Maps

I picked up a few maps from a teaching store back when I was teaching.

I was sure to laminate them so they'd last.  

But, laminating them ended up being a perfect way to

get Dash exposed to maps.

He LOVES to use dry-erase markers on pretty much anything.  

So, why not let him circle, mark, and put X's on different places on the maps?

We can draw lines from where we are to 

where relatives across the country live.

 

We can locate and circle the continents and countries of our favorite movie characters (i.e. Africa for Simba, Asia for Kung Fu Panda, etc.)

I wasn't expecting a lot of learning to take place just by having maps lying 

around, but I have been impressed with how interested
Dash has become in geography.  

Anytime he hears of a place he wants me to find it on a map.  

And, when we recently took a trip to the mountains, he tried so hard to figure the map out and follow our GPS...it was so cute :)

So, since Dash seems interested...

I made it my goal to teach him the seven continents.

It's not going real great, but that's quite alright considering he is only
four years old- hee hee :)

But, he loves me "quizzing" him on them.

I simply name a continent (usually with a hint...example: 'It's really cold there' for Antarctica) and he puts an 'X' or circles it.  

He usually ends up drawing all over the map by the time we're done.  

But, the main point is-

He's having fun and I think he may be learning something :)

So, is it important to have my four year old familiar with maps?

Absolutely not.

Does it give us something fun to do besides sitting in front of the television or playing Candyland for the 20th time that day?

Yep!

And, let me tell you...Dash has become quite an expert on where the USA is on a world map and where the general area of our state is on any map!

Something about it being 'where WE live' makes it memorable! We can be walking through a store and he'll see a USA outline on something and get thrilled that he knows where we live.

Maybe its my own lack of geography knowledge (I blame the school district in which I attended) but I am excited that Dash has been learning so much!

Watch this clip of Dash and I playing a 'game' to locate the seven continents.  (Please excuse the part where he announces loudly that he farted- hee hee). 

I think it's classic!

So....why not pick up some maps, laminate them, and have them available for your kiddos to draw all over and ask questions about?

Keep 'em Movin'!

Dash has NO idea that the following two activities are educational.

He was just excited that Mommy wanted to play a game with him!

The first one is an

alphabetical order activity

Watch the following video clip:

Write some letters on pieces of paper and let your little one jump, scoot, crawl, or hop their way through them!

The second one is 

an activity to practice letter sounds.

Here's that clip!

Use a bean bag or a pebble or anything else they can
throw at a letter and relay the sounds!

Enjoy!

School Buses, American Flags, & Palm Trees

When Dash was younger he LOVED school buses! 

In fact, before he could even talk he would sign 'bus' every time he saw one (using baby signs/ASL).  

When he turned three, we started counting school buses.

Now, for most people that might not be very difficult but we happen to live near the hub for all the school buses in our county.  Around 9am or 3pm, each day, you will see LOTS of school buses!!!

One time we counted 39 buses on our way to a playdate- no joke!

So, began our routine of counting school buses. 

At first, he did all the searching, "Look another school bus!"
And, I did all the counting. 

But, as time went on, he started counting with me. 

And, he became VERY good at counting.

Recently, after learning what an American Flag was, he started pointing those out as we drove around town. 

Now...maybe it's because we live in a military town...but, we have LOTS of American flags around.
I never noticed how many there were until Dash started pointing them all out.

We counted 44 American flags going to a restaurant 15 minutes away, the other night!

So, once again, he is practicing his counting along with getting to play a game of sorts-

it's like

'Where's Waldo'

but finding buses or American Flags!

When I was a kid, we used to count palm trees on the trip to my grandparents' house...they didn't live far but that's how I learned to count to 100!

So, next time you are in the car, have your child start searching for something.

City buses, school buses, American flags, red cars, anything really!
And, start counting...

You'll be surprised how well the eagle eyes on your little one work and how fast they learn to count!

Goin' Fish

Dash LOVES playing Go- Fish!

We play cards a lot in our house, but Go-Fish is definitely the favorite.

Recently, I've been trying to get Dash to know both his lowercase letters and capital letters, so I thought I'd incorporate it into his favorite card game!
It worked wonderfully :)

I had previously made some letter flashcards that were laminated for him to practice tracing his letters, so I dug them out.  I chose thirteen letters and found both the capital and lowercase cards for them (making 26 cards, total).

We played Go-Fish the traditional way, but in order to make a pair he had to match the lowercase letters with the capital letters.

Then, I got another idea.  Since we have also been practicing letter sounds...

Dash:  "Do you have any cards that say /sss/?"

Me: "Nope, I don't have any 'S' cards.  Go fish!"

Me: "Do you have any cards that make the /buh/ sound?

Dash: "Nope, I don't have any 'B's.  Go fish!"

And, that is how we've been playing Go-Fish!

He gets to practice matching capital and lowercase letters as well as practicing his letter sounds!  But, the best part is- he thinks he is just playing Go-Fish!

Here's a clip!
(I apologize for the horrible sound of my voice- I was sick that day.  And, I apologize for the length of this video.  After the first little bit you should be able to get a feeling for how the game goes!)

If you don't know how to play "Go-Fish", read below:

To play Go-Fish, deal out seven cards to each person. The first person will ask any person that they choose if they have a certain card. If they do they have it, they give it to them and that person gets a match. If they don't have it, they say "Go-Fish" and they have to pick up a card from the deck. If the card they choose from the deck happens to be the card they were asking for, they get to go again.  Each person gets a turn in a clockwise motion. The person with the most matches at the end, wins.

Pinto Beans

Bought a bag of pinto beans at the grocery store the other day :)

Decided to use them with Dash to work on: 

(1) fine motor skills (2) counting (3) letter formation and (4) gluing!

First, I spilled some out on the ground and asked him if he thought he could put twenty of them in a cup using tweezers to pick them up!  

(He loves a challenge)

Got the tweezers in a bug-collecting kit at the grocery store.  They're big and plastic and great for a four year old's hands. 

He got to work on improving his hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and hand muscle strength, but he thought he was just getting to play a game :)

Once he got 20 into a cup, we celebrated.  Then, for the next challenge.

I gave him this piece of paper since we were working on
forming the letter A's that week.

I poured a thin line of glue along the capital 'A' and he got
to press the beans into the glue.

The final product!

Who would have thought tweezers and pinto beans would be fun, huh?

When he gets older we'll have to try chopsticks:)

And for some more ideas regarding fine motor skills and even beans...

The other day we had a playdate at a wonderful creative friend of mine's house.  She had large pairs of kitchen tongs out in the living room.  

Dash and his buddy used the cooking tongs to pick up large lego bricks and bury his friend's little sister's legs as she sat in a laundry basket.  There were three giggling kiddos fully enjoying themselves...and improving their fine motor skills :)

Thought I'd also mention that when I used to teach first and second grade, during our plant units, we would make bean/seed pictures. 
This is a GREAT activity for kids a little bit older :)

I'd go to the store and buy all different sorts of beans

Lima beans, black-eyed peas, green-split peas, pinto beans, black beans, kidney beans, etc.  The more color variety the better!

I would divide them up so that each type of bean was in a different tupperware container for the kids to choose from.

Then, I'd give the kids a simple picture of a flower outline, like this:

...or this:

I would have them glue the beans on and create pictures.  I SOOO wish I had an example to post because they turned out so beautiful!
These students were super creative.

Some would outline the black lines with one color bean and fill the spaces in with another color.  Other students would use black beans to do all the ink lines and then use many different colors to fill in the spaces.  They loved this activity and it was perfect for the six/seven/eight year old range!

So, next time you are at the grocery store....
why not pick up some pinto beans?

Shaving Cream

When I used to teach first grade I would be disgusted
by how dirty the kids' desks got. 

 I mean FILTHY! 

So, we would clean them often.  But, on special occasions when they were already cleaned but I wanted them to shine (i.e. days where their families visited) they would get an extra cleaning treatment.

The students LOVED this method because they got to play while they cleaned.

I would squirt a bunch of the white creamy shaving cream (not the gel) onto their desks and tell them to rub it around.  They'd cover the desk with a layer of the shaving cream and then they could write in it. 

Sometimes we'd practice their spelling words in the shaving cream. 

Sometimes they got to draw pictures. 

But, in the end, we would rub that cream into the desks until it disappeared! 

Then, we'd get a wet paper towel and wipe off the layer of dried cream. 

And, Voila!  Beautiful, shiny, clean desks!

So, fast forward until Dash was about two years old.  He liked to draw.  He liked finger painting.

So, out came the shaving cream!

I put in on our sliding glass door.

He learned to write most the letters in his name with shaving cream on our sliding glass door.

These days, we're practicing how to form letters correctly.

He loves doing this! 

After practicing forming the letter correctly, he can draw and 'finger paint' all he wants.  When he is done, we wipe the glass door down
with some wet washcloths. 

  Clean sliding glass door and practicing writing his letters in one swoop!

The best part is how easy it is to erase and start over. 
Just rub the shaving cream around!

I know what you are thinking...messy, right?

 Really, it isn't bad. 

Just have wet washcloths and/or paper towels next to you
and let the kid go to town!

 If it gets on his/her clothes, it comes off! 

 If it gets on the floor, it wipes off!

Now, here's some tips...

(1) Don't use too much shaving cream!  It takes forever to clean it all up :)

(2) We never start until I have three or four wet washcloths sitting next to us.
Dash likes to clean his hands immediately after finishing and can't wait to make it to the sink, so the washcloths get plenty of use :)

(3) Don't start wiping off the shaving cream with the washcloths until you've "rubbed it in" as much as possible, first.  The shaving cream will get paste-like and almost disappear.

Here's a little clip of Dash practicing making a capital 'A'!

So, go buy some shaving cream and have some fun!

The Learning Box

Dash loves learning.  He loves playing.  He loves games.
A simple learning activity we often do is  "the learning box".

I got the idea when I saw these CHEAP cards at Target on the dollar rack.

Dash was three years old at the time and he was always asking. "What is that?" to everything we passed.  I figured it wouldn't hurt to expose him to knowing what more things were!

So, here's what we did...

First, we had to have some fun making the box.

Yes, he did his messy painting OUTSIDE in the kiddie pool while wearing Daddy's old shirt.

I told him that this was going to be his 'learning box' and I would put pictures inside of it.  The pictures would be of things he could learn about.

Then, I put twelve or thirteen cards in the box without him seeing.  I got him really excited about wanting to see what was in the box. I kept the box up high.  I told him he'd have to wait until the next day to choose a 'learning card' just to build up his anticipation.

The next morning, I told him it was time.  I kept the box just high enough so that he couldn't see inside and had him reach in and grab one card.

We rushed to the couch and I told him to show it to me.
Then, I told him two things: 

First, what the picture was (i.e. the Statue of Liberty) and
Second, one fact about the card (it's in New York).

Now, I'm not crazy.  I realize my three year old doesn't understand half the facts I tell him about these cards.  He doesn't know what 'New York' is.  But, it is kinda fun when he is watching a movie or sees a poster and says,
"Mommy, there's the Statue of Liberty!"
which has happened a few times.  And, it is even more fun when he whispers,
"It's in New York".

No, he doesn't remember half of them.  But, he gets SUPER excited and almost giddy about getting to choose a card.  It's like he won the lottery when he picks one out and peeks to see what it is.  So darn cute!

After he chooses the cards and I tell him about them, we do the next step.
We put the card in a clip.

These, too, I got at Target off the dollar rack.

The picture stays on the magnetic clip in the kitchen
where we see it for weeks.

Then, comes Dash's favorite part.  We play little games to quiz each other on the cards.  I'll be busy doing dishes and I'll say,
"Which picture is of something in New York?"
to which he'll rush over and point to the Statue of Liberty.  Most the time, he'll want to point to a card and then quiz me to see if I remember the name or fact about it (by the way, I usually do remember- hee hee).  But, I love that, too, because it means he is hearing the fact and name of it, again.
Or, I'll be making dinner and he'll come rushing in and say,
"Which picture is a bird that when it spreads its wings the span is as tall as Daddy?"

He loves it :)

We ONLY choose a learning card when Dash initiates it and asks if he can choose a card.
I usually limit it to one or two cards a day.
Once all thirteen clips are full I usually leave the cards up there for a few weeks before putting new cards into the learning box.

So, this silly little 'learning box' activity we do allows us to hear some daily conversations that sound like this:

Neighbor:  "I'm heading out to the desert this weekend."
Dash: "Scorpions are in the desert.  Be careful!"

Dash: "Daddy, what is that noise?"
Daddy:  "A cricket."
Dash:  "Oh.  A cricket's ears are on its knees, Daddy."

Or when I am on Facebook writing on a friend's wall and
her profile picture has the
Leaning Tower of Pisa behind her and Dash says,
"Look, Mommy!  The Leaning Tower of Pizza!"