Theme: Penguins
December Themes: My boys (ages 2, 4) go to preschool twice a week, so I planned our activities for the off days - Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I printed a monthly chart (link to come) as a way to keep organized and stay on track. However, some weeks we just do activities as we go. Here's the first week at a glance:
MONDAY:
Art (I is for Igloo): This was simple to put together and my boys really enjoyed this igloo craft.
Treat (Apple Igloos): These are from Mrs. Plemon's Kindergarten. You'll need a top half of an apple, peanut butter and marshmallows to make your igloo.
Fine Motor (Penguin Egg Dissection): My boys LOVED dissecting these penguin eggs! This was our favorite activity of the week. Click for a detailed tutorial on our Penguin Egg Dissection.
Sensory (Magic Snow Penguin Play): I found a magic snow set that came with a little penguin from Target and knew it would be perfect for our Penguin Theme this year. My boys loved watching the snow "grow" over and over again. You can view a video of it magically growing below. We used the penguins from our dissection to play with in our snow! Don't forget to check out our other sensory post on snowy penguins!
WEDNESDAY:
Letter (Iceberg Squish): We made this Alphabet Squish (from I Can Teach My Child) into a penguin/iceberg theme! I would call out a letter and my boys would use their toy penguin to jump onto the corresponding ice berg. My boys loved squishing these ice bergs! And I may have squished a few, too ;)
Numbers (Gone Fishin'): I printed numbered fish/penguins from our Babes, Tots and Kids e-book and we used them to fish! Our magnetic fishing pole is from Lakeshore Learning. I put paper clips on the fish so they would stick to the pole. My boys would catch a fish, count the number of dots, and "feed" it to the corresponding penguin.
Sorting (Kinds of Penguins): Print these penguin cards (from Welcome to Mommyhood). Talk about different types of penguins and use them to make ABAB or AABAAB patterns, play memory or match.
Science (Will It Slide?): Both my boys really loved learning a little about friction and testing different items to see if they would slide or not. Click here for a tutorial and your free printable!
FRIDAY:
Rhyme (Five Little Penguins): We have always loved singing this song about penguins! We re-enacted the song with our play penguins and magic snow from our sensory activity.
Gross Motor (Penguin Dance): I blew up a balloon and we had all sorts of fun playing with it. We talked about how penguins "waddle" when they walk and stuck the balloon in between our legs to practice waddling. We also talked about how Emperor Penguin fathers take care of the egg in the cold winter months on their feet. We practiced walking with the balloon on our feet. I didn't get a picture of ours, but this is the idea from What Moms Love.
Color (Penguin Hat Match): We love this color matching activity from Totschooling. My boys would draw a hat, identify the color (my two needs help with a few still) and match it to the corresponding penguin.
Outing (Penguins at the Zoo): We drove a couple hours north to visit the penguins at our Local Zoo!
(picture to come)
Penguin Booklist: And of course, we read often throughout the week. We mostly read before our quiet times each day, but we occasionally read during a meal or random time during the day. I placed these books on hold at our local library a week in advance and we enjoyed reading them this week as we learned about penguins:
- 365 Penguins by Jean Luc Fromental
- Counting Penguins by Betsey Chessen
- The Emperor's Egg by Martin Jenkins
- If You Were a Penguin by Wendell and Florence Minor
- Penguins! by Gail Gibbons
- Penguins, Penguins Everywhere by Bob Barner
- Penguin Pete by Marcus Pfister
- Plenty of Penguins by Sonia Black
- Puffins Climb, Penguins Rhyme by Bruce McMillan
- Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester
Note: We FINALLY started week two of our beginning reading program for my four. We learned a new sight word ("a") and worked on handwriting, rhyming, beginning sounds, and teen numbers this week. This program is very outlined and takes 15 minutes or so per day. We plan to do it right as my two goes down for a nap.
