• We started outside to beat the heat with a sink or float center.  I gave them some items in a beach bucket to test.  They had to predict before what it would do before putting it in.  Then they had to record what happened by drawing a picture under sink or float.

• Next we headed back inside to do a little reading on the “beach”.  I put a beach towel down with some chairs.  I put a bucket of beach and ocean themed books in a bucket for them to choose from.  Then I added sunglasses, pool toys, and hats to pretend with.

• After reading, the girls went to a pocket chart/word making center.  I found a cute pocket chart rhyme and then put two white boards out and some letter tiles.  They could read the rhyme and change what animal swam by them.  Then the other person could either write it on the board (which they love to do) or spell the animal with the tiles.  They took turns and stayed at this center longer than I thought they would.

• Movie Center- Ashlyn’s fever started to go up again so I let them watch Finding Nemo.  As the movie went on her fever continued to climb so we will have to finish the rest of the activities another day.  Here is what else I had planned.
• Discovery Table- I had a water table set up with lots of mermaids in it.  They love playing with these in the bathtub.
• Math- Shell Sorting- I had tons of shells set up for them to sort through. They love looking at all the different shells and telling me how they are the same.
• Reading/Art-Then I was going to read them Mister Seahorse and have them paint a seahorse with sponges.  Once they dried we were going to use q-tips to paint dots on him.

Hopefully my girl will feel better soon!

Want More…

Check out some of the Ocean Themed posts at Along the Way, including 3 Ocean-themed weeks.  There are lots of great pictures and lessons on the alphabet, shapes, counting, and art.

Go to Homeschool Creations to see more Preschool activities.

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She had to close her eyes and choose any 6 she wanted.  Once she had her 6 letters, she had to see if she could make any words from them.  I had her write them down on her white board.

Since this was the first time doing this activity I didn’t want to give her too many directions.  Next time I have her do it, I think I will create a worksheet to go along with it.  That way I can be more specific in what I want her to look for.  Something like this:

1.  Make 3 four letter words  ____________,  ________________,  ________________.

2.  Make two words that end with a silent e  ___________________,   _______________.

3.  Make two words that rhyme with each other __________________,   _____________.

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With Ashlyn, who is 6, I have been giving her spelling tests and letting her make the words instead of write them.  We work on this each week and I wanted to switch things up a bit from the old school pencil and paper.   She liked it!  I also do making words activities with her.  I used to do this daily with my 1st graders when I taught in the public schools.

Yesterday we were talking about the rule about dropping the e and adding ing to a word.  I had her use the letter tiles and make the word take.  Then I asked her to turn it into taking.  She of course kept the e so I taught her the little rhyme.  Making words activities teaches tons of great phonics skills.  It gives kids the chance to manipulate the letters to see how letter sounds and rhyming go together to make words.  After doing ing words I asked her to make the word night.  Then I had her change it to light, sight, fight, flight, and then sigh. It really helps her recognize the patterns that many words have.

With Emil, who is 3, I have her spell out her sight words by copying them from a list that I make her.  Then I have her find those words in a book that I have just read to her.  Many kids know sight words in isolation but have a harder time reading them in a sentence.  This activity helps with that.

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The other day while I was giving Ashlyn a spelling test, I gave Emily a sight word activity as well.  I wrote out 7 of her words and then gave her some letter stickers I found in the Target dollar section.  The only problem is they are all up case but it made for a good teachable moment.  She had to find the letters to make her words.  She loved it!

So proud of herself!

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After about an hour we brought them in and had a homemade matching game.  This could be used for learning shapes, numbers, sight words, letters, or practicing spelling their names.

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This craft was so easy and turned out really cute.  I got 2 toilet paper rolls and cut one about 1/4 of the way down.  Then I cut out a window in the tallest roll and cut rectangles out of the top of each one to make them look like castles.  We collected sand and crushed up shells from a park across the street.  We covered the rolls in glue and Ashlyn rolled them in the sand.  Then she cut a triangle out of paper to make a flag and she glued it to a toothpick.

BECOME A FACEBOOK FAN OF TEACHING TWO!!! 

For room time my 2 year old did an activity with magnetic letters.  I colored and cut out some beach pictures with the words at the bottom(crab, sand, towel, etc) and put a magnet on the back.  Then I gave her a cookie sheet and some magnetic letters and had her spell out the words.  She was so proud of herself.

Check out more Friday Showcase crafts here.

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We spent the day taking the girls to the zoo, painting a bird feeder, and hanging out at home.  After dinner the girls wanted to play outside with their new polka dotted chalk.  It only took a couple of minutes before Emily was bored with the chalk so I made up a game to keep her interest.  I wrote a letter with the chalk and asked her what letter it was.  I continued this with several letters and we talked about what sounds each made.  Then I asked her to jump on a certain letter.  She loved it!  I would change it up and say, “Can you jump over the A?”  “Can you step on the R?”  We did this for about 15 minutes until Ashlyn wanted to play.

I thought letters weren’t challenging enough for her so I made a hopscotch board.  Instead of using numbers I wrote some of her sight words in the boxes.  She had to throw a stick and read the word it landed on, then hop to it.  I kept thinking of other things you could use.  Shapes, color words, numbers that aren’t in order, and sight words were some examples I thought of.  It was a fun way to spend the evening without them even realizing they were learning.

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While these are a great learning activity, they are a pain to store.  When I was teaching I found that a tackle box was perfect for this.  They have 24 little square compartments so I combine the letters w and x together and y and z.  it’s much better than stuffing them all in a ziploc bag.

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Normally I would have let Ashlyn help me sort the beans but it was during her rest time so I did it myself.  I made individual bags for all the different types of beans.  When the girls woke up, Emily wanted to make something.  We have been working on her letters so I asked her what letter she wanted to make.  She chose an A and I had her use the beans.  I wrote an A with glue and then had her place the beans on the glue.

That’s all I’ve used the beans for so far because we have been so busy.  But, they can be used for many other things as well.

• counters for adding or subtracting
• mix some together again and have them sort them
• making letters, numbers, or shapes
• making your child’s name
• decorating pictures
• counting
• graphing

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You know the old game “I Spy”, well instead of using colors that you spy, try using objects that begin with certain letters. ex. “I spy something that starts with the letter B.”  If your child is older and needs more of a challenge, try ” I spy something that ends with a B.”

Another game is what I call “Mystery Letter”.  Start by saying, “I’m thinking of a letter that …”  Give your child clues about the letter.  ex. what sound it makes, what words it’s in, if it’s in their name, etc.  Once they guess your letter let them think of one to give you clues to.

Both of these games are simple, fun, and are great for practicing letter sounds.

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