Bringing Snow Inside!

 

I set this up for the kids this morning and they were SO excited to play with it!

 Here is Little M the first time she realized she could change the colour of the snow :)

 

This activity was so simple to set up and they played with it for over an hour.  So worth it!

If you would like to set it up for your little ones all you need is:

A Rubbermaid full of snow
some syringes/paint brushes (we used both)
some small bowl with water mixed with food colouring
plastic spoons
small containers they can fill with snow

ARCTIC UNIT STUDY

This week K requested that our Unit be on Arctic Animals. This stemmed from the week before when we did our Bear Unit Study and learned a bit about polar bears. 

The following was a great treasure hunt type activity that K loved doing!

I printed off the cards and I randomly placed them around the room. Then I had K take the recording worksheet with him around the room to find the numbered cards & write the name of the animal on the worksheet. He loves this kind of treasure hunt game!  

I ended up changing fox to Arctic fox, bear to polar bear and whale to Orca whale just to give him a little more writing.

It was a big hit with him and even Little M loved the picture cards and played with them!

 

 

Here are some pictures if them working with this activity:

This was another great freebie I found while searching for activities called Artic Odd & Even.   I skipped doing this activity with K because he is a little advanced in math but it would be great for grade 1 math/for review.

 

K used this penguin themed writing paper to make his Santa Letter. Unfortunately I forgot to snap some pictures of this but it turned out really cute with this paper:

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/christmas-penguin-writing-paper

 

I found this awesome Arctic Word Sort freebie as well and it was a hit too!

K sorted the words into columns based on it's number of syllables. Here he is clapping out syllables.

 

This  Arctic fox mini packet was a great addition to our unit as well.

 

We used information from the following site to fill in these pages:

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/photos/arctic-animals/#/arctic-fox-springfall-ngk1108-ca03_14249_600x450.jpg

Here are some videos we ended up watching to help us learn about Arctic animals:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=749mFttlSuE

http://discoverandlearn.blogspot.ca/2010/01/animals-in-winter.html

A polar bear stalking a seal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0DCOTaZgtA

Orcas swimming in the water

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnNv2VsKPgc

 

This is a really adorable Walrus craft that we didn't get around to making yet....but we will because it is so cute & when we do I will post some pictures!

 

Here are a couple of really great sensory bin ideas. I have the ice in the freezer getting ready to try this great sensory bin from http://crayonboxchronicles.com/

 

 

and this one looks like so much fun too!

 Pictures of the kids with the sensory bins are still to come. I hope you have as much fun with this unit study as we have!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HALLOWEEN SENSORY BIN

 

I threw together a sensory bin yesterday that was a huge hit....they played with it lots again today too :)

 

I realised after I snapped a few photos that I didn't even take any of my own child (I feel so guilty!!)  I  will snap a few of her playing when she wakes up from her nap ;)

 

This was super easy to put together. I just added into the bin:

 

Pasta noodles (I used 2 different types, any type will do!)

googly eyes

a plastic pumpkin

plastic spiders

orange buttons

2-3 containers & spoons

 

We later added:

orange pipe cleaners

orange pom poms

clear containers with snapping lids (these are always a hit & I bought them 3 for $2 at Dollarama)

 

Even if you do not have all of these items just wing it!

Halloween Playdoh Fun!

 

Today we made some Halloween Playdoh!

This stuff smells great & the kids got creative &  made monsters with it.

 

We used: orange & green playdoh, googly eyes, orange & green buttons, Halloween picks, orange cookie cutters, orange pom poms.

 

 

 

 

Add the following ingredients into a large mixing bowl:

 

2 cups flour

4 tbsp. cream of tartar

2 tbsp. cooking oil

1 cup of salt

2 tbsp. nutmeg

 

Mix well & then add 2 cups of boiling water.  After combined separate the batch in half.  Sprinkle some flour onto the table & knead until it is soft & not sticky.  Add some orange food colouring to one batch & green food colouring to the other.

 

Store in an airtight container to keep fresh. This playdoh usually lasts us a month!

 

 

 

Painting With Puffy Paint

Yesterday was such a beautiful day that we headed outside in the morning to do some painting with "puffy paint". I'm not sure how we have not tried this before! I know I pinned it on my pinterest a long time ago.....I'm SO glad we tried it because it was a lot of fun for the kids! 

Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp salt, food colouring, enough water to make a paste, and pieces of cardboard (that will fit in your microwave).

After they are done creating you just pop the cardboard into the microwave for 20-30 secs.

I`ll be honest...I didn`t follow the recipe at all ;) I was working on the fly with all the little ones anxiously waiting to get outside so I just ran to the cupboard, mixed the items together without measuring at all & voila! It turned out great :)  

K wanted to set the pictures to dry in the sun & "see if they would puff up in the sun"  He was very impressed when they did.

 

Here they are after being microwaved for 20-30 seconds.

 

They all had so much fun with this & were so proud of what they created!  They actually sat at the table while I made lunch feeling the textures on their cardboard :)

Mixing Colours!

Yesterday morning I set this tray out for the little ones to play with.

 Learning to use the droppers was a bit tricky at first for the smaller ones but....

They all figured it out!

This  picture is of my 4 yr old daycare girl. She was thrilled to be mixing & making her own colours. She figured out how to make purple on her own & was ecstatic over it....smiling ear to ear!  Wish I could post more photos of her but for now this will have to do :)

This kept them happily entertained for about 45 minutes!

Having fun painting!

The kids really enjoyed doing some painting yesterday....and it kept them busy for a LONG time ;)

 

 

Here is Little M painting a picture for daddy. 

I made her paint into "puffy paint" because I knew she would love the look of it when it dried (& she did!)  It looks puffy & sparkly :)

 

The recipe is here:

 

http://www.learning4kids.net/2012/10/16/how-to-make-puffy-paint/

 

Here are the boys at work on painting these little wooden boxes I found stashed away in my craft pantry (I bought them  from the $ store a couple yrs. ago & forgot about them *blush*)

They decided to paint them up & give them to their next door neighbour BFF's who are moving away at the end of the month :(

The boys literally spent about 2 hours working on these. Such a great fun activity to keep them busy & beat the "summer boredom"!

If you don't happen to have wooden boxes like I did there are plenty of other things you can get your kids to paint! 
Mine have painted numerous things in the past & it always keeps them busy for a long period of time.  I am going to be breaking these painting ideas out again soon whenever the "summer boredom" sets in.....or whenever the brotherly fighting starts up again ;)

http://tinkerlab.com/painting-on-wood-panel/
http://www.mommywithselectivememory.com/2012/05/painting-rocks-and-how-it-helps-daddy.html
http://teaching2and3yearolds.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/circles-from-tubes.html
http://frugalfun4boys.com/2013/06/17/diy-paint-stamping-with-wiki-sticks/
http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2013/05/shaving-cream-paint.html
http://picklebums.com/2011/08/30/easy-art-for-kids-painting-on-foil/

Sensory Play- Moon/Cloud Dough

 If you haven't tried making Moon/Cloud dough you really should!  I had the idea pinned on Pinterest for a while but couldn't find an actual link to the recipe (the website is www.happyhooligans.com) 

I saw the ingredients listed but with no measurements at all so I just guessed. Here is what I used:

2 cups of Flour
1 cup of baby oil


Very simple & it kept Little M busy for an hour!  She loves it! It is so soft & it molds like sand so she was building me sand castles & making me cookies :)

 

Even K got in on playing with it!

 

 

This picture is of her icky sticky hands after she decided to add a bit of water to it.  She was not happy with herself...LOL.

 

This was a great activity & an easy clean-up...I just took out the hose & hosed down the deck after :)

Making nature collages!

 Little M & her friends had lots of fun this week going on a Nature Hunt!

We went for a walk around the neighborhood so they could collect little flowers, leaves, grass, weeds etc.  

When we got home I got out a tray & set it up with a peice of paper, some glue & the items we collected!


Here is a picture of one of my daycare girl's working on her nature collage.

They turned out so pretty!

Unfortunately I didn't snap any pictures of Little M making her collage because after working on it for about 5 mins. she was done & I didn't get a chance to take a picture!


I did happen to grab a picture of her catching a snail the next day though!  Right after she caught it we made a run to the $ store so she could carry it around & she has been taking care of it ever since.,,,,sticking leaves in her bug carrier & showinng it off to all her friends!

Sensory fun & summer bucket list!

Little M had so much fun with this sensory bin!  I added aqua beads & adzuki beans with a drop of blue food colouring.  She just loved scooping & pouring them into containers.

 

Just a side note/reminder....when you leave the beans sitting in water for a couple days they begin to sprout & go a  bit skunky...don't ask me how I know that ;)

 

This sensory bin was lots of fun though & totally worth it!

 

Little K took some time to work on his "summer bucket list" recently so I thought I would share...here he is just starting out:

 I helped him with the labelling..... Of course Little M had to make one too!