Counting Book

Q loves playing with stickers and I hate them.  They usually mean stickers stuck to my arm, my bootie, my feet, the baby's feet, the dog's feet....Argh.  Yesterday I was trying to get a quick task done on the computer and dodge stickers being applied all over me.  I quickly whipped up a little book.  I wrote the title and the text on each page--1 through 7 bugs.  Then I instructed Quinn to look at each number and stick that amount of bugs on the page.  She surprised me by doing it all on her own in about 5 minutes! 

This is a great activity to encourage number/quantity awareness (and to give stickers a home that doesn't involve someone's bootie.) 
 

 

For younger kids you can put dots on the page and they can match each sticker to a dot.  For older kids, try having them put the stickers in pairs (to introduce odd/even) or even fives or tens.  Use bigger numbers!  Stamps would also work.....

Triumphal Entry Activity

We started out our week by studying the story of the triumphal entry.  We read the story in Q's children's Bible.  Then we had fun doing a craft we found here. 

First we made gray paint.  A good art lesson for Q on mixing a new color--she has never made gray before!

Then we painted her feet

and turned them into donkeys!

We cut them out and taped them onto her rocking horse to turn him into a donkey.  We tied a rope on it.  We went outside and cut some palm branches and got out our coats.  Then we acted out the story.  We had fun singing the different versions of "Hosanna" songs we know.  We put our coats on the ground and waved our palm branches.  We said the lines that are recorded in the gospels.  We talked about what Hosanna means ("save now").  We got out a rock for Jesus to point to when he (or the person acting as him) says "the rocks will cry out." 

Quinn LOVED this activity--every part of it!  We've acted out the story about a half dozen times.  Yesterday after we finished acting it out I went to make dinner and she had more fun just playing with the props--the donkey, the palm branches and the coats. 

Next year we're going to try to talk Daddy into letting us get a REAL donkey so we can use her for this activity.  Sounds good, right?  ;)

More pulling work

This is a tissue box I filled with flannel wipes (dry and clean).  The little guy can pull them all out and throw them around the room!

This teaches cause-effect, motor control and concentration.
 

Pulling Work for the little one

Beck is ready for some new learning materials!  I made him this one:

I tied different ribbons onto some rings I rounded up in the studio (Did you notice that I save lots of random stuff?  Anytime I have something interesting that "might" be useful for something I throw it in a big wicker basket in my studio for a later project.)  I used a lighter to seal the ends of the ribbons so they won't frey if he chews on them.

The point of this work is for him to pull the rings out by their strings.  It teaches motor control, cause-effect relationships (pull the string and the ring comes out), memory, and texture awareness--I tried to use different feeling ribbons--grosgrain, smooth, crunchy, stretchy, etc. 

The large container is a pancake mix tub we used camping a while back.  I saved it, and it came in perfect for this project!

More art--string eggs.

In my quest to do ART (as opposed to crafts--and we DO still do crafts, but try to balance them) I have been trying to find a use for all sorts of things around the house instead of throwing them away.  I organized all my embroidery thread this week and had lots of short little scraps left over.  I decided to teach Quinn how to dip them in a glue solution and drop them onto paper to create a "mixed medium."  She wanted to cut our paper in an egg shape, so I did.  Then we both had fun making our string creations.  Hers is on the right if you can't tell.  :)  We learned about glue solutions--we had to keep stirring it because the glue settled to the bottom of the water (yea---science concept here!!) and I didn't put in enough glue because some of the string didn't stay stuck down when dried.  We have plans to try this again with a stronger glue solution (and my girl learned the word "solution" through this project, too!!).  What a fun way to put our repurposed art supply to use!

 

On ART

I've been extra conscientious lately of making sure what I am calling "art" is actually ART and not a craft.  Nothing wrong with crafts, but I want to be sure I am giving my girl plenty of time to experience ART.  One of the best parts of art is that it's pretty easy to prepare.  Today I cut these pieces off some paper I was trimming down.  I put them on an art tray (fancy term for "rusted cookie sheet") along with some tape (the girl's favorite medium as of late) and scissors and gave her some time for open-ended creation.

Here's her result.  You can't really tell from this picture, but there is a WHOLE LOT of tape involved in this masterpiece.  Through the open-endedness of this art she got to learn about the properties of paper and tape.  You can see her using some geometric concepts in her art--art is a great way for fostering mathmatical development as well. 

I encourage you to make sure you provide some simple, open-ended art time for your kiddos.  It's a great skill we give them when they are able to take some tape and paper and just MAKE something with no direction, no pattern, nothing to copy or replicate.  This fosters independence, self esteem and creative thinking skills. 

Stations of the Cross Cards/manipulatives

In our preparation for commemorating the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus we are reflecting on the passion story. I have decided to use the stations of the cross to help us focus. To begin with I looked online and found a set of the cards that I liked, printed them out and laminated them. I used stickers to put the cardinal numbers (1,2,3) on the cards so that Q could put them in order herself (ding--GREAT math skill!).
Then I got out my Bible and scoured through the crucifixion stories in the 4 gospels to help me know what manipulatives to place with each card.

1 (Jesus condemned to death) ROPE
2 (Jesus carries his cross) CROSS
3 (Jesus falls the first time) Bandaid with a 1 on it

4 (Jesus meets his mother) DOLL TO REPRESENT MARY
5 (Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus) CLOTHESPIN SIMON
6 (Veronica wipes the face of Jesus ) PIECE OF A TOWEL
*The story of Veronica is not in the gospel accounts--but today I talked to Quinn about how Jesus was unusual in that he associated with women and children and they were with him on his walk to the cross and were taking care of him.

7- (Jesus falls a second time) BANDAID WITH 2 ON IT
8- (Jesus and the women of Jerusalem) TISSUES
9-(Jesus falls the third time) BANDAID WITH 3 ON IT

10- (Jesus is striped of his garments) PIECE OF FABRIC CUT INTO A COAT
11- (Jesus is nailed to the cross) NAIL
12-(Jesus dies on the cross) LAMB
*we talked about how Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice that wouldn't have to be offered again and again and he was called the "Lamb of God."

13- (Jesus is taken down from the cross) CLOTHESPIN COLORED WITH RED FOR BLOOD
14- (Jesus is left in the tomb) ROCK

Quinn started out by putting the cards in order herself.
Then I sat down with her and we talked about each card and what the gospels say about that particular event. For some of the cards I had verses I shared with her (a key verse for each could be easily written on the back of each card and memorized). We spent a long time talking about some of the events because she had a lot of questions. So of the stuff we talked about went totally over her head (of course!) but the concepts are beginning to come together for her as much as possible in that three year old little mind!

She LOVED this activity. I love that it makes the story of Jesus and the words from the Bible tangible and visual for her in a way that is appropriate for her development. After we finished working with the stations she sat and played with the pieces for a while longer--internalizing the objects and events.

Across from our neighborhood is a church with a garden set up with the stations of the cross. I am excited to practice them with her and then take her there toward the end of the week for a prayer and remembrance time together.

HERE'S THE LINK TO SOME STATION CARDS.