f is for feet- activities

See Part I (books)  here




Sign Language & Vocabulary


We reviewed the sign for foot and learned some new foot-related vocabulary (heel, ball, sole)


Motor Skills 


We practiced all the things we could do with our feet:  running, jumping, skipping, marching, kicking, 
hopping, walking on a line, dancing. 


Art


We painted with our feet, making footprints on paper:

We compared sizes of our feet to tie it in with some math skills. And we counted toes. We each had ten :)

And we did a coloring page from Carisa's Tot School Printables. Jonathan correctly identified and colored each foot the appropriate color. His coloring is still more scribbling, but he's starting to get the concept of coloring a particular object on the page. We also did a puzzle and sequencing activity Carisa provided.

Jonathan had fun with the couple days we spent looking at our feet. Thanks for visiting!

Linking this post up to Tot School @ 1+1+1=1
Link n Learn @ No Time For Flash Cards. and
Read Explore Learn @ JDaniels4's Mom

f is for feet- books

We continued looking at the letter "f" by looking at our feet. Carisa over at 1+1+1=1 made some Tot School printables that focused on feet- so I decided that foot/feet would be one of our letter "f" words.


Books 

My Feet by Aliki

This book is part of a series called Let's Read and Find Out Science. The book is aimed at preschool and kindergarten aged children to help satisfy their curiosity about their feet. The book covers basic anatomy (toes, heel, sole), counting (1-10 toes), what your feet do (support your weight, help you walk), different sizes of feet, what you can do with your feet (walk, run, skip, etc.), how you dress your feet for different kinds of weather, etc. It's very informative without being too scientific. Aliki Brandenburg is an author we have enjoyed in the past. Her cheerful illustrations show children of various ethnicities and abilities enjoying all the things they can do with their feet. Jonathan sat through this book easily and the book provided lots of ideas for discussion as well as activities we could try.

The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss

This is a classic Dr. Seuss book that I was unfamiliar with growing up. Dr. Seuss's zany characters explore all the different feet one meets- left feet, right feet, low feet, high feet. The simple text (1 to 2 sentences per page layout) makes it ideal for early readers and toddlers should have no trouble paying attention to the story. Jonathan has had this book for a while now and it's an easy read aloud. It also helps reinforce the concepts of "left" and "right" as well as some other opposites discussed in the story. This is a quick, fun read that Jonathan enjoys each time.

Dancing Feet by Lindsey Craig

This is such a fun picture book that will get your children moving! Craig's toe-tapping rhymes are paired expertly with Marc Brown's collage pictures. Children are invited to guess whose happy feet are dancing by hearing the sound the feet make and looking at the picture clues. The ladybug's feet, for example go "tippity, tippity" and the elephant goes "stompity! stompity!" Jonathan loved this book and had a lot of fun trying to guess which animal was dancing.

I'm linking up to:

Read Aloud Thursday @ Hope is the Word

Feed Me Books Friday @ Little Sprout Books

What My Child is Reading @ Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns

Reading Our Library- Karen Baicker

One of Karen Baicker's books appeared on a booklist for children 0-12 months old. We picked up the book, as well as another series of Baicker's. Here's what we thought:

Tumble Me Tumbily

We picked up this book from a recommendation on a booklist for children ages 0-12. It's a book in three parts showing different times of a toddler's day- playtime, mealtime, and nighttime. Illustrator Sm Williams' playful illustrations show bouncing toddlers, bears and bunnies rollicking through the pages until at the end of the book a mother is shown rocking her toddler to sleep. Baicker's text is equally playful, and is written from  toddler's perspective. I found the text slightly annoying but I can see how it holds its appeal to toddlers. Jonathan enjoyed the book, but it wasn't a frequent request. (Note: You can also purchase this book in the form of three board books, which I would recommend. The segment divisions in the story don't flow as smoothly but the board books could be pulled out and read at the appropriate point during the day. See Snuggle Me Snuggly!, Yum Tummy Tickly!, and Wake-ity Wake! )

PeaPod Babies 

This is Baicker's second collaboration with Sam Williams. In this book, three babies are born inside a little peapod. They're seen as perfect little peas in a pod, but the babies each have their own unique personality. They dislike being regarded as a "set" and escape and have their own unique adventures. The three adventures happen simultaneously and highlight each baby's personality. The text is sing-songy and similar to that of the previous book and William's illustrations are equally whimsical and fun. The verse didn't flow well for me as a read-aloud, and therefore the book wasn't as enjoyable to Jonathan. Twins or Triplets might better appreciate this book. 

I Can Do it Too! 

Toddlers are notorious for insisting that they can do things by themselves, and this story affirms their desire to be independent. An African-American girl narrates the story, sharing things that different family members can do and then asserts that "I can do it too!" Ken Wilson-Max's bold illustrations show the warmth of the girl's family as well as the girl's imperfect attempts to copy the actions of her older family members. It's a charming book that Jonathan really enjoyed. 

You Can Do it Too!

In this follow-up to I Can Do it Too! the same little girl is trying to teach her little brother the skills she has learned. There's obviously a warm relationship between the siblings and I think, as a big brother, Jonathan could relate to this story. It was another book he requested that I read "again!" 

I'm linking this post to:

Read Aloud Thursday @ Hope is the Word

Feed Me Books Friday @ Little Sprout Books

What My Child is Reading @ Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns

Brownies!

I really enjoy baking- whenever I get a chance, that is! Cooking is okay, but I'd much rather bake. I like the creativeness of baking and the sense of accomplishment when I finish a recipe. Having a sweet tooth doesn't hurt either! 

I'm a sucker for trying new recipes, so I thought I'd share the ones we've tried and liked. I made this brownie recipe last week and it turned out really well. It's just a basic brownie recipe, but I clipped it for my recipe binder! My original intent was to cut the brownies into football shapes, but I got lazy so we just had regular brownies. :) 

Brownies 

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

3/4 cup cocoa powder  (or 4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted)

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped walnuts, optional  (I did not use)

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, melt the butter. Whisk in the cocoa or melted baking chocolate. Stir in the sugar. Make sure the mixture has cooled, and then add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until very cremy. Stir in the flour, salt, and vanilla. Fold in the nuts if using. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cut immediately. Let cool for 30 minutes, then remove from the pan. 

Modifications: I added 1/2 tsp espresso powder to bring out the chocolate flavor as well as 1 cup peanut butter chips (I was craving chocolate/peanut butter). It was delicious- I think I ate half the pan myself. :) 

Original Recipe Source: Penzey's Spices Catalog. 

If you try them, let me know what you think!

Tot School- f is for firetrucks & footballs!

Jonathan is 29 Months

We started looking at the letter "f" by reading about firetrucks and footballs. Jonathan is really interested in both things that move and any kind of sport, so he had a lot of fun this week!

Bible 


We haven't worked on a Bible verse this week. We've been taking a little break from it. I have been playing the Seeds of Courage on our iPod and Jonathan likes dancing and moving around to the music.

We continued reading through a little devotional in the morning, Everything a Child Should Know about God by Kenneth Taylor. We do one page each day and talk about the pictures.

We bought a few more books from the Beginner's Bible I Can Read and Jonathan loves these books. Each night he asks for one or more stories.

Books 


We read lots and lots of books the past couple weeks about firemen/firetrucks (see part I and part II) as well as footballs.

• Flashing Fire Engines by Tony Mitton- this is another part of Tony Mitton's Amazing Machines series. This book focuses on firemen. and is a wonderful, fun introduction to what firemen do. 
• Fire Engine Man by Andrea Zimmerman & David Clemesha- a little boy imagines what he will do as a fireman someday and how he'll teach his younger brother to be a fireman. 
• The Little Fire Engine by Lois Lenski- a reprint of a 1946 book that tells about Fireman Small and shows him going through his day fighting fires and rescuing people. The vintage illustrations are charming and Jonathan wanted it read "again" and "again". 
• My Football Book by Gail Gibbons- This nonfiction book teaches the main rules and positions of American football through showing a friendly competition between two teams. 

Those are the highlights- but we've read plenty more this week. See the original posts for our reviews.

Motor Skills 


We practiced stop, dropping, and rolling while we were learning fire safety. We also practiced "climbing" a ladder:

We also played football. :)

Art

We made a firetruck from a box and some construction paper. Both Jonathan and his friend T. had fun dressing up and pretending to be firemen:

Math/Puzzles/Games


We used our beginner pattern blocks to make a firetruck:

And did puzzles which featured firetrucks and footballs:

and Jonathan also had fun playing with his fire extinguisher which just happens to be a water gun. I let him "clean" my windows.

So that's what we've been up to this week!

I'm linking up to:

Link & Learn @ No Time for Flashcards

Tot School @ 1+1+1=1

f is for firetruck/firefighter: books part II

Firetrucks were such a hit with Jonathan this week that we actually went back to the library to find more books about firetrucks. Here are some of the ones we found- enjoy!

Fire Engines by Anne Rockwell

This is a book Jonathan has requested several times. It has bright illustrations with dalmatian firefighters featured on every page. The text is short (one or two sentences per page) but very informative about different types of fire engines. It held Jonathan's attention at two as well as his friend T. (who is 15 mos). Both boys really enjoyed the book and Jonathan had fun pulling out his different fire engines as we read the story.

The Little Fire Engine by Lois Lenski

This is a reprint of a book by famous author/illustrator Lois Lenski that was originally published in 1946. It was part of a series about "Mr Small" and in this book we observe "Fireman Small" fighting fires and rescuing children. The text is simple and the illustrations are charming and while some firefighting methods have changed, it's still an entertaining book for toddlers and preschoolers. Jonathan has requested repeated readings of this book!

Clifford The Firehouse Dog by Norman Bridwell

We pulled this one from our own collection. Jonathan has always enjoyed the Clifford stories. In this particular book, Clifford and Emily Elizabeth go to the fire station to visit Clifford's brother who is a firehouse dog. Clifford has his usual adventures helping rescue people and putting out fires. The book concludes with some fire safety tips. As I mentioned, Clifford is usually quite entertaining for Jonathan and this book was no exception. It's not as high quality as some of the other books we read, but it would make for a good introduction to firefighters and would lead into the other books we enjoyed.

Jonathan & T. the firemen!

f is for football- books & activities

Image source

Another thing Jonathan is enamored with is sports. Although it's not football season, I figured that football would be of interest to Jonathan.

Books 

My Football Book by Gail Gibbons

This book introduces the basics of the game of (American) football. It covers the basic rules, equipment, field, and positions of American football. The book emphasizes that football is fun to both play and watch. The illustrations show a friendly game between two different teams and features a female referee. Jonathan really engaged with this book and wanted it read several times.



Family Huddle by the Manning family

This is about football's famous Manning family. It recounts a typical weekend during the childhood of Peyton and Eli Manning and their older brother Cooper. The boys go on a trip to Mississippi to visit both sets of their grandparents. The weekend is full of football as the boys attempt different plays. However, there isn't much of a plot beyond the different football plays. The story is stilted and awkward. I didn't really care for it. Jonathan enjoyed it though, so maybe other little boys would as well.

 Touchdown! My Football Book by Davd Diehl

This board book is a perfect introduction to football for babies and toddlers. One football related word is illustrated per page such as "helmet" and "quarterback". The bold illustrations are are very eye-catching.This is more of a concept/first word book, so it probably wouldn't hold the attention of older children.  Jonathan enjoyed looking through this board book, but did gravitate more toward the stories with a plot.



Gross Motor Skills 


We played with Jonathan's toy footballs (indoors) and played with daddy's football (outdoors)

Fine Motor Skills 


We did a puzzle which features different balls, including a football:

Art 


And we colored an "F is for Football" page from 2 Teaching Mommies.

Web Resources 


Football Unit & Printables @ 2 Teaching Mommies
Football Printables @ Making Learning Fun