Busy Bags

My friend had the wonderful idea recently of having a busy bag swap. A busy bag is an activity for young children that teaches them a skill as well as keeps them busy whenever you may need them to be. Whether it is at church, on a car ride, or just at home. Rather than have them watch yet another tv show, you can give them a great learning activity instead.

We had a group of 14 women. We each made 14 of the same busy bag activity and then we got together and swapped them. So we each came home with 14 different activities for our children. My son has tried several of them already and loves them. I am hoping we will do another one soon since they were such a hit.

Here are some links with ideas for busy bags.
Button Snake (this is what I did for my bag)
List of ideas here, here, or here.

Preschool: The Letter F

I haven't been very good about having preschool time this month with my son. We have been working on the letter F all month. I didn't take pictures, so this is kind of a boring post but we really enjoyed the books on this list.

Books:
-Firetrucks by Peter Brady
-This is the Firefighter by Laura Godwin
-If I could Drive a Firetruck! by Michael Teitelbaum
-Flower Garden by Eve Bunting
-From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons
-Apples by Gail Gibbons
-Apple, Apples Everywhere! by Robing Koontz
-Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert
-Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni
-Fish Wish by Bob Barner
-The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
-Gone Fishing by Earlene Long
-A Fish in His Pocket by Denys Cazet
-How a Tadpole Grows into a Frog
-The Frog in the Pond by Wil Mara
-Watch me grow Frog by Lisa Magloff
-One Frog Sang by Shirley Parenteau

Firetruck day: Read This is the Firefighter by Laura Godwin, Firetrucks by Peter Brady and If I could Drive a Firetruck! by Michael Teitelbaum. I also checked out a couple of movies about firetrucks at the library. Take a field trip to visit the local fire station.

Fish day: Read Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni, A Fish in His Pockent by Denys Cazet, The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister, Fish Wish by Bob Barner, and Gone Fishing by Earlene Long. We made a fish out of construction paper with a googly eye.

Flower day: Read Flower Garden by Eve Bunting, Sunflower House by Eve Bunting. Take you preschooler to the store to buy their own bouquet of flowers.

Fruit day: Read Apples by Gail Gibbons, From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons, Apple, Apples Everywhere! by Robing Koontz, and Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert. Have a variety of fruit for your child to sample.

Frog day: Read How a Tadpole Grows into a Frog, The Frog in the Pond by Wil Mara, Watch me grow Frog by Lisa Magloff, and One Frog Sang by Shirley Parenteau. Frog Activities here.

Preschool Activities: Thanksgiving Week

It was fun teaching my son about Thanksgiving. He is so excited about all the holidays this year and it makes them more special seeing them through a child's eyes. Below are preschool activities for Thanksgiving Week you can enjoy the next couple days.

Supplies Needed for Thanksgiving Week:
-Construction Paper
-Turkey Pattern

-Googly eyes
-Paper Sack
-Feathers
-Crayons and or paint

Suggested Books to Read:
-I just grabbed what my library had. The only one I was impressed enough to recommend is Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks by Margaret Sutherland. Update: I also found a book called Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes that is a good read.

Pilgrim and Native American Day:
-Make an Native American Costume. Ideas here and here

Thankful Day:
-Make a Thankful Turkey -Watch Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Turkey Day:
-We colored a turkey coloring page from our local newspaper. You can find your own sheet here or here.

-You have your preschooler help make the place card holders for Thanksgiving day. Here are some ideas I gave last year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Preschool Activities: The Letter C

Here are some ideas for learning about the letter C with your preschooler.

Supplies Needed:
-Samples of white, dark, milk chocolate
-Carrots
-Crayons
-Colored marshmallows
-Pipe cleaner
-Marker

Books Needed:
-The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
-Carrot Soup by John Segal*
-Do You Have Any Carrots? by Leonard Kessler*
-Just Enough Carrots by Stuart J. Murphy*
-Max's Chocolate Chicken by Rosemary Wells*
-The Story Behind Chocolate by Sean Stewart Price*
-Percy's Chocolate Crunch*
-Curious George Goes to a Chocolate Factory by Margret and H.A. Rey's*
-A Day with No Crayons by Elizabeth Rusch
-Crayons from Start to Finish by Samuel G. Woods*
-What Happens at a Crayon Factory? by Lisa M. Guidone*
-My Crayons Talk by Patricia Hubbard
-The Green Caterpillar by Lo Coccinella
-It's a Caterpillar! by Elisa Peters*
-Houdini The Amazing Caterpillar by Janet Pedersen
-Arabella Miller's Tiny Caterpillar by Clare Jarrett
-The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (we also wathed the DVD The Very Hungry Caterpillar and other stories)*
-The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle (also watch the DVD)*
-Do you still love me? by Charlotte Middleton
*These were our favorites and the ones I recommend. You may find some other great books on these topics when you look at your local library.

Carrot Day:
-Read The Carrot Seed, Carrot Soup, Do You Have Any Carrots?, and Just Enough Carrots.

-We snacked on carrots that day. Mom son loved all of the books. Carrot day was a huge hit.

Chocolate Day:
-Read Max's Chocolate Chicken, The Story Behind Chocolate, Curious George Goes to a Chocolate Factory, and Percy's Chocolate Crunch.
-That is all we did that day. It would have been nice to have samples of different types of chocolate.

Crayon Day:
-Read A Day with No Crayons, Crayons from Start to Finish, What Happens at a Crayon Factory?, My Crayons Talk

-Made a crayon train (my son's idea)

-Of course, you can color a picture using crayons

Caterpillar Day:
-Read The Green Caterpillar, It's a Caterpillar!, Houdini The Amazing Caterpillar, The Very Hungry Caterpillar
-Watched The Very Hungry Caterpillar and other stories dvd, which also had to other books that began with the letter C on it.


-Made caterpillars out of colored marshmallows and pipe cleaner and used marker to dot the eyes. My son loved this. We made a family of caterpillars representing each person in our family.


Chameleon Day:
-Read The Mixed-Up Chameleon, Do you still love me?
-Watched Watched The Very Hungry Caterpillar and other stories dvd

Preschool Activities: The Letter M

Here are some ideas for learning about the letter M. So far, this has been my son's favorite week. He absolutely loved playing with marshmallows and making muffins.

Supplies needed for Letter M Week:
-Bag of big marshmallows and bag of colored small marshmallows
-Paint (watercolors or finger)
-White paper
-Elmer's glue
-Googly eyes
-Black yarn
-Print mask here
-Ingredients to make muffins

Suggested books for Letter M Week:
- The Marshmallow Incident by Judi Barrett
-Marshmallow Kisses by Linda Crotta Brennan (not really about marshmallows, except for one page)
-Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett
-One Monkey too Many by Jackie French Koller
-Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh*
-If you give a Mouse a Cookie*
-If you give a Moose a Muffin*
*Our favorite books of the week.

Marshmallow Day:
-Read The Marshmallow Incident by Judi Barrett and Marshmallow Kisses by Linda Crotta
Brennan
-Sort marshmallows by size and color
-Marshmallow races and games, such as running with marshmallow on spoon
-Glue marshmallows on the letter M that you draw on a piece of white paper (my son loved this so much we did it a couple of days during "M" week)

My son needed to get his front loader to help move the marshmallows.

Mouse Day:
-Read If you give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh
-Paint - you can explain how the primary colors make other colors like the mice discovered in the book Mouse Paint
-Make a Letter M mouse


Monkey Day:
-Read One Monkey too Many by Jackie French Koller and Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett
-Make monkey mask

Moose Day:
-Read If you give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Moosetache by Margie Palatini
-Make muffins

The Letter H

Supplies Needed for Letter H Week:
-This week was busy and we only read the books, but I put links to various activities you can do with each day.

Suggested Books for Letter H Week:
-The Magic Hat by Tricia Tusa
-I've Lost My Hat by Charnan Simon
-Hat by Paul Hoppe
-Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina*
-Go Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman
-Are You a Horse? by Andy Rash
-The Wild Little Horse by Rita Gray
-A House is a House for Me by Mary Ann Hoberman*
-The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton*
-The Napping House by Audrey and Don Wood*
-Hippos Go Beserk by Sandra Boynton*
-The Belly Button Book by Sandra Boynton*
*Our favorite books of the week.

Hat Day:
-Read The Magic Hat by Tricia Tusa, Hat by Paul Hoppe, I've Lost My Hat by Charnan Simon and Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina.
-Choose a hat activity here.

Horse Day:
-Read Are You a Horse? by Andy Rash and The Wild Little Horse by Rita Gray.
-For the activity you can put on cowboy hats and ride your stick horses (broom, stick, etc). You can even make your own stick horse.

House Day:
-Read A House is a House for Me by Mary Ann Hoberman, The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton, The Napping House by Audrey and Don Wood.
-For activities you can build a house with lincoln logs or we have a Little People House we played with.

Hippo Day:
-Read Hippos Go Beserk by Sandra Boynton, The Belly Button Book by Sandra Boynton.
-Hippo activities here.

Preschool Activities: The Letter L

I have been having learning activities based around one letter each week with my three year old. He loves doing his school work. I am still working out an exact routine, but I thought I'd begin sharing what I am doing so far. This may give you some ideas to use with with your preschoolers.

Supplies Needed for Letter L Week:
-Broken yellow, red, and orange crayons
-Wax paper
-Iron
-Googly eyes
-Black yarn
-Yellow paper

Books Needed for Letter L Week:
-Llama Mama books by Anna Dewdney*
-Is Your Mama a Llama by Deborah Guarino (also on DVD)*
-Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
-Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson*
-Leaves by David Ezra Stein
-Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
-Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen*
-The Happy Lion by Lousie Fatio*
-If I Were a Lion by Sarah Weeks
-The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
-Ladybug Girl by David Soman
-Are you a Ladybug by Judy Allaen and Tudor Humphries
*The books my son and I enjoyed the most and I'd enjoy in our library collection.

Llama Day:
-Read Llama Mama books by Anna Dewdney
-Watch (or read) Is Your Mama a Llama by Deborah Guarino

Leaves Day:
-Read Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert, Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson, Leaves by David Ezra Stein, and Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
-Make wax leaves
-Go on a walk and collect leaves and come home and glue them as a collage on a piece of paper

Lion Day:
-Read Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen, The Happy Lion by Lousie Fatio, and If I Were a Lion by Sarah Weeks
-Make Lion craft

Ladybug Day:
-Read The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle, Ladybug Girl by David Soman, and Are you a Ladybug by Judy Allaen and Tudor Humphries
-Ladybug activities

Before Five in A Row

I have started a dedicated learning time each day with my three-year old and one of the resources I have been using is a book called Before Five in a Row by Jane Claire Lambert. It is a book full learning activities for your children ages 2-4. The first part focuses on books to read with your child and activities you can do when discussing each book.

Here are the books on the BFIAR book list:

• Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by N.W. Carlstrom
• Yellow Ball by Molly Bang
• My Blue Coast by Chris L. Demarest
• The Little Rabbit by Judy Dunn
• Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack
• Blueberries For Sal by Robert McCloskey
• Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
• The Big Green Pocketbook by Candice Ransom
• The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
• The ABC Bunny by Wanda Gag
• If Jesus Came to My House by Joan Gale Thomas
• Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
• The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
• The Quiet Way Home by Bonny Becker
• Play With Me by Marie Hall Ets
• Prayer for a Child by Rachel Field
• I Am An Artist by Pat L. Collins
• Angus Lost by Marjorie Flack
• Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne
• We're Going On a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
• The Red Carpet by Rex Parkin
• Corduroy by Don Freeman
• Jenny's Surprise Summer by Eugenie

I have been checking out one of these books from the library each week to read and discuss. I also have been focusing on a letter of the week, which I'll be doing posts of each letter we do and suggested books and activities.

The second half of the BFIAR is full of creative ideas to do with your preschooler. Ideas range from activities to develop large motor skills (balancing, crab walk, skipping) to small motor skills (puzzles, cutting and pasting).

It is a resource I have enjoyed and recommend you checking out at your local library.

How to Make Felt (Flannel) Figures for Your Felt Board

After making my felt board, my next project was to make felt figure kits to use on the felt board. My son is really into the alphabet right now, so I decided to make some uppercase and lowercase letters for us to do during his daily learning time. I just typed the alphabet in Arial font size 175 and printed on T-Shirt Iron-on Transfer paper.

Here's what you'll need:

-T-Shirt Iron-on Transfer Paper - This can be expensive if you don't buy in bulk. You can purchase a pack of six 8"x11.5" sheets at Wal-Mart for about $7.50 ($1.25 each). I bought 100 sheets for $63 (including tax and shipping) from Dharma Trading which works out to 63 cents each. It still is an investment but much cheaper than purchasing your own felt kits which are usually about $10 per kit (which is usually only a sheet or two of figures).
-Felt or flannel (I prefer white)
-Printer (Recommendation: Kodak printers have the best price on cartridges. I know when I had a Cannon it was about $50 to refill my cartridges! Now it is $25 with my Kodak.)
-Iron
-Scissors
-Folders to organize kits

Follow steps on photos below:

You can find the mirror image option (see below) in by selecting File, Print, Properties, Layout tab.




If you are interested in scripture stories for your flannel board, I found a great site called Chocolate on My Cranium that has about 50 free kits (see example below) you can download that come with the images and a text document. I put the figures on felt from an idea from a little of this, a little of that blog. These kits are perfect for Family Home Evening (family time we try do every Monday night).

How to make a flannel board (aka felt board)

I am working on preparing a library of supplies and materials to teach my children. I am currently working on making kits for my flannel board. I will post more on that soon. Today, I want to show you how I ended up creating my felt board.

Supplies needed:
-Framed white board (mine is also magnetic) - I bought mine at Wal-Mart for $6
-Felt or Flannel one inch larger than the board - I had this on hand but should only be a couple dollars
-Butter knife

Then follow the pictures and instructions below.





When you are finished, you'll have a felt board on one side and a white board and magnet board on the other.