Tot School: Apples

{Maddie is currently 51 months}



We had a rather busy week so we didn't do a ton of school work this week but we did stick to an apple theme.

I actually had quite a few apple themed file folders this week that Maddie really enjoyed. This one was an apple uppercase and lowercase letter matching. I printed out this activity months ago so I am not sure where it is from but I will post it here if I can find it.

 I ended up making two file folders for this week too. This one was sorting the apples from the tree by size. I also added the letters to spell out apple which I could mix up and have Madison put back in order. I used velcro to keep all of the apples onto the tree.

Maddie and I do lots of counting activities but not too much with actual math. This beginner addition folder was perfect for Maddie! 

I found a few A and apple printables at starfall.com that Madison enjoyed working on this week too.

This apple tree was one of the big craft projects for the week. We also used construction paper to make a large apple tree on our craft closet door. Maddie was thrilled to use my circle punch to make the apples!

I also printed out a set of apple themed words for Maddie to match up with her Appletters. I didn't realize the Appletters with capital letters until after I printed out Maddie's words so I could say it was a bit more of a challenge to match the lowercase and uppercase this time.

We also enjoyed and fantastic apple snack of apple nachos!

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If you are interested in purchasing the two apple file folder games there is a purchase button through PayPal on my sidebar. The file is available for $2.50.

The 6 page color PDF file includes:

- 1 blank tree

- Title blocks for both file folder games

- 3 size sorting baskets with 12 apples

- 6 simple addition math baskets with 6 apples

- letters that spell out apple

- one page of apple themed words

Apples, Apples, Apples

We are working on an apple theme this week for Tot School and I wanted to share a few of our fun activities! My initial plan was to make an apple tree with Maddie yesterday and then dip caramel apples while our paint was drying but then.....

I saw this FABULOUS idea at How Sweet It Is for apple nachos! There was an abrupt change of plans right then- we were scrapping the caramel apples for these fantastic apple nachos. Oh and they are amazing! When we lived in Washington we sampled some delicious caramel apples from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and I have to say these nachos are just as yummy! 

This time we drizzled our granny smith and honey crisp apples with caramel, chocolate and peanut butter. We then topped them off with some flaked coconut and sliced almonds.

YUMMM

These may be appearing in our home for a while now.... maybe some cinnamon, graham cracker crumbs, white chocolate, or marshmallows next time!

Of course we did get around to making an apple tree too! The plan was for Maddie to cut out the apple tree top but she had some difficulties cutting through the cardstock so I ended up taking over.

Maddie took care of painting two tree tops with green paint and a scrunched up piece of cellophane. Next up was using a brand new pencil eraser to make red apples on the tree.

We finished up with an toilet paper roll and a glue stick. Adorable!

Tot School

Maddie is currently 50 months old

This week we opted against a theme and used a hod podge of activities instead.

Pipe cleaners with number flags: Maddie counted out the appropriate number beads in the correct color for each flag

Flower sorting: Maddie sorted the flower gems {from the Dollar Tree} by size and color

Lots of lapbooks this week!

Maddie was introduced to starfall.com this week and is now absolutely obsessed with it!

We have turned LCR into a regular after dinner game. Maddie quickly understood the rules and was able to distinguish between her left and right.

More lapbooks!

Maddie loves playing with the Number Train printables. We will be working our way up to number twenty this week.

Balancing marbles on golf tees was a favorite this week.

Maddie also spent some time using the tweezers to transfer pom-poms.

Cutting and gluing were also a big hit this week. Maddie spent quite a bit of time working through a Kumon cutting and gluing book.

This activity was a bit of a challenge but Maddie was proud when she finally finished matching the nuts and bolts.

Patterns have turned into a bit of an obsession with Maddie and she is constantly asking for more pattern strips. Despite how hard I make them she always says they are 'easy peasy'!

Unfortunately it was a bit windy this week so our sun print came out a bit wonky!

Penny the Pig had a bit of a growth spurt this week too!

Our library visit this week was a little late so we spent most of the week rereading all of our dinosaur books from last week.

Maddie was on a bit of a workbook kick this week so we spent quite a bit of time working in her Preschool Brain Quest workbook and with her Brain Quest Write & Erase Phonics Set.

Tot School: Dinosaurs

{Maddie is currently 49 months}

We had so much fun this week with our dinosaur theme! I scoured the interwebs for ideas and Maddie and I hit up the library for a bit of extra reading too. 

 We started the week with a growing dinosaur from the Dollar Tree. Every other day throughout the week we would measure the dinosaur and graph his growth. Maddie LOVED checking in on her dino every day!

Maddie used her letters both as a puzzle and used them to spell our dinosaur words for the week.

I provided Maddie with a bowl of different shaped dried pasta and a print out of dinosaur skeletons and she used Play-Doh to make her own fossils.

Maddie also worked on an alphabet dot-to-dot. She had a bit of trouble but corrected herself.

We have a letter writing center set up in our bookcase stocked with stamps, envelopes and note cards. At least once a week Maddie works on some letters to send to family and friends far away.

 Maddie adored the dinosaur life sequence cards and enjoyed telling stories about the eggs and dinosaurs.

This activity wasn't dinosaur related but it was a enjoyable and challenging. Maddie and I worked together to group the paint chips into color families and then arranged the colors by shade.

The baby dinosaur egg project ended up spanning over two days but Maddie was very proud of the end result.

Last week we won an activity kit from Mommysteffen's Blog and Grow With Me Gifts. Maddie was thrilled to know her names were chosen to name the pig and frog planters! Penny the Pig is on her way to a head full of grass.

Maddie LOVED her sensory play tray this week! It contained river rocks and dinosaurs from the Dollar Store, a piece of blue felt for water and some pipe cleaner trees.

Maddie and daddy finished up the week by working on a glow in the dark dinosaur puzzle from our trip to the Virginia Living Museum.

Printables from this week:

T is for T Rex coloring page {Making Learning Fun}

Dinosaur Shape Count Worksheets {Making Learning Fun}

Dinosaur Life Sequence Cards {Making Learning Fun}

ABC Dot to Dot {Making Learning Fun}

Dinosaur Train ABC Lap Book {Lap Books By Carissa}

Books we read this week:

Trouble At The Dinosaur Cafe {Brian Moses}

The Magic School Bus: In The Time of The Dinosaurs {Joanna Cole}

How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? {Yolen & Mark Teague}

Little Grunt and the Big Egg: A Prehistoric Fairy Tale {Tomie dePaola}

I Dreamt I Was a Dinosaur {Stella Blackstone & Clare Beaton}

Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs! {Kathleen V Kudlinski}

Field Trip: The Virginia Living Museum

Due to the long weekend daddy was home today and we figured the crummy weather would be perfect for a day at the Virginia Living Museum. We were also lucky enough to catch the tail end of the dinosaur exhibit!

We have been focusing on dinosaurs this week for Tot School so our trip couldn't have been timed better!

The Myosaurus babies were a huge hit with Maddie! They were also the focus of a book we read this week which helped Maddie identify them.

Of course T-Rex is the star of the show though!

Maddie and daddy had a chance to discover a few fossils too.

Of course the whole museum wasn't dedicated to dinosaurs so we had to peek at some other fantastic exhibits.

We had so much fun today we ended up purchasing a membership. I am looking forward to exploring the outdoor exhibits on a non-hurricane day!