Trains, Trains, Trains!

Trains, Trains, Trains!

 The past few days we explored trains. Gav is a little train obsessed at this point, so we created our own trains and did a lot of pretending.

To start: Box Train

3 boxes-2 shoe boxes, and a larger one, hooked together with yarn. 

We filled them with animals, and the front one was large enough for Gav to climb in!

Car train

For this we just used cars we had and saw how many we could push in a line! 

I first had everyone guess how many they could push, which we wrote down, and then we experimented and counted our cars. 

Small motor: A simple coloring page I created. It had numbered train cars, and we talked about tracks and maps. 

One Project: Three Kinds of Art

Bingo marker engin

Sticker car

Mosaic car

One project!

 

We also did a Conga line  train, called the mommy train, but I could not get a picture of it ;)

Bubble Wrap Fun!

Bubble wrap is great for thousands of things-mostly popping though. Here are a few activities using old bubble wrap (that I had apparently stashed away in the cabinets....that I cleaned this morning)

Stomp
Great large motor/sensory activity. Just have children stomp on it

Hammer
We used a variety of toy tools to break the bubble wrap. The hammer worked the best, but the toy drill was more fun. Good for fine motor and large motor (upper body), also experimenting.

 
















 Paint
You have probably seen this before, but I expanded this printing activity. Cutting out different shapes in bubble wrap we named the shapes, colored them with paint (color names), and then printed with them. Makes cool designs.

Color
 I won't lie to you, I was expecting textured drawings to appear-so I used scrap paper from the printer because it was thin. However, after taping the bubble wrap to the back, and taping it to the table (a must for coloring with young children until they can hold the paper and color) it did not create textured. I would however say  do this activity. It made a nice puffy surface to color on and holes appeared in the paper with a lot of coloring which was also fun!

BIG Bottles

This post is about GIANT bottles-ok 2 lieters, and juice bottles-not sure how big they are. These bottles can be used as sensory bottles-or in other activities.

Bottle Bat
This large motor activity is great for coordination and indoor fun on rainy days! Just take an empty, clean, dry bottle and tape it to a paper towel tube. Blow up a balloon and you have a great (temporary) toy. The noise it makes is great!

Green House
This is great for preschool and toddlers, and even infants for a sensory bottle. Fill a clean bottle with a few inches of dirt, put in some beans, a little water and watch it grow. We put ours in a window and will open it up once it starts to grow!


















Color Mixing Fun
I made this a large motor, science, and fine motor activity. Squeeze paint into the bottle, put on the cap tightly and shake it up to mix the colors. We also ended up throwing it around and rolling it as well!

Back to school

I am going to be offline for a bit as I get my older son ready for kindergarten. I am also teaching 2 classes on Friday-which I will post material from, or at least one of them. I am teaching "Fine Motor Skills on a Shoestring" so perfect for this blog!

Hole Punch Fun

Hole Punch Fun

A normal circle hole punch can be a fun and useful tool for building small motor skills. By squeezing the hole punch children will strengthen the muscles in their hands. With the added coordination they will develop by trying to aim their punches activities can be fun and a challenge.

Title: Hole Letters	Ages: 3 and Up
Materials: Small cards with letters written on them (made out of construction or copy paper) Hole Punch
Activity: Have children punch holes into letters and try to punch out all parts. Expansion: can also be used for shapes and numbers.

Title: Swiss Cheese	Ages: 2 and Up
Materials: Yellow construction paper Hole Punch
Activity: Cut paper into a cheese shape and have children punch holes into it. Can be paired with a picture of a mouse, use in a paper sandwich, or playing "cooking" activities.

 

Title: Play Clay Balls	Ages: 2 and Up
Materials: Play Clay (Playdough) Hole punch
Activity: Just add a hole punch to your playdough tools. It makes cool little balls when you punch out the clay. Make sure you wash it out and let it dry out well before putting it away!

 

Title: Abstract art Art	Ages: 2 and Up
Materials: Copy paper folded up Hole Punch
Activity: Let them go crazy! Can be harder if you use thick paper.

Title: Seasons	Ages: 3 and Up
Materials: Construction paper-various colors Hole punch
Activity: For this activity you can do all the seasons on one piece of paper in a grid format, or just one season on a piece of larger paper. Spring-have children color grass, bees, birds, etc. Add in spring colored circles for flowers Summer- On black construction paper have children color with chalk to make a night scene. Add in yellow circles for fireflies. You can also do a beach scene with paper circle sand Fall-Circle paper fallen leaves Winter-Snow globes. I have always enjoyed doing these on contact paper   Hint: chalk can be fixed on paper with hairspray.

Fun with Flashcards! OVER 50 Flashcard Activities

Ok-we all know flashcards are not fun. When you are in the higher grades it means nothing but....well...blah (or pulling your hair out if you are taking Mandarin) . But flashcards can have their place and well...

Flash cards for kids though, are FUN. Well, you can make them fun. All ages can enjoy flashcards-from infants who just play with them, to preschoolers that can practice letter sounds-you can make them fun. Here are OVER 50 (yes over FIFTY) ways to use flashcards!

Types of Flashcards-most of these activities can be done on all of these cards. Make sure your cards have pictures and print (There are many more you can find and sub categories of each)

1. Letters 
2. Numbers
3. Words
4. Objects
5. Opposites (one on each side)
6. Parent/Baby (one on each side)
7. Sensory (sandpaper, cloth, cotton, plastic)
8. Language (one on each side, include pictures)
9. Patterns (colors, numbers, animals)
10. Big and little letters
11. Colors
12. Shapes
13. Food

Infants (use any flashcards)

1.  Let them play-Just put them on the card and let them go!
2. Exposure to print-even infants need to see letters, numbers, and words. It starts them on the path to reading
3. Start verbal skills-make sure you are saying what is on them to expand verbal cues
4. Eye movements-does the dog (on the card) go Up? Down? Left? Right? Talk while you do this
5. Reach-works those large motor muscles
6.  Environmental-Hang them on the wall, by the crib, on the floor
7.  Box it up-put them on the outside of a box (or can) to play with
8.  Toss-Can you throw the ______?
9. I have a !!!!!!!!!!!! (Put it behind your back, and pull it out with flare, then hand the card to the child)
10.  Bright colors, Bold Patterns-Most baby flashcards should just be for exposure and visual stimulation. Just try different patterns and colors to get your child interested in what you are showing them

Toddlers

1.  Game of 3 (pull out 3 cards. Name all of them. Ask them to hand you one of them at a time)
2. Find it (Put 3 on the table, ask them to find you one)
3. Saying names (just have them say name on card)
4. Counting (put different numbers of objects on cards and have them count it. Show number on other side of card)
5. Animal Sounds (animal on flashcard you make noise)  
6.  Letter hide and seek
7.  Farm Time
8.  Color Game
9.  Environmental Print-Good for all ages, but hang the word on the object (door card on the door, light switch near the light switch).
10. Under and Over-give child the card. Can you put the ______under the blanket? Over the blanket. Make it tougher by having them chose the card first.

Preschool

1. Memory game (turn them all face down and then turn over to find pairs)
2. First sound
3. Last sound
4. Sorting (which ones are green, start with a letter)
5. Slap it
6.  Bean Bag Toss-
7.  Hide and seek
8.  Tag
9.  Card Collector (put all cards out in a big pile, face up on the floor or table. Tell child to collect cards of a certain kind (animals that roar, even numbers....)
10.  Basketball (if the child says correct answer they get to make a basket....paper into box. First player with 5 points wins!)
11.  Tue and False
12.  Alphabet line up
13.  Charades
14.  Rhyme Time
15.  Guessing Game
16.  Jump on it
17.  Number Line Up-
18.  Musical Flashcards-
19.  Tic Tac Toe-
20.  I Spy

Your Bonus Activity: Cleaning them up....have fun!(Toddlers LOVE to clean up flashcards!)

**Just a quick note, don't only use flashcards. Some people think that this is the only way to teach, it is not. But they can be fun. So use them sometimes

Growing Crystals

Today we grew crystals with Epsom Salts. Ty loves rocks and even though we have studied them recently, we are back to them. He searches for fossils in our gravel driveway. He looks for crystals (quartz) anywhere we go, and he loves to study and learn about them.

Today we grew crystals.

You Need:
Epsom salt-a few Tabelspoons
1/4c warm/hot water
Black contruction paper
Cake pan


Cut the paper to fit in the bottom of the pan

Mix the salt and water together

Pour in pan

Place outside in the sun

 Wait a few hours!