Fill the Barn

We are working on a farm unit currently, mainly because Mr. Two is just enamored with animals, especially ducks and chicks and cows.  I am also loving the springy weather, and the farm seemed a natural springy choice.

Here are a few fun activities we worked on using the same little play mat.

I found the barn image here, then made a small table in Word with 30 rectangles to paste into the barn.  I copied the mats on cardstock, colored the barns and laminated them for durability.

I found the tiny farm animals at the Target Dollar Spot a few years back and am so glad I snatched them up.  I let my boys play with the animals, for some open-ended play time, for several days before attempting to use them in a more controlled activity.

First activity:  Dice Roll Fill the Barn

You will need:

30 small animal counters
barn mat
one die

To play:

Roll the die and count out the same number of animals onto the barn mat.  Roll again and add the next amount onto the mat.  Continue until you have filled the barn.

This is great one-to-one correspondence and counting practice for preschoolers.

Extend the activity:

Ask children to count the animals all together when you have filled the barn.

Ask children which animal they had the most of or the least of.  Ask them to explain how they came up with their answer.  Did they simply count and compare?  Did they estimate?  Did they sort their animals first and compare after?

Second Activity:  Fill the Barn Graph

You will need:

a handful of small animal counters
barn mat

How to play:

Sort the handful of animals.  Place on the barn mat to make a bar graph.  Compare the different animals and talk about the findings of the graph together.

Some questions to ask:

Which group had the most?  least?  any that were the same?

How can you tell?

Why is your graph different from _______'s graph?  What is different?  Is anything the same?

If you grabbed another handful of animals and graphed the new handful, would your graph look different or the same?  Why?

How can you tell which animal was the most/least without counting?

Have fun filling your barn!

Excitedly Expecting

This weekend, we went on a tour of the hospital that Mr. Three will be delivered at.  I don't really need another birthing class, but I do better when I know where I'm going.  I waddled the hallways, hand in hand with my Handsome Husband and at least 11 other expectant mothers and spouses.

I have to admit a little irritation at the sheer number of other pregnant people in one place.  I think maybe too many hormones in one room and a lack of sleep leads to this.  I start worrying that we will all go into labor at the same time (you know, during one of those stormy full moon nights) and I will be delivering in the hallway or something.  (Because I've already done this twice before and they will give priority treatment to the first-timers.)

Anyone else felt this sort of paranoia?

But I digress...

The hospital is lovely and the tour nurse helpful and so cheerful.

There was a tangible peace in the maternity wing.  All those sweet newborns and the warm towels...

I swear every nurse there had a genuine smile on their face.

I even felt myself getting a little sentimentally misty-eyed in the labor room looking at the delivery bed, stirrups and all.

I really need some sleep.

What I guess my point in all of this is that I am so excited to see this new little guy.  I want to hold him close and look into his puffy little eyes and smell him.  Is there anything more heavenly than that new baby smell?  Handsome Husband and I can decide who he looks like, and finally give him an official name.  I can't wait!

I forget about the pain, the contractions and all of the other delivery stuff and just feel anticipation in the best sense.

Mr. One often says, "When is my new brother coming?  I just want to see him!"

Mr. Two isn't too sure what is going on, but he knows change is coming and I don't think he's that thrilled.  He still loves to point to my tummy and say, "There's the baby!"

Well, dear boys, your new brother is coming, like it or not, and there will be more than enough love to go around for all of us.  I look forward to it.

*Do you love the pictures?  My talented sister took them for me, in seriously minutes. (How does she do that?) Thank you Sarah!  Check out some of her other work here.*

Heart Math Game

I am in my third trimester.  I am tired and a bit grumpy.  I had so many grand plans for heart themed activities.

I had to sneak one last Valentine's Day learning activity in.  

At least we did one.

Here it is.

Valentine dice count

You will need:

2 dice
number board
conversation hearts

Directions:

To make the number board, cut a piece of construction paper in half, lengthwise so you have 2 long strips.  Glue or tape together to make a long board, then mark out 12 spaces.  Write the numbers 2 through 12(with a heart sticker "free space" in the middle) in each of the sections.

I am working on cooperation and turn taking with my boys, so we played this together.  Each one rolled a die.  We counted the dots together on both dice, then put a conversation heart on the corresponding number.  I had the boys take turns placing the candy heart on the game board.  If we rolled a number we already had covered, we rolled again until we got a new number.  They loved this simple game, and played well together.

Sharing Some Love from my Bookshelf

I know Valentine's Day is past, but you don't need a holiday to show your children how much you love them.  I have found and collected several books about love, and my boys never tire of hearing them.  Here are just a few of my favorites, perfect for Valentine's Day, or just a good bedtime story.

Koala Lou by Mem Fox

This is probably my favorite children's love book.  Koala Lou is a sweet koala with a mom who loves her very much, and expresses it often.  When more brothers and sisters come into their tree home, mother often doesn't tell her Koala Lou that she loves her, even though she certainly does.   Koala Lou decides to enter the Bush Olympics and win a gold medal in hopes of hearing her mother's I love you. Find out what happens at the games, and more importantly, after.  A reassuring and sweet tale of a mother's love.

Heartprints by P.K. Hallinan

This book is a wonderful illustration of simple things that children can do to leave heartprints throughout their day.  Heartprints are defined as "the impression left behind by a deliberate act of kindness."  This is a great book for teaching the value of kindness and caring.

Love is a Handful of Honey by Giles Andreae

Simple, rhyming text gives metaphors to describe the feeling of love throughout the day.  A perfect bedtime read.

Franklin Says I Love You by Paulette Bourgeois

It's Franklin's mother's birthday and he wants to show her that he loves her without an expensive gift. Unsure of what to do, Franklin asks his friends for ideas.  Find out what he does to show his mother that he loves her, and what she thinks is the best gift of all.

I Love You Because You're You by Liza Baker

A great rhyming verse to reassure little ones that parents love them, no matter what their mood.

Bear Hugs by Karma Wilson and Suzanne Watts

Silly and clever, this is a collection of animal love poems.  This one is fun for kids, but sophisticated enough for parents to enjoy as well.

A Book of Kisses by Dave Ross

A fun little collection of descriptions of different types of kisses used throughout the day and around the world.  From good morning kisses, butterfly kisses, I'm sorry kisses and bedtime kisses.  For extra fun, there is even a page with how to say kiss in several different languages.  There is also a companion book called A Book of Hugs.  I'm on the lookout for an inexpensive copy of that one.

Grab someone in your home who needs some extra love, and share one of these books with them. 

Love is reading to your children to let them know you care.

All images found on www.barnesandnoble.com

Brotherly Love

I snapped this sweet picture a few weekends ago when Mr. One was sick.  Poor thing was throwing up and feverish and just plain exhausted.

Notice the little pile of cars beside him?

Mr. Two, knowing his big brother wasn't feeling well, placed them beside him to make him "not sad".

It's moments like this that make you remember that these active little boys, who have their fights and tussles,  really do love and care for one another.

Love is trying to make someone else feel better, even if you can't make the hurt go away yourself.

Valentine's Day: Sharing the LOVE

Did you get to spend some quality time with your loved one(s) this Valentine's Day?

Here's a little synopsis of what we did to celebrate.

Earlier in the week, we sent out Valentines in the mail to our out of state family.  We wanted to share the love with our family near and far.  I let the boys pick out whatever cards they wanted (we ended up with some pretty funny selections, especially with Mr. Two's randomness), we signed them and mailed them off, sealed with a kiss.

On Saturday, Mike and I actually hired a babysitter and went out to dinner. I know this doesn't sound like a big deal, but when you can count the number of times you have hired a babysitter and/or gone out to a real restaurant in the past year on one hand, well then, it becomes a big deal.  We went to Gecko Grill (love, love, love their food...) and enjoyed some quality time without children.  After dropping the sitter off and putting the kiddos to bed, we watched Julie and Julia and snuggled.  Hooray for date night!

Sunday started off with pink waffles and syrup (drat, I wish strawberries were in season...) and pink milk.  Both boys ate two waffles each!  I love my food coloring...

After church, we ate dinner at my parents' house.  We normally have a red dinner, with some sort of red pasta, red jello, etc.  This year, we went outside of the box and ate something different.  We still had the candlelit table and fancy dishes, but we did change up the menu.  We had crepes with beef and mushrooms and chicken in sauce for the non-red-meat-eaters (ahem, me), grilled asparagus, salad, and cranberry Sierra Mist (we had to have at least one red thing...).  Then for dessert:  classic cheesecake, sugar cookies, and extra cake pops.  Talk about sugar overload, but boy was it good!

Mr. One's gift

 

 Mr. Two's Gift

Mike and I picked out books for the boys for their little gift.

I gave Mike some chocolate-covered treats (cherries, coconut almonds and cashew clusters).

He gave me the Beatles album 1, and yes, he made the card (it says, "My 1 and Only").

Hoping all of you had a love-filled Valentine's Day!

Handmade Valentines, on a Budget

For Mr. One's preschool, we made our own Valentines for his classmates, as well as a treat for his teacher and classroom aide, on a budget, of course.

  I had seen this tutorial, and several variations, floating around the blogging world.  I thought this would be something easy and fun to put together, not to mention inexpensive.

I found the mini candy canes on 75 percent off clearance after Christmas, bought the baggies and lollipop sticks with half off coupons.  The Valentine pencils were from the Dollar Spot at Target.  The paper, stickers and ribbon were all supplies we had on hand.  I think the grand total for the whole project hovered around $4.00.  All the supplies for the teacher treats were already on hand.

I had Mr. One arrange the candy canes into a heart shape on parchment paper.  We baked them on 300 degrees for 5 minutes, then I quickly pinched the ends around the lollipop stick.  (Skip to My Lou has more detailed directions.)

I cut out heart shapes, punched a whole in the top and wrote "It's sweet to be your friend" on the front. My son signed the backs and decorated them with stickers.

A little suggestion for signing Valentines with a preschooler- just have your kiddos sign a few at a time, then move onto something else so they don't get frustrated.  I had my preschooler sign four, then decorate them with stickers, then sign four more, then decorate, until they were done.

We sandwiched the cooled and bagged suckers between the tag and pencil and tied it all off with curling ribbon.

For the teachers, we made Cake Pops (go to Bakerella for details).  I used a chocolate cake mix with cherry frosting, then covered them with semi-sweet Ghiradelli chocolate (you know, the giant bag of chips you can buy at Costco...).  They tasted just like a good chocolate covered cherry.  Yum!  It was a lot of work, but some good, messy fun with Mr. Two (who loves a good food mess, and wanted to do something fun with Mommy too...)  I put them in a red-lidded plastic container and tied it off with a tag, sucker and curling ribbon.

One fun variation on the candy cane suckers:

I crushed up some red and pink Jolly Ranchers and carefully sprinkled them into the inside of the candy cane heart before baking them.  The Jolly Ranchers melted inside and made a pink tinted window in the heart.  I tried to convince Mr. One that this would be fun to do for his classmates' suckers, but he was insistent on keeping them "plain." I wanted him to have ownership of this project, and I let him choose.

So I made some on my own, the "fancy" way to give to others...