DIY Snowman game

We've been studying "weather" in school right now.  Today I came across a bag of cotton balls, so I made this counting game to teach Callie number recognition. It should be an easy game to make in Thailand when we won't have snow!

1. First I took an empty oatmeal container and made a face and buttons with markers.  I added a scarf (we used a pair of doll tights!)
2. Dump the "snowballs" on the ground.  (You could have older kids explain how snow is made).
3. Roll the dice (this is a wooden cube with stickers, but any dice would work).
   
   
4. Count out the number of snowballs you rolled and put (or toss) them in the snowman.
5. Continue doing this, taking turns. You must get the EXACT number to end the game.                 
   

   

   Callie rolled a 2!  She wins!

                            
6. Whoever gets the last of the snowballs in snowman wins and gets to put his "hat" on (the lid).

                 It's just a simple game, but the kids asked to play it again:)

The Napping House: teaching adjectives, synonyms, sequence, and context clues

Have you read "The Napping House" by Audrey Wood? The illustrations by Don Wood are beautiful and provide so many context clues to enhance the story. I used it today to teach Language Arts to the kiddos. Here's a video link, in case you don't have the book: The Napping House video
Or this video:  The Napping House with words to follow along with.


Every character is attached to an adjective: a snoring granny, a dozing dog, etc. We read one page of the story without the adjectives and discussed how boring the story is without the descriptive words.

Each of these adjectives is also a synonym for "napping." I didn't go too far into this topic, but it's helpful to show your children how there are many words that replace "sleeping" or "sleepy." It keeps the reader interested.

 Since our daughter is 3, she is able to answer basic questions involving sequence. Example: On every page as one animal joins the pile, another animal is waking up. I asked questions to her like: "Who is on the bed now?" "Who is waking up?" "Who will get on the bed next?"


Using the illustrations as context clues:
 1. Were the characters napping or sleeping? By using the clues in the story, we see that the granny was in her pj's until the end; she wore a dress outside.
 2. The weather: it rained in the beginning, but as morning approached, the room became brighter, until morning.  All of the rain and sun provided a rainbow!

Biblical Implications: This is not a religious story, however, it does point out cause and effect. Our actions cause reactions.

Writing: Writing can overwhelm a first grader like our son, so instead I gave him specifics. Fill in the blank and change the title, characters, adjectives, conflict, and solution/resolution. He chose:
Title: The Cranky House
Characters: Mommy, Daddy, Callie, Jack (our family)
Adjectives: grumpy, angry, mad, grouchy.
Conflict: (a character that changes the house to become the opposite). He chose a skunk that got in the house and chased everyone around and made them cranky.
Solution: The phone rang and scared the skunk out of the house and everyone was happy.

We then re-read the story, using our choices to alter the story. Try it with your kiddos and let me know how it went!

Apologia: Mercury

We are using Apologia's "Exploring Creation with Astronomy" for Science this year.  It's an awesome study that includes evidence of God in our Solar System.  We also use portions of the Junior Notebook from Apologia.  I hope this provides you with a few ideas and saves you some planning time:)

 
 Mercury!

 Activity shelf #1

"God Made Outer Space" (I think Nana picked this one up in the dollar section of Walmart?)

She also sent us this model of the Solar System.

I made up this little matching game (see below). 

 

 Match the number to the correct box. (Click here for the free printable version!)

The basket contains all of the cards we've studied so far (the Sun and Mercury).

(The larger cards are from Baby Einstein). Scroll down for an explanation of the 3 bowls.

The plastic container holds cut up pipe-cleaners.  Use with a magnet to make them

                  crawl up the side.  The kids LOVED this!

I suggest you use a jar that closes tightly if you don' t want this to happen!
             In case you're wondering why we played with magnets, it's because Earth and Mercury are the only 2 rocky planets that have a global magnetic field.

Sensory bowls
Mercury is: dusty (oat bran) and rocky (pebbles). 

 

 Galaxy Play-doh, (recipe found here), "Sam's Space Rescue" book,

The balls are paired together to show the size difference between

 Earth and Mercury, (but you could use a baseball and a golf-ball).

 Magic School Bus books are usually fun and informative, the cards in the holder were

from the dollar section at Target, and the holder is from Dollar Tree.
  The rest of the items are ingredients are for "Planet pancakes"  (scroll down).

 

Activity Shelf #2

 

 Easy reader book from Rocket Readers about colors (since Mercury has no 

atmosphere, the sky looks black!)  I added sparkly pom-poms

(non-magnetic) to our pipe-cleaner jar and paired it with the 

big magnet (a 15 cent find from my Thrift Store trip!)

 Use the magnet to separate items into the correct group.

 File Folder game: arrange by size.
(This came from McKay's in a big book of file folder games).

 Practice pouring "rocks from Mercury"

 Miniature Mancala game from my recent Thrift Store trip.  

This foam peg number set was 50 cent, also from a thrift store! 

I replaced the mini-rocks for flat marbles (from Dollar Tree).  Callie practiced sorting by color.

We called the pegs "asteroids."

(You could put a piece of plexiglass over the holes to explain how Earth is different:

God made our planet with an atmosphere to protect us from asteroids and to color the sky!)

Hammer time!

DIY: You can make your own version.  Click here!

I came up with this cooking activity as a review of Mercury:

Planet Pancakes!  You could make these for any of the planets, but here's what we did for Mercury:

• Dusty: pancake mix
• Cold (at night): Almond milk (or whatever liquid your recipe calls for).
• Hot (during the day): A hot cast iron skillet (or pan)
• Rocky: Chocolate rocks, (or chocolate chips, walnuts, or pecans).
• Asteroids: Blueberries (plopped in, to make craters)

Talk through each of the ingredients and compare them to Mercury. 

•  Add liquid to the pancake mix, then the "rocks" (and any other ingredients your recipe calls for.)

• Pour the pancake onto the hot skillet.

• Toss blueberries onto the pancake.

• Cook both sides and serve with Maple Syrup.

   (We poured the syrup around the pancake in an oval shape to remind us it's extreme elliptical orbit.)

 Our $1 sit-and-spin came in helpful to teach revolving and rotating.
The "rotate" sign says "revolve" on the other side and the child can demonstrate each.
(By using the sit and spin they are revolving around the pink handle).

The seat is an oval shape- a reminder of Mercury's extreme "elliptical orbit."

These are "Tegu Blocks"  they are awesome....but expensive.

 (We picked up this huge set on ebay for less than the retail price of the 8 piece set.)

Tegu blocks are magnetic so they stick to each other and this vintage tray my brother gave me.

 Use promo code B182S2133 by November 3rd to receive 20% OFF anything  at Tegu.com 
(Thanks "Surviving on a Teacher's Salary" for sharing the promo code!)

To learn more about our missionary work with homeschooling families in Thailand, please click here.

 My Apologia textbook is older, so I used a video to show the most recent space voyage.
 Video of the Messenger.

Freebie:  Use my printable pages to review facts and characteristics about Mercury.

Apples!

I grew up in Michigan and every fall we helped my dad pick apples from the little orchard of 9 trees in the front yard while my mom made applesauce or apple crisp. Now, with children of my own, for at least 1 week in September, we study apples and celebrate our incredible Creator, God!  This year was extra special because my parents were here for a few days of our apple unit!     

To learn about our homeschooling ministry

 in Thailand, click here

Bible story topics: God made fruit trees on Day 3 (Genesis 1:11-13)
                                The fruit of the Spirit (Galations 5:22)
                                 Adam and Eve and the "fruit" (Genesis 3)
                                 Bearing Fruit (John 15:5)
                                 Parable of the Seeds (Luke 8:1-15)
                                 Do a Bible word search for "apple" here.
                                        (Notice the phrase "Apple of my/your/his eye" used 4x).

            I hope you'll find the pictures and links helpful and time-saving as you study apples!
                              


Here's our activity shelf  #1.  The top shelf is for Jack, the middle is for him too, but safe for Callie to play with.  The bottom shelf is for Callie.

"Apples" book (a $1 garage sale find) covers the life cycle of apples, nutrition, origins, as well as historical
 characters like Johnny Appleseed.  The craft supplies on the right are paint,paint brushes and toilet paper tubes to
stamp and paint an apple picture like the one hanging in the background.

Parts of an Apple Chart,   A-P-P-L-E song cards,  apple book printable, sequencing cards from Kidsssoup, play doh apple molds, and a fantastic book called "Fruit" with picture overlays (bought for $1 at a garage sale!) Click here for more cute apple cards!  Or click here to make apple pie scented play-doh.  

  Book: "God Make Apples", "Apple Picking" from Kidssoup, play doh to make apples for each circle.  Pre-writing worksheet: tracing a line through the fruits (you could use stickers and draw a light colored line to trace).

Callie making play-doh apples as soon as she woke up.

Jack dissecting an apple to locate all of the parts: Core, Stem, Skin, Flesh, Seeds, Seed Covering

Apple Stamping!  She loved this!

Use a bent toilet paper tube dipped in paint to stamp the shape of an apple.

Activity Shelf #2

Preschool shelf: Sorting different colored cut-out apples and pom-pom apples.

Life Cycle of an Apple: the green apple is a pouch that I knit and inside it are 3-part cards.  The file folder is a math puzzle match up and the"Pattern Cards" on the right use the apples in the bowl to continue the pattern. (I think these were from Kidssoup too, but here's a freebie).

Activity shelf #3

We learned a lot with the Fruit section of our "Apologia Botany" book. Pumpkins and squash are really fruits!  We used this sticker garden set from Oriental Trading  to place the real vegetables together.  Jack designate a garden section for just the fruits.  The cards on the right were a free printable but I can't find the link.

Easy Reader book: "Apple Picking"  and "God Made the World" purchased at McKay's for .25 cents.  The worksheet hanging up is a printable found here that uses coordinates and coloring to make an apple (but don't tell the student it's an apple- let .  The apple cards have a number and since Jack is older I had him write the word in the apple (last year he drew the correct number of seeds instead). 

Activity Shelf #4

Sorting fruits with Hi-Ho Cherry-O. (A Christmas present from Aunt Katie!)  Cutting out "fruits of the spirit"  worksheet from kid's Wednesday night class.  Here is a similar printable coloring sheet.

"Adam and Eve" puzzle from the company Melissa and Doug (but I got it 90% off from at a store closing sale). This bi-lingual book came in the mail from the "Imagination Library."  Sign up here for this wonderful (and free) program.  The apple stick is a craft stick with a circle on it.  We painted this with glitter glue last year and use it to point to words in the books.

Sorting 3 colors of apples, and using fine motor skills to place the worms in the apple.  I got this game on clearance at TJ Maxx for $1.  We don't use it as the game suggests; Callie places the worms in the holes which is a great way to build the muscles of the"pincher grasp."

Activity shelf #5

This is a free printable.  Each person gets a tree card and draws an apple.  If it belongs on your tree you get to keep it.  The first person to get 10 apples is the winner.  The extra paper is for the child or parent to write their own numbers.

This is an old puzzle!  It has the months and the days around the sun (which I also used with our Apologia study of the sun).  The card to the left has trivia questions about apples.  I added the blocks because the red, yellow, and green reminded me off apples or apple slices (bought for $3 at Marshall's).  The card on the bottom left is an apple life cycle bracelet using a pipe cleaner  and beads to make a visual display of how and apple grows (and have the child talk their way through it).

The little pieces of fruit from Hi Ho Cherry-O fit into the apple game.
I used a little wooden spool as a stamper (I thought it looked like an apple core) to stamp the apple worksheet (that came as a set from Oriental Trading on clearance but is now discontinued.)  They go with the dilly-dot markers- similar to do-a-dot markers).

The kids doing their math together.  He's writing 1-100 and she's stamping up to 100 times:)

Activity Shelf #6

My mom gave me this nutmeg grater with whole nutmegs. We grated some fresh nutmeg for a pie. The Parable book on the right came from Dollar Tree.

Thanks Nana for the book "The Apple Pie that Papa Baked."
Thank you Susie for the little vintage cook-top stove.
Callie had a lot of fun baking and smelling nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves.
We also compared the 2 types of apples and filled in the chart using our 5 senses.

Here's little sis ladling apples for applesauce.
 (The girl loves pink.....even if it doesn't match:)

The game on the left is a picture BINGO game ($2 on clearance at TJ Maxx). It's a double-sided game with picture on one side and words on the other- perfect for a 2 year old and 6 year old!
Another dilly-dot worksheet from the set I mentioned above.
The "Squiggly Worms"apple game again: this time we sorted the worms by color.

Here she is sorting the worms.  Click here for more free APPLE printables.
I found an adorable sensory bin and other great ideas here.
More apple and Math printables.

Activity Shelf #7

Learning about Washington (the largest apple growing state in the USA).
Experiment: observing an apple "brown."
Singing along with the book "America the Beautiful."

Fruits of the Spirit: scrambled word find (from an activity book).
Word Bingo (as seen above with Callie).  Apple seed transferring with tongs.
Apples in a barrel (for the fractions poster activity).  Check out this apple barrel math printable.

Cutting fruit (a Christmas gift from Nana and Papa last year)
Transferring "apples" (colored plastic marbles).

This poster was also on clearance at Oriental Trading.  It's used with  dry erase markers and we attached the apples with sticky putty.
This book "Apple Fractions" looks really cute!

Counting cantelope seeds.
Be sure to check out THIS free sample of the Botany book from Apologia!

Sharing "fruit" during our Bible study on scattering seeds and bearing fruit.

Counting by two's with your feet.

Every time you land you add 2 more.

It was easier to see for him to skip count to 100 by seeing these numbers.

Odd and Even game (scroll up for the link to print this).

Introducing her to numbers- these are Sandpaper numbers.

Transferring marble apples was easy.

Transferring apple seeds was harder...

So she picked up the bowl and poured the seeds into the other- hahaha!

Picture Bingo for her.

Activity Shelf #8

Learning more about Washington state, counting "seeds" by two's,
comparing seeds, and reading a parable of the sower and the seeds.

Here's an close-up of the seed comparisons. The seeds of 1 cantelope vs. the seeds of 1 apple.

This is an apple bag that holds 1/2 peck of apples.  I filled it with all of our apple books that we've read so far.  Callie's fruit cutting set was used as fraction practice for Jack.
The book is "Apple Cider Days" (.25 cents at McKay's).  "What's Wrong" with the picture, worksheet.

Remember this game from my previous post?  We called this game:
"Don't Spill the SEEDS."  On the right: transferring pom-pom apples with tongs.

Such a cute math activity.  Jack decided to tape on the seeds.
(Scroll up for the link to this one.)

Practicing counting by 2's as he divided the "seeds" to play the game.

To learn about our homeschooling 
ministry in Thailand,
 click here.