We created our own mail center in our schoolroom and play room because my kids love getting the mail. They love to send letters to friends, teachers, and grandparents. They love to send and receive mail. I made some monster post cards to help us practice writing, addressing, and sending mail. Of course, these aren’t post cards for the US Postal Service: they are for our own homemade mail box!
My first-grade-aged daughter has a one track mind these days. There is only one superhero she is good enough to emulate: the Princess in Black! This monster-fighting princess is definitely one of our must read favorite characters. Using my basic sewing skills and online tutorials, I created a perfect ninja princess costume for her! Our Princess in Black costume is her favorite: it’s perfect for reading time together, but also for creative imaginative play.
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From when my second child was a toddler till today, when she is a kindergartner and my third child is a toddler, I keep them busy by setting up busy boxes (also called busy bags or workboxes). With fall comes apple picking season for us. The activities and books below are perfect for an apple themed busy box!
I teach a class at our co-op, and my son is present for one or two other classes as well. This means that my two daughters get to “hang out” a lot each week, sometimes with a different adult to watch her.
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My most recent crafty project was a random one that I thought of as I watched my kids playing: I made some corn on the cob to go in my son’s play kitchen. I’ve mentioned it before, I don’t feel that I am a particularly crafty person. Put me in front of a computer and sure, I can make something. But give me crafting supplies, and I often feel a little lost as to what to do first. Also, one other thing you should know about me: when I was about 7, I burned off a fingernail with a super hot glue gun. So I’ve always avoided those types of crafts. But. I have decided to give craftiness a go. My no sew felt corn creation has been the perfect compliment to our play kitchen, and it is so easy that even the not crafty can do it!
Strawberry has been begging for more “Princess Preschool.” Today’s princess habitat activity was inspired by my daughters Snow Queen (aka Elsa) finger puppets. So, while we found a habitat background for the Snow Queen, her sister, snowman, reindeer, and friend, we also found habitats for our other favorite characters (both princesses and not). Our princess imagination play was actually a princess science lesson in disguise too as we talked about our favorite characters’ habitats. Continue reading
Every week, on laundry day, my daughter loves to climb under a laundry basket and pretend she is Hermit Crab from the Eric Carle picture book, A House for Hermit Crab. She asks for a coral or a starfish to put on her “house.”
Last week, she got to meet her cousin’s new pet hermit crabs! She loved how one hermit crab wouldn’t come out of her shell, and one did. She’s talked about it all week. So, the next time laundry day came around, I decided it was about time I provide some hermit crab preschool accessories for her imagination play time! I added in some cut-and-past ordering fun, and she had a great time this last laundry day.
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My daughter loves making noise and she is fascinated by musical instruments. When I saw a Toob of musical instruments, I knew she’d love to play with them. Hence, here’s my instruments busy bag. It’s not a noisy one, such as you would expect. Rather, it is a quiet busy bag that requires her imagination to make the music. There is a time and a place for the noisy instruments, but today’s busy bag includes matching small, model instruments to instrument cards.
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