Showing posts with label DIY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DIY. Show all posts

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Easy DIY Alphabet Matching Game

I was recently at Dollar Tree and happened to look through the school/office section.  I didn't expect to find anything exciting mid-year, but I found these adorable classroom decorations and immediately knew what I wanted to use them for.  

Super Tot and I are working a lot on learning the alphabet right now, so I thought doing an uppercase/lowercase letter match with them would be perfect.  I didn't want 26 (x2) pieces spread out all over, so I decided to make them attach to each other when he matches them.  Here is a simple tutorial for what I did.









I present these to Super Tot in two bowls - one with the worms and one with the apples.  He lays out all the apples (uppercase) and places the correct worm (lowercase) in each one.
I also purchased a second set with frogs and lily pads, which I intend to use for something similar.  Additionally, I have enough of the apples and worms left to do numbers 1-10, which I am excited about, too!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Spring has Sprung! Activities for 10 Books

Super Tot is 3 years old.

What's on the Tray?

Building Butterflies with The Crunching Munching Caterpillar
In this book, Caterpillar meets a bird, dragonfly, bee & butterfly.  He wishes he could fly like them.  Of course, at the end, his wish comes true. 
Super Tot will be locating the shapes listed on each blue card and building a butterfly using those shapes (see example).

Being Fruitful w/ Secrets of the Vine
Secrets of the Vine for Little Ones is a perfect companion for teaching young children the significance of John 15, and for helping them understand the symbolism of the Gardener, Vine, branches & fruit in this parable.
Under each grape is the name of a person that Super Tot told me he wanted to pray purposefully for this week.  Each day, he will remove one grape, and we will pray for that person throughout the day.  He will also send a little note to each person, letting that person know that he prayed for them.

Sound Matching with Bunny
In Bunny's Noisy Book, little Bunny experiences the many sounds of spring as he ventures out.
Each green egg is filled with a different item, and each has a matching yellow egg.  Super Tot is to shake each of the eggs and match the sounds.  
This is my inexpensive homemade version of sound cylinders!

Finding a "Home for A Bunny"
In this sweet book, Bunny is searching for a new home.  He finds many options, but they are all taken by other animals, and wrong for various reasons.
Super Tot will help each bunny find it's appropriate home by using the chopsticks to place each one in the "home" of the same color.

Matching Fruits
How a Seed Grows teaches children what happens when we plant a seed - the life cycle of a plant.
Because many plants bear fruit, Super Tot will be matching photographs of whole fruit with photographs of each type of fruit cut in half.  Some will be obvious, but others less so.  I found these printables here.

Letter Matching with Ten Little Ladybugs
We'll be working on counting as we read this fun book, but we'll move on to letters once we are done.
Each 2-piece letter puzzle matches the uppercase letter with the lowercase and builds a ladybug.  The puzzles are self checking when you turn them over, as each one also builds an item that begins with that letter. 

Nature Walk in God's Forest of Dreams
This is a sweet book that goes through various things that God created & using our senses as we experience the end of winter and beginning of spring.
We will take a nature walk after reading this book, collecting nature items in our egg carton to match each color that I painted in the cups.  I got this idea from Family Fun.

Counting with The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Our little caterpillars are hungry, just like the one in the book!
There are 8 cards, each with a different number of holes that the caterpillar has eaten through the leaf.  Super Tot is to count the holes and place the stone with the correct number on each card.

Little Quack Math
This is one of Super Tot's favorite books.  
We will use the mat to count and do early math as we read the book.

One of this week's journal ideas:
In Don't Worry About Tomorrow, the little girl faces her fears and realizes she is having so much fun that she has forgotten them altogether.
I will be asking Super Tot to draw or write about one of his fears (I am sure it will be the dark).

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Stop / Go Door Sign

While we generally have an open door policy in our home, there are times when it is appropriate for a door to be closed (getting dressed, using the restroom, etc.).  We have been teaching Super Tot to knock when a door is closed for a long time, but he still struggles with not opening the door as soon as he has knocked.  We thought we would help him out a little with a simple, Tot friendly door sign.

It has worked wonderfully!  While he still cannot read the words, he knows the colors and can easily discern the faces on each side of the sign. If he approaches a door (open or closed) and sees the red side, he knows he is not to come in.  If the green side is showing, he knows he is allowed enter.

To make the sign, I printed the text and faces onto red and green construction paper, cut into 4"x6" rectangles, and glued the red and green pieces back to back.  Then I laminated the sign and used a scrapbook tool to punch the large hole in the top (you could also use scissors).

It took less than 5 minutes to make.  I just wish I had thought of it sooner!

Linking to:

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Wooden Alphabet Disks

If you read my most recent Tot School post, you know that I am preparing to start working on the alphabet with Super Tot.  I wanted to get some letter tiles, but couldn't find any that I liked. I'm growing less and less fond of plastic, but couldn't find an affordable "natural" alternative that I liked.  I had accepted the fact that I was going to be stuck getting these:
When Princess and I went to purchase them, she asked me why I don't just make some out of wooden disks.  I can't believe I hadn't thought of that before!!  We already had most of the supplies, so this was perfect! 


I didn't have enough wooden disks on hand to make a complete Uppercase & Lowercase set, so I headed to the craft store.  I love these particular disks because they have rounded edges.  They are $2.99 for a package of 22 disks. 
I also found a cute round box to store the letters in.  It was in the unfinished wood section at the craft store for $3.49!  The only other supplies I used were alphabet stamps and ink.  I have acrylic stamps at home and generally prefer those to rubber stamps, but you could use either.  You could even paint or write the letters on the tiles, if you don't have stamps.  
Because letters will be a new concept for Super Tot, I wanted to make the difference between uppercase and lowercase very obvious.  I chose to use black ink for the uppercase letters and red ink for the lowercase ones.  I love how they turned out!  
 
Once Super Tot is a little older, I plan to change out the vowels with a different color and to make additional letters to use these as a Moveable Alphabet.  At that time I will find a different storage solution that will separate each letter, but I love the box for now!
I cannot wait to start using these, and Super Tot is very excited about them, too!  I am sure you will see many posts with various examples of how they will be used in our school for many years to come!
Additionally, you could glue magnets on the backs and use them in place of those horrible plastic letter magnets that I personally dislike so much!  I just might have to make a set of the magnets to replace our plastic ones!  These would also make a great gift for anyone with a toddler or preschooler!


Yay for Princess thinking outside the box!


Sharing at:
It's Playtime
Handmade Tuesdays
Montessori Monday
For the Kids Friday
Preschool Corner
1+1+1=1
Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
No Time for Flashcards
What DID we do all day?
Our Country Road