f is for fish- books + activities

image source: Etsy

 Ten Little Fish by Audrey and Bruce Wood

This is a simple little countdown book in which ten little fish are swimming in a line- one swims away and then there were nine. The book continues until there is one lonely fish and then there's a  sweet surprise ending!. The brightly colored digital artwork attracted Jonathan's attention and he had fun practicing counting with these fish. Cute read!


The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen

Oh how Jonathan loved this book! It's a silly story about a pouty fish whose face is in a perpetual pout. One by one his friends try to cheer him up but he just  keeps resigning himself that he's born with a gloomy attitude. The refrain is snappy and catchy and always made Jonathan giggle. Jonathan grinned even more when he saw what finally turned this fish's frown upside down! This story has a great message too.


Swimmy by Leo Lionni

This is a Caldecott Honor book about a little black fish named Swimmy whose quick swimming saves him when a big fish swallows the rest of his family. The little fish explores the big ocean by himself until he finds a school of fish hiding from the big fish. He comes up with a creative idea to allow the fish to swim freely. Lionni's watercolor artwork is breath-taking and well deserving of the honor medal it received. Jonathan was really drawn to this book and enjoyed pointing out Swimmy on each page.



How Many Fish? by Caron Lee Cohen

This is an easy reader about a school of fish and some children playing in a bay. The rhyming text features a little fish who lost its way. The story is simple, but Jonathan seemed to enjoy it. He liked counting the fish as well as the feet of the children. It probably would not hold the attention of older children.




Activities 




We made a fish using a printable from Confessions of a Homeschooler. Jonathan did all the glueing and placement himself- he was so proud!

We tried to play Go Fish! It really wasn't Go Fish- we just matched our Go Fish cards. Jonathan is really into matching lately.

We played with our peg boards, one of which is shaped like a fish:

And we played with our fishing game that I found at Target:

I'm linking this post up to Read Explore Learn @ JDaniel4's Mom


Web Resources 


F is for fish @ Confessions of a Homeschooler
F is for fish @ First School

Reading Our Library- Liza Baker

We picked up Liza Baker's books off another booklist recommendation and I'm so glad we did! She is a unfamiliar author to me and has mostly written books involving Harold of Harold and the Purple Crayon fame. The two books we checked out are written for younger children and are illustrated by Sam McBratney (Guess How Much I Love You). Both of these books serve to affirm the special bond and unconditional love between parent and child.

I Love You Because You're You

This is such a sweet story about a mother's unconditional love for her child. Sam McBratney's illustrations feature a mother fox and her rambunctious little boy. The rhyming text shares how the mother fox loves her child no matter what his mood- sad, proud, shy, sleepy, etc. Jonathan loved this reassuring story. I liked it too- it was a good reminder to me to keep reaffirming my love for Jonathan and Grace-- even when they are in a more challenging mood.

Mama's Right Here

This is the follow-up book to I Love You because You're You. This story features a mama and baby kangaroo. The mother affirms that she will always be here to support or comfort her child. It's another cute book with a needed message, but I enjoyed the first book the most. Jonathan liked the two books equally well and requested them often. The one thing I would share is that my husband didn't appreciate that it was only from a Mama's perspective.

Both books are well worth checking out!

I'm linking this post 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
Book Sharing Monday @ Smiling Like Sunshine

f is for flower- books + art

We had some gorgeous weather last week and we spent quite a few mornings outside in our yard. Our flowers have been in bloom so I took the opportunity to read some books about flowers to go along with our "letter Ff" theme.

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Elhert

This is a wonderful book for introducing different types of flowers to your child. In this story, a mother and child plant different flowers in their garden. They plant bulbs in the fall, order seeds in the winter and sow seeds in the Spring. The Spring comes and they enjoy watching their rainbow grow. They have flowers of every color and you can lift pages to see flowers of every color of the rainbow. The flowers are identified and Jonathan was even able to match some of the illustrated flowers with flowers in our garden. He simply loved this book and even wanted to bring it down to Nana's house. We highly recommend this one!

Alison's Zinnia by Anita Lobel

In this alphabet book, Alison acquires an Amaryllis for Beryl. Then Beryl bought a Begonia for Crystal, and the book continues through the alphabet introducing different types of flowers. This was a book that Jonathan also enjoyed, but not as much as the first one. He definitely did not get the alphabetical connection between the flowers and the first names. But it still held his attention and he was moderately interested in the different flowers.


Art 


We painted with flowers-- we picked a few of the remaining dandelions from our yard (as well as a flower I can't identify) and then used them as our paintbrushes:

I drew an outline of lowercase f on our paper and Jonathan tried to paint within the lines. When the paint dried, we (I) cut out the letter.

Jonathan chose rather warm colors so it almost looks appropriate for "f is for fire" as well!


We also made flowers out of play-dough:

I'm linking this post up to

Kids Get Crafty @ Red Ted Art- check out the site for more craft ideas!
stART @ A Mommy's Adventures

Go Cardinals!

I honestly don't have a real preference when it comes to baseball. Everyone routed for the Phillies where I grew up. My husband grew up in Cardinals country and now we're in Cubs territory.

As an early Father's Day present, all the boys on my husband's side of the family went to a Cardinals-Cubs game. This was Jonathan's first baseball game and he was so excited. He talked about it for days!

The boys before the game

At the ballpark

It was 95 degrees outside!

It was so hot outside, the boys ended up leaving at the 7th inning. The game actually went into overtime and the Cardinals won.

The girls stayed at Nana's house and sewed. I finally got a couple pillows made for my family room couches. This was my first sewing project in a long time- I love the feeling that I accomplished something!

It was a fun weekend that Jonathan keeps talking about!

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