Counting Fun with Fish

     Today I am going to share a counting activity with you.  I found inspiration here.  The kids had  fun painting, counting, and singing.   This project has a secret that I added...read on

Here's how we made it

Materials

• Velcro
• card stock for bowl
• cardboard for fish
• numbers (or marker to write the number)

1.  Draw a fish pattern on a piece of paper and cut it out.

2.  Trace the fish on cardboard.  I made 5 fish for each child and then a couple extra.  (When working with kids things seem to disappear or tear and it's much easier to make a couple extra when your making all of them than to have to go back and make the part that's missing.) 

3.  Cut out the fish and attach soft, furry Velcro on the back of each fish.  (Yep that's the secret!  Children can remove the fish) 

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4.  Draw a fishbowl and cut it out.  The stronger the paper the better!  If you have extra cardboard that would be best.   (Or if you can laminate it that would work great too, but do step 5 first).

5.  Have your child paint the bowl blue, coloring, or markers would work fine. I knew for best coverage for my children paint is the easiest.

6.  Put numbers on the fish.  You can do it or have them do it.  My children loved doing it and they were saying the numbers as they were putting it on. It was great number practice.

7.  Let the bowl dry for several hours, overnight would be the best.  (I didn't and we had one wounded).

8.  Place the rough Velcro circles on the bowl once it is dry.

9. Have children place the fish on the Velcro and show them how you can remove them.  Sing the counting song posted below.  I used the children's fish and put them in a pile and counted with them while singing the song. They loved it!  Be prepared to do the song over, and over, and over again.

    
      For snack, we had goldfish crackers.  While they were eating, I was singing the song and would take one of their crackers away.   They just laughed and laughed.


Sidenote:  C's bowl has an extra velcro on it  because after we were finished she saw the extra fish that I made and wanted to put the number 8 on there.  I went ahead and let her.  She can count to 10 easily so is not confused by seeing 1-5 and then 8.

Counting song

1, 2, 3, 4, 5  I caught a fish alive

6, 7, 8, 9,10 I let it go again

Why did you let it go?

Because it bit me so. ( I add a sound effect "ouch!"  Kids loved it.)

Thanks for stopping by! 

Shawna

Letter fun with silverware

   The other day while C was eating lunch she said, "Look mommy, I made the letter T."

 She had made the letter with her silverware.    She was so proud.

Next, she wanted to make the letter X

After trying to make an X from memory, she asked me to make an x with my silverware so I did.

Then she wanted to make a letter A.

She realizes here that she will need another piece of silverware so she asked me for one and I got it for her.

She's so proud of her letter A!

Then she made a Y.

 Next up, an H.

I love watching her learn and watching her impress herself.  Her imagination and creativity amaze me everyday.   This activity is great for motor skills and letter formation.  Although she cannot write letters yet, it is nice to know that she knows what they look like and can form most of them from memory.  This is an excellent pre-writing activity.  

Thanks for stopping by!
Shawna

I'm linking to : abc and 123 No Time for Flashcards, I Can Teach My Child

Trucks and slides Oh my!

    Today my friends I have a fun and easy activity that your kids will love doing outside!  It is easy.  It takes no prep work just a slide and trucks or cars. 

   
     C and K loved racing the trucks down the slide.  They spent 30 minutes dropping the truck, watching it go down the slide, sliding down to the truck, and then climbing back up to do it all over again.  It was a good activity for taking turns.  They had to wait for the other to climb before they could use the ladder. 
  
     Modifications:   If you have preschoolers or older children you could use a variety of sizes of trucks and make observations based on their size and distance they travel.  Does a smaller car go farther or a bigger car?  What would happen if the slide was carpet?  Would it go slower or faster?  The possibilities are endless. 
  
    I hope you do this at home with your children!  They will love it! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Shawna

Transportation Beginning Sound Activity

     Several years ago I found  transportation cut-outs at the dollar tree.  And while I had yet to used them, I was saving them for when the idea struck me. 

    First, we sat in a circle and I showed the kids a vehicle and we talked about what it was and what sound it made.  The kids loved grabbing them and telling me what color each one was and making the sound.  

    Next, I laid them on the floor and got the letters out.  

I asked C what each vehicle started with  and she would go to the letter pile, find the letter, and then place the letter on the car.

Next we did helicopter.  She went and got the letter H and placed it on the helicopter.

M is for motorcycle

T is for train.  Then we took it up a notch and added an r to the t and worked on the blend tr.  She did such a great a job!

     This activity is wonderful for working on beginning, middle, or ending sounds.  The child sees the object and puts the letter sound that your working with on that object.  It's a great hands-on activity.  

Thanks for stopping by!  

Shawna

I'm linking to
I Can Teach My Child
No Time for Flashcards
Growing a Jeweled Rose
abc and 123
Hands on as We Grow

Milk painting Marshmallows

       Today we painted marshmallows with milk!  I originally saw the idea (here) where they were painting popcorn and large marshmallows.  We have painted popcorn, shredded wheat, oatmeal squares, paper, crackers, and marshmallows using this method.  It's so easy and the kids love it.  It's a great way to use up milk that is about to spoil!

Here's what you need

• milk ( I usually do this right before the date expiration) 
• food coloring
• bowls
• paint brushes

Talking about the letter M very briefly!  I showed them a bag of marshmallows and pretended to eat one and said "mmmm." 

Staring at the marshmallows.

 

 Milk, food coloring, and bowl is all you need.

1 Tablespoon of milk

Food coloring

Grab a paintbrush and marshmallows and start painting away

Working on motor skills and not even aware of it!

Gripping a small marshmallow and painting it requires concentration and good hand-eye coordination.

Checking out what others are doing.

Mmmm...I think I'll have one.

What happens if I dump pink into purple? 

"It kind of looks closer to brown." C says.

Can I get away with eating 1 marshmallow?  Let me see....

Or instead of painting them...you could dump them in the bowl.

  
      We had so much fun!  You should try it!  You can eat the marshmallows or let them dry and then use them to create a piece of art.   This is a great way to get rid of marshmallows.  Honestly, the kids usually eat 4-6 marshmallows when we do activities with them.  I will take that over having them finish off the rest of the bag by themselves. 

I'm linking to
NurtureStore
abc and 123
Someday crafts
Welcoming Spirit
Growing a jeweled Rose