Sunday, November 23, 2008

Tot-School


There has been a lot of real life happening around here this past week. The littlest among us have spent way to much time watching Thomas the Tank Engine on video and driving trains around in a circle. Above, you can see Kimberly being a human tunnel for the train track.
I have fallen in love the Kumon preschooler workbooks. This sticker and paste book has been a real hit this week.
Both kids are getting very good at peeling the stickers and putting them onto their papers where they want them.
The only problem is that they LOVE these activities and between the two of them, they can finish a book at one sitting....and at $6.00 a book....this isn't going to work.
I came up with this simple activity to use with stickers and they enjoyed it. I just wrote the first letter of their names on paper and they stuck star stickers to it, following the letter.

This took a lot of patience and both of them almost completed it. If anyone out there has any easy sticker activities, please let me know.
I have had this Melissa and Doug pattern block set in the closet for several years. I got it for the older kids. It has previously been too hard for my tots, but this week Kimberly could manage it. It has no frame, so it is hard for a 2 1/2 year old, but she was satisfied with her results. Luke (3 1/2) didn't have the patience to stick with this activity.
Our nursey rhyme of the week is Hey Diddle Diddle. If you missed Kimberly's rendition, you can see it here. (I couldn't wait for my Tot-School post to put in on the blog.)
We made this cow jumping over the moon craft from the DLTK-Kids site.
First we painted paper plates yellow for our moons.
Print out the cows and use a brad fastener to attach the cow to the moon. I am also planning on making the mobile that is on this site, but we just haven't gotten to it yet.
Luke's cow doesn't always go over the moon,
sometimes it goes under the moon.
Thanksgiving is coming, so I got out our Fisher Price Thanksgiving playset and the Mayflower playset.
This has definitely been Kim and Luke's favorite Thanksgiving book. They have enjoyed listening to it over, and over, and over again.
The Mayflower has also made an appearance on our world map. I made this from the Toymaker site. It is not for little kids to make. It was a challenge for my 8 year old, but it helps keep the story of the pilgrims alive for us all.
Thanksgiving also means handprint turkeys.



HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!
Make sure to visit Carisa, at 1+1+1=1, for more Tot School posts.

5 comments:

Kristi said...

Fantastic ideas as usual.

I can't help but want to warn you about something. I had a bad experience with Melissa and Doug blocks. The red ones had lead in them. Because of this my son ended up with elevated levels. The red blocks were the only things my son had access to that tested positive for lead. So if you have any kids who even occassionally mouth things. You should test them.

I'm not trying to bad mouth them....I just wanted to warn you.

Anonymous said...

I always enjoy your tot-school posts. I try to do some schooling with my toddler everyday, but it doesn't always work out like I plan. I at least get to it 3 or so times a week, though. You do a great job with it! Such great ideas, too! I hope to join tot-school in January. Have a great Thanksgiving and glad your dad is doing better!

Gidget Girl Reading said...

fun ideas! i agree those workbooks are cool but way to overpriced! we did the star stickers on a S once she loved it!

love the handprint turkeys and that cake!

Anonymous said...

We are happy to hear about your dad. Prayers are with him. Great job in school!! Kim

Rhonda said...

Looks like some great work going on during Tot-School. I remember my Lindsay making those handprint turkeys. You just brought back some great memories for me. That Fisher Price Thanksgiving set is so cute. I bet they really enjoyed playing with it. It is always so much fun visiting here. Keep up the great work hon.