The One With September Lesson Plans: Week Four

We've made it almost a whole month together! Awesome!

The last week of the month is always dedicated to reviewing all the previous skills of the month. I have a few more hands-on and messy activities for this week as well. If you have skipped/missed a few activities, this is the time to play catch up! (Believe me, I have a lot of catching up to do!)

The September Calendar is here! All other printable files at the end of this post.
*Please note that in some of these activities I have shown small objects that may pose a choking hazard to children under 3. You can always accommodate the needs of your child by using bigger objects. Supervise all young children with smaller objects, including rice, etc*

Review: 
Letters: A, B, C
Shape: Circle
Color: Red
Theme: apples, plants
Number: 3


Plans:
Circle Chalk Hop: 
Directions: Use chalk to draw varying colors and sizes of circles all over the sidewalk/patio. Ask the child to hop to the red circle! (continue with other colors). You can also ask older children to hop to the large/small circles. Another variation on the game would be to ask the child to throw a small rock/beanbag onto specific circles.

Apple Pie Sensory Bin:
Directions: Fill a large bowl or rubbermaid tub about 1/3 way full of dry oats. Add in some pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon sticks (or plain cinnamon, etc) to really get the senses going. Use some measuring cups/spoons/kitchen items to foster creative cooking play with the kids! Scooping and dumping is way fun! You can make pretend apple pies using your red pom poms! Have fun with it and play along!

*Note: Tomorrow's activity is red sensory rice.  It takes about 1/2 a day to dry, so I would make it tonight in order to play with it tomorrow!*

Directions to dye rice: dump plain, uncooked rice into a large gallon zipper bag (I bought a 5lb bag of rice but didn't use it all). Add in a tablespoon or two of rubbing alcohol. (I've also heard that hand sanitizer works if you're in a bind, but I haven't tested that theory!) Add in a few squirts of food coloring, zip up the bag, and shake! I would definitely have this be an adult only activity since red food coloring is not very forgiving. Continue shaking and add more food coloring/alcohol as needed. Once it is at the desired color, lay a paper towel on a cookie sheet and spread out the rice to dry. It dries much faster outside if you are able to do so. Enjoy!


Red Rice Sensory Bin:
Directions: Dye rice red. (directions above) Fill a large bowl/tub with rice and other red household items! Use duplos, legos, buttons, cars, pom-poms, or anything else red you can find! Allow your child to explore the red items and scoop/dump them. Hide items and have them dig them out. Kids love this stuff!!!

My kids love using spoons, measuring cups, dixie cups, medicine cups, etc with sensory bins. 

ABC Sorting mat:*
Directions: Print file. Cut letters apart on page 2. Mix up the letters and invite the child to sort the little letter pieces onto the big letters on page 1. (Warning: This skill will be much more difficult than other sorting mats, especially for children under age 2!)


Plant Hunt Outside:
Directions: This month we have been learning about different plant parts (specifically on trees and apples).  Explore outside (go on a walk, to the park, or simply walk around the backyard!) to find different parts of a plant! Pull up a weed and describe the roots. Ask them to identify stems and leaves. They will love this. For some reason, my kids think roots are super cool. It's like a hidden surprise in the dirt or something. It is also lots of fun to go to Walmart/Home Depot/Lowe's and explore the plant section there! Describe the textures of the plants and tree trunks (rough, smooth, prickly, hard, delicate, etc) Have fun!


Muffin Tin Color Sorting:
Directions: Print file. Cut out the colored circles and place them in the bottom of a muffin tin. Invite your child to sort colorful objects (buttons, pom-poms, beads, legos, etc) into the different cups. If you have a disposable foil muffin tin, you can glue/tape down the colored circles and have this be a permanent activity you can keep handy. I love pulling this activity out while I'm trying to cook dinner. For older kiddos, they can use tongs/tweezers to grab the objects (it slows them down a little too if you're trying to kill time, ha!)

I used pony beads, but any colorful objects will work! 

Apple Coloring Page:*
Directions: Print file. It's just a simple coloring page. You can paint, color, with crayons, use markers, glue down torn paper, etc.


That's it for this month! Love you guys! I'm getting excited for next month because I'm IN LOVE WITH PUMPKIN EVERYTHING. Did you know that pumpkins float? Be prepared for fun and pumpkin guts...

Printables here:
ABC Sorting Mat
Muffin Tin Color Sorting
Apple Coloring Page

The One With the Calendar Printable

Hey there!
I recently have been self-diagnosed with a severe case of mom brain. I forget things a lot.
Since having kids, my brain only has a capacity for:
1. Keeping my kids alive.
2. Useless trivia.
I can sing you lyrics to any Barney song, but I can't find my wallet.

 Sad day. This memory loss also includes holidays and birthdays and anything actually important.  Does this happen to you? Fear not! I was inspired online to make this cute reminder for my fridge!

It's all handy dandy in one place, and you can see a year's worth of birthdays and anniversaries! I just have immediate family on mine now, but I plan to add more once I get more organized...which is in the very distant future.

You can laminate it or frame it or stick it on the fridge (like me!), whatever you think! Just use a white pen or sharpie to add in your specific info!

I think it perfectly coordinates with my extreme polka dot frame that my kids made last Mother's Day which I seriously adore and treasure! ;)

If you want the print your own, it's here for free!
Love you guys!

The One With September Plans, Week 3

Hi guys! How's week 3? 
I'll admit, I barely did any activities week 2 since I had a super busy week! But that's ok, we all have our off periods! Time to get back into the swing of things!

Click here for the September calendar!

C Dot Art *

Directions: print file. Allow child to decorate the uppercase and lowercase C. (You can use circle stickers, dot stampers, play dough pieces, or pom poms) Read Dr. Seuss's ABC book, and discuss which letter is "Big C" and which one is "Little c" Hang paper on fridge for the week to reference. 

Circle Stamping:

Directions: Dip the end of a paper towel/toilet paper tube into paint. Allow children to use the tube as a stamp to paint circles onto paper.

C is For Clouds:

Directions: cut a paper plate into the shape of a C. Glue on cotton balls around the c. Discuss how C is for cotton and clouds. Go outside and find the clouds! Do any clouds have fun shapes?

Apple Paper Plates:

Directions: cut a paper plate into the shape of an apple core. Allow your child to paint/color the extra pieces green as leaves. Glue them on top of the apple core! Draw on 3 (number of the month!) seeds! Discuss the vocabulary terms: core, seeds, leaves, peel. 

C Snack:

Directions: Make cookies! Hooray! You can make them from scratch, or simply use pre-made dough. If you're feeling especially sassy, sing "C is for Cookie" like Cookie Monster. 

Play Dough Circles:

Directions: Find plastic round cups/containers of different sizes around the kitchen. Turn them upside down and use the mouth of the cup as a cookie cutter. Make tons of play dough circles. Describe the sizes of the circles (small, large, medium, etc) 

Candy Sorting Mat*: 

Directions: print file. Cut apart the orange, red, and blue candy pieces on page 2. Mix them up, then allow the children to place the corresponding small colored candy on the large candy.

C Letter Recognition:*

Directions: print file. Invite children to find the letters Cc on the sheet. (use bingo stampers, crayons, stickers, etc)

Apple Tracing:

Directions: Cut an apple in half. Lay the apple down flat onto the paper and invite your child to trace around it. Voila! An apple outline! Dig out 3 (number of the month!) seeds from the apple and glue them down onto the paper. 

That's all, folks! Here are the printables:

Cc Dot Art

Candy Sorting Mat

C Letter Recognition

The One With September Plans: Week Two

Here are the week 2 plans for September.  Looking for week 1? Keep scrolling!

You will notice that some of the activities are the same as last week, just changed according to the new letter/theme.  This is intentional for many reasons:
-Kids love repetition. They want to watch the same show over and over. They want you to read the same book 50 times. Sometimes it's annoying, but it's a good thing. It helps them really master a concept.
-It will allow you to get into the rhythm of teaching. It's good to not feel lost and overwhelmed! Mondays are always for dot art. Tuesdays are messy crafts. Wednesdays are always fun snacks. Try to set apart a specific time each day so that you and your kids can look forward to working together! :)
-The repetition allows your children to begin to be confident with each activity, and slowly gain independence while they work. The whole goal of these activities is to prepare your kids for school, where they will need to sit and follow instructions.
-I have 3 kids ages 3 and under. I can't possibly create 30-50 unique activities every month. In fact, I'm glad that I'm wearing pants. But I do love you! 


Week 2 Plans: September

B Dot Art *

Directions: print file. Allow child to decorate the uppercase and lowercase B. (You can use circle stickers, dot stampers, play dough pieces, or pom poms) Read Dr. Seuss's ABC book, and discuss which letter is "Big B" and which one is "Little b" Hang paper on fridge for the week to reference. 

Circle Search:
Directions: Give your child some sort of container (basket, big bowl, grocery bag, etc) and go on a circle search around the house! Look all around and gather all of the circles you see in your container. Use your finger to trace around the circle shape, and describe the attributes of the object.  (A key ring, a plate, Cheerios, a coin, a bowl, CD, clock, puzzle piece, etc.  They are everywhere!) Make it fun! Act excited and gasp when you find one! Discover a square and check to see if they correct you! It's only as exciting as you allow it to be. 

Apple Tree Craft:

Directions: Trace your child's hand and forearm on brown construction paper. Cut it out. Cut out a fluffy cloud shape on green construction paper.  Glue all of these down onto manilla/plain paper into the shape of a tree. Use your child's thumb to paint down "apples" with red paint. Describe the parts of a tree/plant and introduce the vocabulary terms: tree, leaves, branches, and trunk. Ask the child if they can verbally identify each part of the tree. ("What is this part called?") or for younger, less verbal children, ask ("Can you point to the trunk?")

B snack:

Directions: Draw quadrants on a plain piece of paper. Label the quadrants 1, 2, 3, and 4. Ask the child to place 1 snack in the 1 quadrant.  (You can use teddy grahams as bears or Annie's bunnies, or any snack that begins with B!) Continue with the 2 quadrant and ask them to put 2 pieces on it.  Continue until all quadrants of the paper are filled. Then they can eat the snack and fill up the page again!

Red Bubble Art:
Directions: add a few drops of red food coloring into a bowl and add bubble soap into it.  (Remember, red is the color of the month!) Allow your child to dip their wand and blow red bubbles onto plain paper.  It makes fun, colorful circles on their paper. (Circles?!?! Yes, the shape of the month!) You can also dye the bubble solution other colors if you want. 

***If you are confident that your child will not suck inwards, you can 

use a straw instead of the bubble wand to blow and make this art. 

Bear Sorting Mat*:
Directions: print file. Cut apart the red, white, and green bear pieces on page 2. Mix them up, and allow the children to place the corresponding small colored bear on the large bear. 

B letter recognition*

Directions: print file. Allow children to find the letters Bb on the sheet. (use bingo stampers, crayons, stickers, etc)

3 Number Collage*

Directions: print file. Cut out the number 3 outline. Find small items from around the house (beans, stickers, cheerios, beads, sequins, etc)  Ask the child to find and count out 3 of each item.  Glue down sets of 3 items onto the 3 collage. 

Ta-da! You made it through week 2! Here are the printables:

Bb Dot Art

Bear Sorting Mat

B Letter Recognition

3 Number Collage