This week was pretty interesting thanks to power outages happening every single day this week. I cannot begin to explain the mess that is the power company here. Power outages are a common occurrence, so much so that you don't even blink when it happens. However, when it happens every day for a full week for 2-3 hours at a time, it can make you go a little crazy.
It kind of messes up my productivity around the house. Fortunately, it doesn't mess up Tot School! It's just a lot warmer and a little darker. Natural light from the windows helped with that. Sometimes, it was a little too dark for my photos, so I'm sure you'll forgive me for using older photos of Little Man doing the same activity (just a week or 2 prior). I just wanted to clear up any confusion when you see his head injury disappear and then reappear one photo later. ;-)
We started off the week making our letter 'C' caterpillar to hang on the wall. This one was particularly fun because we were able to work on reinforcing the circle shape along with a few different colors. This is also a great activity for working on patterns.
The 'C' snack I tried my hand at this week were baked carrot fries. I've really been working to get Little Man to try new foods. Right now, he pretty much loves apples, Quaker oatmeal cookies, and spaghetti. That's pretty much it. Oh, and he'll never turn down a french fry.
That's why I decided to try and trick him into thinking he was eating orange fries. I even held onto a McDonald's french fry bag to display them in, with hopes to reinforce that "orange french fry" disguise. I'm not above disguising food and tricking my child into thinking he's eating something that's not vegetable. I did make veggie muffins for him, after all. It's for a good cause.
Unfortunately, it's going to take a little longer for Little Man to agree. We'll get there though ;-) I took care of the leftovers without complaint.
For the sensory bin this week, we made some more cloud dough. This one is always a hit with Little Man and it's so simple to make! You can head over to my Play to Learn page to find the recipe.
As always, we enjoyed our letter song from . They made sure to emphasize the two sounds the letter 'C' makes.
The next couple of activities went along with the Eric Carle classic, . It's hard not to have a cute activity when it involves a colorful caterpillar.
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| Click here to find the caterpillar food download. |
The first activity is a fun interactive game to go along with the story. There are plenty of teachable moments to have with this book and the activity. You can have your child pick which food needs to be fed to the caterpillar next based on the order of the pictures in the book. Children can learn the names of different types of foods, work on counting, and learn the days of the week. For my Little Man, we focused on learning new and helpful words like "feed the caterpillar", "the caterpillar wants more", "I think the caterpillar is hungry", etc.
We have from when Little Man was a baby. I stuff it in the can while we're reading the part about the caterpillar sleeping in his cocoon. Little Man loves when he gets to pull the "beautiful butterfly" from the cocoon. Here are a few other cute butterfly toy options if you don't already have one (and there's always the option of making your own butterfly with your child as a craft):
If you want to know more about how to make the interactive caterpillar game and download your copy of the caterpillar food printable, you can find this activity on my Play to Learn page as well.
The second activity was a craft involving some deflated balloons from last weeks balloon hunt. All you need is a tiny bit of paint and a couple of balloons only filled up with a little air and you're good to go! The only paint colors you really need are green and red for the body of the caterpillar and his head. However, in true Eric Carle fashion, I mixed some yellow and blue with the green and a little bit of yellow in the red. I did not completely mix the colors because that would just give you one new color. After squirting the colors into 2 separate paint trays, I took a toothpick and swirled them a little bit.
Next, Little Man went to town dipping the balloons in the paint and mashing them onto the paper. After I supervised him with the caterpillar painting, I let him do whatever he wanted with the next couple of sheets of paper. It was messy, but oh-so-fun. Besides, messes can always be cleaned up (except for the little bit of paint I got on the edge of the caterpillar book...oops!)
For our math activity this week, we had some fun with this sorting game (available and free to download here). Each little mat is a different category and there are 3 items that sort into each category. For Little Man, I narrow it down to 2 categories and give him the 6 items to sort. I don't pick 2 mats that are very similar (i.e. fruits and vegetables). Instead, I might pick animals and clothes. Then, he would sort the items into the appropriate category.
That about does it for this week. I think we had a pretty productive week, despite all the power outages. I'm really looking forward to the letter 'D' next week because I have a dinosaur cookie cutter I've been itching to use!
Anyone have any other ideas for the letter 'C' that I can add for the next time I loop through the alphabet with Little Man? I'm always open for suggestions :-)
Links to Tot School Lessons by Letter:
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The picture of your little boy eating the carrot fries is sooo cute. Reminds me of my 6-year-old, he's such a picky eater. But it sure looks like he's having a blast with the activities!
ReplyDeleteDoesn't the photo say it all? As soon as it's in his mouth he'll eat it and not even TRY to spit it out. He must just be against the IDEA of trying new stuff and not the actual taste. At least he's still healthy and happy :-) Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteLOVE the letter C! Looking forward to the series. Thanks for sharing at the Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop. Have a wonderful day!
ReplyDeleteKatie