Friday Book Project {Grandfather Tang's Story}

We decided to study Tangram Math this week since it was letter Tt week.

This was our Friday Book Project.

Each of the kiddos got their own tangram puzzle. The directions on how to cut the puzzle is on the back page of this book. There are also printouts on the internet.

While reading the story, the kids made each of the shapes on all the pages. It was great for all the kids of all the different ages.

 {Goldfish}

 {Tree}
 {Goose}

{Squirrel}

 {Crocodile}

 {Hawk}

{Rabbit}

{Fox}
Tangrams are such a fun way to practice Math!

Name Activities...!

These are a few techniques that I used with my children to help them learn their names.

I made their names in bubble letters and laminated them. They get to shape playdough like their letters of their name and it washes off really easily. You can shape pipecleaners, put dried beans on...whatever you can imagine to practice their names.
I made them name Puzzles by writing their names and drawing little pictures of things that begin with that letter. Next, I laminated them and cut them up.


They paint their names with alphabet cookie cutters. I make sure to have them say the letters and the sounds they all make while they dip their cutters.
If there is only one name project you get to, this should be it!
I put their names on the outside of the cups and then put each letter of their name inside the cup{you can use spare Scrabble pieces also.} All throughout the week, they would get the cups and spell their names by looking at it written on the outside of the cup. Even if the kiddos might not know a particular letter, they were able to recognize their name by the end of the week wherever it's posted throughout the house. "Look Mom, my name!"

{Letter Tt}

This week we studied the Letter Tt.
The kids pick up that letter pretty quickly. It's easy to write and recognize.
They made TISSUE PAPER Tt's.
They got to paint with TOOTHBRUSHES.

I think Carmendee was a little conflicted about this one. She kept wanting to put it in her mouth.

The kids got to make TRAINS out of Lego's.

These are their ALMOND TREES. They water color painted the branches and then glued popcorn blossoms onto them. These are how the almond orchards by our house look right now. Beautiful! They're still a little wet, but I have to get ready for Date Night tonight..!

{These are the books we read this week}

Peacock Gift Bag...!

I fell in love with this peacock gift bag from Flipflops and Applesauce.

Isn't it the cutest bag you have ever seen?

Tomorrow is Maelyn's teacher's birthday and we made some bubble bath for her and bought some bath stuff. I was thinking of another idea I did years ago for a bag, but this stole the show!

Here is a recipe for Bubble Bath to put in a jar or cellophane bag:

4 pound box of Epson Salts

Small box of Dreft

Perfume or sachet for scent

~Mix everything in a bowl.

~Scoop into jars or bags.

{{MaRdI gRaS}}

Fat Tuesday was today...!

Since it's National Pancake Day, Noe made us pancakes for breakfast.

We learned about Louisiana and Mardi Gras.

The girls made masks for our celebration.

I cut mask shapes from a cardboard cereal box. They got to paint them purple.

Mardi Gras colors are purple=justice, green=faith and yellow/gold=power. I also gave them a wooden dowel to paint. When the paint dried, they decorate their masks with feathers and pompoms. I then hot glued their wooden dowel to their mask.

She tried to paint lipstick on herself.

 

This is the easy breezy King's bread we made.
It's Phillsbury cinnamon rolls rolled out into a circle shape.
When it was hot, we added the icing and sprinkles.

She wanted some of her pompoms to be gold, so she glued white ones onto her crown and painted them gold!

 
For dinner, I made Jambalaya for the first time. It was actually really tasty. It wasn't that spicy because I was able to put the amount of seasonings that I wanted into it. I highly recommend making some. The kids ate all their dinner.

Happy Mardi Gras!

{Ladybugs}

Here is an update on our ladybugs from last week:

They were tiny specs before. Now, they are pretty big larva that are always moving around.

I wonder what will happen next? {O.k. so I know, but I have to pretend for the kids sake}

{File Folder} Learning

We did some File Folder learning.

I made one folder for each letter we studied so far.

I wrote the letter on the front of a manila file folder. I then cut pictures out of magazines that started with that particular letter. My printer isn't working right now, but printing pictures off the web would be really cute as well. I used a glue stick to stick them on; I think it works the best with the magazine pictures.

I keep them out so the girls can just grab one and look at it.
 It is really neat to see them with their "homework" as Patience says.
When Noe came home from his trip, she took one out and told him "I love this Daddy!"

She'll just sit there looking at the pictures and saying the letters. Carmendee loves them also, and I see my school aged children checking them out every now and then.

Unplug Your Kids From Tv- Float

This was our little project for the FLOAT theme.

We made root beer floats!

Before we made them though, Noe taught the kids the science of how and why the ice cream or things in general float. He showed them my bath oils and how the oil is at the top and the water is at the bottom. The kids shook it up and watched the oil float to the top again.

A yummy lesson learned!

Review of Letters: Hh, Ll, Ss, Pp, Cc, Uu

This week we reviewed our last 6 letters that we have studied.
I took those letters out of several flashcard stacks. We reviewed the sounds and letters.
I left the stack of cards on my desk, so they can grab them throughout the week and study.
 Luckily, their older siblings love playing teacher and helping.

Writing the letters in shaving cream.

Smells like Daddy..!

The kids each made their own review letters out of playdough.

To get the playdough hard to stay in shape, you can also bake them on 250 for 5-10 minutes.

We make their names in playdough and bake them. The kids display them in their rooms.

They were having fun writing letters in pudding until they discovered they could eat it.
They spent the rest of the time licking their fingers.

They used stamps to review their letters.

 Pipe Cleaner Letters..!

{Additional Activities}

The girls are making their Chicka Chicka Boom Boom project.

These are the books we read this week:

Plus we have a few little ABC books that the kids read like Sesame Street, etc.