Fun Frugal Fouth of July Crafts & Activities

Fourth of July Crafts & Activities

Pom-Poms

I got this idea from this website http://www.makeandtakes.com/ .  We will be going to a Fourth of July parade and I thought these would be fun for Little Sweets.  She is already enjoying them.  They were simple to make you can get directions here.

Glitter Glue Fireworks

Little Sweets enjoyed making fireworks with glitter glue. She needed a little help.  She had a hard time squeezing the right amount of glue out. 

Patriotic Star

I cut out a star shape and put it on contact paper.  Little Sweets put pieces of ripped up tissue paper on the contact paper.   I love contact paper the projects are endless.

Coffee Filter Firework

I got this idea from the website http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/  You can see more of their Fourth of July crafts here.  Little Sweets colored with washable markers on a coffee filter and then sprayed it with water.  We tried cutting it to look like a firework. 

Firework with Pattern Blocks

Little Sweets loves pattern blocks so I tried to make a firework shape for her.  I copied it on my printer and Little Sweets matched the blocks to the picture. 

Star Shaped Sensory Activity

I made these star shaped ice cubes from an ice cube tray I got at the dollar tree.  Little Sweets loved playing with the ice.  She really liked picking up the ice cubes with a spoon.  We went through a whole ice tray of ice cubes in one sitting.  I think this was her favorite activity. 

Glitter Glue Star

Little Sweets love the glitter glue so I cut out the shape of a star and she decorated it with red and blue glitter glue. 

This post is linked to It's Playtime , Playdate, For the Kids Friday, Preschool Corner

Self-Checking Word Family Activity

Self-Checking Word Family Activity

This was so simple to make.  I wrote the word "at" on an index card and then wrote beginning consanants that would go with "at".  Here are the consonants I used b,c,h,m,and r.  Then I glued a picture that went with the word on the back of the consanant.  Little Sweets puts the consonant in front of the index card with "at" written on it and then says the word.  She can flip over the consonant card to see if she is correct. 

Sun Bleached Sight Word Game

Sun Bleached Sight Word Game

This is a simple fun activity.  In order to make the cards you need magnetic letters and construction paper.  I placed the magnetic letters on the construction paper and left it out in the sun.  When I brought the paper inside at the end of the day the sun had bleached the paper around the letters.  Little Sweets reads the words and then places the magnetic letters on top of the letters in the word.   I got the idea for this activity here.

Grab a Button

  I  have a button!!  It took me a while, but it finally worked.  I used tutorials from two different blogs.  You can check them out if you click here and here.  Come on over and grab a button.

Homemade Lego Math Game

Homemade Lego Math Game

This was so easy and fun to make.  I drew dots on index cards, cut them apart, and taped them onto legos.  Then I did the same thing with numbers.  My daughter counted the dots and matched the lego to the lego with correct corresponding number.

(This is a great activity for number recognition and counting.)

Sorting and Patterning with Foam Stickers

Sorting with Foam Stickers

I picked these stickers up from the dollar tree.  They usually have stickers for different holidays.  I had my daughter sort the stickers by shape.

Making Patterns with Foam Stickers

We also used the stickers to make patterns.

Graphing with Stickers

I made a graph and my daughter placed the hearts on the graph.  We talked about how many of each heart we had.  Which row was the greatest and had the most and which had the least. 

Shape Collage

Shape Collage

This is a great activity when teaching shapes.  I cut out shapes and let my daughter stick the shapes onto contact paper.  (This is great for young children because you don't have to use glue.)  When she was finished I put piece of paper on the sticky side of the contact paper. 

Fun Frugal Fine Motor Activities

Fun Frugal Fine Motor Activities

36 Months

Lacing Straws onto Pipe Cleaners

 I love pipe cleaners.  You can use them for so many different activities.  This week I cut up straws and Little Sweets matched the color of the straw with the pipe cleaner and put the straw on the pipe cleaner.

We also did a patterning activity with the straws and pipe cleaners. 

Chopsticks and  Pom Poms

Little Sweets used chopsticks we got at a local Chinese restaurant to pick up pom poms.  (They were children's chopsticks)

Tongs and Pom Poms

Little Sweets used tongs to pick up pom poms.  She counted them and put them in numbered muffin tins.  Great activity for math too.

Lacing Links onto Plastic Straws

I got this idea from this blog.  I found all these items from the dollar tree.  It was simple to make and Little Sweets loved the activity. Little Sweets put little plastic flowers on the straws.  I found the flowers in the toy department at the dollar tree.  You could also use plastic rings, beads, or rubber bands if you can't find the flowers. 

For more great tot school posts go here.

Letter Picture Match

Letter Picture Match

I cut up alphabet flash cards that I picked up at the dollar tree.  I placed the pictures from the flash cards in random order on the table.  Then I placed letter tiles in rice.  Little Sweets and Peachers took turns pulling out a letter tile.  They identified the letter, said the letter sound, then placed it next to the picture that started with the letter.  (I got the idea to hide things in rice from this blog.)



Tot School 35 Months Letters X, Y, and Z

Tot School Letters X, Y, and Z

35 months

Letter X

It's hard to come up with activities for the letter x.  I really don't like doing activities with xylophone so decided we would focus on x as an ending sound.  Little Sweets found the letter x magnets we had on the refrigerator and she told me the sound it makes.  Then I had her find pictures cards I hid in rice.  She had to decide if the pictures ended with the x sound.  She really liked digging through the rice. 

Letter Y

Y is for yogurt pops.  Little Sweets loved making and eating this yummy treat.  You can get the recipe here.  We used vanilla yogurt instead of plain and didn't add the vanilla.

Letter Z Activities

Z is for zigzag.  Little Sweets loved tracing zigzags in her My First Book Of Tracing (Kumon Workbooks). 

Z is for Zebra

I colored a picture of a zebra black.  (Don't use washable markers because they bleed with the paint.)  Then Little Sweets used a golf ball in a shoe box to paint the stripes on the zebra.  She moved the box back and forth to roll the golf ball around the box.  There was a glob of white paint inside the box that the ball would roll through and then onto the zebra.

For more great tot school posts go here. 

Tiny Tot

4 and 1/2 months

Little Peanut exploring her toys.