I put 2 dabs of color inside a Ziploc bag and taped it down using painter’s tape.  She loved feeling the squishy paint and mixing the colors.  But what she loved was after it was all mixed together and she was able to make designs in it.  I traced her hands, wrote her name, and made shapes.  So much fun and no mess!!

I might even use this activity with my other girls to practice their spelling words and handwriting practice.

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The girls’ absolute favorite activity we did was watching 5 caterpillars change into butterflies before their eyes.  If you have never done this it’s a must!!  We ordered them here (I actually got a Groupon for it) and it was so easy.  Our last one became a butterfly this morning so we will say goodbye when the girls get home.  Our Memory verse this week was 2 Corinthians 5:17 about becoming a new creation.  It went well with the whole caterpillar metamorphosis.

Sorry it’s a horrible picture.  Who knew butterflies love drinking orange juice!

The girls loved playing on this fun website and created tons of their own insects.  I loved it because they got to make up facts about their bugs too.

For our writing center they had to write about what “bugs” them.  Then use their drawing book to illustrate a picture.

My girls love reading poems!  I print one out for them each week that has to do with our theme and they keep them all in a notebook.  So this week I had them write their own poems.  All they had to do was fill in some adjectives and nouns to what was already written.

We also made insects out of food.  Here is Emily’s ant!

If you missed my post about the fireflies we made that really light up check it out here.

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They made crowns to wear.

In their morning journals I asked what they would want 100 of and what they wouldn’t want 100 of.  My Kindergartner wanted 100 pets but not 100 mosquitoes in her room.  While my oldest wanted 100 pieces of candy but not 100 bugs in her bed.

I saw this idea all over Pinterest.  I gave them various materials to use to make a portrait of what they thought they would look like at 100.  Then had them write 10 things they would like to do before turning 100.  They turned out adorable!

I gave them a bag of 100 Legos and told them they had to work together to build something using all 100 pieces.  Here is a house, complete with kitchen, bedroom, and a garden out back.  Also in the backyard is a pool with a diving board.

What a fun day!

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After a couple of days of practice with cause and effect (Amelia Bedelia books are great for this)  I read the book.  As I did we made a chart of all the causes and effects we heard in the story.  Then I had my 2nd grader write a summary using the cause and effects.  She did a great job!!

I made this poster to help them.

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1. Choose an Easter egg and decorate the face using googly eyes, or Sharpie markers.

2.  Put the flameless LED lights for the tail of the lightening bug.

3.  Choose what color legs and antennae you want your insect to have.  Use a pushpin to make a hole for each leg and antennae.

4.  Using duct tape, cut out wings to tape to the back.

The girls loved flying these around the neighborhood last night with their friends.

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That night we took the girls to pick out flower pots and seeds.  They decorated their pots and the next morning planted their seeds.  I’m horrible with plants so I’m really hoping these actually grow.  They watched The Magic School Bus gets planted.

We went over the parts of flowers and I taught them about photosynthesis.  They really got it!  Ashlyn said, “oh, so the leaves are the kitchen of the flower.”  So cute!  I gave them lots of different materials and let them create a diagram of a flower.  They had to label the parts.

Their favorite activity was when we dissected some flowers.  We went into more detail and talked about the other parts of the flower like the stamens, pistils, sepals, etc.  I gave them magnifying glasses and a microscope.  They loved pulling each part out and knowing what it was.  I found this great website to help too.

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We started off reading the book George Washington Our First President.  We filled out a Was Had Wanted chart.  I have been using these charts a lot lately and I love them.  They really make the girls think about what they learned.

We watched the American Girl movie Felicity over the weekend which was great.  It was about a little girl named Felicity who lived right before The Revolutionary War happened.  It told about the Patriots and the Loyalists and was a great way to introduce George Washington and talk about what part he played in that war.

The next day we talked about Abe Lincoln.  I read the book Abe’s Hat.  then I had the girls make their own log cabins using brown construction paper that we cut and glued onto file folders.  On the inside my oldest wrote about what she learned about Lincoln while my kindergartener drew a picture of him.  Both turned out adorable!

My 2nd grader is my do it the “right” way girl.

My kindergartener is my “outside the box” thinker.

I wrote some facts about both presidents and they had to sort them.

We also worked on the 3 sounds of “ed” words.  I found these cute log cabin patterns and used them for a sorting activity.  The girls had fun doing this center.

We also learned this fun song about Washington and Lincoln.  Next week we are moving on to the Civil War.  Wish me luck!

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