Monday 23 May 2016

Summer- Ocean Fun!

Summer is at its peak and there is no better way to cool off than to dive straight into the ocean. Well, I cant do that literally, thanks to the landlocked city that I stay in but there are other ways to feel better about it. And one such way is to do an ocean study with the little ones! Ha Ha... I think this kind of thinking is called positive thinking and sometimes it can make you happy.

We took out one of our favorite ocean books - "The Hermit Crab" by Eric Carle and dived straight into learning all about crabs.


We practiced retelling the story with the puppets.

We also added some math into our unit and sang "Five Little Crabs" by Dr Jean.



We made a 'C' shaped crab and did some math sums.

It was a short study but surely a fun one!
Check out other activities that we did with the book "The Hermit Crab" by clicking HERE.

Monday 16 May 2016

10 fun and engaging activities for the summer holidays!

The summer heat has become unbearable and to step out of the house is really not an option. So how do we keep our little ones occupied constructively to avoid the learning loss? I have gathered 10 super easy ideas for you all to try, in the comfort of your home. All of them have been kid tested and approved, so you wouldn't have to worry about them not being a hit with your kids. They are low prep and wouldn't consume too much of your time.

Make puppets! Always works with kids and they can be used for story retelling or singing or enacting. In this picture, we made pig noses after reading "The Three Little Pigs". We used egg cartons, painted them with pink paint, attached ribbons and then
pretended to be pigs.

Dinosaur fossils will get your little paleontologists super excited . Read THIS POST on how to make them.

Nothing like the old charm of pretend play and kids thrive on it. Set up a dramatic play area for your kids-whatever they fancy, doctor's clinic, a pizzeria, an ice cream vendor etc. Click 
HERE to read more about it.


Get your little chefs to come up with recipes of edible animals. Here we made a spider with Oreo cookies, M&M's and chocolate sticks.

Do a letter match with magnetic letters. Put up an alphabet sheet on the fridge and let children match the magnetic letters. Get your alphabet sheets from HERE.

Keep the hot temperatures down by freezing some ice cubes with paint and letting children paint with them. It will give them a great sensory kick!

Another amazing idea to beat the summer heat is to make blue colored jell-o with the kids. Involve them while making the jell-o. Add gummy fish or fish crackers to turn it into an ocean snack.

Make a huge cutout of a cow and attach a rubber glove at the back. Make tiny holes in the rubber glove and pour some milk from the opening. Teach children to milk the cow. Great activity to teach new vocabulary words like udder and concepts of how the milk reaches us from the farm.

Books are the best boredom buster. Read several books and invite children to become authors and create their own stories using simple story maps. You will be amazed by their creativity.

Invite children to make words with magnetic letters-real and nonsense words should be allowed. In the picture below, I gave the little boy a muffin tray and lots of letters to play with and make his own words. This really promotes thinking and encourages children to read words without any pressure.


Hope you find the ideas useful. If you try them out, do let me know.

Wednesday 4 May 2016

Mother's Day Gift Idea!

Mother's Day is around the corner and I have come up with a sweet gift that is absolutely low prep. 

Just print out the cards and use any heart shaped candy/cookie to place on the heart shape. If children want, they can even color in the heart to make it more personalized.

 I wrapped up the cookie in a plastic wrap and secured it with a scotch tape.

Get it for free from my TPT STORE.
Mother's Day Freebie!

Do check out my other Mother's Day Unit too!
Mother's Day Activities