Letter U - Umbrellas: Craft, Pretend Book Play, Shape Puzzle, Size Ordering, Floor Numbers
Umbrella Craft: I've always wanted to use cupcake liners and pipettes for an art project and this was was a winner. Easton glued on cotton balls for the clouds and a cupcake liner (folded in half)/pipe cleaner for the umbrella. I filled a container with water and blue food coloring and Easton used a pipette to drip "rain drops" onto our art project. The inspiration for this project comes from a similar idea using craft glue for the rain drops from Family Crafts (second picture).
Umbrella Shape Puzzles: I found and printed the remaining Umbrella Activities from Confessions of a Homeschooler. I laid out the right half of our shape puzzles and handed Easton a left side of the shape puzzles one at a time. He matched and identified the shapes.
Umbrella Size Ordering: Next, I laid out the different sized umbrellas. I asked Easton which one is the biggest. He told me and we set it aside. Now, which one is the biggest umbrella? We set it aside next to the first umbrella (etc.) until we'd sorted all the umbrellas from biggest to smallest.
Umbrella Floor Numbers: We could have used these a variety of ways, but I used them as number flashcards today. I flipped the cards and Easton identified the number (first picture below). Here are a few other options:
1. Order the cards 1-10.
2. Use them as action cards. Lay the cards out and call out different actions. "Jump on the number seven!" "Spin on the number 5!" "Clap on the number 1!" This would be a fun way to review numbers.
3. Lay corresponding drink umbrellas or another manipulative on the number cards (second picture below).
Pretend Book Play: Easton came up with this idea on his own today - he LOVES to pretend play. After reading through our Umbrella Books from our Letter U Booklist, Easton re-enacting the stories using our plastic toy figures (rainforest TOOB for "The Umbrella" by Jan Brett and Savannah TOOB for "The Umbrella" by Ingrid & Dieter Schubert) and drink umbrellas. This was Easton's favorite part of the day!
Umbrella Shape Puzzles: I found and printed the remaining Umbrella Activities from Confessions of a Homeschooler. I laid out the right half of our shape puzzles and handed Easton a left side of the shape puzzles one at a time. He matched and identified the shapes.
Umbrella Size Ordering: Next, I laid out the different sized umbrellas. I asked Easton which one is the biggest. He told me and we set it aside. Now, which one is the biggest umbrella? We set it aside next to the first umbrella (etc.) until we'd sorted all the umbrellas from biggest to smallest.
1. Order the cards 1-10.
2. Use them as action cards. Lay the cards out and call out different actions. "Jump on the number seven!" "Spin on the number 5!" "Clap on the number 1!" This would be a fun way to review numbers.
3. Lay corresponding drink umbrellas or another manipulative on the number cards (second picture below).
