Tot School: P is for Pooh

Luv Bug is 36 months old

Ever since we bought Luv Bug the new Winnie the Pooh movie, I knew I'd have to do a Pooh theme for her. She LOVES Pooh and his friends. We had so much fun this week, I almost wish we could do it another week.

Luv Bug had 5 trays:

 Pattern Blocks

Luv Bug's bear, part of this set.

 

 Pink and Purple playdough.

 I bought these foam unit blocks at the Dollar Tree. Such a simple toy, but one of Luv Bug's favorite tray items.

 When I saw these cute counting fish over at Counting Coconuts, I knew Luv Bug would enjoy a set.

 She lined them up in order. We played this for awhile.

 I first saw the idea for this Mystery Bag over at The Princess and the Tot. There are so many fun things you can do with this. The first day, I put these four new Pooh characters inside as a special surprise.

 Another day, I gave Luv Bug a paper bag with the letter P printed on it. We went around and found things that make the puh sound to add to the bag.

Later, we added the 'P' items to her mystery bag. She had to reach in and guess what she was grabbing. We waited until Daddy was home from work to do this. We had a lot of fun with this game.

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 Some other Pooh or bear activities:

 I bought this from Scholastic awhile back. We played once, then Luv Bug just wanted to play with the bears.

 Lots of Pooh puzzles. Most came from the Dollar Tree.

I also bought this Go together game at the Dollar Tree. What I love about this game is that it is self correcting. After you find a match that goes together, you flip the cards over and the two cards will make a picture.

 I was so excited to find this HUGE Pooh Preschool Pack over at Living Life Intentionally. She created several sheets ranging in about ages 2-7. I chose a few to do with Luv Bug this week, then filed the rest for when she is older. All the printables below are part of that pack.

I made Luv Bug some Pooh cutting practice strips. Her cutting is definitely improving.

 Years ago, when I worked in pre-k, we made slime often. Even though it's been several years since then, the recipe is so easy (1 part Elmer's glue to one part liquid starch) , I didn't bother to check. I forgot that you MUST use Elmer's glue for this...whoops. It came out very stringy. Luv Bug didn't know any better and enjoyed it very much, so I just let her play with it.

 It was super sticky, so I set out a bowl of water for Luv Bug's hands. She put the 'slime' in it instead and it totally changed it's consistency.

 I took a piece out. It was very shiny and smooth, but very tough. You could stretch it a bit, but then it would snap in two, almost like a rubber band. Fortunately, my failed attempt at making slime, turned into an awesome sensory and science activity.

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A few random pics of the week:

 My mom gave us a bird feeder so Luv Bug could watch the birds out the kitchen window. So far, this squirrel's been the only visitor.

I had dinner on the stove, when Luv Bug said she needed the potty. She wanted to put her tights on herself, so I told her she could while I turned off the stove. This is how I found her when I came back in:)   Luv my Bug!!!!!

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Tot School (on break)

Luv Bug is 36 months old

It's been a crazy few weeks around here. We've had sickness, company, and more sickness. I usually take about 100 pictures each week, when I uploaded the pics from my camera from the last two weeks there were only 22. Fortunately, everything is getting back to normal around here. We didn't have any Tot School planned, but we did play quite a bit and did a few other activities.

 My family came for a long weekend visit. My sister made snickerdoodles with Luv Bug.

 I rarely buy paper plates but, since we had so many extra people, I picked up a pack. Luv Bug got ahold of them and laid out about half the package. She said she was making a path for her Little People.

 We went to the Dollar Tree and let her pick out a puzzle. When we got home, I realized it was one she already had. She didn't mind.

 My sister and brother in law are amazing bargain shoppers. They picked up quite a few Littlest Pet Shop sets for just a few dollars on clearance. Luv Bug has been spending a lot of time with these.

"Making mud" on an unseaonably warm day.

Our letter these last 2 weeks was O. This letter O do a dot page from Confessions of a Homeschooler was the only O activity we did.

Although I didn't snap many pictures, we did enjoy our time with our family and friends. We are looking forward to getting back into our routine next week.

Tot School Letter N

Luv Bug is 36 months old

We still have sickness in the house, so we mostly just did trays and play, but we did manage to fit in a few letter N activities.  I've been struggling with whether or not to include worksheet type printables. Luv Bug loves them and asks for them when I don't put them out, but I've noticed that she's been very clingy to me lately. I try not to do any cleaning or other things until Daddy is home to play with her or after bed, but there are times when I have to step away for a bit to prepare a meal or clean up a spill. If I am not right next to her, she will not play. She will come to whichever room I am in 'to keep me company'. I don't mind and I love the snuggles, but I worry that she isn't getting the  free play she needs.  I figured if I didn't use printables, we would have more time to play. Thankfully, I found this post of Carisa's over at 1+1+1=1. It discusses following the child's lead.  In our tot school, I only set out the activities. Whether and how she decides to do things is up to her. I've decided not to worry and just enjoy my little sidekick.

I was ambitious after a week with no planning and set out 7 trays.

 I set out her polished stones with some containers. She always enjoys this.

 I keep trying to get her to play Candy Land. She just wants to have the little gingerbread tokens move along the trail, then announce..."I win!"

 Whenever we do totbooks or lapbooks or file folder games, I store them in here. I bring them out every now and then so she can play them again.

 Patterning. Apple patterns from Confessions of a Homeschoolers Letter A unit.

I can't remember where the pumpkin one is from. If it's yours, please let me know in the comments and I'll add the link.

 A is for Apple puzzle from Confession of A Homeschooler's letter A unit.

B is for Butterfly from her letter b unit.

 This igloo file folder game was here at Preschool Printables.

From Confession of a Homeschooler's E and F units.

 Magnetic letters and word cards. 

 Melissa and Doug's magnetic doll.

 I first saw this idea here. First Luv Bug puts tees in block, then balances marbles on them. She loves this tray and it is always a big hit whenever I put it out for her.

 I had this old deli tray left over from a get together. I cut and laminated construction paper to fit each slot, then I gathered several small items for Luv Bug to sort. She did this a few times, but was much more interested in playing with the little animal counters.

 After we sorted them, we lined them up by color and talked about most and least.

As a variation, one day I added her Education Cubes. First she would roll the number cube, then the color cube and sort accordingly. This was the only turn she took, then decided she didn't like it.

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 She decided to color her letter n do a dot sheet from Confession of a Homeschooler's letter N unit.

 Completing Confession of a Homeschooler's letter N play doh mat.

 On a nice day we took her water beads outside.

 I had this sequencing sheet from years ago when I worked in Pre-K. Luv Bug did very well.

 Of course, lots and lots of puzzles.

The next few weeks we will just be doing spontaneous activities for tot school since we'll be having family visiting. Hopefully, we will finally get rid of this sickness and be ready to jump back in after they leave.