Nord i sud, tot canvia: al nord comença l'hibernació, la natura en repós, en el sud tot renaix, la naturalesa explosiona. Nord: tardor; sud: primavera. (il·lustracions de Marysya Rudska)
Book Ideas: Curious George Goes to a Chocolate Factory by Margret Rey "George's curiosity causes a problem at the chocolate factory, but his quick thinking and speedy action on the assembly line help save the candies." Lilly’s Chocolate Heart by Kevin Henkes "Decked in fuzzy green slippers and pink housecoat, a crown-wearing Lilly has one Valentine's Day chocolate heart and wants to keep it safe. Unfortunately, several locales aren't quite right: under the bed is dusty, inside the dresser is messy, and behind the radiator is warm. Where will she put it? Not to worry, for with a look of satisfied resolution, Lilly decides the best place is right in her tummy." Chocolatina , I love you by Kraft "Tina eats so much chocolate that she wakes up one morning and finds that she has turned to chocolate. " (This is a cute book, but I should warn you that one of the pages in the story might scare a more sensitive child--Her mean teacher tries to take a bite of her when she has turned to chocolate. You could either skip that page or make something else up. My daughter didn't have a problem with it, but I just wanted to give you a warning.) Oh, Ducky! By David Slonim "When a rubber duck gets stuck in the chocolate-making machine, Mr. Peters dons his diving suit to investigate the pipes and swims through chocolate sharks, ships and sea chests to save the day." The chocolate Cat by Sue Stainton "In a drab village nestled between the mountains and the sea, an old chocolate maker lives alone with his cat, making uninspired chocolates to display in his dusty shop. One day he does something different and makes chocolate mice with crunchy pink-sugar tails--but he won't eat them. Cat soon discovers there's something truly special about these little mice, and everyone who tastes them is inspired to create something new and different, something the little village has never seen." Chocolate by Jacqueline Dineen Informational book that defines what chocolate is, where it comes from, how it is made, and more. (There is too much information in this book for preschoolers, but it has some great pictures of the cocoa tree, cocoa pod, and cocoa beans, as well as the process of how the beans are made into chocolate. Any juvenile non-fiction book about chocolate should have some photos of the plant and process). Activity Ideas: As you read the books and do the activities make sure to talk about how chocolate relates to Valentine's Day. Discuss how chocolates, flowers, cards etc... are often given as gifts to people we love. Make sure to ask them why they think chocolate would be a good gift. Discuss what makes something a good gift. Idea #1: Chocolate Chip Counting Read one of the books and then have your child practice their math skills in this chocolate chip counting activity. You will need a brown grocery bag, a small cup for tracing, a pen, some scissors, a piece of construction paper and a black marker. First you need to trace a bunch of circles on the brown grocery bag and cut them out. Glue them on a piece of construction paper, leaving a little room to the right of each cookie. Then, using a black marker, draw on the desired amount of chocolate chips (the younger the child, the lower the amounts should be). Then draw a line to the right of each cookie, as seen in the photo, so that your child can record the number. The great thing about this activity is that it can be adapted to whatever you think your child needs practice on. My five year old doesn't always remember how to write her double digit numbers, so I made sure to draw on chocolate chips in the "teens" so that she could practice counting above ten and writing down those numbers. For my 2 year old, I only used numbers 1 to 6 and let her practice one-to-one correspondence, as she counted each chocolate chip and we wrote them together. If your child needs practice identifying numbers then you could do the activity this way, as seen in the photo. Have your child identify the numbers next to the blank cookie and then draw on, or glue on (You can use hole punch circles to glue on as the chocolate chips)the right number of chocolate chips. Idea #2: Chocolate Pudding Finger Paint Read one of the books and then let your child finger paint with chocolate pudding. Make the pudding just like the instructions detail on the box. Cover the table with newspaper and make sure to cover up your kids clothes (or even better, just strip them down to nothing:) ). Then, you can either let your child create some artwork by painting on a piece of construction paper(as seen in the photo above), or ....... .....put a glob of pudding on a piece of wax paper and let them "draw" pictures in the pudding with their finger. You can have them practice writing their alphabet, by saying "can you draw me a 'B' or a 'G' " etc... This will give you a good idea of what letters your child knows and which letters you may need to work on. This is what it will look like dry. The wax paper works a little better for the younger ones because they will end up just swirling the pudding around on their whole paper until it is soaking wet. This is a tactile experience for the kids so they may not really want to make a picture, but just enjoying feeling it squish between their fingers. Idea #3: M&M Graphing Read one of the book titles and then explore recording and graphing information, using chocolate M&Ms. Make a graph paper, like the above photo before you start. Then give your child a small bowl of M&M's. Have them sort the colors into piles (sorting is a very good skill for preschoolers to practice). You may have to remind them to wait to eat them until the end of the activity. Then have them count each of the piles and fill in the circles on their graph paper for each of the colors (one circle representing one m&m). When they are done ask them which color had the most and the least and have them circle that group. Idea #4: Chocolate Candy Patterns Read one of the books and then practice making patterns using chocolate candies. Idea #5: Chocolate Candy Collage Read one of the book titles and then let your child make pictures using the chocolate candies. (We used the M&M's, but you could used a variety of chocolate candies). You could glue the candies down if you wanted to, but I think that is sort of a waste of good chocolate:), so we just set them on a piece of paper and then started from scratch each time they made something new.
The Plan Books I Am Small by Emma Dodd In the Snow by Sharon Phillips Denslow No Two Alike by Keith Baker Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner Red Sled by Lita Judge Extension Activities Action …
Rustic Christmas decorations are all about natural tones and bringing simplicity back into Christmas celebrations.
Ready for a creative Christmas?! I certainly am. I’ve been so excited to roll up my sleeves and get crafty this year, I have to admit I’ve started quite early. It’s been a long year, what can I say? One project that I knew would get a look in for the festive season was Trash to […] Read More
Well, here we are in week 5. I cannot believe that it is almost September! At times August went really slow, but at other times it went quick. A week from today Annabelle will be 4. Wow! Anyway, a couple highlights. This week we are learning about the calling of the disciples. How they were called to be Fishers of Men. We are talking about how they are friends to Jesus. We are also learning about what it means to be a friend, and discussing how to be polite. I will be trying to express to Annabelle that the way we treat people will directly effect how people will portray God. A confusing concept for a 4 year old, but I think that I managed to put it into kids terms. We will be doing a collage of friends during one of our craft times this week to show that our friends can be all different ages, shapes, colors, and genders (Annabelle has an issue with boys lol). This little game is to help the Bible lesson for this week to stick in her heart. It's just a fun little go fish game. The person who finds the most fish hidden under the nets wins. Ummm....this is my excessively mess shoe closet lol. We obviously didn't get around to playing the shoe pairs game last week, but we will this week. In the process I'm hoping to get the closet straightened and organized. Annabelle will be helping clean and not even know it. She will match all the shoes for me. She is actually pretty excited to do this (I have no idea why). lol These are a selection of books for the next couple weeks. This week we will be working on a lapbook based on the book Feathers for Lunch. This book is an excellent book that will transition us from learning about Aa and Bb into learning more about Cc. Then the little Angus Lost trilogy will bring us into learning about Dd (these are super cute books by the way). We will also be talking about caterpillars and dinosaurs. It should be a fun couple weeks of reading! Annabelle is loving the library books. She sits down and looks at every single one of them when I bring them home. I love that all three of my kids have a love for books. I am completely amazed when I sit down to read to them and then look at the clock and 20-30 minutes have passed! I am really starting to get in the groove of things and really feeling fantastic about what we're doing. I have really surprised myself with being flexible. I love to get check things off a list and get everything accomplished. But I am learning to just roll with it. Somedays everything gets done, other days it doesn't and I'm ok with that. It's ok when things get done, because it will give us something to do during the downtimes when someone is asking for something to do. It also helps on weekends....because Annabelle is constantly asking me to do school on Saturday and Sunday! I am also really enjoying my time with my kids more. Can I be real with you....sometimes spending time with kids is a chore for me. But I've found with planned activities and something in my mind to do ahead of time has really made me enjoy it 100% more. To the point that I look forward to it. Can I just encourage any mommies reading this that might feel the same as me to just plan a couple things to do with your kids during the week, and then do it whether you feel like it or not. I think that you will be pleasantly surprised how enjoyable it is. Ok, off my soapbox. lol Well, time to prep lunch. Happy blogging. jess_hak
Give your Christmas tree a homemade touch this year, or impress your friends and neighbors with this rustic, delicate wire-wrapped Christmas Star. Each star only takes about 15 minutes to make, and it’s the perfect craft to do with your kids. Attach them to wrapped presents for an extra special touch.
Happy Wednesday, friends!!! Today, Tara and I are each sharing a holiday DIY. For my DIY, I transformed some basic, plastic ornaments. Here's my
Ideas, detalles y deco para inspirarte.
