Fun Frugal Friday- Homemade Counting and Patterning Tool

Homemade Counting and Patterning Tool

This was so easy to make. I bought a piece of wood from Lowe's for around $1.50. I had someone in the wood department cut it down to size. He cut the larger piece of wood into four pieces for me just in case I messed up. I did mess up and was glad to have the extra pieces. When I got home I drilled 4 holes in one piece of wood and 5 holes in another piece of wood. ( I tried not to go all the way through the piece of wood.) I messed up a few times. Then I cuts some doll rods to the length I wanted, put some wood glue on the ends of them and stuck them in the holes. I got the lacing beads from the dollar tree. Overall, this item cost me around $2.50 to make two tools. I had the doll rods and wood glue at home. I don't think this would cost more than $6.00 or $7.00 total to make.

I actually made two different tools. The first one I will use to teach patterning. The second one I will use to teach counting, number, and color recognition. Right now Little Sweets is just working on her fine motor skills as she places the beads on the rods. She absolutely loves her new toy.


As with any toy be cautious if you make this and allow your child to play with it. I supervise Little Sweets so she doesn't poke herself with it or fall on top of it.

stART- Little Kipper's Butterfly

Little Kipper's Butterfly

Little Sweets has had a growing interest in butterflies. She recently found one of my butterfly sun catchers that I had made when I was teaching kindergarten. She really liked the butterfly and wanted to play with it. I thought it would be fun if she made her own butterfly.

I wanted to find a butterfly book to go with the sun catcher so we went to the library and found the book Little Kippers Butterfly by Mick Inkpen. The book is about dog named Kipper, who is trying to catch a butterfly. In the end he catches the butterfly, but decides to let it go. The story is very cute. Little Sweets was very interested in the story. I was surprised by how much she paid attention.

After we read the book Little Sweets made her own butterfly. I used construction paper to cut out a stencil of a butterfly. Then I put contact paper on the back of the stencil and let Little Sweets decorate the wings by placing tissue paper on the contact paper. Afterwards I attached a straw to the butterfly so Little Sweets could make it fly.

For more story and art activities or to link up to this weeks blog hop go here.

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I've Reached 100 Followers

Wow I have 100 followers through google connect. This is very exciting. I want to thank all my readers for following my blog. I am so glad to have met so many wonderful moms. To think just a few months ago I had no idea what blogging was. I am so glad my friend encouraged me to start a blog. I love blogging because it is a great way to get and share ideas with others.

Getting in His Word Wednesday Blog Hop- Daniel and the Lions Den

Daniel in the Lion's Den

This week we read the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den. This comes from the Book Daniel Chapter 6. We read a shortened version out of Little Sweets children's Bible; 100 Bible Stories 100 Bible Songs. After we read the story Little Sweets looked for her lion from her Noah's ark set and I found a stuffed lion. We made a lions den out of a blanket and chairs. Then Little Sweets played in the den with her lions. I was hoping to reenact the story, but Little Sweets has a short attention span. Right now I am just happy to get a Bible story in.

Tot School Week 6-April Showers

I have included two weeks worth of activies since we were out of town last week and I did not put up a post. Our theme was April Showers. We also did some other activities as well.


April Showers Activities

Rain Boot Matching Game

Little Sweets really enjoyed this game. I drew and colored pictures of rain boots. I scanned the picture into my computer and printed out two sets of rain boots. I cut out one set and had Little Sweets match the boots to the other set of boots on the page. When she is older I will have her match the left and right boot without using the other page.

Umbrella Number Activity

I made pictures of umbrellas with numbers on them, cut them out, and placed them in numerical order. I helped Little Sweets point to the numbers as I said them.

When she is older I will do this activity again and have her put the umbrellas in numerical order and identify the numbers on the umbrellas.

Raindrop Alphabet

I created a raindrop alphabet and pasted the letters to clothespins. I put up the alphabet and we sang the alphabet song. I was hoping to put up Little Sweets name and go over the letters in her name, but she got distracted by the alphabet song on the CD we were listening to. I plan on doing this activity again when she is a little older. There are so many other activities I want to do with these letters.

If you would like to download The Rain Boot Game, The Umbrella Number Activity, or Raindrop Alphabet for free please go here.

Other Activities

Getting in His Word Wednesday- Resurrection Eggs

This was our Getting in His Word Wednesday Activity. To learn more about this activity go here.

Math Activity

I picked up this number puzzle from The Dollar Store. Little Sweets loves puzzles.

Field Trip- Florida and the Fair

We took a field trip to Florida and visited Little Sweet's great grandpa and great aunt. Little Sweets really enjoyed spending time with them. While we were visiting we went to the fair. Little Sweets saw animals and rode her first fair rides. She rode on the merry go round with mommy and the flying helicopters with daddy.

Week 2

Getting in the Word Wednesday Activity-Sheep Handprints

To read more about our Bible story, activity,and blog hop please go here.

stART- Chicka, Chicka, 123

We read the story Chicka, Chicka, 123 by Bill Martin to read more about this activity and story please go here.

Please go here to read more great tot school posts from other bloggers.

stART- Chicka Chicka 123

This week we read the book Chicka Chicka 123 by Bill Martin Jr. After we read the story I gave Litte Sweets foam numbers and paint to make a number collage. I was hoping she could stamp the numbers on the page, but she ended up painting with the numbers instead. Even though the activity didn't turn out quite as I planned it was still a fun activity. She also still learned about numbers because I talked about the numbers as she painted with them.

For more Story and Art Activities Go Here. 

Getting in His Word Wednesday Blog Hop

This week we read the story; Jesus the Good Shepard from Little Sweets children's Bible.

I tried to help Little Sweets make handprint sheep. I painted her hand and she made handprints on paper. After the paint dried. I tried to help her glue cotton balls to her handprint. The handprints don't look like sheep, but it was still fun.

Blog Hop Getting in His Word Wednesday

Resurection Eggs

Last week I decided to host a new blog hop called Getting in His Word Wednesday. Every Wednesday I will post a Bible story and an activity to go with the story. The hop will be open all week. I hope others will join this hop. I am looking forward to meeting more moms and sharing activities with one another.

This week our activity was Resurrection eggs. I've seen these at the Christian Book Store, but decided to make my own. Basically you buy 12 plastic Easter eggs and place a different item in each egg. Your child opens each egg and takes out the item. You explain how the item relates to Jesus's death and Resurrection. The eggs help to tell the story about Easter.

Little Sweets really enjoyed opening each egg to see what is inside. She is too young to really understand the story, but we wanted to start a tradition in our family.


We plan on doing this activity every year around Easter time.Here is what goes inside each egg.

Egg #1 – Picture of a Donkey to remind us that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.

Egg #2 – Penny – The penny reminds us of the 30 pieces of silver Judas received for betraying Jesus into the hands of the Jewish leaders.

Egg #3 – Cup – The cup reminds us of Jesus’ last supper with His disciples before His crucifixion. It was what was used for the wine, which we drink in memory of Christ’s blood that He shed for us and our sins. The children had a sticker with a cup in it, but you can simply draw a picture of a cup.

Egg #4 – Praying Hands – The praying hands remind us of Jesus visiting the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Again, this was a sticker but can easily be a drawing.

Egg #5 – Leather Strip – The leather strip reminds us of the whip used to give Jesus 30 lashes after His trial by Pilate. A leather shoelace can be cut into small pieces for this.
Egg #6 – Thorns – The thorns remind us of the crown of thorns the soldiers placed on Jesus’ head while mocking Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Simply cut a small piece from a rosebush that includes a thorn on it.

Egg #7 – Nail – The nail reminds us of the nails that were driven into Jesus’ hands and feet to nail Him to the cross.

Egg #8 – One Die – The one die reminds us of the Roman soldiers gambling for Jesus’ robe. This is one of two “dice.”

Egg #9 – The sponge – The sponge reminds us of how the Roman soldiers gave Jesus vinegar to drink.

Egg #10 – Linen – The linen reminds us of the cloth used by Joseph of Arimathea to wrap Jesus’ body after He died on the cross. Use a piece of fabric.
Egg #11 – Stone – The stone reminds us of the tomb with the stone rolled away. A simple pebble will do for the stone.

Egg #12 – The empty egg reminds us of the empty tomb and Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

I found what to put inside each egg from this website. I modified it some.

April Showers Printables

Preschool Printables

I have created some free printables for this weeks theme: April Showers. The printables include: A Rain Boot Matching Activity,Cloud and Raindrop Number Matching Cards, An Umbrella Number Activity and Raindrop Letters. Here are some pictures of the printables. The links to download them are beneath the picture. All the printables are copyrighted and can not be sold. Please feel free to use them, but please link back to me if you post the activities on your blog or would like to share the activity with others. If you use my printables please also leave a comment or send me an e-mail. I would love to know if you and your child enjoyed the activity. I am always looking for ways to improve my activities. If you have any questions or comments please e-mail me at charps117@gmail.com

Rain Boot Matching Game

Cut apart the boots and have your child match the boots together.
Download Printable Here

Download Printable 2 Here

Cloud and Raindrop Matching Game
Cut apart the cards and have your child match the number with the correct number of raindrops.
Download Printable Here

Umbrella Number Line

Cut out the umbrellas and have your child place the umbrellas in numerical order.

Download Printables Here

Raindrop Alphabet

Attach the raindrops to clothespins. Hang the clothespins on a clothesline.

Activities:

Place the raindrops on the clothesline in alphabetical order.

Take off some raindrops and have your child find where the letter goes.

Spell your child's name or familiar words using the raindrops.

Download Printable Here

Blog Hop- Getting in His Word Wednesday

If you read a Bible story with your child and do an activity along with it, please consider joining my blog hop on Wednesdays. I am hoping to meet other mothers and share ideas and activities with one another.