Bake/Cook/Make Day Saturday!

Bake/Cook/Make Day Saturday!

Bunny Cupcakes

• 1 16.5 oz roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 Tbsp.  egg-white powder (such as Just Whites)
• Red and green food coloring
• 1/2 cup each light and dark pink decorating sugars
• Large flower decors
• 2 cups chopped sweetened flaked, coconut
• 1 16 oz. can vanilla frosting
• 24 cupcakes, any flavor

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Knead dough and flour together until smooth.  Roll out to 1/4-inch thickness.  Cut out bunny shapes using 3-inch cookie cutter. Transfer to baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.  Re-roll scraps; continue cutting to get 24 bunnies.
3. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Make cookie frosting; Stir confectioners' sugar, egg-white powder and 3 Tbsp. warm water until smooth.  (If frosting is too thick, stir in more water, 1 tsp. at a time.) Spoon 2 Tbsp.  frosting into a ziplock bag.  Tint remaining frosting light pink with a drop of red food coloring.  Keep frosting covered to prevent drying.
4. Working on 1 cookie at a time, spread a thin layer of pink frosting on top.  Sprinkle top of frosted cookie with light or dark pink decorating sugar to coat, shaking off excess.  Snip a small corner from bag with white frosting.  Pipe a few dots of white frosting on cookie; attach decors.  Repeat with remaining cookies.  Allow cookies to dry, 1 hour.
5. Placed chopped coconut in a ziplock bag.  Add a few drops of green food coloring; massage to tint coconut evenly.  Put coconut in a shallow bowl, spread vanilla frosting on cupcakes.  Roll edges in green coconut.  Press a cookie on top of each cupcake.  

Recipe can be found in the all you magazine: March Issue. Can also be found on the all you website

They also have Sweet Lil Bunny Cupcakes and Bunny Face Cupcakes Recipes too.

Bake/Cook/Make Day Saturday!

Funny Fridays!!!!!

Funny Fridays!!!

What Really Goes On At Track Meets!

My son Andrew, who is 17, is involved in track.  Him and his friends get bored at the meets, while waiting for their turn or they are already done.  So, this year, they decided to try out experiments on people and how they react to different things.

The first thing they did was line up a bunch of quarters in a row with 2 pennies on the ground and watch what people do.  The first person started walking by the quarters and turned around and said what are these quarters doing here and continued walking and grabbed the last quarter in the row and continued walking.  They are started laughing because they wondered why he didn't pick them all up.

Other people continued to walk by and did nothing.  

Finally a lady was walking up to the coins and got all excited.  She stopped and picked up every quarter and left the two pennies.  She turned to her husband and said,  "I am now $1.50 richer, can you believe it.  This is the best day ever!"  

And of course the quarter game was done.  And then the decided to try something new. So, one of his friends had a wallet and took everything out but $1.  He would walk by people and drop his wallet.  People right away would stop him and tell him he dropped his wallet.  

But there was one person who was walking behind him, saw him drop his wallet, picked it up and brought it to the food counter and told the person up there that someone dropped their wallet.  Of course,  his friend went up there to get his wallet back, but why didn't that guy tell him that he dropped his wallet.  Everyone saw that this person saw him drop it.  

And of course, they are still thinking of things to do, the track season just started!  Anyone have any fun suggestions?  

Funny Fridays!!!!!

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick Week: Friday!

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick

Friday!

Crafts:

• Candy Bags: Yellow paper, scissors: zigzag and ordinary, glass, sticky tape, stapler, glue, yellow pom pom for head, felt or paper for eyes and beak, chocolate eggs or small gift, net, ribbon

1. Take a square of yellow paper and cut along one edge with zigzag scissors.  Form the basket shape by wrapping the zigzag edge of the paper around the bottom half of a glass placed upside-down on the table.  Tape the seam together and fold the free section of the paper over the bottom of the glass to make the base of the basket. Secure with tape.
2. Cut a small strip of paper to be used for the handle using zigzag scissors and staple into position on each side of the basket.
3. Using ordinary scissors, cut a small fan-shaped piece of paper for a tail (don't forget to cut in the feathers) and two small wings.  Glue the tail to the back of the basket, and the wings to either side, just beneath the handle.
4. Make eyes, a beak, and a tuft of head feathers out of felt or paper and glue them onto the pompom head.  When they are dry, glue the head onto the front of the basket.
5. Buy chocolate-covered eggs or other small gifts.  Wrap them in a small piece of net, tie with bow and place inside your basket.

• Hanging Chickens: Polystyrene egg, wooden skewer, paint, brush, scissors, colored pipe cleaners, glue, elastic, bead

1. Push a wooden skewer into the base of the egg, then paint the egg bright yellow, holding onto the skewer.  Anchor the skewer until the paint has dried.
2. When dry, cut up colored pipe cleaners: two blue bits for the eyes, orange for the beak and comb,  brown and black stripes for the legs and tail.  Push the eyes, beak and comb into position.
3. Thread a bead onto a length of elastic or string, securing it with a knot.  Make a hole in the top center of the egg wit a skewer and glue the bad into it.
4. Push in pipe cleaners for the legs and tail.  

• Milk Carton Basket: School-sized milk carton, construction paper, pipe cleaners, decorations

1. Cut off the top from a school-sized milk carton.  
2. Cover the box with construction paper.
3. Attach a paper or pipe cleaner handle and decorate the basket.

• Eggshell Artwork: Eggshells, glue, paper plates or box lids or egg carton lids or other objects, paint, fine brushes or cotton swabs

1. Crush eggshells with your hands.
2. Use glue to apply the eggshells to paper plates, box lids, egg carton lids, or other objects.
3. Paint the shells lightly, using very fine brushes or cotton swabs.

Activities:

• Eggs-tra Bounce: What Did You Eggs-pect?: 2 whole raw eggs(in shell), glass of water, glass of vinegar

1. Put one egg in a glass of water and let it stand for a full 24 hours.  Place the other egg in the vinegar and let it stand for the same length of time.
2. The egg in the water remains the same, while the egg in the vinegar compound now feels and looks like a rubber ball, and no longer has a shell!  If you drop it a short distance into the sink, it will actually bounce.  Now you know how this experiment got its name.
3. In the vinegar, a chemical change took place in the egg.  The acetic acid(vinegar) reacted with the calcium carbonate of the eggshell.  The change caused the shell to soften and disappear, while the egg in the glass of water did not chemically change.  Chemists would say that the shell of the egg in the vinegar becomes "decalcified." 

• No Bones About It!: Large wide-mouth jar, 1 1/2 cups of vinegar, some clean chicken bones(leg bones work best)

1. Place the vinegar in the jar and put the clean bones in it.  Make certain the bones are completely covered by the vinegar.  Leave the bones to set for two days.
2. The chicken bones are no longer hard, but soft.
3. Bones are chiefly made up of the minerals calcium and phosphorus.  When you soak the chicken bones in vinegar (acetic acid), a chemical change takes place and the mineral (stiffening) matter in them dissolves.  

• The Egg In The Bottle Trick: Boiling water, small-necked bottle like a ketchup bottle or a baby's bottle, pot holder, hard-boiled egg, peeled

1. Pour the boiling water into the bottle.  Hole the bottle with a pot holder and shake the water around in it and then pour it out.  Quickly place the egg over the mouth of the bottle.
2. Although the egg is larger than the opening, the egg drops into the bottle.
3. The hot water steam in the bottle, which forces out some of the air.  As the steam in the bottle cools, it changes into droplets of water and requires less space.  This reduces the amount of air pressure in the bottle, and so the pressure of the outside air pushes the egg inside the bottle.  
4. To remove the egg, hole the bottle upside down, place your mouth on the opening of the bottle, and blow into it for 30 seconds.  The pressure inside will be greater than the pressure outside--and the egg will be forced out.

Snacks:

• Chicken or Chicken Nuggets
• Peeps

Music/Rhymes:

Five Little Carrots:

Five little carrots in a veggie garden

A gopher ate one, I beg your pardon.

Four little carrots in the ground

A gopher came along, took it to his mound.

Three little carrots left in the dirt

Its top was nibbled on, but didn't hurt.

Two little carrots left in the sun

A groundhog came along and left just one.

One lonely carrot all alone

'Till a farmer came along and took it home.  

Education: 

Letters/Words

• Word of the day: 

1. Review words of the week
2. Make sentences with these words
3. How many sentences did your child make.

Numbers

• Playdoh Fun: Playdoh

1. Have your child make numbers with the playdoh.
2. They can also make little balls and then count them and use them as math too.  Like 2 red balls and 3 blue balls = 5 balls

Books:

• The Golden Egg Book by Margaret Wise Brown
• Home For A Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
• An Eggs-traordinary Adventure (Backyardigans) by Golden Books
• Where's The Golden Egg by Dawn Bentley 
• Extra Special Eggs by Golden Books
• Peter Cottontail Is On His Way by Andrea Posner

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick Week: Friday!

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick Week: Thursday!

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick Week: 

Thursday!

Crafts:

• Cottage Cheese Carton Basket: Cottage Cheese Carton, tissue paper, paper fasteners, construction paper, pipe cleaners, green crepe paper grass

1. Cover an empty cottage cheese carton with tissue paper, finger-painted paper, or ruffled crepe paper.
2. Use paper fasteners to hook on a paper handle, or make a handle from pipe cleaners.
3. Fill with green paper grass.

• Fluffy Chick: Cotton balls, yellow powdered tempera paint, construction paper, crayons

1. Drop some cotton balls into a bag with some yellow powdered tempera paint.  Shake well to turn the cotton yellow.
2. Then, draw an outline of a chick on paper.
3. Glue the cotton balls inside the outline to from a cute, fluffy chick.

• Pom Pom Bunny Frame: Pom poms(white-1" two 1/2", two 10mm; Orange- 3/4, 1/2", 10mm; Pink 5mm), Pipe cleaners(hot pink 6mm, pink 6mm, green 6mm, White bump), two 5mm gogglie eyes, pink and yellow fun foam, white paper, black marker, magnet strip, 1/4" hole punch

1. Make a square frame from the pink fun foam (3 x 3)  Cut out a (1 x 1) inch square hole out of the center of the frame.
2. Take pink pipe cleaner and glue it around the square to form a frame.
3. Glue orange pom poms to bottom right frame to form a carrot.  Use small pom pom at bottom and then go up in size.  Curve carrot a little.  Use green pipe cleaners for the stems of carrot.  Make 3 small loops for carrot tops.
4. Glue the biggest pom pom above small frame and in the middle.  Then on each side of bunny's head glue a white pom pom for the hands of bunny.
5. On the face of bunny glue eyes, smallest pink pom pom for the nose and the two small pom poms for the cheeks.
6. Make a loop with the white pipe cleaner  for the ears and place a pink pipe cleaner in the middle of the ear.  Make a second ear.  Glue them onto the back of the bunny's head.  
7. Take a hole puncher and punch out 10 yellow holes. Keep dots for frame and glue them around the frame.
8. Write "Some Bunny Loves You" on paper , glue behind opening.  
9. Glue magnet on back.

Activities:

• Hop-Along Game: Roll of 2" -wide painter's tape (or masking tape), playground ball (or soft, medium-size ball with a little "give".  1 for each child.

1. Mark a starting and finish line on the lawn by laying a 6-foot-long strip of tape along the ground.  Roll out the tape, sticky side down, in 12-inch sections, pressing it down with your feet as you go.
2. Have the children line up.  Give each child a soft playground ball to put between with it in place.  
3. When you announce "Ready, set, go!" all the children hop down the lawn, trying not to let their balls go.
4. When a child drops his ball, he simply places it back between his knees on hopping.
5. Allow all the children ample time to hop down to the finish line and back one or more times.
6. When everyone is tired, call for a rest.  ("Looks like we're tiring out those balls! Time to give them a rest.")

• Bouncing Bazooka Bull's Eye: Laundry basket, large unbreakable mixing bowl,  masking tape, plastic eggs or ping pong balls

1. This game should be played against a wall clear of furniture.  
2. Position the laundry basket snugly up against the wall.  
3. Place the large mixing bowl on the floor, 3 feet in front of the laundry basket.
4. Use the masking tape to create a pitching line 6 to 8  feet away from the wall.
5. Tape masking tape around the eggs so that they don't fall apart.
6. Your child stands behind the pitching line and tosses the egg or ball against any area of the wall, trying to get the ball to land either inside the basket or bowl for a bull's-eye.
7. Each ball must bounce against the wall before dropping inside the basket or bowl in order to score a point.  
8. Score 5 points for each egg or ball in the basket and 10 points for each ball in the bowl. If a ball bounces inside the bowl and bounces out again, score 7 points.

• How To Make Ana Egg Float? Egg, 2 drinking glasses, water, salt

1. Pour water into one glass until it to half full.  Put the egg into the water.  Notice what happens.
2. Now add 3 tablespoons of salt, stir gently, and observe what happens.
3. Pour water into the second glass until it is half full.  Stir in 10 tablespoons of salt.  Slowly add fresh water until the glass is full.  Do not stir.  Gently lower in the egg.
4. In the fresh water the egg sinks.  As you add salt, it floats higher and higher.  When you add fresh water to the very salty water, the egg is suspended in the middle.
5. The denser the liquid the greater its upward life, or buoyancy.  Salt makes the water denser.
6. When you add fresh water to the salty water, it remains on top.  The egg sinks through it and floats on the lower, denser salty water. 

Snacks:

• Marshmallows (all sizes and colors) and peanut butter:  To make bunnies just put peanut butter on the marshmallows and they will stick together.  Your child can eat away the marshmallows to make bunny ears.  

Music/Rhymes:

• Little Bunny Foo Foo: Words are found on the traditional music website

• Bunny Pokey Sung to: "Hokey Pokey"

You put your bunny ears in
(Place hands on head to make ears)
You put your bunny ears out.
You put your bunny ears in.
And you shake them all about.
You do the Bunny Pokey
And hop yourself around,
That's what it's all about!
Additional verses: "You put your bunny nose in, You put your bunny tail in,
You put your bunny paws in"

My daughter loves this song, they taught it to her at her school and she is always singing it.

• Very Cute Bunny and Easter songs for the kids at Child Fun Website

Education:

Letters/Words

• Word of the day: Index card, pen

1. Word
2. Look at the whole word carefully
3. Say the word aloud 
4. Spell the word. Say each letter aloud.
5. Write the word from memory.  Cover the word and write it.
6. Check your written word against the correct spelling.
7. Circle errors, and repeat steps 4 and 5.  

Numbers

• Play a game of chutes and ladders with your child and have them count out each step.

• Number play:

1. One person does something like clap hands 3 times and everyone must match them.
2. Then, the next person does something like hop on one foot, for 5 hops.
3. Then, the next person picks something to do like touch their toes 8 times.  
4. Keep this up until someone runs out of things.  You can do things like: touch your nose, flap your wings, spin around, stick out your tongue, etc.

Books:

• Max's Easter Surprise(Max and Ruby) by Rosemary Wells
• Max's Worm Cake (Max and Ruby) by Rosemary Wells
• In Elmo's Easter Parade by Naomi Kleinburg 
• Happy Easter Biscuit by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick Week: Thursday!

Wacky Wednesday: Birds

Wacky Wednesday:

Birds

• Bird Collage: Magazines, glue, paster board, scissors

1. Cut bird pictures out of magazines.
2. Glue them onto a piece of poster board.

• Feather Bookmarks: Feathers, clear self-adhesive paper, hole puncher, yarn, dish pan, dish soap, absorbent paper

1. Take your children on a nature hike and look for feathers.
2. Wash the feathers by soaking them in dish soap and water in a dish pan.
3. Rinse and lay the feathers on absorbent paper to dry.
4. The next day press each feather between two pieces of clear self-adhesive paper that has been precut to bookmark size.
5. Punch a hole in the top of the bookmark and thread a piece of yarn through the hole to make decorative.

• Bird's Nest: Big piece of cardboard, pillows

1. Place cardboard onto the ground.
2. Place pillows on the outside of the cardboard piece.
3. Kids can then go into the bird's nest and pretend they are baby birds.
4. Someone can pretend to feed the baby birds or feed them nuts.
5. You can make wings by gluing feathers to two pieces of cardboard.
6. Add elastic straps to the pieces of cardboard, so that they can hook around their arms.

• Hatching Baby Birds : Oversized T-shirt per child

1. Have your child put on the t-shirt and tuck their body inside the shirt. (Head inside head hole, arms inside arm holes and knees bend toward stomach so the entire body is encased inside of the shirt.)
2. Slowly poke out head, then arms and legs.
3. Pretend to hatch and fly. 

• Bird Watching: Binoculars, bird book

1. Take a walk and see how many different birds your child can find.
2. See if you can find the birds in their bird book.

• Plastic Spoon Bird: Plastic spoon and fork, glue, construction paper

1. Overlap and glue together the handles of a plastic fork and spoon.
2. The bowl of the spoon is the head, and the fork tines make a tail.
3. Glue a one-piece set of paper wings across the handles.
4. Make a beak and eyes from paper and glue them to the spoon end.

• Cereal Feeder: Circle-shaped cereal, heavy string

1. Thread circle-shaped cereal pieces onto a heavy string, and hang them in a tree.
2. Look for birds feeding from the string.
3. Also try threading cranberries and popped corn onto the string.

• Bird Coloring Pages:

1. http://www.coloring.ws/birds.htm
2. http://www.first-school.ws/theme/animals/cp_birds.htm
3. http://www.birdwatching-bliss.com/bird-coloring-pages.html
4. http://www.50birds.com/CB/CBb.htm

• More Bird activities:

1.  http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/bird-day/
2. http://www.abirdsworld.com/html/games___activities.html
3. http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/kids

Songs/Poems:

Two little dickey birds sitting on a hill

One named Jack and the other named Jill (hold up index finger of each hand)

Fly away Jack.  Fly away Jill. (move fingers behind back)

Come back Jack.  Come back Jill. (bring fingers back)

Substitute dickey birds with other birds

"Little Baby Robin Eggs"  tune of "Puff, the Magic Dragon"

Little baby robin eggs (cup palm of hands together)

Amidst the leaves so still (raise hands up high)

Never will I touch your nest (shake pointer finger)

For it would surely spill. (drop hands to the floor)

I'll listen for your little chirps (point to ear)

As you begin to hatch (close palm, then open)

And watch when you try hard to fly (point to eyes)

Above the garden patch. (wiggle fingers as if to fly)

Little baby robin eggs (cup palm of hands together)

I'll wait to hear you sing (touch lips)

For then I'll know without a doubt (go down low)

The season must be Spring (jump up high)

Books:

• Birds We Know by Margaret Friskey
• Feathers by Dorothy H. Patent
• Birds Eat and Eat and Eat by Roma Gans
• Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr, Suess
• Feathers for Lunch by Lois Ehlert
• What Makes a Bird a Bird? by May Garelick

Wacky Wednesday: Birds

Tuesday Tips!

Tuesday Tips!

5 Storage Containers You

Should Never Throw Away

Sure, it seems as if that stack of plastic containers is about to topple over, but maybe that just means you haven't figured out all the things you can use them for.  Maybe you need even more!  Consider these possibilities.

1. Five-gallon ice cream containers.  Use them to hold dry cereal, flour, and sugar to keep those foods fresh longer.  Also use them to store partial bags of brown sugar, powered sugar, coconut, and nuts.
2. Artificial whipped topping containers.  Use these to solve those medium-size storage problems, such as how to freeze strawberries.  One of these will hole two or three servings of leftovers, depending on your appetite.
3. Glass jars.  Some spaghetti sauces and other prepared foods come in glass jars.  Reuse these to carry soups and sauces to potluck dinners.  They also make great containers for gift foods.
4. Sixteen-ounce cottage cheese containers.  One of these will hold a large serving of vegetable soup or a generous serving of a casserole.
5. Baby food jars.  They'll hold everything from vinaigrette for potluck salads to metal cake decorating tips for your pastry bags.  

Tip was found in the book: Vinegar, Duct Tape, Milk Jugs and More By Earl Proulx 

Tuesday Tips!

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick Week: Tuesday!

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick Week

Tuesday!

Crafts:

• Chick Mask: Paper plate half, orange construction paper, two 12" lengths of yellow yarn, yellow paint, several small feathers, scissors, hole puncher, glue, paintbrush

1. Paint the paper plate half yellow.  Let the paint dry.
2. To make the mask, cut the rim off the plate to make the 3 bumps on the head.
3. Cut out two eyeholes above the straight edge of the mask.
4. Cut out an orange triangle beak.  Glue the beak and feathers to the mask.  When the glue is dry, fold the beak up so that it points forward.
5. Punch a hole on each of the mask, just slightly above the right and left eye.  
6. Tie a length of yarn to each hole.

• Plastic Eggshell Chick: Plastic egg, yellow paint, cotton balls, plastic bag, construction paper, scissors, glue, index card

1. Place some yellow paint in a plastic bag.  Drop two cotton balls inside the bag.  Shake well.  Remove the two yellow-colored cotton balls.
2. Glue the two cotton balls together to form the body and head of a chick.  Glue the chick inside an empty half of a plastic eggshell, so the chick is just peeking over the eggshell.
3. Cut a tiny beak and eyes from paper, and carefully glue them to the head of the chick.  If the eggshell half does not set up easily, glue it to an index card or a small piece of paper.  

• Crayon-Resist Egg: 9 x 12 inch sheet of manilla paper, crayons, light colored paint

1. From a 9 x 12 inch sheet of manilla paper, cut out a large egg shape.
2. Color designs on the egg with crayons, being sure to press very hard!
3. Then paint the egg with a light color of thinned tempera paint.

Activities:

• Egg-on-a-Spoon Relay: Plastic spoons, plastic eggs, 4 buckets

1. Divide into two or three teams.
2. Place an empty bucket at the finish line.
3. Place a full bucket of plastic eggs for each team at the start line.  
4. Each team get a spoon.
5. On your "Go" the first players run to the finish line with an egg on their spoon to put it into the bucket.  If a player drops their egg, they pick it up and must start over again at the start line. Then they must run back and give their spoon to the next player.  
6. The first team to get rid all the eggs from their start bucket wins!

• Underwater "Eggspert": Fresh egg, deep cereal bowl, hot tap water, yellow food coloring

1. Carefully place the egg in the bottom of the bowl and fill the bowl with hot tap water.  Quickly add a little yellow food coloring.  Watch the egg closely for several minutes.
2. Streams of tiny bubbles rise to the top of the water from the submerged egg.
3. When the air inside the egg is heated by the hot water, the air molecules expand.  Many of the new crowded air molecules push their way out of the egg through some of the almost 7,000 openings, or pores, in the egg's shell.  These heated air molecules exit the egg, usually without cracking the shell, and rise to the water's surface as bubbles.

• Craft Apron and Printables for old lady story at Teaching Heart Website

Snacks:

• Ice cream with easter sprinkles

Music/Rhyme:

Turn Yourself Into Mr. Bunny:

"The Swinging Bunny": Have your children walk around in a circle as you say the following poem to a rap rhythm.

I'm going down the street

Going hippity hop, hippity hop, hippity hop

I'm going down the street

Going hippity hop

Hey there, look at me. (point to self)

" The Cool Bunny": Have your children to be a Cool Bunny (strut and move shoulders up and down with a swinging motion and walk in a circle snapping fingers.

I'm going down the street

Going bippity bop, bippity bop, bippity bop

I'm going down the street

Going bippity bop.

Hey there, look at me. (point to self)

Ask the children to walk in a circle on their tiptoes.

I'm going down the street

Going tippity-top, tippity-top, tippity top(walk on tiptoes)

I'm going down the street

Going Tippity-top

Hey there, look at me.  (point to self)

Ask the children to walk in a circle with their knees bent and shaking their pretend tails.

I'm going down the street

Going dippity dop, dippity dop (bend knees and shake tail)

I'm going down the street

Going dippity dop

Hey there, look at me. (point to self)

Tell the children the last bunny is tired and sits down to rest

Show me your bunny eyes

Show me your ears

Show me your nose

Show me your mouth.

When I say lippity(smile)

When I say lop(frown)

Lippity(smile)

Lop(frown)

Lippty(smile)

Lop(frown)

I'm going down the street

Going lippity lop(smile and frown)

Lippity lop(smile and frown)

Lippity lop(smile and frown)

I'm going down the street

Going lippity lop

Hey there, look at me.(point to self)

Education:

Letters/Words

• Word of the day: Index card, pen

1. by
2. Use this word in sentences, so your child understands the meaning of the word and how to use it.  Example: The candy bar is by the stove.  Dad is by the car.  

• Word Holder:  Envelopes, scissors, glue or stapler, index cards, black marker, poster board

1. Take an envelope, seal it shut and fold it in half.  Cut it in half.  Then take the halves and cut about a half inch more off the top.  Make 26 halves.
2. Take an envelope half and write a letter of the alphabet on each one.  Glue or staple the envelopes to the poster board in alphabetical order.
3. Use this word holder to put in your child's word of the day cards and any other words they may know.  
4. If you want them to have more cards, put more words on index cards but put pictures with words, so they can put the words and pictures together.  You can put the pictures on the back of the index cards if you want.

Numbers

• Egg Carton Number Count: Small items like beans, coins, paper clips, shells, pebbles, cereal, beads, crackers, jelly beans, egg carton, black permanent marker, paper bags

1. Cut the top off the egg carton.
2. Place the items into their own bag. Pennies in one bag, coins in another, etc. 
3. Write the numbers 1-12 on each egg section on the bottom or side.
4. Then have your child start placing the items in the egg section according to the number.  They can put 1 bean in the number one slot, 2 pennies in the number 2 slot, etc. 

Books:

• Home For A Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
• Bunny by Pam Adams
• Bunny Numbers by Dick McCue
• Sunny Bunny Tales(Max and Ruby) by Grosset and Dunlap 
• The Baby Chicks Are Singing by Ashley Wolff

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick Week: Tuesday!

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick Week: Monday!

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick Week:

Monday

Crafts:

• Spring Basket: Cardboard, large paper grocery bag, five 6" x 9" sheets of white construction paper, assorted construction paper, scissors, stapler, glue

1. To make the basket, cut off the top half of the bag set that part aside to use later for the handle.
2. Fold down the top edge of the bag about 1 1/2 inches; then fold it down again.
3. To make a handle, cut the top portion of the bag open and cut a long three-inch-wide strip from it. Fold and glue the strip in thirds(lengthwise) and then in half.
4. When the glue is dry, staple the handle to the bag.
5. To make a fence, make an outline of how you want your picket fence on a piece of cardboard, use this as a tracer.  Fold each sheet of white paper in half twice and outline the tracer; then cut it out.  Do not cut the folded edges.
6. Unfold the fence cutouts; then glue them around the basket. Trim off any excess paper.
7. Cut out stems, leaves, and flowers from construction paper.  Then glue the cutouts to the basket, gluing some stems behind the fence and some in front of it.  
8. If desired, line the basket with shredded paper or Easter grass.

• Marbleized Paper Egg: Large cake pan, water, table knife, colored chalk, pastel construction paper

1. Pour several inches of water into a large cake pan.
2. Using a table knife, scrape some colored chalk over the pan, letting the powder fall into the water.
3. Next, lay a piece of pastel construction paper on the water so it floats.  
4. Quickly pull it out of the water by lifting a corner.  Notice how the chalk has stuck to the paper in colorful patterns!
5. Cut a large egg shape from the paper.  
6. Rinse out pan so it can be used again.

• Bunny Ears Headband: Construction paper, glue

1. Draw and cut out a pair of bunny ears from construction paper.
2. Paste them to a headband made from a strip of paper cut to fit around your child's head.

Activities:

• Edible Bird Nests: Pictures of birds and their nests, stove, mixing spoon, 6-ounce package of chocolate chips, 3-ounce can of chow mein noodles, paper plates, double boiler, oven mitt, 6-ounce package of butterscotch pieces, 1 bag of miniature marshmallows

1. Show your child pictures of birds and their nests.
2. In a double boiler over low heat, melt the chocolate and butterscotch pieces.  Stir in noodles and mix well.  
3. When warm, but not hot, drop three tablespoon portions onto each child's plate.
4. Show your child how to mold the mixture into nest shapes, making a hollow in the center of each nest.
5. When cool the children can then drop three or four miniature marshmallows into the hollow to represent eggs.
6. Allow the nests to become firm before eating the nest for the snack.

• Detecting the Hard-Boiled Egg: 2 raw eggs, 1 hardboiled egg

1. Spin each egg.  Note what happens.  Then touch each egg lightly while it is spinning.
2. Two of the eggs wobble, but one spins.  The spinner is the hard-boiled egg.  When you touch the spinning hard-boiled egg lightly, it stops spinning completely.  The raw eggs move again after you have tried to stop them.
3. The loose yolks and whites in the raw eggs revolve slowly because of inertia, the tendency of an object to continue at rest or in motion.  This causes the raw eggs to wobble and to continue to move even after you tried to stop them.  The solid white and yolk cause the hard-boiled egg to respond more quickly.  

• Great site for learning about chickens, music, worksheets, activities  at Kiddy House

Music/Rhyme:

• Cardboard Tube Blow Horn: Empty cardboard paper towel tube, waxed paper, rubber band, hole puncher

1. Cover one end of an empty cardboard paper towel tube with a piece of waxed paper, holding the paper in place with a rubber band.
2. Poke five small holes in a row along the side of the tube.
3. Hum or blow into the open end of the tube while putting your fingers over the holes.

• Do the Chicken Dance with your child
• Little Hen Rhyme at http://www.rhymes.org.uk/little_hen.htm
• Egg Songs and More at Child Fun Website

Education:

Letters/Words

• Word Of The Day: Index card, pen

1. Had
2. Make sentences with the new word.  For example:  I had a bowl of soup.   I had lots of fun today.

• Shopping For Words: Index cards, black marker, tape, white paper

1. Take all the words your child knows and write each one of them on an index cards.
2. Tape the index cards up around the house.
3. Write each of the words on a piece of white paper, this will be their shopping word list.
4. Hand your child their list and have them shop around the house for their words.  

Numbers

• Great website for printable number activities and crafts at First School  

Books:

• Their Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick! by Lucille Colandro
• Horton Hatches The Egg by Dr. Seuss

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick Week: Monday!

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick Week: Supplies

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick Week

Supplies

• Monday: Cardboard, large paper grocery bag, five 6" x 9" sheets of white construction paper, construction paper, scissors, stapler, glue, cake pan, table knife, colored chalk, pastel construction paper, pictures of birds and their nests, stove, mixing spoon, 6-ounce package of chocolate chips, 3-ounce can of chow mein noodles, paper plate, double boiler, oven mitt, 6-ounce of butterscotch pieces, 1 bag of miniature marshmallows,  2 raw eggs, 1 hardboiled egg

• Tuesday: Paper bag half, orange construction paper, two 12" lengths of yellow yarn, yellow tempera paint, several small feathers, hole puncher, glue, yellow paint, cotton balls, plastic bag, gogglie eyes, index card, 9-by-12-inch sheet of manila paper, light colored paint, crayons, plastic eggs, spoons, 4 bowls, fresh egg, deep cereal bowl, hot tap water, yellow food coloring

• Thursday: Pom poms(white-1" two 1/2", two 10mm; Orange- 3/4, 1/2", 10mm; Pink 5mm), Pipe cleaners(hot pink 6mm, pink 6mm, green 6mm, White bump), two 5mm gogglie eyes, pink and yellow fun foam, white paper, black marker, magnet strip, 1/4" hole punch, cottage cheese carton, tissue paper, paper fasteners, cotton balls, bag, yellow paint, construction paper, markers or crayons, egg, 2 drinking straws, water, salt, roll of 2"-wide painter's tape(or masking tape), playground ball(or soft, medium-size ball with a little "give" per child),  laundry basket, large unbreakable mixing bowl, yardstick or masking tape, plastic eggs or ping-pong balls, tape

• Friday: Yellow paper, stapler, glue, yellow pom pom, felt or paper, chocolate eggs or small gift, net, ribbon, cup, zip-zag and ordinary scissors, polystyrene egg, wooden skewer, paint, colored pipe cleaners, elastic, bead, school-sized milk carton, construction paper, eggshells, paper plates, box lids, egg carton lids, paint, cotton swabs, 2 whole raw eggs(in shell), 2 glasses, water, vinegar

• Wednesday: Birds

1. Large cardboard, elastic bands, cardboard pieces, feathers, clear self-adhesive paper, magazines, construction paper, glue, crayons, paint, glue, plastic spoon and fork, circle-shaped cereal, heavy string, cardboard tube, birdseed, yarn, crayons

• Saturday: Bunny Cupcakes and Bunny Cake

1. 1 16.5-oz. roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough, 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, 2 cups confectioners' sugar, 2 Tbsp, egg-white powder(such as Just Whites), red and green food coloring, 1/2 cup each light and dark pink decorating sugars, large flower decors, 2 cups chopped sweetened flaked coconut, 1 16-oz. can vanilla frosting, 24 cupcakes, any flavor
2. Marshmallows, chocolate kiss, jelly beans 

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick Week: Supplies

Congratulations!

Congratulations to SWEETANGL5632@AOL.COM. 

She is the winner of my LPS drawing.  Thank you for entering my drawing.  

Congratulations!

Bake/Cook/Make Day Saturday!

Bake/Cook/Make Day Saturday!

• Deviled Egg Upgrade:  

1 dozen large eggs

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon well-drained sweet pickle relish

Ground paprika for sprinkling

For Instructions and Pictures Check out Family Fun Go Website

• Easter Egg Dye: Food coloring, vinegar, hot water, bowls, crayons, hard-boiled eggs

1. You can make your own Easter Egg dye by mixing 1 teaspoon of food coloring, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, and 1 cup of hot water.  Make a different color for each container available for holding the dyes
2. Spoon dip a hard-boiled egg into the dye to color it the way you want.  Try dipping some eggs into more than one color to see what new colors you get.  Dip other eggs halfway in one color and halfway in another.
3. If you want an egg to have a special design or message, draw or write with crayon on the egg ahead of time.  The crayon will resist the dye and leave your design or message visible on the egg.

• Marbled Eggs: Food coloring, vinegar, hot water, salad oil, bowl

1. Mix 1 teaspoon of food coloring, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, 1 cup of hot water, 1 tablespoon of salad oil.
2. Eggs dyed in this solution will have a marbled coloring.

• Easter Egg Stand: Cardboard tube, scissors

1. Cut off a one-inch-long ring from a cardboard tube.
2. Place the ring on its end to use as a display stand for your dyed eggs.

Bake/Cook/Make Day Saturday!

Easter Week: Friday!

Easter Week!

Friday

Crafts:

• Nesting Hen: Yellow, brown, orange construction paper, 6"paper plate, 2 small black pom-poms, 2 or 3 yellow cotton balls or yellow pom poms, brown tempera paint, scissors, glue, fine-tipped black marker

1. Paint the plate brown and let it dry.
2. Cut a big yellow circle.  Fold lightly in half and unfold.  On one half of the circle cut the circle in half.  Then take the cut parts and fold them over each other to make a cone and glue them together.
3. Make a tail and two wings from construction paper, fringe the ends and glue it to the cone.
4. Glue on the pom-pom eyes and an orange construction paper beak.
5. Cut up pieces of brown paper to make the nest and glue the strips on the plate.
6. Glue the cotton balls (baby chicks) or pom poms in the center of the nest.  Add an orange beak to each chick; then use a fine-tipped black marker to dot on little eyes.
7. Set the hen on the nest so that it covers the chicks.

• Bunny Mask: White, pink construction paper, black marker

1. Cut out a heart large enough to cover your face, using white construction paper.
2. Cut out two eyes out the of the mask, so you child can see out it.
3. Make a small round circle out of pink paper, for the nose, and glue it on.
4. Draw on whiskers with a black marker.
5. Draw on a mouth.
6. Cut out ears out of white construction paper. Draw little pink centers of the ears and glue them on.
7. Glue or staple ears onto face.
8. Fasten a paper band across the back so the mask will fit your child's head.

• Stained Glass Cross: Recycled plastic CD case, DecoArt glass stains(black leading, blue, green, pink, purple), ribbon 23" length, pony beads(assorted colors), Tacky glue, white copy paper, tape, scissors, ruler

1. Wash and dry CD case.  Make your own cross or find a picture you like and place a piece of white paper over the picture and draw the pattern onto the paper.  
2. Tape pattern on back of one side of CD case.
3. Use black leading to trace outline and lines on pattern on CD case.  Let dry.
4. Use blue, green, pink, and purple paint to fill in areas on pattern.  Let dry.  Remove pattern from CD case.
5. Measure and cut three 5" ribbon lengths.  Tie knot on end of 5" ribbon lengths.  Thread pony beads onto each ribbon length.  Glue ribbon lengths along bottom edge of CD case.
6. For hanger, measure and cut 8"ribbon length. Glue ribbon ends on either side of CD case.  Let dry.
7. Hang stained glass in window.

• Paper Bag Bunny Basket: 

1. At the open end of a flattened white paper lunch bag, draw some bunny ears along the outside edges.
2. Fluff open the bag.
3. Cut away the spaces between the ears on the sides as well as on the front and back.  Staple the ears together at the top to from a pair of handles.  
4. Flatten the bag again.  On the front side draw a large bunny face.  
5. Then unfold the bag and the basket is ready to use!

Activities:

• Playacting

1. Have your child pretend they are the Easter bunny.  
2. Act out decorating and delivering the eggs to other children.

• An Easter Story: Crayons, white paper, pen

1. Have your child draw an Easter scene.
2. Then have them tell you a story using their drawing.  
3. You can write down their story if you want.

Snacks:

• Jelly beans
• Bunny Marshmallows 

Education:

Letters/Words

• Word of the Day: Practice this week's words with your child

1. How many words can they remember?
2. Do they remember their other words?

Numbers

• Addition Cards: Index cards, sticker dots, black marker

1. On an index card place one dot and write the number 1 on the card.  Make two of them.
2. Do this for numbers 2-9.  Make two of them.
3. For the number 0, don't put any dot and just write the number 0.  Make two of them.
4. Make a + sign and a = sign.
5. On an index card place 10 dots and write the number 10 on the card. Only make one.
6. Do this for number 11-20 too.  Make only one.
7. Now have your child draw two cards from the 1-9 card pile.  Then add a + sign between the two numbers and an = sign after the second card.  Then have them add the two cards together.  Have them count the dots to help them.  
8. How are they are doing?

Music/Rhyme:

Bunny Hop

Tune("If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands!"

If you feel like a bunny go hop-hop (hop twice)

If you feel like a bunny go hop-hop (repeat action)

If you feel like a bunny, and you think it's rather funny,

If you feel like a bunny go hop-hop(repeat action)

If your ears are kind of droopy go flap-flap(child places hands by his ears and flaps them up and down)

If your ears are kind of droopy go flap-flap(repeat action)

If your ears are kind of droopy and you're feeling rather loopy,

If your ears are kind of droopy go flap-flap(repeat action)

If your nose is feeling stuffy shake your head(shake head from side to side)

If your nose is feeling stuffy shake your head(repeat action)

If your nose is feeling stuffy and your fur is rather fluffy,

If your nose if feeling stuffy shake your head(repeat action)

If you like to chase your tail, turn around(turn around in a circle)

If you like to chase your tail, turn around(repeat action)

If you tail likes to wiggle and it makes your Mommy giggle, 

If you like to chase your tail, turn around(repeat action)

If your feet are getting sleepy, touch your toes(bend over and touch toes)

If your feet are getting sleepy, touch your toes(repeat action)

If your toes like to wiggle and it makes your Mommy giggle, 

If your feet are getting sleepy, touch your toes(repeat action)

If you feel like a bunny go hop-hop(child hops twice)

If you feel like a bunny go hop-hop(child hops twice)

If you feel like a bunny, and your Mommy calls your honey,

If your feel like a bunny go hop-hop(repeat action)

Books:

• Honey Bunny by Mary Englebreit
• Easter Egg Surprise by Kate Gleeson
• Peter Cottontail and The Easter Egg Hunt by J. R. Brent Ritchie and Rebecca McKillip

Some ideas came from the following books:

• Unplugged Play by Bobbi Conner
• Big Book of Monthly Arts and Crafts by The Mailbox
• The Kids' Encyclopedia Of Things To Make And Do by Richard Michael Rasmussen
• Pack-O-Fun Magazine  www.pack-o-fun.com

Easter Week: Friday!