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!