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!

Easter Week: Thursday!

Easter Week

Thursday!

Crafts:

• "Some Bunny Loves You" Card: Construction paper, markers, pipe cleaners, two craft sticks, small pom pom

1. Fold a piece of construction paper in half.  Write a message inside the folded paper.
2. Cut an oval from a piece of white construction paper, and draw a bunny face.
3. Cut six small pieces of pipe cleaner.
4. Glue the face on the front of the card.  Glue craft-stick ears.  Glue the pipe cleaner pieces on as whiskers and the tiny pompom for the bunny's nose.

• Beautiful Baskets: Craft sticks, plastic-foam tray, glitter, plastic berry basket, cardboard, poster board

Egg Basket: 

1. Paint eight craft sticks and let dry.
2. Cut eight egg shapes form a plastic-foam tray or craft foam.
3. Decorate the eggs with glitter, and let dry.
4. Glue each egg to the end of a craft stick.  Let dry.
5. Weave the craft sticks in and out of the sides of a berry basket.  Add a dab of glue at each cross point to be sure the sticks stay out.

Handle Basket:

1. Cut two squares of cardboard as wide and tall as a craft stick.  
2. Cut tabs 1/4 inch long and the width of a craft stick apart into two sides of each square.
3. Fold back every other tab.  Use a dot of glue to attach one end of a craft stick to each folded tab on one square.  Glue the other end of each stick to the folded tabs on the other square.  
4. Tape a piece of cardboard to fit the bottom.  
5. Add a poster-board handle. 

• Paper Plate Bonnet: Paper plate, glue, hole puncher, ribbon, decorations

1. Turn a paper plate upside down.  Cover the bottom with tissue paper, flowers, ribbons, netting, sequins, glitter, buttons, artificial flowers, feathers, etc. using glue to fasten down the decorations.
2. Attach a long ribbon to each side for a tie.

• Broken Egg With Bunny: Colored construction paper, scissors, metal paper fastener, glue

1. On colored construction paper, draw an egg.  Then cut it out.
2. Next, draw a jagged line down the middle of the egg.  Cut the egg in half along the jagged line.
3. Using white paper, cut out two circles small enough to fit within the egg halves.  Paste them on a sheet of background paper, one above the other, to form a body and head of a bunny.
4. Draw two bunny ears on the top circle and add a face.
5. Poke a hole near the bottom edge of the lower circle.  
6. Also, poke holes in the bottom corner of each egg half.  
7. Pin all the pieces together with a metal paper fastener so you can close the egg and then open it to reveal the bunny inside.  

Activities:

• Easter Collage: Magazines and/or store ads, scissors, glue, poster board.  

1. Cut easter pictures out of the magazines or store ads. 
2. Glue them onto a piece of poster board, shaped like an egg.
3. Your child can add glitter over the pictures if they want too.

• Egg Power: 4 eggshell halves, masking tape, scissors, cans

1. Wrap a piece of masking tape around the midsection of each eggshell half.
2. Then, with your scissors, trip off the excess shell so each one has a straight-edged bottom.
3. Lay out the four eggshells, dome up, so they form a square.
4. Holding a can upright, stand it on the eggshells.  
5. Keep stacking cans on top of that one until the shells crack.

The "fragile" eggshells can support a surprising amount of weight.

The secret of their strength is their shape.  No single point in the dome supports the entire weight of the object on top of it.  The weight is carried down along the curved walls to the wide base.

• Carrot Tops: Carrots with leaves, magnifying lens

1. Look at the carrots carefully.
2. Under the magnifying lens, examine the tops of the carrot roots just below the leaves.  What color are they?

Almost any plant that is exposed to light turns green.  This green is the chlorophyll, which assists in the photosynthesis process.  (See chlorophyll test below.)  Some of the top portion of the carrot roots you looked at might have been green.  This part was green because the top portion of the root was exposed to the sun.  

• Chlorophyll Test:  Sheet of white construction paper, grass

1. Place the sheet of construction paper on the grass.
2. Step on the paper and twist your foot into the grass.
3. Lift the paper and examine it. What do you see on the paper?

You saw green smudges on the paper where the grass rubbed on the paper.  Grass and other plants are green because they contain a pigment called chlorophyll.  Chlorophyll is vital to plants.  Plants cannot move around to get food, so they must make it themselves.  Plants make food from carbon dioxide (found in the air), water, and sunlight through the process of photosynthesis.  Without chlorophyll, this process could not take place.  

Snacks:

• Easter Egg Shaped Brownies from Little Debbie
• Carrots, celery or lettuce
• Hard boiled egg

Education:

Letters/Words:

• Word of the day: Index card, pen

1. OR
2. Ask your children questions about things like: Is this big or small.  Is this green or blue?  Is this tall or short?
3. Then have them ask you questions using the word OR too.

• Storyteller: Index cards, pen, bag

1. Write down words you child knows on index cards.
2. Place index cards in a bag.
3. Then have your child draw out three cards.
4. Have them make up a story using the three words.

Numbers:

• Number Scavenger Hunt: White paper, tape/glue, pen, scissors, items like beans, crayons, money, blocks, buttons, paper clips, etc.

1. With your items glue or tape one of each item onto one sheet of paper.  
2. Above the each item, write down the number of that items is hidden around the room.
3. Your child must then find that number of items.  For example: if you have hidden 10 pennies around the room, then above the taped penny on the paper, write down 10.  
4. Have them count each item until they have found all 10 pennies.  

Music/Rhyme:

• Step By Step Website has some very cute Easter songs in their holiday section.

Books:

• It's Easter Pooh by RH Disney
• Easter Basket by Chuck Murphy
• Where Are Baby's Easter Eggs? by Karen Katz
• Clifford's Happy Easter by Norman Bridwell

Easter Week: Thursday!

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

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Shell Week:

Thursday!

Crafts:

• Sand Art: Large paper cups, fine sand, water, food coloring(green, blue, yellow), plastic spoons, paper towels, glass bottle with cork or jar with lid, bamboo skewers

For Sand:

1. Fill each paper cup halfway with sand.
2. Add enough water to each cup to completely cover the sand.
3. Stir each cup with a plastic spoon and set aside for a half hour while the sand absorbs the color.
4. Pour the excess water off the sand.  Scoop the sand out onto paper towels and allow the sand to dry completely.  You may want to prep the colored sand the day before, to make sure it's completely dry before kids work with sand.

For Sand Art:

1. The effect will differ depending on the shape of your jar or bottle,  but the technique is the same.  Add layers of different colored sand to create a pattern.  You can make straight horizontal layers, or change the pattern by tilting the bottle/jar as you pour another layer or poking a bamboo skewer along the edges after each layer to create a wavy effect.
2. Fill to the top and screw lid on jar or place cork in the top of the bottle.

• Shell Pots: Acrylic paint(any colors), shells(any size), glue, terra-cotta flowerpots

1. Paint pots, let dry.
2. Glue shells on pots and let dry.  

• Fish Plate:  Plate, tape or glue, paint or markers, scissors

1. Cut triangle from a plate, for the mouth of fish.
2. Tape or glue triangle to plate to form the tail.
3. Paint or draw scales and eye.

• Shell Sculture: Shells, glue, felt, scissors, thin cardboard

1. Make a shell picture with the shells.  You can make flowers with the shells, animals(like mice, octopus)
2. You can make a mouse by using a shell that looks like a mouse body.  Glue 2 small on top of the body.  Glue on gogglie eyes.  Use a piece of yarn for the tail.

Activities:

• Sparkling Cakes: Cake(of your choice), bowl, spoon, 225 g(8 oz) icing sugar, 2-3 tablespoons water, blue edible glitter, foil parasol, glitter glue, sequins for paper cases, plain paper cake cases

1. Make your cake following instructions on the box.  Leave cupcakes to cool on a wire rack.
2. Meanwhile, make the icing by mixing the icing sugar with the water.  When the cakes are cool, spread the tops with icing.
3. Sprinkle each cake generously with edible blue glitter.
4. Decorate the paper cases with glitter glue and finish with a foil parasol.
5. You can use sequins, glitter glue and pre-gummed shapes to make a plain paper case look eye-catching.

• Sand Colors: Handful of sand, sheet of dark paper, magnifying lens

1. Place sand on the sheet of paper.
2. Scatter the sand with your hand and look at the grains under the magnifying lens.  What colors and variations of colors do you see?

When you look closely at the grains of sand, you noticed that they were not all the same color.  The color of each grain depends upon the materials form which the sand came.  Quartz is translucent(light shines through it) white, tan, or yellow.  Feldspar is gray or pink.  Fragments of seashells are usually white opaque (light does not shine through them). Some beaches even have black sand, which comes from volcanic ash. 

• Wind Waves: Large, shallow cake pan, tap water, drinking straw

1. Fill the cake pan with tap water.
2. Hold one end of the drinking straw close to the water.
3. Blow air through the straw on the water's surface, sometimes softly.  What happens as you blow on the water?

By blowing on the water, you produced waves on the top of the water.  The energy of the air pushes the water, creating waves.  This energy increases as the speed of the air increases.  The height of the waves changes according to the amount of air blowing on the surface.  As the energy passes through the water, ripples of waves move through the water.

• Castle Of Cups: Plastic cups

1. Have your child stack plastic cups to make a castle.
2. How high can they build their castle.
3. You can even time them and see how far they get too.

Snacks:

• Cupcakes
• Fish and chips

Education: 

Letters/Words

• Word Of The Day: Index card, Pen

1. This
2. Work with your child on this word and their past words.  
3. See how many sentences you can make with the words now.

• Go Fish Word Game: Index cards, black marker

1. Just like go fish but with words.
2. On the top left corner of the index card write a word like this and write the same word on the bottom right hand corner.  You can cut the index cards down to make them smaller if you want.  You will have to make two cards for each word.
3. Make cards for all the words your child knows now.
4. Have your child decorate the backs of each card if you want.  They can draw on it, add stickers, use stamps, whatever they wish.
5. Shuffle cards.  Deal five cards to each player.  The object of the game is to get as many pairs as possible.  For example: "Do you have a this?" The player asking must have the mate in his hand.  The player who is asked must give up the card if they have the card.  If the first player does not get the card asked for, he draws on card from the pile.  If the player succeeds in getting the card asked for, either from another player or from the pile, he gets another turn.  As soon as the player gets a pair, he put is down in front of them.  
6. If a player is not able to get a matching pair, then the next player gets a turn at asking for a card.  
7. The player with the most pairs wins. 

Numbers

• Play a game of hopscotch 

• Number Hunt: Old store ads, coupons, magazines, paper, pen

1. Have your child look through the stuff above and search for all the ones.  Write down how many ones they found.  Do this for all the numbers.  
2. Then, try finding all the twos.
3. Next, find the threes.
4. Go on to the fours, fives, sixes, sevens, eights and nines.
5. Which number did they find the most? Least? Same?

Music:

If I lived under the sea, sea, sea,
I think it would be neat as it could be, be, be.
I could visit all the fish,
Anytime I wish,
If I lived under the sea.

I could ride on the tail,
Of a great big whale
Wow! that would be great!
I could count the legs
On an octopus,
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8!

If I lived under the sea, sea, sea,
I think it would be neat as it could be, be, be.
I could visit all the fish,
Anytime I wish,
If I lived under the sea.

It would be so new,
To watch a tuna,
Talking to an itty bitty snail!
Or to see the pretty fin,
On the back of a fish,
Who carries his very own sail!

If I lived under the sea, sea, sea,
I think it would be neat as it could be, be, be.
I could visit all the fish,
Anytime I wish,
If I lived under the sea.

I could visit all the fish,
Anytime I wish,
If I lived under,
If I lived under,
If I lived under the sea.

Song found on PBSKids Website.  On the website you can hear how the song goes too.

Rhyme:

Once I caught a Fish Alive

One, two, three, four, five.

Once I caught a fish alive,

Six, seven, eight, nine ,ten,

Then I let it go again.

Why did you let it go?

Because it bit my finger so.

Which finger did it bite?

This little finger on the right.

Rhyme found on Rhymes website

Books:

• A Sea Wishing Event by Robert Heidbreder
• Sponge Bob Books 

Some ideas were found in the following books:

• Nature In A Nutshell For Kids by Jean Potter
• Creative Crafts For Kids by Hamlyn
• Rosie O'Donnell's Crafty U

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