Welcome to the sixth unit of Mommy School!
You can read all about the purpose of this program, along with my goals and previous posts here.
Mommy school as been working out well at our house. We still have a set time for it each day, after nap time. It lasts up to 45 minutes, some days only about 20 minutes.
The key for me is to write what we we’re doing each day in my planner.
You can also see other fun and purposeful play activities on our Mommy School Pinterest board.
EASTER
Learning about the Easter holiday.
Vocabulary:
Eggs / Easter / Bunny / Lamb / Grass / Ears / Hop
MAKE SURE TO HEAD OVER TO EMILY’S BLOG FOR LANGUAGE ENRICHMENT IDEAS AND ACTIVITIES
Counting/ Colors/ Alphabet:
Where is the bunny? Can you point to the bunny? Lets count the flowers….
{Directions} Can you put the egg in the grass? Can you take the egg out of the grass?
Can you shake the egg? Pick the egg up. Put the egg down.
What color is the egg? Can you say red?
Remember, modeling is crucial.
Easter Songs on THe Holiday Zone (AG loves Did you ever see a bunny? and Nine Little Bunnies)
Easter Egg Hunt
Get outside and explore- hide some eggs and go on a hunt around the house or at a park
Play-Doh Fun
This activity keeps the mini entertained for about 10 minutes.
We roll out the dough together.
Then I let her press the cookie cutters into it.
I help her pull up the rest of the dough and show her how to form balls.
It prompts me to talk about shapes and also colors.
You can’t go wrong with play-doh!
Painting Eggs
I printed this blank egg page over on Nuttin’ But Preschool.
I let AG finger paint one and use a paintbrush on the other.
The finished products that are proudly displayed on our fridge.
Potato Stamping
I cut two potatoes in half (I used small potatoes).
I used a knife to carve designs in the bottoms of them.
After I was finished, I helped AG dip and stamp them.
This was the mommy & me picture….hers wasn’t this neat =-)
Sensory Play:
If you’re new to sensory bins and sensory play, read this fabulous article to see why it’s so important.
Sound Eggs:
This was AG’s favorite activity for the week.
I filled 6 eggs with different items (buttons, bell, glass flat beads, rice, pom pons and lima beans.)
I taped them shut (I wouldn’t if she was older) and gave them to her to shake.
She wasn’t happy with the pom pom egg because it didn’t make noise and tried to smash it with her foot!
We’ve been working on shaking them. Putting them in and out of the holder.
We also are counting eggs and practicing our colors.
I would say this is my favorite activity as well.
Sensory Bin:
This week I filled the bin with colored rice, a measuring cup and eggs. We worked on filling up the eggs with rice and dumping them out.
This week I filled the bin with colored rice, a measuring cup and eggs. We worked on filling up the eggs with rice and dumping them out.
I also filled a little bin with grass and eggs.
Probably not the smartest mommy idea I’ve had.
AG LOVES it. Momma is tired of cleaning up grass!
I want to note that while the sensory bin is open, I never take my eyes off AG. I am sitting next to her the entire time. Items in the sensory bin can be a choking hazard and a child should never be left along with them.
To make the rice, all you need is white rice, rubbing alcohol and food coloring. Put the white rice in a large bowl, ad a few drops of rubbing alcohol (just three drops for about 4 cups of rice), mix the rice in the rubbing alcohol. Last, add the food coloring. I used over 10 drops for my rice. Just mix it until the rice is coated. I lined a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and pour the rice on top for it to dry. I left it out overnight.
Here is how most of our lessons looked:
Books- 2 per day, (both were read at least twice.) I always read the book through first and read it again for further comprehension. On the second read, I ask questions and talk about what is on some of the pages. I ask her to point lots of different things.
Song- 2 per day.
Craft/ Activity: Coloring, painting, creating.
Sensory Bin Play: This is what lasts the longest with our lessons. We work on taking things out, putting them in, picking things up and so forth. This is a great time to work on directions with your child.I kept the bin, puzzles and games out of her play areas. I only bring them out when it was time for our Mommy School time. I wanted them to be special, something she looked forward to and didn’t have at her fingertips all day.
Books- 2 per day, (both were read at least twice.) I always read the book through first and read it again for further comprehension. On the second read, I ask questions and talk about what is on some of the pages. I ask her to point lots of different things.
Song- 2 per day.
Craft/ Activity: Coloring, painting, creating.
Sensory Bin Play: This is what lasts the longest with our lessons. We work on taking things out, putting them in, picking things up and so forth. This is a great time to work on directions with your child.I kept the bin, puzzles and games out of her play areas. I only bring them out when it was time for our Mommy School time. I wanted them to be special, something she looked forward to and didn’t have at her fingertips all day.
Love this! A friend of mine and I are doing arts and crafts with our toddlers and tomorrow we are doing an egg craft and a sensory bin! I love all your ideas! We also love the "that's not my bunny" book.
Love these ideas! Thanks for sharing
love this!!