Let's Explore - Creative Activities for Preschoolers

My Favorite Resource Books: Art & Creating

We're big fans of "process" creating around here - enjoying the doing and not necessarily worried about the finished product.  Sometimes we do more crafty things for holidays and gifts, but for the most part it is all about the experience!  

All of the creating books I use regularly are by MaryAnn Kohl - she is a big proponent of process-based art exploration.  She has tons of books, most of which my library has.  Here are my favorites:

First Art : Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos

I bought this when Natalie was two, and we continue to refer to it regularly.  It is filled with fun, simple, exciting art experiences for little ones from painting to working with dough to collage and more. 

Preschool Art: It's the Process, Not the Product

More great process-based experiences for preschool age kiddos.

Scribble Art: Independent Creative Art Experiences for Children

This is a neat collection of independent art activities that do not have an adult "model" for kids to follow - just fun art experimenting with basic supplies.

Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters

This is the newest MaryAnn Kohl book we have been enjoying.  Learn a little bit about some famous artists and then do an art project that demonstrates some of the artists' techniques or styles.  Really fun!

I'd love to hear about your favorite art/creating books for kids, too!

{A quick reminder - today is the last day to take advantage of the Super Good Deals at the Let's Explore shop!}

Have a great weekend!

Print Awareness

Print awareness, also called concepts of print, involves understanding the basics of how the written word and books "work."  It includes important early literacy concepts and skills such as:

• understanding that print has meaning
• handling a book (finding the front, back, title)
• understanding how we read print: left to right, top to bottom, front of book to back
• learning that letters make words, which combine to make sentences
• observing that print has different functions (menus, street signs, stories, letters, recipes, etc.)  

Here are some fun and easy ways to incorporate these skills into your everyday reading and playing:

Take advantage of read-aloud time:

• Ask your child to show you where to start reading
• Hunt for a letters on each page - maybe the letter your child's name starts with
• Point out an interesting word 

Hunt for print when you are out and about:

• street signs
• store names
• grocery store items
• menus
• receipts
• forms at the doctor's office 

Make your own functional print together - scribbles are great!

• lists
• letters
• signs for the bedroom door
• recipes
• scrapbooks and journals 

My Favorite Resource Books: Playing and Thinking

I've been reorganizing my bookshelves, so I thought I would share some of my favorite early childhood resource books with you.  These are the ones I turn to when my own creativity is not flowing -- they are filled with simple, play-based activities that encourage creativity and exploration.  Today I'll share some of my most-used general resource books, and over the next week or so, I'll also share my favorite art, science + nature, math, literacy, and parenting books.

Unplugged Play: No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun. by Bobbi Conner

Love this book!  It's divided into Toddler Play, Preschool Play, and Grade School Play and is FULL of games, crafts, pretend play, party ideas and more!  Lots of familiar ideas with new twists as well as little tidbits on parenting, stocking an art cabinet, etc.  One of my favorite and most-used.

Everyday Opportunities for Extraordinary Parenting: Simple Ways to Make a Difference in Your Child's Life by Bobbi Conner

Another great book by the same author.  This one reminds me that to find those teachable moments as we go about our day together.

Thinking Games for Preschoolers by Susan Baltrus

This book has tons of easy games to play at home, outside, in the car, at the grocery store, waiting in line, etc.  The games are even indexed in the back by skills like visual observation, problem solving, imagination, memory, and more.

Fun on the Run!: 324 Instant Family Activities by Cynthia Copeland

This is a little book that you can stash in your purse, diaper bag, or glove box and use when things are getting crazy.  Ideas for doctor's office visits, long car rides, shopping trips, etc.

Care to share a favorite from your bookshelf?  

Happy Reading!  

Jingle Bell Necklaces

Happy Monday!  I hope you are finding some bits of peace and relaxation during this exciting and busy time of year.  I wanted to share one more Christmas activity with you before signing off for a few days to enjoy all our family activities.

Tonight, we'll be reading The Polar Express.  To be honest, my girls have not really been interested in this story in past years, but I think this year they will love it.  In the morning, they will find this little tin on the front porch:

I will leave it outside all night, so it can get very cold -- just like you would expect from a North Pole delivery.  (Another option is to put it in your freezer all night...)

Inside, the girls will find:

Two very cold and shiny jingle bell necklaces.  The fanciest thing I had at home to string them on was some silver embroidery floss.

There's even a special label on the bottom:

I have had this tin forever, waiting for something to do with it.  You could also wrap them in a small box, a paper lunch bag, etc.  Leave the bells on the front porch, in your mailbox, on your child's pillow, etc.  Have fun!

Back again soon -- Merry Christmas! :)

Amy

Hello, December!

The holiday spirit is buzzing all around this house -- how about yours?  As the decorations start to trickle out into the house, I can feel the girls' getting more and more excited!  The girls were quite busy over the weekend revisiting our Christmas and winter books that have been hidden away.  Here's a few of our favorites:

If you have some recommendations for nice picture books about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and even Christmas around the world, I would love it!  Natalie's kindergarten is going to be learning about winter holidays around the world, and I'd love to have a stack of books at home for us to look at together.

And a quick Let's Explore Shop update...

December 1 through December 15, I will be featuring a Deal of the Day over at my online shop.  The special sale price will be good for one day only and is limited to stock on hand.  I won't be revealing the daily specials ahead of time, so you'll have to head over to the shop to check them out.  I will be featuring some of my very favorite items from the store. :)

Have a wonderful first day of December!

Musical Instruments

At the beginning of the school year, I volunteered to be the music docent for Natalie's Kindergarten class.  Once a week, we sing, move, and play instruments together for 30 minutes.  One of the objectives for the year is recognizing some common orchestra instruments by sight and sound.  The kids are so interested in learning about the orchestra and listening to classical pieces.  They are starting to identify individual instruments while listening to the music, which is so neat!  I gathered and sampled a lot of resources while prepping for my lessons, so I thought I would share them with you!

Books:

Books with CDs:

These two books are both excellent - great illustrations and wonderful CDs full of classical music.

Websites - These sites have lots of interactive features and instrument sound samples for kids:

• San Francisco Symphony Kids
• New York Philharmonic - Instrument Locker Room
• Classics for Kids
• Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Music

If you haven't tried the Beethoven's Wig CDs, you should!  We borrow them from the library all the time - I probably should break down and buy a set of our own.  They have funny lyrics set to well-known classical pieces - my girls and all the Kindergarteners *adore* them!

Here are the "core" classical pieces we listen to in Kindergarten - I usually download individual pieces from iTunes:

• Selections from Peer Gynt (Grieg) - Morning and In the Hall of the Mountain King
• March of the Toys from Babes in Toyland (Herbert)
• Nutcracker Suite (Tchaikovsky)
• March of the Siamese Children from The King and I (Rodgers)
• Carnival of the Animals (Saint-Saens) 

My girls love to get out their musical instruments and dance or march around the room to orchestra music.  We talk about making a steady beat, whether the tempo is fast or slow, and name as many instruments as we can.  They also like to take turns being the conductor!

Any little instrument and orchestra enthusiasts at your house?  I'd love to hear your favorites ideas and resources, too!

Happy Music-Making!

Jokes + Riddles for Preschoolers

It seems like a lot of conversations in our house right now start with "Knock, knock..."  The girls love to tell jokes and make up their own, too.  We have a couple books that have great jokes for preschoolers - fun word play that is clever, but not over their heads.

Knock Knock Who's There: My First Book Of Knock Knock Jokes

This is a really cute flap book with 10 Knock, Knock jokes.  My girls have memorized most of these and like to entertain family and friends with them!  Here's a sample page from the book:

We have also enjoyed reading this one from the library a couple times:

The girls favorite riddle from this book is:  What do you hear when cows sing?  Mooo-sic!

We've also found a few riddles browsing around on the internet.  Here's a few of the ones that made the girls giggle:

• How does the ocean say hello?  It waves!
• Where do dogs park?  In a barking lot!
• Why did the banana go to the doctor?  Because it was not peeling well.
• What goes up and down but never moves?  Stairs! 

Do your little ones have favorite jokes?  Have you find a great book or website with jokes for preschoolers? Please share!

Happy giggling today!

Stories for Autumn

This weekend I finally had time to load our bookshelf with autumn books - apples, pumpkins, leaves, and a few not-too-scary Halloween stories.

Here's a few of our favorites:

Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin by Mary Serfozo

The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall

Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert

Scarecrow by Cynthia Rylant

We also really enjoy Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden, both the book and the video.  The photographs of a pumpkin's life cycle are fantastic!  The book is available on Amazon, and the live-action video of a backyard pumpkin patch (narrated by Danny Glover & music by George Winston) is available on the Pumpkin Circle website.

What story does your family enjoy reading for autumn?

Making Pop-Up Books

Natalie's been having fun making small pop-up books from construction paper.  This one appears to be some sort of Rapunzel story...

These are very simple -- for each page, fold your paper in half and cut two slits on the fold (my slits were approx. 1" long).  Unfold the paper and push the cut section in toward the center.  You can see it makes like a little step.  After you have prepared as many pages as you want, you can glue them together, and glue an uncut piece of paper on the outside for a cover (and to hide all the holes in the edge!).  We made pages with two pop-ups next to each other, too.  Then draw, cut, and glue your pop-up elements to the front of each "step." 

Amanda at Kiddio has some nice photos of making the pop-ups, if my directions don't make sense... :)

Happy Book-Making!

Muffin Tin Monday - Pinkalicious!

I have been wanting to join in with the fun Muffin Tin Mondays sponsored by Sycamore Stirrings.  The girls love having meals in muffin tins, scone pans, and other divided dishes.  This week's theme was Children's Literature -- I knew I couldn't pass it up! :)

We chose one of the girls' favorite books right now, Pinkalicious by Victoria & Elizabeth Kann.

 

We had a very pink afternoon snack when both girls got home from school:

Strawberry Delight Frosted Mini Wheats, bread with strawberry cream cheese, sliced plum, cranberry raspberry applesauce (by Mott's, no sugar added), strawberry marshmallows, slices of raspberry fruit leather, and strawberry milk.

I wanted there to be a few treats balanced with some "real" food, so this was a good compromise!  The girls loved this, and we read Pinkalicious while snacking.  We may have to choose more books and make this a Monday tradition!

If you have kiddos that enjoy this story, you can also check out the author's website for party ideas, games, printables, etc.  Neat stuff!

And, of course, check out other fun Muffin Tin Meals based on children's books over at Sycamore Stirrings.

Happy playing and snacking!