Kaleidoscope Painting

Today we did a painting project that was fun and easy! You start out with two colors of kid-safe paint. You put two big drops in the center of a piece of paper that you have placed in a 9x13 pan (it doesn't have to be a disposable pan).

Then you place a golfball in the pan and let your child roll the ball back and forth until it makes a kaleidoscope painting! :)

It turned out pretty well. Here's the website that explains it in more detail: http://blissfullydomestic.com/2010/kaleidoscope-painting

Ours turned out nothing like they showed, but it was still fun and my son enjoyed making the ball roll back and forth.

Easy Activity-Shapes

A fun and easy way for kids to practice their shapes is to trace around the different shapes on a piece of paper. We used lids, cookie cutters, boxes of food, you name it! My son had a great time and he also had fun searching for different shapes to trace around. He liked to try to draw the shapes after he had traced them as well which is even better practice!

Have fun tracing around different shapes!

Columbus Day/Native American Day

Tomorrow is Columbus Day/Native American Day. It always makes learning a little more fun when you can do activities that have a holiday theme. I found a ton of great ideas online, but this website was the best for preschoolers:http://www.first-school.ws/activities/crafts/transportation/ship-columbus-day.htm.

Another craft I thought we would make is a spyglass out of a paper towel tube.

Here are a couple of fun songs I ran across.

To the tune of "Pop! Goes the Weasel"

All around the great wide world

Columbus sailed the ocean

To prove the world was big and round

That's real devotion!

To the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb"

Columbus sailed the ocean blue,

Ocean blue, ocean blue

Columbus sailed the ocean blue

In fourteen ninety-two

Columbus sailed the ocean blue,

Ocean blue, ocean blue

I enjoy making discoveries, too

How about you?

It's also Native American Day and as I've mentioned before my mom works on the Rosebud Reservation. My mom asked a Native American woman to make these for my 3 year old when he was a baby.

I am going to be sure to include the Native American side to the story as well as I tell the story about the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus. I'll probably also include things like how the Native Americans made their own clothes and shoes from hides and leather. And how they are very artistic as evidenced by the beading on these moccasins.

I'm not expecting my 3 year old to have a thorough knowledge of these two holidays, but I am hoping he recognizes the name Christopher Columbus and knows a little about Native Americans and their culture.

Folders

My mom teaches Special Ed kids on the Rosebud Reservation. She has so many great ideas. Teachers make all sorts of their own educational tools. My mom made these folders for my boys a while back and I thought I'd share them with you.

You can make these using simple folders, some construction paper, and velcro. She made simple color matching, shapes, and then ones that were harder like matching expressions and numbers. These are limitless!

Starfall.com

This website is so awesome when it comes to teaching your kids letters, but the thing I love about it most is the daily interactive calendar! My 3 year old asks "can we do the calendar?" almost every day. It has taught him the days of the week and so much more. Go to http://www.starfall.com/. You will thank me. :) Here's a screenshot of the homepage. There's the calendar icon.

I haven't even explored everything yet, but my son loves the "Learn to Read" section because it tells funny stories. He really enjoys the pumpkin activity right now, too. It's not very educational, but it does help with small motor skills since he's maneuvering the touch pad on the laptop. Enjoy exploring this fun website!

I knew it, I knew it...but I blew it

So the other day I posted about the fall sensory box and how that included an overripe tomato. And also how I was asking for trouble with that. Well, I went off and left that sensory box (I did manage to take out the pear). Today my children grabbed the box off of the counter and headed for the living room to play with it. I did a quick mental checklist: leaves, acorns, sticks...can't be that bad. Totally forgot about the overripe tomato. They were playing together oh so nicely that I let them be for longer than normal. So when I finally went into the living room to check on them I found a squished tomato and seeds everywhere.

This week I've been working on an ABC Zoo Book for Roman.

I am using pictures of (you guessed it) animals and things at the zoo. I've incorporated both the Lincoln and Omaha Zoos since the Henry Doorly has more exotic animals which means more letters for our alphabet book. I mean, goats are great and all, but how about a GORILLA? Except my kids could really care less. They like the goats.

This book has been really fun to put together because we visited the zoo with lots of friends this past summer so we have pictures of Roman's friends to include in his book, too.

I'll post more pictures when the book is complete and I have it printed. But right now I have to go give my diaper-clad son a bath...I love our charcoal grill, but the ashes are just too tempting. Don't worry - they weren't hot! :)