May 23, 2013

What is a fun game that I play with my toddler or preschooler to teach shapes?

I have been waiting with such anticipation for this fun shape activity!! I had a blast preparing this activity to teach shapes and Smiley Man loved doing it. We made and topped shape pizzas! If you missed my shapes cutting practice post, you might want to check it out to see how we made the “pepperoni” for our shape pizzas. First off, I’ll start with some instructions.

I started by making several shape pizzas. I have only been practicing the four basic shapes with Smiley Man (circle, square, triangle, rectangle), so I only made four shape pizzas. I’ll use the square pizzas as an example. I started by cutting a square out of tan construction paper (this was the crust). I then traced that square onto red construction paper (this was the sauce) and then cut the square a little bit smaller than the one I traced. Then, I traced the smaller red square onto yellow construction paper (this was the cheese). I cut the yellow square a bit smaller than the one that I traced. Then, I glued all the pieces together so it looked like a square pizza.

I repeated those instructions with the other three basic shapes and ended up with a circle, square, rectangle, and triangle pizza. If you are doing this with a preschool class, I would definitely suggest making a shape pizza of all eight shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval, heart, star, and diamond).

Next, I put two shape pizzas on the table at a time. If Smiley Man was a little older I would have done all four, but he would have been overwhelmed by that so I just did two at a time. I also got out the matching pepperoni that we had saved from our cutting practice from last week.

To complete this shape activity, simply have your child glue the correct shaped pepperoni to the matching shape pizza. This was a really fun matching game that Smiley loved because he really likes pizza! Also, he loves getting to use glue so he was pretty ecstatic during this shape activity. I was happy that Smiley had so much fun matching the pepperoni to the correct shape pizza. This was a great way to teach him shapes!

We've found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites! Link and Learn from No Time for Flashcards Sunday Showcase from Train Up a Child Share it Saturday from Teach Beside Me Tot School Gathering Place from 1+1+1=1 Montessori Monday from Living Montessori Now Tuesday Tots from In Lieu of Preschool Show and Tell from ABC & 123 For the Kids Fridays from Sun Scholars Finished Friday from All Our Days Weekly Kids Co-op from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Preschool & Kindergarten Corner from Homeschool Creations TGIF Linky Party from 123 Homeschool 4 Me

May 16, 2013

How can I teach shapes to my toddler or preschooler? What is a fun preschool shape activity?

Smiley Man is getting into this stage where he really likes scissors. I’m in this stage where I like to ban scissors because of a few scissors cuts that have happened somewhat recently (cuts in the couch, haircuts, cuts in my favorite rice warmer). Yeah, let’s just say that not everything is perfect in my household. ;)

 

Anyway, I wanted to capitalize on Smiley Man’s interest in cutting, but I also wanted to provide a controlled environment for him to practice cutting. Luckily, this cutting practice goes perfectly with learning shapes. Not only will this activity help to teach shapes, but it will also give your toddler or preschooler some great cutting practice!

Start with a red piece of construction paper. You don’t have to use red, but we will be using these cut shapes as “pepperoni” to go on our shape “pizzas” that I’ll be posting about next week. Fold the paper into 8 long strips and cut them apart.

Each strip of paper will be used for a different shape. Draw lines on the rectangle to make a bunch of that shape. Okay, I know that sounds really confusing, but here is a picture of Smiley Man cutting my long strip that will be a bunch of squares.

Hopefully that makes more sense now. For the non-straight shapes (circle, heart, oval, star) you can just draw lines to make squares and then draw the shapes in the squares. Here is my long strip for circles.

Once you are done prepping the rectangles, get your toddler ready and pull out the scissors. Usually toddlers will need help with holding the paper and sometimes they will need help with opening and closing the scissors. Try to let your toddler do as much as he can by himself, but don’t worry if he needs a lot of helping.

 

When you finish cutting a long rectangle into the shapes, talk about that shape and its characteristics (look at these squares, they all have four sides, let’s count the sides, etc.). We made little piles of all the shapes to keep them separate, then we put them into baggies to save for our shape “pizzas” that we’ll do next week.

 

This was a great way to give Smiley Man some controlled scissor practice and it was also a great way to teach shapes!

We've found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites! Link and Learn from No Time for Flashcards Sunday Showcase from Train Up a Child Share it Saturday from Teach Beside Me Tot School Gathering Place from 1+1+1=1 Montessori Monday from Living Montessori Now Tuesday Tots from In Lieu of Preschool Show and Tell from ABC & 123 For the Kids Fridays from Sun Scholars Finished Friday from All Our Days Weekly Kids Co-op from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Preschool & Kindergarten Corner from Homeschool Creations TGIF Linky Party from 123 Homeschool 4 Me

May 14, 2013

How can I teach my kids or preschool class about the wind?

It has been awhile since I’ve done a dollar store finds on this blog and last week I finally had a chance to run to the dollar store and search for items to make the perfect dollar store finds post. Luckily, I was only looking for about two minutes before I found the perfect items. I first saw a little wind chime, and then I saw a cute flower pinwheel. Little Bear has been asking a bunch of questions about the wind recently so when I saw those two items, I knew they were perfect for a lesson on wind.

I didn’t write out a formal lesson plan, but this activity is perfect for preschoolers and even Kindergartners  If I have a bunch of people request a wind lesson plan, then I will make one. For now, here is the fun process we went through to have an awesome lesson on the wind.

Materials (all from the dollar store!!)

• Wind Chime
• Flower Pinwheel
• Palm Leaf Table Topper
• Hula Skirt

Begin the wind lesson by asking students a simple question, what is the wind? Ask, Can you see it? Can you hear it? Can you feel it? Get a quick discussion going about the wind. Tell students (or your kids) that they will be making observations about the wind.

Start by choosing one item (we did the wind chime first, but in retrospect, I would have done the hula skirt first. It wasn’t extremely windy outside and the wind chime didn’t really chime.). Hold up the item while inside and have your students observe what the item looks like. Now ask students how they think the item might change when they take it out in the wind.

Go outside and hold the item up and observe the item. Have students explain how the item is different now that it is in the wind.

Go back inside and observe the last three items while inside. Go outside and observe the items while they are in the wind. Through the lesson, talk about what the wind does and answer the questions, Can you see it? Can you hear it? Can you feel it?

This lesson is perfect for a preschool class, but it is also perfect to do just with your kids. I did this activity with just my two children and they really loved it. I was surprised at how much Little Bear learned and how much he observed. This was a perfect activity for a slightly windy, but warm day.

We've found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites! Link and Learn from No Time for Flashcards Sunday Showcase from Train Up a Child Share it Saturday from Teach Beside Me Tot School Gathering Place from 1+1+1=1 Montessori Monday from Living Montessori Now Tuesday Tots from In Lieu of Preschool Show and Tell from ABC & 123 For the Kids Fridays from Sun Scholars Finished Friday from All Our Days Weekly Kids Co-op from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Preschool & Kindergarten Corner from Homeschool Creations TGIF Linky Party from 123 Homeschool 4 Me

May 9, 2013

What is a fun way to teach shapes to my preschooler or toddler?

I have been working on shapes with Smiley Man for several weeks now and he really having fun. For this week, I really wanted to have an activity that could fit in a busy bag. If you don’t know what a busy bag is, check out this great post on hosting a busy bag exchange. Or just search busy bags on Pinterest and you are sure to find a wealth of information.

I don’t use busy bags a ton with my kids, but I do use them. Unfortunately, Smiley Man has been getting a little bored of the busy bags that I currently have for him, so I wanted to make a new one. Since we are already learning about shapes, I figured it would be perfect to have a shape themed busy bag. I found some great ideas like this felt shape matching game, these hot glue crayon rubbing designs (4th one down), or this clothespin and popsicle stick shape matching game (9th one down)

In the end I decided to go with something simple that I knew Smiley Man would love. I just made some shape lacing cards. Making these cards is very simple. First, print off the shapes using this printable that I made. Next, laminate the shapes. Usually I say laminating is optional, but I have tried lots of different options (using contact paper, using packing tape, gluing the picture to cardboard or a cereal box) and honestly, nothing works as well as lamination. If laminating is absolutely not an option, I would glue the picture to a thin piece of cardboard (like a cereal box), then cover both sides with packing tape.

Once the shape is laminated hold punch holes in the edges about one inch apart. Now, add a shoelace or yarn with tape on the end. I always use yarn and tape because I like to save money, but you can usually find a big pack of shoelaces at the dollar store and shoelaces do work better. You can tie one end of the yarn or shoelace to the lacing card if you want, but that is optional. I usually tie one end to the lacing card because my kids are still young and I don’t like the yarn getting lost.

Now, show your toddler (or preschooler) how to thread the end of the shoelace or yarn through each hole. Smiley Man requires a lot of help with lacing cards, but for some reason he still absolutely loves them. I usually try to cover most of the holes except the one he needs to put the yarn through. He also has a really hard time switching hands when it is time to pull the yarn through the other side, but I just show him how each time and he gets it. Someday he’ll be able to do it alone. ;)

This is a great way to teach shapes because Smiley Man really explores the edges of each shape while using the lacing card. Plus, these lacing cards fit perfectly in a gallon size ziplock bag which is what I use for busy bags.

We've found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites! Link and Learn from No Time for Flashcards Sunday Showcase from Train Up a Child Share it Saturday from Teach Beside Me Tot School Gathering Place from 1+1+1=1 Montessori Monday from Living Montessori Now Tuesday Tots from In Lieu of Preschool Show and Tell from ABC & 123 For the Kids Fridays from Sun Scholars Finished Friday from All Our Days Weekly Kids Co-op from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Preschool & Kindergarten Corner from Homeschool Creations TGIF Linky Party from 123 Homeschool 4 Me

May 7, 2013

How can I help my preschooler memorize bible verses? What will help my child memorize sight words or colors?

Several months ago I was looking for a way for Little Bear to memorize the Articles of Faith and I came across an amazing scripture memory system. The system is from Simply Charlotte Mason. Check out her scripture memory system post with complete instructions, a video, and even some printable divider cards with tabs.

Basically, here is the system. There are four sections of tabs: daily, odd/even, days of the week, and days of the month. You start with only one scripture, but eventually when all the tabs get filled up, you will be practicing four scriptures a day. One will be a new one, but the other ones will be old ones and you can just review them quickly. We usually say each scripture 2-3 times to practice it.

Select a bible verse for kids to memorize. You practice one scripture every day until it is fully memorized. It took one-two weeks for Little Bear to memorize each article of faith. Once that scripture is memorized, you move it back one tab and put a new scripture in the daily spot. Now you had a scripture in the Odd tab and one in the Daily tab. So, you practice the scripture in the Daily tab every single day and you practice the scripture in the Odd tab on all the Odd days. When your new scripture is fully memorized, move it back. Now you have a scripture in the Daily tab, the Odd tab, and the Even tab. If you still don’t get it, just check out the scripture memory system on Simply Charlotte Mason. There are much better instructions there.

I have to say, this system really worked to memorize scriptures. The even better news is that is works well to memorize anything. In order to test this theory out, I bought some color and shape flashcards from the dollar store and I printed some sight word searches from Confessions of a Homeschooler. For Smiley Man we work on one color a day until he can name it without any hints. Once he can do that, I move it back a tab.

For Little Bear, I put one sight word search into the Daily tab. I helped him sound out or name the sight word, then he did the sight word search with some dry erase crayons. Once he could say the sight word without any help, I moved it back and tab and put a new sight word search in. Now, Little Bear only does the actual sight word search for the Daily tab, but he still practices the sight words in the other tabs according to the scripture memory system.

We have only been practicing colors and sight words for a few weeks, but I have already seen a lot of progress. I cannot rave about this scripture memory system enough. Little Bear learned all 13 Articles of Faith in a few months and now he is learning sight words. I am excited to see what else we can memorize in the future.

We've found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites! Link and Learn from No Time for Flashcards Sunday Showcase from Train Up a Child Share it Saturday from Teach Beside Me Tot School Gathering Place from 1+1+1=1 Montessori Monday from Living Montessori Now Tuesday Tots from In Lieu of Preschool Show and Tell from ABC & 123 For the Kids Fridays from Sun Scholars Finished Friday from All Our Days Weekly Kids Co-op from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Preschool & Kindergarten Corner from Homeschool Creations TGIF Linky Party from 123 Homeschool 4 Me