Category: Ages 2-6: Theme Time (age 2-4)

Theme Time: Human Body 0

Theme Time: Human Body

In this activity we talked about various handicapsand physical disabilities. Then we talked aboutarthritis and how difficult it would be to be inpain and have swollen joints and so forth. I thentaped Popsicle sticks to their fingers and theytried to see if they could pick things up withtheir fingers immobilized. The last picture is of the inside of a pomegranate.We had never had one before and tried it atlunch. LD...

Princess Counting 0

Princess Counting

I printed off princess bookmarks from here. (Iactually used the j-peg image so I could printtwo sets (16 bookmarks total) on one page, but youcan also get the larger bookmarks in a pdf file there. (It took several tries, but I did manage to view thepdf file, just so you know.) I put a dot sticker onthe bottom with the numerals 1-19. I pulled outour beads and DD has really...

Theme Time: Princess 12

Theme Time: Princess

With two girls, we have lots of princess thingsaround. Since it really appeals to the girls, I seeno reason not to tap into their interests. So from bugs,frogs and the outdoors one day–to princesses the next! At any rate, the princess theme was a big hitespecially the wooden castle which DD paintedand the princess numbers/beads. We did lots ofbuilding, puzzle making, read lots of princess booksand things like that.

Theme Time: Monsters and Dragons 0

Theme Time: Monsters and Dragons

We read every book on the table this time! Thebig hit was the monster bowling game (fromAuntie G and Uncle S) and the board game,Adventures in Neopia which we hadn’t playedfor a while. It is such a great board game itwas worth a picture on its own (last pic). Itconsists of 7 mini games that you play on yourway to earning lots of money. Mini games include:shooting an arrow onto...

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Chameleon Craft (Animal Habitat Unit)

LD: orange chameleon, DD: pink chameleon, Mom: green chameleon, ED: multicolored chameleon. While on the hunt for Eric Carle craft ideas, I went to visit two of my favorite art websites: Deep Space Sparkle and Art Projects for Kids. Art Projects for kids showed a very cute picture of a chameleon. We read this book by Eric Carle: The Mixed-Up Chameleon. (affiliate link) I had the kids watch the slide show at Eric Carle’s Website about...

Theme Time: Eric Carle Books 0

Theme Time: Eric Carle Books

I set out a number of Eric Carle books (and books of asimilar style). Then I rounded up puzzles and gamesthat went along with the characters in his books. I alsoset out a simple craft for the girls which was a big hit. Ihad pre-cut caterpillars, butterflies and tissue paperpieces that they could glue on. Although DD would havebeen fine to cut up the tissue paper, ED would haveinsisted on...

Theme Time: Numbers, numbers 0

Theme Time: Numbers, numbers

My, I feel like a broken record this week, but the themetime table has worked so well! I saw so much spontaneous use of our materials. I use workboxes, but again for ED and DD havingthings out really draws the girls in. So, this set up was all about numbers. I pulledout some math manipulatives for them to playwith. I pulled out all kinds of number relatedbooks. I also pulled...

Theme Time: Alphabet 0

Theme Time: Alphabet

There’s not too much to say about this themetime except, goodness, we sure have things tucked awayeverywhere! We have wonderful friends whohave passed us lots of games, puzzles and books. Ido find myself playing more games this way than whenI had the games in workboxes.  I wish I had somelovely shelves set up like some of you, but this little crafttable seems to be working wonderfully for the 2 and...

Theme Time: Fire Safety 0

Theme Time: Fire Safety

Today our theme time table included all thingsfire related: little fire trucks, a fire hat, fire typebooks and a non-working telephone. At lunch I ready a couple of books (The Fire Catand The Polka Dot Puppy about a cat/dog who getsadopted by a fire station). After lunch we allgathered together and had a serious talk aboutfire safety. It’s been quite a long time (gulp!) sincewe talked about this, but LD...

Fire Safety Activity 0

Fire Safety Activity

Before starting, we tested our smoke alarms.Be sure you do this soon too! Now on to the activity!! I set up a few obstacles and the kids had togo through the blinding smoke safely andquickly. I talked to them about how confusingand scary it might be if they couldn’t see. Andhow they should cover their mouth with acloth and try to stay as low to the ground aspossible (things like...

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Theme Time: Ocean Creatures

The theme time table is working really well and only takes 10-15 minutes to cleanup and change over. It’s been great to bring in such a variety of books into our day again. And as I said in an earlier post, having things out on display work really well to ‘lure’ the girls (ages 2 and 4) in when they are interested. Obviously the theme of this table is ocean...

Theme Time: Farms 0

Theme Time: Farms

I needed to do something a bit different for my two and four-year olds, so I’ve decided to set up a theme collection each morning. It’ll help me rotate in some of the preschool games and toys  we have and to bring a new selection of books out. And, while the workboxes work well, by having a display out on the craft table, ED (age 2) is much more drawn...

Theme Time: Dinosaurs 0

Theme Time: Dinosaurs

It’s amazing how many books and things you findin various nooks and crannies around the house.We had quite a large selection of dinosaur books,puzzles, animals (mostly from my childhood!).I added in a puppet, board game and made amath worksheet for DD. (You can download itat the right if you’re interested.)  The wonderful thing about this was that ED andDD spent a LOT of time here today doing thingsindependently (though I...