Bushel Full of Apple Ideas

Apples For Teachers - No Time for Flash Cards

Paper Plate Apple -Ramblings of a Crazy Woman

"No Bake" Apple Pie - Chasing the Goose

Apple ABC Letter Match - Learning and Teaching with Preschoolers

Packed with Apple Ideas - Learning and Teaching with Preschoolers

Apple Play-Doh - Pink and Green Mama

A is for Apple vs. B is for Ball - Preschool Daze

Lots of apple links - Bo the Bookworm Resources

Apple Picking Time Ideas - Dr. Jean

The Star (an apple story) - Dr. Jean

The Itty-Bitty Bookworm has a "Ten Apples Up On Top" unit as part of their curriculum for October (Year 1).  They also have a "Apples and Pumpkins" unit as part of their curriculum for October (Year 3).

P is for Puppet

Wes played with these two little puppets all day. He and John put the monkey puppet together. It was a Martha Stewart puppet kit. The tiger puppet was something he made at nursery school.  He had so much fun with these that I thought I would look for some additional puppet craft ideas.  Look at all I found!

 Web Sites

• LOTS of Puppet Ideas and Printables
• Enchanted Learning - Finger and Paper Bag Puppets
• First School - Paper Bag Puppet Animals
• Artists Helping Children - Puppet Art
• Making Friends - Puppet Making
• Family Fun - Playful Puppets
• Martha Stewart - Sock puppets

Blogs

• Craft Jr. - Giraffe Sock Puppet
• Craft Jr. - Easter Finger Puppets
• Dollar Store Crafts - The Three Little Pigs Finger Puppets
• Oh Amanda - A Puppet-Inspired Birthday Party
• Kid's Crafts Weekly - Puppets
• Pink and Green Mama - Felt Finger Puppets
• Pink and Green Mama - Sponge Bob Square Pants Felt Puppets

How to Make a Puppet from an Old Stuffed Toy

C is for Cookie

This week Wes and I read Mmm, Cookies! He thought this book was hilarious and asked me to read it over and over again. If you aren't familiar with Robert Munsch, you have to check out some of his books. Kids think that they are so funny. Here are my children's Munsch favorites.

Mmm, Cookies!
A boy tricks his family with play dough cookies.

Stephanie's Ponytail (Annikins)
A little girl tries to be original by wearing unique hairstyles.


Alligator Baby
Kristen's parents just can't seem to do anything right. First they have their baby at the zoo, not in a hospital. Then, they accidentally bring home an baby alligator instead!

Here are some of the activities we did to go along with Mmm, Cookies:

1. A Cookie Jar Game - I printed the cookie jar blackline and chocolate chip cookie printables. Then I made a set of number flash cards. Wes would pull a card, identify the number, and place that amount of cookies in the cookie jar.



When Wes was finished with the game he chose a final flash card, identified the number on it, and glued that amount of cookies onto the cookie jar.


2. Play Dough Cookies - Wes made a big, huge play dough cookie and tricked his sisters with it!


3. Letter "C" Collage -Wes cut pictures of cookies out of grocery store circulars and glued them to the large "C".

Printables for C is for Cookie

*The entire Mmm, Cookies unit is part of Bo's Curriculum for December (Year 1). The download can be purchased here.

For more What My Child is Reading visit Mouse Grows Mouse Learns.
For more Learning Through Love visit My Family My Forever.

B is for Bob the Builder

This week Wes and I worked on the letter "B". Trying to connect his learning to things with which he is most familiar, I thought Bob the Builder would be an appropriate theme.

Here are the activities we did:

1. We read Welcome to Bob's Building Yard. Wes loves this one because it has all of Bob's "friends" in it. We talked about how "Bob", "builder", "build", and "building" all start with the letter "B". 2. Wes colored this picture of Bob and traced the B's. As he is tracing, I put my hand over his to guide him. Once we do this a couple of times, I let him practice on his own.
*As you can see, this was not his favorite activity. He is not a big "colorer". However, I do try to get him to do it some because it is good practice for learning how to correctly hold a pencil.


I am not sure from which site this coloring sheet came. However, there are some really cute ones here and here.


3. I printed out a large letter B collage outline. You can get them here from The Itty-Bitty Bookworm's website. Then I cut "bricks" (small rectangles) out of red construction paper.
I gave Wes the B outline and he colored it red. Next, I gave him a glue stick and the "bricks". I explained that the word "brick" begins with the letter B. Then, Wes glued the bricks onto the B collage outline.
4. I printed this puzzle and cut it out. I gave Wes a piece of construction paper and a glue stick. First, Wes put the puzzle together. Then, I helped him glue it onto the construction paper. Lastly, he traced B's at the top of the paper.
*This was his favorite activity, which makes sense because he has great spatial intelligence.



5. We played Paint the Gang and Design a House.

6. I made theseBob the Builder Letter Tiles We used them to practice visual discrimination. I printed two copies of the uppercase letter set. Wes matched "A" to "A", etc. He loved this.

A is for Astronaut

If you read this post, you know that Jesse Bear is completely into astronauts. I decided to use this new obsession to reinforce the letter "A". Here are the activities we did today:

To Prepare:

1. I printed out the large, black and white astronaut from this download from Mrs. Pancake.

2. I printed out a 3X5 picture of Jesse Bear's head.

3. I cut out the face spot of the astronaut and taped Jesse Bear's face behind it.


Then Jesse Bear and I...

1. Read On the Moon, his favorite astronaut book.
2. I explained that the word "astronaut" begins with the letter "A" and pointed to the "A" in the word.

3. I set out Crayola Washable Triangular Crayons (the best because they are large and don't roll) and scissors.

4. I showed Jesse the astronaut with his face, and he was so excited. I asked him if he thought we should print an "A" on the astronaut's suit and he said "Sure". Next, Jesse colored in the rest of the space suit.

By the way ~ the thing in the astronaut's hand is a "grabber". Here is the real grabber, a toy Jesse got at the Air and Space Museum in Washington DC:


I though it was so cool that he asked me to draw a grabber for his astronaut. I love the connections he is making!

5. Next, we read Toy Story (Little Golden Book) and talked about how Buzz Light Year is an astronaut.
6. Lastly, we practiced printing the letter "A" and drew some pictures of an astronaut and an apple. We did this writing activity in a special Toy Story Little Golden Book upcycled journal that I was lucky enough to win from This Handmade Life's Etsy shop.


The best part of these activities is how much Jesse loves that little astronaut. He was so proud. He took it to nursery school to show his teacher.

Update: We also did a Letter A Collage. I printed the tiny astronauts here. Wes colored them. I helped him cut them out. Then he glued them onto the letter A collage outline. Here is the Letter A outline from The Itty-Bitty Bookworm.


More astronaut and space-related links:

• Orange Juice's Spaceship Craft
  
• Making Learning Fun
  
• First School
• Education.com
• Step by Step CC
• Mrs. Pancake's Space Cadets
• Mrs. Pancake's Space Display