Fall Fine Motor Activities

Little Sunshine put one pumpkin in each pumpkin shape. We counted the pumpkins afterwards.

Little Sunshine placed the pony beads on the apple with the matching color.

Always use parental supervision with small pieces.

Do not do this activity if your child puts things in their mouth.

Toddler Valentine Activity

 

Toddler Valentine Suncatcher

 

This is a super easy activity you can do with your toddler.  I cut a heart out of construction paper.  Then I placed contact paper on the back the heart.  Little Sunshine placed cut up pieces of tissue paper on the sticky part of the contact paper.  I wrote the words; "I can see the love of Jesus shine through you.  Happy Valentine's Day."  We hung it up in the window so daddy could see it when he came home.   

Free Valentine's Day Printables for Preschool

Free Montessori Inspired Valentine's Day Printables

 

 

Color Heart Sort

 

Little Peanut sorted the hearts by color.  You can download the printable sorting mat here.  I also used foam hearts from the dollar tree for this activity.

 



 

Spooning Plastic Hearts

 

Little Peanut picked up the hearts with the spoon and placed them in the ice cube tray.  I bought the hearts at the dollar tree.

 

 

Heart Number Cards

 

Little Peanut placed the correct number of clothespins on the number cards.  You can download the number cards here.  I bought the clothespins and heart stickers from the dollar tree.

 

Numerical Order

 

Little Peanut placed the cards in numerical order.  These are the same cards from the previous activity.

 

 

 

 

Letter Match

 

Little Peanut named the letter and placed a heart on top of it.  You can download this printable here.

 

 

 

Here are all the great places I like to link up. 

Teachable Moments From The Movie Frozen

Disney's Frozen

I recently started having conversations with my daughters about movies we are watching together.  It is amazing how much can be absorbed from a small amount of time spent in front of the television.  There are so many value systems, philosophies, and ideologies that our children are being exposed to just through the television.  I have to admit that there was a time that I just wanted to shelter my children from it.  I wanted to keep them from being exposed to misguided beliefs and ideas. Then I realized that this would not help my children navigate the murky waters of life.  It would only hinder them from making good choices and only confuse them.  So instead of protecting them from the world I have decided to try to teach them and give them the tools they need to navigate the world.  I want to teach them how to see the world the way God sees it.  I want my children to be able to filter this life through God’s Word and His truth and discern the truth from lies.  This is why I have tried to be intentional about talking to them about concepts they are being exposed to when watching television and movies. We are still selective when we choose movies to watch, but with most movies there are good points and bad points and I would like to share some thoughts about different movies we have watched recently.

The first movie that I wanted to share about is Frozen.  I have to admit Disney isn’t always a favorite of mine, especially when it comes to the messages that have been taught to young girls.  I was actually surprised by some of the messages and morals that were taught in this movie.  As I watched the movie I came up with some thought provoking conversations that I want to have with my own girls.
Here are a few concepts that were addressed in the movie.

1. Emphasis on not marrying someone you’ve just met. This was a very nontraditional Disney message. I was definitely surprised that this was a part of a Disney Princess movie especially since every other princess falls in love before she truly knows her prince.  In the movie Kristof even points out that marrying someone you’ve just met shows a lack of good judgment.  Someone should point that out to most of the other Disney Princesses.  Of course there still is a love twist and Anna does fall for Kristof, but at least they don’t get married after only spending one evening dancing together at a ball.  I really liked that Disney addresses this concept because it can lead to so many great conversations about really getting to know your prince/boyfriend and really seeing his true character before getting married.

2.  Another concept that is addressed in the movie is the concept of fear and the control it can have over a person.  Elsa’s character operates in fear most of her life. She isolates herself because of fear.  She loses control when fear takes a grip on her heart, but love is what changes her. Not love from a prince, but sisterly love, the kind of love that puts other people’s needs before our own.  This can lead to a great conversation about how God wants us to love one another.  It can also lead to a conversation about finding peace in times when we are afraid. Peace coming not from our own control over a situation, but from understanding Gods great love for us.

3. This last point was the best part of the movie. Spoiler Alert Don't read this last one until you've seen the movie……The movie actually ended a little differently than the typical movie.  It wasn’t the love of prince that saves the day, but rather Anna’s demonstration of sacrificial love for her sister.  Anna shows the ultimate act of love when she willingly sacrifices her own life for her sisters.  This act of love shown in the movie can lead to a conversation about how Christ loved us so much that He sacrificed His life for ours.  


What are your thoughts?  What did you talk about with your children after seeing this movie?

Kidmade Magnetic Nativity Scene

 

Homemade Magnetic Nativity Scene

 

Little Sweets loves to draw.  This past week she decided to draw a Nativity Scene. ( She is five and draws better than me.)  I thought it would be fun to turn her drawings into magnets so that she and hers sister could play with the pictures.  It turned out to be a huge success the girls love the magnets. 

 

Here is how I made the magnets.

                           1.  I copied her pictures on the copy machine.  I made several copies so we would

                                have extra if we lost a piece.  I also didn't want to ruin the originals.

                           2.  Laminate the pictures.

                           3.  Cut them out

                           4.  Place sticky magnets on the back

                           5.  Have fun playing with the magnets.

 

 

The Stable

 

 

 

 The Three Wise Men

 

 

The Shepherd and The Angel 

 

The Nativity Scene 

 

Please note magnets are dangerous if ingested.  Keep them out of reach of small children that still place things in their mouths.   

Christmas Math Activities for Preschoolers

 Fun Preschool Activities with Mini Ornaments

 

I picked up these mini ornaments in the dollar section at Target.  

 

Counting

 

Little Peanut picked a number card, identified the number,

and used tongs to place the correct number of ornaments on the tree.   

 

Fine Motor

Little Peanut loved using the tongs.  She picked up the ornaments with the tongs

and placed them in an ice cube tray. 

 

 

Sorting

Little Peanut sorted the ornaments by color.   

Fun with Egg Shakers

Little Sunshine loves her Egg Shaker

Apple Activities

Apple Activities

This is my round-up of Apple Activities that I have done with my children.

Size Sequencing Apples

Painting with Apples

Sorting Paper Apples by Size

Rolling an Apple in Paint to Paint a Picture

Paper Apple Patterns

Measuring an Apple with Unifix Cubes

 

Making Patterns with Real Apples

Using Child-Chopsticks to Put Pretend Apples on the Apple Tree

Using Tweezers to Put Beads on the Correct Color Apple

 

Identifying Letters on the Apple

 

Identifying Numbers and 

Placing the Correct Number of Playdough Apples on the Tree

FREE Printables Caterpillar Activities

Letter "C" 

Caterpillar Activities

  You are more than welcome to print off these files for personal use, but please direct others back to my original post and do not directly link back to pdf.  If you use these printables you are agreeing to abide by this disclosure policy

Letter "C"
Little Peanut placed pom-poms with magnets on them on the letter "C".
You can download this printable here.

Little Peanut made a caterpillar by stringing beads on pipe cleaners.

Little Peanut placed the beads on the corresponding color on the caterpillar.
You can download this printable here.

Little Peanut used a Bingo Stamper to stamp the correct number of circles on the caterpillar.

You can download the caterpillar counting cards here.  

Little Peanut placed the correct color pom-pom on the correct caterpillar.  We also talked about the color patterns.  You can down load this printable here. 

                                                               
                                              Don't forget to stop by next week for Letter "D" Printables

Building Castles with Geometric Shapes

Teaching about Geometric Shapes

This week I was teaching my daughter the names of various geometric shapes.  Instead of just showing her the shapes I let her play with shapes.  She used the shapes to build a castle.  This was a great way to make learning about shapes fun.  

I like to party here.