Swat!

Today we played a letter and sound identification game using flash cards and butterfly shaped (fly) swatters. We're changing their names to just swatters. ; )

I called out a letter or sound and the girls would find the right card and swat it.
Big sister was having a moment so just little sister played the game this day. 

At the end to clean up, I had her gather the cards that matched what I called out.

It's always a great idea to turn cleaning up into a game or race.  At least, that's what works for us.

Building Words

As the girls continue to work with letters they are beginning to understand that letters make up words.
Especially their own names. 
I put animal stickers on index cards and labeled them. 
Next,  I wrote letters on clothespins for the girls to match up.
They did pretty well,  so hopefully this helps them connect letters to words as they become emergent readers. 

Sorting By Color

One spiraling activity we do is sorting objects. 
Today we sorted pom pom balls by color.  To add a twist,  I gave them clothespins to  grab the items with. This helped strengthened their fine motor skills which will help their handwriting later.
Big sister had some trouble squeezing the clothespins open so I modified the game by giving her a wider chip clip to use.  Crisis averted. ;)

Number Sense Game

To work on our number sense,  we used stickers to count and represent numbers to 6.
After we were fine we talked about what they noticed. One girl said 1 only had 1 sticker and 6 had a lot.
Later,  relationships between numbers will help them learn basic concepts or adding and subtracting. For now,  we're just trying to get more familiar with numbers and their value.

Bead Bracelets: Patterns

Today we used different colored beads to make patterned bracelets. 
Threading the beads through the pipe cleaners was also good fine motor skills practice. 

Fishing for Letters

To work on our letter name and sound knowledge we played our fishing game we haven't played in a while. 
Today it seemed like shorter attention spans really tested the girls' patience when trying to hook a fish. 
Since the object of the game was letter/sound identification I let them place the fish on the hook.  Whatever works right? 

Shaving Cream Sensory Activity

Using shaving cream is a fun way to let kids explore and learn through their senses. 
I will sometimes let them play directly on the table but to control the mess today,  I taped down a foil workspace. 
As they play talk to them about what it feels like and what they can create. Volcanoes, faces,  designs,  letters; the possibilities are endless! 
Remember to make learning fun. It'll go a long way!

Number Flash Cards

This was a very easy activity they did mostly on their own that we will be able to re use. 
I numbered index cards 1-10 for each child.
Then I modeled how to add the correct amount of stickers on the cards. 
They were able to work on their own but I was there to make sure they were counting or recounting if they needed to.
Later we can use these for flash cards or matching games. 

Scrap Paper Project

After the girls practiced cutting up paper,  I figured out a way to use the "trash."
I wrote their names on a sheet of construction paper and then had them glue their scrap pieces of paper on the letters.

Vacation Journal Entry

Today the girls drew pictures about their favorite part of their vacation.
After they drew their picture,  I had them dictate their caption to me and I wrote it down for them.

Homemade Popsicles

We used fruit juice to make popsicles today. 
Do you have any good popsicle recipes?

Ordering Numbers

To work on our number order,  I had the twins construct a sun picture with numbered rays.  I precut and labeled the pieces for them to complete independently while I monitored.  

Road Trip Surprise Envelopes

By Arielle (mommy)

I am determined to keep my kids occupied on an upcoming 13 hour road trip to Colorado.  My kids usually want to watch tons of movies, so I'm hoping this will help cut back the screen time.  Plus I just think it's super fun.  I'm pretty sure the process will keep me busy and entertained as well.

Along with these envelopes, Lil and O will each have a binder with things like crayons and a notebook  that they can use to make the things in the envolopes even more fun.

I made little envelopes of them to open on the trip, I'm not sure how often I will have them open a new envelope but I'm thinking one per hour.  I made more than enough and each envelope has a trivia question for them to answer to earn the contents.  

The contents:

Pipe cleaners: for making sculptures, numbers, letters, and pictures.  

Tin foil: for making sculptures, and wrapping things up.

Post it notes: to write on, and stick to things.  

Counting stickers: for counting out and sticking top pre-made number cards.

Complete the picture index cards:  I drew simple things on each card like a circle on one, an line on another, a zigzag on the next.  This will be fun for the kids to use their imaginations and finish each drawing I've started.  I also included some card holders for the. To put their cards into.  

Links: small for Lil, big ones for O (his didn't fit in the envelope).

Foam stickers: to make words and pictures with.

Colored dots: for counting, outlining their names, drawing faces on, etc.

Paper clip sorting: they can clip the colored clips to the correct colored papers.  I also gave Lil a set of numbers to put the correct number of clips on.  They could also use these to make necklaces.

Rainbows:  for O a foam rainbow to put together.  For Lil yarn or all colors to make a rainbow (or a picture of anything with, along with some tape to tape her creation to her journal.

Mini coloring books

Travel: random travel themed stickers, bookmarks, paper cut outs, foam airplanes, paper airplanes, they can use their imaginations. 

Circus bags: one for putting a special snack in, one to hold any creations they make.

Mad libs: just fun for the whole family

Foam stickers:  they can use these to draw people in their journals.

Folder books:  I cut up some cheap folders to make little books that are durable and have pockets on the inside.  I also included some stickers.  It will be fun to see what they create.

Candy necklaces: this envelope is a special reward.

Legos: just enough for each of them.

Wicki sticks and color slides: waxy sticks for making sculptures, colored slides for looking through to see the world in different colors.

Ribbons:  I included many different types of ribbon and an empty spool for each of them.  They can wrap the ribbons around the spool or tread it through the hole.

Gold stars and small colored paper

Mini books

Sticker charts: this could just be a fun fine motor activity as they put the stickers in the charts or we may actually use them to reward good behavior.  I haven't decided yet.

Gold stars: oops, duplicate!  Hope they like that one.

Clay:  hopefully I won't regret this one.

Face puppets:  they can use these for writing, drawing, copying the faces, or puppet shows

I included some ideas of how they might use the activities, but really there is no telling what a 4.5 year old and a 2.5 year old will do when given these items, and that is going to be my entertainment. :)