Homeschool Theme of the Week: Dentist and Teeth!

A visit to our new dentist was in order recently, so I decided it would be the perfect time for a unit on teeth and dentists.  I would also like to point out that one VERY handy and cheap little item we use for our own Miss A is a timer which has a button for brushing teeth and a button for washing hands.  She hits the tooth button and a light flashes and continues flashing (faster as the time counts down) until it turns red to let her know it is time to stop brushing her teeth (or washing her hands if that was the button pushed).  It is sooooo wonderful to have because it is a good visual aid to help her know how long she should take when brushing her teeth (or washing hands) in order to do a good job. I will post a link below if you are interested.  Without further ado, here are a few activities from our week:

I saw this activity (see here) and loved the idea of teaching flossing by using legos and playdough so that is what we did!  :)  Lots of other cute stuff on the same site!

Another activity (see site here) used egg cartons for teeth.  I chose to smear different kinds of real food on AND in between the "teeth", and Miss A would practice brushing them in the bathroom until she was able to get them sparkly clean again.  She loved this!

Losing baby teeth is part of growing up, so we made a mouth full of twenty baby teeth and then made up stories about losing teeth and number sentences to show how many teeth were lost and how many teeth were left.  :)  I believe I saw this idea on a first grade website as well but cannot remember where (if you know or see it, please feel free to send me the link so I can post it here).

Welcome to our Toothpaste Factory!  I used leftover shaving cream and paint to create a toothpaste making factory for my daughter.  She chose what "flavor" each color of paint would be, labeled them, and then mixed them into the shaving cream to make a new "flavor" of toothpaste.



The fun did not end there though.  I cut out some large white paper teeth, gave her a toothbrush and let her practice brushing (circular motions)/painting the teeth with her new toothpaste mixes.  :)

We also read books related to our theme (see below).  By the way, while I was browsing books on Amazon, I found some pretty neat looking activities that I wish we had had for this week's theme.  I know Miss A would have loved the Playdough drill and fill set!  Oh well, maybe next year.  I added them to the links below in case you were interested in supplementing your own dental unit at home or in the classroom...




Linking to:
www.delicateconstruction.blogspot.com
www.makingtheworldcuter.com
www.singingthreelittlebirds.blogspot.com
www.tipjunkie.com
www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com
www.abcand123learning.com
www.printabelle.com
www.homeschoolcreations.net
www.whipperberry.com
www.tatertotsandjello.com
www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com
www.classyclutter.blogspot.com

Homeschool Theme of the Week: Birds!

Miss A really enjoyed our unit on birds!  With so many neat kinds out there, who wouldn't?  :)

Here are some snippets from this theme:

A fun last minute snack one day:
Muffin Cups 1 & 2:  blackberry clouds.
Muffin Cup 3 (NOT shown):  peanut butter "mud" for spreading all over the Peeps!
Other items:  Purple grape clouds, red apple umbrella (I saw a photo of some amazing apple umbrellas on Pinterest - I think you can find them on www.cutefoodforkids.com - and thought I would try one) with a string cheese handle, purple Peeps with peach boots, and blue M&M raindrops.

We learned about different types of bird nests and then attempted to make one of our own!  This is a great activity for kids who love to get down in the dirt and mud, squishing it around in their fingers as they construct a nest.

Miss A also practiced the art of making a nest cozy by adding pieces of ribbon, felt, etc. to it.  In order to incorporate some addition, she added two numbers together to determine how many items to add each time.



More math fun with an egg graph!  Actually, the eggs were really just sparkly jelly beans but they certainly worked well for our graphing purposes, not to mention our tasting purposes afterwards.  ;)

I found a neat bird feeder idea on Pinterest  (see it here), so we made one and filled it with seed!  I wonder who our first feathered visitor will be???

Some kids have lemonade stands, but WE have a Scraps-of-Aid Stand for the birds.  Inspired by this post, we constructed our own little container from an oatmeal can and some paint, filled it with scraps of yarn, ribbon, raffia, felt pieces, etc. for birds to use when making their nests cozy!  :)

This painting was just a matter of finding items around the house with different textures to use for making the different parts of the picture:  thumbprint birds, corrugated cardboard trees, sponge clouds, and lots of paint!  :)  We also added feathers for the wings.  I believe the lines you see are showing the flight paths of the birds (also note the nests of eggs)...

We found a neat book in the library illustrating how to draw a large variety of birds, step by step (see the link at the bottom of this post if interested).  Miss A chose some to draw and then we looked them up on www.allaboutbirds.org so we could listen to the sounds the birds made and learn a bit more about them.

These two bird houses are not only a fun and simple craft, they are also serving as a science experiment.  Miss A painted one in bright colors and one in camouflage colors.  The goal is to see which house attracts more bird attention.  Who knows - maybe a feathered friend will even decide to nest in one (or both)!

Peepscake, anyone?  We followed a very simple no bake cheesecake recipe.  We then melted some chocolate and mixed it with edible Easter grass to make our nest on top of the cheesecake.  Jelly bean "eggs" placed under the Peeps in the nest were the finishing touch for a yummy dessert in honor of our bird theme!

For anyone interested in incorporating a bird theme into a homeschool or classroom environment, I highly recommend this free website www.allaboutbirds.org.  My kids loved it!  You can learn about different types of birds, listen to the sounds each makes, see pictures and videos (if available), etc.   We were especially captivated by the live video we found when we looked up the Great Blue Heron and could see one up close sitting on her nest of eggs!

Some bird books:

Linking to:
www.michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com
www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com
www.tipjunkie.com
www.abcand123learning.com
www.cleanandscentsible.blogspot.com
www.gingersnapcrafts.com
www.bearrabbitbear.com
www.amommysadventures.com
www.momontimeout.com
www.enchantedhomeschoolingmom.blogspot.com
www.handsonaswegrow.com
www.houseofhepworths.com
www.kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com
www.tatertotsandjello.com
www.homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com
www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com
http://too-much-time.com

Homeschool Theme of the Week: Spring (Splash Picture Activity)!

Here are a couple of activities we did this past week which tie into our spring theme and were also a great follow up for one of the books we read "Splish, Splash, Spring!"

This person piqued my interest when she painted using condensed milk and food coloring and it came out looking so shiny - see here!  So I pinned it (saving it for a rainy day - ha, ha, ha), and we tried to make a fun symmetrical splash picture early this week. 

Basically, the picture was to look as though Miss A had just jumped in a puddle (notice the tips of the yellow construction paper boots on the bottom edge), and she is now looking down at her reflection in the water.  She was instructed to only paint half of her face and half of the puddle on a pre-folded piece of paper.  When she was done, I closed it, rubbed it and opened it back up (such a fun activity for a kid to see a mirror image on the other side completing his/her face).

I love the texture of the puddle that came out when we did that - I am not quite sure if it was the texture of the kind of paper we used or paint or both, but it had a kind of rippled/splashed look to it - AND shiny like a puddle should be when it is reflecting light.  :)  My daughter touched up the picture (nose and mouth were kind of messed up), and we were done!  Very cute!  :)

This was a math activity (went along with the book as well) - Roll a Spring Storm!  I found a picture online of a girl with an umbrella but no rain (perfect!) and printed it.  Miss A colored it and then rolled two dice to create an addition number sentence on a separate piece of paper showing how many raindrops she could add to the picture.  She then added the drops using blue paint and a cotton swab.  If you do this at home/school with your kids, repeat several times for lots of drops and a bigger storm!  

Linking up:
www.diyhshp.blogspot.com
www.delicateconstruction.com
www.singingthreelittlebirds.blogspot.com
www.makingtheworldcuter.com
www.tipjunkie.com
www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com
www.bearrabbitbear.com
www.handsonaswegrow.com
www.momontimeout.com

Homeschool Theme of the Week: Spring!

True to spring style - we have been busy little bees in homeschool!  See some of our fun activities below...

A fun spring snack!
Snack Details:
Muffin Cup Flowers:  strawberries with a blackberry center.  Green apple stems and leaves.
Muffin Cup Cloud:  marshmallow cream for dipping fruit.
Garnishes:  peanut butter soil with organic cheddar bunnies.  Hershey hugs flower buds with green apple leaves and a carrot caterpillar (details on face drawn with food safe markers - see link below).

Welcome to our Learning Garden!  Consider making one yourself and enjoy celebrating all of the things your child has been learning this year (great for review of past or current concepts).  This could easily be adapted to make a larger family or class garden where each child is given a "plot" to share what they have been learning.

I made two seed packet envelopes and would place a "seed" in each with a description of what Miss A should be doing for a particular plant or flower written on the seed.  The packets also contained the petals and items she would need for the flower.  Then it was just a matter of following the directions on the seed (glue the seed to the base of the plant) and building one or two flowers for the day (we only made one or two per day)!  :)

We made our own flower print book as well, picking different household objects to experiment with for making flower prints on each page.  We used items such as a toy tractor (wheels), corrugated cardboard, etc.

It seemed a shame to put away old winter shoes and this was an extra pair given to us, soooooo I decided to repurpose them into something Miss A could use for dramatic play.  AND since we had just finished a St. Patrick's Day unit where we learned that leprechauns are shoemakers for fairies, we decided to to make our own fairy shoes.  See the tutorial here.

After we finished the shoes, my daughter completed a writing activity where she pretended to be a master leprechaun shoemaker telling a younger apprentice leprechaun how to make fairy shoes (using the story sequencing: First, Next, Last).

In our family, we have our egg hunt on the first day of spring.  So this week seemed the perfect time to follow that fun activity up with a pattern block book for spring which also focused on number order, number words, and position words!  :)  I made our own pattern block pieces from different craft papers and then we added some fun details (I think the pom pom bunny tail was one of my favorites).

And what did we use for the eggs in the story?  Why thumbprints, of course (which Miss A then drew designs on)!  :)  If you would like to make your own pre- or post egg hunt book, you can download the book here for only $1.50!

Hatch a story - really easy and fun!  Want to hatch your own stories?  Simply fill each egg with a word (you can also do this labeling certain colors as nouns, others as verbs, adjectives, etc.) and have your children pick one of each color.  They open the eggs and try to come up with (and write down) a story using all of the words. For really tiny children, just have them tell you a story or sentence using the words.  :)

Tell it to Mr. Long Ears.  We have a Mr. Long Ears in our house and fortunately for us, he just happens to love listening to stories!  We also just happen to have a bunch of books about spring right now.  :)

Miss A would read a book and try to re-tell it to Mr. Long Ears.  Do you have a creature in your house that looooves listening to stories?  If so, make sure you put it to good use!  :)

While in a craft store one day, my daughter found a sheet of craft paper covered with many different Easter egg prints.  I purchased the paper, cut some of the eggs out and made up some sorting and graphing activities to go along with the eggs.  :)

And of course, we read many books together...

Linking to:
www.mushkiloves.blogspot.com
www.diyhshp.blogspot.com
www.michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com
www.delicateconstruction.com
http:\\makingtheworldcuter.com
www.singingthreelittlebirds.blogspot.com
www.ourdelightfulhome.blogspot.com
www.funkypolkadotgiraffe.blogspot.com
www.tipjunkie.com
www.abcand123learning.com
www.cleanandscentsible.blogspot.com
www.gingersnapcrafts.com
www.bearrabbitbear.com
www.enchantinghomeschoolingmom.blogspot.com
www.handsonaswegrow.com
www.momontimeout.com
www.houseofhepworths.com
www.whipperberry.com
www.toysinthedryer.com
www.kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com
www.homeschoolcreations.net
www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com

A Friendly Friday - Sneaky Shamrocks!

This was a perfect activity for a friendly Friday!  We hid a note and a sheet of shamrock stickers  inside a book we had checked out from the library for our St. Patrick's theme.  We hope it brings a very happy smile to some youngster's face next year when they check out the same book.

And for those wondering about our house leprechaun - YES!  We did catch him - scroll down to read how...

After several mischievous days, Dooligan was finally caught and had to hand over his gold (chocolate covered gold coins).  To his credit, he seemed a cheerful chap as you can see from the picture.

How did we catch him?  Why Miss A decided to make him a wee house out of a cardboard box.  We made a little bed for him inside and found him sleeping there the next morning!  I guess the poor little guy was so worn out from all his sneaky pranks that he didn't hear the pitter patter of little feet outside the box house and couldn't rouse himself in time to escape.

Sadly, Dooligan had a little mishap later on so next year he may look a bit different - or a lot.   Let's just say I'll be on the hunt for a new unbreakable leprechaun (preferably stuffed)...

Linking up to:
www.homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com
www.toysinthedryer.com
www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com
www.tatertotsandjello.com

Mommy and Me Activity - Fairy Shoes!

The beginning of spring heralds the arrival of things amazing, things wonderful!  Raindrops of color, fresh breezes whispering of new life, puddles begging for a good splash, and of course the mystery of little leprechauns and fairies caught in the middle!

As I was wandering through the incredible world of Pinterest searching for some spring inspiration, I came across some shoes that reminded me of what a fairy might wear.  They appeared to be made of flowers and earthy things - I imagine they were only beautiful for a very short amount of time if they were indeed real.  But of course my mind began to spin, and I thought of a pair of Miss A's shoes I was about to put away because they were more of the kind one would wear in the winter.

Why not give them a new life as well?  After all, it is spring and we did just spend a week on leprechauns (shoemakers for the fairies).  So I pulled them out...

Yes, definitely in need of a spring touch!  So, I snipped a bit here and a bit there...

I presented these to my daughter and we set to work.  Paint and glitter quickly lent a magical hand to turn these into something a fairy might consider stepping into.  But we weren't done...

Leaves and small flowers from the dollar store as well as a few paper flower accents we had left over from another project quickly took center stage as we worked together to bring about a very pretty transformation.  (BTW - I manned the hot glue gun while she pointed out where she wanted flowers, and I offered suggestions, etc.).

A few finishing touches - more glitter (think fairy dust) and we had a pair of slippers even Tinkerbell would be proud to wear!

NOTE:  I had to specify that these were special outdoor shoes (because of the glitter) and to keep away from any water which might mess up the paint.  Other than that - the only real limit was how far her little imagination could carry her...

Now the only question that remains is:  what potential fairy shoes do you have hidden away in your closet?  ;)

Linking up to:
www.fingerprintsonthefridge.com
www.sunscholars.blogspot.com
www.kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com
www.homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com
www.toysinthedryer.com
www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com
www.tatertotsandjello.com
www.diyhshp.blogspot.com
www.delicateconstruction.blogspot.com
www.ourdelightfulhome.blogspot.ca
www.cleanandscentsible.blogspot.com
www.gingersnapcrafts.com
www.bearrabbitbear.com
www.houseofhepworths.com
www.momontimeout.com
www.handsonaswegrow.com
www.enchantedhomeschoolingmom.blogspot.com

Homeschool Theme of the Week: St. Patrick's Day!

Happy early St. Patrick's Day!  Here are a few fun activities from our week so far...

A lucky snack!  The pot in the middle is full of yellow jello - GOLD - surrounded by a rainbow of fruit (think pot of gold at the end of the rainbow).  The muffin cups are filled with "clouds" of greek yogurt and shredded coconut.  No, Miss A did not eat all of this herself - this was a huge snack for sharing with little brother and Mommy.  

Hide the Leprechaun Activity:  print a picture of a leprechaun, buy some stickers or use some shamrock cut outs, roll two dice, add the numbers together and add that many stickers to the leprechaun.  The goal is to help the leprechaun by eventually "hiding" him under the shamrock stickers.  For younger kids, just roll one die and add that many stickers to "hide" the leprechaun - for older kids, use two dice and multiply, etc.

We've been practicing the numbers 1-100 in school this year so I wrote some of these numbers on slips of paper.  I purchased some pretend gold coins and piled them on the table.  Miss A and I pretended to be leprechauns and the goal was to see who was the luckiest leprechaun.  

We each took turns drawing a number - the one with the largest number won a gold coin.  At the end of the game, we compared our gold stashes and the one with the most was the luckiest leprechaun!  But the fun didn't end there.  The luckiest leprechaun then had to jump up and do a little leprechaun dance!  :)

This activity was based on a short story I wrote for Miss A titled:  Magical Shamrocks!  The basic idea of the story was that Miss A overheard two leprechauns talking about magical shamrocks.  When gold was placed inside the leaves of a magical shamrock and the shamrock was closed, one would find the gold had doubled when the shamrock was opened back up.

After we read the short story, my daughter took some yellow paint and a cotton swab and put dots of yellow inside one half of each of the paper shamrocks I had given her.  We then closed each "magical" shamrock briefly and when we opened each one again - we found that the "gold" had indeed doubled!  Then she wrote number sentences corresponding to each magical shamrock.  

NOTE:  You may want to put a limit on how many "gold coins" your younger child can add to the shamrock if you are wanting him/her to be able to count the final results well or make simple number sentences, etc.

I had seen this idea on Pinterest before - a writing activity asking children what they would do if they found a pot of gold.  I just added a leprechaun to the mix because chances are that is how you would find said pot of gold on St. Patrick's Day, right?  :)

This was a rhyming rainbow Miss A made.  I had seen the idea before using math facts, and thought this twist would be fun too!  

I wrote some words on a large sheet of white paper in rainbow band arcs.  Then I wrote a word that rhymed with each on pieces of colored paper.  Miss A had to match the words up and glue the colored word on top of the word it rhymed with.  Thus - a rhyming rainbow!

More fun with shamrocks!  Miss A would pick a shamrock, turn it over, and then had to come up with a number sentence that would equal the number on the shamrock.  THEN, if the shamrock happened to be a glittery one (she loved those the best), she had to write the number word next to the number sentence as well.

Of course we have had some visits from our house leprechaun, doling out plenty of green mischief this week!  We've been victims of the traditional turn-the-milk-green caper and the not-so-traditional trick of putting green grapes in the bottoms of socks and leaving stickers (very lightly so they could be easily shaken off) stuck to our dog!  

My daughter has been thinking of a way to trap the little fellow so stay tuned - come Saturday morning, we hope to be the proud recipients of a pot of gold!  :)

And should you need to leave a few books out for your own little house leprechauns to read (might keep them from mischief if they have a good book in hand to distract), here are a few that graced our shelves this week:

Linking up to:
www.whipperberry.com
www.kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com
www.homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com
www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com
www.tatertotsandjello.com
http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/
www.threesinginglittlebirds.blogspot.com
www.delicateconstruction.com
www.diyhshp.blogspot.com
www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com
www.tipjunkie.com
www.gingersnapcrafts.com
www.cleanandscentsible.blogspot.com
www.enchantedhomeschoolingmom.blogspot.com
www.bearrabbitbear.com
www.momontimeout.com
www.handsonaswegrow.com
www.houseofhepworths.com