Math 2 Music

Little Mister definitely understands the concept of counting. However, he says 2...1...! Yeah, that's backwards! When he is racing cars he tells me, "3, 2, 1 Mommy" meaning for me to say Ready, Set.... Go! We have been working on counting for some time already but counting to 3 has been a challenge. For instance, I ask him to bring me 3 cars so we can play. Cheerfully, he selects 3 cars and proudly counts them as 2, 1, 2! So, I thought maybe I should give the rout method a try (of course I had to add a little twist!).

Objective- Understands the Concept of 1, 2, and 3 (MS Early Learning Guidelines for Infants and Toddlers: Mathematical Development 2.1.6)

Materials- Cans, tape, balloons, rubberbands

Procedure-
1. Clean three cans and make sure there are no sharp edges around the rim.
2.  For added procaution, tape around the edges of the can with electrical or duct tape.
3. Cut the narrow part off a balloon and stretch the remainder over the top of the can.
4. Secure in place with a rubberband.
5. Tap out a rhythm of 3 while chanting 1, 2, 3! Over and over!

Painting in the Rain

We were all ready to "throw paint" at some paper on the porch and wouldn't ya know it.... It started to sprinkle. I mean, what happened to our pattern of afternoon showers? Mother nature had other ideas today but we just rolled with it and had a great time!

Procedure-

1. I put a sheet over the porch rail and attached our poster board with clothes pins. (The sheet kept the paint off the porch and kept me from having to chase the balls around the yard!)

2. Then, I squirted some pain in different paper plates.

3. Finally, I handed Little Mister some spiny play balls and let him go to town!

Ready to paint

Throw it again!

This one will be framed when it dries!

After we cleaned up the paint.... we had to play in the rain!

Mushroom Spore Prints

The Deep South in summer can often be, well, hot and sticky! Afternoons are laced with thunder and heavy rains! After which, the air is so thick you could hang your laundry on it, if you could find a way to pin it! And so goes all our days this past week! Driven inside by either an aversion to sweat or running for cover from rain so dense you can hardly see! 

Early this morning we happened upon a beautiful mushroom during our brief walk around the yard. Since I knew we would have a lot of inside time on our hands today, we decided to make some mushroom prints!

Objective- Uses senses to explore environment (MS Early Learning Guidelines for Infants and Toddlers: Scientific Development 3.3.4)

Materials- white card stock, fresh picked mushrooms, large bowl or dish, fine mist hairspray

Procedure-
1. Find mushrooms and carefully bring them inside. Careful not to touch under the caps.
2. Remove stems. We just easily twisted ours and they popped right off.
3. carefully place the top of the mushroom on the white paper.
4. Cover with bowl and wait for about an hour.
5. Take off the bowl and carefully lift up the mushroom top. The spores will have left a really neay pattern on the paper. It will easily smear so be careful.
6. Spray a light mist of hairspray to help protect the print.

When we lifted the bowl, Little Mister quickly noticed the smell. Some mushrooms have a strong smell! (By the way, I can't stand them but my little guy likes them..... and that's OK!)

Once we had the prints finished, I let him dissect the mushroom. We talked about: smooth tops, bumpy stems, and rough gills (underside of the top where the spores are)!

a mushroom find in the yard

checking it out

hard to have to wait

Shake a Stick at It

What do you call a stick with bells, bottle caps and beads? .......... I don't know either! 

It's another rainy and lazy lazy day here in the South! We needed a lively indoor activity today to get the juices flowing!! This morning we took a short walk outside (before the storms blew in) and found an interesting stick! As some of you may be well aware, ALL sticks and rocks are interesting to a 2 year old boy! We have so many rocks in our house now that we could start our own paving company! And let's not even talk about sticks.....

With thunder, it's time to go in! So, we scouted around the house for items we thought could go on a string to clap or click together to make noise!After all was said and done.... It's time to shake our tail feathers!!

Materials- small stick with a Y in it, yarn or small ribbon, acrylic paints, bells, beads, bottle lids (anything that you may want to try that will click together for noise)!

Procedure-
1. Take a walk outside and find a small stick that has a Y in it.
2. Bring inside and paint the stick. Definitely optional but adds to the fun!
3. String your assorted finds on the yarn or ribbon.
4. Tie securely on each side of the Y in the stick!

Happy Dancing Y'all!

painting our stick

adding some colorful beads

Shake it baby!

Triangles and Sunshine

Little Mister was in fine form today when we met a friend for lunch! Little did she know her  toast would be quickly confiscated and made into a game piece.

It’s a triangle.

It’s a yellow triangle.

It’s a yellow triangle hat!

Never underestimate a slice of toast!

 Later that day, we were perusing the aisles of a local thrift shop (a great place for those who like to re-purpose items) and we discovered a silly letter “S” with a yellow sun attached! From that moment on we tried to spot everything that was yellow or shaped like a circle in the store! This kept him engaged for some time, and I was able to browse around and look for treasures! [For older children you could look for things that start with the letter S.] 

S is for Silly Sun

Catch and Bake Raindrops

We have had so much rain lately, I can't help but do this oldie but goodie with Little Mister today! The neat part about it is, it's all new to him AND he gets to play in the rain! Score!

Objective- Awareness of Immediate Surroundings, notices characteristics of weather.  (MS Early Learning Guidelines for Infants and Toddlers: Scientific Development 3.2.1

Materials- Shallow baking pan, flour, sifter

Procedure-
1. Fill baking pan with flour about 1/2 inch deep.
2. Stand out in the rain with the baking pan for several minutes allowing ample time to collect raindrops. If it is raining to hard you might want to just hold the baking pan out the door to collect the raindrops! It's your choice!
3. Place the baking pan and captured raindrops in a 180 degree C pre-heated oven for about 10 minutes.
4. Allow to cool for a few minutes.
5. Spoon some flour into a sifter and collect your prize!

We talked about how they are different sizes and shapes.  With older kiddos you could also discuss the Water Cycle with this activity! "Evaporation makes it Rain Rain!" I love Bill Nye the Science Guy! Although my college chemistry professor said he was just a script reader!!! I guess they had bad chemistry... sorry about that!
By the way, check out the Water Cycle Jump song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kvqAxgFRyk

Flour feels weird

Capturing some raindrops

Sifting for treasure

check these out!

Spin Painting

Little Mister woke up this morning with painting on his mind! Far be it for me to hinder any opportunity to make a mess first thing in the morning! As you can see, he is still in his jammies! Glad the camera does not point the other direction because (yes, I admit it) I was too!

Materials- poster board, several different colors of acrylic paints, foam plates, juice bottle caps, water bottle lids (Collect different sized circular objects to use. Just make sure there is a flat surface on one side.)

Procedure-
1. Drip paint on the bottom side of the foam plate. Use random colors or use colors that will combine to make a third color like yellow and blue to make green.
2. Turn the plate over and place on the poster board.
3. Place your hand flat on the plate and twist. Try to keep it in the same place so it will be a circle when removed. Experiment by turning the plate in different directions or completely around. It's your world enjoy it!
4. Lift the plate straight off the poster board and set aside.
5. Do the same with the other sized circular objects.
6. Lay flat to dry.

We are gonna have a mat made and put this put in his room! I love the effect and it looks awesome!