Monkeyin' Around

Valentine heart garland

2012-01-18T21:33:00.000-08:00

Another snow day today! I decided I want to make something from my Valentine pinterest board.

What you need

valentine paper either solid and/or patterned

paper cutter or scissors

stapler

cut the paper in one inch strips either vertical or horizontal.

{I made two one each way. The longer strips make bigger hearts.}

Once they are cut I went ahead and folded them all in half.

pull into a heart and staple!

Hang in desired areas of the house

Super easy, quick, and cute!

Snow days

2012-01-17T20:30:00.000-08:00

We finally are getting some snow here in the Northwest! We had our second snow day today and schools are already canceled for a third one tomorrow. I am hoping to post the printables I made to go with a snow theme or the book Snowy day by Ezra Jack Keats.

We were supposed to being doing that book and activities this week but the first few days have slipped by me. I am hoping to get to some of it tomorrow since I know that it will be another snow day here!

If you would like to check out what we have been up to the last two days you can read my posts over at my family blog.

Day 1

Day 2

I'm Back!

2011-12-28T22:11:00.000-08:00

I am back....hopefully for good. Life has been crazy busy and I have been slacking in a lot of hours. I am now going to have more time to do the things I love! I have been working on printable like crazy for the month of January!

January is going to be snow month at our house! Yes I said month. I want to give my self plenty of time to ease back into doing "school" with Jordan. I have lots of activities planned and don't want to feel guilty when a week goes by and we only got to half of them.

Jordan also goes to preschool two mornings a week so that leaves us with three mornings for us to do activities.

Be on the look out for snow themed printables in the next few days. I will be using these along with other activities to go along with The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats and Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton. Both of these books are books from BFIAR and FIAR so will be rowing each one!

I hope to share ideas, activities, printables, and links for each book in the next few days!

Mini photo shoot {Nine}

2011-12-05T20:49:00.000-08:00

Today I did a little photo shoot with Nine! Jordan had him laughing the entire time. He would hide behind then pop out or they would throw a ball back and forth! Nine was having a blast and I got some cute pictures!

Advent Activity Day 3

2011-12-05T14:22:00.000-08:00

Day 3

{Saturday, December 3}

Every year Lynden puts on a Lighted Christmas parade. This is one those traditions we do every year not matter the weather. Most years it is snowing with gusts of wind or rain. This year was perfect and not even to cold. We had quite the group with us and we sat outside of Josh's Edward Jones office. The kids enjoyed getting quite a few free samples of soup and we brought along hot chocolate and cookies!

Advent Activity Day 2

2011-12-05T14:02:00.000-08:00

Day 2

{Friday, December 2}

{watch a Christmas movie}

Advent Activity Day 1

2011-12-05T13:57:00.000-08:00

Day 1
{Thursday, December 1}

Tonight was a busy night! Jordan was at my mom's all day, Josh had a basketball game, and I went to Grief share with Jana, my mom, and Christine. There wasn't time for an activity but the kids were not disappointed with candy.

{candy and a joke}

Woo Hoo!

2011-12-01T11:28:00.000-08:00

Totally waited until the last minute but just finished up the advent activities for the kids! I love this time of year and am looking forward to the stuff we are going to do. Each year I have been trying to focus more and more on things we can do all together as a family. This time of year is so busy and this gives us a reason to slow down each evening and come together.

I hope to be able to keep this blog updated with advent activities and other fun things we do during the month!

If you want to read more about our day to day life check out my family blog here.

mini photo shoot {Nevaeh}

2011-11-29T14:14:00.000-08:00

Today was a very quiet day. The big kids went on the school, Jordan to preschool, Nine ended up not coming, so I just had Nevaeh.

She brought with her an adorable hat and pair of shoes she was very excited about showing me so we took some pictures for her mom!

She was so cute and kept giving me big eyes which then make her laugh and smile!

This helped for some very cute pictures and made me laugh along with her!

Advent Calendar Countdown Activity Ideas

2011-11-28T05:44:00.000-08:00

Advent Calendar ideas 2011

Some ideas made by repeated a few times like watching a Christmas movie and reading Christmas books.

Q: What do you call a cat on the beach at Christmas time?

A: Sandy Claus!

Enjoy a candy too!

Q: What do snowmen eat for breakfast?

A: snowflakes

Enjoy a candy too!

hotchocolate with dipping spoons

{pinterest find}

Watch a Christmas movie

Lighted Christmas parade

{an annual event in our town}

Take turns taking pictures of each other with Santa beard

Make a giant picture together

Build a gingerbread house and Christmas train

Pizza and Christmas movie

Play games

{each child chooses one}

Write a Christmas story together

{every one takes a line, repeat til done}

Watch a Christmas movie with ice cream sundaes

Picnic dinner by the tree with candles

Sleep over by the tree and watch movies

{with cousins}

Make red and green clear flubber

Glowing mountain Dew experiment

Read the Christmas story

pick and read Christmas books

Christmas books with candy cane ice cream

New Christmas book

{going to wrap each of them a new Christmas book}

Play would you rather card game

Make Christmas tree crayons

Sugar Cone trees

Sit down together and wrote 2 things we love about each person in our family on cut out stars

Write someone a letter telling them how special they are to you

2009 ideas here

2010 ideas here

Stuff the Stockings

2011-11-13T22:56:00.000-08:00

I know I don't post much of my personal daily life on here but this I feel is worth sharing.

In June my sister had to delivery her twin boys via c-section at 25 weeks. I was able to get there along with my shortly after they arrived. Upon arrival at the hospital we learned that one of the twins, Carter, didn't make it. His twin brother Cohen was in the NICU fighting for his life. You can read all about his fight at my sister's blog Keeping up with the Kimmels. She has an amazing way of sharing her heart through her blog. Fast forward 5 months later Cohen has recently returned home and my sister would like to do something for all the families that will be spending time in the NICU this Christmas.

She would like to put together care packages for the families and deliver them before Christmas. As a parent that had to spend 130 days in the NICU she knows how much the little gestures mean. She received and still receives so much love and support and she would like to pass that along to other families.

We have set up a blog, facebook page, and e-mail account to share information.

The blog is called NICU Care packages and there is a list of items we would like to collect to put in these care packages. All the contact information is there too.

I just put it together tonight so it isn't perfect and will probably be tweaked and have things added over the next few days.

Mini photo shoot {Nine}

2011-11-10T15:15:00.000-08:00

Today it was just me and Nine hanging out and we had a great time. We went outside to play and I decided since he was having such a good time with the leaves that I would take advantage and take some pictures! I love this little guy and his heart melting smile!

I took a TON and it was hard to narrow down so be ready for lots of cute pics!

Thanksgiving Crafts

2011-11-06T10:07:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I thought I would gather a few past fall/Thanks giving crafts we have done and put them all in one post!

Enjoy!

Paper Chain Turkey

If you would like to make an easier, smaller version of the paper chain turkey check out these cute little turkeys below here.

Pumpkin Pie Play dough

Marble painted pumpkins

Little Boys

2011-11-01T21:31:00.000-07:00

Little Boys

Author: Unknown

Little boys come in all shapes and sizes,

Shy and adventurous, full of surprises,

With misshapen halos and mischievous grins,

Small dirty faces, and sweet, sticky chins.

They'll keep you so busy, and yet all the while

Nothing can brighten the world like their smile.

And no greater treasure has brought homes more joy

Than a curious, active, and lovable boy!

Halloween Cuties

2011-10-31T13:31:00.000-07:00

Halloween Cuties

I loved that a few of the kids brought their costumes so I could dress them up and take some cute pictures!

Kane

Dirt bike Rider

Age 2

{Where did it go?}

Nevaeh

Bumblebee

Age 3

Jordan

Garbage man

Age 5

Happy Halloween!

Cute kiddos

2011-10-25T13:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday while we were at the little park I was practicing taking pictures in Manual mode with my camera on Jordan. Of course the girls wanted their picture taken but the boys were too busy for that but I tried to get a few of them too!

Nine

1 Years old

Kane

2 years old

Nevaeh & Teya

3 years old & 5 years old

Jordan

5 years old

Hand print Spiders

2011-10-24T14:06:00.001-07:00

Today we made hand print spiders!

I don't have any pics of the process since we very involved in that process but I do have some of the finished product!

I painted the palm and fingers (not thumb) of the kids and pressed it on the paper. I then turned the paper using the same hand and pressed it again. The kids then added the googly eyes. I added the younger kids eyes since they are pretty small.

These would be fun to hang, decorate a window, or on the fridge. Jordan only made one so it will be on the fridge or his art wall!

October 17th to 21st

2011-10-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 17th to Friday, October 21st

Here are some highlights from each except Thursday because that is my day off!

Monday

Painting with q-tips

Going on a walk to the park to play

One of their favorite games here is to climb up the slide and have me guess who is coming down. I can hear them whispering up there as they chose who is going to go down and surprise me.

Nine loves going on the swing!

Tuesday

Coloring pictures with stampers. These are by far the favorite art supply with all the kids!

After lunch the kids look at book quietly until all the kids are done then everyone gets to pick one book for me to read to the group.

Wednesday

Friday

What a typical day looks like

2011-10-19T04:00:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted for a while so i thought I would get back into the swing of things with a post about what a typical day looks like for us. We following the same routine most days.

6:30am-8:00am- Most of the kids are dropped off in this time period. We usually watch a quiet show or two in the early morning and snuggle on the couch. The kids are free to play too and they usually do! Around 7:30 I start breakfast.

8:00 am- breakfast, clean up, free play

8:30am- big kids off to school! The little kids love to watch out the window or weather permitting we sit on the deck and watch for the bus. Then its inside for diaper changes, potty, hand washing and getting dressed.

8:30 am to 9:30 am- more free play

9:30 am- set up table activities that kids can do at their own time/pace. This is usually coloring, painting, stampers, stickers, painting, play dough, magnets with cookie sheets, puzzles, ect. (They can also do these activities whenever they want during free play times.)

10:00 am- snack time and story time. While the kids are enjoying snack I read 2 to 4 books that they pick out or me. We then use potty, check diapers, and wash hands.

10:30am- Outside time!! Weather permitting we head outside. We will play in the yard or go on a walk. The kids love going on walks so most days we do that.

11:30ish am- Come inside, lunch prep & free play

12:00pm- wash hands & eat lunch

12:30pm- potty, diapers, wash hands & quiet time with books/read as a group

1:00pm- rest time

3:00pm- wake up, diapers, potty & wash hands

3:30 pm- snack

3:30 pm to 5:30pm- Free play/outside & pick up

Week of Sept. 19th - 23rd

2011-09-23T23:12:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick look at our week. We enjoyed doing a few new activities and alot of our favorites. We are always busy busy so enjoy!

Outdoor Fun

We try to go on a walk every day and play outside in the afternoon. We have two parks very close by and path through a wooded area that the kids love!

On Wednesday we went on a walk through the woods! The kids love to be able to just run, walk and explore! I love that I don't have to worry about roads and they can explore freely.

the kids love to run ahead and hide behind the benches. I then pretend to wonder where did all the kids go and they love to jump up and yell surprise!

If you look closely you can see them hiding behind the tree. Three of them fit behind there.

Kane hiding! A few moments after this he jumped up and yelled surprise to Nine!

Indoor Fun

Playing in the apple themed sensory tub

Apple Pie Playdough

Apple coloring pages

Stamping with the letter A and an apple

Jordan and Danny working together to write the alphabet

Had a great week! I am off tomorrow morning on a mini getaway for my wedding anniversary. I will be back midweek this coming week so will have a short week with the kids.

Gramma's preschool enrichment program

2011-09-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

Jordan started preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays a couple of weeks ago. On Thursdays my mom picks him up and has Jordan for the remainder on the day so I have some free time to clean, clean, and usually clean without any interruptions. Amazing what you can get done in a few hours alone!

Here is a glimpse of what they did this Thursday!

The following is taken from the e-mail she sent me with pics!

"He likes to do his magnetic calendar (It is build a bear, from Second Chance.) It was new, so he got to open it, etc. There are a bunch of hearts and little bears, so he likes to put those on the days he is coming to Grammas.

Then we cut branches and talked about how TODAY is the first day of fall and he all ready knew that. And how the cooler weather makes the leaves change so pretty. Then he helped make me and you an arrangement.

Then we set to work on dinner. He loved cutting the apples and honestly informed me that his mom said he was to little to use a knife. So I told him I would be right there! He was proud he COULD use a knife. Peeling the carrots was his favorite thing. I let him peel away. One carrot was almost peeled away, but then we had "carrot curls". I found that idea on Pinterest, to put a little dip in the cup and put green peppers, carrots, zuchini, etc in the cup. Pretty cute. He spooned in the dip and then I had him count 5 carrots into each cup.

Then on to the pizzas. By then he was pretty tired of "cooking". Put helped out. All the time I kept saying how great it was he was making dinner for his family! He was excited to stop and deliver Janas dinner to her."

As you can see he has a great time spending the day with Gramma! He is more excited about that then actually going to preschool. I can never get any details about preschool but he will go on and on about the fun he had with gramma!

Apple themed sensory tub

2011-09-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

Apple themed sensory tub

This tub includes:

laminated apples in red, yellow, and green- perfect for talking about colors and sorting

scoops- to practice scooping and pouring

tin pails- really fun to pour into and hear the plink plink of the beans

black beans- apple seeds

red, yellow & green poms- soft texture, talk about colors, and sorting

See last years apple tub here.

Sleeping Cuties

2011-09-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

photos taken yesterday on

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Kane

Nevaeh

Nine

Jordan

Apple Prints

2011-09-20T14:15:00.000-07:00

Tuesday

September 13, 2011

Now that fall is upon it time to bring on the fall activities! One that I love to do every year is making prints with apples. I also had out circle cutters for the kids to use. Since we are having summer weather still I set up a table outside for the kids. The kids loved it! They could make a picture, run around, and then come back and make another! Some spent more time with it then others and Nine definitely got the most into it hands and all.

I cut notches into the apples for easier stamping

Nevaeh

Mia

Kane

Nine

Finished pieces of art

You can see pics of this activity from last year here.

Water bottle Painting

2011-09-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

Monday

September 12, 2011

This is a great sunny day want to be outside activity!

I taped a long piece of paper to the fence, filled spray bottles with watered down paint, and let the kids go at it.

The kids LOVED it. I will need a better supply of spray bottles next time since a few decided not to work. The kids got to practice sharing and taking turns though since not enough for each to have one.

Though a bit messy very easy to clean up with a hose and water! Worth the mess and would love to do this again before the weather turns to cold.

Week of September 12th- 16th

2011-09-20T13:13:00.000-07:00

Here is a look at this week!

We again enjoyed another beautiful week of great weather and spent most of our time outside.

Indoor Fun

Cars, trains & trucks are always a favorite here!

Playing with musical toys while listening to music

Play dough

Outdoor Fun

Painting with circle cutters, hands and apples

Playing football

Playing with push & ride on toys and lots of Go, Go, Go running!

Watching Jordan on his gator

Painting with water bottles

We are slowly adding in more and more different activities and hope to add more soon along with circle time again!

Week of Sept. 5th-10th

2011-09-19T14:06:00.000-07:00

We were going to start in on a theme this week but we are finally having summer weather! We have been outside a ton enjoying it. Here is a little of what we did!

(Sorry for in advance for a lot of pics...I got a new camera and have been going a little crazy)
Enjoy!

Outdoor Fun

Playing at the "little park"

Indoor Fun

Playing with playdough

Observing Playdough play

Trying to make fishy lips like me!

Coloring

Playing

We're Back!

2011-09-12T19:33:00.000-07:00

We are back!

We had an awesome summer that went WAY to fast and was pretty busy. I am definitely ready for fall, slower pace of life, and of course started up "school" activities again!!

My gang of child care kids has changed a bit so I would love to introduce you to them since you will be reading about them alot in the coming months!

We will start with Jordan since he is the oldest of the group!

Jordan turned 5 years old in August!!

He will be staying home with me one more year and go to preschool 2 days a week and then do activities and "school" at home with me. He is still a ball of energy, loves cars, trucks, garbage trucks, "mowing" and "weed eating" the yard, trimming the grass and bushes with scissors, collecting recyclables in his gator, riding bike, playing basketball, digging in the dirt, playing angry birds & Mario, playing with the neighbor kids, and snuggling.

Ty is 4 years old

Ty is one of Jordan's best buddies. These two are always busy playing. They enjoy digging in the dirt, playing garbage trucks, riding around in the gator, making up games, coloring, and playing with cars and trucks.

Nevaeh is 3 years old

Nevaeh just came back to join our little group after a summer of staying home. She just had a birthday and is now 3 years old. She loves coloring, do-a-dot art stampers, babies, dressing up, thomas & trains, and sitting on your lap & reading a pile of books.

Mia 2 year old

Mia is the only girl of the group but she does her best to keep up with the boys. She loves playing with dolls, making pictures for her mommy, pretend cooking, playing with baby Nine, and loves playing in the dirt with the boys!

Kane is 2 years old

Kane is all boy and a ball of energy! He is go, go, go til he crashes for a nap. He loves trains, cars & trucks, going on the slide, playing in the dirt, coloring & stickers, and tractors.

Nine is 1 year old

Nine is the "baby" of the group but he is quickly becoming a little man. He loves to eat, play with trucks, push toys, build towers with blocks & knock them down, climb up the slide & go down, play in the dirt, can sign all done & milk (working on more & eat), go on walks, play peek a boo, and is also a cuddler.

Blogging Break

2011-05-25T13:03:00.000-07:00

As you may have noticed I have not been blogging nearly as much as I have in the past. I am taking a break for a while. Not sure how long most likely til fall. We have had a lot going on in my family and life in general. It has been nice to not stress about blogging and getting posts posted so that I could link them in time to certain link ups. I want to thank all of you who are followers for following along. I don't hear feed back from hardly anyone but I hoping the ideas and our day to day life were helpful to all of you. I love sharing ideas and printables and plan on coming back in the fall with lots of preschool & kindergarten ideas and printables!
Thanks again. If you want to keep up with us I do have a family blog that I am trying to keep up with and the link is on the right.

Basketball Printables

2011-05-05T21:22:00.000-07:00

I spent quite a bit of time working on these printables!! I wish I had more time to create more but that didn't happen. Jordan loved working on these worksheets but we didn't get to all of them.

Download all the printables below!

Part 1

Part 2

Ordering numbers to 20 worksheet

Comparing numbers to 10 worksheet

Weekly Review-Catch up

2011-04-29T13:25:00.000-07:00

I haven't really written a weekly review in a while so this is pretty much all of April!! We haven't really done any planned activities but Jordan has been practicing writing a ton this month. Though he gets extremely frustrated when he can't get them perfect he keeps trying and is doing much better. He likes to write them in ABC order. I usually open up the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom book to the front page where it shows all the letters in order. Or he will get as far as he can on his own then will ask what comes next.

He also likes to use his letter magnets and put them in order on the carpet or on the fridge.

For Easter we did a few jelly bean activities.

We made playdough

learned to shave with daddy

Visited the dentist

played outside when the weather decides to be decent. We have had the coldest April on record. We even got snow.

He also figured out he can swim all by himself with a life jacket and a noodle!

Even played games!

We talked the other day about what he would like to do with school next and we came up with basketball and weather. I have been busy making lots of printables for a basketball theme this week. I will sharing those next week!

Easter Weekend

2011-04-26T12:55:00.000-07:00

I don't blog to much about family life here since starting a family blog. But this weekend we had our first real day of spring!! We took full advantage knowing it wouldn't last long which is didn't. It has been pouring all day today :(

I love our neighborhood! Full of great kids and parents. It is so much fun just to sit outside and talk while all the kids play!

Here is how we spent the day on Saturday!

Power Wheel Racing!

Four Square

A ton of basketball

A very friendly game of boxing

Easter Sunday we attended church and then went to my parents house for lunch, easter egg hunt, and relaxation with family!

Easter printables

2011-04-19T04:07:00.000-07:00

I love making printables now and if I had all the time in the world I could create them all day long but I don't so I made two yesterday to use with kids and share with you!

Enjoy!

The first one is to use with jelly beans. Have your child measure each picture using jelly beans then fill in the blank with the correct. Answers will vary depending on size of jelly beans.

The second printable is a basic count the Easter eggs and circle the correct answer!

The worksheets come together in one printable and you can get them here.

This next worksheet is an addition one. Cut out the eggs on the bottom and use them to help with the problems. Download here.

Things that got together

download here

Linking this up to ABC and 123 Show and Tell, Sharing Time, printable share, Preschool Corner

Spring Sensory Tub

2011-04-13T14:35:00.000-07:00

Finally got our Spring Sensory Tub put together.

In this tub:

Easter Grass

Lady bug erasers

Butterfly Erasers

Bee Erasers

Flower Erasers

plastic cups

green glass stones

"spiky" pom poms

Frog Jumpers

Sharing this at Raising Memories, ABC & 123 Show and Tell, Tot Tuesday, For the Kids Friday

Cup Design

2011-04-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

Here is a really cheap craft/ gift idea to do with the kids!!

At the Dollar Tree I saw these cups!

The kids can design a pic and insert in the cup all for a $1!!

You can have them draw new pics for holidays and seasons and always personalized for them!

These would also make great gifts for Mother's Day, Father's Day ect.

To make it a little more special add some tea, cocoa, coffee, or other beverage to the package.

A gift card to favorite coffee shop would work well too!

Since my kids love to drink hot chocolate year round and we only have Christmas/winter themed mugs these are great!

Jordan chose to draw a Mario Map...go figure!

I will be sharing this at ABC and 123, Raising Memories, & Tot Tuesdays

Super Mario Preschool Printables

2011-03-31T20:54:00.000-07:00

I have been working on this off and on for a couple of months now and finally decided I was ready to share it!

This is my first time attempting something like this so hopefully I get everything right the first time around.
Included in this printable are the following activities:

Counting by 5’s number cards
Number cards 1-20
Find the missing number cards 1-10
Find the missing number cards by 10’s
Counting worksheet 11-15
3 part Cards
Find the smallest character worksheet
Find the largest character worksheet
4 and 6 piece puzzles
L is for Luigi Trace Worksheet
M is for Mario coloring page
Mario Sequencing
Memory Cards-print two copies
Mario Tic Tac Toe board and playing pieces
Mini Books
What doesn't Belong cards and markers
Star dot to dots with 123’s and ABC’s
Prewriting worksheet
Find the upper and lower case M’s

There are two separate downloads here and here!

I would love to hear your feed back! What liked, didn't like, and where I can fix things!

I want to hear it all and if you blog about it please send me the link so i can check it out!

I will be linking this to the following sites!

Space 3 part cards

2011-03-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

I created these 3 part space cards to go with our space theme and totally forgot to share them!

There are 4 pages total. I included a sample below.

Download pages here.

I am sharing this post on the following sites!

Weekly Review-Space

2011-03-18T05:29:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks we have used Space as our theme. We have had alot of fun and may continue into next since still haven't gotten to everything due to illness and life.

I got a great collection of fun and informational books from the library!

I made this sensory tub for the kids to play in and explore!
For list of items read post here.

I created quite a few printables for us to use. The first one is an about me space rocket. You can can download your own here. Jordan started out excited to do this with me then he switched his attitude and became a pickle. After a time out he was ready to finish it with me.

I also created this astronaut helmet head bands which Jordan wanted to paint with water colors. You can download yours here.

Along with the helmets and to go along with the book Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! I'm off to the moon! The kids packed their own suit cases to take to the moon. I let the kids pick what color they wanted for their suit case and printed up pictures for them using clip art on Word. Jordan loved this activity and still likes to sit with me and talk about what is in his suit case and pretend to take it to the moon with him.

You can download a suitcase pattern here.

Other Activities we did
Jordan loved the Leap Frog Math Adventure on the Moon

Practiced writing his name in our sand box

then added numbers to it

colored lots of mario pictures

Enjoyed a few days with no rain and went on a walk and saw ducks and lots of worms

made towers with ice cubes from don't break the ice

painted with water colors

And put the alphabet in order by memory and singing the song!

stART- Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! I'm off to the Moon!

2011-03-17T05:25:00.000-07:00

stART= Story + Art

Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! I'm off to the Moon!

by Dan Yaccarino

We have been having a space theme this week and last and this is a great book to read with preschoolers.

It is all about a little boys trip to the moon and back home.

To get ready for our trip to the moon we made Astronaut Helmet Headbands. I made the printable myself and you can down load it here.

Jordan wanted to paint his with watercolors.

The second thing we needed was a suitcase full of all the things we need while we are at the moon. I created the suitcases on Word and let them choose the color they wanted. You can download your own here. I also used clip art from word and let them choose what they packed. Jordan loved this and loves to sit down with me and talk about all the stuff in his suit case.

After they glued everything in they decorated the outside with circle cutters, paint, and glitter!

St. Patrick's Day Sensory Tub

2011-03-16T13:46:00.000-07:00

St. Patrick's Day Sensory Tub

Gold, purple and green coins

laminated shamrocks

laminated shamrock coins

green split peas

green dyed noodles

pennies

Helmet Head band

2011-03-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

These helmets are super easy to make and great for youngsters to use in their space exploration.

There are two ways to make these. First you can take a thin paper plate and cut out the middle. Cut strips of paper to fit your child's head and staple to plate. Add a flag sticker to the top of helmet.

The second way is I made up a printable that you can cut out and add strips of paper to to fit your child's head. I made one with a flag on helmet and one where you can cut it and have your child attach it.

You could also let your child decorate these using crayons, markers, star stickers, glitter ect.
Jordan wanted to use water colors to decorate his.

Click on here to download with flag

Click here to download with attached flag

About Me Space Rocket

2011-03-10T10:34:00.000-08:00

I saw an idea similar to this in the Mailbox Preschool Yearbook book I have and thought this would be perfect to use with our space theme. I wanted to add a few different questions so I decided to make my own. This way I can share with you all you too!

Bret's Space Shuttle

Jordan's Space Shuttle
He was not in a mood to do this at the time so he half heartedly did it

Click here to download

Space Exploration Tub

2011-03-09T05:23:00.000-08:00

I put together this spaced themed exploration tub for the kids. This tub has given me the opportunity to introduce new vocabulary words and explain what things are and do. It has been a lot of fun for Jordan.

In our tub are laminated punched out stars

I got a space tube from Michaels

glitter bouncy balls from Wal-mart

Space Buttons from Michaels

Two space shuttles from Michaels

Black beans

black shiny fuzzy balls from Michaels

Jordan at play!

Space Themed book list

2011-03-08T05:00:00.000-08:00

Here is a collection of books and movies I found for our outer space study from my local library!

A Cool Kid's Field Guide to Space by Lisa Regan

There's no place like Space! by Tish Rabe

See how they go: Spaceship by DK Publishing

Personal Space camp by Julia Cook

Comets, stars, the moon, and mars by Douglas Florian

Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! I'm off to the moon! by Dan Yaccarino

Green Wilma Frog in Space by Tedd Arnold

Oliver who would not sleep! by Mara Bergman

Out in Space by Tim Wood

I also got Leap Frog Math Adventure on the Moon from the library and Jordan really enjoyed this movie. This worked out great since he was sick all day yesterday.

A few other movies I got from the library are

Amazon.com Widgets

100 Followers

2011-03-07T21:04:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to see tonight that I have reached 100 followers!! I have started this blog over a year ago to share my ideas with others and to keep a journal for myself.

I appreciate all of you follow me and leave me comments. I love reading your thoughts, kind words, and encouragement.

I have been meaning to share my printable I made for Jordan a while back with you and since it all about 100 I thought this post would be perfect. So here it is! It is a two page do a dot worksheet counting from 1 to 100!
For these pages you can give your child freedom and let them stamp away, you can say a number and have them stamp that number, or pull out some flash cards and have them stamp the number you show them.

For older children or children who know all the numbers you can practice counting by 2's, 5's, or 10's. Count along together as your child dots the numbers.

Jordan absolutely loves these and does several a day!

Download pages here!

Space Ideas and Print ables

2011-03-07T05:09:00.000-08:00

I asked Jordan a couple of weeks ago what he would like to do for school and I named off a bunch of things such as animals, space, ect. He chose space which I was excited about since a lot of blogs have been sharing create ideas and print ables. Here are some of the ideas we will be using in the next few weeks.

Love this cute alien head band from No Time for Flashcards

Making learning Fun has lots of print ables and ideas for math, literacy, and circle time

Astronaut Preschool Pack by Homeschool Creations

Solar System Preschool Pack by 1+1+1=1

2 Teaching Mommies has some great print ables and ideas

Musing of Me has an amazing printable space unit

Outer Space Preschool activities and crafts at First-School.ws

Preschool Bible Lessons God Made the Planets

Dr. Seuss

2011-03-06T22:09:00.000-08:00

Dr. Seuss Fun

For the week of Dr. Seuss birthday we read a couple books each day. While I read a book the kids did an activity related to the book such as coloring a craft or practicing prewriting worksheets.

Jordan also wanted to practice balancing on a ball like cat in the hat

Jordan loved Dr. Seuss book which I was rather surprised and excited.

His favorite was Green Eggs and Ham and we read it several times a day everyday.

On Friday we went to a special story time at the library that was all Dr. Seuss and even cat in the hat was there.

Forever Gone

2011-02-27T14:08:00.001-08:00

February has officially passed by us in a quick blink. I don't know where it went by I am now changing the calendar over to March. I haven't posted much this month. Life has been busy and still struggling with having enough time for everything. I am going to fill this post with pictures of February so I can least try and remember what we did.

Jordan new thing is to make Mario world number lines. It started out with me created them and now he does it on his won minus the numbers.

I created these 1 to 100 number sheets for him after I got over writing for over and over.

We finally had a break through with coloring thanks to Mario coloring pages

Creating his own mario world map. Red means it hasn't been beat yet and he will make them blue when he has beat them.

Jordan is starting to make an effort to write his name! He has been able to spell it for a while but never would try to write it.

He loves creating castles and worlds with his toys

He does do a few things not related to Mario.

Practicing writing numbers

Making even more progress

2011-02-18T05:38:00.000-08:00

Along with making great attempts at writing his name Jordan has been coloring! I know this is something most kids do since they can hold a crayon but this is something Jordan has never been interested in til now thanks to Mario coloring pages! Now he colors at least 3 a day!

Making progress

2011-02-17T13:37:00.000-08:00

Jordan has been making some great progress lately with writing and prewriting skills. As I have mentioned before Jordan is quick to get frustrated when he can't do something right the first time. This has prevented him from progressing much with writing. He finally has been excited about trying to write his name. He has been able to spell it for a while but now he is making great attempts to write it!!

Last night we wrote in cubbie bear's journal (he spent the week at our house) and Jordan wanted to sign his name at the bottom!

When I went through his papers from cubbies I saw this!
His leader drew the picture for him he hasn't gotten to drawing faces and stick people yet!

Weekly Review

2011-02-04T14:13:00.000-08:00

Here is our week in a nut shell. Again didn't get around planning to anything in particular but on Thursday Jordan pulled out all our stuff for circle and we did a quick. After that I know I need to step it up and that he is interested in doing it!

Beads & pipe cleaners

(fine motor)

tonging buttons

(fine motor)

practiced "cutting" cookies

I would count down from different numbers and he would try to get done before I reached 0.

Number writing practice from Musings of Me

Jordan liked making dots for Mario levels and getting from one level to the next.

Jordan wanted to make art with do a dot markers. When he was done I asked if he cared if I cut them into hearts for the glass door.

Making art turned into this mario number lines

which then gave me the idea to jump on the computer and make this sheets

I made an exploration tub for the kids with plenty of red, pink, and white items

He came down with a cold and slight fever Thursday and Friday so he got to enjoy some snuggle shows

Valentines Day Ideas

2011-01-31T05:14:00.000-08:00

Table/Tray Activities

Heart Bouquet

Tonging Activity

Making "presents"

Plastic hearts from Dollar tree

chocolate heart candies

Open plastic hearts

Place candy inside

And put lid back on

An extended activity I am going to do with Jordan is let him decorate the plastic hearts with stickers, glitter glue, sequins, and markers. Then add a candy and give as gifts to his cousins and friends.

Hearts and Arrows

Sweet on Math

I printed these super cute cupcakes from file folder fun.

I came up with some activities to use with them besides putting them into a file folder!

Activity #1- Number Order

Activity #2- Matching

Match the numeric number with the cupcake with the same amount of cherries

Activity #3- One to One Correspondence Game

Gather cupcakes, red pom poms and a die

You can also use two dice and more cupcakes and practice up to 12!

Have your child put cupcakes in number order.

Roll the dice

Count the dots on the die

And place the number amount of cherries on individual cupcakes.

You can also use the other set of cupcakes with cherries on them and roll the dice and find the cupcake with that many cherries on it and match the cherries with pom poms

Activity #4- Create a File Folder Game

Arts & Crafts

Glitter Hearts

First I cut two matching hearts from white card stock paper.

Placed cars along with red paint on a plate

drive the cars and truck all over the hearts

when finished painting the hearts sprinkle glitter on the paint

let them dry

When they were dry I placed them together and folded them in half and cut out a heart out of the middle. Then I fitted contact paper over the heart shape sticky side up.

cover the contact paper with tissue paper

I placed the two hearts together with a string in the middle to hang

The hearts from the middle I had cut out I reshaped so they can be used as Valentines Cards from Jordan.

By adding a saying such as You make my heart Race, Have a Tire-iffic Valentine's Day, or Speedin' your way on Valentine's Day, and then a car sticker or two.

Open Ended Art

Here is a simple Valentine themed art project.

All you need is heart cookie cutters, paint and glitter.

First I put white and red paint on a plate and had Jordan guess what color it would make then he watched as I mixed them together to make pink. I also had a plate with red paint.

The kids dipped the cutters in the paint and stamped them on the paper.

When they were done stamping they picked out what color glitter they wanted. Jordan choose the jell-o I still had from last week.

Jordan's art