Sight Words Balloon Pop

Teaching Xander to read vocabulary words was super fun and easy (mostly through Little Reader).  Sight words are much less fun.  I still flash them to him through Little Reader, but it is hard to reinforce them with no pictures/tangible items.  For a fun twist, I decided to play a sight words balloon popping game.

I started with a bunch of water balloons and a push pin. 

Xander got to pick a balloon and read me the word.  If he read it correctly, he got to poke it with the pin.

His reactions were priceless!

 The game was a great success!  He immediately asked to play again!  How do you reinforced sight words with your kids?

World Landmarks

Last week Xander convinced me to buy him the Around the World Toob while we were at the store.  Since he loved playing with them, I went ahead and made some 3 Part Cards and a Little Reader Lesson to go with!  He has since asked me to buy him a Leaning Tower a Pisa and a Big Ben.

You're welcome to download the 3 Part Vocabulary Cards Here

You can download the Little Reader Lesson here.

I for Iguana

Xander is 27 Months

We are currently working on our Mommy & Me ABC units.  This week was letter I and iguanas.  Unless otherwise specified, all of the iguanas 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).

 His white board had some cut outs, some alphabet magnets, and his fridge phonics set..  His shelf had some I's, the iguana from his alphabet zoo, and an iguana from his toob.  Above the shelf were some flashcards from 1+1+1=1 and some more I's.

Playing with the letters and iguanas.

Letter I Puzzles

We have a few different alphabet puzzles, so we did the ones for letter I.

Pattern Blocks

I used the lizzard template from our Scholastic Zoo set and our magnetic pattern blocks.  I didn't get any shots of him assembling it because he needed some help.  What was cute was later he was just playing with the pattern blocks and told me he was going to make a lizard.

Iguana Play Dough Fun

This week we used the dough stamping page from my Alphabet Play Dough Set (also in the printables) and the letter I play dough mat from 1+1+1=1.

Iguana Size Sort

Iguana Bottle Cap Matching

Alphabet Sensory Bin

Scooping, pouring, and hiding hippos in his "noodles."  I told him he had to keep the noodles over the box, so he played hanging halfway into it.

Iguana tracing page from 1+1+1=1.

Iguana Bag Toss
Ok, so technically the lizards on the bean bag toss game are chameleons, but we pretended they were iguanas.  Xander had a great time playing and even took it to daycare one day!

Other Tot School Activities
We have been playing with lots of learning toys lately (partially because I feel guilty for how little time we have had for tot school).  
Coloring

I got him a Saxoflute and he LOVES it.  He carried it around all day one day.  We also got out his gears, which we haven't used in a while.

"Cooking" in the tub was a HUGE hit.  He played so long I had to keep adding warm water.

Stacking blocks.

Doing "homework" with mommy.  ( I know I've said it, but I LOVE his new washable dry erase markers!)

Working hard on his computer.

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 (Hippopposites, All 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