Dr. Seuss - Week 1

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. SUESS!!!

Dr. Seuss's birthday is this Friday, March 2.  To celebrate, I am doing a Dr. Seuss theme for Super Tot.  We will be focusing on 8 books this week, and 8 more next week.  I have chosen one activity to go with each book.  We will read all 8 books every day.  I expect that Super Tot will want to do all the trays each day, too.

Here are our activities & books for this week:

The Cat in the Hat

Counting Hats with Thing 1 and Thing 2...

Place the correct number of hats on each mat based on the number written in the circle.

I made "Thing 1" up through "Thing 5" to assist Super Tot with number recognition.  He has no trouble counting, but still needs work on recognizing the printed numerals.  I do not own copyrights to these images, so I apologize that I am not able to provide a printable.

~counting and number recognition~

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 The Cat in the Hat Comes Back

 Measuring & Creating Dr. Seuss Hats

Choose a blue card and measure it with the ruler.  Next, using the large white lego as a base and building up, alternate colors to create a hat that is the same length as the card.

~early math & measuring, fine motor~

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Green Eggs and Ham

 Matching Yolk Shapes

Match each wooden shape in the bowl to the correct egg yolk on the mat.

 ~shape recognition & matching, fine motor~

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There's a Wocket in my Pocket

 Wocket in my Pocket Alphabet Sort

Take a Wocket card out of the bowl and place it in the correct pocket based on whether it is an UPPERCASE letter or a lowercase letter.  The Wocket printable is available here, and I just printed pockets onto cardstock and pasted them on the red paper as actual pockets.

~letter recognition, fine motor~

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The Tooth Book

Counting Smiling Sam the Crocodile's Teeth

Count the number of teeth on each mat and place the correct rock into the crocodile's mouth.

I made these mats when we did our Letter Aa week (see here).  They were alligators then, but worked out perfectly to be Smiling Sam the Crocodile in The Tooth Book!
~counting & number recognition~

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I Can Read with My Eyes Shut

Mystery Bag Fabric Matching

Take one fabric square out of the crate and feel it.  Set it down and place your hand in the bag.  Without looking, feel the fabric squares in the bag and find the identical square based on touch.

I thought it would be fun to do a twist on the "Eyes Shut" theme and do an activity where Super Tot is not able to use his eyes to complete the task.  He enjoys the Mystery Bag activities we have done before, so I expect this one to be a hit.

~sensory integration~

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Daisy-Head Mayzie

Daisy Color by Number Pages

Color each daisy picture using the correct color for each number shown.

I printed off 6 different daisy coloring pages and wrote the numbers and legend on each one.

~fine motor, pre-writing, number & color recognition~

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One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Fish Counting Mats

Take one mat and follow the directions at the top, either placing the correct number or color of fish on each mat.  Once complete, turn the mat over and complete the other side.
We have used this activity many times, and it is always a hit.  This is actually from one of our Busy Bags (see here).  The mats each have one side with a number and the other side with a color.
~number & color recognition, counting~

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For lots of inspiration, be sure to check these sites:

1+1+1=1

Sun Scholars

No Time for Flashcards

Homeschool Creations

Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

ABC & 123

Living Life Intentionally

Read, Explore, Learn

Living Montessori Now

Happy Birthday Author

Homeschooling on the Cheap

Rainbow Fish Trays

Super Tot just turned 3!

After having a few days off, we are excited about having our Rainbow Fish theme week.  Here is a look at the activities I have planned.

Rainbow Fish Game

Each player has a fish game board.  Beginning with the youngest, players take turns drawing a card from the red bowl and either placing or removing the correct number of scales from his fish.  The player that fills all 10 scales on his fish first wins!

The inspiration for this tray was Super Tot's Hi Ho! Cherry-O game.  I wanted something fun that would incorporate both fine motor and counting, and I thought this would be perfect!  I drew the fish game boards, printed off number cards (1-4 and minus 1-2).  We will be using sequins for the scales, which adds the fine motor element.  I think he is going to love this one!

~fine motor, counting, early math~

Shades of Color Sorting

Draw a card from the white bowl and place it in the correct column.

I cut up paint swatches for this activity and glued the darkest of each color to the top box on the chart.  There are 3 additional shades of each color in the bowl.  Once they are all on the board, I will have Super Tot rearrange each column to show darkest to lightest variegation.  

**PRINTABLE AVAILABLE BELOW PHOTO**

~color recognition, fine motor~

Now I Know My ABC's!

Place a correct letter sticker in each circle to match the letter printed in the circle.

There are multiple stickers for each letter, so Super Tot will need to search a little for each one.

**PRINTABLE AVAILABLE BELOW PHOTO**

~letter recognition & matching, fine motor~

Find the Matching Fish
Draw a line from each fish in the first column to the matching fish in the second.
This will be Super Tot's first exercise in drawing lines that will end up crossing each other.
~fine motor, pre-writing, problem solving~

Scoop the Bubbles
Use the shovel to scoop out each ping pong ball "bubble" and place it in the blue bowl.
This box will be filled with water for this activity, so the balls will be floating.
~motor skills~

Do-A-Dot Shape Search
Draw a shape card from the red bowl and place a dot on a corresponding shape on the mat.  
This is an activity we have done several times, and Super Tot always enjoys it.
**PRINTABLE AVAILABLE BELOW PHOTO**
Printable includes outline shapes, as well as solids.
~shape recognition, matching, fine motor~

Fish Colors Puzzle

Complete this Melissa & Doug Puzzle (available here) by placing the correctly colored body on each fish.

This puzzle is really too easy for Super Tot now, but it fit the theme and is something he can do on his own with no assistance or instructions from me.

~fine motor, color recognition & matching~

Fish Finger Puppet Play

Unstructured play with finger puppets.

Super Tot enjoys creative play & finger puppets, so this should be a fun tray for him.

~free play & creativity~

Rainbow Fish Sticker Scales

Place the happy face stickers onto the white part of the fish to turn him into Rainbow Fish!

This is the activity I blogged about here as a preview of our Rainbow Fish week.

~fine motor~

Completed fish:

For lots of inspiration, be sure to check these sites I'm linking to:

1+1+1=1

Sun Scholars

No Time for Flashcards

Homeschool Creations

Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

ABC & 123

Living Life Intentionally

Read, Explore, Learn

Living Montessori Now

The Rainbow Fish Activity

This is going to be a short week for us, so I am not going to have a regular Tot School post.  The following week, I have a Rainbow Fish theme planned, so I thought I would give you a little preview.  

This is one of the fine motor activities I have planned for Super Tot to go along with the Rainbow Fish theme.  He will be using round happy face stickers (too bad I didn't have any silver ones) to fill in the white part of the Rainbow Fish drawing.

Here is an example of a finished one.

March is National Reading Month, so we will be taking a break from our Letter of the Week activities to focus on literature based learning for a bit.  I am very excited about some of the ideas I have planned, and hope to see lots of other literature based activities on other blogs!

For lots of inspiration, be sure to check these sites I'm linking to:

1+1+1=1

Sun Scholars

No Time for Flashcards

Homeschool Creations

Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

ABC & 123

Living Life Intentionally

Read, Explore, Learn

Valentine Trays

Super Tot is 36 months old.

I thought it would be fun to do a Valentine week in tot school.  Here's a look at our trays for the week:

Uppercase / Lowercase Letter Match

Open each heart box and place the correct heart eraser in it based on the letters written on each.  Then, close each box.

~letter recognition, fine motor~

 Golf Tee Balance

Hammer each golf tee into the styrofoam block, then balance a plastic jewel atop each tee.

~fine motor~

 Counting Dots

Clip the correct clothes pin to each heart, matching the number written on the pin to the number of dots on the heart.

~counting, number recognition, fine motor~

 Letter Match Word Building

Place the matching wooden alphabet disk on each letter to spell the Valentine words.

**PRINTABLE AVAILABLE BELOW PHOTO**

~letter recognition & matching, fine motor~

Valentine Patterning

Recreate each pattern using the snap cubes in the bowl.
~patterning, sequencing, fine motor~

Rosy Hearts

Place one rose in the center of each heart.

~one to one correspondence~

Pompom Play

Place one pompom into each section of the box.  Try creating different patterns.

~fine motor, one to one correspondence, patterning & sequencing~

Valentine Cutting Tray

Cut along the lines to create hearts.  Cut between the small hearts on each strip.

**HEART CUTTING STRIP PRINTABLE AVAILABLE BELOW PHOTO**

~fine motor, cutting practice~

Journaling

We will begin using a journal this week.  I will post about this separately.
~pre-writing, writing, fine motor, creativity~

Linking to:

1+1+1=1

Living Montessori Now

Sun Scholars

No Time for Flashcards

Homeschool Creations

Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

ABC & 123

It's Playtime!

Living Life Intentionally

Homeschooling on the Cheap!

Thematic Thursdays