News with Naylors

Waterfall Painting :  I've wanted to try "drip painting" for a while, so this  Waterfall Painting Tutorial  from teaching 2 and 3 year olds was perfect. Here's what you need: White Foam Board (dollar store) Pipettes Liquid Watercolors Plastic Containers - to hold the paint Water Balloon Shapes & Water Balloon Baseball : I saw  Water Balloon Numbers  on the measured mom blog. We already did a number activity this week, so I thought water balloons would be a fun way to review shapes. I drew shapes on our driveway with sidewalk chalk and filled up our Buncho Balloons from the grocery store - there is no tying involved and you can have 100 balloons filled in a minute (see first picture below)! I would call out a shape and Easton would find and throw the balloon at the shape. We had so many balloons, we decided to play Water Balloon Baseball afterward. What a fun afternoon! Pool Noodle Water Wall : I saw a Pool Noodle Water Wall ...

Vase Craft : I found a very similar craft on the  Letter V Crafts List  from the Measured Mom blog. The vase is shaped as a Letter V to reinforce our letter this week. Easton helped me hole punch the flower color of his choice and glue on the stems and flowers. We used this  flower hole punch . Water the Flowers (Shape Review) : I found a similar activity using letters  on mom inspired life. I used sidewalk chalk to draw a Letter V for the vase and shapes for the flower. I would name a shape and Easton would "water" the matching shape flower. All the activities on my blog are meant as invitations for toddlers to learn and explore in their own way. After finishing this activity, Easton spent another 45-minutes outside watering rocks, grass, pine cones, dirt, etc. We had a lot of fun with our watering can today! Dyeing Flower Experiment : I have seen this science experiment all over Pinterest and have always wanted to try it! I finally had an excuse - ...

Owl Craft #1 : I found this idea on the Letter O Crafts  list on the measured mom blog. This was one of my very favorite crafts we've done so far - most likely because it includes Easton's darling hand prints. Easton loves snow owls, so we made ours white. We used a celery stick, dipped and stamped with brown paint for the feathers. Owl Craft #2 : I found the  Owl Craft  below on no time for flashcards and have to post it, because I think it's adorable. I love how it uses the Letter O to make an owl. They used construction paper and a brown dot marker for the feathers. Owl Shape Match : I found these darling owl shape printables  on mommyhood from holland (see picture below). Easton matched the shape on the owl to his home (the matching shape on the tree). Easton hasn't learned the names of all the shapes (like trapezoid), but it was still a great matching activity. Owl Opposites : I found another great free printable " Owl Opposites " from 1+...

1) Egg Stamping : Draw a block letter E on a piece of paper. Have your child dip the top or bottom half of some plastic eggs in tempera paint and stamped it onto your letter E. 2) Oviparous Egg Hunt from Preschool Mom: Before reading "Chickens Aren't the Only Ones" from our Letter E Booklist ask your child if he/she knows any animals that lay eggs? Read the book and do the activity afterward. You'll need: Oviparous Animals Pictures 15 Plastic Easter Eggs A Large Egg (cut from construction paper) Glue Stick Place the animal cards inside the eggs (one per egg) and hide the eggs around the room. Have your child go on a hunt for the eggs. Once he/she finds an egg, open it up and glue the picture onto your large egg. Talk about the animal. Repeat until all the eggs are found. 3) Egg Wiggle Game from Preschool Alphabet: This is a spin on charades. You'll need: Oviparous Animals Pictures Eggs, cut from card stock (you could also use foam e...

1)  Envelope Craft   from No Time for Flashcards: This was a fun way to review the Letter E. You'll need: Four  long envelopes   Crayons (markers would work as well) Glue Construction Paper (color of choice) Have your child color all four envelopes. Help your child glue the envelopes onto a piece of construction paper, making a letter E. Ask your child to identify the letter. 2)  Envelope Sorting  from Toddler Approved: I love this idea, because there are so many sorting options. We focused on colors, but you could also sort shapes, numbers, letters, animals, food groups, etc. My three loved pretending to be the mailman and sorting "letters" (construction paper squares, pictured in a bowl at the bottom of the page) into their matching envelopes. 3) Write a THANK YOU letter to the Mail Man from Preschool Alphabet:  Write "THANK YOU Mail Man!" on a piece of white paper and let your child decorate it with stickers, crayons, s...

Choose one of the craft options below: 1a) J is for Jelly Bean : Easton loved this craft - mostly because it involves a squirt bottle! White Paper Jelly Beans Squirt Bottle  Draw a Letter J on a piece of white card stock. Have your child place Jelly Beans all over the paper.  Use a squirt bottle and spray all the jelly beans. After a little bit of time, the jelly beans color wore off onto our paper.  After our project dried, I cut out the Letter J and glued it onto black paper.  Option: Instead of using water and a squirt bottle, try gluing the jelly beans onto your Letter J. 1b) Jelly Bean Color Sort & Painting:  Place a handful of jelly beans and three colored cups onto your art table. Sort the jelly beans into their correct colors. Add water to the container.  Let the jelly beans sit for a minute or two, so the jelly beans have plenty of time to color the water. Paint with jelly bean water! 2) The next few ideas are...

Name Rocket : I love the idea of making a Name Rocket . We glued on the top of the rocket first and I helped Easton put the body of the rocket in the correct order of his name. I bought Star Stickers from the Dollar Store and he stuck them on his paper. He requested a moon, so he got one! Shape Rockets : A while ago, I bought a set of Foam Shape Magnets and we've used them for a lot of activities. We started by filling in the Letter R with our shapes. Click here to print the Alphabet Pattern Block Worksheets (see first picture below). For our shape rockets, I pulled out our magnetic cookie sheet and we made rockets. I showed Easton how to make a few and I wanted to see what he came up with on his own. We reviewed shape names and had a lot of fun. Rocket Balloon #1 : This was the highlight of our day! You need yarn, straw, a balloon and duct tape for this activity. Before letting the air out of the balloon Easton would say: 3...2...1...Blast Off!  Click here for a...

Farm Magnets : We used these on our refrigerator, but you could also use a magnetic cookies sheet. Here are some ideas to do with these magnets: Name all the items and talk about the animal sounds. A lot of Pretend Play. Sing Old MacDonald while placing an animal on the fridge. Form the Letter F with the animals. Sort the animals (big & small, wings & no wings, white & colored, etc.) Count the animals (ie: how many animals are by the barn?" Place the animals in size order from smallest to biggest 2)  Farm Animals and their Byproducts  from Joyfully Weary: Watch "What do you get from that?"  and do this activity. Easton wasn't in the mood to do it, so we moved on. I think it would help to use toy animals instead of the animal picture cards. We'll try again another day! 3) A Day in the Farm Activity Stations: Talk about what farmers do in the day with these farm activity stations. I'll place our farm beanie babies in a basket an...

1) F is for Frog Craft  from Crystal & Comp: Green, black and white Construction Paper White Piece of Paper Black Paper Light Green Office Stickers (optional) Red Yarn Washable Black Paint Glue Cut out the eyes, a big letter F, and frog legs from your green paper. If you'd like, you can print a template from the link provided.  Have your child place the office stickers on the Letter F. Glue on the Letter F, frog legs and eyes. Next, glue on the red yarn, as the tongue. Have your child use his finger, dipped in black paint, and stamp it on his/her paper as the flies. 2)  Frog Shape Clip Cards  from Making Learning Fun: Aren't these adorable?  Place one card in front of your child and have him/her identify the shape and color.  Use a small plastic bingo chip , finger, or another manipulative to find its match. 3  Feed the Frog from Therapy Fun Zone: You'll need: Empty Parmesan Cheese Container 2 Large Pom Po...

1)  Shapes Fire Truck Craft  from Sugaraunts: I cut out all the shapes prior to our activity and Easton identified them before gluing them onto our fire truck. Click the title "Shapes Fire Truck Craft" for a tutorial. 2)  Firefighter Tot Pack  from Teacher's Notebook: This is an amazing tot pack! Includes: puzzles, numbers, shadow match, shape review, sorting, size sorting, beginning sounds, coloring page, and a few other ideas. Explain the items (ie: fire extinguisher). I will cut out each of the pages and put them in separate baggies. Have your child draw a baggie and do the activity.   In order to print, you need to create a free account. Here are a few sample pages: 3) Put out the Fire! from Preschool Alphabet: Have your child wear a fireman hat (optional) and put out the fires. You'll need: Orange Chalk OR Orange Foam Sheets Spray Bottles filled with water Chalk Option: Draw small flames on your garage or fence with orange cha...