Theme: Valentines


Letter of the Week: V

February 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 second week at a glance:



MONDAY:

Letter (V is for Valentine Man): I thought these turned out so cute as we learned about Letter V!



Numbers (Heart Counting): I found these hearts at the Dollar Tree. I wrote numbers 1-10 on them as well as the matching number of dots. My four placed the pom poms on the hearts and my two placed the pom poms on the dots. 


Science & Sorting (Love Potions): Add in a little Love Powder (baking soda) and mix it with Liquid Love (colored baking soda) to make a potion! My boys loved this! You can talk about the colors and watch what happens when you mix two colors together. When we were finished playing, my boys hopped in the tub and helped me wash and sort all the matching pieces together.  


WEDNESDAY:

Art (Valentine Bags): We had a big PARTY at our house for Valentine's Day! Each kid brought Valentine's to share with the other kids. The first station at the party was decorating Valentine Bags. Each child decorated a white lunch bag with markers, heart stickers and heart stamps (all from the Dollar Tree). Make sure to write names on bags. At the end of the party we put all the bags in a line and the kids dropped their Valentine's inside each bag.  




Sensory (Valentine Flubber): The second station at the party was Valentine Flubber! I found the trays, rollers, play dough stampers and play dough scissors all at Lakeshore Learning. The heart cookie cutters are from Target. All the kids loved the Flubber at the party! You better believe my boys have spent HOURS playing with it at home this week. You can get the Flubber Recipe and see other ways to play by clicking the link.



Treat (Heart Cookies): The third station was cookie decorating! 


Gross Motor (Bean Bag Toss): I was planning on making this for the party, but ran out of time! 


FRIDAY: 

Shape (Glitter Hearts): My boys got really into making these Glitter Valentine Hearts! Before starting, we talked about Valentine's and ways we can show love to people. We made a list of all the people we loved and then made a card to give or mail to each one. Mama drew a picture with glue and the boys shook glitter all over the glue. My four was obsessed about a Valentine Balloon with two dogs and a heart we have at home and wanted me to replicate it. When we were done he said he didn't want to give any of them away anymore, because they turned out too cool. ;)



Song/Rhyme (Skinnamarink): We love this action song about love. Click to view.


Fine Motor (Spongy Heart Play): My boys really got into this Valentine's Spongy Heart Play! Who would've thought sponges could be so much fun? I cut hearts out of white and pink sponges and filled the bin with plastic hearts, heart slinkies, heart containers, lemon squeezers and a colander. I also put a second tray out with cups for the boys to squeeze the sponges into. We added pink food coloring into the bin and it was so cool to see the sponges squeeze out pink water into the cups! 


Outing (Heart Attack): We surprised dad by Heart Attacking his office door while he was at lunch. The pink heart are from me, red from my four and pink from my two. I love watching my boys be so sneaky tip toeing into his office. They loved this!



Valentine 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 Valentines:
  • The Biggest Valentine Ever by Steven Kroll
  • Biscuits Valentines Day by Alyssa Capucilli
  • The Day it Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond
  • Fancy Nancy: Heart to Heart by Jan O'Connor
  • Happy Valentine's Day, Mouse by Laura Numeroff
  • Hedgehugs by Steve Wilson
  • Love Splat by Rob Scotton
  • Valentine Mice! By Bethany Roberts
  • Where is Baby's Valentine? by Karen Kratz
  • Will You Be My Valentine? by Teresa Bateman

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