Most Loved Toys - Vol. 2

Balloons

 While we do not have balloons around everyday, we certainly do not reserve them only for birthdays. It's just an empty rubber bubble, yet so much fun for a kid. Whoever came up with the idea really should have been paid a million dollars. I have a feeling he didn't.

Yes, that is my kid licking a balloon.

Big Box of Pom-Poms

Yes, it makes a mess every.single.time the box of pom poms are out, but for some reason, that box holds the magic to entertain all four kids at the same time. Into the box I threw a few small containers, some serving tongs, and an old Christmas candy jar. The kids play candy store, scoop and dump, throw snowballs (uh, yeah. not my favorite), stuff them in their shirts... whatever pops into their little heads.



{For those who are also Money Saving Mom readers, I promise that while she beat me to it, I am not just copying her post today. I took these pictures last weekend and woke up this morning with the intention of writing this post tonight. Honest, really and truly. I take no blame for making you want to run to the nearest craft store to buy pom poms.}

Good Things Come to Those Who Pin

Preschool Finds on Pinterest
Here are some of my favorite preschool ideas I've come across on Pinterest.

Free printable learn to glue booklet. So cool and ingenious.

Padlock Board - I think my boys would love this.

Color Coded Parking Lot - definitely perfect for my 4 year old son who loves to order and group things

A Calm Down Jar - You know those times when you just need them to calm down so you can deal with the issue?.. this is an option. Hand them the jar, have them shake it up, instruct them to sit and watch the glitter settle. Once it is all at the bottom, you can proceed.

Animal Classifying for Little Ones - Present the question ( Ex."Which animals like snow?"), then let them sort their toy animals.

Ice Cream Chore Chart - Make little daily responsibilities fun by assigning one to a scoop of ice cream. They build a tall ice cream cone as they complete their tasks. How fun is that?

Do you use Pinterest to bookmark ideas and inspirations? I seriously have no idea how I lived without it. I have always depended on the Internet to supply me with ideas. Now I have a place where I can store my ideas so I can come back to them. I no longer need to have 20 IE tabs open several days in a row, waiting for me to implement the idea. I like that. A lot.

Most Loved Toys - Vol. 1

This week's most played with toy...

Wooden Train Tracks and Vehicles

(Pardon the flash-erized photos. Our living room has terrible lighting,
 and Photoshop is down. {insert sobbing face here})

Preschool- Young K (adv. 2's-young Ks) Busy Bag Swap

This swap is now closed.

There will be 12 groups. Each group will have 2-3 fill ins. Your coordinator will contact you in the next few days. (There were 368 people, so please be patient. It will take me a while to group them all.)

If you have not been contacted, check your junk mail folder or spam folder.
If you cannot find an email from your coordinator, email me.

This swap is for Preschool- Young K ONLY. If you're looking for the toddler swap, it is re-opened! If you're wanting to join the K-2nd or the Math and Reading swaps, they are coming soon.

This swap will include 30  activities and 30 swappers + 5 or so fill ins per group.

Want to join this one?

Step 1: Please review the following list of activities. Choose your top three choices of which you would like to create, or let me know if you have another idea that is not listed here. Other ideas are welcome. If you participated in the swap last May, the activites will be very similiar to last time, but you are welcome to sign up again if you like.

You may need to be creative when you brainstorm your activity to make it fit into the budget or into your current stock of stuff around the house.

Shapes & Colors

--Shape Hunt & Sort

-- I Have, Who Has Game
(That's a lot of printing, but the game looks so fun. Wonder if you could play the game with just half the number of cards?)

--Double Trouble Shape Match

--Popsicle Color Match
(Make it with felt rather than paper to make it withstand the use of small children)

--Pom Pom Patterns


--Roll-a-Cise


 Numbers/Counting/Early Math

-- Number Wheel

 --Five Fabulous Frogs
(Can use any object and you can make your own sorting mats on smaller sheets of paper)

--Measure It

--Laminated Numeber Tracing Cards and a WASHABLE crayon or dry erase marker
(To keep the cost down, maybe you could just do one page, the numbers 1-12. If you use a crayon, it must be a Crayola washable crayon or it will not wipe off.)

--Felt Number Tiles and Bug Counting Cards


Alphabet

--Any of these alphabet activities from Confessions of a Homeschooler

--Felt Letter Tiles and Alphabet Tile Cards



Just for Fun

--Playdough and Play Mat(s)
(Some ideas: Number Mats, Letter Mats, Shape Mats look under "shapes", Berry Pie Mat, Carrot Planting, Facial Expressions, Feeding Giraffe, )

--Felt Cupcake Decorating


--Clothesline


--Spooning Beads


--Felt Snowflake Builder
(For the board, you can simply glue a sheet of felt to cardstock)

--No Sew Felt Fishing Game


Step 2: Read the general overview of the swaps, if you haven't yet.


Step 3: If you're absolutely sure this is something you want to do, fill out the form below. This form will be taken down Tuesday night or when a "ridiculous" number of swappers is reach. (he he)


Step 4: Feel free to invite your blog readers or friends to join in.


Filling out the form is not a way of expressing interest. It is a commitment to be a part of the swap. It is not fair to the other swappers if a handful of half hearted interest people sign up, only to flake out at some point. That would mean that many people spent time and money assembling 30 activities, but would not receive 30 in return. If you're not sure if you can handle the expense or the time investment at this time, then maybe you should pass this time around. If however, you do sign up with full intentions of participating, but then realize that for some reason you are unable to continue, please let me or your swap coordinator know right away, so that we can contact someone else who would love to be involved.

Alphabet Flashcards for Leapfrog Letter Factory

All my children enjoy the Leap Frog DVDs. Cherith learned all the letter sounds from Letter Factory, and now Daryn is working on it too.

I came across some flashcards that Jess (Running With Scissors) designed to go along with the DVD. I printed them off and laminated them, punched holes, and used rings to put them together like a book.

Daryn likes to hold the book and flip through it as he watches the DVD. He is also able to recall the sounds of several of the letters while looking at the cards, because he can recall the clues from the DVD.

If your kids enjoy the Letter Factory DVD, and you think these cards could reenforce what they're learning, you can download your own cards from Jess's blog.