, anyway.
We have a picture of Jack that goes on it, but I guess he was outside on a phone call when I took this photo. (J is for Jack. J is our theme this week).
Also, the kids were busy making birthday cookies for a very special mom.
The little neighbors mixed up the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water. Then we added some coloring. The finished products were loaded with sprinkles.
Yet, no one had one smidge of a taste. Not even a teeny lick.
Funny joke!
We also hung strips of crepe paper near the front door so the birthday mom would have to walk through her special "curtain."
They had so much fun while thinking of the birthday girl. And to imagine her having to walk through that crepe paper!! Oh, the anticipation...and the giggles!!
Thinking of other people provides awareness and can be fun, too. I will be adding service-type projects to our themes in the near future. This is just as important as ABCs and 123s.
Have a lovely day.
Springtime is here! With it comes so many pretty projects.
We made coffee filter flowers today. First we added food coloring to some cups of water. Then we placed a folded/scrunched coffee filter in each one.
Pretty, huh?
The idea was for the color to travel up the coffee filter without having to dunk it, which it did. But the colors were so very pastel, they weren't very noticeable.
So, I did some sneaky naptime magic and squirted a bit more food coloring on each one. You've just got to have that wow factor, you know?
I think they turned out very pretty.
What a rainy, blucky first day of spring. But hey, it's not snowing!
Have a lovely day!
This intriguing goodie is comprised of a blue holder for markers with felt pieces stuck in each hole and then some sticks from the number stick game poking in as well.
Diaper-changing stations are lame. Not cool. I could have all the supplies set up and sit there with a smile on, but I wouldn't get any takers.
So today, as I sat there smiling for no reason, I grabbed whatever was within my reach: the marker holder, some felt pieces, and all those sticks. Then I assembled them and played with it like it was the best thing since jelly donuts.
It's all marketing, really.
And wouldn't you know? A sweetie needing a diaper change approached, took the new item, and then...diaper job done!
I really don't like to chase anyone down for a diaper change. I don't like to make little ones mad. So, if they can come to me willingly, all the better!
Today we also dug in oats for some number sixes. I gave them each a cake pan filled with oats and a few construction paper sixes hidden inside.
They dug around with spoons until they found the sixes. No big whoop to make and it made the point about sixes. Then they just played with oats.
As I was sweeping the oats, they really wanted to sweep, too. So, I gave them each a small whisk brook to use. They even had fun cleaning it up.
Hope you're having a lovely day!
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!
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!
