November 4th- 8th

Community Helpers 

Supplies

• Construction paper
• Sidewalk chalk
• Small Squirt bottle or watering can
• Mini marshmallows
• Crayons or markers
• Cotton balls
• Small tongs

Books for the Week

•  "Clifford the Firehouse Dog" by Norman Birdwell
• "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
• "I Stink!" by Kate and Jim McMullen
•  "You Think It's Easy Being the Tooth Fairy?"  by David Slonim and Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt
• "Firehouse" by Mark Teague

Monday: "F" for fire: Read, "Clifford the Firehouse Dog".  Then cut a large "F" out of paper. While you're cutting out the "F" have your child rip up pieces of of red, orange, and yellow paper. (Great for fine motor skills!). Write the word "fire" next to the "F" and explain that you're going to make fire.  Have your child cover the "F" with the torn pieces of paper.
Original source: www.notimeforflashcards.com

Tuesday:  Put out the fire!! With sidewalk chalk, make flames. Based on whatever skills your child needs to work on (letters, shapes, numbers, etc.) write it amongst the flames.  Now, fill a squirt bottle or watering can with water and have them put out the flames.
Make this as exciting as possible. If you have a fire truck or a fire fighter hat have them put it on. Get into it! ("Help! Help! There is a fire on the circle!"). If you're having fun, they will have fun.

Wednesday: Marshmallow teeth.  Make a mouth a piece of paper.  Have your child add "teeth" to the mouth by licking the marshmallow and sticking it to the mouth.  The saliva will make it stick to the paper.  Take this opportunity to count and also talk about the size of the "teeth".  I put the marshmallows in a small container so my son was forced to grab the marshmallows with this pointer finger and thumb. (Great for fine motor skills and writing.)

Thursday:  Trash truck counting.  Make 10 houses out of  paper and number them 1-10.  Lay them out on the floor and place the corresponding number of cotton balls on each house.
Now it's time to pick up the trash!  Role play the idea of Trash Day.  It's time to pick up all the trash from each of the houses. As the truck pulls up to each of the houses, call out the number and have them count as they use tongs to put the trash into the truck.  How many are there all together?
Alternative:  If you don't have a trash truck or dump truck to play with you can play "pizza delivery". Same concept, but cut out little pizzas and deliver the correct number of pizzas to each house.

Friday:  "Driving the alphabet":  Read "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom".  Write out letters of the alphabet to resemble roads on construction paper.  Put a glob of paint separately and dip a small truck or car into the paint.  Now, tell your child to "drive" the letters.  Make a fun game out of it by making pretend police car noises if they drive off the road.

October 28th- November1st

Supplies

• Paper plates
• Paint brush
• Red and yellow tempera paint
• Construction paper
• Googley eyes
• Yarn

Books

• Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman
• Thirteen Nights of Halloween by Rebecca Dickinson 
• Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly
• Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson

Monday:  Pumpkin color mixing:  (Before you begin...get out red and yellow tempera paint, a paper plate and black construction paper.). If your child will allow it, place a small glob of yellow paint on one hand and a glob of red paint on the other hand. Put more yellow than red. Now, have them rub their hands together to see what new color is made. Once they have made orange they can rub it all over the paper plate.
(If your child does not want paint on their hands, you can simply place the two globs of paint on a paper plate and have them mix the paint with a paint brush.)
Once the plate is covered, explain that we'll be making a face on the jack o lantern. We'll need to make two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. If your child is familiar with their shapes ask them what shape they want for each of the facial features.  If they do not know their shapes, cut out the shapes yourself and name the shapes as you cut them and place them on the pumpkin.

Tuesday: Pumpkin Names:  Draw a large pumpkin shape onto a piece of orange paper and cut out. Write your child's name  on the pumpkin an separate each letter with a line to resemble the lines on a real pumpkin. Cut on the lines.
On a larger piece of paper, write your child's name again. Spell out the letters as you write.  Now, have your child put the pumpkin back together like a puzzle.  For my son, I revealed one letter at a time from his name so it was easier to put back together.

Wednesday: Monster Math:  Cut out 10 different monster shapes out of different colors of construction paper. Line them up and write numbers 1-10 on each monster.  Explain that the monsters can't see so we need to give them eyes.  Help your child to count out the correct number of eyes for each monster.
Original source: www.notimeforflashcards.com

Thursday:  Shape monsters:  With different colors of construction paper in front of you, explain that we're going to make shape monsters.  For each body part, let your child choose the shape and color they want.  For example, " what shape should we make the body?"  If they are not yet familiar with their shapes, you can make suggestions.

Friday:  Spider webs:  Cut out the center of a paper plate.  Make holes all along the outside and tie a string of yarn to one of the holes.  Wrap tape around the end if the string to make a point.  Now, have your child lace the string in and out of the holes.  You may need to " suggest"  which hole the string goes into sometimes.  Use this opportunity to use words such as, "across," "right,""left," etc.  you can make a hand print spider to go along with it or cut out a spider shape.

Books they'll love! 2-3 year olds

Reading to your child is very important!  I try to read to my kiddos at least once each day. Here is a list of books that are great for kids 2-3years old. I chose these books because of their repetitive text and fun illustrations:

• We're Going on a Bear Hunt by: Michael Rosen
• If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by: Laura Numeroff
• If You Give a Moose a Muffin by: Laura Numeroff
• Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type by: Doreen Cronin
• Big Red Barn by: Margaret Wise Brown
• That's Not My Monster by: Fiona Watt
• The Little Engine that Could by: Watty Piper
• No, David by: David Shannon
• How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight by: Jane Yolen
• How Do Dinosaurs Eat their Food by: Jane Yolen

October 21st- October 25th

Supplies for the week:

• 3 apples
• Tempera paint (found at the Dollar tree, Wal Mart, Hobby Lobby)
• Construction paper
• Flour
• salt
• Cinnamon
• vegetable oil
• food coloring
• Small package of regular M&M's
• crayons
• Book "The Apple Pie Tree" by Zoe Hall

    

Fall/Harvest:

Monday:  Read, "The Apple Pie Tree" by Zoe Hall.  Cut open an apple in front of your child and show them how it looks. Pull out the seeds and talk about what happened to the seed in the book.  Talk about the color and size of the seeds. How many are there?  What would happen if you planted them?  eat and enjoy!

Tuesday: (Before you begin... pour a pile of m&m's onto a plate.  Draw three trees onto a large piece of paper.). With your child, next to each tree, write either red, green, or yellow.  Each word should be written with it's color. Also, as you write the word say the color so they can begin to associate the word with the color.
Explain to your child that we need to put the apples on the tree.  If needed, place one m&m on each tree so they understand what color goes on each tree.
When finished count how many "apples" are on each tree. Which has more/less?
Original source: www.notimeforflashcards.com

Wednesday: Painting with apples.  ( Before you begin...place various colors of paint onto paper plates. Cut two or more apples in half.  Puncture skin side of apple with fork as a handle.). Now, let your child go wild!  They can dip their apple into the paint and make prints all over their paper.

Thursday:  "a" is for apple. (Before you begin... Cut out a large, lowercase "a" out of  white construction paper. Cut a stem and a leaf as well.)
Before a child can understand "a" is for apple, it is important that they have experiences with apples first.  That is why we are doing this activity after exploring apples for several days.  
I wrote the word "apple" down on a piece of paper so that my son could see the word.  Then I placed an apple (I actually had run out of apples so I had to use an apple slice.  A whole apple would have been better.) right next to the word so he could make a connection to the word.  This is the word apple.  It starts with the letter "a".  I pointed to the "a" in the word and then to the giant "a".
Next, I had him color and decorate the "a" to look like a apple.  All the while, I talked to him and made comparisons to his "a" apple and the real apple.
Original source: www.notimeforflashcards.com

Friday:  Cinnamon play dough.  Before a child can learn to write and hold a pencil correctly, they need to strengthen the muscles in their hands. So squeezing, rolling, and smashing play dough is a great way to build those muscles.
Recipe
1cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1cup water
2 Tbs. cinnamon
1 1/2 tbs. vegetable oil
Red food coloring

In a large saucepan, combine all of the dry ingredients and mix.  Then, add all of the wet ingredients and stir until combined.  
Cook on medium heat, flipping and stirring constantly.  Cook the play dough until it is set. (There should be no wet, sticky areas.)  
Flip the play dough onto the counter and let it cool slightly.  I find that it's best to knead the dough when it's still fairly warm.  Knead the play dough until it has reached play dough consistency.

Now, you can play!  Roll the dough into balls and snakes.  Smash it, pull it, stretch it!  It's so much fun and it's helping your child get ready for writing.