Amanda from Oh Amanda shows us the new The Very Hungry Caterpillar pop-up book. Looks like fun. Don't forget, I have fun activities to go along with this book. Also, Mrs. Jones has a cute song. These ideas are perfect for spring, which is just around the corner. Have fun! :)
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The Very Hungry Caterpillar 40th Anniversary Pop-Up Book
Friday, May 30, 2008
Fun-Filled Friday: Caterpillars and Butterflies
In the spring, it's a good time to introduce the life cycle of a butterfly to children. The good news is, there are many activities to choose from. Here are some activities that I have used or recently discovered.
I don't think a lesson about caterpillars and butterflies would be appropriate without reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar. What a fun book to read and the children enjoy watching the caterpillar eat his way through the book.
I found these sequencing cards at DLTK. These go along with The Very Hungry Caterpillar. DLTK allows you to print these out in black and white or color. I chose to print these in black and white so that the children could color them. This is a great counting activity too.
This butterfly is a simple craft for young children. You just take paper scraps or foam cut outs and put them inside a plastic sandwich baggie. Bunch up the baggie in the middle and wrap a pipe cleaner around it and form the antennae with the pipe cleaner. Slide a pony bead over the antennae to keep it all held together. This idea is from Mailbox Magazine.
This is a cute keepsake. It's a bit messy though when you try to do this with 13 kids! lol To make this butterfly, you simply apply paint to the child's feet and then stamp them onto cardstock or heavy paper. Then use brown construction paper to cut out the butterfly's abdomen and glue it to the wings.
Warning: It's best not to have the kid's watch as your press their foot down on paper. If they're looking at the paper, they'll almost always wiggle their foot around. I found it easier if I had them look at an object while I pushed down on their foot.
I was fortunate enough to find this kit at Dollar Tree many years ago. These figurines show the different phases of the life cycle. I'm sure you could pick up one of these kits at your local teacher store or online.
More ideas:
Foam caterpillar: Sorry, I don't have a picture of this one. I remember making this several years ago though. I just took different colors of craft foam and cut out circles that were about the size of a quarter. We glued these together to make a caterpillar and then added wiggle eyes.
Collage: Use paper scraps, yarn, fabric, tissue paper, clips from magazines, etc to create a butterfly collage.
Life cycle booklet: Cut a piece of paper into 4 equal pieces. On the first page draw a leaf and then glue a small white circle onto the leaf. Use a hole puncher to punch out the circle - you can use white paper or craft foam for the circles. This is for the egg. On the next page, draw a leaf and then glue on a spiral shaped noodle for the caterpillar. On the third page, draw a tree limb and then glue on a shell shaped noodle for the chrysalis. On the last page, glue on a butterfly shaped noodle and also draw the body of the butterfly. Of course, you can add flowers, trees, and other embellishments to your book.
- felt board fun
- bouncy caterpillar craft
- butterfly coloring pages
- caterpillar coloring page
- fruit coloring pages
- caterpillar paper chain
- caterpillar coloring page
- Which butterfly is different? worksheet
- Lively Butterflies - printable book
- caterpillar connect the dots
Do you have any caterpillar or butterfly ideas to share? Have fun!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Recommended Reading for Preschoolers
I found this list of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know. Please don't think I'm saying you have to read all of these books to your kids. However, there are some pretty good ones on the list.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Fun with Oobleck
This project/experiment meets many parents dreams. It is a learning experiment. It's fun. It's easy to make. It will keep your kids occupied for a long time! What is it? It's Oobleck!!!!
My science methods teacher made this with the class when I was in college. We had tons of fun with it and then when I brought it home, my husband couldn't quit playing with the Oobleck either.
Items to collect:
newspaper
measuring cups
1 cup of dry cornstarch
large bowl or pan
green food coloring
½ cup of water
Directions:
1. Cover your table or counter with newspaper.
2. Put the cornstarch into the bowl or pan. Add a few drops of food coloring.
3. Add the water slowly, while mixing.
4. Continue to add water until all of the oobleck feels like a liquid when you’re mixing it.
5. You will know that you have the perfect consistency when you can tap on the surface of the oobleck and it feels like a solid. If it seems too powdery, add a bit more water. If it seems too wet, add more cornstarch.
6. Play and experiment.
Thanks to 5 Minutes for Mom guest writer, Tara Rison, for reminding me about this fun stuff today. Tara also has a website, The Itty-Bitty Bookworm.
Monday, February 5, 2007
Celebrating President's Day
Unsure of the origins of Presidents' Day, I ran a search and found a very helpful site, InfoPlease, which gave very interesting and in-depth information. According to a portion of their information, the third Monday in February (this year it's the 19th) is the Federal holiday known as Washington's Birthday and was created to celebrate only George Washington's birthday, which is actually February 22. InfoPlease went on to state that whether you celebrate President's Day or Washington's Birthday may depend on where you live. Washington's Birthday is a federal holiday, but states are not obliged to observe such holidays. Consequently, while the majority of states celebrate Washington's Birthday, there are about a dozen that celebrate President's Day, and several more celebrate Lincoln's Birthday as a separate holiday.
Having passed on that interesting bit of trivia, here are some ideas for celebrating President's Day.
- Preschool Rainbow offers a Preschool Holiday Art and Craft Activities page which includes three activities related to President's Day. One is especially simple: let the child use different coins to create pencil rubbings. Discuss the president pictured on the coin.
- Perpetual Preschool has many activities for President's Day including a fun yet simple coin toss game (intended to celebrate Lincoln's Birthday but could modify for Washington's birthday or President's Day). The President's Day Art page includes ideas for making wigs, painting cherry trees, creating Lincoln cabins using 8 oz. milk cartons and a penny, and creating simple silhouettes.
- Enchanted Learning, a site I had not previously visited, features a Activities, Worksheets, and Crafts for President's Day page that is chock full of useful ideas such as their easy-to-make Lincoln's Hat craft, George Washington, I Can... A Printable Book, Abraham Lincoln: A Printable Book, Washington Monument printout, and Mt. Rushmore printout.
- Preschool Express by Jean Warren offers a President's Day Theme page which includes ideas for art, counting, movement, science, music, and snack time.
- Apples 4 the Teacher offers seven printable George Washington short stories and twelve printable Abraham Lincoln short stories.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Homeschooling resources
My husband and I made the decision to homeschool before we ever had children. I know that soon I am going to have to choose a curriculum and purchase supplies so I am beginning my research now. In the near future, I intend to write individual posts about the various curriculum options available. Today, I would like to offer help for those who cannot afford to or do not want to purchase new materials.
As for any other product, Ebay is a great place to begin your search; however, they no longer allow the sale of Teacher Editions. They are still a good resource for Student Editions.
For a very thorough listing of relevant sites, visit the Homeschooling Used Curriculum Sites page. They offer links to dozens of sites and offer useful information pertaining to each link.
This Little Piggy Stays Home.com is an on-line auction house for curriculum. The site was created in response to Ebay's refusal to allow Teacher Edition sales. The site proclaims,
"Teacher editions welcome!! Buy and sell homeschool curriculum at our exciting new auction site! Find used homeschool books at an affordable price from A Beka, Bob Jones, Christian Liberty, Alpha Omega, Saxon, Shurley, Sonlight, Usborne, and much more!"When I visited their home page in preparation for this post, there was a notice stating that until October 15 there is no setup fee for listing your items for sale, and there is no limit on how many items you can sell.
One of my favorites of all the sites I have found is The Book Samaritan. This is a wonderful ministry that provides free books and curriculum to homeschoolers. Here is what they have to say.
"Our ministry began with an admiration for those who homeschool and a recognition that far too many homeschooling families struggle to buy the curriculum and books they need.
The Book Samaritan is a not-for-profit Christian organization that provides free books and curriculum to homeschoolers with financial constraints. We offer a wide variety of well-known homeschooling materials and ship all items free-of-charge.
In return, we ask only that when the recipient is finished, they pass along the material to another homeschooling family for free or return the items to The Book Samaritan for redistribution."
Homeschool Free Stuff offers a free weekly newsletter with free curriculum, resources, and more. According to the information posted, there is absolutely no charge associated with this site.
There are many sources for free or low-cost materials, but I know that they aren't always easy to find. I hope this has been a help to someone. God bless you as you endeavor to do your best in raising your child.
Ebay logo courtesy of Ebay.com
This Little Piggy logo courtesy of This Little Piggy Stays Home
Monday, January 22, 2007
Reading with your child
A book opens worlds of delight that you can find nowhere else. Watching a movie of a book is not the same as reading the book. A movie lets you sit passively while it does all the work for you, but a book engages the imagination as you actively create pictures in your mind of what is going on. Most young children of my acquaintance love to "read." Reading with a child is a great way for a parent to foster a life-long love of learning in his child. However, as Frank of The New Parent pointed out, not all books are created equal. We need to exercise discernment when choosing books for our children to read. Frank has a short list of his recommendations in his sidebar.
Here are some authors and books I recommend:
Dr. Suess - what child doesn't enjoy his zany stories? They often teach important lessons, too. Visit Seussville on the Internet for information and fun.
Laura Ingalls Wilder - when we were quite young, my siblings and I enjoyed listening as my mother read Little House on the Prairie and other books in the series. I was reading them on my own at age 5. Reading the books is quite different from watching the TV series!
Arleta Richardson - her book In Grandma's Attic, one book in The Grandma's Attic Series,
relates the often funny true stories about her grandmother's life as a young child. The series takes you from her childhood to her life as a married woman. "Here are marvelous tales--faithfully recalled for the delight of young and old alike, a touchstone to another day when life was simpler, perhaps, richer; when the treasures of family life and love were passed from generation to generation." I recently found her Letters from Grandma's Attic, a child's book with the stories told in letters that the child can remove from the envelopes pasted inside the book. All of my kids enjoy this one. The whole series is worth buying.
V. Gilbert Beers is a Christian author whose many children's books include both fiction and nonfiction genres. His works of fiction teach valuable lessons through a fun story. His nonfiction works include song books, devotionals, and Bibles for young children. A lot of my favorites are available through alibris.com.
- Along Thimblelane Trails - Selected Bible stories pair with related stories involving the imaginary Muffin family. Includes questions for discussion.
- Around the World with My Red Balloon - Two children tell of their dream to travel in their red balloon carrying the news of Jesus to the children of the world.
- The House in the Hole in the Side of the Tree - Grumpy Squire Squirrel discovers the value of being friendly to his forest neighbors.
- The Magic Merry-Go-Round - From the old woodcarver who makes merry-go-round horses Eric learns about the new life he can have from Jesus.
- Coco's Candy Shop - During their outing two children and their animal friends from the candy shop learn something about God from each person they meet.
- Cats and Bats and Things like That, and Other Wonderful Things about God's World - Describes some of God's gifts in nature, such as the bats' sonar, the changing colors of leaves, and the life contained in a seed.
The Best Nest by P. D. Eastman (a writer and illustrator) teaches a valuable lesson about contentment. Mr. and Mrs. Bird search for a place to build a new nest only to discover their old one is better.Other Eastman titles include:
- Are You My Mother? - A baby bird sets out to find his mother. But he doesn't know what his mother looks like--or even that she's a bird! Mother and child are ultimately reunited, but not before some pretty confusing situations.
- Go, Dog, Go - This lively story about dogs doing all sorts of things introduces readers to such concepts as colors, above and below, up and down, and size. Color illustrations accompany the text.
- Red, Stop! Green, Go! - With the beloved dogs from Eastman's classic "Go, Dog, Go!," toddlers can explore the world of color in this interactive adaptation of the original book. Includes flaps, wheels, and slides. Full color.
- What Time Is It? - It's 8:00 a.m. and Ted is waking up. Not Fred! He's going to snooze a little bit longer. Kids will love moving the hands on this sturdy clock book as they follow P.D. Eastman's dynamic dog duo throughout their day.
- The Cat in the Hat Beginner Book Dictionary - A silly book with a serious purpose— to help children recognize, remember, and really enjoy using a basic vocabulary of 1350 words. Written and illustrated by P. D. Eastman— with help from the Cat (Dr. Seuss)— this decades-old dictionary pairs words with pictures that carry their meaning, making it simple enough even for non readers to understand. A wacky cast of characters reappears throughout the book, making this perhaps the only dictionary in the world that is actually "fun" to read!
Cat in the Hat Dictionary and Go, Dog, Go photos courtesy of Alibris.com
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Cookbooks for kids
In an earlier post, I encouraged you to educate your child in practical ways. Maricar at Keeping the Castle must have read my mind because she posted her thoughts about children cooking and provided links to her recommendations for children's cookbooks.
photo courtesy of Keeping the Castle
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
