Additional Links

As I've been trying to find activities for future weeks, I keep coming across some that I wish that I knew about for previous weeks. I thought I'd do a semi-regular update of new links I've found. Do you have any to share?


Alligators 


A is for Alligator printables @ Lawteedah
Alligator Bean Bag Game @ The Preschool Experiment

Ambulances


Ambulance Activity Book @ Colac Ambulance
The Ambulance Song on Kimbo Educational's CD Cars Trucks & Trains
Ambulance Activities @ Preschool Activities
Ambulance story @ Making Learning Fun
Ambulance Directional Art @ Making Learning Fun
A is for Ambulance Magnet/Do a Dot Page @ Making Learning Fun

Ants 


Ants at a Picnic File Folder Game @ Mama Jenn

Apples 


Worms in my Apples File Folder Game @ Mama Jenn

Astronauts 

Astronaut Pudding @ the Idea Box

b is for boat

Image source

Sign Language


We reviewed the sign for boat.


Books 

Boats by Byron Barton

We've really enjoyed Byron Barton books. Barton's simple text and bold, cartoon-like illustrations are appealing to Jonathan. They really are the perfect books for a vehicle loving toddler! This particular book introduces several different types of boats- rowboats, speed boats, tug boats, ferries, etc. Jonathan really enjoyed it and asked to read it several times this week.

Busy Boats by Tony Mitton

This was probably my favorite read this week. Mitton's book is similar to Barton's in that it also introduces different kinds of boats. However, it also gives lots of good information about what boats do. Mitton's text uses fun rhymes. Jonathan enjoyed finding his boats and matching them up to the ones in the story.

Sail Away by Donald Crews

We've enjoyed other Donald Crews books so this one was a natural one to check out. It follows the story of a boat's journey. A family takes out the boat one morning and spends the day sailing. The boat travels by lighthouses and through a storm. It's a simple story that is told through beautiful pictures and font. There are a lot of opportunities to explore vocabulary as well as different sounds.

My Blue Boat by Chris Demarest

This was the last book we read. It's a story about a little girl playing with her boat in the bathtub and imagining going on a journey in her blue boat. She dances with whales and dolphins and looks up at the stars. It's a very imaginative story that is told with vivid illustrations.








Poetry- 

We read My Bed is a Boat by Robert Louis Stevenson.


Bible 


We read the story of Noah's Ark and pulled out our Little People Noah's Ark set to renact the story. (There are lots of great printables you can use with this story at 1+1+1=1) There are lots of other stories that feature boats in the Bible-- you could also do Jesus Calming the Storm.


Pretend Play 


I picked up a few plastic boats from Michaels' & Target's $1 areas and let Jonathan play with them in the tub. We dyed the water blue using some of his Crayola Color Bath Dropz and then turned the jets on in the tub.We pretended there was a storm, like in some of the stories we read. He had a lot of fun with his boats! (Sorry- no bathtub pictures!)



Math 


We did a boat pattern from our Melissa & Doug beginner pattern blocks.

Music 


Row, Row, Row Your Boat. is a classic song! There are some other great songs listed here.


Art 


We did this craft from DLTK.It went okay, Jonathan was excited about using the glue stick again, but wasn't interested in folding. I think might have been more interesting if he was older. However, I think I'll look for more interesting crafts if we talk about boats again. I'd love any ideas!





Library Links 


Boats
Busy Boats
My Blue Boat
Sail Away



Web Resources 
B is for Boat @ First School
Boats @ No Time For Flashcards
Boats & More @ Train Thy Children
B is for Boat @ Walking by the Way
My Blue Boat @ Delightful Learning
Deviled Egg Sailboats @ Totally Tots
Boats @ Preschool Express
Boat Theme @ Step by Step

b is for ball

Sign Language 


We reviewed the sign for ball as well as signs for different sports (baseball, football, basketball, soccer). We watched the Signing Time DVD "My Favorite Sport" which covered each of those signs.


Books 

Balls by Melanie Davis Jones

I chose this book for Jonathan because it was Rookie reader, without a lot of text. I liked that it talks about what different balls can do. The illustrations, as one Amazon reviewer noted, are kind of a strange claymation. (Think Bert & Ernie's Great Adventures). But Jonathan still enjoyed this book and picked it up to read it again. He also had fun matching his balls to the balls pictured in the book.

Yellow Ball by Molly Bang

This was by far our favorite book. It's a really sweet story about a yellow ball that is left at the beach and swept out to sea. The story recounts the adventures of the ball until it eventually safely washes to another shore and finds a home. The story is told in very few words but dramatic pictures. Jonathan loved the story and wanted it read several times in a row. He was engaged and would even shout "Watch out ball!" during one particular scene. This book was so much fun to read together! It is part of the Before Five in a Row homeschool curriculum and there are several online resources for the book. It's too bad it's out of print- but fortunately our library system had several copies!

Froggy Plays Soccer by Jonathan London

I found this book at our library booksale and snatched it up based on our enjoyment of a previous Froggy story. I wasn't disappointed- we  enjoyed this one equally as well. In this story, Froggy is playing in a soccer tournament-- his dad coaches him to use everything but his hands-- will Froggy remember? Jonathan has really enjoyed this silly frog and loves any story involving sports!

Motor Skills


It's still been fairly cold outside and since we are still recuperating from RSV, so we haven't played outside much.

We played with a lot of balls, of course! Daddy is particularly helpful with this-- Jonathan loves wrestling and playing with daddy. His basketball hoop is a constant source of fun. He's getting pretty good at catching and making baskets.

I also brought his wading pool inside and filled it with all sorts of different balls: our 100 color balls, kick balls, sensory balls, small sports balls... you get the idea! He's had a lot of fun swimming through the balls. We've also played a game where daddy or I hide a couple small toys in the bottom of the ball pit and he tries to find them. It's another good way to exert some energy!

Jonathan in the ball pit

Gracie got into the ball playing too!

Music 


We sang Take Me Out to the Ball Game. We also enjoyed a song "the Basketball Dance" from the Kimbo CD Circle Time Activities.

Math 

I found some foam ball shapes on clearance at JoAnn fabrics. There were a dozen different sports ball shapes (baseball, football, basketball, soccer). I attempted to have him try to do a pattern with the shapes- but he was much more interested in just trying to throw the balls around. Massive fail-- but he had fun.

Art 


Ball Painting

We did some ball painting inspired by an idea I found on No Time for Flashcards. It was a super easy craft. I put paper in a shoebox along with yellow paint and a bouncy ball. I had Jonathan tip the box to roll the ball through the paint. It turned out ok, but Jonathan was more interested in playing with the ball than painting!

Stickers

I also found some assorted ball stickers at Michaels in the dollar section this week. Given Jonathan's enjoyment of  stickers and glue, I let him place the stickers on a lowercase b. He enjoyed this craft a little more than the painting.

Library Links- 


Balls
Froggy Plays Soccer
Yellow Ball
Kimbo Music- Circle Time Activities CD
Signing Time- My Favorite Sport DVD


Web Resources 


B is for Ball @ First School
B is for Ball @ Toddler Approved!
Yellow Ball Lesson @ Delightful Learning
Yellow Ball Resources @ Homeschool Share

Reading Our Library- Kathi Appelt

Kathi Appelt is an award-winning author, and poet who has written over thirty books for children and young adults. We first noticed Kathi Appelt because a few of her books were part of the Harper Growing Tree series, a series of books aimed at promoting early literacy.

Bubbles, Bubbles

This is a fun read that celebrates a common ritual in a toddler's life- bathtime! In this story, a young girl who is covered with dirt, ends her day with a bubble bath. The story is told in an engaging rhyme that is matched by the colorful pictures. Jonathan and I read this book at bathtime and really enjoyed it. The rhyme, in fact, still runs through my head every time I start a bath for him. Very cute! Harper recommends this for ages 2 and up.

Rain Dance 

Another Harper Growing Tree book that we enjoyed. This simple rhyming story is about animals enjoying the rain as it starts to fall. We counted the animals up from one to ten and identified them as we read the book. Jonathan enjoyed this book early on, especially as he was starting to recognize animals and imitate their sounds. Now the book provides great practice for counting. The very lively illustrations add to the fun.

Toddler Two Step

This book will be sure to get your toddler up and moving! By far our favorite of the three Harper Growing Tree books, this book combines Appelt's knack for catchy rhymes with a toddlers' love for motion! The book counts up from 1-10 as more toddlers join the toddler dance. The energy increases as the book progresses from clapping hands, to twirling in around. Then the book counts back down from 10 to 1, giving your tot a chance to slow back down the pace. It's great when you and your tot need a stretching break, And as a bonus, this book provides more practice counting!

Someone's Come to Our House

This book is a joyous celebration of a family welcoming a new baby. The rhyming text has a song-like feel and the oil pictures invite you into the family home and celebration. The excited suspense of the story drew Jonathan in to the book- only on the last page do you see exactly who is the focus of the celebration- and at the end of the book, he gave the baby pictured in the story a kiss (followed by his own baby sister)! The nice thing about the book is that it shows the entire family (including the big brother and sister) celebrating and welcoming their new family member. It's a sweet read for a family who may be welcoming a new baby.


We've also reviewed Bat Jamboree during our b is for bat lesson- check out the review here!

Carrie @ Reading My Library has also reviewed Someone's Come to Our House as well as some other Kathi Appelt books.

Find these books in your local library:

Bubbles, Bubbles
Rain Dance
Someone's Come to Our House
Toddler Two Step

Tot School- b is for balloon and bat

Jonathan is 26 Months

We got off to a great start this week, but got sidelined by RSV. Grace had RSV last week and Jonathan came down with it Tuesday night. So most of our week was spent on the couch watching lots of Leapfrog movies (Jonathan's current favorite). 

But, here's a summary of what we did at the start of the week: we talked about balloons and bats! 

Bible 

We continued to review the verse from Songs for Saplings. 

Books 

Here are a few of Jonathan's favorite reads from the last week (click on the link to read our review)

Too Many Balloons by Catherine Matthias

Hot Air: the (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot Air Balloon Ride by Marjorie Priceman

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

Bat Jamboree by Kathi Appelt

Motor Skills 

We played with balloons, pushing them in baskets:

and playing basketball:

Art 

We did lots of art this week. We painted with balloons:

and did some work with glue. We glued shapes on a picture of a balloon:

and made a bat:

Math 

Several of the books we read this week focused on counting 1-10. So as we read the books, we practiced counting. I also made a little game for him by printing out pictures balloons in different colors. The balloons corresponded with the book Too Many Balloons. I don't have any pictures, but he had fun laying out the balloons. 

One of the art projects we did involved shapes and Jonathan did a great job naming and matching the shapes! 

Jonathan enjoyed watching Leapfrog Ocean's Ahoy, Math to the Moon, and Math Circus while he's been sick. 

Practical Life 

We worked on dry pouring this week. We used black beans:

It quickly turned into a sensory exercise! 

Snack 

Jonathan's throat was sore at the end of the week due to our bought of RSV, so I made him Blueberry Banana Smoothies. I really enjoyed them-  but my picky eater wouldn't even try them. (sigh.) What kid doesn't like smoothies? 

So, Jonathan came down on Tuesday night with a severe case of croup that sent him & daddy to the ER. The diagnosis was RSV (Grace had RSV towards the end of last week). Thankfully, he started to gain his appetite back today, so hopefully we're on our way to recovery. So next week we'll hopefully finish our "b" activities with balls and boats! Then we'll finally be on to c! 

How our week finished up

Question for other Parents: what toddler-friendly movies would you recommend? Jonathan's been wanting to watch his Leapfrog movies over and over again. Are there other movies you would suggest? What about feature length movies? Are there some that would be appropriate for a two year old? I'd love to have some ideas to vary things up a bit next time. 

I'm linking up to:

Tot School @ 1+1+1=1
What My Child is Reading @ Mouse Learns, Mouse Grows

RSV

Last week, Gracie was wheezing and when we brought her in to the doctor they put her on nebulizer treatments four times a day. My poor girl hated them at first, it broke my heart to have to give them to her. Last Friday was the roughest day for me. At least during the weekend my husband was home to help take care of her. On Tuesday, we got good news for the pediatrician that the worst had passed and she seemed to be starting to feel better apart from a lingering cough.

But Tuesday night Jonathan woke up with a croupy cough and was struggling to breathe. My husband rushed him into the ER where he was given a steroid to help him breathe as well as a couple nebulizer treatments. We were told that he had RSV which had manifested itself in a severe attack of croup. (Jonathan always gets croup whenever he gets sick.) So, we need to keep his activity level down.

Fortunately, Jonathan loves LeapFrog. We own several of their movies (such as Letter Factory) and I recently discovered that Netflix has several of the newer LeapFrog movies available for streaming. So this is how we've finished out our week:

So my plans for b is for ball and b is for boat will have to wait until he's feeling better. I'll try to get my Tot School post up this weekend and maybe share some more Reading Our Library posts. But, if I don't get to them, you'll understand why. Life comes first.

In the meantime, if you wouldn't mind lifting up a prayer for my little ones, I would appreciate it. Hopefully we'll be feeling better soon!

b is for bat

Bat Poster from First School

Books 

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

I'd heard of Stellaluna before, but never actually read the book. It's a cute story about a fruit bat who thinks she is a bird. I was a little worried that the story would be too long for Jonathan. He did wander off and play as I read the story, but I would notice him looking up and listening as he played.

We also listened/watched the story for free at Storyline Online while we did our bat craft. I think this helped him engage in the story even more. It will definitely be one we refer to again.

Bat Jamboree by Kathy Appelt

This is a book that focuses on counting, number patterns and addition.  Every year
55 bats put on a show. The book is fun, quick paced and gave us good practice for counting 1-10. Jonathan really focused in on this book, and we had fun counting the bats. There are two additional books in the series Bat Parade (multiplication) and Bats Around the Clock (time). This was a great toddler friendly book that will be useful for many years as we eventually move from counting to addition.

Art 


We made a bat using Jonathan's handprints (an idea inspired by No Time for Flashcards). I traced Jonathan's hands onto brown paper, cut them out and then let him glue the hand prints onto purple construction paper. I made a face and then had Jonathan put star stickers on the page to represent the night sky. He's really enjoying using glue and stickers lately, so this was a hit!

 I don't have a picture of the process, but here's the end result:

Library Links


Bat Jamboree
Stellalluna

Web Resources 


B is for Bat @ First School
B is for Bat @ Musings of Me
B is for Bat @ Almost Unschoolers
Bat Math Activities @ Mathwire
Bat Craft & Song @ No Time For Flashcards
Bat Game @ Almost Unschoolers
Stellaluna Resources @ Homeschoolshare