Tot School, Letter P

Our week of the letter P lasted more than a week, because of holiday parties, shopping, appointments, etc. We read lots of books about pigs, penguins, parties, pancakes, and more. She played the piano and painted. She used pink and purple crayons, markers, and paint, and even got to draw with pens and pencils. We attended many Christmas parties...6, I think. So P dragged out, Christmas flew by, and we are ready to start the letter C. 

Before we do, here is a review of some of our letter P activities. I would like to point out that I emphasize the sound that the letter P makes over and over throughout each activity and give her examples that she can hear and repeat ("The letter P says /p/. What sound does the letter P make? Right, /p/, like /p/ penguin. Now you try."). 

My one year old, MC and I read Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester. Then, I drew a penguin on a piece of paper and gave her a variety of art supplies (including glue, scrap paper, tissue paper, paint, and glitter) to decorate him with. She made her own one-of-a-kind penguin!

We read Penguins, Penguins, Everywhere! by Bob Barner. Then, MC and I made a penguin puppet together. We used a black paper bag, orange construction paper, black felt (wings), glue, wiggle eyes, orange markers, and some white stickers. 

We read If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff. I drew a pig on a pink piece of construction paper, and cut out five circles (pancakes) from brown construction paper. First, she painted some maple syrup onto each pancake with a brush and brown paint. After the paint dried, I helped her glue the pancakes onto the pig. While she did this, we counted the pancakes. She insisted on putting one on the pig's eye...sure, why not?

The next morning, we re-read If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff. Then, I made us both pancakes for breakfast. I surprised her with a pancake shaped like a pig. He had a banana nose and chocolate chip eyes. She loved it!

One of the letter P activities I made for her was a P dot to dot made from a Bingo dot marker. I gave her purple and pink markers to trace it with. Some of the tracing was done hand-over-hand and some she did by herself. 

I would also like to mention that we read...a lot! At the beginning of each week, I collect all the books she has on the letter we will be working on, and put them into their own bin (for example, this week I collected all of her books about penguins, pancakes, ponies, the piano, pink, purple, pigs, etc. and put them into their own bin). I keep this bin in the living room, so throughout the day when she wants to read a book, I can easily pull one out and continue to emphasize the sound the letter makes. We also keep another book bin handy filled with books that I rotate depending on the season and holidays that are near (for example, it is now filled with books about snow, Christmas, hibernation, polar bears, snowmen,  and soon, Valentine's Day, etc.). We read out of both book bins throughout the day. 

Tot School, Letter D

We started learning about the letter D this week. Our D week consisted of dogs, donuts, dinosaurs, drums, decorating, daddy, dump trucks, diamonds, dresses, dancing, and much more. Here are some of our letter D activities:

We read Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs! by Sandra Boynton. I had a dinosaur and some winter clothes already cut out out of construction paper. MC studied my dinosaur, then we took it apart, and she made hers. She helped me glue the dinosaur down, then I put a dab of glue on the back of each piece of his winter clothing. I said what it was (for example: "hat") and then asked her where it goes. She placed each piece down herself. 

We read If You Give A Dog A Donut by Laura Numeroff. I cut a donut out of construction paper and MC helped me glue it down. Then I handed her a paint brush and a cup of pink paint mixed with some glue. I asked her to paint the donut. She helped me dump some sprinkles onto the wet paint/glue mixture, and then proceded to eat the left over sprinkles!

We read Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins. She helped me glue the construction paper drum down. Then we flipped the paper, I painted her hands, and she put her hand prints on the drum. We washed her hands. Then I added a foam D sticker to the drum and had MC trace it several times with her finger asking her to repeat the /d/ sound. 

We read Snowmen At Christmas by Caralyn Buehner, since it is December. I drew a tree, topped with the letter D on the back of some contact paper and taped it sticky side out on our sliding glass door. I gave MC some bows and some construction paper diamonds (a good way to learn a shape that begins with D) to decorate her tree with. After all, decorate does begin with D! 

We read Open the Barn Door... by Christopher Santoro. I gave MC a piece of white construction paper, markers, and crayons. She colored while I made the barn out of red construction paper. Then, I gave her the barn to color. When she finished, I cut the barn doors so that they would open. She helped me glue the back of the barn (not the doors!) to the white paper she colored. Then, we printed a picture of her dad (which also starts with D), I cut him out, and she helped me glue him down behind the doors. Now, she can open the doors and see dada!

After this project I wanted to get my little wiggle worm moving again. So, I wrote "D" several times on a piece of paper and cut each one out. I handed MC a letter D with a piece of double stick tape on the back and asked her to put it onto a door. I emphasized "D is for door" and the sound "/d/" over and over throughout this activity. She found a total of 14 doors, placing a D on each one. This was also a great counting opportunity!

Later in the day, we read The Little Dump Truck by Margery Cuyler. Then, we went around and she collected the D's from each door and placed them into her dump truck. Then, she dumped them into the trash! By the way, one of her favorite things to do is to dump things out, and when she does she says " dumped it" every time!

We read Go, Dog. Go! by P. D. Eastman, in which there are all kinds of dogs! I decided that we'd make a D-dog, with D-shaped ears and a D-shaped nose. We made him out of a paper plate (that MC painted brown), construction paper, and glue. Then we added some wiggle eyes. MC loves this dog and was very upset that she couldn't play with it while it was drying.

So, that was our week of the letter D. Next comes P!

Tot School, Letter M

My daughter, MC and I started tot school! The letter M was our first letter. We worked on the letter M for two weeks, however, my plan from here on out is to work on each letter for only one week. Here are our M activities:

We read If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff several times throughout the two weeks. Then, I drew a muffin on brown paper and cut up strips of purple paper (this was to be our blackberry jam). MC helped me tear the purple strips into smaller pieces (a great fine motor activity). Then, I put some dabs of glue onto the muffin and she placed the purple pieces on the glue. 

We read Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. I cut a moon out of yellow paper and we glued it onto a blue piece of paper.  Then, I put a few squirts of glitter glue on the moon and handed MC a paint brush. She brushed the glitter glue around until it was spread out. 

I also made a simple moon shadow puppet to use in our walk-in closet with a flashlight. I cut a moon shape out of card stock and hot glued it onto a straw. 

Next, we read Duck Duck Moose by Dave Horowitz. I took a close-up of MC, printed it out and cut her face out. She helped me glue her picture on a piece of paper. Then, I painted her hands brown and she made herself some hand printed antlers. I added MC the Moose onto the bottom.

We read The Mitten by Jan Brett. I cut out a pair of mittens from blue paper and MC helped me glue them on. Then, after realizing that we ran out of white paint, I instead painted her hands orange and she put her handprints into the mittens. I used my hair dryer to speed up the paint's drying process, then squirt some glitter glue onto the mittens. MC used a paint brush to spread it out all over her mittens. 

We read Pip and Squeak by Ian Schoenherr. Then, I made MC a mouse mask out of felt while she worked on coloring over an M I created with painter's tape.

It actually took her several days and my help to add this much color. Then, we peeled the tape off...

...and were left with this!

Here are some of our other M activites:

I drew an M on a piece of paper and she stuck stickers onto it.

After realizing that we don't have a chalk board (it's now on my Christmas wish list), I drew an M with chalk onto black paper, then handed her the chalk to see what she would do.

MC loves to "paint" with water. I drew an M on a piece of paper and gave her a paint brush and a cup of water. 

I cut a mitten out of construction paper and gave it to her to add to her coloring table.

Throughout the two weeks, we also made muffins, went to a cafe and ate muffins, got the mail, played with magnets, listened to music, read nursery rhymes, and read lots of books. Here are some of the other M themed books we read: 

Gingerbread Mouse by Katy Bratun

Mouse's First Fall by Lauren Thompson

The Best Mouse Cookie by Laura Numeroff

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood

If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff

Mice on Ice by Rebecca and Ed Emberley

Mooseltoe by Margie Palatini

That's Not My Mermaid... by Fiona Watt

Curious George: Snowy Day adapted by Rotem Moscovich

Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman