Nursery Rhymes: Three Little Kittens

This theme was a blast.  My children love cats...a lot.  So this was a super fun day for everyone.  As always if you have activities or ideas to add to the Three Little Kitten Nursery Rhyme theme please leave me a comment and I will add it; so we can all benefit.

Nursery Rhymes

Subcategory: Three Little Kittens
Color: grey
Shape: heart
Number:  3
Letter: Kk
Opposite words:  sad/happy
Texture:  furry

Art:  
1. Mitten: have a pre-cut construction paper mitten; have child(ren) cut yarn and glue it onto the mitten
2. Laundry line: glue Popsicle sticks and yarn onto construction paper to make clothes line, glue on 3 pairs of mittens

Books:  The Mitten by Jan Brett, Three Little Kittens books, Nursery Rhyme books, Kitten books, Cat books, books on how yarn is made

Cooking: bake a pie

Dramatic Play: 
1. Cat and Kittens
2. Pet Store
3. House = laundry
4. Bakery

Fine motor:  Lace mittens: cut out two mittens and punch holes in them to make matching lacing cards. Have child(ren) lace the two mittens together to make one wearable paper mitten.

Gross motor:  Animal movement: move around like different animals.  Crawl like a crab, bounce like a kangaroo, fly like a humming bird, hop like a frog, pounce like a cat, run like a dog, stand on one leg like a flamingo, stalk like a tiger, slither like a snake, etc.

Language:  Mitten ABC match: Cut out 52 small construction paper mittens . Write a capital letter and a lower case letter on each mitten.  Have your child(ren) match the capital and lower case letters that go together.

Math:  
1. Color mitten match file folder *print out a file folder here
2. Perfect pie file folder * print out a file folder here
3. Mitten number match: cut out 20 small construction paper mittens. Write the numbers 1-10 on 10 mittens and put corresponding dots on the other 10 mittens.  Have child(ren) match the correct number to the correct amount of dots.

Music: Yarn streamers: make 1 1/2 foot yarn streams by tying a group of 6-12 strands of yarn together.  Dance around to music with streamers.

Outside time: 
1. Snow: play outside in the snow. Build a snowcat (SEASONAL)
2. Mitten scavenger hunt: hide mittens outside; have children find mittens.
3. Pet store: visit a pet store (FIELD TRIP) How many cats? What color are the cats? How many cats are asleep? How many cats are awake? How many cats are playing with toys? How many cats are eating? 

Science:  

Sensory:  
1. Inside snow: put snow in the sensory bin. Play in the snow without mittens and with mittens.  When are your hands colder? (SEASONAL)
2. Clothesline: Make a clothes line with yarn and chairs.  Fill sensory buckets with warm soapy water.  Give children mittens to wash and hang (with clothes pins) on the clothesline.


If you liked this Nursery Rhyme theme check out my others:
Humpty Dumpty
Mary Had a Little Lamb

Click here for more theme ideas

Need help getting started? Click here to see how to put together your weekly lesson plan.

Nursery Rhymes: Humpty Dumpty

My first lesson plan for the year! My children loved some of the activities and others weren't a hit.  If you have more ideas to add to the Humpty Dumpty Nursery Rhyme theme please leave me a comment and I will add them. I am sure we can all benefit from each other by putting our heads together.

Nursery Rhymes

Subcategory: Humpty Dumpty
Color: white
Shape: oval
Number:  1
Letter: Hh
Opposite words:  up/down
Texture:  smooth

Art:  Fingerprint Humpty's: use fingers/thumbs as stamps to make eggs shapes.  Decorate your "Humpty's"; draw eyes, hair, ears, etc.

Books:  Humpty Dumpty books, Nursery Rhyme books, books about eggs

Cooking: Eggs gallore: how many ways can you cook an egg? (Boil, scramble, fry, pouch) 

Dramatic Play: 
        1. Kingdom: kings, queens, prince, princesses, jokers, dragons
        2. Cowboy: horses, cows, cowboys, cowgirls

Fine motor:
1.Put Humpty together again: white oval construction paper with zigzag lines; draw on Humpty's face, cut on lines, use band-aids to put Humpty together again. *idea found here
2.Tongs and Pom poms: Using tongs have child put pom poms into egg carton holes

Gross motor:  Jump: how high can you jump? how far can you jump? (measure in inches) jump on one foot, jump with both feet, jump forwards and backwards,

Language:  
1. Rhymes: words that rhyme with wall (ball, call, tall, mall, fall). On a piece of paper make three columns. In the center column write the word "all" 6 times.  In the right column draw pictures for each of the rhyming words including "wall".  Help child name the picture and write in the left column the beginning letter for each picture.
2. Read or recite "Humpty Dumpty"
        3. Hh horses: Cut out "h", "H", and horse heads in brown, black, or white construction paper.  Decorate with yarn, googly eyes and markers to make horses. *idea found here


Math:  
1. Egg Carton Shape toss: Draw shapes in each egg compartment in the egg carton.  Say a shape and have child toss coin, button, pom poms, etc. into the correct shape hole.
2. Plastic Egg Counting: Label plastic eggs with numbers 1-20.  Have child put the correct number of coins, buttons, pom poms, etc. into each egg.

Music: Egg shakers: fill plastic eggs with dry beans and hot glue shut...instant shakers.  Dance to music an use your shakers

Outside time: Humpty in the sand: Build walls in sand box and have plastic eggs to knock off the walls.

Science:  Floating eggs: have 2 cups filled with water, add 1 raw egg to each.  Have child add salt to one of the cups.  What happens? * idea found here

Sensory:  
1. Playdough Humpty's: Make eggs and walls with playdough.  Add people and hourses. Reenact "Humpty Dumpty"
2. Blocks, plastic eggs, horses in sensory bin


If you liked this Nursery Rhyme theme check out my others:
Three Little Kittens
Mary Had a Little Lamb

Click here for more theme ideas

Need help getting started? Click here to see how to put together your weekly lesson plan.

How to put together your weekly lesson plan

Step 1: To start pick a weekly theme.  Try a theme that goes with the season or a holiday.  Pick themes that your child(ren) are interested in. Click to see my "2015 Tot-school and Preschool Weekly Themes" list.

Step 2: Coordinate your education builders to your theme.

Education builders:

Color:

Shape:

Number:

Letter:

Opposite words:

Texture:

Step 3: Find activities that will support your nursery rhyme. Plan activities that your child(ren) can do by themselves as well as activities that require your supervision and assistance. I try to plan activities with items I already have around the house; that way I don't need to spend any extra money.

Support Activities:

Art:

Books:

Cooking:

Dramatic Play:

Fine motor:

Gross motor:

Language:

Math:

Music:

Outside time:

Science:

Sensory:

Step 4: Go to the library and get books!  I love the library; we spend almost every Monday at the library collecting new books for our weekly theme. Don't forget to let your child(ren) pick a few books for themselves.  Reading is very important!

Step 5: Start playing and learning with your children and have fun!  Remember to get on their level and learn with them.

**Record your ideas: I bought a spiral notebook to write down all of my ideas. The first page has a list of the weekly themes for the year.  The rest of the pages look like this...                            

(Weekly Theme Title)

   Monday      Tuesday      Wednesday      Thursday      Friday
Subcategory:___________________________________________________
Color:_________________________________________________________
Shape:________________________________________________________
Number:_______________________________________________________
Letter:________________________________________________________
Opposite words:_________________________________________________
Texture:_______________________________________________________
Art:___________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Books:_________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Cooking:_______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Dramatic Play:___________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Fine motor:_____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Gross motor:____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Language:______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Math:_________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Music:_________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Outside time:____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Science:_______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Sensory:_______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

Tot-school & Preschool Themes

      Recently, my sister-in-law asked me for some of my lesson plans so she could have ideas of things to do with her children. I thought I would share them with you.
      With three children at home, 4 and under, I like to have educational activities at hand that we can do.     Otherwise, I find myself turning on Netflix or handing the kindle over. These options aren't bad but my family really needs to cut down on the screen time. As one of my 2015 goals I have put together weekly lesson plans. These lesson plans are more of a guideline for me to follow.  The themes are based on season appropriateness and family interests.  Please know that I am not a perfect mother or teacher. There are days we don't get around to having "school". I hope that these lesson themes, activities and ideas are useful for you. I also hope they help you get your creative juices flowing, because you are the one who knows your child(ren) best and how to help them learn and grow.

2015 Tot-school & Preschool Weekly Themes

*As I plan and do activities I will add links to this post; click on a theme to find the lesson plan and activity ideas*

JANUARY 26-30: Nursery Rhymes (Humpty Dumpty) (Three Little Kittens) (Mary Had a Little Lamb)

FEBRUARY 2-6: All about me (My name) (How I look) (My favorites)
9-13: Feelings  **Valentine's Day
16-20: Family and babies
23-27: Body

MARCH 2-6: 5 senses
9-13: Community Helpers
23-27: Transportation
30-3: Construction and tools

APRIL 6-10: Spring  **Easter
13-17: Space
20-24: Weather
27-1: Geology

MAY 4-8: Botany
11-15: Farm animals
18-22: Pets
25-29: Mammals

JUNE 1-5: Crustaceans
8-12: Insects
15-19: Zoo animals
22-26: Summer
29-3: Bikes

JULY 6-10: Fire and safety
13-17: Camping and safety
20-14: Climbing and safety
27-31: Fish

AUGUST 3-7: Ocean
10-14: Ice Cream
17-21: Bubbles and shadows
24-28: Watermelon
31-4: School

SEPTEMBER 7-11: Art
14-18: Music
21-25: Sports and balls
28-2: Fall

OCTOBER 5-9: Spiders
12-26: Bones
19-23: Pumpkins
26-30: Halloween

NOVEMBER 2-6: Hygiene
9-13: Eating healthy
16-20: Manners
23-27: Thanksgiving
30-4: Shepherds

 DECEMBER 7-11: Wisemen and angels
14-18: Mary and Joseph
21-25: Jesus  **Christmas
28-1: Winter

Need help getting started? Click to see how to put together your weekly lesson plan

Enemy's Kept by Skyward Down

Any Twilight Fans out there?  How about The Host?  Well, I am definately a fan of Stephenie Meyer's books.

Our Sponsor, Kerrie Meacham, and JD from Skyward Down have released a new song!  This song, Enemy's Kept, was inspired by the novel "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer.  To watch their music video click this link.  Originally intended as a simple lyric video, this piece took on a life of its own as Kerrie and JD started to put the idea together. It was shot entirely with a simple flipcam by Kerrie and JD. They also handled all the production, editing and compositing from start to finish.

Help them draw attention to this song - they'd love nothing more than to see (hear) it as a part of the movie adaptation of the novel which is now in production!

Enemy's Kept is available as a single on iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon and other digital outlets.

Check out their music video.  Come back and tell us what you think, we would love to hear your thoughts.

A Fishing Birthday

While my mom was at work she texted and asked when my dad would be home from work and if we could do a bbq for a surprise birthday dinner.  I told her that dad was planning on making fish and baked potatoes for dinner.  My dad was with me at the time so I sorta had to fib to him about the party. Luckily he had to go to the store.  So while he was out I made his favorite cake...yellow cake with homemade chocolate frosting.  My mom wanted some decorative fish for a game.  My sisters made those while I baked.  They had a lot of fun.  As you can see they made one that looks like my dad.  We also had camo fish and a fish with braces and glasses.

After we at our fish dinner we got the party set up in the front room while my dad was watching sports down stairs.  My sister put a magnet on the end of string and threaded yarn through a fishing pole so my dad could fish for his presents.  My mom put paper clips onto the paper fish and placed one fish in each of his birthday packages.  We also had three blow up fish that we put in some of the bags.  When he got those fish my mom instructed us to say, "Wow!  You caught a big one".  

Then my sister went down to get my dad saying, "Dad, I need you to catch a fish."  He replied "Why did one die?"  We shouted surprise when he came into the room.  He was pretty excited.  And he really loved "fishing" for his presents.  His gifts were all fishing related...in prepartion for our family vacation this summer.

We had a lot of fun celebrating my dads birthday.  I wanted to share this idea with you because I thought it would also make a super fun party idea for children as well.  Let us know if you used this idea and how it went.

Kid's bathroom art decoration

I have been so excited the last couple of days to show you this.  As a congratulations for our new home our amazing realtor gave us a gift card to Bed, Bath and Beyond.  So we got some new bath towels and a fun shower curtain for the kids bathroom.

Super cute!

I wanted to add some wall decor to the bathroom to give it a fun touch.  So I painted a duck to match one of the ducks from the shower curtain.  I went to Walmart to find a frame for my cute little duck, but decided to wait on buying one. When I got home I had a brillant idea...a puzzle frame!  The pieces from the puzzle I got a Desert Industries a while back (for $1) would be perfect for this project!

During nap time I made a wide puzzle piece picture frame.  Go here to see my tutorial on how to make a puzzle piece picture frame.

I am so excited on how it turned out!  I can't wait to add more decorations to the bathroom.

Tell me what you think, I love hearing from my readers.

Some other ways you can save money for you bathroom is buying a shower curtain at the Dollar Store. 

PrintRunner Postcard WINNER

Congratulations to our WINNER of the PrintRunner Postcards:

Kesha!

Kesha was picked by Rafflecopter.

You have 24 hours to respond to claim your prize or another winner will be picked.

GIVEAWAY: PrintRunner Postcards {CLOSED}

Who is ready for another giveaway! 
I am and I hope you are as well.  PrintRunner has contacted me to be a host in one of there giveaways. 

One lucky Doodles and Doilies reader will win 100 POSTCARDS from PrintRunner!

 

Here are the details of the postcards:

Postcard Size : Postcards 5x7

 Colors : 4/0 Front Only Printing

 Paper : 14 PT. UV Coating on Front,

 Rounded Corners  : Yes

 Proof : None

 Ready to Ship In : 4 Business Days

If you have never heard about PrintRunner here is a little information on them:

PrintRunner.com was established with little more than a small press and a dream. Ten years later our company became one of the foremost quality printers in Southern California. Our commitment to provide the best value and high quality full color printing at affordable price made our company grow.  PrintRunner is a full service high quality printing company located in Chatsworth, California.

Why enter to win PrintRunner postcards?
1. To send some mail to a family member or friend!  Receiving "fun" mail is just not seen in the mailbox that much anymore.
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Are you ready to enter?

One day I decided to put on a puppet show for my son using his stuffed animals.  It didn't go as I planned.  Maybe in a few more months he will be old enough to enjoy it.

I set out his Pooh and Tigger chairs for him, "Bear" and "Dog" to enjoy the show.  I squatted behind the couch with his bucket of animals.