The Peterson Party

We kept last week's learning lessons very simple! We chose the letter Rr to focus on and the theme "red" because it is easy and required very little prep work on my part.

I dyed rice red.

To dye rice:
Put rice in a bowl.
Pour in a teaspoon or two of rubbing alcohol.
Squeeze a couple of drops of food coloring into the bowl.
Stir, covering all of the rice with color.
Transfer to a plate and set in the sun to dry.

The girls glued the red rice to the letter r. Arin had the uppercase R (because she is the big sister) and Ella had the lowercase r (because she is the little sister).

The girls also kept busy playing with red playdough. To aid in their play, they had plastic knives, small cookie cutters, and a rolling pin.

To make playdough:

1 c flour

1 c water
1 t oil
1/2 c salt
2 t cream of tarter
few drops of food coloring
Mix ingredients together and cook over medium/medium low heat until a ball forms. Cool slightly and knead for a few minutes before playing with the dough.

They also had fun with red paint. The girls used regular paintbrushes, foam paint brushes, cotton balls, q-tips, and plastic forks to paint with.

The last activity was a game that Arin helped me make. I cut out 20 squares. On ten of them, Arin wrote the letter "R" and on the other ten, she wrote the letter "r". I glued them to two red playing boards, alternating the upper and lowercase letters. Then, I handed the girls 10 red buttons each. They took turns rolling a dice and then covering up the correct number of Rr's on their playing board. For example, if one of the girls rolled a 2, they would use their buttons to cover two of the letter Rr's on their board. The first to cover their board completely would win. I don't know how she did it, but the first two times that Arin played, she rolled a six first and then a four second (both times!). I had wished I would have made more playing spaces on her board!

Linked To:
Tot School
Preschool Corner

These are the activities that Arin worked on during Penguin week. If you missed Ella's activities, you can check them out here.

Arin learned many things about penguins this week. She learned that they are a flightless bird. Their wings are used as flippers to help them swim. Their feathers are waterproof because they are coated with a special oil which the penguin produces inside their bodies. There are 18 different types of penguins. These penguins all look different (Arin's favorite is the Macaroni Penguin because of its yellow eyebrows). She also learned that not all penguins live in cold climates and not all penguins lay their eggs in a nest. Some carry their eggs and young on their feet. She learned that their black and white color helps to camouflage them from predators.

First up, Arin practiced writing the letter Pp.

Next Arin worked on a number placement activity. Two numbers were provided and she had to pick the one that came between them. This is also a great review for number recognition. (I can't remember where I found this, but if I figure it out, I'll add the link later).

Arin enjoyed working on a crossword puzzle so much during Ss week, that I was thrilled to find one about penguins for her.

Arin had a blast practicing her cutting and gluing skills with a penguin craft. We don't often do these types of crafts, but may more in the future because she enjoyed it so much.

Arin practiced beginning and ending blends with this game. She reads little bits, but is not a fluent reader yet. She was, however, able to see if the letter blends (th, ch, sh) came at the beginning or the end of the word and put it in the correct column. Even though she cannot read all of the words, this is good for her to actually pay attention to the spelling of words (or so I think).

This game was good practice for number recognition/counting (though she is past this skill and quickly became bored). Arin drew a number card, put it in the corner of the penguin picture and then counted out the correct number of fish to "feed" the penguin.

I took the number cards from the above game, turned them over, and wrote several words that started with the letter "p" on the back. I would tell Arin a word, she would find it (sometimes with help), place it in the upper corner of the penguin picture and make up a sentence that included the word.

We worked on more blend sounds with this game. There are cards included for both the beginning and the ending blends, but I chose for Arin only to work on the beginning blends. She did really great with this, which was a great surprise to me as this was the first time learning some of the blend sounds.

Arin learned how to draw a penguin. First draw a circle.

Next draw an oval under the circle, but not touching the circle.

Draw lines to connect the circle and the oval.

Color the head and the body, leaving the original oval white for the belly.

Draw wings and color both of them.

Draw feet.

Add eyes and a beak.

Ta-da! A penguin!

We did an experiment to better understand the oil in the penguins feathers. I drew a penguin on copy paper and colored it with crayon. I made sure to color very darkly and to color the entire penguin. Arin took a medicine dropper full of water. First, she put water droplets on the paper (not the penguin). The water soaked in within a few seconds. Then, she put a few droplets of water on the penguin. The water beaded up and did not soak in. The wax in the crayon represents the oil in a penguin's feathers. Both girls LOVED this activity and they took turns repeating it for quite a while. In fact, I had to make a couple more penguins because this was such a hit.

Some penguins carry their egg and then their young on their feet. Arin pretended to be one of these penguins. She tried walking across the room with a ball between her knees.

We read several penguin books. Arin and I talked about real stories vs. unreal stories. I gave Arin all of the books and she divided them in piles of fiction and piles of non-fiction. Later, when Andy arrived home, Arin told him the difference between fiction and non-fiction :)

I made a black and white memory game for Arin. I cut circles from similiar scrapbook papers and glued them onto wooden discs. The circles did not look exactly the same, but they were similiar enough that Arin could tell if the pair was a match or not.

One of Arin's favorite activites was to eat Penguin Pie (Klondike Bar or chocolate covered ice cream on a stick). As she was eating it, I was asking her questions and filling out a worksheet.

Questions (and Arin's answers) from the worksheet:

1. I think I can eat my pie in 10 bites.

2. My penguin pie is as cold as Antarctica.

3. The ice cream is as white as a penguin's belly.

4. The chocolate is as dark as a penguin's back.

5. (I changed this question) The pie is as square as a box.

6. The penguin pie is as sweet as candy.

7. I ate my penguin pie in 82 bites. (these were more like tiny nibbles)

Then she added, "I LOVE PENGUIN PIE!"

We also worked on a few other worksheets. On one worksheet, I wrote several different penguin facts that Arin told me.

- They are birds that can't fly.

- They have sharp beaks.

- Their wings are called flippers and they use them to swim.

- They have special oil on their feathers to make them waterproof.

- They are black and white.

- There are 18 types of penguins.

Another worksheet had some questions that she answered and I wrote for her:

What do I know? I know that penguins have beaks instead of lips.

My questions...I want to know if penguin's beaks are really, really sharp.

I think...that they are sharp.

On the final worksheet, Arin completed the sentence...

I'm glad I'm not a penguin because...I don't want sea lions to eat me.

If I were a penguin, I could live in the zoo. I love penguins so much that I can't stop thinking about them! They are my favorite type of bird and I want mommy to take me to the zoo so much so I can see them!

Earlier in the week, Arin had painted wooden spools black and white. Ella used these spools for a lacing activity. Arin used this as a teaching moment. She encouraged her sister to make a black, white pattern. She sat with Ella the whole time and spoke sweetly to her. I love these moments. Arin is a great big sister and I often find her teaching and encouraging Ella!