I should've posted this when we first began the blog because I realize that school is already in session for you Utah folk, but I thought I'd share anyway, and you may be able to squeeze in some activities. I am constantly looking for fun things to do with my kids. We always wake up and leave the house for the first half of the day, but after naps and before dinner we are looking for some fun to fill the time. Here are some things I have done with my kids, and some things I am planning on doing:
"Hello Teacher" Notes: I found these and thought they were a fun way to get my kids excited for school this year. We are waiting to find out who Breckon's teacher is and as soon as we do we will mail these!
Spray Spelling: My kids absolutely loved this activity. Anything we can do outside that includes water is a great activity for hot weather. I bought them each a squirt bottle at the dollar store (blue for Breckon, pink for Sadie). I drew alphabet letters for *Sadie, and small words and names for Breckon. You could also draw simple pictures with the sidewalk chalk for Linley & William...so fun! Afterward we had a waterfight with the squirt bottles.
*Hint: always begin teaching children lower case letters, these are the ones they struggle with when they get to Kindergarten. For some reason, the Uppercase letters are the easiest to learn so they don't need as much reinforcement.
Breakfast Bingo: I got the idea and printed the gameboards here. I adapted this to be "breakfast bingo" and we play it during breakfast with cheerios as our markers. My kids both LOVED this game, and ask to play it constantly. I was amazed at how many of the letters even Sadie recognized. Even Kenny got into it!
Alphabet Scavenger Hunt: This activity can be done for any age and with any subject: shapes, colors, alphabets, math equations, etc. The first time I did it was in Pennsylvania and Sadie was just tiny, but she really got into it. I hid several letters Breckon had already learned in preschool around the living room, and they got to find them. They used empty toilet paper rolls as binoculars. Once found, they matched and taped them to the chart I had hanging on the front door. This one is a hit! If you don't want to make your own letters, cut out squares of colored paper, or use flashcards...make it a fun game!
Here is a picture of a fun art activity we did using their hand prints:
White Boards: I use white boards with my kids all of the time. I learned as a teacher that anything you want a child to work on will be more fun on a white board! We play "guess my picture", as well as any game I can think of to get them writing their letters, names & numbers. Before I had white boards for each of them, we wrote on the windows and sliding glass door at our house...my kids love dry-erase markers and I found some with erasers on the ends!
Spray Spelling: My kids absolutely loved this activity. Anything we can do outside that includes water is a great activity for hot weather. I bought them each a squirt bottle at the dollar store (blue for Breckon, pink for Sadie). I drew alphabet letters for *Sadie, and small words and names for Breckon. You could also draw simple pictures with the sidewalk chalk for Linley & William...so fun! Afterward we had a waterfight with the squirt bottles.
*Hint: always begin teaching children lower case letters, these are the ones they struggle with when they get to Kindergarten. For some reason, the Uppercase letters are the easiest to learn so they don't need as much reinforcement.
Breakfast Bingo: I got the idea and printed the gameboards here. I adapted this to be "breakfast bingo" and we play it during breakfast with cheerios as our markers. My kids both LOVED this game, and ask to play it constantly. I was amazed at how many of the letters even Sadie recognized. Even Kenny got into it!
Alphabet Scavenger Hunt: This activity can be done for any age and with any subject: shapes, colors, alphabets, math equations, etc. The first time I did it was in Pennsylvania and Sadie was just tiny, but she really got into it. I hid several letters Breckon had already learned in preschool around the living room, and they got to find them. They used empty toilet paper rolls as binoculars. Once found, they matched and taped them to the chart I had hanging on the front door. This one is a hit! If you don't want to make your own letters, cut out squares of colored paper, or use flashcards...make it a fun game!
Here is a picture of a fun art activity we did using their hand prints:
White Boards: I use white boards with my kids all of the time. I learned as a teacher that anything you want a child to work on will be more fun on a white board! We play "guess my picture", as well as any game I can think of to get them writing their letters, names & numbers. Before I had white boards for each of them, we wrote on the windows and sliding glass door at our house...my kids love dry-erase markers and I found some with erasers on the ends!
Well, as you can see I did not come up with most of these ideas, but I have adopted them, and we do them often...hopefully you will try some of these and let me know what you think!
Lacey
No comments:
Post a Comment