A few things before we go on Vacation!

We have been working on The United States of America Puzzle from Melissa and Doug.

I pulled out Upper case and lower case matching cards.

We did random things today because I am spending most of the day packing for our Vacation!!!!  Yeah!!!!

Starting our Vacation Early

I will not be posting this week....we will be on VACATION!!!!  It has been a long time since we have been on vacation since the kids are so close in age (1 1/2 years apart).  We may need a vacation once we get back.lol

Changed Blog Layout

Ok, so I changed my blog layout about 4 or 5 times and finally found what I like.  Oh my gosh, it took forever, especially since I didn't know what I was doing and that I have a mac computer and used Powerpoint to add  text to my banner.  I love my mac but some of the free editing programs only have pc downloads except for gimp but I am missing something on my computer in order to download it.  Needless to say I won't be changing my layout for a while. lol  

Great Animal Websites with games, activities and more!

I found two wonderful animal resources.  Click on the links and let me know what you think!:)  Enjoy!:)

1. National Geographic Kids
2. Jungle Walk

New Blog Layout and I need help with Banner

So I finally had time to change my blog layout.  Hope you like it!!!  I got it from The Cutest Blog on the Block.  The only problem I am having is putting my blog title in the header.  Last time I was able to do it from photoshop but this time it is not working.  Any suggestions?????  Thank you!!!:)

Lava Bottle, Discovery Bottle and Oh, Science Activity Books

Lava Bottle

Lava Bottle

Discovery Bottle

Discovery Bottle

I got these cute ideas from this site.  Caden loves to do things with his hands so I just went on a search for some hands on activities.  Of course he loves doing crafts but he also likes pouring things and making things.  So I figured this would be perfect.  He did enjoy the activity so I am looking forward to more.  Oh, and boy did I find more when me and my good friend Elsie (check out her blog) went to the Homeschool Convention and found these great hands on science activity books for PreK-2nd grade.   Check out their site and see a sample activity.  You will love it!

One Duck Stuck- To Which Habitat Do I Belong?

Sand (Desert Habitat)

Grass (forest or meadow habitat)

Water (water habitat)

Sorting the animals in the correct habitat.

Hannah loved eating the ducks!

To Which Habitat Do I Belong?- We collected 3 plastic containers and filled one with grass, one with water, and one with sand.  I explained to Caden that every animal has it's own habitat (place in nature where an animal normally lives).  The grass is for animals that live in forests and meadows, the sand is for animals that live in the desert, and the water for animals that live in water.  So we pulled out each animal one by one and placed it in their correct habitat. 

One Duck Stuck- Counting Legs

Counting legs-I printed out the number cards provided by The Itty-Bitty Bookworm.  I had a basket with different animals.  I had Caden pull out the animal and we counted their legs and had him figure out what number card matched the amount of legs the animal or insect had.  It was so cute to see him count...1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, etc.  He used to skip 3, now he says 3 but forgets 4...so cute!

One Duck Stuck-Feeding the Ducks

I thought it would be perfect for us to go and feed the ducks today since it goes along with our book, "One Duck Stuck" and our lessons from The Itty-Bitty Bookworm.  What a perfect time to go because we went and feed them and go figure the ducks were totally in the mud.  If you have read the book before the duck is stuck in the muck and asks all these animals to help her get out.  Caden totally loved it!

One Duck Stuck- Muddy Fingerpainting

Muddy Fingerpainting- I cut a piece of construction paper into a "puddle" shape.  I had Caden fingerpaint the puddle and the duck.  Once dry I will have him make a picture like in the book, "One Duck Stuck".

One Duck Stuck- Feather Duster Painting

I know I have mentioned this about a thousand times....but I LOVE THE ITTY-BITTY BOOKWORM!  I sure wish this curriculum had K-5th grade...I will have to talk to Tara about that!!!  This is a Feather Duster activity.  The directions are to fill trays or paper plates with paint.  Use primary colors only, and discuss what happens to all the colors when they are mixed together.  When I asked Caden he said, "turn brown"!

One Duck Stuck-Rhyming Pairs

Rhyming Pairs-I explained to Caden that words that rhyme sound the same at the end.  I read the poem, "Duck", and accentuated the rhyming words.  We worked on the "ack" pictures cards.  Not sure if he understood what was going on but he was interested because I let him put the pictures on the pocket chart.  I am sure something sunk in!  :)  

Coffee Filter Art

Caden loved this art activity!:)  Very easy to gather materials and long lasting fun!  First we colored the coffee filters with markers.  Then we took them outside and sprayed them with a water bottle.  Oh, how much fun he had!   After we were done with the Coffee Filter art he sprayed the entire backyard.  We even changed the knob on the water bottle so he could see how far the water would go.  He sprayed and sprayed and sprayed....it went on for 45 min. to an hour.  I got this idea from Familyfun.com.

Mr. Bunny

A couple of days ago we went to Mee-Maw's pool and saw a rabbit.  Caden got so excited about it.  He got out of the pool and walked very low and slow to the bunny!  We were very surprised he walked like that, we figured he would run right to it and scare it off.  So for lunch the next day I made a rabbit out of his sandwich.  I used a cookie cutter to cut out his turkey sandwich.  I put avocados on his ears.  I wasn't sure were to put the blueberries and blackberries so I just put them anywhere.  Then I put bacon and lettuce underneath for bow-tie.  He got all excited about the his bunny sandwich and remembered the bunny at the pool when he ate the sandwich.  

Healthy Muffins

I got this Healthy Muffin Recipe from one of my favorite sites.  Instead of putting blueberries we put 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips because the kids already devoured the blueberries.  Caden loved them...he also loved cooking them!  He ate 2 for his snack yesterday!  

Being a Big Brother

It was so cute!  Hannah was riding Caden's car.  I figured Caden would yell at Hannah and tell her to get off his car...instead he got on with her and pushed her around.  Cuteee!

One Duck Stuck- I Would Be a....and Sentence Starters

I Would Be a....-we made 4 columns (with the follwing pictures (from The Itty-Bitty Bookworm) across the bottom:  Skunk/Possum/Moose/Cricket.  I introduced each picture to Caden and generated discussions about each animal.  For example:  Skunks use spray to protect themselves.

Then I got a picture of Caden and some other people he would know.  Then I had him choose which animal each person would like including himself.  Then we counted how many pictures were above each animal.  Then we discussed the results.

Then we did Sentence Starters.  I wrote the following sentence:  I would like to be a _____ because _____.  I had Caden choose the animal he would like and I asked him why.  He chose a skunk but he wasn't sure why he wanted to be a skunk and that's when he lost interest in the lesson.  I brought him back and asked him what animal Hannah would be?  We will be trying this lesson again.

One Duck Stuck- Five Little Ducks

With this activity I cut out 5 ducks and had Caden paint them.  We used the ducks to recreate or act out the song "Five Little Ducks".  

One Duck Stuck- Puddle Play

Puddle Play- I cut a piece of brown construction paper into the shape of a "mud puddle".  Laid it out on the floor.  We collected as many animals from the story as possible.  I encouraged Caden to retail the story by using the props and the story vocabulary.  For example, "Help, help!  Who can help?"  "We can, we can!"

Lots of Attention!

Learning Resource Rainbow Peg Play

Memory Tray

Trying to be consistent with eating snack at the same time and at the table.  Hannah kept wanting to go under the table.

Of course he had to knock it down! :)

We hadn't done this stacking game since Easter.  I believe it is Melissa and Doug.  I was so proud of him...he stacked it up all by himself.  

Hannah got the pink tent from her birthday party (It was bought at Ross).  The kids love it!  Oh, and Mommy loves it too because it folds up easily to get it out of the way when we aren't using it.  The tunnel folds up nicely too...we got that at the good will.  So I connected the two and they played for about 30-45 min.  Of course with me!

Today was the day the kids needed lots of attention!  I would step away for a second and screaming, yelling, rolling on top of each other, and anything would happen as soon as I stepped away.  They did not play independently at all today...so I had to play right there with them the entire day.  Usually they will have a few of their independent moments...but not today!    We had a good time though!