Day 1 Truth in the Tinsel

Well Day 1 is a day late.. I was still cutting out the candle templates.  So we may do another today to catch up.

Reading from the bible was a little much for them.  I will have to read while they are having snack or see if I can  sum it up.

I did the activity right before lunch.  Bad news!  I had two children that were overly tired, mine.  R cried and made a fuss much of the time.  I lit a candle thinking that would calm her down, nope only wanted to touch it.  She ended up pending some time in her room.  She calmed down and we went on.  We do not do crafts as much as I would like to because R puts it all in her mouth.  I decided today that we will just keep moving on and she will just be reminded that it doesn't go in her mouth and maybe give her something that does.  The others really enjoyed this project.  I don't think I explained the process fully as F only put tissue paper on the paper not covering.  C made balls and glued them on that way (they just made something with ball of tissue paper at school).  T enjoyed taring the paper and then rolling it up in her hands.

It was a process but we finished.    This is good for us.  It was structured.  Something they lack.  When we a craft or activity I usually just let them have at it and create.

Welcome December!

I had been looking for something different this year.  We have always done the chocolate advent calendar.  Why?  I asked myself what does that teach us?  I looked around the web and found so many good ideas.  I was going to make my own activities put them in pockets on a board.  Right now I do not have time for that.  While I was looking I found Truth in the Tinsel.    Wow. It gives me a craft to do with the kids, scripture to read with them, and  what to talk to the kids about.  This year we have been talking more about what Christmas really means and giving to others.  This will help back Daddy-O and I up.  Oh it is only $4.99 and it comes as an e-book.  What's not to love.  

We have also introduced The Toy That Saved Christmas, Veggie Tales video.  I picked it up at Walmart in the $5.00 bin.  

I will post as we complete.  I think I have found a new tradition this year.  

What kind of Advent Calendar do you do? 

Tracing

Kids were looking bored this morning we had already gone for an extra long walk, looked at trees, practiced riding without training wheels, and had snack. So I looked at my list of things to when bored and gave them a lesson in tracing. They really liked it.

T just wanted to play with this doll. It laughs and vibrates. She took it to their play cabinet. She came around to color too.

R wanted in to. She really enjoys putting things in her mouth that she shouldn't. I thought she would be okay with these type. Nope they went it too. After I took that way she went for the paper.

Best Bubbles

What you need:

1/2 gal of water

1/3 c liquid soap

1/3 c corn starch

1tsp baking powder

What you need to do:

Just them mix together

This made some really big bubbles.

I sent the kids around to gather things they wanted to try. They came back with...

Fly swatter: very cool when they spun around fast and bubbles landed cool

slotted spoon: worked great

spatula with holes: not so well

circle ring: big bubble but did not form to float away

team work. Love it when they work together to figure things out!

pipe cleaners made in a circle: not to good

bubble wands: worked but not as fun

cookie cutters: worked well

Apple slicer: fun

F really like it when they popped on her hand or she was able to hold them.

Neat Websites to check out

I will be adding websites that I think are pretty neat. Partly so I remember to look at them for ideas and so you can have a look. Here we go... ( this is my first time linking in my blog if doesn't work right please let me know. )

Science

Andy Camper

Home stuff

Cheap Cooking

Montessori Beginnings -preschool

Thinking I am really going to write down my plan, the time comes for our activities and I have forgotten what I had planned and seem so rushed. I wonder if I shouldn't change the time we do our exploring/ learning. I have it set after snack around 10. That way we have had a chance to go out for a little bit.

Well here is what I came up with.

I quickly drew some lines on a paper like a grid. Grabbed some stamps I has sitting and had them put a stamp in all the spots. F really got into it. She figured out how to do two at a time. C went really fast just wanted to get done. Guess that's the difference between boys and girls.

Water colors

Today during what would be our learning time I got out water colors. I tried to remind the not to mix colors. I gave a demo of how to use the water to clean the brush and get a new color. C mixed colors on his paper, F mixed in the tray, T wanted to use her hands, and R wanted to eat them. We will try this again another day.

Colored rice

Today we made colored rice.surprisingly something I have never done.

What you need:
rice
Food coloring
Rubbing alcohol
Zip lock bag
Cookie sheet or something to dry the rice

We mixed some rice with about 10 drops of food color and added a little bit of alcohol. We then poured it on a cookie sheet to dry. About 15 minutes or so.

Thinking we will use it sensory bin or to glue on a sheet. What do you use colored rice for?

DD decided to take a hand full and put it in her mouth. I said no yucky. What I should have said was "that rice is not cooked, it doesn't taste very good, its hard, cooked rice is soft". Or at least something like that. Oh well other day :)

Homemade Moon Sand

Found a recipe somewhere a while back wish I could remember so I could give them credit. But it calls for colored sand. I did not have when we made. So we used the sand in the sand box. I think the kids would have liked it more if it was colored.

6 cups sand
3 cups of water
1 box of corn starch
Mix together

The little ones played with it for a while. It looked wet but had a different texture. What do you do with your moon sand?

Cotton Ball Dough

Today we made Cotton Ball Dough. It is suppose to be light and puffy when shaping. When it baked your creation should be light brown, become hard, and keep their puffy look. Well it was interesting. The kids enjoyed making it. However shaping was almost impossible you couldn't shape it in to anything. We will paint them when they come out maybe then it will look something.
Here is the recipe if you want to give it a try
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
3/4 to about 1 cup of water
Around 50 cotton balls

Other stuff to grab:
Mixing bowl
Mixing spoon
Foil
Baking sheet

You will also need an OVEN

Directions:
1. In bowl mix the flour and water until smooth ( we had to add more water). But I was letting the kids do the work.
2. Add the cotton balls and stir
3. Make shapes and place on the sheet
4. Bake at 325 for 1 hour

I may try this again to make numbers and letters. Since we tried this with no real plan in mind.

This is the young ones did while the others followed the directions.