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