SBBK - Writing 4

Summer Boredom Buster Kids - Writing!

A while ago, I was cleaning out my craft room and found these foam letters.

I can't remember why I bought them, but my daughters have begged to use them on their "projects."

So, that is what we did today! 

My little one would pick a letter, say it out loud, and then stick it on someone's paper.

 Then that kid would have to write 2 words that start with that letter.

 They loved this!

 We did it until the paper was filled up.

For my older son, I gave him a letter and he would have to come up with an alliteration for that letter.

He did 10 sentences and we called it good.

Just another way to stretch their minds, get their hands writing, and enjoy their imaginations!

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

SBBK - Writing 2

Summer Boredom Buster Kids - Writing!

This is a Repost from OCTOBER 2012, still doing it today. 

The littler kids love it just as much!

Easy Canvas!

My kids love to draw(l). It is nice to not waste paper every once in a while. So, I bought these dry erase markers and gave each kid a paper towel and gave them my bathroom mirror.

These markers are for the mirror only.

To start, you need 3 adorable girls.

not a requirement. ;)

I let them get on the counter, and go to town on the mirror!

 They would have done this for hours.

This is a great place to keep them occupied while you are folding laundry,  or cleaning. :)

SBBK - Writing 1

Summer Boredom Buster Kids - Writing!

I have to confess that I have my kids writing every single day. (including the weekend)

I want their handwriting/penmanship to be stellar, so I push it every single day.

Reading is the same way. They must read 20-30 minutes a day.

Okay, rant over.

Something I am using for my kids is Handwriting Without Tears.

They do this workbook probably 3x a week.

 Different levels, different activities, all quiet. They have to do 4 pages (of their choice) during quiet time/naptime.

My 3 year old and 2 year old enjoy coloring on the walls.

Literally!

We have a chalkboard and whiteboard system on our walls down stairs.

The reward for taking a nap without a fight (somedays) is writing.

My kids nap until they turn 5.

It is what works for them AND me.

I love seeing improvements in my children's handwriting over the summer.

I know everything is going to technology and cursive is a thing of the past, but not for my kiddos.

My son started cursive in May and is really enjoying it. I think I am the only person who still uses cursive, who is under the age of 35. Haha.

Easy Canvas!

My kids love to draw(l). It is nice to not waste paper every once in a while. So, I bought these dry erase markers and gave each kid a paper towel and gave them my bathroom mirror.

These markers are for the mirror only.

To start, you need 3 adorable girls.

not a requirement. ;)

I let them get on the counter, and go to town on the mirror!

 They would have done this for hours.

This is a great place to keep them occupied while you are folding laundry,  or cleaning. :)

Thumbprint Ladybug Notecards

This was one of my first posts EVER! Thumbprint People it was so popular, that I got my first sponsor! That was like a million years ago (it seems) my babies are huge now! *sniff*

Anyway. My oldest daughter has had several friends move in the past few months, so we decided to make Ladybug ThumbPrint Notecards.

I did the antennae, she did the dots and wrote the notes.

We sent out about 8 of them. So adorable!

Toddler Preschool Beach Ocean Theme Ideas -1

It my turn in the rotation for Tot School so here are 6 ideas.

Day One!

Sand Dollar Discovery

I made lab sheets, for them to document what they saw.  If you want a copy email me or leave a comment with your email address.

I had a sand dollar from when we went to California last time and pulled out my kid sized Magnifying Glass.

We talked about what a Sand Dollar is:


The sand dollar is a marine invertebrate, a living animal, closely related to the starfish, sea lily, the sea cucumber and the sea urchin. Sand dollars come from the Echinoids class, which means "spiny skinned creature."
Sand Dollar, invertebrate having a flat, circular outer shell. The common sand dollar of the northeastern United States is found on sandy bottoms in comparatively shallow water.
The size of the adult shell is about 8 cm (or 3 inches) in diameter on the average and has many small perforations that form a symmetrical petal-like design. You can find larger ones, and tiny little baby ones as well as any size in between.
The entire shell is penetrated by many small, brown spines that give the shell a velvety appearance and enable the animal to move about.
By the time a sand dollar washes up on a beach, it is usually no longer living, and only its shell remains.
Sand dollars obtain food by using their spines and tube feet to engulf sand from which they extract minute plants and animals.
Sand dollars belong to a phylum (family) of marine animals known as echinoderms, which inhabit all the world's oceans and can live in both the shallow and deep-ocean floor.
Scientific classification: Sand dollars belong to the order Clypeasteroida of the class Echinoidea. The common sand dollar of the northeastern United States is classified as Echinarachnius parma.
I believe the Western Sand Dollar to differ from the "Keyhole Sand Dollar" found on the Eastern shores. It tends to not have the five "keyholes" in the shell, and is round, rathers than having those decorative little indentations around the edges.
Though each one has it's own beauty.
*

So it was time to DISCOVER!!!

The 2 year old was TOTALLY into this!

We talked about the texture and shape and color...

Everyone had different answers.

They thought it was neat that it used to be living.

They also compared the veins on the back to the lines on our hand.

This took up a lot of time.  They liked that we were doing "Science"

Toddler Thanksgiving and Fall Idea

With LEFT OVER CANDY!!!!

For family night in our house we are taking each night until Thanksgiving to talk about something we are grateful for.  The problem with having a 4, 3 and almost 2 year old and my having a slight pregnancy brain is coming up with 25 things to be thankful for. So I made a list and then cut them out and wrapped each category around left over Halloween candy.

If you would like the list, please email me at valeriewitte@yahoo.com

Then you put them in the jar.

Then after dinner, the kids get to pick a candy.

and then on the leaf write what they are grateful for...

Then tape it to the tree I made out of paper bags.

Since my almost 3 year old can't exactly "write" she drew a picture.

Then taped it to the window.

Once all 25 are filled out its going to look great! :)