Plastic Sleeves

Gotta admit-
I LOVE plastic sleeves!

Or, I guess they are sometimes called 'page protectors'

Do you know what I'm talking about?

Those clear sleeves that you can slide any sheet of paper into.  

They're three-hole punched so you can put them in a binder.

I love them because you can use dry-erase markers on them and they 

wipe off easily!

Super easily!

And, I can give Dash any type of sheet to work on and they simply become re-usable because I insert them into a plastic sleeve!

Lately, Dash has been SUPER into mazes.

It started with the back of a children's menu at a restaurant.  

Then, he kept asking when we could go back to that restaurant because he wanted to do another maze.  

I had purchased a book of kids' mazes from an educational store years ago when I was teaching. 

 

I thought of ripping out the mazes and giving them to Dash but I wanted to keep the originals in case I ever needed them for teaching, in the future. 

I thought about photocopying the whole book for Dash- ugh.

I thought about scanning and printing the whole book for Dash- yuck.

And, then it hit me!  Plastic Sleeves!

I've been inserting the originals into plastic sleeves and he can do the mazes with his dry-erase marker and then simply erase it when he is done. 

My originals are still in tact!  

And, the best part-
Dash can  redo  the mazes as many times as he wants!

We've been using plastic sleeves for all sorts learning activities.

Dash is much more eager to do any learning activity if he gets to use a dry-erase marker instead of a pencil!

So, next time you are at Target, pick up a small package of page protectors/plastic sleeves.  

They kept Dash and his binder full of mazes busy for hours!

Talk-Tickle Time

A few weeks ago, Dash started back at preschool.

He only attends three mornings a week,

for a couple of hours each day,

BUT

I totally miss him and 

wonder what he is up to while he is gone!

Is he having fun?

Is he learning anything?

Are the kids being nice to him?

Is he being nice to the kids?

So,

I created 'Talk-Tickle-Time'!!!!

Dash LOVES Talk-Tickle Time! 

He literally gets giddy when I say that we're going to have Talk-Tickle-Time-

It warms my heart!

So, what is Talk-Tickle-Time?

It's exactly what it sounds like.  

We talk,

We tickle,

We enjoy a special time together ONLY 

on days when he returns from preschool... 

with the hidden agenda of me trying to find out details about his day while he gets to be hugged on, loved on, and centered with my full-attention!

I lay out a special blanket on the carpet. 

And, we review the 'rules':

(1) We have to stay on the blanket

(2) I get to tickle him, wrestle him, snuggle him, and love on him UNTIL 

he yells 'FREEZE', then, I must stop.

(3) When he yells 'Freeze', I get to ask him a question about his day...

"What did you do at preschool?"

"Did anything funny happen?"

"Did anyone or anything make you sad?"

"Did you help anyone or do anything kind today?"

(4) Then we go back to tickling (he tickles me, too) and the next time one of us yells 'FREEZE', he gets to ask me a question.

We go back and forth until I feel satisfied with learning about his day and he has thoroughly enjoyed being tickled, wrestled, and hugged.

It's seriously becoming one of his most favorite times of day!

And, mine too!

Look at that handsome fellow...aren't I blessed?!?!?!

Wash Cloths

This post isn't actually about learning.  

But, if you are following this blog, you probably have young kids and therefore, you have messes!

So, this post is about a way to clean up messes...

A couple years ago I was finding that I was spending way too much money on paper towels.

Not to mention, using all those paper towels was not helping our planet!

And, then I came across a bundle of washcloths on sale for $2.99 at Target.  It was one of those end of the aisle clearance things.  I bought a couple bundles and then picked up a matching little basket.

We set this little basket of wash cloths in our kitchen

I don't think it looks too tacky :)

We use these in place of paper towels for almost everything kid-related you could think of...

messy faces, wiping down tables/place mats/floors, cleaning up hands full of paint, and even as napkins at meals (unless we have guests over).

We still have a roll of paper towels for those messes that you just need to sometimes throw right away, but most messes get a washcloth.

All the wash cloths go into the hamper when used and washed in the laundry.

They get reused and reused and reused....

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.