Apples

We did this over the course of a couple of days, not in the order delineated below.  We started with the construction paper.  In any case, here were our apple activities:  

I took a knife and cut an apple.  We looked at and learned the names of the core, the seeds, the stem, the skin, and the yummy part (I couldn't think of its name).  Some parts we eat (and we did eat), some parts we don't.  

We played with the seeds while we ate the apple - we counted them and arranged them in different shapes.  And we sang the song "Ohhhhhhhhhh the Lord is good to me, and so I thank the Lord, for giving me the things I need - the sun and the rain and the apple seed.  The Lord is good to me...."

I took red construction paper and cut out some circles to make paper apples.  We made a construction-paper apple tree with brown and green paper, and she taped the pieces (with some help) to another sheet of paper, and then we put on the red apples.  We counted them, and we talked about picking apples from trees in the fall.  Because they were taped to the picture and not glued or anything permanent, we could take them off and put them back on the paper easily, so we could "pick" the apples from the tree, or they could "faaaaaallllllll down."

We taped the real apple seeds to the construction-paper apples on our construction-paper tree.  We made other similar-sized red circles from the construction paper and then taped those circles on top of the ones with the seeds on them, making 3D apples.  So the seeds were hidden, just like in real apples.   

Using the construction paper, I cut out a little red capitol 'A' and a lower case 'a'.  What letter is this?, I asked, and she said, "A!"  What does it say?  She identified the sound, and we connected the sound with the word "apple."  Then we taped the a's on the picture.  It's always good to review that stuff.

Somewhere in there I told her the story of Johnny Appleseed.

Then we finished and ate some more apples for snack time.

Pumpkins

We did this last month, too.  We cut out a big construction-paper orange pumpkin.  We used other pieces of construction paper to give the pumpkin different shaped eyes, noses, and mouths.  We used tape so the pieces could easily be removed and replaced and put back on later.  We made happy faces and sad faces.  We taped on different combinations of mouths and eyes and noses to see what it looked like.  She loved it.  She especially loved changing the emotions of the face.  It was interesting for me to notice that when the pumpkin felt certain emotions - like, when it was sad - she wanted to put it in time-out.  It became quite a game for her.  The connections she made between emotions and 'time-out' were interesting to note.  

We also cut out a "p" for pumpkin and reviewed its sound.

ABC Puzzles and Play Dough

I've been trying to come up with a new way of reviewing the ABC's with my daughter.  She's learned them all, but I've noticed that she forgets if we don't review them.  She's gotten bored with all the old techniques.  So the other day I got out some play dough and her Melissa and Doug's ABC puzzle board without the actual puzzle pieces.  I started smushing the play dough into the letters on the puzzle board, reviewing with her the names and sounds of the letters.  She loved it!  We had a really fun ABC review time.

Moving

I haven't posted much recently because we are in the process of moving.  Like, today the movers loaded almost all our boxes and furniture on a truck.  It is a 3 day move, though, and so we have 2 days to go... Here are some of the activities we've done with our little one through this hectic process.

Ball down the stairs:

I completely trust my daughter with the stairs, and so I suggested she throw her ball down the stairs and run get it.  Then she did it again.  She loved the game and it was a great way for her to be physically active at a time when I couldn't be outside with her.  We added another ball to the excitement after awhile, and it was double the fun.

Washing walls:

I gave her a cleaning cloth and told her to wipe down the walls.  I was going over the walls at that point, wiping away marks from tiny sticky fingers, and she was eager to help.  Her attention didn't last terribly long with this activity, but it was just enough to get the creative juices flowing in her brain again at a rather testy moment, and she soared away to entertain herself soon afterward.

A! B! C!:

We've been in the car a lot, and when she'd get bored we'd play the A-B-C game.  I'd say A!  Then she'd say B!  We go back and forth through the alphabet.  Sometimes to get her going I'd have to do A! B! C!, but she usually chimed in after awhile.  It was good alphabet practice and it focused her mind on something other than getting out of the car.

Playing in the car's front:

Ironically, as much as she wants out of the car when she has to be in it for a long time, when we're at home she has developed a real desire to play inside the car.  Not so much the car seat, but in the front, where she never gets to be on the road.  She can entertain herself for about 45 minutes nonstop in the car, which was good when we were working on loading it up.  And it was good exploratory for her.  Lots of new things to touch and consider.

I hope to get back on track soon with my postings!  Take care.

Learning Letters: Three Cheers for the Word Whammer!

I taught my daughter her ABC's using mostly playdough, paints, sand, and crayons.  But she's had a hard time distinguishing little b, d, q, and p.  So today I bought her the Leap Frog Word Whammer.  My cousin, who homeschools her five kids, raves about this toy, and so I thought I'd try it.  It works fabulously!  It comes with lots of upper case fridge letters, and I got the lower case letter expansion set.  Because I want her to interact with lower case letters, I took away the upper case ones and left her with the little ones.  She has had so much fun putting the letters in the Word Whammer and hearing the letter's name and sound.  AND you can't put p, q, b, or d into the Word Whammer in any direction other than the correct one (like, you can't turn d upside down and make a p), which has been helpful.  (For the record, I am not stifling this child's creativity by saying there is a correct way to put the letters, as I fear some will judge.  We do tons and tons of activities in which she makes the type of connection she's making with the p, q, b, and d.  All day long she grabs 2 similar objects and exclaims, "2 bottles!" or whatever it may be.  And so, never fear, we already have a major emphasis the other direction).  This toy has also been great for reviewing her letters and their sounds in general.

Play dough ABC's

One of our favorite ways to teach and reinforce the alphabet is with play dough.  This is an especially good activity when I'm tired and don't want to put much work into our activity.  It's also really good, because it is a more multi-sensory approach to learning: she not only sees the letter and hears the letter and sound, but she also gets to touch and handle the letter.  I make the letter of the day with the play dough, and then I point it out to her singing the Leap Frog "The b says 'b', the b says 'b', every letter makes a sound, b says 'b'."  I make two or three more, and then I find other B's that we have on her toys and point them out to her.  It has been really effective, even when she doesn't seem to be paying much attention.  Later in the day when we review (e.g., drawing the letter in the sand at the playground, writing it in a notebook while she is on the potty, playing with her alphabet toys, or pointing it out in her books), she almost always remembers immediately.

And remember - if you don't have any play dough around the house, you can cook edible play dough and we can eat it when we're done!  I'm sure there is a recipe online somewhere, like allrecipes.com or something.

Play dough is also great for teaching shapes and numbers. 

While on the subject, my daughter is having a hard time learning to distinguish little b, d, p, and q - any suggestions?