Letter Cc week

Our OCTOBER sensory bin seems to compliment the Cc week theme.

I can’t believe how much everyone of ALL ages loves this bin.
Even parents play with it; me included.  *smile*

MONDAY

Cc is for Caterpillar

We used brown construction paper of a child’s hand and arm for a tree branch, added a cut out leaf, and created a pom pom caterpillar.

Snack was a caterpillar (grapes) on a large romaine leaf…

This cutie decided to be the caterpillar and eat the leaf herself!

We then did a Color sort to Create our Caterpillars

WEDNESDAY

Cc is for Car

Admittedly, I found this idea here at Crystal & Co.
I thought is was pretty cute!

We then used our toy cars to roll in paint to paint with.
I was hoping for a more track like effect, but hey,
they’re preschoolers,and they had fun!

The kids really enjoyed red light, green light.
*This is a game that I overly emphasize with my own kids, then also any kids in my care.  We start first with the signs; stop, go, slow… once the kids are familiar with the motions, we switch to “green light”, “red light”, and “yellow light”.  Eventually the signs are no longer used, but I continue the “game” randomly; in the house, on our nature walks, during outdoor play.  Soon it becomes second nature to respond when I shout “red light” as all the kids will “freeze”, then begin to play again when I say “green light”.  My reasoning on such a lesson is that it is highly effective when one is at the grocery store, in parking lots, or within crowded places to get a child to respond immediately to a request.  Ever have a kid just not paying attention, where you needed them to stop and look around before continuing on?  I have! plenty of times.  This “game” is a life saver.  Give it a try. 

Lastly, we used chalk to draw our town,
train tracks and all.  Kids played outside for a long time.

FRIDAY

Cc is for Clouds

I had the kids use cotton ball “clouds” to paint clouds on sky colored paper.

We followed that simple activity with “cloud” play;
ie shaving cream on a cookie sheet!!  Fun stuff!

Fun game to follow…

“that cloud looks like….”

of course this has to be done on a somewhat clear but cloudy day.
Overcast days just aren’t the same, eh?

Normally, I would have had my older kids follow up this activity with a more in-depth concept about clouds themselves, but this day was just a whim of an idea for our youngest student, the 2 yr old.

 

A Fresh Start to Nature Walks

Fun Friday is our Nature Study
which includes a nature walk…

SEPTEMBER’S JOURNEY

It is always fun to explore a new area,
and since we recently moved,
our neighborhood, as well as our very own backyard,
is an excellent place to begin again.

Our Neighborhood

Week 1

Andrew and Bryson lead the way while Adelaide and her mommy joined us.

We found bees, grasshoppers, snakes, butterflies,
as well as some lovely flowers, lots of plum trees,
and some pretty cool succulents.

Week 2

Daddy and the puppy are joining us this time!

we observed some random plants…

and the weather has been delightful thus far…

which makes for a good outing.

Week 3

Some weeks are just plain busy, and you forget pics, right?

Last week was a bit of a crazy nature walk.
I have a friend who has begun to bring her homeschooled son (and infant daughter) over on Friday afternoons for some fun science activities, a speech presentation, and our nature walks.  On this day I tried to mulit-task by going for our nature walk at the same time as heading down to pick up one child for afterschool care (I do not have the 3 sibling on Fridays, so this was a random drop in care).  As this one child got off the bus, another child joined us as we ventured through the neighborhood.  This round of adventure was about our local deciduous trees, so we took samplings of leaves, seeds, and bark as the opportunities allowed.

Week 4

This round of a nature walk was in our very own backyard.

We, again, took samplings of the trees;
a piece of bark, a seed, and a leaf.

…then explored our findings!

Next month we will start our nature journals to our fun list as well.

Does your family stop to take a look at nature within the busyness of life?
Do you see the ever so small changes that take place around you?
Autumn is an excellent time to see God’s beautiful artwork!

 

 

 

Our Nature Tree

Fun For the Classroom!!

This lovely lady painted me a “nature tree”.
Over the years I have used a paper one that is old and worn.
Now, at our new house, the tree is on the wall,
and we are ready to explore our seasons and all things nature.

Didn’t it turn out cute? 

and because she knows me so well,
she signed her sketch of the project
and left it for me.  “love” it!

Just sharing a little joy in my days…

All About Apples

Our sensory bin:
Apple Pie style;
oats, cinnamon sticks, apples, and measuring utensils.

So I started a preschool co op in my home,
per the request of a fellow mom.
I just have to say how blessed I am to be able to do this!

Fun with little people AND visiting time with other moms is a total win/win!

APPLES

Cousins doing the sharing thing very well!

Apple Pie spiced playdough! 
Smells yummy!

Story Time

Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr Seuss

Apple Activities

Cut Apples horizontal to do Apple prints.
The apples will have a star center.

Save the seeds from the cut apples to count,
set aside for craft.

Craft project:
Ok, so I didn’t do pics, so I’ll link a post that has the same craft.  Technically, however, I did not get the idea from this blog, but she definitely did the exact same thing.  We added our real apple seeds to the project.

Paper plate apple core craft

Follow up Activities

Apple Tree craft:
Trace the hand and forearm of the young child on brown construction paper.
cut out and glue to card stock.
Glue cut out leaves of green construction paper,
glue on “apples”; red buttons, red little pom poms, or use red finger prints for the apples.

Song:

Way up high in the apple tree, (pointing up)

Two red apples are smiling at me. (“hold” two apples and smile)

I shook that tree as hard as I could, (act out shaking the trunk)

Dooowwwwwwwn came an apple…. (arms wave down)

Mmmm, it was good! (rub belly)

Taste Test w/ graphing:

Create a chart with a variety of apples listed on it.
Let the kids rate the apples from least favorite to the most favorite.
Save seeds and count the total seeds per apple on a graph.

Field Trip:

Go to an Apple Orchid or find a friend with an apple tree!

Draw or sketch tree (seasonal study), and then pick apples.

Older kids (and younger) can help bake an Apple Crisp.  Mmmm!

Got any fun ideas to add?  I’d love to hear about it!