The One with February Plans, Week Three

Let's do this! Week 3!

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Objectives:
Letters: P, Q, R
Color: Pink
Shape: Heart
Number: 7
Themes: Valentine's Day, quarters, pennies
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Random Supplies you will need this week: (besides the typical paint, paper, glue, etc)
-disposable container with plastic lid (such as tupperware or a food container with lid) 
-froot loops
-felt 
-puff paint (at craft stores, dries 3-D looking. It was cool in the 80's.)
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Rr Dot Art*
Directions: Print file.  Allow child to decorate the uppercase and lowercase R. (You can use circle stickers, dot stampers, play dough pieces, or pom poms) You can read Dr Suess's ABC book and demonstrate which letter is big R and which one is little r.  
Emphasize that /r/ says "rrrrr", not "ruh". Hang paper on fridge for the week to reference.

                                            (I tried my hardest to stay in the lines!)

Heart Hunt
Directions: cut out lots of paper hearts. Hang/tape/hide them all around the house. Give your child a basket/bucket and allow them to run around and search for all the hearts! (For older kiddos, you can try to trick them by hiding other shapes and asking them to ONLY find the hearts!) This is super fun for kids to do! 

Heart Symmetry Craft
Directions: Fold a large paper in half and cut out a half-heart shape in order to make a heart. (See pic below. Is there a name for this half-heart shape? If there is, I'm clueless.)
Anyways, open up the half heart shape and voila, a heart! (This is surprisingly impressive to a 3 year old.) Invite your child to decorate ONE SIDE ONLY of the heart using paint. While the paint is still wet, fold the heart back in half to and the paint will transfer to the other side of the heart. This will demonstrate the symmetry of hearts. 

R snack-Froot Loop Rainbow*
Directions: print file. Use this paper as a snack mat. Give your child a bowl of dry Froot Loops. Sorry that this is not an organic fancy snack. In fact, it's pretty sad that I just had to type "Froot" instead of "fruit".  Encourage them to sort their colors like a rainbow and remind them that r is for rainbow. 

Pink Color Sort*
Directions: print file. Cut apart the small hearts on page 2. Encourage your child to sort the hearts by color and glue them down underneath the corresponding heart on page 1. 

Play Piggy Bank*
Directions. print file. 
Omigosh I can't tell you how much my kids liked this game! I cut apart the coins on the printable and immediately the girls said, "I want the pennies!" and the other said, "I want the quarters!" I was so proud they immediately were able to identify the coins! They sorted the coins amongst themselves and wanted a piggy bank! I found an old bread crumb container and cut a slot on the lid with a box cutter. (You could also use some disposable tupperware, or even a baby wipes container, too!) I told them to play piggy bank and they did for AT LEAST 30 MINUTES. All by themselves. They started pretending to do chores, "I'll sweep the kitchen and earn a quarter!" and, "I made my bed! I earned a penny!" It was pretty adorable. Just putting the paper coins in the slot is exciting for little ones, but it was cute to see them take it a step further. They played again and again and it was exciting for me to see that this potentially lame game actually was a hit! 

R letter recognition*
Directions: print file.  Ask your child to find the letter Rr on the paper. (use bingo stampers, crayons, stickers, etc to mark the letters.) Discuss that Rr is for rainbow!

Puffy Paint Heart Puzzles
Directions: cut hearts out of felt. On one side of the heart, paint a number, and on the other side of the heart, paint the corresponding amount of dots. Use 3-D puffy paint (99 cents at craft stores!) See pictures for examples. Once the paint has dried, it will be raised and encourage a tactile experience while the kiddos count and feel the pieces. Cut the heart apart to make a puzzle. Work together with your child trying to match the correct heart pieces together! These are fun puzzles that will last a long time and encourage tactile learners to count. 

That's all folks!  Printables are always free here!*
Rr Dot Art
Froot Loop Rainbow
Pink Color Sort
Play Piggy Bank Coins
R letter recognition