School Daze.... Vv is for Valentine....

TOT SCHOOL BEGINNINGS
Braeden is 17 Months
This week I had 9 kids come over to play with projects...I had stations for a sensory bin (rice with Valentine themed items); a fine motor- straw in the Parmesan cheese container- Braeden didn't do this one, so I don't have pictures of it; play-dough; and sponge painting... we ended with parachute time and bubbles... for the most part it was pretty quiet (surprising!) and calm....

Braeden sharing the sensory bin...with multiple friends... a complete 180 from last week...

Look at me...being brave... having so many toddlers paint in my living room... things seemed to be going really well.... Braeden was loving it...I had them use sponges to paint with...

Braeden was totally into this project.... loved it very much...and then it was time for cleaning up...then the throwing of the paint project started.... it could have been worse...it was washable paint and things are cleanable.... the important part was that he loved it.... we will be venturing at this again....

The quiet after the storm... playing with some play-dough....having been calmed down and distracted by another mommy while I frantically cleaned up paint from the floor....

The play-dough held his attention for a little while...plus I really like this picture...

Braeden...having a conversation with his new friend during parachute time...I have no idea what they were talking about...

Lots and lots of bubbles....and kids... :-)

Braeden at Art class at my friend Michelle's house...(pre-haircut)...here he is decorating a heart...

Also at art class- thank you for the picture Michelle! Here he is using watercolor to paint a coffee filter heart...personally I think Michelle is very brave to give him so much paint... but he LOVED it...and did it for a very long time...and got very messy....but Michelle says it is the process not the product...

Watching a game tucked in Daddy's pocket...he sits there a lot...

PRESCHOOL
Ryleigh is 45 Months Old
This week we did the Letter Vv.... and did many Valentine themed activities....

For our Letter of the Week Craft, they did "v" is for valentine.... to see the step by step (ish) process, check out our stART post for this week....

Ryleigh at Art Class-Thanks for the Picture Michelle! ...She painted with watercolor on a heart shaped coffee filter....So pretty!!!

Ryleigh using come glitter glue and stickers to make a Valentine....

Using Bingo Markers to do this do-a-dot V that I printed from Confessions of a Homeschooler...

Working on these number cards- I printed them and then laminated them for lots of future use! I also got these from Confessions of a Homeschooler

I had the girls look for different letters and then match these valentine themed alphabet tiles...(I made them from scrap-booking stickers...I just flipped the sticker back around to make them permanent...)

Beading beads onto the stick part of what I think is supposed to be a floral decoration for Valentine's day...either way...great fine motor activity...

Some cutting practice...this sheet happens to be also from Confessions of a Homeschooler...but I find them all over the web...or I make my own....by drawing lines... :-)

Putting heart stickers on "Vv"....another great fine motor activity...

The girls started measuring this week...I used some inch (1-4 inches) worms from my gigantic math tackle box for them to practice on....they did really well and picked up the concept right away....

Ryleigh practicing telling time (to the hour)... after she figured this out...she has been doing it the rest of the week....perhaps I will introduce half-hours in the near future...

Using training chopsticks to transfer pom poms from a fruit cup container to a heart shaped ice cube tray/muffin tin that I found at the target dollar spot....

To see what others did this week check out Tot School at 1+1+1=1; Preschool Corner at Homeschool Creations; and the Weekly Wrap-up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

TOT SCHOOL- WEEK SIXEEN 33 MONTHS

We did lots of great activities this week...I have capped the pictures at 24...you are welcome;)

Granny and Ryleigh playing with a Melissa and Doug Puzzle

While Aunt Laura was visiting, she and Ryleigh worked on some puzzles... did lots of dancing... and worked on colors& shapes...

This week for our stART project we made pretzels...

Braeden and Anna watching the girls play projects...

The girls did the dot paintings with the bingo markers again...they did these a couple of times this week...but I am just including a picture of one...mainly because it looks pretty much the same...:)

The Letter of the Week for us was "K" (is for Kite). I had the girls color on the kites, then glue some decorative tissue paper on...and added some ribbon for the string...I think they came out much cuter than last weeks "J's"....

Ryleigh sharing with Elena...Red is Elena's favorite color...

We used tweezers to transfer tiny pom poms from a baby food container to the suction cup part of those "tub things"... a great fine motor activity.

Braeden playing with one of his Christmas gifts from Bubbe... (Ryleigh is finding Braeden lots of fun these days as he starts playing with more things..)

I made Ryleigh a button snake...I have seen them on many blogs and I knew she would like it...and she does.... I will make a few more with different size buttons....I sewed a button onto a piece of ribbon and then cut many pieces of felt for her to use....
My Grandparents got her these adorable beads for Christmas...they have different colors and the alphabet on them...she had fun calling out the letter and putting it on the pipe-cleaner.
She is really enjoying her new scissors... and can now hold the piece of paper and cut all the way across it...YAY!!!!
I put some of the pages of Ryleigh's Kumon tracing book in page protectors, gave her a dry-erase marker and let her do the pages...over and over again....
Unfortunately Sir Braeden has gotten too big (heavy) for his swing...this is making nap time a little difficult...luckily he has fallen in love with a new chair...and this one goes up to 40 pounds...
Being the outdoorsy person that I am...I brought the snow from our blizzard inside for Ryleigh to play with.... she totally enjoyed this and played with the snow for quite some time... we did a few experiments with it...one of which is pictured below...the other had to do with food coloring...fun..but messy...

Ryleigh pouring warm water over the snow to watch it disappear....

Ryleigh's friend Emily turned 3 last week and at her party Michelle had the girls color on fabric bags...so fun!!! They used fabric markers...I didn't get a picture of Ryleigh's finished bag- but it came out looking tie-dyed....very cute.
We ended our week with a trip to the Dentist (a Ryleigh and Elmo first)... She did great and apparently Elmo had a great time and is looking forward to going again. They counted Ryleigh's teeth-she has 20..and Elmo's- he has 0.

Ryleigh (and Elmo) working on her button snake while we waited in the waiting room...

Elmo took a ride in the chair first...

Ryleigh sat on Mommy's lap and got her teeth counted

Braeden...watching...thrilled to be there...

Ryleigh and Elmo with their "goody bag" watching Daddy get his teeth checked...

Marc...super excited that I now document these fun filled field trips for my blog...

To see what others are doing in their Tot Schools go here...

stART - Be Mine, Be Mine, Sweet Valentine

A Story + Art = A great stART!

For our project this week, we read Be Mine, Be Mine, Sweet Valentine. The story goes something like this---for those who have not read it----The Valentine for a dog is a bone, for an ant eater some ants, for a horse some hay, for a cat some cream.... Anyway...to go with the story Ryleigh made some soft pretzels...

What do Pretzels have to do with the story? Not a thing.... however...I suppose one could argue that since Daddy likes soft Pretzels... as in...it is his favorite food...that Ryleigh helped make a Valentine for Daddy... If one was to argue that...they would probably lose since he is the one who was making them with her...oh well....cute story and yummy food....YAY!!!

Twisting the pretzels....

Ryleigh opted to make "nuggets" instead of the full-sized pretzel...

Watching the pretzels take their "bath"......

The finished product...and the little pretzel nuggets were very yummy!
(and thank you Aunt Lissa [Melissa] for the apron...)

To see what others are doing for their stART projects head over to A Mommy's Adventures.