Tot School: B is for Ball (Outside Play)

Sophie is 26 months old.

Letter of the Week: Bb

Object and Theme:  Ball/Outside Play

- Memory Verse:  Ephesians 4:32.  "Be kind to one another."  We used the printable ABC Bible Verses from Homeschool Creations.  I put the card in my Bible as a bookmark in Ephesians and let Sophie open to that page when we were going to say our memory verse.  I want her to see that the words she is learning are coming from the Bible!

- Books: The main book we read with this theme was Stop that Ball by Mike McClintock.  This was one of Clay's favorite books as a child, so he enjoyed getting to read it with her as well!  I was impressed with her attention span, as this book is a bit longer than our usual choices.  Other books included:

• Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin
• Pete the Cat and the Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin
• Corduroy by Don Freeman
• Balls by Melanie Davis
• Biscuit Plays Ball by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
• Duck and Goose by Tad Hills

Sensory Fun

This week's sensory play was a bit messier than what I usually try, but Sophie had an absolute blast!  I got some water beads from the Dollar Tree and put them in a container with some foam letters and other small balls of different materials.  Using our handy dandy kiddie pool in the living room, Sophie played for almost an hour, pouring and smooshing the balls.  She was soaked and a mess when it was all over, but it was definitely worth it.  I'm working on not being so afraid of messy play...

I also had a bucket of assorted balls for Sophie to play with and explore.  

What's on the Shelf?

1.  Color Matching with Counting Bears.  I printed off a "B" do-a-dot and colored in the dots myself in colors that matched our counting bears.  Then I put it in a page protector and let Sophie line the bears up on the correct dots.  She could do this really well, but she wasn't very impressed.

2.  Colors Printable.  I used the colors printable from the Tot School Printables a little differently this week and it went over much better than last time!  I cut the pieces apart and laid out just three at a time with the appropriate color crayons.  She could color each individual ball, and when they were all finished we glued them to construction paper while we talked about the colors again.  This went over much better than coloring the sheet whole, and you know how my girl loves gluing.

3.  Big and Little Block Sort.  We used this for Squares week a while ago and Sophie was even better at identifying big and little this time.

4.  Ping Pong Ball Transfer.  I found these great little tongs at Walmart and they were the perfect size for Sophie's little hands.  I was very impressed at how quickly she got the hang of transferring using the tongs instead of her hands.  

5.  Beach Ball Sewing Card.  (not pictured) This was our first attempt at a sewing card and it wasn't very well received.  She did it a few times and then just wanted Momma to do it. 

Other Activities

Our whole alphabet activity this week was lots of fun!  It was lots of gross motor fun as well as pressure-free exposure to all the letters of the alphabet.  I shared the full details over at The Activity Mom.

One of the favorite books for this week was Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons.  I think we read this every single day after nap - such a fun book!  We did a counting "buttons" sticker activity using dot stickers that I made look like buttons.  I was really surprised how well she placed the buttons in the circles I had drawn for her.

So many yummy foods start with B!  This week we made brownies and bread together and I intentionally served bananas, beans, broccoli, and blueberries.

Fun with Printables

We using the themes from 1+1+1=1 Tot School Printables as a guide for our letter exploration.  I put some in page protectors to reuse all week with dry-erase markers, and others we used as a one-time activity.  We didn't do all that are available, but we will branch out more as we continue.  She really liked the shapes and color pages this week.  She especially enjoyed using our shape puzzle pieces to match up to the shapes on the printable.

Arts and Crafts

Our main art project this week was painting with balls.  I printed out a block letter B and put it and several small balls in a cardboard box lid.  Then I squirted some paints and we made the balls roll across the paint onto the paper. Sophie really enjoyed this and we ended up doing it several times.

She also enjoyed painting with a brush.  She told me that this picture was "crab - Sebastian." It was the first time she's told me she was making something specific!

Little Man

Miles is growing like crazy!  I cannot believe how fast he is getting big - it seems so much quicker than Sophie!  He turned three months old this month and has absolutely brightened our home with his sweet smiles.  Soon enough he'll get his own activity posts, but for now, just enjoy his sweet blue eyes, adorable grin, and multiple chins! ;)

For tons more ideas be sure to visit these sites I might link to this week!

Tot School Gathering Place at 1+1+1=1 

Tuesday Tots at Rainy Day Mum
Link and Learn at No Time for Flashcards
Show and Share Saturday Link Up at I Can Teach My Child

Tender Moments with Toddlers and Preschoolers at The Chaos and the Clutter 
Sunday Showcase at Learn Play Imagine
TGIF at 123Homeschool4Me
For the Kids Fridays at Sun Scholars

Tot School: A is for Apples (Fruit Theme)

Sophie is 23-25 months old during these activities.

We started our first letter "week" back in March.  Currently, it is still sitting on our Tot School shelf!  A lot has happened in our life between now and then, and changing out the Tot School activities just hasn't been priority! Fortunately, Sophie is still enjoying the activities, so it hasn't been too much of an issue.

Letter of the Week: Aa

Object and Theme:  Apples/Fruit

Color: Red

- Memory Verse:  Genesis 1:1.  In the future the verses may correspond with the letter of the alphabet, but I'm more interested in her memorizing the Scripture rather than have a new verse every week or two.  We'll stick with a verse until she gets it.  She did a great job with this one, and I'm pretty sure hearing her say it is one of my favorite things ever: "In binging, God acrated the heavens and earfs. Gensis mun mun."  Seriously adorable. :)

- Books: The main book we read with this theme was Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins.  The repetition in this one made it a huge hit!  Other books included The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and Go, Go Grapes!  by April Pulley Sayre.

Sensory Fun

I had a really simple sensory bin with some red beans and rice.  I added some scoops, a few foam letter As, and the ABC Find It! A's from 1+1+1=1.  Sophie didn't really seem to get the idea of matching up the loose pieces with the letter mat, probably because they were all different sizes.  She had fun finding A's in the beans though, and as always had a great time pouring and transferring.

What's on the Shelf?

Lacing Beads.  Sophie really started to get good at the lacing beads this week!  I pulled out just the red ones to help reinforce our color of the week.

Playdoh with an A, apple, and acorn-shaped cookie cutters.  This probably ended up being her favorite activity from the shelf.  She received the Melissa and Doug Shape, Model, and Mold from my parents for her birthday and she loved playing with it.  She enjoyed making and squishing "A"s using the cookie cutters.

Melissa and Doug Alphabet Puzzle Book.  I pulled out the A-E page of the book and she really enjoyed playing with the magnets.  She did the puzzle the first few days, but then she remembered that magnets stick on our dishwasher and she spent the rest of the time playing with them there.  

Melissa and Doug Cutting Food Apple.  Her cutting skills definitely improved over time, but it's going to be a looonnnngggg time before this girl gets her hands on a real knife! ;)

Colored Apple Sort.  We also played a fun alphabet game with this tray.  It involved apple picking and a tambourine...seriously.  What fun is apple picking without a tambourine?! I shared the details over at The Activity Mom! Be sure to check it out!

Everyday Life Activities

We spent extra time in the produce department during our weekly grocery trips exploring the different fruits.  We talked about colors, textures, if it felt heavy, etc.  She loves being my helper by putting our fruits and vegetables into the bags!

We also attempted to make apple chips.  Sophie had a great time painting the apples with lemon juice and dipping them in cinnamon sugar.  Unfortunately, as with many things I find on Pinterest, this seemed pretty foolproof, but they didn't turn out as well as I hoped!  They stuck to the pan pretty bad and were a bit gummier than I anticipated.  Maybe if I cooked them a bit longer they would have turned out better, but Sophie still enjoyed them!

Fun with Printables

As I've said before, I am using the themes from 1+1+1=1 Tot School Printables as a guide for our letter exploration.  Sophie really enjoyed these printable activities.  Some I put in page protectors to reuse all week with dry-erase markers, and others we used as a one-time activity.  We didn't do all that are available, but we will branch out more as we continue.  Her favorite was using her Do-A-Dot paints to cover the Aa's.  

Arts and Crafts

Sophie LOVES gluing!  I definitely need to make sure to include a gluing activity in my plans in the future.  I love how the apple turned out!  (And honestly, my pride is very glad that the ant is covered in black paper...it was a pretty pathetic drawing done on the fly for a little girl who wanted "more glue"!)

We also tried our hands at apple printing.  I don't know if my paint was too thin or if I just gave her too much, but this was a mess!  She had a blast though, and she did get one or two good prints where she could see the star from the inside of the apple.

For tons more ideas be sure to visit these sites I might link to this week!

Tot School Gathering Place at 1+1+1=1 

Teaching Tuesdays at Intentional Homeschool
Tuesday Tots at Rainy Day Mum
Link and Learn at No Time for Flashcards
Show and Share Saturday Link Up at I Can Teach My Child

Tender Moments with Toddlers and Preschoolers at The Chaos and the Clutter 
Sunday Showcase at Learn Play Imagine
TGIF at 123Homeschool4Me
For the Kids Fridays at Sun Scholars