Book Review: Nature Play Workshop for Families

Happy Publish Day!!!🎉🎉

Thank you to @Netgalley and Quatro Publishing/Quarry @quartokids for letting me preview

this amazing book Nature Play Workshop For Families by Monica Wiedel-Lubinski & Karen Madigan. 

The timing of this book is perfect.  If you are like me I am looking for ideas to do with the children

that can be done at a safe distance.  This book is filled with wonderful ideas and activities that can

be done in your yard or at the park/nature trail.  No special supplies are needed, you can use what

is around you.   

What I loved about the book is the easy to follow layout.  Each activity has simple directions

along with beautiful photos.   All the activities are divided by seasons which makes it easy to

plan outings and activities. The last two chapters are activities you can do anytime. 

 

I set up an easy to do scavenger hunt that we did in our own backyard. 

I only had to print out a page from the back of the book. 

We grabbed our magnifying glass and headed out to the garden.  

The activity took about 15 minutes. Depending on the age of your children you could

extend it longer.

 

If you don’t have children yourself, this book would make a great gift to give to your

grandchildren or other young children in your life.  

Book Review: Banana!

Book Review

Thank you to NetGalley, Words Pictures Book, and Quarto Kids for providing me with

the ebook of Banana!

Oh My Gosh!  This book is so cute.  It is perfect for the little one in your life.

  My grandson and I read the ebook together, therefore we did not have the benefit

of the “dangly food items” that the book description talks about.  However, we had

so much fun guessing what we thought the animals might eat.  My grandson loved

the use of onomatopoeia in the book and I enjoyed the colorful illustrations.  At the end

of the book we had a wonderful discussion about what we guessed the animals would

eat and what the illustrations had created.  All said and done, Little guy and I had a

wonderful reading experience together. 

I definitely will keep this book in mind as I purchase books for friends and family.

It will be coming out in April of 2021 so please look for it.

I know you and your little ones will enjoy it.

The Letter I

Little Guy and I are working our way through the alphabet and this week we are on the Letter I. 

Although Little Guy can identify most of the capital letters of the alphabet we are still going through it one letter at a time and talking about things that begin with that letter. 

So this week is the letter I.  We started with reading the story,  Inch by Inch, by Leo Lionni.   I brought out a sensory activity that I had prepared for him, Saving the Inchworms from the Ice.  It was very simple to set up.  I have some measuring inchworms and I pulled out all the inch size worms and put them in an ice tray.  I filled the trays up with water and froze them over night.  When we were ready to start the activity, I got some warm water, food coloring and the eye droppers.  Little Guy just squirted away. 

Little Guy enjoyed squirting warm water on the ice.  He put all his inchworms in a container and then we got out his notebook.  

First he sorted all the inchworms by color, then we counted how many inchworms of each color.  Then I introduced Little Guy to the terms most and least and had a little discussion.  This activity did not last long because Little Guy's attention span is very short.  

After lunch we decided it was time to do our I art project.  

We made an ice cream cone with a cherry on top.  Little Guy wanted strawberry and chocolate scoops.  

I couldn't believe it, but Little Guy sat for yet another activity.  I had prepared this name activity for Little Guy in his notebook.  With this activity I was introducing the lowercase letters in his name.  Very simple for me to set up and for Little Guy to complete. 

Of course, we had a scoop of ice cream after lunch.  It was a fun week.  

Mouse Unit

Now that school's are closed, I know many parents are struggling to find activities to do with their little ones.  It is no different with my family.   My little grand-daughter is not getting the services that she needs.  Her mother and father are at home with her trying to adapted lessons that are sent home for all the students in her class. These lessons do not meet her IEP goals.   So I created a unit at her level and can be used for any preschool/kindergarten level children and it's easy enough for parents to follow.    

It centers around the books Mouse Paint, Mouse Count, and Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh.  I went to the NAEYC and read the guidelines and made sure that the unit was appropriate and followed their curriculum guidelines.  The unit has a little bit of everything in it: art projects, number and pattern games and a flannel board story.  I tried to keep it as simple as possible and even added steps of how to change it up for different levels.  

 There are ten different activities for your child/children to do:
Activity 1:  Science and Art Project
Activity 2:  Color Patterning Cards
Activity 3:  Color/Shape Memory Game
Activity 4:  Flannel Board Story
Activity 5:  Mouse Counting Cards
Activity 6:  Mouse Bingo
Activity 7:  Mouse Shape Art/Class book
Activity 8:  Pattern Blocks with Shapes
Activity 9:  Roll and Cover Shape Game
Activity 10: Vocabulary Match Boards/Writing Center Cards
Additional Book List/Rhymes

This unit is available at my TPT store and May 6-7-8, 2020 I am hosting a giveaway on my Instagram account.  Stop by and follow and maybe you will win a copy of the unit.  

Stay Safe and I hope you get a chance to get outside and enjoy some nice weather.  😀 

Sale and Giveaway

Today and Tomorrow is a sitewide TPT sale.  Everything is 5% off.

  My store also has markdowns as well.  

My giveaway is taking place on my Instagram feed  @theverybusykindergartenblog.  

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