Different Approaches to Matching Colors

As I mentioned before I took over a toddler classroom, the themes for the whole month of March were already done with the advantage that I can come up with the activities for what was written already.

Here is the lesson plan for the coming week:

Monday: Match the shamrock to its appropriate color

For this it can be as easy as gluing color shamrocks in construction paper matching the colors or
You can go the way I do it which is letting the kids move around... Having them sitting in circle time let them watch you place a paint bottle or different color construction paper on the floor or the table at the same time that you call the name of the color you are placing down, then call a child an give them a colored shamrock or whatever you are using to match colors and let them walk to the paint bottle to match the color and ask them what color do they have. Pretty simple, that's one way to go.

Another way to do this which is a little more fun would be having an obstacle course, place some pillows to jump over, a tunnel to go thru, a foam block to jump from, you get the idea; then explain the children while sitting in a circle what do they have to do, if possible demonstrate how to do it. Then call a child give them the colored shamrock and let them go thru the obstacle course to match it with the paint bottle that is waiting at the table :)

I'll post the rest of the week soon, hopefully tomorrow :)

Thanks for visiting :)

Free games for Children

Hello my readers,

I'm trying so hard to get

my life back to normal,

and is sooooo hard right now.

But I know things will get better soon

meanwhile, I just wanted to share

a site that I found for

Free games for Children

you can print the free educational games

that they offer, the only thing you need to do

is download them :)

Have fun!

M for Magic Paint Brush

this is a computer game that I found

for the little artists to get more creative

at Meddy Bemps

my daughter loves doddling around with it :)

Enjoy!

thrifty literacy games

We started our journey

teaching Jessica how to read

forming a few words

my first advice,

never skip the toy/games isle

at the thrift shop, the game was opened

and incomplete of course...

but it was only missing 2 words

and it was .59c :)

Isn't this awesome!

this game gives them the opportunity

for manipulatives with the puzzle picture

and the word forming with the letter tiles

this game gave me the idea that

we can easily make this at home

by cutting pictures from a magazine

or old children's books (from the thrift shop)

cutting them in 4 pieces to make the puzzle and laminate it

and use letter tiles from any scrabble game

I hope this help us inspire us some more :)

thanks so much for reading my blog.

Math games

I though I would share some math games that Jessica enjoys...



Counting Ten FlowersWatch this video about a girl counting ten flowers, two at a time.
Count It Up1 2 3 is easy for me!
MeasuringRulers and scales--it's time to measure!

Dramatic Play

Dramatic play permits children to fit the reality of the world

into their own interests and knowledge.

Dramatic play contributes strongly

to the intellectual development of children.

Children need only a safe, interesting environment and freedom to experiment with roles, conflict, and problem solving. When provided with such an environment, children become interested in and will attend to the task at hand and develop their concentration.

Opportunities for dramatic play that are spontaneous,

child-initiated, and open-ended

are important for all young children.

Dramatic play expands a child's awareness of self

in relation to others and the environment.

unplug your kids: dark

I've been wanting to participate in unplug your kids weekly proyects,

and finally this week I did. The theme is dark

So one day when Jessica all she wanted to do was

watch tv since our life has been amazingly busy

I remember the unplug your kids weekly project

it came to me...

I gave my daughter a flashlight and turned the tv off

closed the courtains, and turned all the lights off

(that's the picture on the top)

then we turned the lights on

she thought the flashlight wasn't working

then I explained to her that she couldn't see the light

coming out of the flashlight because it wasn't dark

She had lots of fun, going to all the dark places

with the flashlight, specially the closet

And you know me, I push my spanish

in every ocassion I get

so I tought her this words:

Flashlight = linterna

light = luz

dark = oscuro

Outdoor fun

Boy! I miss doing things with my daughter

specially the craft projects,

lately it has been really hard for us to get back to our routine

since my husband had surgery,

I have to drive him back and forth to work

clean, cook, bathe the dogs, and the homework you can imagine by myself

but hopefully will get back to our normal activities soon

so while mommy cooks here is Jessica

showing daddy her flashcards

telling him the name of everything in english and spanish

and when it came to animals he asked her to make the sound of them

for the shapes and colors she had to say the name of them

Besides that, we spent lots of time outside today

and we discovered somebody has been making a house

in our garden, isn't that neat :)

Another thing we did was play with a lot of water

but since I haven't buy a little pool for Jessica yet

a huge container did the trick

having fun is what counts right? lol

So after Jessica got out of the water we bath the dogs
and we took drying time to do a little training
here is Jessica's cousing training the puppy to follow intructions :)



After that came Lady's bath, our Golden Retreiver;
and here is my 14 y.old daughter cleaning her ears after the bath
obviously my daughter is not looking at the camera
since mom is a picture maniac lol




but we couldn't be outside with the camera
and not take a picture of daddy with the cast
before the doctor takes it off,
so Jessica helped me take this picture



There are tons more activities that I still have to post
time is just not enough...

thanks so much for reading :)

Outdoor fun = Jugando afuera

Hours of entertainment

Here is Jessica, just plain having fun

we got this water balloons at the dollar store

and boy! they are worth the money lol

keeps them busy for a long time

specially in tough times like this

when my husband is recuperating from surgery

and I am sick with sinus like a giant bubble head :)

thanks!

Building sandcastles... online

There is an online game on pbs here

Great for early math perfect for pre-k and k level, here is what an educational newsletter says about it:

Skills: shape recognition

Description: Construct castles without getting sand in your shoes with this nifty shape game for early learners. When sand shapes are revealed, players "drop" them into the outlines of simple sandcastles. A message of congratulations appears as each castle is completed, and two levels of play are provided.

Spinning activities improve brain development

Did you know...When preschoolers spin, different parts of the brain are stimulated all at the same time. This builds new and more developed pathways throughout the brain – pathways that improve learning potential, spatial awareness, rhythm and more. Spinning activities actually develop pre-reading skills and concepts while at the same time improving balance, muscle control and gross motor skills.

You can read more is this article that I found here

A simple matching game

This is just a simple matching game that we did last night

another way to use stickers and/or old workbooks

this one is just matching colors

and the bottom one was to match the shapes

I really don't remember where I got the stickers but this activity

is easily achieved by cutting old magazines and gluing the object

next to the colored shape

After that, we are cutting them individually

to be able to play a color matching game

and of course teaching her the colors in spanish...

blue = azul

red = rojo

yellow = amarillo

green = verde

purple = morado

brown = marron

black = negro

white = blanco

orange = anaranjado

if you think of any color that I didn't put here, please let me know I'll added to my list.

Enjoy!

Wow! How can I forget

pink = rosado

that's my last name lol

Clemencia Rosado

amazing I forgot that!!! lol thanks

Computer games

I almost forgot, besides the investigating time she had, she also played in the computer, she loves sesamestreet.org and Publix preschool Pals CD rom is a free CD rom that Publix (a supermarket here in Florida) sends you when your child turns tree, you can register free here, is very educational and entertaining for two, three and four years old, you can get more information here
enjoy!