Kamis, 26 Juni 2014

Book Activity: It Looked Like Spilt Milk

It Looked Like Spilt Milk Book Activity
 
This post may contain affiliate links. Thank you for your support.

We got an awesome package in the mail recently from Devany at Still Playing School as part of the Love Books Summer Exchange, organized by The Educators' Spin on It. This is a great program every year where bloggers team up and do a book & activity exchange! It was super fun and I am so glad to have been a part of it!

The book we received from Still Playing School was It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw (Amazon affiliate link). As it turns out, my daughter and I had never read this book before, so we were very excited to read it! When I saw the title I thought this is perfect because my girls spill milk almost every day at our house!

It Looked Like Spilt Milk Book Activity

But the book is not actually about spilt milk. It is about clouds and how they come in many shapes and sizes and, with a little imagination, they take the form of many different objects, animals and familiar things!

My daughter cracked up laughing the first time we read this book! It is really funny because it leaves you guessing until the end. This is a perfect book for toddlers, as it is mostly pictures that toddlers can identify, and it teaches how to use your imagination to see objects within abstract images.

After reading the book a few times, we couldn't wait to do the fun activities we received from Still Playing School. Here they are:

1. Paint Blots


It Looked Like Spilt Milk Book Activity
 
It Looked Like Spilt Milk Book Activity
 
Fold a sheet of blue construction paper in half and open it up. This is the "sky". Squeeze some paint in the middle and fold it again. Open it back up and see what the "cloud" looks like!

We did this one several times and each time I asked my daughter "What does that look like to you?" And I was impressed by her answers! Flower, spider, and a dog's face!

2. Paint Blowing


It Looked Like Spilt Milk Book Activity

Squeeze some white paint on the blue construction paper. Then, using a straw, blow the paint around. What does the "cloud" look like?

This one was fun because she has never used a straw to manipulate paint before! It took a couple of tries, but she got the hang of it!

3. Parchment Paper Shapes on Blue Construction Paper (our favorite!)

It Looked Like Spilt Milk Book Activity
 
It Looked Like Spilt Milk Book Activity

Still Playing School sent us these really cute parchment paper cut-outs (hand-made) in the shapes of a dinosaur, a train, a teddy bear, an airplane, an elephant, and several other animals and objects.

My daughter played with the cut-outs on top of the blue tissue paper. She loved the train shape and made up a story about how all the other animals and objects are riding the choo choo train! We turned the ceiling fan on and it started slowly blowing the shapes across the tissue paper, mimicking clouds being blown across the sky by the wind. She spent quite a while with this activity and really used her imagination!

4. "Cloud" & "Sky" Sensory Bin


It Looked Like Spilt Milk Book Activity

This activity was especially fun for my daughter because we don't do too many sensory bins at our house. So she jumped at the opportunity for messy sensory play! This sensory bin was made with blue water beads, which is the "sky", and soap foam for the "clouds". To make the soap foam, I just poured some liquid dish soap into a mixing bowl, added a bit of water, and mixed it with a hand mixer for a few minutes until the soap foamed up. It was really simple and my daughter had a blast!

5. Melted Pony Bead "Clouds"


It Looked Like Spilt Milk Book Activity
 
This was a really cool activity - and a first for us! Pony beads melt at about 400 degrees F and fuse together to create a really nice smooth piece of plastic. This should be done outdoors because of the fumes, and can be melted on a grill or a toaster oven outside. It took about 20 minutes for the beads to melt and you will know it's done when you no longer see individual beads, just one smooth piece of plastic. Let it cool for a few minutes and you can remove it from the pan easily.
 
Once we had our melted bead "cloud" we looked at it from different angles and finally decided that it looked like a rabbit!
 
Thank you, Still Playing School for your awesome ideas and activities! Check out her blog for more creative playful learning activities! Also, be sure to check out the book activity that I sent to her, based on Harold and the Purple Crayon!
 
 
Harold and the Purple Crayon Book Activity

 

Selasa, 24 Juni 2014

Color Matching Printables for Toddlers

Free Color Matching Printables for Toddlers
 
This post may contain affiliate links. Thank you for your support.

Kids are naturally drawn to colors, which is why simple color matching activities are usually a hit with young children. Toddlers who are learning about colors will love these hands-on activities using pom poms, pouch caps, playdough balls, or anything round and colorful that you have at home.

These free printable activities are great for fine motor skills, visual discrimination practice, learning colors, patterns, and even to practice counting and letters!

Here is what I have included:
 
-Make a House
Free Color Matching Printables for Toddlers
 
Free Color Matching Printables for Toddlers
 
 
-Make a Fish
Free Color Matching Printables for Toddlers
 
-Flowers
Free Color Matching Printables for Toddlers
 
Free Color Matching Printables for Toddlers
 
-Car
Free Color Matching Printables for Toddlers
 
 
-Counting/Number Quantity
Free Color Matching Printables for Toddlers
 
Free Color Matching Printables for Toddlers
 
 
-Complete the Patterns
Free Color Matching Printables for Toddlers
 
 
-Blank: Create your own!
This one can be used to make anything you might think of such as letters, numbers, or any other picture or pattern. We used it to practice the letter M - see picture below.
 
Free Color Matching Printables for Toddlers
 
Free Color Matching Printables for Toddlers
 
I hope you enjoy them and I would love to hear about what you did with the blank page - leave me a comment!
 

Download your Free Color Matching Printables for Toddlers

If you don't have pouch caps, don't worry! These printables work GREAT with pom poms. You can buy them at any craft store, or use my affiliate link below:
 

Jumat, 20 Juni 2014

30+ Activities for 4th of July + $1500 Cash Giveaway!

I am very excited to bring you today's post! It will be huge, but I have it broken down into 3 parts:

1 - First, I have collected over 30 ideas for 4th of July activities to do with your kids, including very creative arts & crafts, Montessori activities, Free Printables, Sensory Activities, and Book Lists with the best patriotic books to read with your kids.

2 - After you look at all these activities and you scroll down, you will have a chance to enter the Kid Blogger Mega Cash Giveaway! I have teamed up with a group of amazing kid bloggers to bring you 3 prizes of $500 each. This means we are giving away $1500 cash! Wow! To enter the giveaway, you will have the option to follow each participating blogger via facebook, pinterest & twitter, and the more bloggers you follow the more chances you have to win the prize!

But wait, there's more!

3 - After you enter the giveaway, all the way to the bottom you will see a Link-Up of all the participating bloggers' round-up posts (like this one!) on a huge variety of different topics. This will be a great resource for you, so please check out as many as you can!

Here we go!

30+ Activities for 4th of July

Arts & Crafts

Fireworks in a Bottle by No Twiddle Twaddle

4th of July Crafts for Baby by House of Burke
 
Super Easy 4th of July Wreath by No Time for Flash Cards
 
Letter of the Week (Flag F) by No Time for Flash Cards

4th of July Craft by Loving My Nest

Firework Painting by Juggling with Kids
 
Easy Jar Candle Craft by Fantastic Fun and Learning

Color Rice American Flag Exploring by Powerful Mothering

Salt and Glue Fireworks by School Time Snippets

Patriotic Hand Print Craft by B-Inspired Mama

Fourth of July Crepe Paper Flag Craft by Meaningful Mama
 
American Flag Collage by Meaningful Mama
 

 

Montessori Activities

 
 
Red, White and Blue Tot Trays by Fantastic Fun and Learning

 

Free Printables


 
4th of July I Spy Game by The Pleasantest Thing
 
Free 4th of July Pack by 3 Dinosaurs

 

Sensory Activities

4th of July Activity: Make Slime by The Pleasantest Thing
 
Shaving Cream & Paint Fireworks by No Time for Flash Cards
 
 
 
4th of July Fun with Water Beads by I Can Teach my Child

Fireworks Play Dough by Fantastic Fun and Learning

 

Books Lists

 
 Best Fourth of July Picture Books by Ready-Set-Read!

Patriotic Picture Books for 4th of July by No Time for Flash Cards

 

 And now for the Giveaway!! ENTER BELOW!

 
Win one of three $500 cash prizes directly in your paypal account! This giveaway is open internationally. You must be 18+ years old to enter. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. Winners will be notified via email and have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen. Please see detailed terms and conditions below the giveaway for more info.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Link - UP

And Now for a HUGE Link-Up of other Kid Blogger's Posts who are also Hosting the Cash Giveaway. These are the same bloggers you'll be following if you enter the giveaway, so check out their awesome stuff!