The One With January, Week 4

Hey there! It's the last week of the month. This is when we play catch up on all the activities that we missed or didn't have time for this month. We also review/repeat any lessons that the kiddos may have liked! I did give you 5 new activities to do this week too! Have lots of fun! I'm excited for next month and all of the hearts!

Here is the January Calendar

Igloo Square Craft
Directions: Draw two arches on a paper to make an igloo. (See picture below) If you're fancy, you can make a more elaborate igloo! Give your some small white paper squares and invite them to glue down their ice blocks onto their igloos. As they work, this would be a fun time to describe igloos! The concept of an ice house is pretty cool to a preschooler!

Shapes Color Book Printable*
Directions: print book!
I made us a free mini book for us to print out! Cut all the pages out and staple them together into a book fashion. (Be sure to put them in the right order, starting with blue square.) Practice reading the book together. Ask them to identify each shape and color on the last page. After lots of repetition, older preschoolers could read it themselves because of the picture cues!

Jello Cube Icy Snack
Directions: Make blue jello. Cut the jello into cubes and pretend they are ice! It will be super fun to play with and try to make Igloos. (I'm pretty sure my kiddos will be making an Elsa ice palace with this.)

Review M, N, O Letter Sort
Directions: print file. Cut apart letters on page 2. Invite your child to sort the letter pieces under the corresponding letters on page 1. They can glue the pieces down or simply sort them.

Polar Bear Painting Scene
Directions: print polar bear outline file. Cut out the white polar bear. Ask your child to paint a piece of paper blue (color of the month!). Once the paint has dried, glue down the polar bear onto the blue background. If desired, add more details to the scene (snowflakes, etc) Have fun! :)

Here are the printables for the week!
Shapes Color Book Printable
MNO Letter Short
Polar Bear Ouline

The One With January plans, week 3!

Hey guys! We are on our 3rd week of January! Crazy!

 Here's the January Calendar Printable so you can see the pace of activities! 

January Objectives:
Letters: M, N, O
Color: Blue
Shape: Square
Number: 4
Themes: snow/ice, polar bears, float/sink

 O Dot Art
Directions: Print file.  Allow child to decorate the uppercase and lowercase O. (You can use circle stickers, dot stampers, play dough pieces, or pom poms) Teach them that O makes the /o/ sound, as in octopus. It's best to teach the short vowel sound first, such as the sound in otter, octopus, etc. You can read Dr Suess's ABC book and demonstrate which letter is big O and which one is little o.  Hang paper on fridge for the week to reference.

Cheez-It Square Snack Mat
Directions: Print file. Give the child a small bowl of Cheez-It's and ask them to describe the shape (square!) Show them them snack mat printable and see if they can also identify those shapes. Invite them to add Cheez-It's to their snack mat grid and fill it up. Older preschoolers can make patterns on the paper. Younger toddlers can count how many squares are in each row. Have fun! (This activity doesn't have to be with Cheez-Its, you can put any small snack in the grids. But Cheez-It's are more fun because of the shape!) 

Painting on Snow/Ice
Directions: use real snow or crushed ice for this! I live in Texas, so I definitely had to use the ice from my fridge here! I allowed my girls to paint the ice with watercolors. It was fun for them; they thought the ice pieces looked like jewels! (We are really into girly princess things now!) If you don't have watercolors, you can always paint with some water colored with food coloring! :) 

O is for Octopus Cheerio Game
Directions: Punch 8 holes in the bottom of a paper plate. Add 8 strings/pipe cleaners through the holes to be octopus legs. Decorate the plate like an octopus! :) Allow your toddler to lace cheerios onto the legs. You can count the legs and cheerios as you go! Or just let them work on this while you cook dinner! 

Square Color Sort
Directions: Print file. Using construction paper, cut lots of red, yellow, blue, and green squares out. Invite your preschooler to sort the squares onto the sorting mat. Discuss the colors and attributes of a square. You can glue down the squares or simply lay them flat. 

Number Clothes Pin Sort
Directions: Draw intersecting lines on a paper plate in order to divide it into fourths. Label each piece a number 1-4. Gather some clothespins and write numbers 1-4 on them. Invite your child to place the clothespin on the corresponding section of the plate. 

Letter O Recognition
Directions: print file.  Invite children to find the letters Oo on the sheet. (use bingo stampers, crayons, stickers, etc). Discuss that O is for otter!

That's all! Here are all the printables:
O Dot Art
Cheez-It Square Snack Mat
Square Color Sort
Letter O Recognition

The One With January Plans: Week 2

Here are the plans for week 2! 


Calendar Printable Here.  (All printables are free. The rest of the printables* are at the end of this post.)

January Objectives:
Letters: M, N, O
Color: Blue
Shape: Square
Number: 4
Themes: snow/ice, polar bears, float/sink

N Dot Art*
Directions: Print file.  Allow child to decorate the uppercase and lowercase n. (You can use circle stickers, dot stampers, play dough pieces, or pom poms) Teach them that N makes the "nnn" (similar to the yummy "mmm") sound. Try not to say "nuh" as it can confuse them as they learn to read later! You can read Dr Suess's ABC book and demonstrate which letter is big N and which one is little n.  Hang paper on fridge for the week to reference. 

Sticky Square Collage
Directions: tape a piece of clear contact paper (sticky side out!) against a wall or window. Invite your child to make a fun square collage by sticking paper squares onto the contact paper. If you don't have any contact paper, you can always make a simple collage by gluing squares down onto paper. As they create, discuss that squares have 4 equal sides and 4 corners. Count the sides and corners together. :) Near the end, I gave my girls some popsicle sticks and they made squares all by themselves! I was so proud!

 

Paint a Polar Bear with Fluffy Paint
Directions: I made a polar outline printout if you'd like to use that, or you can freehand draw a polar bear outline. Print file if you'd like! To make fluffy paint, mix together equal parts shaving cream and white glue. That's it! I mixed mine in a disposable cup so I didn't have a terrible cleanup job! Make sure they use a generous amount of fluffy paint for their polar bear! (I'm sure that's not hard for a toddler to do!) It will dry 3-D and puffy! You can talk about how polar bears are white to camouflage in the snow. 

N is for Noodle Necklaces
Directions: Make necklaces out of noodles! I used shoelaces for easier lacing. For the youngest of toddlers, a pipe cleaner is easiest to lace on. Yarn works for older preschoolers. Rigatoni is great for younger toddlers. Penne also works great, and ditalini pasta is another good option (about the size of a cheerio!) While we laced I sang to the tune of "Are You Sleeping?" 

Noodle Necklace,

Noodle Necklace,

starts with N,

starts with N,

N makes the "nnn" sound,

N makes the "nnn" sound,

N, N, N.

(Which yes, is the lamest song in America. But hey, they liked it.)

Blue Sensory Bin

Directions: Dye noodles or uncooked rice blue. We have done this in lessons past, but here is a link on how to do it.  (Note: Mine took maybe an hour to dry, not overnight as this blogger said. Also, I dyed a ton at a time in a big gallon sized bag! I would say this a grown up job, but your little helper can watch! Wet blue dye isn't forgiving.) 

I had lots of extra macaroni from last week, so I used that instead of rice. Fill a tray or tub with your colored rice/noodles along with lots of blue household items. Ask the child what all of the things have in common. As they play, try to sneak in another item of a different color (yellow, red, etc) and see if they notice that it doesn't belong! Have fun! :) Kids love to scoop and dump items, so make sure that you have cups, bowls, and spoons available! 

Floating Ping Pong Ball Number Scooping

Directions: Fill a big tub (or the bathtub and play inside!) with water. Using a sharpie, label some ping pong balls with the numbers 1-10. (Funny story, I couldn't find any plain ping pong balls, so I ended up ordering some beer pong balls on Amazon prime. They were cheapest for the amount I wanted!) 

Ask your child, "Do you think these balls will sink or float?" and then experiment! My girls loved scooping and dumping the balls out. Each time they retrieved a ball, we talked about what number was written on the ball. My kids liked to place these into egg cartons once they fished them out! I suggest using measuring cups or large serving spoons to scoop. 

Other variations:

-younger toddlers: draw dots on the balls (1-4) and once they scoop a ball, count the dots together

-older preschoolers: have 2 sets of numbers 1-10 in the tub (20 balls total) and ask them to find and match up both of the balls with #3 on them, etc.

(I think I will use these this summer in the pool with letters on them!) 

Letter N Identification*

Directions: print file.  Invite children to find the letters Nn on the sheet. Discuss that N is for nose! (use bingo stampers, crayons, stickers, etc).

Free Printables:

Nn Dot Art

Polar Bear Outline

Letter N Identification

Love you guys, have fun this week! :)

The One with January Plans, Week One

Hey guys! It's a new year and I'm ready to be more disciplined about working with the kiddos. If you're new here, let me tell you how I do my lesson plans. I have planned out a year worth of lessons, breaking it up into themes. Each month I post a calendar. Print it and stick it up on the fridge. Then, check back every Sunday night for specifics on each weekly lesson. I try to do simple activities that are fun for preschoolers, simple for moms to do, and require little extra materials. Each month I will make a list of a few extra things you will need to get for the months' lessons. That's it! Participate as little or as much as you like. 

Calendar Printable Here.  (All printables are free. The rest of the printables* are at the end of this post.)

January Objectives:
Letters: M, N, O
Color: Blue
Shape: Square
Number: 4
Themes: snow/ice, polar bears, float/sink
_________________________________________________
Extra Supplies You May Need this Week:
-all printable files*
-uncooked macaroni pasta
-food coloring
-ice cube tray
-clothespins
Supplies for the rest of the month:
-clear contact paper
-cheerios
-pipe cleaners
-white elmers glue
-shaving cream
-noodles, such as penne or rotini (for noodle necklaces)
-shoelaces/yarn for noodle necklaces
-ping pong balls
-Cheez-It crackers
-uncooked white rice (1-2lbs)
-blue jello
__________________________________________________

Plans, Week One

M Dot Art*
Directions: Print file.  Allow child to decorate the uppercase M. (You can use circle stickers, dot stampers, play dough pieces, or pom poms) Teach them that M makes the "mmm" sound. (Try not to say "Muh" as it can confuse them as they learn to read later!) The way I taught my students the difference between m and n is that m has 2 mountains! Hang paper on fridge for the week to reference. 

 





Square Coloring Page*
Directions: Print file. Invite your child to decorate the square. As they do, discuss the attributes of a square. Describe and count the 4 corners. Describe that the sides are all the same length, and that some aren't long (like in a rectangle). Since our color of the month is blue, I decided to let my kiddos decorate the square by gluing down little blue paper squares. You can also paint, use crayons/markers, etc.  Have fun! Look for squares around the house and wherever you go! 

        

Float Or Sink Tub
Directions: Fill a large clear tub (or even the bathtub!) with water. Gather some household items to experiment with. Before placing each item in the water, allow your child to predict if the item will sink or float. "Do you think this one will float on top, or sink to the bottom? Let's find out!" Invite them to splash and have fun with this one. If you have 2 oranges laying around, you should check to see what a peeled orange does versus a non-peeled orange! ;) Have fun letting them explore! 

M is for Macaroni*
Directions: Print file. Show your child the paper and see if they can identify the letter M from Monday's lesson. Discuss that M makes the "mmm" sound and like macaroni! Cover the letter M with glue and invite them to decorate their letter with the macaroni pieces. For a fun bonus, have mac and cheese for lunch! :) 

 

This quickly turned into a "let's play with macaroni" game. So I gave in. Eventually my baby was playing and scooping macaroni like a big girl! (And she only tried to eat the macaroni once! Shock!)

(Isn't she sooooo cute? Melt.)

Blue Coloring Page*
Directions: Print file. Invite your child to color the crayon blue. For older children, discuss and describe the letters in the word "blue" and let them trace the letters. Try to find blue things around the house! 

Ice Color Mixing
Directions: Using food coloring, color water red, yellow, and blue and then freeze them in ice cube trays. (It takes about an hour to freeze so you might want to do this earlier in the day). I didn't have any ice cube trays, so I just used some random paint tray I had. 
Next, color warm water red, yellow and blue. Drop the colored ice cubes into the warm water and watch them dissolve and change colors. "What do you think will happen when we mix this blue ice into red water? Let's see!"

Drop red ice into yellow water ---->orange

Drop yellow ice into blue water ---->green

Drop blue ice into red water --->purple

My kids LOVED this and squealed! 

Polar Bear Counting Race Game*
Directions: Print file. The goal of the game is to hop your polar bear along the board and get to the final igloo. It's super cute and simple! Specific directions are on the printable on how to play! It's so much fun! The number of the month is 4, so make sure that you are counting along as your polar bear hops along the board! Have fun! :) I'm going to laminate mine! 

Letter Mm recognition*
Directions: Print file. Invite children to find the letters Mm on the sheet. (use bingo stampers, crayons, stickers, etc). 

 

Printable Files Here (All free!)
M Dot Art
Square Coloring Page
M is for Macaroni
Blue Coloring Page
Polar Bear Counting Race
Letter Mm Recognition