Monday, January 28, 2013

H for Hippo Week 2


Xander is 26 Months

We are currently working on our Mommy & Me ABC units.  This week was our second week of the letter H and hippos.  Unless otherwise specified, all of the hippopotamus printables are from my Mommy & Me ABC Printables, which are free as we complete them (for a detailed list of all the materials in the printables, check out this post).

This was my first week back at school, so we didn't do quite as much as I would have liked.  Someone has been cranky going through an adjustment period with the new schedule.

 His white board had some hippopotamus cut outs, some alphabet magnets, his fridge phonics set and a wooden magnet of a hippo (similar to these).  His shelf had some books (HippoppositesAll about H, and Hippopotamus) a fabric H, the hippopotamus from his alphabet zoo, and a few hippos from his toobs.  Above the shelf were some flashcards from 1+1+1=1 and a glow in the dark hippo.

Hippo Number Cards
This tray had the hippo number cards from 6-10 as well as some corresponding number tiles.  I also wrote the quantity for each card in overhead marker on the back so that we could flash through them before matching them up.  He seems to enjoy the activity a lot more since I started flashing first.

Letter Clipping
 

Case Sorting

Hippo Bottle Cap Matching



 Stamping
Using his see though uppercase and lowercase stamps to stamp some Hs
 

 Painting and gluing an H craft from 1+1+1=1

 

  Hippo Cutting Strips
Using his training scissors to cut apart the hippos.


Alphabet Sensory Bin
Scooping, pouring, and hiding hippos in his "noodles."  Then he grabbed his measuring tape to measure the box.

Playing with hippos.
Other Tot School Activities
He wanted to play the Oreo Matching Middles game quite a few times this week.  Notice he stole my water bottle so he could have a drink after pretending to eat each cookie.
Climbed up on my bed to read his Sight Words Book "all by self."  I love when he sits and reads, but this time was even better because he read a lot of it out loud (granted, not in order and not all the words on the page).
Tracing shapes from some printables (from 1+1+1=1).  I LOVE his new washable dry erase markers!

For more hippo ideas, check out my Hippo Pinterest Board

Tot School

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Mommy & Me ABC Breakdown


We have been using the Mommy & Me ABC printables during Tot School for a while now.  However, I realized recently that because we divide them in to two weeks, and we almost never use all of the printables during a given letter, I have never shown ALL of the printables for a letter in a single place.  To make it easier for you to plan your alphabet units, I decided to make a breakdown of all of the printables.  If you have any suggestions for new ways to use any of these, or other printables you would like to see, please shoot me a message!

Baby and Mommy Cutouts
This page just has a picture of the baby and the mommy of each animal.  I print them, laminate them, and add a magnet for the bulletin board.  I plan to play sorting and matching games when them once I have them all made.  I am thinking games like matching the baby to the mother, writing the names of the animals on the board for him to match the pictures with, and eventually making categories like "mammal" or "lives on land."

Baby to Mommy Tracing
Pretty self explanatory.  The idea is the kids practice tracing to get the baby to its mother.  I put mine in our dry erase center with either washable dry erase markers or crayons.  You could also just print it and have your kids trace directly on it.

Play Dough Stamping
These dough pages have pictures of things that start with the given letter.  The idea is to put a blob of play dough on the beginning letter and then stamp the letter.  We personally have the lowercase stampers from Lakeshore Learning.  You could also use alphabet cookie cutters or little stampers like these.
Letter Clipping
These cards have a capital or lowercase letter at the left and the child needs to find the corresponding letter.  I print this on card stock and laminate them to use with clothespins, but you could also just have your child circle the correct letter (maybe with a dry erase marker?).
Color and Shape Habitat Word Match
There are two "habitat" pages for each animal.  One has shapes and one has colors.  There are little animals that each have a colored shape on them.  The child then matches the animal to the habitat that says that shape or color.  Xander liked this activity at first, but has now outgrown it, so we do not really use it that often anymore.  For a non reader, I have seen a clever mom just add a shape or color dot next to the corresponding word on these pages before giving it to her child.  I have also added these pages in Spanish!

Cutting Strips
These are just strips of paper with pictures of the animal on it.  I bought some training scissors for Xander to practice cutting the animals apart.
Lacing Cards
The printables include a sheet that has a large mother and baby of the animal, as well as an upper and lowercase letter.  After I had created all the printables, I stumbled across some bulletin board letters, which I ended up using for the lacing instead.  I print the animals on card stock, laminate them, and use a hole punch to create the cards.  I found these great laces from Oriental Trading Company.

Bottle Cap Matching
Each letter haw two bottle cap matching pages, one for upper case and the mommy animal, and one for lowercase and the baby animal.  I print them on card stock and put them in a page protector with some bottle cap letters I made (with these bottle caps).  I usually only give him uppercase or lowercase letters at a time, but you could mix them for a bigger challenge.

Size Sorting
The size sorting activity just has multiple pictures of the animal in different sizes.  Kids can practice arranging them biggest to smallest or the other way around.
Case Matching
The case matching activity comes involves sorting a bunch of letters into "mommy letters" and "baby letters."  It includes a page of letters to print out, but you could also use magnets, lacing beads, letter tiles, foam letters, or whatever else you have around.
Puzzles (Two and Three Part)
Each letter of the alphabet has two and three part puzzles.  I print them on card stock and laminate them.
Magnet Page
There are two magnet pages in the printables, one for uppercase and one for lowercase.  I use them with pom pom magnets, round magnets, or magnets I made with gems.  (I made them by hot gluing crafting gems to circular magnets).  I try to include at least two colors so that he can put one on the uppercase letters and one on the lowercase letters.  You could also use these pages with Do-A-Dot Markers.  Xander's favorit is to use magnetic bingo chips and a wand to pick them up after.
Number Cards
There are number cards for 0-10 in each of the printable sets.  You could print some paper numbers to go with, or we use plastic number tiles.  I usually give him half at a time.  Lately I have been using an overhead marker to write the number on the back of each card so that we can also go through them like flashcards (which he actually likes better).

Other Activities
Sensory Bin
Xander LOVES his alphabet sensory bin.  I colored some alphabet noodles and added a bunch of spoons and pourers.  Each week I add a bunch of the puzzle pieces, magnets, and other examples of the letter on which we're working.  I also usually grad the animals from his toobs off the shelves.  It makes for great practice pouring, spooning, etc.  He also enjoys hiding the animals under the noodles to play hide and seek.
Stamping
To go along with our alphabet themes, I got some great see though uppercase and lowercase stamps and washable stamp pads.  Sometimes we add foam alphabet stickers to his creations.
Alphabet Pegboards
Before starting our alphabet themes, I ordered Xander some alphabet pegboards.  I choose lowercase since those are more prevalent.
Alphabet and Animal Toys
Here are just a few of the other alphabet or animal toys we have and like.




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