Y is for Yarn

Last Monday, I talked about the simple activity of creating letters filled with something that starts with that letter. I showed you "G is for Grass." For Y, we did Yarn. 

Another benefit to this activity beyond letter recognition and beginning sounds practice is that it provides a tactile experience. That makes this a great sensory activity also!

G is for Grass

Decorating a block letter with something that starts with that letter is a great, hands-on way to focus on beginning sounds. Here we have a G that we have glued grass in. The big black blob is a picture of a goat. This is an activity that works well for a wide range of ages.

Talk about the letter and the sound that letter makes. List things that start with that letter. If your child is able, have your child list things that start with that letter. Then choose something to decorate your letter with that starts with the letter.

I will have another example for you Wednesday to give you another idea.

Simple Summer Fun: Watercolors Outside

A fun activity for summer is to paint watercolors outside.

You can paint on the driveway, paper, or on each other (as my girls decided to do). It all washes away very easily. All you need is a brush, watercolors, and a cup of water. When the cup of water gets spilled, there is no clean-up because you are outside! 

Simple Summer Fun: Paint Finger Nails

Oh yes, this is a beloved activity of my girls. This is great--no prep, learn colors, practice fine motor skills, and practice sitting still skills! You can also get into the science of the painting. This would be a fun one for your color of the week every week. On your color day, paint your nails that color. Then you have a couple of days of pointing out what color is on the finger nails before it wears off.

Teacher Appreciation Week: Luncheon and Gifts

The final day of teacher appreciation week, we did a luncheon. Honestly, feeding 50 some-odd people was an intimidating thing for me. One friend told me to just cater it--which is a viable option. Before I went with that, I talked with another friend who told me no way to cater! She would help me out.

She made some BBQ pork meat. She spent $50 on meat and rolls for sandwiches--incredible right? Then I ordered a couple of sheets of fresh brownies from a local bakery and we had the room moms each bring a side dish. I didn't assign what type of dish--just something to go on the side. We had a variety of green salads, pasta salads, fruit salads, fruit dishes, vegetable trays...plenty of variety. We did it open house style so they could come eat when it worked with their schedule.

Another gift we did was we had volunteers take over bus duty for the teachers that week. I had five moms a day sign up to relieve bus duty for the teachers--the gift of time.

I had a lot of money left over. I first got a gift card to a store for each teacher.

I also wanted to do a gift for the teacher break room. I went in one day and snooped around. I took pictures of the room so I could remember what they had and what they needed. As I was in there, I was HOT. I don't get hot, even as a pregnant lady it is rare for me to be hot. I visited with the principle and asked if they had any sort of fan they used in the room. They did not. So I went and got a nice fan for the room. It even has a timer so they can set it and it will turn off automatically (no fans going all weekend).

I also got a hot chocolate machine. Most of the school year is cold here, so I thought that would be a fun one for them.

The teachers seemed to love teacher appreciation week! I got great feedback and some nice thank-you notes. Now to start planning it for next year...