H is for Hippos, Helpers and HALLOWEEN!!

It seems like forever ago that we did H day #1, I should've posted about it last week! Then on day #2 Tyler had a croupy cough so we decided to stay away from all other children for a couple of days. He missed nursery on Sunday, preschool on Monday and gymnastics on Tuesday. Needless to say, we were very happy the boys were well enough to make the preschool Halloween party on Wednesday!!

This is going to be a long post, so grab a sprite and have a seat :)

The first thing we did on H day #1 is review all the letters. So I taped our alphabet pictures in various places in the living room and read Dr. Suess's ABC's. We stopped after each letter for the kids to Hunt for that letter.

H is for Happy Helpers:

I talked about all the ways we can use our Hands: to wave hi, to share, or even to Hit {Can you imagine me saying, "Is that a nice way to use our hands? No, it isn't."} We should make good choices and be good Helpers, that will make us Happy!

So we learned the song, When we're helping we're happy... words and pictures here. I added in a few simple pictures like a happy face (we're happy), a family with an arrow pointing at the mommy (for we like to help mommy), and a heart (for we all love her so). It was fun!

Next we go to the table to learn how to write the letter H. Tyler still scribbles all over the page (please tell me this is normal for 3 1/2... ) and sometimes will draw the letter. We like to use a page protector and let them use dry erase markers, they love this! And then I let them pull it out and put on happy face and heart stickers. H writing printables here.

I always include Do-A-Dot painting because it's Tyler's favorite- shout out to this mommy teacher who made them cute alphabet printables here!

Then we had a break for some physical activity!! Hippo Hopscotch,

Hippo floor number printables here. This is still on the floor and Tyler does it everyday!

Hula Hoop, Hokey Pokey, and even Hungry Hungry Hippos. We didn't have time for all of these, but just puttin' them out there for ya!

Our snack consisted of hotdogs, grapes and cheese chunks and I gave them a toothpick to stick them on. No real reason for that, just thought it would be fun... and motor activity, I guess :)

For the craft, they made Hoot Hoot Owl Handprints, idea found here. (we used brown paper bags instead of construction paper)

It was fun, but Tyler had had it by the time we got to the craft. Some days I'm lucky to get 20 minutes of structured activity with him (once again, please tell me this is normal!) The other kids seem to do fine, but Tyler has always been my spirited child. He does what he wants when he wants (and reminds me of me) so really I do embrace that. I know he is learning, so I just have to remind myself he goes at his own pace.

Here is a great H is for Halloween Packet by Oopsey Daisy, full of fun Halloween games, activities and printables. We would have done this on H day #2, but it would be fun to do just as a family, too!

Alright, moving on to the Halloween Party! This was a blast and the kids were great!

The mom who hosted the party lives next to an old folks' home, so we trick or treated there. The kids enjoyed it and I know they did too!

They played fun games like eating doughnuts on a string

and bobbing for apples (jackson got in on this one!)

bowling for ghosts and pin the nose on the witch...

We all brought a snack to share

And they had so much fun eating it

my boys are still talking about the jello bats and pumpkins

Then they blew balloons and put tissue paper around them to make ghosts

I love making goody bags, so we put together a fun playdoh bag with halloween cookie cutters for the kids to take home. Happy Halloween label printable here. Tyler picked out which friend got which colors and cutters, and he had a reason for each one. He is a very thoughtful friend!

Soooo, with that looooong post, I will conclude by saying that I love having a blog to document what we do and it really is my everyday journal. I really should print it out- if I lost this record somehow I would truly be devastated!

And, I hope that my collection of ideas helps someone. I love browsing ideas online and there are so many creative people who share ideas and printables which sparks my creativity too. I may do this again next year and then Tyler will still have one more year before kindergarten, and then I'm sure I'll do Mommy school with Jackson, so maybe I will eventually plan and teach a lesson on every letter in the alphabet!!

C is for Colors, Counting Cars, and Clothespins

A couple weeks ago, we hosted preschool and learned about the letter C! We began with the Do-A-Dot markers and used this page from Confessions of a Homeschooler (link on sidebar)

Then we made a color collage with random craft bits- stickers, feathers, jewels, beads, foam stickers... The kids stuck or glued the items that match the colors in their correct square.

Snack-time with a Cup, Crackers, Carrots, Cookies and Craisins!

I made this really cool game that they LOVED doing! I used sharpies to color the clothespins and turned pipe cleaners into a loop. They then matched the correct color loop and pinned on the clothespin. Not only do they think about the colors, but use fine motor skills too!

They each got one bag with a set of colors each:

At playtime they did Crab-walks, Cat-stretches and played Catch. Then they played with toy Cars.

We finished the day by Counting Cars... I saw this idea here: My Montessori Journey

I decided 5 was ambitious enough, drew out 1-5 on the writing strip, and a number on each car. They had to match the number and count to 5 at the same time.

Somedays I wish I could teach Preschool everyday. And on most days, I'm glad I don't have to! I love the idea of having mom's teach and rotate around, it's genius. Our next day is H, full of fun Halloween crafts and learning games!

A is for Anteater, Aquarium, Animals and Alphabet

Yesterday we did the second lesson for the letter A!

Last week he saw that picture of an Anteater and Tyler asked what he was called. I told him it was an anteater and he just kept laughing and didn't believe me. I told him he has a long nose and tongue to eat the ants in an ant hill and that's why it was called an anteater. He still thought I was kidding. Then he found one in his animals collection and was so happy he started laughing again. So that's what he brought to show & tell!!

The next thing we did was the Aa coloring page with these super cool paint markers:

and then a little play-doh fun (which I don't have a picture of). We took a printout with the letter Aa in dotted lines and put it in a page protector. Then they take a magic marker to practice drawing the letter a few times. Once they're done and erase it again, they can stretch playdoh into snakes and make the letter on top of the shapes again.

The big project of the day is the aquariums. I love the idea and found details here: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/diorama/aquarium/

It was a great day! Everyone had fun and did well! Can't wait for our next lesson I teach: the letter C!

Lately we've been working on the alphabet song, and recognizing letters. I thought of this fun activity for Tyler and I to do during Jackson's nap time-- I printed out an alphabet page and then brought out the letter tiles from Bananagrams (scrabble tiles would work too!) Then he gets to match the tile to the letter and name it as he does.

The other day we were eating apples and he said, "apple starts with A and A says /a/!" Then another time he asked, "What does B say?" I thought that was pretty funny. He's starting to catch on and it is really fun to see him make connections and learn new letters!!

Joy School Mom's Heaven

For those of you who do at-home preschool with your kids, you want to see these blogs!

Confessions of a Homeschooler

I have clicked on the PreK topic, but she has helps and ideas for teaching all ages

ABC and 123

They do posts on each letter of the alphabet with ideas and projects

Holiday Ideas- here's Easter projects

Learning Games like this Singing Game

Ideas on how to organize your playroom, craft room or preschool area

Gosh, I could go on and on and then when you follow links, you get more great ideas (and keeps me up all night, it's 12:35 am, what am I doing?)

Anyway, they are hosting a giveaway for an entire curriculum kit-- the one that I have been wanting! So I hope I win-- cross your fingers for me and go ahead and enter too, cuz I'd be happy for you if you won!

Cleaning, Grooming, and Catching up

I've closed my etsy shop for a few days and I feel brand new. I didn't realize how much I worked until I stopped working. I still have a few orders to catch up on and honestly dreaded getting another sale. I promised myself that when it got to that point, I'd take a break.

So, I'm taking a little break. A break to renew myself, pay my bills, organize my house, give the boys haircuts, take them to the park, clean the kitchen and just plain pay more attention to my family!

The boys' room. I love it! Especially when it is clean. There's not a lot of room for playing, but all the essentials fit in there. They have really enjoyed falling to sleep together. I remember that being one of my favorite types of memories with my sister. I always loved sharing a room with her!

Here's Tyler's letter R rabbit ears. They must have talked about frogs too, because he hopped around the house with his rabbit ears saying "ribbit, I'm a rabbit, Ribbit, ribbit!" It was so funny! He has had a ton of fun this week at Luke's. On the way home he said, "Mom, I want to do that again." I asked him what he wanted to do again and he said "That. Preschool." :) Thanks Hillary!

Jackson has really funny hair. It is perfectly straight on top, and in the back it is fuzzy and sticks straight out. It has a really thick course texture too-- I call it Katie hair! (Good thing she's a girl and she gets to have it long and pretty!)

So, I decided to trim the back to see if that would calm it down. I think it looks much better.

It was so funny as I was trying to take a picture of the back of him, he just kept turning and turning as I did. But he was looking straight up at me, so he kept falling over. I was laughing so hard, I couldn't even take a good picture!!

I cut Tyler's hair this morning too, so I'll take one when I do the boys hair today for our Target trip today!