Good Deals!!

Today we scored some good deals at Target!!!  The already awesome "One Spot" - was even better!!  70% off better!!!  :)  The dollar items (with a certain symbol) were $0.30!!  Woo hoo!! :)

 We got 3 workbooks for $0.90!!








I found this magnetic US puzzle over in the book section for $1.98!!  Some of the states make up one puzzle piece because they're so tiny!  Olivia loved it & did it all by herself!!  :)  She's a little young to learn all of the states, but this is a fun introduction!!  (And the other kids can benefit from this as well!!  ;)

What a week!! :)

 Busy, busy, busy!  :)  We have been so busy this week, I didn't have time to update until now!!  One of Olivia's favorite things to do is play "The Dice Game".  (I mentioned the "Ballerina Pack" in the last post, so the link is there!)  We print out & make the dice, then we roll it & graph the results!  (You're supposed to roll 10 times, but she likes to roll until she fills the chart!!  ;)  She's counting & graphing and thinks it's a fun game!!  :)

These two pictures are from her Alphabet Book - (the spiral notebook I mentioned last time) - the butterfly is the Alphabet Creature & the bear is our Alphabet Pal!!  :)

This is her sign-in sheet - I print one out each week & keep it in her binder.  Each day, she traces her name to "sign-in".  Eventually, she will be able to write her name by herself!!  :)








Apparently, I didn't take pictures during week "C".  :(  (Like I said, busy week!!)  However, this week, we incorporated a few different themes, such as:  candy, circus, & Curious George (only briefly - I realized that the whole idea of "C" and "G" was a little confusing!!)!  Our Alphabet Creature was a caterpillar out of circles & our Alphabet Pal was a clown!

One fun thing that we did this week, was making CRAYONS!!  I found an ice tray at Goodwill & we put all of our broken crayons to use!!  ;)  We broke the crayons up into little pieces & put them in the tray.  Being that it is around 110 degrees EVERY DAY, we used "solar power" to melt the crayons!  Within a few hours, we had melted crayons!!  We brought them inside to cool & then removed them from the tray!!  We had fun coloring "C's" with our crayons!!  :)

 The tray we used - - forgot to take a "before" picture! :/







Our cool crayons!!  (Some are already broken!  Oh well, we can melt them again!! ;) 

We're Back!! :)

I know we kinda dropped off the Earth after Easter (that was my last post!), but we're back & ready for a new year!!!  :)
We've started this school year off running & hoping that we don't lose any of our motivation!!  ;)  Olivia is so excited for preschool!!  We started the same day as the other kids did (Aug. 8), and really haven't missed a day since!!  She definitely keeps me busy!!  As soon as she finishes one project, she says, "What can I do next??"  :)  I'm trying to use lots of manipulatives & hands-on projects, but she LOVES doing "worksheets"!!  I think she thinks that if she doesn't have tangible proof - no one will believe that she's in preschool!!  ;)  ;)  (Guess I better stock up on the printer ink!!!  ;)

The first (1/2) week, our theme was "All About Me".  We did a few projects about her & sort of eased into it!  This is her "All About Me" mobile & name necklace!  :)

 Last week, we started our Alphabet themes!!  We're going in order, so we did A last week & this week is B!!  :) 

 I've decided to keep a lot of her work in a spiral notebook - as in glued in!!  ;)  This way, we can just keep adding & pages won't fall out!!  Each letter will have about 4-5 pages: page 1 is a handwriting page, page 2-3 is our Alphabet pals (have to post a picture later!), page 4 is our Alphabet Creature (shown - A - Alligator) & page 5 is for what ever we need it to be!!  ;)   This way, she'll have an Alphabet Book (or two) when we're done!!  She also has a 3-ring binder for all of her worksheets!!

 Found "A's" in magazines!

 Animal puzzle - LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Carisa's creations over HERE!!  If you click on the "Preschool" tab at the top, it will take you to all her great printables!!  We used "Baby Animals" for week A!





Letter B:

 
Sorting, counting & graphing beads (made them HERE). We also started Carisa's "Ballerina" pack!!  :)  Lots more in store for the week. . . hopefully she'll let me have time to keep this updated!!  ;)

Easter Preschool

I told Olivia that we were going to do a few Easter projects today, so until I was ready, she kept asking, "Are we gonna do Easter preschool?"  Such a goofball!!  ;)

Today, we used a few pages from Oopsey Daisy and Kiboomu.  Super cute ideas over at both places!  However, only 1 of the 2 projects we actually got to was really "Easter"! :(  Hopefully we'll do the others soon!!

 Coloring birds, nest & tree.

 Finished birds, nest & tree ;)

Easter egg grid - I cut 1" squares to fit inside grid & she went to town gluing them on!!  Love the cheesy smile!!  (And her Dora princess dress she HAD to wear!! ;)

Rainbow Fun

Spring Break's over so back to school we go!!  :)  Today, we worked on a cute Rainbow Tot Pack, from HERE!!  We only printed 1/2 of the pack, because there was a ton & we didn't have much time!  However, Olivia just loved the pages we printed!!  :)  She traced some letters, some lines, colored a rainbow & then we made a rainbow with scraps!!

 Starting the rainbow!!

 My trick for toddler glue:  use a plastic lid & a paintbrush - cut a notch out of the lid to prevent the brush from rolling!!  :)

The finished project!!  She got a little tired after doing red and orange, and said, "Mommy - can you do the rest??"  So - I did! ;)

Jelly Bottle Games

We have a few pb&j lovers over here, so we ended up with a few jelly bottles laying around!  :)  After looking at the slotted top, I immediately thought popsicle sticks!!  :)  The ideas are endless, but I decided to make a simple little matching game for colors & numbers!!

 Using cardstock, I cut out squares of each color & wrote the color word on one side. . .

 then wrote numbers, number words & counting dots on the back!

 Used markers to color one side of some (obviously a random amount) popsicle sticks. . .





then wrote numbers & counting dots on the back!!








See - - perfect slotted top for popsicle sticks or tongue depressors!!  (or small strips of paper, etc!!)








Find the stick that matches the card & put it inside the bottle!!  :)  Match numbers, then turn cards & sticks over to match colors!!





 

I hot glued a clothes pin to the bottle - - this serves 2 purposes: 1. to hold the card that you're matching 2. to hold the bag of cards when you're done!!  (All the sticks fit inside the bottle!!  :)

Fun Find

A while ago, we came across this cute bag of letters - for only .99 cents at Goodwill!!!  It was missing the letter "K", but I think I can create one!!  :)  We came home & washed everything & Olivia had fun playing with them!! 

 Obviously they're not in order here, but I forgot to take a picture after we put them in order!  ;)

We don't have a "Miranda", but it will do!!  ;)

Fun With Scissors

 No matter how many activities I pulled out today, my little Ladybug was just not super interested  . . . until I got out the scissors, that is!!  ;)  She had a blast exploring the different edges & making different patterns!  (And making a mess, I might add!! ;)  When she finished cutting, she glued them down & made a collage.  She loved it! 

** I know that most 2 (almost 3-yr-olds) might not be able to use these scissors, but she did great!!  (And I sat right next to her to make sure!!)  ;)





Taking the picture, I realized she was cutting with the wrong hand!!  ;)






Loved using the glue stick almost as much as the scissors!!

Fun Printable Packs

I recently found an amazing blog, 1+1+1=1, and am in love with the Printable Packs!!!  Today, we did a few pages from the Princess Pack and the Ballerina Pack!!  Olivia just loved them!!

 Coloring tiaras & enjoying some conversation hearts!!  ;)

 Puzzle!  I attached this to a file folder & cut it out to make it sturdier.  I used packing tape to laminate the pieces (after I took the picture) - two strips are the EXACT same width as the tape!!  :)

Dollar Store Activities

We stopped by a couple of dollar stores today & found some fun preschool things!  :)  I found a bingo marker (or dauber) at Dollar Tree & Olivia just loved using it!! DLTK has a bunch of printables to use with the daubers!!  Over at the 99 cent store, I picked up some small plastic tongs (4-pk) - which are great for little hands!! - & ice trays (2-pk).  We added in our pom poms & had lots of fun!!  :)

Valentine Folder Games

A few years ago, I made some file folder matching games - out of Valentine's cards!!  (I got the cards AFTER Valentine's Day, when they were super cheap, so that makes them even better!!  ;)  However, if there's a favorite character you're looking for, it might be worth it to spend a couple dollars & get the cards early, before they're gone!!  ;)  You can actually make a few sets out of one box of cards!!

I cut off the Valentine's messages & just kept the pictures.  I attached one set of cards to cardstock (or could use extra file folders), cut them out, then laminated them with clear Contact paper!  I used magnetic tape to help the matches "stick".  (I thought this would be nice & quiet if we took them to church! ;)  You could also use velcro - - or nothing at all!!  For the other set of cards, I glued them onto the file folder, then laminated the folder with clear Contact paper!  Easy, peasy!!  ;)  ** Another idea:  use the pictures & attach them to index cards to make a memory game!!