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

This activity went with our shape unit.  I was very excited to do this activity and was very happy that Little Dragon really enjoyed it.  Materials  Large pot Shape buttons Large spoon Shape song I made up this song to go along with our soup making.  I am gonna make soup soup soup How about you you you You can make it too too too Let's make soup soup soup First we need broth broth broth make it froth froth froth stir the broth broth broth slow like a sloth sloth sloth I put (shape) in the soup soup soup How about you you you You can do it too too too Put (shape) in the soup soup soup Continue through the shapes that you have.  We sang it together while we added the shapes one by one. We did this a few times over a few days. I left the pot out for Little Dragon to play with whenever he wanted to make shape soup.  This activity was great for remembering shapes because we were singing th...

This post goes with our Sh sound unit Little Dragon loves sharks. He hasn't always, it is kind of a new phase.  We started our Sh sound unit before I went on a weekend trip to visit my sister. While I was away I found this awesome toy shark and knew Little Dragon would love it.  Of course when he opened it up he was thrilled and asked to play with it in a sensory bin right away! I am sure I could have made a more detailed sensory bin for sharks but he was anxious to get the shark in the water.  I grabbed the bin and Little Dragon grabbed his killer whale, dolphin, and pirate ship We filled the bin up with water together then it was ready Little Dragon put all of his toys in the bin and started attacking with his shark!  We played together for awhile his shark chasing the dolphin and eating him up.  Then little Dragon played and played in the bin until it was time for lunch.  Since out first b...

Sugar isn't good for just tasting but also touching!  Sugar Sensory Tray To make this tray I used regular sugar and some extra pink sprinkles I had on hand to make it bit more fitting for the current season.  Our main use for this tray was letter practice  but once we were done with that it was all hands in! And of course some toys in too! Little Dragon liked mixing the pink and white to make pretty pictures He also enjoyed feeling the grains between is fingers This tray will be out  for the week for fun and some learning.  The great thing about sugar trays is they can be used to practice shapes, letters, numbers, and sight words.           Thanks for checking out my blog! If you enjoyed it please                                   ...

Jello sensory bin  Little Dragon was so excited for this sensory bin when we made it.  He helped every step.  Materials Bowl Jello- we made green Small toy snakes We mixed up the jello according to the package instructions. Added the snakes to the jello while it was still liquid.  Put it in the fridge to set.  A few hours later we took out the jello and we're ready to play.  And very excited. Of course typical Little Dragon doesn't dive right it. He touched it softly with on finger and then his hand and found that it was a solid but had some give...jello.  We don't eat jello so it wasn't something he was familiar with.  He kept pressing on it but not breaking the surface so I gave him a spoon and showed him it could go through.  Using the spoon he got a bit more exploratory and finally put his hand in it enough to "save a snake". He then was determined to save all of t...

This activity went with our Egyptian theme.  This was a paper mâché project and a sensory bin. Because to make paper mâché you need to get messy! I told the boys we would be making mummies at the beginning of the day and they were so excited to get to this activity.  Materials 1/2 cup of water 3/4 cup flour Strips of paper Action figure or Barbie  While I made the paper mâché I asked the dragons to cut the strips of paper out.  For the paper mâché we used two barbies that were on their way to Good Will.  I demonstrated 1 strip for the boys and they went to work.  They coated Wrapped Finished nicely They were very proud of their finished mummies and showed them off to all of our visitors for the next two days.  This activity could also be done with an action figure.  I didn't not have an extra action figure on hand nor the time/money to grab one before...

What is an alligator theme without a sensory bin?   My idea was to do a swamp sensory bin and I had to use what I had around the house for this one, no extra time to run to the store this week.  I thought about using brownie mix but it always dissolves in the water not giving the kids much time to play in it.  I went with oatmeal.  I would have liked to dye it brown but the kids didn't complain about the color.  I had The Dragons add the water I liked using oatmeal because it doesn't dissolve in the water and it smelt really good. :)   The oatmeal absorbed some of the water making a great swamp texture.   Even though the water wasn't brown the oatmeal did make it kind of murky.   Perfect for alligator hiding The kids kept asking how I snuck milk into the bin because of the color.  Silly kids! I never did tell them my secret.  I went with magic. 

Construction Sensory Bin I set up a bin similar to this last year for preschool but The Dragons were just as excited to get into the bin.  For the first time I had the bin as a reward.  It worked as great motivation for The Dragons. This is the first year we have really had to be on a set schedule.  With extra kids over and a time limit before I have to get Doll Dragon from school we don't have all day to complete things. The Dragons looked at the bin then I put it up and told them if we could get our other activities completed then they could play in the bin.  I was able to remind them of this during rough times and it really helped rein in the focus. And at the end of the day they had time to play in the bin!  I kept the rule of getting things done before getting in the bin for the remainder of the week and Little Dragon was able to play in the bin each day!  To make this bin I used cake mix as the dirt base rocks bolts, nuts...

Bible The third day of our Bible story we used the magnetic board for story telling assistance. Day four we talked about what types of people usually serve and why it was so shocking to the disciples that Jesus was serving them. We used the magnetic board for this too.   Alphabet  The Dragons worked on things in their Weekly Folder.  There was a spider book, finding the letter s in the Itsy Bitsy Spider poem, and some coloring pages for them too. The Dragons made snakes on their letter s using pipe cleaners and googly eyes and added it to the alphabet wall. Community Helpers We used our community helpers for handwriting practice.  I put a picture on the board then The Dragons told me what they did and how they helped our community, then they wrote the name of the helper under the picture. Even Little Dragon did some handwriting.  We grabbed a discovery pack from the library that matched our theme Community Helpers. ...