MONDAY:
Craft- Potato Print Turkey
Song- Did You Ever See A Turkey?
Activity- Turkey Baster Painting
TUESDAY:
Craft- Hand and Footprint Turkey
Song- Five Little Turkeys
Activity- Pumpkin Turkey
WEDNESDAY:
Craft- Fingerprint Turkeys
Song- Six Little Turkeys
Activity- Make Banana Gobble Pancakes
THURSDAY:
Craft- Coffee Filter Turkeys
Song- Turkey On The Farm
Activity- Gobble like a turkey
FRIDAY:
Craft- Turkey Windsock
Song- Fat Turkey’s Song
Activity- Make turkey sandwiches together for lunch
Lately I’ve been spending hours looking at other people’s setups for their homeschool rooms. Here are ten spaces that I LOVE (click on pictures to go to the corresponding posts): ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** … Continue reading
MONDAY (circle):
Craft- Caterpillar C
Song- Circle Song
Activity- Play with balls
Snack- Slice fruits and veggies into circles
TUESDAY:
Craft- Shape button collage
Song- Shape Song
Activity- Glue Tracing (with shapes)
WEDNESDAY (square):
Craft- Square Puzzle
Song- The Square Song
Activity- Build with blocks
Snack- Graham cracker squares
THURSDAY:
Craft- Shape Sponge Painting (cut shapes out of sponges)
Song- Shapes
Activity- Shaving Cream Play (Drawing Shapes)
FRIDAY (triangle):
Craft- Triangle Fish Craft
Song- This Is A Triangle
Activity- Find triangles around the house
Snack- Pizza Slices
MONDAY:
Craft- Family Pumpkin Patch
Song- The Pumpkin Song
Activity- Play with pumpkin playdough
TUESDAY:
Craft- Paper Bag Pumpkin
Song- Pumpkin, Pumpkin
Activity- Carve a pumpkin
WEDNESDAY:
Craft- Paper plate Jack O Lantern
Song- Pumpkin Song
Activity- Family outing to the Pumpkin Patch
THURSDAY:
Craft- Paint a pumpkin
Song- Five Little Pumpkins
Activity- Make pumpkin pancakes as a family
FRIDAY:
Craft- Pumpkin Collage
Song- Five Pumpkins Fat and Round
Activity- Roast pumpkin seeds
MONDAY
Activity: Visit the library for spider themed books
Craft: Spiderweb art
Song: The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Snack: Pretzel Spiders
TUESDAY
Activity: Spider Tweezing
Craft: Spider Craft
Song: Spider Song
WEDNESDAY
Activity: Read The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
Craft: Eensy Weensy Tracks
Song: Spider on the Floor (Raffi)
Snack: Spider Pizza
THURSDAY
Activity: Count spider rings or fake plastic spiders
Craft: Handprint Spiders (Thanks to @SippyCupMom for the suggestion on Twitter)
Song: Little Miss Muffet
FRIDAY
Activity: Make and decorate cupcakes together
Craft: Spider Candy Holder
Song: The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Snack: Spider cupcakes
Look at these super cute cupcakes my friend Camisha made for her daughter's birthday party!
MONDAY
Activity: Visit the library for farm themed books
Craft: Peek-A-Boo Barn Craft (Jake will color pieces)
Song: Old MacDonald Had A Farm
Snack: Crackers and Cheese
TUESDAY
Activity: Play with Little People farm and animals
Craft: Cotton Ball Sheep
Song: Baa Baa Black Sheep
WEDNESDAY
Activity: Read the Farm Animals e-book
Craft: Touch and Feel Duck
Song: Sesame Street- Have You Ever Been To The Farm?
Snack: Eggs
THURSDAY
Activity: Farm Animal Matching Game
Craft: Muddy Pig Craft
Song: Mary Had A Little Lamb
FRIDAY
Activity: Farm Puzzle
Craft: Feather Collage
Song: The Farmer In The Dell
Snack: Pigs in a blanket
WEEKEND
Activity: Visit a petting zoo, go on a hayride, and talk about the farm animals we see
MONDAY
Activity: Visit the library for Zoo themed books
Craft: Sponge paint animal shapes
Song: The Elephant Song
Snack: Animal Chips
TUESDAY
Activity: Play with Little People animals
Craft: Paper Plate Lion
Song: Five Little Monkeys
WEDNESDAY
Activity: Dress-up in animal costumes
Craft: Foam Animal Sticker art
Song: Barney Alphabet zoo song
Snack: Animal shaped sandwiches (cut w/ cookie cutters)
THURSDAY
Activity: Playdough with animal cookie cutters
Craft: Animal print paper bag puppets
Song: The Bear Went Over the Mountain
FRIDAY
Activity: Animal movements (act like an animal)
Craft: Paper Plate Snakes
Song: Sally the Camel
Snack: Animal Crackers
MONDAY:
Craft- Apple Print Wreath
Song- A Wiggly Worm
Activity- Go to the library to get apple themed books
Snack- Apples with peanut butter
TUESDAY:
Craft- Pom Pom Apple Tree
Song- Apples and Bananas (Barney song)
Activity- Play with cinnamon scented play dough
Snack- Applesauce
WEDNESDAY:
Craft- Color apples- red, green, and yellow
Song- Apples
Activity- Family outing- apple picking
Snack- Apples from the apple tree
THURSDAY:
Craft- Apple seed collage (glue apple seeds to paper)
Song- 1 little, 2 little, 3 little apples
Activity- Counting apples (numbers 1 to 5)
Snack- Apple chips
FRIDAY:
Craft- Apple Prints
Song- Apple, Apple
Activity- Make apple muffins
Snack- Apple Juice and graham crackers
Here are some of the activities I have planned for the week:
MONDAY:
Craft- Falling Leaves
Song- The Leaves on the Tree
Activity- Go to the library for fall themed books
TUESDAY:
Craft- Faux Stained Glass Leaves
Song- Leaves Are Falling
Activity- Rake up leaves and jump in them
WEDNESDAY:
Craft- Leaf Prints
Song- Little Leaves
Activity- Family Nature Walk
THURSDAY:
Craft- Crunchy Fall Leaf Prints
Song- Five Leaves
Activity- Make a nature collage w/ leaves and items picked up on yesterday’s nature walk
FRIDAY:
Craft- Fall Fingerprint Tree Craft
Song- The Leaves
Activity- Farmer’s Market visit- buy some gourds
Jacob is 27 months old. This week (and probably the next month) will be light with activities as we pack and prepare to move.
MONDAY
Activity: Look at family photos and help Jacob point out himself in the pictures.
Craft: Handprints on paper (w/ paint)
Song: I Am Special
TUESDAY
Activity: Point out body parts- focus on elbows and knees (body parts Jake is still learning to identify)
Craft: Footprints on Paper (color them and cut them out)
Song: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes Song
WEDNESDAY
Activity: Visit the library to check out books about this week’s theme
Craft: Make a “Jacob” placemat for the table
Song: You Are Special (Barney song)
THURSDAY
Activity: Count fingers and toes
Craft: “J” is for Jacob (glue jellybeans to a letter “J” cut out)
Song: If You’re Happy and You Know It
FRIDAY
Activity: Hokey Pokey dance
Craft: Lifesize Jacob (trace body on large paper and have child color it)
Song: Jesus Loves Me
ALL WEEK
-Point out the letter “J” whenever we see it
-Practice self-help skills
This week in tot school we are talking about the FIVE SENSES. I had so many ideas for this theme that I almost finished the lesson plan in about 20 minutes with just ideas that I had used in the past as a preschool teacher. A lot of these activities can serve multiple categories but I chose the one that made the most sense. I will definitely revisit this theme again in the future.
SMELL
– Smelly playdough
– Color with scented markers
– Sticker art w/ “scratch and sniff” stickers
– Smelly tubes (film canisters work great for this… put scents on cotton balls, poke holes in the top of container, and have them smell)
– Bake cookies- smell them baking
– Smell fresh flowers
TASTE
– Make lemonade- taste lemon, then taste sugar, then make lemonade and taste that
– Make a trail mix w/ different toddler friendly snacks- include sweet, salty, crunchy, soft textured foods
– Have salty pretzels for snack
– Paint with chocolate pudding
– Brush teeth with different flavors of toothpaste
TOUCH
– Mix paint and grains of sand to make a textured paint
– Make a sensory box (I’ve used rice, sand, beans, packing peanuts, etc)
– Touch and feel box (from discovery toys)
– Texture collage- cut up pieces of various textured items and have child glue on to paper
– Water play
– Squishy bags (put paint, hair gel, or something else “gel” like in a ziploc bag…make sure to tape around the edges)
SIGHT
– Read a book about the 5 senses
– Rainbow art
– Decorate a “S” w/ string
– Take a walk and talk about what you see in nature
– Blow bubbles
HEARING
– Play a clapping game
– Make a musical instrument (easy idea is put beans into an oatmeal canister)
– Play the drums
– Bubble wrap fun- put a strip of bubble wrap on the ground and let the child jump on it
– Dance to music
– Listen to music while painting
This week in Tot School the theme is: FRIENDSHIP and the letter F,f.
MONDAY
Activity: Look at pictures of friends and say their names. Talk about what a “friend” is (very basic).
Craft: Fingerpaint the letter F
Song: ‘Make New Friends (but keep the old)’
Book: Winnie the Pooh- Two Friends
TUESDAY
Activity: Decorate a card for a friend and send it in the mail
Craft: Friendship Wreath
Song: ‘The More We Get Together’
Book: The Lion King’s Best Friends
WEDNESDAY
Activity: Practice sharing with mommy, daddy, and Lucas
Craft: Make a photo album with friends pictures in it
Song: ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ on CD
Book: The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood
THURSDAY
Activity: Go fishing (w/ paper fish and a stick w/ a magnet on the end of the string)
Craft: Glue goldfish onto a blue paper for an underwater theme
Song: Friendship Song (Barney)
Book: Alphabet Books- Find the letter F
FRIDAY
Activity: Decorate the letter “F” using a fish stamp
Craft: Rainbow Fish Craft
Song: “I Will Make You Fishers Of Men”
Book: The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
WEEKEND
Activity: Playdate
Movie: Barney movie about friendship
This week in tot school our theme is family. I will be separating the activities by day instead of type because I think that it will be easier to implement.
*MONDAY- Family
Activity- Family Tree
Craft- Family Handprints
Song- ‘God Made Families’ Action rhyme
Book- My Family and I/Mi Familia y Yo by Gladys Rosa-Mendoza, Prayers For Family Golden Book
*TUESDAY- Mom/Dad
Activity- mom Spanish card , dad Spanish card
Craft- Draw a picture of mommy and daddy– adult writes words “mommy” and “daddy”
Song- ‘Hush Little Baby’
Book- Daddy Kisses by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleban, My Dad by Debbie Bailey, Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara M. Joosse, Picture Me as Mom’s Little Helper by Wendy Rasmussen, Back In My Arms by Dorothea DePrisco, If You Were My Bunny by Kate McMullan
*WEDNESDAY- Siblings
Activity- Help feed baby brother Lucas lunch, big brother Spanish card
Craft- Big Brother Crown
Song- ‘I Love You’ (Barney song)- teach Jacob motions and to hug and kiss baby brother
Book- I’m A Big Brother by Joanna Cole, Big Brother Bunny by Pamela Kennedy
*THURSDAY- Grandparents
Activity- Look at pictures of Grandma Jan (who passed away in June)
Craft- Grandparent Awards
Song- ‘Grandma’s House’ , A Song for Grandma and Grandpa
Book- Grandpa and Me by Karen Katz
*FRIDAY- Extended Family
Activity- Bake cupcakes for Aunt Morgan’s Birthday today
Craft- Make and decorate a card for Aunt Morgan
Song- Family Fingerplay
Book- Hugs & Kisses by Roberta Grobel Intrater
*WEEKEND- Family Traditions
Activity-Make breakfast as a family & eat together, Watch Barney movie “Families Are Special”, Play w/ Personalized Peekaboo Book
Craft- Make a photo book of family members
Song- Review songs from the week
Book- Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney and I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak
Since Valentine’s Day is today (the 14th) I decided to focus on the theme of LOVE for the week after the Holiday.
Activities:
*Color the snow- put some red food coloring in a spray bottle of water and spray the snow to color it
* Heart path- Hearts taped to ground, jump from heart to heart
* Make Valentine’s Cupcakes
* Make Jello Jigglers
* Gather all heart shaped toys and count them into a red valentine’s basket
* Play with red playdough- make a heart shape
Crafts:
*Potato Heart Stamp Project from Elise Blaha (found on Cafe Mom)
*Decorate a construction paper heart with glitter, crayons, and stickers
* Handprint Valentine w/ words “I love you this much” in between hands
* Love Collage- pictures of people Jacob loves glued on paper
* “Things I Love Book” (idea found here at Creative Homemaking)
* Love Bugs (from Just For Fun)
* Popsicle Stick Picture Frame decorated with hearts and will put picture of family in it
* Kissing Hand Necklace (idea from No Time For Flashcards). As a working mom I love the idea of this necklace. The Kissing Hand is a great book. I own it but it is currently in storage with the rest of my preschool books.
Songs:
* “I Love You” (The Barney Song)
* If You Love Me (to the tune of: If You’re happy and you know it)
* Jesus Loves Me
Board Books:
* I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak
* Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara M. Joosse
* Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
* I Love You Very by Flavia Weedn and Lisa Weedn
* Daddy Kisses by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben
* Max’s Valentine by Rosemary Wells
* Hugs and Kisses by Roberta Grobel Intrater
and a variety of other small books about love
Today was the first week of tot school. It didn’t go quite as I would have liked it to because I found that though I had a list of activities for Jacob to do I needed a lot more time to prepare each night. From now on I will have all of the activities and materials ready at the beginning of the week so that I don’t have to worry about the “lesson plan” the night before.
Below are some pictures of this week’s fun:
Snow Fun
Snowflake Art
Fingerpainting
Jacob's First Art Project w/ Glue
Jacob's First Time Using Scissors
This week’s theme is: Winter
Here are a few of the activities that I have planned:
* Bring the snow indoors- It is supposed to snow tomorrow so we will be bringing snow into the house. We will use a bucket to fill the sink up and sand toys to play in it.
* Coloring a snowman printout from Confessions of A Homeschooler
* Song- “I’m a Little Ice Cube” from A to Z Kids Stuff website
* Chalk winter themed picture- Use white chalk on a blue piece of paper
* Cutting practice sheets from Confessions of A Homeschooler
* Winter themed board books
* Snowman Craft- gluing cottonballs onto a snowman shape
* Play with white playdough
* Footprint snowman from PreschoolLearningandCrafts.com
This past weekend I spent a lot of time daydreaming about what I wanted for my toddler, Jacob. I had been thinking lately that I really wanted him to have more structured time and guided play and less free play. I will be creating “lesson plans” each week. There will still be a large amount of free play but I think these additional activities will be wonderful for him.
I have spent hours tonight online looking at different sites (mostly homeschool sites and preschool lesson plan sites) and also have years of experience working with young children so I am very excited about all the fun that Jacob is going to have each week.
I came across something called “tot school” on http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com and I love the idea of it so I will be participating and linking up. The main point of tot school is that it is FUN for the child. I truly believe that children learn through play.
Making Time For Mommy 