Tot School- January 2016 (2 Year, 2 Months Old)
This month's tot school went really well! There were so many fun activities, and I'm happy we actually got to them all! As always, I've added some notes and pictures throughout.
Hooray for the New Year! We are excited to get back to Tot School after a little break =]
Here is this month's plans! As always, some of the printouts/activities are my own, and some are from the web. I have linked all printouts and borrowed materials for easy access!
January 2016 Schedule
Here is this month's schedule. Print it out and follow along!
Supplies needed:
Dot markers
Crayons
Paint
Markers
Construction paper
Empty water bottle
Mini marshmallows
Egg Carton
Cotton balls
Noodles
Feathers
Shaving Cream
White Glue
Glitter
Epsom salt
Food coloring
Ping pong balls
Verse: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow.” -Isaiah 1:18
Color: Blue
Color: Azul
Letter: M,N,O
Letra: M,N,O
Number: 5
Numero: 5
Shape: Square
Forma: Cuadrado
Theme: Snow/ice, polar bears
Library Book List:
If It’s Snowy and You Know It, Clap Your Paws
The Mitten
Mouse’s First Snow
No
No Two Alike
Olivia and the Snow Day
Polar Bear Polar Bear, What Do You Hear
Sleep Big Bear Sleep
Winter Snow
Snowmen at Night
Welcome Winter
Winter touch and feel
Snowballs board book
The First Day of Winter
Winter Snow
Biscuit’s Snowy Day
Baby Loves Winter
Library books have quickly become one of Alynne's favorite things. We've started going to a weekly story time at our library (which is amazing btw), and when we're there we pick up new books, and boy does she get excited! We read them over and over and over again haha. She particularly loved Olivia and the Snow Day, Polar Bear Polar Bear, What Do You Hear, and Sleep Big Bear Sleep
Music (circle time)
5 Little Snowmen (Tune: 5 Little Monkeys)
5 Little Snowmen riding on a sled,
One fell off and bumped his head.
Frosty called the doctor and the doctor said,
“No more snowmen riding on the sled!”
I’m A Little Snowman (Tune: I’m a Little Teapot)
I’m a little snowman short and fat.
Here is my broom and here is my hat.
When the sun comes out, I’ll melt away.
But I’ll be back another day!
Ring Around a Snowman (Tune: Ring Around the Rosies)
Ring around the snowman,
A pocket full of snow.
Snowflakes, snowflakes,
We all fall down!
Snowman Chant
ABCDE, build a snowman just for me.
FGHIJ, Please don’t let him melt away.
KLMNO, Is he melting? No! No! No!
PQRST, Down he melts away from me.
UVWXYZ, I’ll build him again, just wait and see!
Oh, I am so horrible at remembering to incorporate these songs each month lol. Maybe I should start printing them out and posting them so I remember?!
Fine Motor/Worksheets
M Dot Art
Use dots or stickers to decorate printout
N Dot Art
Use dots or stickers to decorate printout
O Dot Art
Use dots or stickers to decorate printout
5 Dot Art
Use dots or stickers to decorate printout
M letter recognition
Use dot marker to identify the letter M
N Letter Recognition
Use dot marker to identify the letter N
O Letter Recognition
Use dot marker to identify the letter O
Square coloring sheet
Decorate with torn up blue paper
Blue coloring sheet
Polar Bear coloring
Aly still loves doing these, and knows what to expect with them!
Math
Color Sorting Mat
Place the corresponding small colored mittens on the large mittens.
Shape Sorting Mat
Place the corresponding small shapes on the large shapes
Number Sorting Mat
Place the corresponding small numbers on the large numbers.
MNO Sorting Mat
Place the corresponding small letters on the large letters.
Snowman in a Bottle
Decorate a clean, dry bottle or cup like a snowman with a sharpie and an orange triangle. Add mini marshmallows inside the small neck and practice counting as you go. Source
Snowball One-to-one Correspondence
Write numbers in the bottom of each section of an empty egg carton. Have each child put 1 snowball (cotton ball) in the egg carton. Close the cover and shake it. Then open it up and see which number it landed in. Then ask child to count out that many snowballs.
Mitten Math
Use this Mitten Math worksheet to count the mittens inside each box.
Snowman Sizes
Complete this attached snowman size discrimination activity by placing snowmen in order by sizes.
Aly really enjoyed the snowman in a bottle activity, she accurately counted the cotton balls as we filled the snowman, and he has hung around our apartment ever since! We also used ping pong balls for the one-to-one, and she continued to practice using the scooping scissors to scoop them up and place them in the egg carton! She's getting really good at that!
Art
M is for Marshmallows
Cut a “M” out of paper or foam. Decorate by gluing marshmallows onto the “M.”
N is for Noodle
Cut a “N” out of paper or foam. Decorate by gluing noodles onto the “N.”
O is for Owl
Cut an “O” out of paper or foam. Decorate by gluing feathers onto the “O.”
Fluffy Polar Bear Paint
Use polar bear printout to make fluffy paint. Mix together equal parts shaving cream and white glue in a disposable cup. Make sure they use a generous amount of fluffy paint for their polar bear! It will dry 3-D and puffy! Source
Fluffy Snowman
Cut out a snowman shape out of white construction paper. Add eyes, nose, arms, and hat using other construction paper. Glue cotton balls all over the snowman’s body. Add construction paper buttons if desired. Source
Snow Name
Write child’s name in glue on blue construction paper. Sprinkle the glue with fake snow or white/silver glitter. Let glue dry. Source
Epsom Salt Snowflakes
Cut out a snowflake shape out of paper. Paint with a thick mixture of Epsom salt and water. This will look crystallized—like a real snowflake! Source
Mitten Handprints
Trace child’s hand with fingers close together and thumb spread apart to create a mitten shape. Cut out and allow child to decorate any way he/she chooses! Source
Aly is quite used to decorating our weekly letters now! She especially loved decorating with marshmallows, because she got to eat them too, and after we were done we made rice krispy treats! Aly really enjoyed all of these art activities, I'm not sure what was were favorite, perhaps the fluffy snowman! Least favorite was the epsom salt snowflakes, it wasn't as sparkly as we had hoped!!
Science/sensory
Snowman Felt Play
Create a large snowman with removable hat, scarf, eyes, nose, mouth, and arms.
Ice Color Mixing
Using food coloring, color water red, yellow, and blue and then freeze them in ice cube trays. Next, color warm water red, yellow and blue. Drop the colored ice cubes into the warm water and watch them dissolve and change colors. "What do you think will happen when we mix this blue ice into red water? Let's see!"
Drop red ice into yellow water ---->orange
Drop yellow ice into blue water ---->green
Drop blue ice into red water --->purple
Source
Snowball Water Play
Fill a big tub (or the bathtub and play inside!) with water. Using a sharpie, label some ping pong balls with the numbers 1-10. Ask your child, "Do you think these balls will sink or float?" and then experiment! Each time they retrieve a ball, talk about what number is written on the ball. My kids liked to place these into egg cartons once they fished them out! I suggest using measuring cups or large serving spoons to scoop. Source
Winter Sensory Bin
Fill with cloud dough, silver tinsel, and all things blue and white.
White Glitter Playdoh
Make white playdoh with glitter to have snowball playdoh fun! Recipe
Alynne had a blast with these activities as well. She quickly named her snowman on the wall Frosty and loved to give him 5 eyes and no buttons! Cloud dough, water play, and the color mixing were all great activities that kept her occupied for over 30 minutes, most of the time I had to pry her away haha. By far the color mixing activity was our favorite activity of the month!
Finally, here are some pictures of her completed work, as well as some other projects we did- body tracing and using scissors for the first time!
