SBBK - Writing 3

Summer Boredom Buster Kids - Writing!

Something that is fun, and makes you "write" without thinking about it is LETTER WRITING!

First I printed out Parts of Letter Writing from HERE

and my gals colored it.

Then we talked about it a little bit more.

 Then they wrote to a Disney Princess of their choice. 

 Except my son. He wrote to his Auntie.

 Then we ran out to the mailbox. Each kid had 2 letters each.

 Not bad for a 5 year old.

The addresses to a princess/disney character are:

Walt Disney World Communications

P.O. Box 10040

Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0040

Or, if you'd prefer, you can receive a black and white photo if you write to your chosen character at this address:

Walt Disney Company

Attn: Fan Mail Department

500 South Buena Vista Street

Burbank, CA 91521

Name Recognition #9

My intention was to work on lowercase letters, but this bunch of cuties preferred to copy the letters.

So, that is what we did.

I found these:

We put them in a BIG pile and then I passed them out. They lined them up on my sheets and wrote the letter under. After they wrote the letter, they got to eat the gummi letter!

This was another fun and quiet activity. We will do it again because gummi letters are awesome!

Family Rules

Back in July my family had a little meeting. We discussed our family rules, decided what they would be and then colored the picture so we wouldn't forget.

Watch out ladies he is taken! LOL

So here we are gluing the pictures on the pages.

So I drew the pictures and the kids colored them

Here it is completed

Here is a closer look.

So I came up with the rule and they came up with the explanation.

It has worked in our home since July because they "helped" with the family rules. If there is a discussion we always refer back to it.  The consequence for breaking the rule is also enforced so there is no question that these are serious rules.

Healthy Kids Activities - Eyes #2

Today we talked more about the eye and how it works.
The little dark circle in the center of each of your eyes lets light in. It is called a pupil. If you are in a dark place where no lights at all are on, can you see anything? No, you can't because our eyes need light to be able to see! Once the light goes in, it hits a part inside at the back of your eye that is very sensitive to light. This part is called the retina. When light touches the retina, it makes an upside-down picture of whatever you are looking at. A large nerve called the optic nerve carries the image to your brain where it gets turned around so that you see it the right way instead of upside-down!

Then we talked about how some people who can't see are called blind.  What does that mean?

How do they read?
Then I went to THIS site and printed the Braille Alphabet.
To make the letters raised like Braille, put a drop of white glue over each black dot. When the glue is dry you will be able to feel the raised dots with your fingers. We also turned it upside down and poked holes so the raised parts were on the top.

Then we went to Old Chicago and asked to see the Braille Menu and we had the kids guess what each item was.

It taught them that even though we look alike all of us are very different inside. There was a girl there in a wheelchair and L asked me if she had broken legs, we then talked about how we need to learn about handicaps! :)

Yellow Week Recap

This week I started a new Unit. We are going to hit all of the colors (even though my 3 year old knows them, I am working on my 21 month old to say them correctly)

I have used a few sites. I like to tweak what I see instead of use things verbatim because that is not original and I feel like it is stealing. I never claim to know it all or do it all but I feel really strongly against copying activities, so I will list sources as I use them. A lot of my activities I used when I taught a few years ago and some I have picked up over the years as a babysitter or going from different centers and such. I don't have a special format on how I do things and I don't like the pre-made activities where you copy the image and glue it yourself. All of this stuff is kid tested mother approved! :) Okay off the soapbox.

ABC TEACH yellow
What I used...
Booklet
Word Wall
Letter Y
Yellow WordStrips
What begins with Y mini book
Mini Book 2

We went on a yellow scavenger hunt

We ate an everything yellow lunch

We made a sunflowers because they are yellow

We went outside and learned about day and night and went on a night hike with glowsticks

We went to the Library and brought home some books

Language Work Up

My kids started talking a lot at age 15 months. They could say the basics but really identifying things at 15 months. I bought these flash cards at Target for $1.99 and they have helped tremendously on speech and word identification. The kids like to test each other so we pulled these out and let them practice their words.
Nothing fancy this time, but to make it harder on my oldest I had him sort the cards by the first letter...Mittens, Mouse, Marker, etc.
I had my daughter put the things in groups that go together like shoes, socks, jacket, etc.

You should try it, it is great practice and something to do if you have these things on hand.