I have been struggling lately with this mom thing. Don't get me wrong, I love these three little people pictured below more than anything!! But I've just been having a hard time planning & executing productive things for us to do throughout the (long) days.
The kids behave so much better when I plan activities (go figure!) and on this particular day, the kids were eating it up! They couldn't wait for me to explain what we were going to do, and bonus, I snuck in a little bit of education as well. They are both getting really good at their letters, but in the number area, they could use a little help. This activity was just the thing! I gave them each ten little containers, then they copied down the numbers 1-10, and then filled their cups with an assortment of items that matched each number. They loved it. Why can't I be this creative everyday?!?
The kids behave so much better when I plan activities (go figure!) and on this particular day, the kids were eating it up! They couldn't wait for me to explain what we were going to do, and bonus, I snuck in a little bit of education as well. They are both getting really good at their letters, but in the number area, they could use a little help. This activity was just the thing! I gave them each ten little containers, then they copied down the numbers 1-10, and then filled their cups with an assortment of items that matched each number. They loved it. Why can't I be this creative everyday?!?
// Umm, I could just eat Graham up!!! //
// This boy is a dream. //
// We're still working with Ave on the proper holding of a pencil, but she did these numbers all on her own! So proud of her. //
What do YOU do to fill your days?? The end of summer has got my itching for some structure. I'd love any and all suggestions!!
You are so clever. What a great idea!
ReplyDeleteI finally broke down and bought little workbooks for my kids when they were pre-school aged...we also played lots of board games and baked lots of cookies and bread. I taught them how to peel carrots and potatoes, which is great fun and sort of helpful, and then we made soup. We had chore time in the morning, and errands, and then we could do fun activities. We also had QUIET TIME. From about 3-4:30 I would ask them to do something quiet--watch TV or a movie, or read or rest, so I could start dinner.
Kate's kindergarten teacher had a fun activity for her students that we loved. The Math Box. She had lots of fun math games in there, and we were supposed to do one each day. We made sugar cookies in the shapes of the numbers 1-10; we had tangram shapes to make different patterns, which we could either glue or reuse; we had a picture of a haunted house and we used navy beans for "ghosts" to put different numbers of "ghosts" in the windows; we made salt dough and formed different shapes; we used different colored gumdrops to practice patterns--red, red, yellow, red, red, yellow, etc.; we made shapes with mini marshmallows and toothpicks... I can't think of any of the others, but there were lots of fun things, and Kate LOVED it. She wanted to do it every single day!! She even took it with us on our trip over Christmas Break!
What a great idea!!
ReplyDeleteYou are the cutest mom!
I'm with ya. I get tiiiiiiired of the day to day sometimes. Even with Brinley being in school until lunch time, I don't really know if I should keep doing more school things when she gets home. I feel like I've exhausted all my activities and I need to think of some new ones to keep her excited. Homemade playdoh is always fun!