Our Advent Calendar

For Advent this year, I wanted to make an advent calendar.  I've thought about it several times since last Christmas, but finally made it over the weekend (nothing like waiting until the last minute!).

I used felt to make the calendar, and then cut scrapbook paper to put into the pockets.  I wanted this to be about family, so on each piece of paper will be an experience or a family activity.  Here's the list:

1. Decorate the Christmas tree.
2. Go see Santa.
3. Make cookies with a friend.
4. Decorate a paper candy cane.
5. Read This is the Stable by Cynthia Cotten.
6. Color a Christmas picture.
7. Drive downtown and look at the state Christmas tree.
8. Clean out closets and donate coats.
9. Make peppermint play dough.
10. Read Frosty the Snowman by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins.
11. Make a card for Mama's parents.
12. Sit in front of the fireplace and drink hot chocolate.
13. Decorate sugar cookies.
14. Pick out a new family ornament.
15. Drive around and look at Christmas lights.
16. Make a card for Daddy's parents.
17. Take a Christmas themed bath.
18. Go to a Christmas themed playgroup.
19. Read Follow the Star by Rachel W. N. Brown.
20. Make rice crispy treats that look like trees.
21. Get ready to see grandparents.
22. Play Roll a Christmas Tree.
23. Read the Christmas story from the bible.
24. Read The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore.
25. Merry Christmas!

What activities are you doing this advent season?

Tot School- Thanksgiving and Turkeys

Can you believe that Thanksgiving was last week and now we are into December?  We had a fun week last week in Tot School working on Thanksgiving and turkeys.  Little Guy is 29 months old.

Our first tray was to make feathers for a turkey out of beads.  I saw this idea on Pinterest from Stay At Home Educator.  I used part of a toilet paper roll and the beads that we had on hand.  Little Guy made one feather the first day, then on Thanksgiving we worked together to make a few more feathers.

How will this feather go on?

Gobble, gobble!

Little Guy really likes clothespins, so I can up with the next idea.  I painted clothespins different colors for the turkey's feathers.  I cut out a circle from some poster board and glued a picture of a turkey head on it.  I colored rectangles on the circle to match the clothespins up to.  This was a favorite activity that Little Guy came back to several times. 

The orange goes here.

We had more two-piece puzzles from the fall pack at 3 Dinosaurs.  Little Guy is pretty good at completing these and doesn't choose to do these often.

The next activity practiced one to one correspondence with chocolate chips!  Using the turkey dot page from the Thanksgiving pack extras at 3 Dinosaurs, Little Guy had to place a chocolate chip in each circle.  He really liked this activity, and wanted to snack along the way.  I did make him wait until he was done before he could have a few chocolate chips!

Adding another chocolate chip.

Ready for my sweet reward!

This week we again got out our pumpkin pie spice play dough.  I also got out his roller and the cookie cutters for the letters in his name.  I thought this would be a fun activity to practice those letters.  Instead, he found the magnetic letters for his name and requested that I hide them in the play dough for him to find.  Oh well, at least he was looking for his name!

He completed a food and people sort from the Thanksgiving pack at 1+1+1=1.  I left the sorting pictures in groups of two so he would have to cut them apart first, then he glued them on. 

This is food!

We played Roll and Count Thanksgiving from the Thanksgiving tot pack 2 at 3 Dinosaurs.  We have enjoyed the variations that Cassie at 3 Dinosaurs has created!  It is fun to roll and talk about the pictures and to count how many we rolled at the end.  Today the turkey won!

Ready to count the turkeys!

Another printable from 3 Dinosaurs was the 9 piece puzzle.  Little Guy still struggles with laying the pieces on without them moving, so I think we will take a break from these for a little while.

Our last tray was to make another turkey using a pine cone and feathers.  This one required more help from mama.  I ended up needing to hot glue all the feathers into the pine cone.  However, Little Guy still seemed to enjoy it.

Gobble, gobble!

In addition to our trays this week, we also had a lap book. 

Included in the book were two mini coloring books, Leaf Shapes (continued from last week) and Color the Leaf, both from the leaf pack at 3 Dinosaurs. We did not get to these this week.  It also had cutting practice from the Thanksgiving pack at 3 Dinosaurs and turkeys from the Thanksgiving Cut It Out pack at This Reading Mama.  Cutting is always a huge hit.  Little Guy also had the challenge of gluing the turkeys back together after he had cut them apart. 

I see the turkey.

 There was a turkey size sequencing and a shadow match, both from ABC's to ACT's.  Little Guy is getting better at matching the shadows to the pictures.

This is the turkey's shadow.

 How did you spend your Thanksgiving week?

Tot School- Fall week 3

This is our third week of fall in Tot School. It is amazing how many fall themed activities I have found. Sorry this post is late! Little Guy is 29 months old.

The first tray was the clothespin counting activity that he did last week, from the fall pack at Homeschool Creations.  He enjoyed this activity, and didn't mind seeing it for a second week.

Next we did an apple and leaf sort from the fall pack at Homeschool Creations.  I left the apples and leaves in groups of two so he had to first cut all the pictures apart.  Then he sorted and glued them based on if they were an apple or a leaf.

The apple goes on this side!

Leaf rubbing was a fun activity.  We used plastic leaf impressions.  I taped the impressions to the table, then taped a piece of paper over it and showed Little Guy how to rub the side of the crayon over it to make the rubbing.  He was proud of these and hung them on the side of his picnic table!

The leaf is starting to show!

The next activity was inspired by Moms Have Questions Too.  This was a spooning activity, where Little Guy had to use a spoon to transfer all of the sunflower seeds (another use of our homegrown seeds!) from the bowl to the plate.  He was pretty good at this.

The seeds go here.

He also began looking at the book Leaf Shapes from the leaf pack at 3 Dinosaurs.  I would read the page to him and then he could color it.  He did not work too long in this book, so it will probably re-appear!

I see the square!

The last tray was cutting practice!  He loves to cut, so I provided strips to him from the Thanksgiving Cut It Out pack from This Reading Mama and the fall pack at 3 Dinosaurs. We then used some of the turkeys to make patterns. 

Cutting apart the turkeys.

This turkey goes next.

In addition to our Tot Trays, we did a couple of other activities.  From This Reading Mama, we did a rhyming word activity.  Little Guy cut apart the pictures and then glued them on.  All the words rhymed with rake, so as he glued them, I would say the word and rake, to start practicing rhyming.

All these words rhyme with rake.

I also put some printables in a binder for him to do.  I have some dry erase crayons, so when the papers are in sheet protectors he can write on them and then the crayon wipes right off.  I used printables from Homeschool Creations 3 Dinosaurs,

I can trace the line!

This was a busy week!  Next week we will show some of the Thanksgiving activities we worked on.

We linked up to Tot School Gathering Place at 1+1+1=1!

Tot School- Fall Week 2

This week we had week two of our fall theme. We stayed pretty busy with the variety of activities we had.  Several activities this week were fine motor skills.  There were several activities that Little Guy really seemed to enjoy, and two that helped to decorate my house! Little Guy is 28 months old.

The first tray was filling in an outline of a leaf on contact paper. He had red and orange tissue paper squares to stick in the shape.  About halfway completed, he said he was all done, so I had him put 7 more squares on. This was a great way to get a few more squares on and practice counting.

Look at my leaf!

We were able to play Roll a Leaf from the leaf pack at 3 Dinosaurs this week.  Whenever he rolled an object, he would put a sticker on the chart to mark it. This was a fun game!

Putting on stickers to show what I've rolled!

The next tray turned into one of Little Guy's favorites. I bought little wooden wheels (found them at the thrift store for $1!) and painted them fall colors.  I added a shoelace with a knot at the end.  Little Guy enjoyed putting the circles on and making snakes. He made snakes multiple times!  Usually, I leave our "work" items to only by used during our Tot school time.  But since he enjoyed this so much, it came out several other times.

Working hard to thread the circles.

The button snake also came out this week. Every time we get it out, Little Guy gets a little better at buttoning.

He also did a leaf shadow match. This activity came from the fall pack at Homeschool Creations.  I had cut apart the colored leaves and left the shadow sheet whole. Little Guy matched the leaf to its shadow. Every time he did it, he got a little better and a little faster.

Which leaf is this?

The next activity was another favorite. This activity is also from Homeschool Creations.  He had to clip the clothespin to the section of the wheel with the corresponding number. He does a great job of counting to 3, so counting to 6 is great practice. He also really likes using clothespins!

There are two scarecrows.

The next activity was one of my favorites. I got this idea from Happily Ever Mom. I cut 3 toilet paper tubes into quarters then stapled each of these rings into a wreath. Using a variety of fall colored ribbons, Little Guy had to weave the ribbons in and out of the tubes. This was the first time I had done weaving with him.  I found it best to hold the wreath for him to help him weave the ribbons.  I think his finished wreath is quite nice!

Starting to weave the wreath.

Our completed wreath.

Another way he practiced some fine motor skills this week was lacing leaves.  I had bought these foam leaf shapes from Target.  I punched holes all around the edges and tied on a shoelace.  Little Guy then had to lace all around the edge.  He was more successful if I held the leaf for him as he laced.  I was surprised at how many times he chose to do this activity.

The last tray was a nine piece puzzle from the fall pack at 3 Dinosaurs.  Little Guy really enjoys completing puzzles, so this was a good activity for him.  The hardest part for him is that since the puzzle pieces are simply paper, they can be put over one another, and since there is no frame, they move around easily.  However, that did not stop him from completing the puzzle several times during the week.

Next week we will include some Thanksgiving themed activities in our trays.  What are you working on right now?