Big Energy-Little Learners...Can I do it all?

The end of our week went well.  We continued to work on the letter F even after preschool hours.  I am not usually good at this but Jerry was this week.  I told him about my worries and he really  helped out by pointing out the letter F often. Bible We continued to read the story of the fiery furnace everyday. Thursday Little Dragon made a picture of the three men and the angel in the burning fiery furnace Fiery Furnace Materials 2 pcs of construction paper pencil markers tissues glue scissors The lesson called for tissue paper but I didn't have any on hand and could not run to the store to buy some, so Little Dragon made his own.   I gave him some tissues and he colored them with red, orange, and yellow markers.  Little Dragon drew 4 figures on construction paper.  He gave them eyes, hair, and belly's of course. Next he cut them out and glued them onto the second piece of construction paper.  He moved on to cutting u...

Thanksgiving is around the corner and we are fitting some Pilgrims and Indians into our week. To introduce the story of Thanksgiving I printed some story cards online. The boys practiced their cutting skills by cutting them out then we sat together for story time. Before starting the story telling we identified each picture to make sure the boys knew what everything was. I asked the boys to tell a story using the cards. I got blank looks from both of them.  So I told a story first. Then asked them to tell me a story.  They each identified their cards again and said they were done.  Not much creative story telling going on. There was also a felt board Pilgrim, Indian, and Turkey for play. Little Dragon could dress them up and move around the feathers on the turkey. He has ventured over to this activity for at least 10 minutes everyday.   Tonight during dinner he was playing with the turkey and I sang a Turkey Song for him.  The origin...

This week and last week I have wished we had more time on a subject.  It's not because we are not finishing the lessons or that Little Dragon isn't understanding what we are doing.  It's because I have so many ideas once we get started for activities but we just don't have time to do everything.    Jerry tells me that it is okay, I do more then an 3 year old even needs.  If I continue to try to do everything I will drive myself crazy.  He is right, of course. Sensory My original plan for a sensory activity this week was an edible zoo.  My plan changed when Little Dragon showed up at almost 11 in the same clothes with his face still painted from Tuesday. I grabbed the zoo Lego's tied some ribbon from the shower rod and made a Zoo Tub! Little Dragon loved this!  He was in the tub for an hour and we played as he called it 'friends' with the animals together. I don't know why he is making this face but it was so adorable I had to pos...

Mini Story Boards We used:  Foam Cookie sheets Magnets Paper I found the cookie sheets at the dollar store and loved the idea of the kids telling their own stories using movable magnets.   I cut out flowers with the foam (you can cut out any design and use construction paper instead of foam) and little people then stuck a magnet to the back.  I cut out bugs and stuck magnets to the back of those too.    Then I drew little scenes that would inspire a story and put them on the cookie sheet.  One demonstration and their imaginations took off on their own :)

Weekly Review (All the activities we did that I didn't have time to blog about) This was a hit!  As always I close the door and prepare the bath while the kids are jumping up and down with excitement outside the door asking if it is ready yet.   I think it is my favorite part :) When it is all ready I open the door slowly and ask "are you sure you need a bath?  You aren't that stinky." They scream "yes! yes!'" Spencer adds in "I stinky, ewwww" To make this bath: I made clean dirt and put drops of food coloring in it.  I left the stirring up to the kids.  I stuck foam flowers to the walls and popped the fake flowers off the stems and put them in the water.  I dyed the water green, but you can't really tell in the picture.  Lastly I set out garden/sand toys and some giraffes. Paper Town With Spencers obsession with cars I thought that a paper town would be a perfect station!   My idea came fr...