Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Candy Cane Mini Pack

UPDATED 12/8/2012: This pack now contains 26 printable pages, for a total of 19 activities.

This week, we’re reading candy cane stories and doing some candy cane activities.  I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted, so I went ahead and made a few printables yesterday. 

Click HERE to download this pack for FREE!Untitled-1
This is much smaller than my typical packs, and it was created just for my own kiddos…but hopefully some of you will be able to use it in these last days before Christmas, too!  (I’ll probably expand this for next year, but this year it’s just the basics that we’ll be using here today!)
This pack contains:
  • count & match cards
  • J is for Jesus magnet/bingo marker page
  • circle what's different page
  • counting mat activity
  • addition mat activity
  • handwriting practice (letter C, c)
  • color sorting (red & green)
  • shadow matching
  • scissors skills
Graphics by Maree Truelove ~ used with written permission from the artist
http://www.etsy.com/shop/MareeTruelove
and
Scrappin' Doodles  http://www.scrappindoodles.com 

Friday, December 16, 2011

Tot School – Christmas Trees

(Alex is 47 months, Max is 27 months)

We only did one day of Tot School this week, but we’ve had a lot going on!  Between shopping trips, Christmas baking, and other little things, our time has been filled.

On Wednesday, when Grace was here, we spent some time doing Christmas tree activities.  We read the book The Legend of the Christmas Tree.  This book is a little complicated for 2 – 4 year olds, but I know for sure that Alex understood these basic concepts:

The tree is a triangle.  It has three corners to remind us of the three-in-one God: Father, Son, & Holy Spirit.

The lights on the tree remind us that Jesus is the light of the world.

We went on to do some activities.  Most are from 2TeachingMommies Christmas Tree unit.  The tree sizing activity is from Homeschool Creations.

Alex and Grace did the tree number order puzzle.  For some reason, this was very tricky for both of them.  They were good until about 7, and then (perhaps their patience wore out…) had trouble getting 8 – 10 in order.  We pasted our Christmas trees to construction paper.

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We did the shape tree activity.  Max, who normally loves matching shapes, just wanted to use all the piece to make a really tall Christmas tree.   Grace loved this activity and did it very well.  Alex wouldn’t do it. ;)

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I printed three copies of the magnet page.  The kids took turns using magnets to fill the circles, and then afterwards, they used bingo markers to decorate their trees.  Max is absolutely captivated by this activity!  I left it on the counter, and he did it several time throughout the day!

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Prewriting – following the lines to put the star on the Christmas tree

 December2011 155  Cutting, sorting, and size-sequencing their Christmas trees.

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I’d printed this page for Alex, but Max did it…and did it well!  I was SHOCKED! 
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We finished by making edible Christmas trees.  Each child got a sugar cone, a small cup of green frosting, a kid-sized knife, and some sprinkles and mini M&Ms.  We had some good, sticky fun!

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My kids are just LOVING all the crafts and sticky messes we’ve worked on this month!
Perhaps this month is a prime example of why I need to pull out the paints, frosting, sprinkles, and glue a little more often!  We hope that you and your little ones are truly enjoying your activities this month, as well :)

You can learn more about RRSP, Preschool Corner, or Tot School by clicking on the links below.  You’ll also see what other moms are doing with their tots and preschoolers!

Tot School

Christmas Cookie Fun!

It started out when we invited ONE neighbor to come over with her TWO kids.  We planned to spend the morning making and decorating cut-out cookies together.  Somehow, I kept inviting more people to come!  I’m so glad, though, as we spent a wonderful day together!

Four moms, ten kids, lots of noise, plenty of sprinkles, and a whole lot of sticky fingerprints…yes, it was quite the morning!  The kids went back and forth between playing and helping, the moms enjoyed chatting as we worked, and we all had lots of cookies to bring home and deliver to a few neighbors and friends.

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Sprinkles, anyone?  There are three very well decorated cookies on this plate!
Wow, Alex! ;)

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We did the cut-out cookies with all the children, and then two of the moms had to leave to deliver kids to afternoon kindergarten.  April and her boys stayed to play until naptime and to make candy cane cookies together.  Sweet April also helped me clean the kitchen, which was a nice treat at the end of such a busy day. 

This morning was SUCH fun that April & I are already planning to do it again next year!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Tot School – Christmas Fun

Alex is almost 4, and Max is 27 months.

We’re doing a mix of typical tot school and Christmas activities right now.  We’re reading a little daily devotional book, using our Countdown Chains, and every day there’s something little (a book, a craft, stickers) in a gift bag under the tree.

The kids SO look forward to checking out the gift bag under the tree each morning.  They know that Mommy is the one putting things in there, but it doesn’t ruin the fun.  One day, there was a paint with water book that my mom found on clearance last year.  

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Another day, it was magic capsules that grow in water.  After the capsules had grown, we used the sponges to stamp & paint on construction paper.  (Thanks, Jess H, for leaving a comment on my blog with that idea!)

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Their favorite Christmas story so far is Room For A Little One.  It’s a sweet story with pretty watercolor illustrations that shares the birth of Jesus in a different way.  It’s not 100% realistic, as animals don’t talk, but it is a beautiful story.  Alex walks around the house now saying, “There’s always room for a little on here!”

One of the activities in our Christmas Countdown devotion book was to trace Christmas cookie cutters, color them, and hang them on the tree.  I knew my boys would NOT want to color, as it’s just not their thing.  Alex has been asking to paint lately, so I got out the finger paints.  We were out of paper plates, so I stuck the (non-toxic) finger paint on the boys’ lunch plates.
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Below are the pictures of Max’s first time fingerpainting…I didn’t even think about that fact until he SCREAMED.  Apparently, while the bright colors LOOK pretty tasty, finger paint doesn’t taste very good.  Whoops!  Nothing a nice, big sippy cup of apple juice couldn’t fix! ;)

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After the little taste-testing incident, Max refused to touch his fingers to the paint.  I grabbed some q-tips to use as disposable paint brushes.  He painted just a bit, but decided it was more fun to match the cookie cutters to the shapes that Mommy had traced on his paper.

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Alex had a good time, though!  He had so much fun smearing paint that you can’t even see the original colors anymore…it’s just a blend of Christmas-y colors.

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We mainly used resources from Over The Big Moon this week.  Alex enjoyed the size-sequencing of baby Jesus in the manger.  This week, I cut a sheet of construction paper in half and taped the two strips together.  I asked Alex to sequence the pictures from smallest to largest, then glue it to his paper.  He did a GREAT job!

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Max was determined to do the “Which One Is Different” page.  I helped him make the first few circles; after that, he scribbled on the correct pictures. 

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When he finished that page, he moved on to pre-writing.  Sort-of.  Really, he just wanted to scribble on the page.  He tried, though.  He SO badly wants to do what Alex does!

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Alex, on the other hand, does a pretty good job with both of these activities!

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We played this Christmas shape game from Living Life Intentionally.  Each player gets a tree and six shapes.  You take turns rolling the die, then placing that shape on your tree.  The first to fill their tree wins the game.

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Max thought he was playing, but really, he was just randomly placing shapes on the tree as he desired. He’d roll the die on occasion just for fun.

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Alex stamped the J and j, and Max just stamped on a piece of paper.

Max definitely has his own ideas for what he wants to do during Tot School these days.  I’d love to do things that are more to his level of learning, but he wants so badly to do what Alex is doing!  Oh well ~ he’s still learning, just in his own way! :)

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(The J is for Jesus page is also from Living Life Intentionally.)

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We hope that you & your kiddos are having fun rogether as you anticipate the coming of Christmas!

You can learn more about RRSP, Preschool Corner, or Tot School by clicking on the links below.  You’ll also see what other moms are doing with their tots and preschoolers!

Tot School