Dollar Tree Hack #2

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Story Board!

I thought this was a great find! It was actually a 19-piece door decoration pack for a classroom. I used most of the pieces (some were just too big!)

I laminated the ones I chose. I will add either adhesive magnets or adhesive velcro to the backs and use on story boards. The kids can play with these making their own stories, playing make-believe. I can use them for different songs.

There were many different ones available and I will be going back to get others! Cost: $1! 
If you don’t have a Flannel board; simply use a piece of cardboard and attach (glue) flannel sheets to the cardboard (available at craft stores or in craft sections of Target and Walmart and even some Dollar stores).

Dollar Tree Hack #1

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Bean Bags! These bean bags are weather proof, won’t break open if they hit the concrete, and you can clean them off easily if they get dirty. You can make 4 of them for under $4!

You will need: Duct tape $1. (2) small bags of dried kidney beans $2. 4 sandwich bag .10- .20 cents each.  Total cost (without tax): $3.40.  These will last a LONG time!

Here’s a hint: Use snack size bags and get more for your money!

I had extra beans and extra duct tape (win for another project!)

Math and Numbers

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clipart-animals-insect-19 Numbers can be fun or frustrating depending on the time of day, the child, which way the big tree branch is pointing in the front yard. Sometimes there is just no rhythm or reason as to why some little ones pick it up faster than other or why some are interested and some are not. We cannot fear our child’s college prep score later just because they are not interested in numbers now. But we can help them become interested and have fun with learning. My belief is that when they have fun; they learn. They may not realize it, but they are learning. I hope you find the math items helpful. More will come as seasons change.

Learning to Spell

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We start with simple words; “it” “is” “at”.

Putting a consonant in front of those small words is easy and children get so excited when they see they have learned a new word. When they can put 3-5 consonants in front of one small word and make multiple words; you better believe the excitement multiples as well.

There are so many ways to introduce words to young ones. This is but one small step. Sounding out the beginning letter sound to make the correct word, this helps with letter recognition, and sight words.

When you begin; go over each consonant with your child; sounding out each one. Mistakes are okay. Smile, give a hug of encouragement and move on to the next one.

 

Art Project!

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It’s always fun to step away from the structured learning and have some fun with art.

This project can be done with ages 2-???? I have done it supervised with 18 month olds; but highly supervised due to the glue and salt.

You will need: Canvas, clear glue, water color paints, coarse sea salt. I was able to find all of this at my local Dollar Tree store.

Drizzle the clear glue in any design onto the canvas. While the glue is still wet, sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Allow to dry. Paint with water colors and allow to dry.

This makes a great gift!

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Summer Time Fun!

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It’s summertime and time to hit the beach!

So here are the pails and the seashells for your little ones to count.

I used textured card stock for the shells and used colored pencils to do the enhancements on them.

You will need: Construction paper, card stock (optional), glue, markers and colored pencils.

I found the templates for the shells on Just Paint It Blog.com and shrunk them down to the size that I needed them.

Cupcakes!

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Cupcakes are fun to eat and fun to decorate! So why not let the kiddos decorate and learn to count at the same time? Using pom poms or buttons, or anything you thing would be a great additive to the game have them decorate their cupcakes according to what the card tells them.

All you need is construction paper, card stock, glue, markers, number stickers (optional).

Let’s Learn with Cars!

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Cars make everything fun! So why not incorporate cars and letters!

This one takes some time; but it’s worth it. Make a car for every letter of the alphabet (using the upper case letters).  Use sentence strips that are white and black and look like a street; cut into smaller pieces and write a lower case letter on each piece. The object here is to match the car with the road that has the matching letter.

Don’t be upset if they want to drive around the block (table) to get to the letter first, it’s all part of the play in learning. You can set the road up into a long stretch, curves, hills; whatever makes it fun for your young one. Or just keep them in separate pieces.

I used the template below, but I left out the back window so that I could have room for the letters. I used letter templates that I purchased online from another blog, so I cannot share those. You can use stickers or just draw the letters on the cars.

Again, I laminate everything!