What better occasion to play with colors than on St. Patrick’s Day, a day celebrated around the world and not just in Ireland? I happen to be Irish so the holiday ties right into many aspects of family life and learning.
There are a few legends around the official color of the holiday, one being that the official color was once blue. Green makes sense for a lot of reasons. It is the color of the shamrock, for example, and represents the lush landscape of the “emerald isle”, a name for which Ireland is known.
So, today’s activity is quite simple: Making the color green. In this activity we work on sensory (colors), basic concepts (colors), practical life (pouring) and fine motor skills (using a syringe).
Start with a tray and three jars. Two jars filled part way with water and a third jar either empty or with a little water.
Grab yellow and blue food coloring or paint to add color to the jars with water. My 2.5 year old helped me color the water in these jars.
Then I showed him the syringe and how to use it. Syringes are a tough fine motor skill to grasp at this young an age.
Begin by having your child take a little water from the blue colored water.
Then a little water from the yellow jar.
My little guy got a little impatient with the syringe so he ended up picking up the jars and pouring the water, which I totally expected.
Last week we had to make a trip to the doctor’s office. Besides listening to Caspar Babypants on the journey, the only thing that made my really sick toddler happy was our doctor’s very cool magnetic sand table. Simple to make one for us so I decided it’d be an easy DIY activity. Here is how we did it.
What you’ll need:
Fine grain sand – I purchased our sand at a local pet store. Amazon also sells a variety of play sand at reasonable prices.
A plastic storage container – We used a 28 quart Steralite brand. This one was shallow so that my sons could get into it easily.
Fun magnetic items – we used large, colorful paperclips, lids, marbles and letters
Two chairs or something to prop the table up
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Our approach:
I placed a “splat” mat under the “table”, placed the storage container velcroed across two chairs, poured enough sand in to cover a thin later on the bottom of the container. You don’t want to pour a ton in or the magnetic part won’t work. I wanted a way for my sons to reach under (or go under) the container. So, as I mentioned, I used two chairs and velcro to hold the container on the edge of the chairs.
I used a small strip of velcro because I didn’t want to risk any damage to the chair. A longer strip would obviously make the container even more stable.
I added the items to explore and play…
I love this shot of the scuba diver.
Then I let my sons loose on the table.
They were really excited and began exploring the table with the wand and their fingers.
Then things started to get really wild as other items began to be added to the exploration…
Super fun, easy and not a big mess to clean up. My son spent an HOUR at this table this morning.
Have fun! Thanks for visiting! Come back soon!
Marnie
I am so excited for this weekend. I have many activities planned for my boys. Like you, I jump at the opportunity to teach my children. Special occasions and holidays allow for this sort of learning and work well because the learning is holistic. You can weave in many basic concepts while teaching a far more complex concept or topic.
This coming Monday is President’s Day in the United States. President’s Day is a federal holiday in honor of our first president, George Washington, on his birthday (or close to it as the holiday always comes on the 3rd Monday in February). We have a 2.5 year old so I am introducing the theme (that will undoubtedly last a lifetime) fairly lightly.
Here is what we’re doing to celebrate the day and introduce vital topics in America’s history:
Early Literacy – Besides reading many topical books (see below), I’m bringing in letter learning with No Time for Flashcards wonderful Letter of the Week exercise for the letter ‘P’ using pennies.
I described the project and had him begin by coloring the page.
Then we talked about the letter “P”, the sound and words that begin with the letter “P”.
He did well putting the glue on the penny. Fine motor skill development is all around us. We also painted the “P” with glue and made dots. All work well for getting those pennies to stick on the page.
As he worked on his “P”, we talked about the penny, who is on it (Abe Lincoln) and that one penny equals one cent.
He tried to keep all the pennies within the line of the “P” (I may have guided him here) but really does it matter? Not at all.
Art – Coloring pages are the perfect way to introduce figures to your child’s life. We’ll be using FREE PRINTABLEs from Apples4theteacher. We’re doing the portraits of George Washington, Martha Washington (I like the idea of introducing the women behind the men that founded the United States of America.), Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln.
Geography – We’ll be using our Melissa & Doug United States puzzle with a focus on the state of Virgina. I am printing out this coloring page of Virginia.
Craft – Lincoln’s log cabin is relatively easy to put together for your preschooler with varying levels of approach depending on the age of your child.
I sourced the Log Cabin concept from Preschool Playbook. All you need is construction paper, Popsicle sticks and glue.
Our Lincoln Log Cabin was very colorful.
I drew a line matching each color of the stick so he could match the stick to it. He spread glue across the lines.
Then he added a door, window, chimney and smoke (white pom poms). I used sticker paper for the door, window and chimney. You just as easily could use construction paper and glue. During this process we talked a bit about Lincoln. It was helpful to read The Story of Abraham Lincoln before the craft.
For the exercise I am laying out a picture of where each part (and the glue) goes (e.g., I will draw each log signifying that a Popsicle stick goes in that area) to avoid any frustrating melt downs by the 2.5 year old. If your child is older, have him cut his own stripes from construction paper and take the lead. I plan to create an environment that enables my child to successfully complete the activity (I am not looking for a perfect cabin or flag, just that he finishes the project).
Coin Sorting – I printed and laminated images each of a penny, a dime, a quarter and a half dollar coins from the Mint’s website section for teachers. There are fabulous education resources available on this site with loads of great downloads, lesson plans and activities for kids on this site. I highly recommend the site.
I placed these images in front of empty containers. In front on those items I placed a container filled with coins. To make it even more fun and challenging, I cut a slit in each container’s cover simulating a piggy bank but also bringing in an excellent fine motor skill exercise.
Books – The following books are great introductory books for your preschooler. The Presidents Day book tells an adorable story of a class putting on an assembly based on the presidents displayed on Mt. Rushmore. The board books are simple and wonderful at telling the stories of important (and complex) American historical figures. Our 2.5 year old has really enjoyed these books so far.
Thank you for visiting! Happy Presidents Day!
Marnie
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