Gobble, Gobble!!

We talked about Thanksgiving today! Discussed pilgrims & Indians and made a super-simple headband & puppet!! :) (Of course, Ladybug just had to have a "hat" like Hunter's! :)

We're Still Here!!

WOW!! I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post!!! :( Our lives have been so busy lately, that blogging has been taking a back seat!! :( However, things are kinda slowing down for a while, so hopefully I can keep up!!!

We've been fitting preschool in here & there, trying to stay on top of things! We've kinda been reviewing letters & sounds lately, so not too many fun themes! :( We are doing a little Community Helper unit that Hunter is loving!! He's been waiting forever to talk about police!!! :)

While reviewing, we made some counting manipulatives, using bottle tops!! (After I entered my reward codes, of course!! ;) Super simple - just the way I like it!! I used 20 bottle tops, labels, markers & scissors (you could use a circle punch if you have one big enough - mine was too small :( My circles that I cut out were NOT neat by any means, so don't laugh!! Hunter thinks they're cool, so that's what matters!!! ;)

p.s. The red word strip chart - - $1 @ Target before school started!!!!

Catalog Flashcards

First of all - NO - we haven't disappeared!! :) Just busy as ever!! I just wanted to make a quick post showing what you can do with catalogs!! I got a hold of a few sticker catalogs that came from a dentist/doctor's office. They were filled with pictures of stickers - which included every character you can think of!!! I came up with an idea (a no-brainer) to use these pictures to make flash cards!! This is what I used:

- index cards
- magazine pictures (one representing each letter, then one representing numbers 1-10)
- letters/numbers of some sort (I had pre-cut Post-It type letters that were perfect so I used those! You can write your own, use sticker letters, die-cut letters, etc.)
- glue stick
- scissors

I'm sure you can figure this one out - told ya it was a no-brainer - but just in case: attach one letter to each index card, adding the corresponding picture. Repeat process for numbers!! I couldn't find a character for EVERY letter, so some are generic - i.e. frog for "F"!! Here are a few of mine:

Hunter loves these, because he likes to see all the characters that he knows!! **Just a word of advice: be careful when choosing characters for each letter - make sure they aren't known by a different name!! i.e. don't put a picture of "Nemo" on F for "fish" - your kid will say "Nemo" every time!!! :) If you do use a picture that might be confusing, make sure to use a group picture to make more sense!! (i.e. my letter C & D cards - I used a picture of different cars from the movie Cars, and a picture of different dinos from Dinosaur Train!)

Taste-Test

Since we've been talking about our senses, we explored "taste" the other day!! We just picked 4 things to go with sweet, salty, bitter & sour. Once again, nothing too elaborate, but Hunter loved it!! He tried Skittles, pretzels, cucumbers, and lemons!! Lemons were, by far, his favorite!!! He wanted to keep eating them!! :) Next, we made a 4-square chart & wrote down each thing he tasted; he drew a picture & then described each flavor!

Weeks D & E

Just a quick post to share our Alphabet Art for weeks D & E! Nothing too fancy - we colored dinosaurs to add to our D & cut out pictures of "ears" to put on our E!!! :)

My Five Senses

Our new theme is My Five Senses! We briefly discussed the 5 senses, and I let Hunter pick which one we focused on for the day & he picked sound! (I was excited for "taste", but oh well - next time!! ;) I found a Sesame Street book at Target, all about the 5 senses (so excited that all the preschool $1 stuff is 50% off finally!!!) - - so we looked through that & discussed what we read. Next, we went on a "sound hunt"! We walked through a few rooms & wrote down all the different sounds we hear in each particular room. (i.e. We hear the ice machine, the dishwasher, the mixer & the microwave in the kitchen.) We made a little "Our Sound Hunt" book - nothing fancy - just folded a piece of paper in 1/4's ! :)

After the hunt, we made a rain stick! It was super easy! You will need these items:
A paper towel tube, nails/pins, some heavy tape & about 1/2 cup of dry beans or rice.

First, take a paper towel tube & poke nails/pins through it, all around the tube.

Next, use a small square of paper (I doubled the paper for extra security:) & tape it around one end of the tube.

After you tape one end, fill the other end with beans/rice (we used pinto beans).

After the tube is filled, seal the other end the same way as the first. Then, use the tape & wrap around the entire tube, to secure the nails. We used a permanent marker to decorate the tube when finished!! ENJOY!! :)

Sticks & Clips

Need a super easy idea for counting practice?? Get a bag of popsicle sticks & some clothes pins and there you go!! I added dots, from 1 to 10 on the sticks & the numbers 1-10 on the clips (clothes pins). First, Hunter counted the dots & put the sticks in order, then he found the matching clip & clipped them together!! Easy-peasy & fun!! :)

Animal Homes

This week, we finished up the Houses & Homes theme, and were able to do a few fun things with it!! We checked out some "D" books for our letter of the week, and also got a few animal habitat books (that was the focus this week)! For an easy art project, we made a bat cave!! This could obviously be turned into ANY type of cave, but Hunter LOVES Batman, so he was so excited for this!! We used an empty sandwich baggie box & it was perfect for a cave! We cut out some "rocks" out of construction paper, glued them on, glued a piece of string onto the back of one of the bats (we used some Batman confetti that we have for his upcoming Batman birthday party - they were perfect) & then glued another one on top of the string (so they would be 2-sided)! We taped the bats to the ceiling of the cave - and taaaa-daaah! :)

**If you notice the little brown paper at the bottom of the cave - - he wanted to make sure the bats had food, so he drew some bugs & fruit!!! :)

Week C

This week, we focused on letter "C", and our theme for next two weeks is "A home to live in". This week we talked about all the different types of homes that people live in - from tents to castles! :) We made an "In My House" book, and Hunter drew things he does in each room of the house! (And for the bathroom, of course, he drew himself going to the bathroom!) :) We checked out some "C" books at the library, and so far, City Chicken seems to be the favorite! :)

For Alphabet Art, we made paper cookies & glued real sprinkles on top!! Hunter LOVED this, as he ate just about as many sprinkles as he glued on!! :)

Next week should be fun, since we'll be talking about different animal homes!! :)

Weeks A & B

The first two weeks of school!! Always so exciting!! :) We started preschool with the theme, "All About Me." (Just a coincidence that the theme for Week A was, "All About Me"!) We talked about Hunter- self portraits, "All About Hunter" books, family stick puppets, his likes & dislikes, etc. We went to the library & checked out books that started with A - some of his favorites were, "Armadillo Rodeo", "Antlers Forever", and "Arthur's Underwear". (Didn't make it back to the library for Week B, but chose books from our own collection!)


We also started an Alphabet Art Book, which we use the letters of the alphabet in an art project! For letter A, we made an ant hill with ants climbing on it! For B, we made a butterfly! (forgot to take the "A" picture the 1st week, so took them the same day!) ;)

Besides the Alphabet Art, we also started an ABC Book, which we will also be adding to weekly!!

Just in case you might be the only person out there that hasn't been there - - Target has a TON of great preschool stuff in their "One Spot" (dollar section) right now!!
I got Hunter a bunch of great stuff before school started!! (Can't wait for them to be marked down so I can go buy a bunch more!! ;)

Preschool!!

Wow! I can't believe that it's here already . . . preschool for Hunter!! Makes me both sad & happy at the same time!! :[ As of right now, the end of August, it's just Hunter & I. We might end up with a few other friends joining us, or it might just be us for the year, however, I plan to provide him with the "real preschool" experience! I'm so excited to spend quality time with him each week & help prepare him for kindergarten!!