Spider Oreo Snacks

Halloween is just around the corner and this fun Spider Oreo snack from Oopsie Daisy is a fun activity for your kids. 

(click here for tutorial)

Fun Fall Activities

Are you looking for some fun fall activities to do with your children? Check out this great post from Sweet and Lovely Crafts. Trust me you wont be disappointed.

Stranger Danger

This week in preschool we are talking about stranger danger. While researching this topic on the internet I came across the below information from www.pollyklaas.org . I thought it had some great pointers of how to teach your children about the dangers of talking or interacting with strangers. 

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TALK TO STRANGERS

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Children often hear "Don’t talk to strangers” or "Stay away from strangers.” We've given a great deal of thought to these stranger warnings, and would like to share 4 important observations. Children and Strangers 1. Children often think "strangers" look bad or mean or dirty. They can think that if someone looks nice, that person is not a stranger. Fact: Many molesters know this and purposely dress nicely so they can more easily lure children. 2. Children can become confused when given rules like "don't talk to strangers" while their parents say "hi" to people on the street and chat with the grocery clerk. Children can: Think if a person has spoken to their parents just once, then that person is not a stranger. Decide that if their parents talk to strangers, they can too. 3. If a child is lost or has no trusted adult nearby, everyone is a stranger to that child. How is your child going to find help without talking to strangers? 4. The great majority of people who abduct or molest children are not strangers, they already know the children they harm.

Instead of "don't talk to strangers," we strongly suggest you teach your children to watch out for dangerous adult behaviors. You can teach you children these 4 simple rules.  

Dangerous Adult Behaviors

1. “If any adult or older kid offers you anything without asking me, step way back, yell, “NO!”, run away,
     and tell.” (This applies to candy, pets, treats, job offers, photographs, rides on motorcycles, etc.)

2. “If any adult or older kid asks for your help without asking me first, step way back, yell “NO!”, run away
     and tell.” (This applies to mailing a letter, picking something up for an injured person, approaching a
     car to give directions, doing yard work, looking for a lost puppy, etc.)

3. “If any adult or old kid asks you to keep a secret, step way back, yell “NO!”, run away, and tell.”

4. If any adult or older kid touches your private parts (parts covered by a swim suit) or asks you to touch
    your private parts or somebody else’s, step way back, yell “NO!”, run away and tell.”

Also, you can teach your children ways to identify people they can ask for help, like store clerks and women with children. Our free Child Safety Kit has many ideas to help you teach safety by playing “What If…” with children of all ages. 

We recommend you reassure your kids that you won't be mad if they make a mistake. It's part of the learning process.

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An activity that I did with Colton was I showed Colt pictures of: 

Fireman

Police Man

Store Clerk

Ordinary Man or Woman

We talked about each of the pictures first asking Colton if they were good or bad. Then second I told him what their responsibilities were and how they could help him if he couldn't find mommy or daddy. For the man and woman I explained to him that not everyone is bad but that bad people sometimes dress up to look like they are good people and that it is better to not go to anyone but police officer, fireman, and store clerks.  

I decided to use real images that I found on the internet instead of cartoon because I figured it could help him to recognize them in real life. 

1,2,3,4,....... game

Counting Flashcards

Material: 

10 3x5 cards

marker

We have been working on counting to ten with little man. I saw this game in a magazine and thought Colton would have fun. I wrote a number on each of the cards then mixed them all up and let Colton put them in order. He had fun and I enjoyed watching him learn. This activity is a good one because it teaches the kids how to count and how to recognize the numbers too.

Butterfly

Materials: 

1 Popsicle stick

1 coffee filter

2 big pom poms

1 pipe cleaner

crayons

tape

glue

Colton made this cute butterfly at church the other day. I thought it was to cute to not share. By looking at the picture I would assume that you would be able to figure out how to make it. From what I can tell here are the directions.

1. Color the coffee filter.
2. Tape the coffee filter to the popsicle stick to look like a fan.
3. Glue the two pom pom on one end of the popsicle stick.
4.  Add the pipe cleaner to the other end to look like antlers.
5. Draw eyes on above the pipe cleaner.

SORRY! Counting

Materials: 

1- Parkers Brother SORRY! game

Colton has really got into playing games lately with his favorite game being the classic game, SORRY! It was a childhood favorite of mine too so it's fun for me to play the game with my son now. SORRY! is a great game to teach kids how to count and why not have fun while learning. I love that Colton doesn't even realize that we are teaching him. Make sure to allow to let them count along with you so that they can soak in all the knowledge. 

School is now in session!!

It's back to school time which means it's time to start up Mommy School again. I've got some fun ideas planned so make sure to come back often.

Toy Story Carnival

Little man turned 3 and we celebrated Toy Story style. For his birthday party we decided to have a little carnival with booths and all.


Booth #1 There's A Snake in My Boot
At this booth all the kids made Tie Snake. I got the idea here from Oopsey Daisy. All the snake turned out so cute and this booth became the all time favorite of the day.

Booth #2 Toy Story Coloring
We printed out a bunch of coloring pages of all the Toy Story characters and let them color in this booth. In this booth we also made paper cow boy hats. I wish I could direct you to where you could print them out too, but since it is my mom's pattern I won't be able to. Sorry! 

Booth #3 The Claw
In this booth we used a play mechanical claw for each child to get a prize out of the box. The kids thought it was great and wanted to do it again. 

Booth #4 Cowboy Racing
This booth was so much fun for everyone including the adults. We had two kid race each other at a time. Each one of the kids had to pick up a stick pony then run to where an adult helped them put on a bandana around their neck. After that they ran to the last station where they put a cowboy hat on and ran to the finish line. 

We invited all the kids to dress up if they wanted to. 

A few extra things I did to make this party prefect were:


I made a poster for each booth.

I forgot to take a picture of this before the party and the other
two ee for Hee Haw were lost at that the party. So excuse my
spelling mistake. 

I also made specialized water bottle labels. Once again I forgot to take a picture of them before handing out so here are a few pictures that give you the idea. I made the labels by combining  a bunch of ideas I found online.

The back of the label says:
Birthday Facts


Severing Size: 1 Handsome Boy


Amount per Serving           DV
Cowboy                            100%
Lovable                             100%
Cuddly                              100%
Energetic                           100%


Ingredients: family, friends and one handsome birthday boy.


As a party favor I made each one of the kids a specialized Toy Story tote bag.

U is for USA

Alison from Oopsey Daisy put together this adorable U is for USA packet. Her packets are the best! Hope you enjoy it as much I has I did.

Click on the following link to be taken to her website where you can download the packet.

http://www.oopseydaisyblog.com/2011/07/u-is-for-u-s-a-mommy-school.html

Eensy Weensy Spider

Materials:

black, white and red felt
black pipe cleaners
bag full of rice
sewing machine or fabric glue

(Click here for turtoial) 

This Eensy Weensy Spider is from  Oopsey Daisy and once again Allison has not failed us. I'm sure you have already noticed I absolutely love her blog. If you have hours to spend (trust me you will need it once you see all she has to offer) I highly recommend checking it out. You'll be amazed.

Magic Shape Painting

Materials:

1- sheet of foam

markers

 painters tape

scrap piece of construction paper 

(Click here for tutorial)

I stumbled upon this fun painting idea from No Time For Flash Cards and knew Colton would have a blast with it, hope your kids do too.

Counting Fish

Materials:

1- fish template, printed and cut out

(template)

20 ish- Pepperidge Farm Goldfish

1- sheet of plain paper

markers

glue

We have been working on counting so when I found this cute fish template from  First School I knew we needed to do it in school. As a review we also worked on F is for fish.

Today we also used goldfish to work on counting. I made a worksheet by writing 1 fish, 2 fish, etc. then an area for total of goldfish. For each number Colton counted corresponding number of fish. When all the numbers were filled up we added then all together and wrote the total number on the bottom.

Caterpillars

Materials:

1- egg carton

pompoms

pipe cleaners

paint, variety of colors

scissors

glue

(Click here for tutorial)

These caterpillar's are from Na's Days. It's a project that takes sometime, but are too cute to pass up. 

Pink Paper Plate Pigs

Materials:

2- paper plates

1- clear water bottle cap

2- small googley eyes

pink paper

pink paint

tape
glue

(Click here for tutorial)
(You will need to scroll down a little bit to find it.)    

This paper plate pig is too cute for words. I found this idea from Pocketful of Posies. Enjoy!

Very Hungry Caterpillar

Last weekend Colton attend a reading party for preschool with my mom. The party was planned around the adorable book Very Hungry Caterpillar by: Eric Carle. I wanted to share with you a few of the art projects he made while at the party. 

Craft Project #1: Coffee Filter Butterfly

Materials:

1- coffee filter

1- pipe cleaner

markers

This cute butterfly is the easiest project Colt and I have ever done. There are only two steps:

1. Color the coffee filter. 

2. Gather filter in the middle, wrap the pipe cleaner around and bend the end of the pipe cleaner on both sides to look like a antenna.

Craft Project #2: Popsicle Caterpillar

Materials:

1- Popsicle colored stick

5- large pompoms

1- 1-inch pipe cleaner

glue

1. Glue pompoms onto popsicle stick. 

2. Bend pipe cleaner into an antenna, and glue onto popsicle stick. 

Cowboy Colt

Buses

Transportation week continues.....

I'm excited to share with you one of Colton favorite thing right now, buses. I have been looking forward to transportation week mainly for this day. 

Materials:

1- half egg carton

yellow paint

2- small black circles

glue

(Click here of tutorial)

This cute school bus craft is from Fryman Four. What a fun craft. We live by our city's school district building where all of the school buses are parked. For a fun activity we went for a walk to look at all the school buses.  

Recommend book:

School Bus by: Donald Crews

To go along with transportation week, in preschool with my mom the kids got to go on a UTA bus ride for a field trip. Colton looked forward to this field trip all week long. Even now Colton keeps asking us to go for a ride again. 

At the bus stop with his cute cousin Olya

I'm back

As you may have noticed I have been absence for the past few weeks. Finals got the best of me leaving no time for much of anything else. With excited I can say that finals are over and I'm back. I've got some fun projects to share with you so make sure to come back often.

Easter

Easter is right around the corner. It's time to start planning for Easter. Here are some activities I found. Hope you enjoy them as much as we will. 

Bunny Magnet

(Click here for tutorial)

This cute bunny magnet is from Mama-Jenn. It is a fun and easy activity for little one. 

Plastic Easter Bunny

(Click here for tutorial)

I found this cute plastic Easter bunny from Enchanted Learning. I think Colton would love making this craft so it's on my to do list. 

Duck 

(Click here for tutorial) 

This duck is from First School. There is an option to make this duck into a greeting card as well. Both are cute ideas.

Easter Coloring Pages

Apples 4 The Teacher have some cute online Easter coloring pages if your looking for a very simple project. You can find them here: Coloring pages. 

Easter Games

Looking for fun Easter Games? Kaboose has a list of many games such as Easter 20 questions, Easter clue, and Easter Bingo. You can find all the games you need for your party at: Easter Party.

E is for Easter

And if that isn't enough Alison from Oopsey Daisy put together a E is for Easter packet similar to G is for Green packet we used for St. Patrick's Day. You can go here to download the entire packet.

Boats

Materials:

1- blue construction paper

3- small pieces of different colored construction paper

1- small yellow circle, for sun

template, printed and cut up with corresponding construction paper. 

(Template)

1- popsicle stick

glue

makers

Day 3 of transportation week I decided was going to be a simple and easy craft day. I found the template for this boat from DLTK's and changed it up a bit to personalize this cute boat craft. 

Recommended Books:

"Habor" by: Donald Crews

"Sail Away" by: Donald Crews

Chugga Chugga Choo Choo

(Click here for tutorial)

Day 2 of transportation week was a hit. Colton went to preschool with my mom this morning and had fun making a Easter train and a cute transportation book. After school Colton and I did Mommy School where we made an adorable toilet paper tube train by Homes School Creations. This project turned out to be a much bigger project then I thought it would. Colton painted the toilet paper tubes then I pretty much had to do the rest; however the train turned out so cute and Colton loves it. 

Recommended Book: "And The Train Goes..." By William Bee 

A is for Airplane

This week is transportation week. I have been looking forward to this week for months now. There are so many cute ideas I have found on the internet. I can't wait to show you all I have found. 

I first taught Colton the letter A, and talked about how airplanes starts with A. I also asked him questions like:

* What Flies in the sky? (birds, airplanes, helicopters, hot air balloons, etc.)

*Who drives the airplane? (pilot)

*Where do you go to get onto a airplane? (airport)

After our short lesson on the letter A and Airplanes I gave Colton water colors and let him paint an A is for Airplane worksheet.

While his was painting I read him the book "The Noisy Airplane Ride" by: Mike Downs. This is a cute book that teaches all about how airplanes work and all their sounds. 

I found this cute Wooden Airplane Picture idea from Bright Hub that I knew Colton would love it, which he did. 

(Click here for tutorial)

I also found a fun song at the website Bright Hub about airplanes. Teach the children to sing this song while "flying" their airplanes. The tune is "I'm a Little Teapot."

I'm a little airplane, I can fly,

Here is my throttle, give me a try.

When I get all revved up, then I fly,

Off the runway and up to the sky.

I have prepared some fun transportation games (click on the word games to be taken to website to print them too) from Home School Creations for Colton to play with this week. Today he played the matching game. 

To finish off our fun day learning about airplanes we are going on a field trip to the airport so see airplanes when daddy gets home from work.