SPRING/EASTER ACTIVITIES...

 Creeping Caterpillars

This was probably our last Spring activity, as we are ready to move into our beach theme.  Yesterday, the kids recycled an old egg container to make their caterpillars.  I cut them out and used a hold puncher to punch holes for the antlers and legs.  The kids painted them, and glued on the eyes.  I helped them insert the pipecleaner and bend it to make sure it stayed in place.


  Rice Krispie Bird Nests:


These are so fun!  Jack and I made these just before
naptime the other day.  First, we made up a batch of rice krispie treats (we dyed ours pink at Jack's request).  We sprayed several ramekins with cooking spray and molded the rice krispies into them, leaving a dent in the middle.  (You could use a cupcake pan too.)  Jack then wrote a letter to the Easter Bunny asking him to come "fill his nest" while he slept.  (This is great bribery to actually take a nap, if you have a kiddo who is in the process of giving up a nap.)  While the kids slept, the "Easter Bunny" came and adorned the nests with Easter grass, chocolate eggs, and peeps.  The kids were SOOO excited when they woke up.

 
Hatching Chicks:

 We made these precious hatching chicks after Jack made one at preschool and requested to make more.  They are really easy.  To make them, draw an egg shape onto a yellow piece of construction paper.  Have your preschooler cut it out.  Draw a zig-zag line across a paper plate and have your preschooler cut across the entire line.  Glue the yellow egg to the backside of the bottom half of the paper plate.  Glue on wiggle eyes and a beak.  Use a hole punch and a fastener to connect the plate together and form the "egg."

Easter Basket Cupcakes...

I have to give credit to my mama for this one...my birthday always falls around Easter, and I still remember her making these cupcakes for me to take as birthday treats in the fifth grade.  (Thanks Mom!)  Anyway, we made these again the other day for a fun snack.  Jack is excited to take them to school and share with his friends this week; it will make the perfect "pre-preschool-Easter-egg-hunting-snack."  To make these, simply use your favorite cupcake recipe to make the cupcakes.  Next, mix a couple of drops of green food coloring into a bowl of coconut until completely mixed.  Frost cupcakes with any type of icing and then sprinkle the green coconut on top.  Add a few jellybeans to the center of the cupcakes.  Finally, cut a piece of pipe cleaner in half and round it out to make a loop.  Insert the pipe cleaner into the sides of the cupcakes to make it look like a basket handle.  Enjoy!

Math and Literacy Ideas...

I simply cannot say enough wonderful things about the www.makinkglearningfun.com website.  It is my first "go-to" page for theme ideas.  Since it takes some time to go through the themes and identify which ideas will work for my kids, and some of you have mentioned you are wanting to do more of these things, here's what we're doing from the Easter ideas...
Math...
*Easter Egg Color By Number (Jack)
*Roll and Color Number Easter Eggs (Jack)
*Rabbit Shape Match Cards (Jack and Maren)
Literacy...
*Color Word Easter Basket (Jack and Maren)**I modified this for Jack to encourage sight word recognition by writing the color names on each of the colored eggs.  This way, he is matching the words of each color up and learning to recognize the sight words for each color.
*Happy Easter Color, Cut, and Glue (Jack)
 



Bunny Baskets...

 
 We spent a rainy afternoon making bunny baskets, and it was a lot of fun!  To start, we painted terracotta pots white.  (I did Maren's since we weren't using washable paint.)  Next we cut ears out of white and pink construction paper and glued them to the inside of the pot.  We then glued a pink pom-pom and wiggly eyes to the front of the bunny's face, and a white pom-pom to his back side for the tail.  I used a sharpie to draw the whiskers on, and the kids filled their baskets with Easter grass and jellybeans.  (This activity was a little challenging for Maren, so she enjoyed playing with the Easter grass and helping me spread the glue on things with a q-tip....she also really enjoyed nibbling on a few of the jellybeans.)

Jack's Favorite Spring/Easter Books...  

1. Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms...Julia Rawlinson
2. Mouse's First Spring...Lauren Thompson
3. Wake Up, It's Spring!...Lisa Ernst
4. Katie Duck is a Caterpillar...Alyssa Capucilli
5. Hello Spring...Allison Inches
6. The Secret of the First One Up...Iris Arno
7. Pooh's Egg Hunt...Isabel Gaines
8. Last One In Is A Rotten Egg...Diane DeGroat
9. Here Comes T. Rex Cottontail...Lois Grambling
10. And the Spring Grass Grew All Around...Harriet Ziefert

Maren's Favorite Spring/Easter Books...

1. Lamb's Easter Surprise...Christing Taylor-Butler
2. Max Counts His Chickens...Rosemary Wells
3. Happy Easter, Biscuit!...Alyssa Capucilli
4. Dora's Easter Basket...Sarah Wilson
5. Duckling's First Spring...Salina Yoon
6. God Made Spring...Holley Gerta
7. Kevin Discovers Spring...Liesbet Slegers 

Sick Babies!

http://pictures.sprintpcs.com/share.do?invite=gEcr51zwk5Urb5f7zheh&shareName=MMS&messageState=RETRIEVED
My poor little ones have been so sick this last week.  I wish I could say this was the first time a stomach "bug" (or ladybug," as my niece calls it) has hit our house this winter.  Unfortunately the current bug we are passing around hit us two weeks ago too.  This time however, neither one of my little guys felt like drinking with it.  Poor Marsy ended up in the hospital twice last week for IV fluids.  We got one day of reprieve in between where both little guys were healthy before it hit Jack.  He still has it and we are praying it ends soon.  Click on the link above to see a picture of Marsy at the hospital.  (What a cute little patient, I wish I was that cute when I was sick.)

St. Patrick's Day Activities and Crafts:

Potato Painting

We made these shamrock paintings by slicing a potato in half and dipping into green paint.  After we had made a shamrock, we added green yarn for the stem. 


Shamrock Shakes and Leprechaun Cookies:

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a fun snack; shamrock shakes and leprechaun cookies.  I found the recipe for the shake on the Disney Family Fun webpage.  (I'd add a bit less banana next time.)  The cookies, are just sugar cookies with green icing and sprinkles.  (It just sounds better when we call them leprechaun cookies.)

Shamrock Shake:
1 C. lime sherbert
1/2 banana
1 C. milk

Blend together in a mixer and serve in a fun glass with a green straw.






"Get Your Green On" Necklaces:

This craft ensured that we wouldn't  be caught without any green on for St. Patrick's Day.  We dyed pasta green and strung it on green yarn (wrap the end in scotch tape for easier stringing) to make these green necklaces.

How to dye pasta:
In a large plastic storage bag (I use two put inside of each other) put about 1/4 C. rubbing alcohol and 5-6 drops of green food coloring.  Add 1 box or bag of your favorite type of pasta and shake until all pasta are coated.  Lay out to dry on a cookie sheet with paper towels topped with waxed paper.


Paper Plate Shamrocks:

We always have paper plates at our house, and we get pretty creative in coming up with ways to use them.  We cut four small curvy V's into a paper plate (www.makinglearningfun.com) .  The kids painted them with green paint and sprinkled some glitter on for a little extra sparkle.

Jack's Favorite St. Patrick's Day Books:

• Hooray for St. Patrick's Day by Joan Holub
• St. Patrick's Day by Carmen Bredesen
• The Story of St. Patrick's Day by Patricia Pingry
• Jeremy Bean's St. Patrick's Day by Alice Shertle
• Lucky O' Leprechaun by Jana Dillion
• Little Bear Marches in the St. Patrick's Day Parade by Janice.

Maren's Favorite St. Patrick's Day Books:

• St. Patrick's Day Countdown by Salina Yoon
• St. Patrick's Day by Carmen Bredesen

Jack's 4th Birthday!

As much as I hate to admit it, my little guy is now 4!  It sounds so big.  Though there are times I feel like I just had him, no matter how hard I try to avoid it, those Birthdays just keep coming.  Jack has actually been avoiding his Birthday too; he didn't want his "number" to change.  Apparently he was very fond of the number three and does not like the number four.  Ha!  I think we were able to get him more excited with all the birthday festivities though.  We celebrated on Friday by going to music class, having lunch with friends, and then heading to his favorite restaurant (Red Robin) for dinner.  On Saturday, he had a little birthday party at one of his favorite places with some close friends and family.  After playing with all his new presents, I think Jack has a better attitude about turning four.  I myself would still prefer for these birthdays to slow down, but I guess I'll surrender and start planning Maren's.