Birthdays and Adoption

We finished up week one of Mother Goose Time's baby animals theme by learning about birthdays and adoption.  

During circle time the girls took turns picking animal cards to sing Happy Birthday to.  

The girls did some work in their my little journals.  We talked about when their birthdays were and they drew pictures of themselves on the covers.  They also drew pictures of animals they would want to adopt.

Every monthly box from Mother Goose Time comes with a new book.  This months book is Baby Animals Learn and Play.  It has photos of animals and actions for the kids to act out, such as swing like an orangutan.  

The girls made party hats;  Elli decided it was a birthday party for Curious George.  

For day 5's invitation to create the girls got paper plates, coffee filters, sequins, markers, and a spray bottle of water.  The picture for inspiration was a fish.  They really had fun coloring the coffee filters and then watching what happened when they sprayed them with water.  

They LOVED making pet rocks to adopt.  They painted rocks and glued on googly eyes and pom poms.  

We talked about what kind of things you'd need to adopt a pet dog, and then worked on patterning.  

Mother Goose Time offers printables online related to the monthly theme.  Every month has coloring pages for each day.  

We also read some birthday and adoption books.  Next week we learn about the different ways animals carry their babies. 

Helper Dads

This months Mother Goose Time theme is baby animals.  Day 3 was about helper dads.  We played a game that worked on color recognition and counting.  The girls would roll the pocket cube, move their piece to the corresponding color, and then collect the correct number of baby seahorse cards.  Once they both made it home they added up all their seahorse cards to see who had the most.  

We talked about the different things moms and dads do to help their kids.  The girls used the look and find classes to find different items on the monthly theme poster.  On the back of each glass are activities to do, like count the bunnies, or swing like a monkey.  

For today's invitation to create the girls were given a paper plate, tissue paper, paint, glue, and paper.  Elli asked me to cut her plate in a seahorse shape, but Addie was able to cut her own.  They love the invitations to create, they keep them entertained and busy for a while while they come up with ways to use the materials.  

We finished up with a book.

Eggs

Today with Mother Goose Time we learned about eggs.  During circle time we sang One Egg, Two Eggs while rolling "eggs" across the counter.  

The shape of the month is the hexagon.  I hid the pattern blocks in a tray of paper and the girls had to try and find the hexagon shaped eggs.  

We learned about painted eggs using a wax resistant technique.  It's a Ukraine tradition and the eggs are called pysanka.  The girls made their own painted eggs by painting over pictures they drew with crayons.  

I hung egg pictures on our wall.  We talked about the different length of time it takes for eggs to hatch.  I'd set a timer and when it went off the girls got to turn over the egg they were closest to. 

The girls made a nest out of pillows and blankets and pretended to be different animals hatching.

Baby Animals

A new month means a new theme with Mother Goose Time.  January is all about baby animals.  Day 1 started with pregnant moms.

We started by looking at the monthly theme poster.  The girls took turns finding all the different types of baby animals that were pictured.

They also completed their new name tags for the month.  Addie practiced writing her name in cursive, and Elli is now able to write her first name all by herself.

The monthly numbers are 5 and 15.  The girls used the plastic pigs from this months box to work on counting and estimating.  Elli worked on counting using the pigs for help.  Then I put different amounts of pigs in a sock and the girls had to feel it and guess if they thought it was more or less than 5.  After they guessed we'd dump them out and count.

The girls used play dough to make a big mama pig and then used the little pig manipulatives as babies.  

Cats are Elli's favorite animal so she was very happy to make her own cat mask.  After they were made the girls pretended to be cats.  They had me build a cage out of couch cushions and then they would escape and run away and I'd have to find them and bring them back.  They had so much fun with this game that they played it until dinner time.

Mittens and Snowshoes

In keeping with Mother Goose Time's winter in the woods theme, we spent a week learning about winter gear.

We read The Mitten, and the girls made their own mittens and then filled them with the animals from the story.

They also made their own snowshoes.  Both of these crafts featured lacing, a great fine motor skill.

The girls played an animal matching game, working on their memory skills.

They loved playing tic tac toe.  It took awhile for Elli to understand she needed to get 3 in a row, but after a few games she even started winning.

The Story of Mary

 One of the supplements we receive with our monthly Mother Goose Time curriculum is the Christian add on, Experience God.  This month the theme was serving others, and it focused on Mary's role in the Christmas story.  The girls used the story telling sets that came in this months teacher pack to retell the Christmas story.

Normally I follow the teacher guide and complete activities once a week, for a total of 4 mini lessons.  This month I saved all the crafts for one fun filled crafting day.  The girls worked on retelling the story and then got busy making crafts.

The girls made Mary puppets.  Elli thought hers looked like a boy and wouldn't let me take a picture of it finished.

 They created their own nativity pictures.  

Glitter is always a hit, so they loved making ornaments to hang on our tree.

And their favorite craft of the day, which I saved for last, was making a donkey.  They made them by stuffing a paper bag with paper and then adding ears, hair and eyes.