Robot worksheets

Things have been a little extra busy around here so I haven't been updating the blog daily. Yesterday we did Robot Do-A-Dot worksheets from the free downloadable worksheet pack from Homeschool Creations.

Today, we did a 9 piece Robot puzzle from the same set of downloads.

Frozen super heroes

I saved this extra fun project for today - Sutton's 3rd birthday. Last night I froze two super heroes each per bowl of water. 

Then, this morning we went outside with some cheap, small water guns and squirted the blocks of ice to free the people. Technically some were villians, but I reasoned that they were all enemies of Mr. Freeze. 

The kids had fun, but they were starting to lose patience by the time the people started breaking free. Luckily, once we started getting some free of the ice they wanted to finish the job.

Name rockets

We made "rocket ships" today for our last day of space week. 

I cut everything out and wrote the letters. For 3/4 of the kids I mixed them up so they could find them and put them in the correct order. Then they needed to glue them on.

This helped with letter recognition and their glueing skills. I thought the oldest would cut his own squares, but he wanted nothing to do with cutting.  Lucian was able to put the letters in the correct order, however he turned a few sideways. 

Toilet paper tube bird feeders

I'm sure you've seen this "craft" many times. Today we made little bird feeders out of toilet paper rolls.

We talked about what birds eat this morning. It's been raining on and off for a few days so we have seen the worms on the sidewalk, and the kids already knew birds ate bird food. We started making our little bird feeders by having the kids spread peanut butter on toilet paper tubes.

When they were finished they looked like this.

After wiping hands, the kids rolled their tubes in a plate full of bird seed.

This afternoon we will hang them from a tree branch and watch to see if any birds eat from them. We also dumped the extra bird seed that was on the plate into the yard. The kids keep looking out the window to see if the birds are eating the seeds yet.

Update: The rain has stopped so we were able to hang out bird feeders.

Handprint ducks

This morning we made handprint ducks. I did change things from what Crafty Morning had done.

First, we painted handprints (minus thumbs). 

Then, I painted in the head, beak and feet. The kids put an eye on each duck.

I don't have cool, puffy feathers like they used on the link I posted to. I cut pieces off bigger craft feathers and we glued those on to each duck.

Robin footprint art

The theme this week is "birds." We started our projects with a simple footprint art piece that looks like a Robin.

First, I helped the kids paint a foot brown.  Then, I added in the red with paint.

Last, when that was dry I used markers to create legs, a beak and an eye.

Fairy garden rocks

In preparation for getting our fairy garden ready, I had the kids paint rocks today. I asked them to paint designs or spots, but they just crazy painted. 

Each kid got to paint 3 rocks, that we will place in the garden once it has been weeded and replanted. 

Fairy coloring pages

Yesterday we were supposed to make fairy gardens for the garden, but the glue gun is missing. We were also busy doing a final sort through toys deciding what to keep and what to put in an upcoming rummage sale. I still intend to help the kids make fairy houses in the next week or two.

Today the kids were supposed to color Fairy Coloring Pages from Itsy Bitsy Fun, but Lucian refused, and the girls did a quick coloring and went back to playing.

They did have much more interest in today's fairy book, Alice the Fairy. This is one of my favorite books for kids. I even took baby pictures of Sutton laying on open pages of the book with wings on her back. If you haven't read this one, I highly recommend it!

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Tooth fairy puzzle

Our project today was a tooth fairy puzzle that I downloaded for free from 3 Dinosaurs. I cut all the strips out and the kids glued them in place. Our daycare friend needed lots of help (she just turned two), but Lucian and Sutton did theirs on their own.

Fairy Gardens

Our theme this week is fairies. The weather hasn't been very cooperative in working on my fairy garden outside (we had snow Saturday). We made a fairy garden inside today instead with sticker sheets I purchased years ago from Oriental Trading.

Dinosaur fossils

Much to my children's delight, we played with play-doh as our project today. We used small plastic dinosaurs to create fossils in play-doh.

They tried using the dinosaur feet and laying the dinosaur down to create full body prints. We also buried them in play-dog and dug them back out again. Each kid also got to try several colors of play-doh and each of the four different dinosaurs. 

Leprechaun handprint

I've been trying to explain leprechauns to my kids this week. They know about fairies and elves, so I think they understand leprechauns are part of that magical world. Today's project was to make leprechaun handprint art.

First, I painted each kids hands tan and brown. After they stamped their hand on the paper I painted a bit of brown hair on top. When they dried a bit I added a green hat, and the kids glued eyes on. 

After they finished drying, I used a Sharpie to draw in a mouth and nose. Then I used scraps of construction paper to make a band for the hat. 

Season sorting worksheet

Today we talked about how winter weather is cold and snowy while summer weather is hot and sometimes rainy. Then they did a sorting worksheet where they glued the correct image to winter or summer.

You can download your free worksheet here.

Rainbow scavenger hunt

Today's rainbow project was a scavenger hunt. I instructed the kids to find toys that were the colors of the rainbow and lay them in rows to make a toy rainbow. 

Transportation week

It's transportation week! I picked this theme for this particular week because I thought Lucian would enjoy it. His birthday is Saturday and I thought it would be fun to pick something he is really into.

I let the kids pick a few worksheets each from from this fun Do-A-Dot pack. They picked the arrow maze and each picked two vehicles.

You can download your own free Do-A-Dot Transportation pack here.

Goldie Locks and the 3 Bears

We were supposed to make crowns out of paper bags today, but based on the moods of the kids, and how I feel, we are switching to a simple worksheet today. We've already read Goldie Locks and the 3 Bears this week, but we read it again this morning. Then I printed out the pattern worksheet from this free downloadable worksheet pack. This is from the pack labeled "Part 1."

Handprint mittens

Continuing with our hats and mittens week, we made these simple handprint mittens this morning. These would be a cute Christmas craft also.

I used the template provided and printed them out on some bright green paper. Each child did their handprint and I filled in their name. This would be cute if they were laminated as ornaments as well. I decided to put magnets on the back of ours, since our artwork display is very full and I'm having a hard time parting with some of my favorite snowman, penguin and other winter artwork.

Cardinal handprints and a winter worksheet

Did you ever start a project and then part way through you ask yourself, "Whose idea was this anyway?" This handprint project was one of those instances.

Three little kids running around, a lack of artistic talent, and what I assume is carpal tunnel does not make for a fun painting project. The cardinals themselves were quick and easy, it was the branches I struggled with. 

I painted each kids hand and we put them on paper. By the time I got that done I was able to put a beak and eye on. After a break I came back and painted branches. Another break (to play) and I finished the branches. 

While I was helping each kid get their handprint, my two also did a worksheet placing snowmen in order of shortest to tallest. 

Q-tip painted snowflakes

This morning we painted snowflakes as part of our winter theme.

The kids used q-tips instead of paint brushes, but on his second one Lucian mostly used his fingers.

Winter is here

Fittingly, it's "winter" week this week. Friday it was so warm it was raining, but yesterday the cold hit and we have wind chills in the -20 degree range now.

This morning I put three bowls of water outside for about 90 minutes which did not freeze solid as I thought it would. It did make ice shells though which is all we needed for painting. 

Each kid got some washable paint, a brush and an ice chunk and they were able to experiment with painting the ice, watching how the paint rain more as the ice melted and painting inside as a hole formed in the top.