Feeding the Fish

This morning we did an activity we called Feeding the Fish. I pulled out an ice cube tray from IKEA, some toast tongs and some pom-poms, and we had fun "Feeding the Fish".
We then did a little scissor work. The Punk cut between the stickers, and then we played with the "cards" he made for a while. Easy to make - they are free stickers I get in some Movie Club advertisements (I am cheap like that) and the Punk knows the characters, so it makes for good patterning and Memory type games. Then we moved on to the bowl of Buttons. I had these ready for him - 3 of each color, but all different shapes. He sorted them, then used his chopsticks to place them back in the bowl.

He's getting so much better with his chopsticks! We have a second pair we take with us to eat sushi, and he feels pretty confident when he picks up food from his plate and it makes the entire trip to his mouth! Practical life, indeed.

This post was linked to: Tot School

Hoppy Easter to all our Peeps!

We made a quick and easy Easter lapbook today. Some of the content was borrowed from Confessions of a Homeschooler. Some was borrowed from Squidoo. And some was just plain Googled and put together by Me!

We sorted Peeps, and then made Peep Patterns. The Punk had no idea what a Peep was, so I must make a mental note to get him a pack of Peeps for his basket.

We played the Egg Matching Game, and I was amazed at how well he did. Some of the patterns/colors are very similar, but he matched every one of them correctly.

We then helped the chocolate bunny find his way into the Easter Basket. this is a Word Template I created and I change the clip art to/from for whatever suits our lesson. He's getting much better at staying on the lines. I feel bad that he gets so frustrated with himself when he goes out of the line, but he's so darn proud when he does a good job that I keep giving him more chances to work on this.

Our first maze EVER. Look at that kid! He traced the path with his finger the first time, and then he "knew" how to get there. He is very excited to show Daddy this one.

Our cutting work today was a lesson on "fringing". It was hard for him to not cut all the way through, he loves snipping and shredding paper. He finally "got" it when I showed him we were making Easter Egg Grass.

I printed a simple egg template from Google images, and had him decorate some eggs. We picked his favorite ones, and hid them in the grass he had cut. Then we drew some happy clouds, and he asked me to make "some gwitter-y ones!", so I added a few glitter glue clouds to the back.

The lapbook came together fairly quickly this morning. We ended the lesson by reading Happy Easter Little Critter before his nap.

Easy: E

Eggs, Easter Bunnies, Ears, Eyes, Eyelashes, Elbows, Elephant's Trunk, and Ellen (The Punk calls her Ellen Magellan).

This post linked to: Tot School

C is for Confetti

C is for Confetti! I had considered candy, cookies and cranberries - but I was afraid those would be a.) eaten before/during the gluing session, and b.) not something I want hanging on the Art Wall to attract insects. So - Confetti it is! We hole punched and cut paper to make lots of tiny sprinkings. It was fun, and now I am excited about introducing the Punk to confetti eggs this Easter!

Linking to Tot School... , Linking to Ultimate Alphabet Craft Collection...

Snip Snip Snip

New Scissors Day! I have a passion, nay, obsession with office supplies. If the Punk was a girl I really wanted to name him Avery. It's bad. When I worked outside the home I was the person in charge of ordering office supplies. It was Heaven.

Now my fondness for office supplies is turning into a "What new thing does the Punk need for school? Yep. Totally sad. But my most recent purchase is AWESOME! Scissors. Yeah, he already had scissors. Scissors that cannot cut anything but paper. Scissors that are proven (by the advertisement and ME) to not cut hair. That is important to me (after growing up seeing kids with chunks of hair missing). But... the Punk can't use those scissors well. Not yet at least.

So I bought some new ones. And I am thrilled. They have a springy mechanism that helps them bounce back to the open-position. And that is exactly what he needed help with. Our cutting work went by so smoothly today - no frustrations, no "I can't do this.". I love these new scissors.

Today we practiced cutting construction paper between the happy face stickers.

And then patterning those stickers! A two-for-one activity.

The Punk wanted to cut some more (he's loving these new scissors too!) so we practiced with more strips of construction paper.

And then a page from one of his Kumon books.

Wild Thing

B is for Bedhead.

I changed out the Punk's table pictures last night while he was sleeping. He now has "B" words to look at while he eats/plays/draws/crafts. I couldn't get over the sight of his hair - it was WILD! Very appropriate for this morning's book and story board...

Where the Wild things Are! We read through the book, and placed each piece on as we told the story. I love my little nightstand/table. On one side he has no supper, then you turn it over to find his supper waiting for him (and it was still hot).

We then did a little cutting up. I printed out some Google images of Max, and had the Punk cut them apart. He flips back and forth from hand to hand, so he's having a hard time learning to cut. Once he decides which hand he wants to use it will get easier, I'm sure.

Then we did a little tracing. He goes over it with his finger a few times and says things like "up, down, over" then draws the line. He repeats the "up, down, over" stuff and draws what he says instead of what is on the paper. It cracks me up!

Cutting Up

Scissors are difficult to use. Especially if you decide to switch "dominant" hands every few days. Practice, practice, practice. And only access to scissors that are guaranteed NOT to cut hair.