The "What I Am Thankful For" Book

In our character building lessons for November we have been discussing what it means to be thankful and what we are thankful for.  It is a perfect tie in with the Thanksgiving Holiday.  I have been wanting to do some type of book (we are also learning about authors and illustrators) and when I saw these blank books at my local school supply store I was ecstatic.  

The "What I'm Thankful For" book is blank on the inside.  Everyday I have my preschooler tell us what she is Thankful for and we write it or help her write it. On the other side of the page I have her draw a picture of what she is thankful for.  It has been a lot of fun and will be a cute keepsake for her memory box.

Get Moving

My little monkeys are always on the move and full of energy.  We do all sorts of activities to exhaust some of that energy, but I love it when I am able to incorporate something educational into all of the fun.

Two of our favorite movement activities are Bean Bag Time and Fun With Ribbon Sticks.

Bean Bags can be used in all sorts of activities.  They are great for working on color and shape recognition (depending on what bean bags you use). However, our favorite is to play with them while a movement with bean bags song plays.  Both children stop what they are doing and run to get the bean bags out as soon as I start the videos.  Even my husband has had fun with this activity.

The great thing about bean bags is that they aren't that expensive and if you can sew, you can make them yourself in just about any shape you want.  I am horrible at sewing so I purchased mine.  I choose bean bags that could be used for multiple activities (shape and color).  However, there are many different types out there to choose from.  I later purchased another set of bean bags in a material that could be used for outdoor activities and keep those outside with our cones, hoops, etc.

Our favorite video for bean bags is Bean Bag Alphabet Rag by Hap Palmer.  He has a lot of other great movement and learning songs for preschoolers to check out as well.

We also like the Bean Bag Boogie - Children Songs by The Learning Station.  They have a lot of great repeat after me songs that are fun for older kids too.

The ribbons sticks are fun to use indoor or outdoors.  They are great to use in color recognition activities, practicing gross motor skills and even fun with repeat after me videos that include movement.  They are also great when your kids have friends over if you have several, since everyone can play at the same time.

Music Time!

I am always looking for fun learning activities that a one year old and a three year old can both participate in together.  Music time has become one of our favorite shared activities.  I have devoted one of the drawers in my daughter's room to music, which has worked out perfect for the smaller instruments.  When we are ready for music time, I just pull out the drawer, gather up the bigger instruments that don't fit in the drawer and  then set it all out on the ground.  I let the kids pick whatever instrument they want.  Sometimes I play music in the background, sometimes I put play fun children's songs from YouTube, and sometimes the kids just go crazy making their own band. 

Musical instruments can get expensive, so I stuck with basic rhythm toys and toddler safe instruments. Every month or so I try to add something new that still fits in the drawer.  I found most of the smaller instruments at my local school supply store.

Dreamcatcher Craft for Native American Heritage Month

November is Native American Heritage Month.  We have been learning about Native Americans all month and today we did the Dreamcatcher craft.  It is very simple and if your child enjoys lacing cards they will love it.  It does require a few craft supplies, so it is something you will want to prepare for ahead of time.

You will need the following:

• Paper plates (I used leftover birthday plates)
• Yarn or some type of string (I used butcher string because we already had some)
• Scissors
• Feathers (I found at the local school supply store)
• Hole Punch (You could do the craft without one, but it makes it a lot easier)
• Beads (Not included in our craft, I have a one year old and beads make me a little nervous as a choking hazard) 
• Markers, Crayons or Paint to decorate it are also optional

To provide some background and enrichment to the activity we played two YouTube videos telling the story behind Dreamcatchers.

Lunchtime Fun with Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Today we were watching Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin and John Archambault being read while I fixed lunch.  We decided to made our own coconut tree out of a chicken tender, broccoli, and raisins.  My three year old thought it was awesome and we recited the book as she ate her "coconut tree." I wish I had planned this ahead of time, next time I will make alphabet noodles for the tree.

Fun with Lacing Cards and Letters

Lacing cards and letters are a fun way to teach toddlers and preschoolers at the same time.  My toddler loves playing with the letters and trying to say their names and my preschooler does several activities with the letters.  As a refresher we lay all the letters out on the ground and I ask my preschooler to find a certain letter.

We then use the letters to make words by lacing them together, which also is good practice for fine motor skills.

We also put the letters in order and lace them together.

The lacing shapes and shoe are also fun practice for both age groups.

We made a handprint/footprint turkey for our first craft in November. It was super easy and a fun keepsake.