Mimi and the Grands

In-home Day Camp Week 1: Ice Cream Dreams

by Nancy "Mimi" Taylor

I have three active grandsons that I love to babysit several days a week, and I like to keep them busy with lots of activities that are enriching and possibly educational. This summer I will watch the grands, Tigger (8), Kona (6), and Tahoe (4), for several weeks before the two older ones return to school in the fall and I wanted to create an in-home day camp experience for them. I decided to plan a variety of day-camp-type activities by choosing a theme and planning activities for each of the eight Multiple Intelligences when designing the day camp. I also wanted some academic focus embedded in the activities I chose. (Update: This is a great day camp unit to repeat. In 2019, I decided to use this unit again and added some new books to the program. The grandsons are now ages 11, 9, and 7 and enjoy making ice cream even more than they did in 2016.)

I have planned four weeks of day camp activities and will make each week a separate post. Here are the four themes that I will offer in this series:

Week One Theme: Ice Cream Dreams

Week Two Theme: The Game Plan

Week Three Theme: We Like Bikes

Week Four: Water, Water, Everywhere

Week One: Ice Cream Dreams

The weekly schedule: Each day I will “dip into” the Read Aloud Book (see Linguistic Intelligence), have the grands (or day campers) make ice cream using a different recipe or method (see Mathematics Intelligence), and offer a craft project (see Spatial Intelligence). I will prepare at least one activity from the other intelligences sometime during the week, so that all eight intelligences are covered by the end of this day camp unit. I will also mention any academic focus I plan on integrating into any of the activities. For a sample schedule for the week at the end of this post.

Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart)

Read and discuss books- It’s always nice to include books as part of the day camp experience. I usually get my books from the library. During the week these books can be used to go along with the theme:

Nonfiction:

How to Make Ice Cream by Tom Greve is a book that gives directions for making ice cream using zipper type plastic bags. There is also some information on the science used in making ice cream. It is especially good for grades 1-3. Academic focus: Following Directions or Sequencing-If I use the method for making ice cream described in the book, then the academic focus will be on following written directions. Otherwise, I will use this book as a sequencing activity. Since there is also a table of contents and picture glossary in this book, I will make sure to point those features out to my grands as well.

From Milk to Ice Cream (Who Made by Lunch? series) by Bridget Heos explains how the ingredients for ice cream are made (specifically milk and sugar). Additionally, the book discusses how the milk and sugar contribute to making the ice cream at the factory, before eventually reaching the grocery store. The grands enjoyed the beautiful illustrations. I found that this book went well with the activity I had planned in the Naturalist Intelligence section. Academic focus: Text Features: Map and Glossary- At the back of the book there is a simple world map showing where dairy cows are raised and where sugarcane is grown. I will use this with the grands to practice reading map keys and identifying the continents where each of these foods are raised. There is also a glossary with words such as homogenizer and pasteurize, so I’ll have the grands use this text feature to make sure they understand those words.

Ben and Jerry: Ice Cream Manufacturers by Joanne Mattern is mostly about how these two entrepreneurs started their successful business. I chose to add this in 2019 to this day camp, because I wanted to show the grands how people can develop their interests into a lifetime job. The book also shows the charitable side of the Ben and Jerry’s business which I think is an important lesson for the grands. Academic focus: Vocabulary- This book has a glossary with words such as franchise, mission statement, and stockbroker which are words my grandsons don’t encounter in their usual reading, so I thought it was important I focus on helping them understand those words and how they are used in the context of this book.

Fiction:

Ice Cream Summer by Peter Sis: This is such a cute story of a little boy who writes a letter to his grandfather about all his adventures during the summer. Interestingly, all of his summer activities seem to involve ice cream in some way. He practices his math, spelling, reading, and even learns about other countries and some history…all in the pursuit of his favorite pursuit: ice cream. The pictures are adorable because they use the ice cream cone motif in the illustrations of sand castles, airplanes, and even maps. Academic Focus: Details-I’ll have the grands give me a few details from the story.

Ice Cream Soup by Ann Ingalls is a cute rhyming book about a boy making an ice cream cake that eventually becomes a yummy ice cream soup. I chose this book in 2019 to add to this day camp unit because I wanted a book that my youngest grandson,Tahoe, could read on his own. This book is a Level 1 Penguin Young Readers book, so it was just right for Tahoe’s independent reading level. Academic Focus: Rhyming- The story is told in rhymes, so after reading the book, I had the grands review the rhyming words and had them create their own “additions” to the story using rhymes.

Read Aloud: The Boxcar Children-The Chocolate Sundae Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner explains the story of four siblings (Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny) who help out at a local ice cream shoppe during the summer and solve several mysteries regarding missing parfait glasses, chocolate syrup, broken windows, and spoiled whipped cream. My grandsons love this series already, but this story is certainly a favorite since it deals with ice cream. I love how the Alden children enjoy helping others and the thought processes they use to solve the mystery. This is a great read aloud book, and is also available as an audible book (which is great to use when traveling in the car with children). Academic focus: Making Predictions: At appropriate points in the story, I will have the grands make predictions on the solution of the mystery in the story.

Storytelling or Writing Prompts: I will give my grandsons at least one of these prompts and have them tell me a story (or write it down depending on their interest or age level.) Academic focus: Main Characters and Plot (Complete sentences if used as a written activity.)

The Ice Cream Shoppe down the street was having a contest to see who could make the yummiest new kind of ice cream. The winner got free ice cream sundaes for the whole family. I decided to enter the contest and went right to work…
Yesterday afternoon, I accidentally left a carton of ice cream on the kitchen table and went out to play. When I returned two hours later, I couldn’t believe what I saw in the kitchen…
The ice cream truck was parked next to the playground so I asked my dad for some money to buy an ice cream. But when I walked up to the ice cream truck, there was no one inside…

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart)

Make Ice Cream: There are many ways to make ice cream, even if you do not own an ice cream maker. Even if you have an ice cream maker, I think it is fun to have the children learn different ways of making this cold and yummy treat. Why not make a different recipe or method each day? Academic Focus: As part of making ice cream, day campers have to use measuring spoons, measuring cups, etc. so they are using math as part of the process.

Here are some different recipes and methods for making ice cream:

Using coffee cans: http://www.food.com/recipe/homemade-ice-cream-in-a-coffee-can-244054

Using Zipper type baggies: http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/ice-cream3.htm

: Tigger made his ice cream with coconut milk since he needs to be careful with dairy. He is shaking his zip lock bags fiercely to get the coconut milk to freeze. We eventually had to put it in the freezer to continue the freezing process.

: You can see that the grands have to use oven mitts when shaking the zip lock bags to keep their hands from getting too cold from the ice in the bags.

Using a blender: http://www.prevention.com/food/healthy-blender-ice-cream-recipes/coconut-bliss

Using an ice cream maker: There are plenty of recipes on the internet for making ice cream with an ice cream maker. Some require cooking first, but I like to use recipes with my grandsons that are easier than that. Here is one of my grandsons favorite ice cream recipes: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/140877/easy-eggless-strawberry-ice-cream/

Tigger needs to have a dairy free option so we have been using this recipe (with or without the cocoa powder) in the ice cream maker and using the ziplock bag method. In both cases, we had to place the ice cream in the freezer to finish the process. https://detoxinista.com/chocolate-coconut-milk-ice-cream/

Musical Intelligence (Music Smart)

What would a day camp experience be without camp songs!? Instead of creating my own, I found several websites that have songs about ice cream that I can teach my grands (or day campers):

http://www.preschooleducation.com/sicecream.shtml

http://bussongs.com/songs/chocolate-ice-cream-song.php

http://www.prekfun.com/themes/prekthemes/g-m/IceCream/IceCream__Songs.htm

Naturalist Intelligence (Nature Smart)

Where do the ingredients for an ice cream sundae come from? This is a great discussion or research topic for the grands (day campers). I’ll have the grands list the ingredients for ice cream and some of the other foods that might be used to make an ice cream sundae and then either tell them or have the oldest grandson look this information up on his computer. Academic focus: Use a map or atlas to identify the origins of some of these foods used to make ice cream.

Here are some ingredients we might discuss:

Cream: Cream can be produced by cattle or goats. Cattle that grazes on natural pasture usually gives cream with a slight yellow tone. Indoor fed cattle or goats produce cream that is more white.

Vanilla: This delicious spice comes from the vanilla orchid, a vine that grows up in trees. It originally grew in Mexico and Central America, but now is grown around the world.

Sugar: Most sugar in the United States comes from sugar beets. Modern sugar beets were first cultivated in Prussia. The sugar is made in the leaves of the sugar beet plant during the photosynthesis process and then stored in the taproot of the sugar beet plant. Another popular source of sugar is from sugar cane which is a tall grass native to tropical and subtropical areas of South Asia.

Chocolate: This comes from the seed pods of a small tropical tree, the Theobroma cacao, which is native to Central and South America. It is grown in many places in the world now, with about 70% of the world’s chocolate being grown in Africa.

Strawberry: The garden strawberry can be grown in many places in the world, but was first cultivated from wild strawberry plants in France. This compact plant can grow in small areas that get at least eight hours of full sun. (Another project could be to plant some strawberry plants in the backyard to grow strawberries to use in recipes or to top ice cream sundaes.)

Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart)

Craft projects: The grands love to do art projects, so I always have lots of activities in this intelligence. Lot of materials that you already have around the house can be used to make the crafts including egg cartons, cotton balls, paper plates, and playdough.

Here are links to some crafts that I will use for the day camp:

http://artasticartists.blogspot.com/2012/03/we-scream-for-ice-cream-and-cupcakes.html

http://intheplayroom.co.uk/2015/04/18/egg-carton-ice-cream-cones/

I love this torn paper craft from ARTASTIC! http://artasticartists.blogspot.com/2012/03/we-scream-for-ice-cream-and-cupcakes.html

This project from In the Playroom uses egg cartons and cotton balls. http://intheplayroom.co.uk/2015/04/18/egg-carton-ice-cream-cones/

I will be using a few more craft ideas from these links:

http://www.playideas.com/25-ice-cream-crafts-for-kids/

http://www.hellowonderful.co/post/12-OF-THE-SWEETEST-ICE-CREAM-CRAFTS-EVER

Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart)

Circle Storytelling: Sit in a circle and start a story. Have the day campers take turns going around the circle and contribute to the story. An example of a story starter is: The ice cream store down the street has so many new flavors. Each day last week I went to the ice cream store and tried a different flavor. On Monday I ordered……

Dramatic play: Running an Ice Cream Parlor-I will have the grands pretend that they own an ice cream shop. Besides using household objects to create their ice cream parlor, I will have my three grandsons design a menu of ice cream cones and sundaes for this shop. Besides having them plan their own special items for the menu, I will encourage them to name each of the items using the names of book titles or storybook characters, such as “Pete the Cat’s Too Cool Banana Blast.” Then the grands can work together to make a poster of the featured items at their ice cream shop.

Ice Cream Social: Plan a party for friends, family, or neighbors using ice cream that the day campers make themselves. Have them make invitations and menus for the party (which is also a Spatial Intelligence activity).

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (Body Smart)

Racing for Toppings: In this physical activity, the grands (day campers) will have to run back and forth a few times to pick out the toppings they want on an ice cream sundae. The winner, of course, gets their ice cream sundae made first. To prepare for the race: Find a place to hold the race, whether it is in your backyard, playground, or playroom. Make pictures of the different toppings and/or ice cream flavors from which the day campers can choose such as chopped walnuts, chocolate syrup, strawberries, cherries, whipped cream, etc. (The day campers can make the pictures or you can find pictures on the internet and paste them onto paper. I will make multiple pictures of each item so more than one grand can choose the same topping during the race.) Spread the pictures out at one end of the racing lanes. Then decide how many toppings you want the day campers to have on their sundaes. The object of the race is to run and pick up one topping each time the day camper runs to the end of the lane. So if you have allowed each child to have three toppings on their sundaes, they will have to run back and forth three times.

Ice Cream Exercises: To prepare ahead of time: Cut out eight paper circles (to represent scoops of ice cream). On one side of the circles, write a letter from the word ice cream. On the back of each circle, list an exercise. Put these circles in a container such as a bag or basket. To play: I will have the grands take turns picking a circle out of the container. They will read the letter on one side and then read the exercise on the other side. Then all the grands will do the exercise before the next child gets to pick out another circle. Here are suggestions of exercises I will use for my grands (day campers):

Ten jumping jacks
Two forward somersaults
Run in place for 20 seconds
Hop on one foot ten times
Ten mountain climbers
Hold plank position for ten seconds
Hold downward facing dog position for ten seconds
Do a crab walk for ten feet

Intrapersonal Intelligence (Self Smart)

Discuss individually with each grand: What is your favorite ice cream? Why?
I leave the library books in a convenient place for the grandsons so they can browse or read them on their own.
Journal: I will give each day camper a little booklet, and have them write or draw their favorite experiences from this day camp theme.

For more activities and books based on an ice cream theme, look at these links from educators:

http://thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com/2015/05/ice-cream-day-end-of-year-theme-days.html

http://www.theclassroomcreative.com/2013/07/ice-cream-craft-and-activity-ideas/

Sample Daily Schedule for Day Camp

Monday:

Musical Intelligence (Music Smart): Sing “Take Me Out For Some Ice Cream.” http://www.preschooleducation.com/sicecream.shtml

Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart): Read How to Make Ice Cream by Tom Greve and Ice Cream Soup by Ann Ingalls.

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart): Make vanilla ice cream in zip-lock baggie (and offer sliced strawberries or blueberries for topping). http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/ice-cream3.htm

Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart): Read several chapters from read aloud book while grands are eating the ice cream they made: The Boxcar Children-The Chocolate Sundae Mystery

Naturalist Intelligence (Nature Smart): Start making list together of ingredients that are in ice cream. (Save and add onto this list in the next few days.)

Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart): Make ice cream cone art from construction paper. http://artasticartists.blogspot.com/2012/03/we-scream-for-ice-cream-and-cupcakes.html

Intrapersonal Intelligence (Self Smart): Write (or draw) in journal about their favorite part of the day camp today.

Tuesday:

Musical Intelligence (Music Smart): Sing “On Top of My Sundae.” http://www.preschooleducation.com/sicecream.shtml

Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart): Read From Milk to Ice Cream by Bridget Heos. Begin Ben and Jerry: Ice Cream Manufacturers by Joanne Mattern.

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart): Make vanilla ice cream using coffee can (may offer chocolate syrup for a topping) http://www.food.com/recipe/homemade-ice-cream-in-a-coffee-can-244054

Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart): Read several chapters from read aloud book while grands are eating the ice cream they made: The Boxcar Children-The Chocolate Sundae Mystery

Naturalist Intelligence (Nature Smart): Add to the ingredient list started on Monday. Discuss the origin of some of the ingredients (as mentioned in the Naturalist section) or have each grand do some research on one of the ingredients and report back.

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (Body Smart): Ice Cream Exercises activity.

Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart): Make ice cream cone craft using egg cartons and cotton balls. http://intheplayroom.co.uk/2015/04/18/egg-carton-ice-cream-cones/

Intrapersonal Intelligence (Self Smart): Journal writing or individual discussion: Describe the taste of ice cream using as many descriptive words as you can. The grands are free to read the books from this unit independently whenever they have a break.

Wednesday:

Musical Intelligence (Music Smart): Sing “Hot Fudge, Cherries, Toffee Crunch.” http://www.preschooleducation.com/sicecream.shtml

Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart): Read Ice Cream Summer by Peter Sis. Continue reading Ben and Jerry: Ice Cream Manufacturers.

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart): Make peach ice cream using blender (and offer sliced fruit as a topping). http://www.prevention.com/food/healthy-blender-ice-cream-recipes/coconut-bliss

Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart): Read several chapters from read aloud book while grands are eating the ice cream they made: The Boxcar Children-The Chocolate Sundae Mystery

Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart): Dramatic Play – Owning an ice cream shoppe.

Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart): Make a poster advertising the ice cream shoppe they created in dramatic play.

Intrapersonal Intelligence (Self Smart): Journal writing, independent reading, or individual discussion: What is your favorite ice cream. Why?

Thursday:

Musical Intelligence (Music Smart): Sing “Here’s the Scoop.” http://www.prekfun.com/themes/prekthemes/g-m/IceCream/IceCream__Songs.htm

Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart): Finish reading Ben and Jerry: Ice Cream Manufacturers.

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart): Make strawberry ice cream using ice cream maker (and offer chocolate chips for a topping) http://allrecipes.com/recipe/140877/easy-eggless-strawberry-ice-cream/

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (Body Smart): Ice Cream Exercises activity while waiting for the ice cream maker to finish making the day’s ice cream.

Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart): Read several chapters from read aloud book while grands are eating the ice cream the ice cream maker made: The Boxcar Children-The Chocolate Sundae Mystery

Naturalist Intelligence (Nature Smart): Use an atlas or map and find the locations where the ingredients from ice cream originate. The grands can use the ingredients list and research they have done during the week.

Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart): Plan an ice cream social for Friday. Choose who to invite and which ice creams and toppings to offer. Remind them that there were four methods they learned and try to make an ice cream with each method. (Make a grocery list too which is a Logical/Mathematical activity.)

Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart): Make invitations and menus for ice cream social.

Friday:

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (Body Smart): Racing for Toppings-Have grands do this activity to choose the toppings they will use on their own sundae at the ice cream social.

Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart): Circle Storytelling

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart): Make the ice cream recipes that were planned on Thursday.

Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart): Prepare for the ice cream social by setting up the ice creams, toppings, bowls, and utensils. Hold the ice cream social with the ice cream the grands just made.

Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart): Read (and hopefully finish) The Boxcar Children-The Chocolate Sundae Mystery.

Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart): Paper plate ice cream craft. http://www.hellowonderful.co/post/12-OF-THE-SWEETEST-ICE-CREAM-CRAFTS-EVER

Intrapersonal Intelligence (Self Smart): Journal writing, independent reading, or individual discussion: What was your favorite part of this day camp?

I hope you are finding these Multiple Intelligence activities useful as you plan lessons for children in your care. If you would like to see more of these unit studies as I create them, you can become a follower of this blog.

I love to add my blog posts to link parties such as:

DIY Day Camp Ideas Education Lesson Planning Multiple Intelligence Lessons Reading

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Books About Butterflies: Lesson Plans for Ages 3-7

by Nancy "Mimi" Taylor

Our local botanical garden has a butterfly pavilion that opens in early May. In anticipation of a field trip with my grandsons to this event, I planned a unit of study on butterflies.

After ordering several books from the local library, I created some lesson plans that I will share with you in this post. As always, I planned a variety of lessons in each intelligence to have differentiated activities for each grandson: Tigger (7), Kona (5), and Tahoe (who just turned 4 in the middle of this unit). I have more time with Tahoe, since his brothers go to a charter school, so he did more activities than his brothers in this unit. I had planned to spend three weeks on this unit of study, but it has been two months and we are still in the middle of this study unit because there were so many activities that I wanted to complete with them (and the books were so good, too). When using a study unit, I want the grands to complete at least one activity for each intelligence.

Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart)

Read and discuss books- I read and discussed at least one of these books to the grands each day during the study unit. The first few times I read the books to the grands, our discussion centered on vocabulary. After those initial discussions, I had specific reading skills I used as a focus for each book, depending on my grandsons’ individual needs. These are the books I borrowed from the library and the skills I chose for further discussion:

Traveling Butterflies by Susumu Shingu is a great introductory book to explain the life cycle and migration of monarch butterflies. Besides the simple explanations in the book, the illustrations are gorgeous. This was an especially good book for Tahoe.

Discussion Focus: Sequencing-This was the main book I used to explain the sequence of events in the life cycle of butterflies. All the grands could tell me the sequence of events after reading this book to them several times.

Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian by Margarita Engle tells the story of a seventeenth century girl who became a famous scientist, artist, and explorer. The book explains how by careful observation, Maria Merian discovered that metamorphosis was a natural process, and that insects did not spring forth “spontaneously” from mud.

Discussion Focus: Fact and Fiction-Because this book explains how Maria Merian used observation to uncover the natural process of metamorphosis, it is a good book to use to explain the difference between facts (which can be proved somehow) and fiction (which is an imagined creation).

Butterfly Park by Elly MacKay is a beautiful story of a little girl who moves to a new town and brings a community together as they revitalize a butterfly park. The paper-cut illustrations are remarkable in this book!

Discussion Focus: Identifying Main Ideas Themes: Children need lots and lots of examples of the thinking process involved in identifying the main idea of a story (what the story is mostly about) and theme (the underlying message). This is a good book to use as you model how you use details in the story to uncover both the main idea and the theme.

Elmer and Butterfly by David McKee is a cute fictional story of an elephant and a butterfly who help each other out of dangerous situations. This is a great book for preschoolers, including Tahoe, aged 4.

Discussion Focus: Story Elements-I used this book to practice identifying main characters, setting, problem, and solution with the grands. For Tahoe, (4), I modeled my thought process in identifying these story elements. Kona and Tahoe were able to identify the story elements with just a little discussion reminding them how to find the problem and solution.

Butterfly Counting by Jerry Pallotta and Shennen Bersani is not only a counting book (using numbers 0 to 25), but it includes information on a variety of butterflies and offers the word “butterfly” in different languages. The illustrations in this book are absolutely magnificent as well.

Discussion Focus: Finding details-With this book, I would have the grands discuss at least one detail they had learned about the butterfly on each page. The older grands were also asked afterwards if they could remember any of the foreign language words for “butterfly” from the book. (Tigger loved the word German word for butterfly: schmetterling.)

What’s the Difference? Butterflies and Moths by Lisa M. Herrington is a terrific non-fiction book for the early grades that explains the differences between moths and butterflies.

Discussion Focus: Glossary and Sight Words-Since Tigger (7) has pretty much mastered sight words, we discussed how to use the glossary at the back of the book. We looked in the glossary to see if the words he didn’t understand could be found there. I had Kona (5) pick a a page and tell me all the sight words he knew (he knows about 50 now). For Tahoe (4) I showed him the word “butterfly” when we came across it in the book.

Inside Butterflies by Hazel Davies is a book that I should just buy for the grands because there is so much information in it. This book includes information on butterfly senses, the life cycle, eating habits, defense systems, camouflage, silk, migration and several other topics. Each page unfolds with more beautiful photographs, illustrations, and facts. There is also a table of contents and glossary in this book.

Discussion Focus: Table of Contents-There is a lot to read in this book, so I had Kona and Tigger use the Table of Contents to pick a topic to read and we just focused on that page each day.

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart)

I used the Butterfly Counting book with Tahoe to practice his counting up to 25. (He is getting pretty good at counting objects up to 30 at the moment.) With Kona, he chose two pages and I had him add the numbers of butterflies on those pages. This way, if he needed “counters” to do the addition, he could count all the butterflies on the two pages.
Create math problems with butterfly themes such as: Three Monarch butterflies landed on the milkweed plants in the backyard. Each butterfly laid five eggs. How many eggs in all were placed on the milkweed plants by the butterflies?

Musical Intelligence (Music Smart)

“The Butterfly Cycle” song: I taught Tahoe this song about butterflies:

“The Butterfly Cycle” sung to “The Farmer in the Dell”

The butterfly cycle, the butterfly cycle,

1-2-3-4, the butterfly cycle.

First there is an egg, first there is an egg,

1-2-3-4, first there is an egg.

Then a caterpillar, then a caterpillar,

1-2-3-4, then a caterpillar.

It makes a chrysalis, it makes a chrysalis

1-2-3-4, it makes a chrysalis.

Last a butterfly, last a butterfly,

1,2,3,4, last a butterfly.

The butterfly lays eggs, the butterfly lays eggs,

The cycle starts over again, the butterfly lays eggs.

The butterfly cycle, the butterfly cycle,

1-2-3-4, the butterfly cycle.

Other songs: The older grands enjoyed the rap song “Butterfly, Butterfly” which I found online from Harry Kindergarten Music.

Classical Music: These pieces are inspired by the butterfly: Moritz Rosenthal – Papillons and Edvard Grieg – Schmetterling, Op. 43/1. I played these pieces for the grands as they worked on their art projects.

Naturalist Intelligence (Nature Smart)

I purchased a kit to so the grands could watch real caterpillars eat and grow, form a chrysalis, and transform into butterflies. We are still in the middle of this project, and the grands are so excited to check the cup where the caterpillars are growing throughout the day. Their caterpillars are nearing the pupa stage, where they will each become wrapped into a chrysalis. Update: All five caterpillars formed a chrysalis and 7 days later we had five butterflies. The grands are enjoying them for a few more days before we release them in the backyard where their mom has planted some milkweed and cosmos for these butterflies and their potential offspring.
Walk around your neighborhood and see if you can find butterflies.
To encourage butterflies in your backyard, add plants to your garden that attract the local butterflies. I am going to have the grands plant some varieties for the Painted Ladies butterfly which are the type of butterfly that will emerge from the caterpillars I purchased in the kit.
Visit butterfly pavilions in your area. Often they are offered seasonally at local botanical gardens, zoos, and natural history museums. Our local botanical garden offers a butterfly pavilion from mid-May through mid-August. This is the field trip that we have yet to do, but will be the culminating activity of this study unit.

Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart)

Craft projects: The grands love to do art projects, so I always have lots of activities in this intelligence.

Butterfly Eggs on a Leaf:

Tahoe completed two of these projects. For the first one, I drew a leaf on some green construction paper for Tahoe. He cut it out himself. Then I had him make small balls from PlayDough to represent the eggs that will eventually hatch and become the butterfly.

For the second leaf and egg activity, I cut out a leaf pattern from white construction paper and had Tahoe use his green dot paints. When those were dry, he glued pom poms onto the painted leaf to represent the eggs.

Caterpillar

I helped Tahoe make a caterpillar out of an 8 ” length of ribbon, a milk bottle cap, strips of construction paper, googly eyes, glue, tape, and a permanent marker. Glue was not strong enough to keep the milk bottle cap on the ribbon, so I used tape. Tahoe used glue for all the googly eyes and construction paper.

Butterfly

Since my grands love to use the circle punches I own, I use them in a lot of my craft projects. To make the butterfly, I drew the outline of a butterfly on a piece of manila construction paper. Then Tahoe was able to punch out his own circles from several different colors of construction paper and glue them inside the butterfly outline.

Videos: I also showed short videos to the grands regarding the life cycle of the butterfly.

Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart)

Circle Storytelling: After the grands understand the life cycle of the butterfly, have them take turns explaining it in a story. This can be done as circle time, or around a meal. Start the story with, “One day I found some small eggs on the milkweed plants in the backyard.” Then have each child take their turn to add to the story.
Dramatic play: The grands often use the topics we have been discussing in their “pretend” play, or dramatic play. One day I saw two of the grands playing together and using their toy cars and pretending that they were caterpillars and butterflies. Just watching them play together like this can tell me a lot about their understanding of this study unit.

Bodily-kinesthetic Intelligence (Body Smart)

I had the grands use their bodies to show me each stage of the butterfly. Here are some of the ways they demonstrated the life cycle of the butterfly:

: Butterfly egg

: Caterpillar

: Pupa (chrysalis)

Fingerplays with songs: I also found several fingerplays and songs (incorporating the music intelligence with the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence) at this website that I use frequently to get ideas:

http://www.coffeecupsandcrayons.com/caterpillar-and-butterfly-themed-finger-play-songs/

Exercises: I also found this idea online which uses a variety of physical exercises to demonstrate the life cycle of the butterfly:

http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/4afacf34-958c-455e-bc4e-fe8e6f9ca53d/butterfly-life-cycle-lesson-plan/

Intrapersonal Intelligence (Self Smart)

Discuss individually with each grand: What is your favorite part of the butterfly’s life cycle? Show (from our library books) or tell me which butterfly you like the best?
I leave the library books in a convenient place for the grandsons so they can browse or read them on their own.

I have other study units for this age group. You may be interested in this one:

https://mimiandthegrands.com/2016/02/19/books-about-clouds-lesson-plans-for-ages-3-7/

I love to add my blog posts to link parties such as:

Book Study Unit Education Multiple Intelligence Lessons Multiple Intelligences Reading

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Books About Clouds: Lesson Plans for Ages 3-7

by Nancy "Mimi" Taylor

We’re in the middle of winter, and so in our “neck of the woods” we have more clouds in the sky than at other times of the year. This is when I would usually schedule my “weather” units when I taught fourth and fifth grades. Now that I am retired and watch my grandsons several days a week, it was the right time to plan some weather related units to use with them.

I decided to start by creating “Cloud” themed lessons for the grands. After ordering several books from the local library, I created some multiple intelligence lesson plans on clouds that I will share with you in this post.

As always, I planned a variety of lessons in each intelligence to have differentiated activities for each grandson: Tigger (7), Kona (5), and Tahoe (3). Since I am an “afterschooler” for my two oldest grands, and a “homeschooler” for Tahoe, I don’t spend the same amount of time on these lessons with each grandchild. However, during the three weeks I spent on this study unit, I tried to complete at least one activity for each intelligence during that time.

Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart)

Read and discuss books- I read and discussed at least one of these books each day during the three week period. The first few times I read the books to the grands, our discussion centered on vocabulary, discussing the photographs or pictures to predict or better understand the content in the book, and pointing out “describing” words such as colors, shapes, and numbers. After those initial discussions, I had specific reading skills I used as a focus for each book, depending on my grandsons’ individual needs. These are the books I borrowed from the library and the skills I chose for further discussion:

It’s Cloudy Today by Kristin Sterling is a good book to introduce the cloud theme. It provides basic information and beautiful photographs on the three types of clouds and the type of weather they bring. Additionally, this book contains an activity using shaving cream to form clouds. (We used this activity as part of the Spatial Intelligence). There was also information on the Latin root words that are used to describe clouds (cirrus, cumulus, stratus, and nimbus).This was a good book to use with all three grandsons.

Discussion Focus: Latin Roots-This skill was adapted for each grandson. With Tahoe (3), I introduced the pronunciation of the Latin roots for each cloud and had him repeat them aloud. After introducing the Latin roots to Kona and Tigger, I had them match the Latin roots with the cloud type and why those particular Latin roots were chosen to name each cloud.

The Weather Wise book, Clouds, by Helen Cox Cannons, is another good book to use to provide basic information on clouds for all three grands. The illustrations and pictures are very informative in explaining water droplets, water vapor, and the types of clouds. This book has a table of contents and index too.

Discussion Focus: Table of Contents and Index-I discussed how useful it is to know how to use the table of contents and the index. Tahoe was more interested in the numbers, while Tigger and Kona were able to use them to find topics in the book.

The Cloud Book by Tomie de Paola starts with the three basic cloud types and then adds word parts (Latin roots) to make ten categories of clouds. Cloud mythology and common sayings regarding clouds and weather are also part of the story.

Discussion Focus: Rhyming Words: Many of the common sayings were in rhymed verse. With Tahoe I read the rhyming words aloud and had him repeat them. For Kona, I would give him one of the words from a rhyming pair on each page, and he would have to listen and tell me the rhyming word that matched. Tigger had to give me the rhyming pair as I finished (or he finished) reading each page. Sight Words–I had Kona (5) pick a few pages and tell me (or write down on a white board) all the sight words he knew (a, and, the, it, see, of, are, up, can, by,

look, there, ). Tigger (7) and I reviewed the Latin roots and how they were used to create new cloud names in this book. (Tahoe is still learning his letters so we focused on finding the letter “C” on some pages.)

Freddie and Gingersnap Find a Cloud to Keep by Vincent X. Kirsch is a fanciful story about two dragons who look for clouds. One of the dragons wants to keep a cloud, while the other dragon tries to explain that he can’t keep it. Or can he? This was Tahoe’s favorite book of all the “cloud” themed books and he asked me to read it to him over and over again. It has “A Cloud’s Song” as part of the story, which is found in its entirety at the back of the book. (See Musical Intelligence to listen to the song on the author’s website.)

Discussion Focus: Main Character (Who) and Setting (Where and When): I still need to break down “Setting” into “Where” and “When” for Kona and Tigger. I have Kona discuss these with me, while I have Tigger write them down. Tahoe and I talk about who, where, and when as I read this book to him.

Cloudette by Tom Lichtenheld tells the story of a little cloud who watches the big clouds water crops and make mighty rivers flow. Cloudette dreams of making a difference too, but what can a small cloud do?

Discussion Focus: Finding Details – I had the grands find the details to answer the major theme of the book: Why are clouds important? The younger grands discussed their answers with me, and I had Tigger write his answers on a white dry erase board.

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart)

Lie down in your yard, look up at the sky, and classify the types of clouds that can be seen that day. You can even do this for several days, keep track of them each day, and see if the children can find all three types of clouds in the sky during the length of this unit of study.
Watch a cloud in the sky and time it to see if it is moving. In which direction does it move? Do all clouds move at this speed? If not, what might make the cloud go slower or faster?
With the oldest grandson, I can discuss larger numbers, so we discussed the height of clouds using the chart found on this website: http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-clouds.htm

Musical Intelligence (Music Smart)

Listen to “A Cloud’s Song” that goes with the book Freddie and Gingersnap Find A Cloud to Keep. You can find it on the author’s website: http://www.vincentxkirsch.com/listen-to-a-clouds-song/
I taught my grandsons some songs and rhymes about clouds that I found at this link: http://www.preschoolexpress.com/music-station08/cloud-songs-rhymes-mar08.shtml

Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart)

Creating Cloud Pictures 1: I have several sizes of circle punches that I use for many of the craft projects I do with the grands. They love punching out the circles themselves, so it is a good fine motor activity for them as well. This craft was very simple to create, but helped Tahoe to understand that the rain was going to come from the darker cloud.

Tahoe punches out circles to make his picture.

He used large circles for the clouds and smaller circles for the raindrops.

Creating Cloud Pictures 2: I drew a simple cloud for Tahoe to cut out. Then he painted it a dark color. In the meantime, I cut up some linguine and placed them in a cup of blue paint to turn the linguine into a bluish color. Once the linguine pieces were dyed, I pulled them out of the paint and set them on a paper towel to dry. When the cloud and linguine were both dry, Tahoe glued them onto construction paper to create a rain cloud.

Tahoe cuts out the cloud I drew.

Next he paints it.

The project is done.

Making Clouds from Shaving Cream: Using the activity on p. 28 of It’s Cloudy Today, I had Kona make the three main types of clouds using some shaving cream. I also had him practice his handwriting by tracing the names of these clouds to label the shaving cream creations. (I placed blue construction paper under a clear plastic tablecloth for this activity. It was easy to clean up afterwards.)

Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart)

Science Demonstration in a Group: Make a cloud in a bottle with adult supervision. The directions can be found here: http://www.weatherwizkids.com/experiments-cloud.htm
Cloud Recognition Game: Using the illustrations or pictures of clouds in the books from the library, make copies (or draw pictures) of the three types of clouds. Play a game in a small group to see who can say the correct name of the cloud as you hold up each picture.
Finding a Cloud Game: Hide pictures of the three main types of clouds around the house (or in your yard). Have children take turns finding a cloud, bring it back to you , and tell you the type of cloud they found.

Bodily-kinesthetic Intelligence (Body Smart)

Pantomimes: I planned a simple activity to help Tahoe remember which clouds are highest and which are lowest. I had Tahoe place his hands over his head and make his hands pantomime a feather. Then I had him say “Cirrus.” Next he pantomimed a big puffy cloud in front of his tummy and I had him say “Cumulus.” Finally he bent down and waved his hands back and forth in front of his knees and said “Stratus.”
Cloud Relay: This can be done with one child or a small group of children. Place pictures of each type of cloud at one end of the playing area (or hallway). Have the children start at the other end. Call out a child’s name along with a cloud’s name, and have that child run to get the correct picture and return it to the starting place.
Water Cycle Game: I found a more complicated “Cloud” game on this website but haven’t yet played it with my grandsons. http://teachers.net/lessonplans/posts/1663.html

Naturalist Intelligence (Nature Smart)

I had the grands go outside to look at the clouds. I asked them if they saw pictures in the clouds. Kona saw a dragon and a snake.

Observe the clouds outside. Have the children describe the clouds they see. They might even take pictures of them and later make a Cloud Journal.

Intrapersonal Intelligence (Self Smart)

Discuss: Which is your favorite type of clouds in the books that we have read?
I showed the grands “Giant in the Clouds” by N. C. Wyeth, which can be found on the internet. Then I had the grandsons go outside with blue construction paper and a white crayon to draw the clouds and try to find a picture in the clouds they had drawn.
I leave the library books in a convenient place for the grandsons so they can browse or read them on their own.

I love to add my blog posts to link parties such as:

Book Study Unit Education Multiple Intelligence Lessons Reading

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Elf on the Shelf Book Study-Ages 3-5 Years

by Nancy "Mimi" Taylor

My daughter and son-in-law have been doing The Elf on the Shelf tradition for several years with their three boys, and my older grandsons named their elf Graham Cracker. So my youngest grandson, 3 1/2 years, is already familiar with looking for the elf’s location each morning. However, this Christmas he is ready to understand more fully The Elf on the Shelf story.

That is why I created this Multiple Intelligence Book Study just for my youngest grandson, Tahoe. I have read the book aloud to him several times, and additionally planned at least one activity for him in each intelligence. I thought I would share this with others to show how I turned this book study into an enriching educational experience for Tahoe. I used at least one activity for each intelligence, but often we did more than one.

Linguistic Intelligence/Word Smart

I read the book, The Elf on the Shelf by Carol V. Aebersold and Chanda A. Bell, aloud to Tahoe each day of the study unit.
In subsequent readings, I focused on the letter “L” which was one of the letters I am currently teaching Tahoe. I gave him a letter “L” from one of his puzzles, and he easily found two letter Ls in the title of the book.
Since this is a rhyming book, I pointed out the rhyming words as we read the book.

Musical Intelligence/Music Smart

I found a video online of musical selections from Elf, the Musical, and showed them to Tahoe.
I played a recording of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” which has a similar theme to The Elf on the Shelf and we sang it together.

Interpersonal Intelligence/People Smart

Elf-Friendly Wassail: I love to cook with the grands, so Tahoe and I made a simple recipe of wassail for our elf. This recipe made enough for Tahoe and me to have some too. Here is the recipe we followed: Put 2 cups apple cider, 1 cup orange juice, a stick of cinnamon and a pinch of ground cloves in a pot and stir. With adult supervision, let the mixture simmer on the stove for 20-45 minutes. Let it cool a bit so the elf doesn’t burn his tongue. Great for a cold winter night! (For older children, this could be a mathematical and linguistic activity too.)

: First I had Tahoe look for 2 cups on the measuring cup.

: Then I had my grandson pour the apple cider to the 2 cup line.

: When all the ingredients were in the pot, Tahoe stirred the mixture.

Dramatic Play: With another person, I had Tahoe reenact some of the pages in the story. (For example, Tahoe would be the elf, and I would be the child looking for the elf in the house.)
Hide and Seek: This is similar to the dramatic play activity, however, in this game, Tahoe got to choose where to hide, and didn’t have to rely on the book for ideas. This game could be played with his brothers and parents as well. Whoever was the elf got to wear an “elf cap” my daughter had at the house.

Spatial Intelligence/Picture Smart

Play Dough Mat-I created a Play Dough mat by drawing the elf on white paper, adding a title, and slipping the paper into a plastic sheet protector. I thought Tahoe could use the Play Dough to create a place for the elf to hide. However, Tahoe decided he wanted to dress up the elf instead of creating a hiding place for him. I also had him make “snakes” of Play Dough to fill in the letters “e-l-f” on the mat.

I used geometric shapes to design an “elf” for Tahoe to put together. He cut out most of the shapes, drew a face on the elf, and glued all the parts together.

: I used geometric shapes to create the parts of the elf project.

: Tahoe cut out most of the shapes (and I cut out the rest).

: All the pieces were glued together to finish the project.

: Ta Da! The elf project is complete. (Tahoe added buttons to the pants.)

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence/Body Smart

I found motions for “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” on the Internet which I used to teach Tahoe some cute moves to use as we sang the song together, but you could also create your own moves to teach the children in your care.
We danced to the music in Elf, the Musical.

Logical/mathematical Intelligence/Number Smart

We discussed which number was “more” and he circled that number.

I had Tahoe glue paper circles to each elf cap to match the number I had written under each hat.

I had Tahoe count the elves on each page of the book.
As we worked on the art activity (see Spatial section), I had him identify the shapes we were using to make the elf.
Using an “elf cap” cut-out, I had Tahoe glue paper “pom poms” to each hat to match the number I had written under them. Then we discussed which cap had more “pom poms” and he circled that number.

Intrapersonal Intelligence/Self Smart

After Tahoe found the elf one day, I had him tell the elf his wishes.
I gave Tahoe the opportunity to “read” the book to himself.

Naturalist Intelligence/Nature Smart

Neighborhood Walk-We took a walk in our neighborhood and looked for good places for the elf to hide in order to watch Tahoe and his brothers at play outdoors (such as inside the slide at the local playground).

I love to add my blog posts to link parties such as:

Book Study Unit Education Multiple Intelligences

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Books About Autumn: Lesson Plans for Ages 3-7

by Nancy "Mimi" Taylor

Fall 2015: I’ve always loved the autumn season, even though I live in Southern California where the start of the this season does not segue into cooler temperatures. But leaves and acorns do fall from the trees, and Grandpa Jim rakes the leaves in our backyard into piles so the grands can jump into them.

We visit an apple orchard in the local mountains and take hikes. In October we carve pumpkins (and this year our garden produced four of them) and make pumpkin pies. So, yes, autumn is still a wonderful experience for all of us.

I decided to build upon these experiences by creating “autumn” themed lessons for the grands. After ordering several books from the local library, and looking at the plethora of autumn activities that other educators and homeschoolers are posting, I created some lesson plans that I will share with you in this post.

As always, I planned a variety of lessons in each intelligence to have differentiated activities for each grandson: Tigger (7), Kona (5), and Tahoe (3). We spent three weeks on this study unit, and completed at least one activity for each intelligence during that time.

Fall 2016: I revisited this topic with the grands this month and so I have updated the post with more books and activities that I used with the grands in 2016. (In the fall of 2016 the grands are ages 4, 6, and 8.)

Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart)

Read and discuss books- I read and discussed at least one of these books to the grands each day during the three week period. The first few times I read the books to the grands, our discussion centered on vocabulary, using pictures to predict what was going to happen next in the story, and then pointing out “describing” words such as colors, shapes, and numbers. After those initial discussions, I had specific reading skills I used as a focus for each book, depending on my grandsons’ individual needs. These are the books I borrowed from the library and the skills I chose for further discussion:

Count Down to Fall by Fran Hawk is a great (backwards) counting book, mostly about autumn leaves, with amazing illustrations. Each page focuses on a different type of leaf and has rhyming verses.

Discussion Focus: Rhyming Words-This skill was adapted for each grandson. With Tahoe, I explained the rhyming words on each page and had him repeat them after me. For Kona, I would give him one of the words from a rhyming pair on each page, and he would have to listen and tell me the rhyming word that matched. Tigger had to give me the rhyming pair as I finished (or he finished) reading each page.

Fall (Seasons of the Year) by Cynthia Amoroso and Robert B. Noyed covers other aspects of autumn such as picking apples at orchards, birds flying south, and squirrels gathering food for the winter . Beautiful photographs accompany the text.

Discussion Focus: Sight Words-I had Kona (5) pick a few pages and tell me (and write down) all the sight words he knew (a, and, the, it, see). For Tahoe (3) I showed him the sight word “a” when we came across it in the book. (Tigger has pretty much mastered sight words.)

Mouse’s First Fall by Lauren Thompson is another beautifully illustrated fiction book about two mice playing in some autumn leaves. This is a great book for preschoolers, including Tahoe, aged 3.

Leaf Jumpers by Carole Gerber focuses on the different types of trees and their leaves. This book is nice for younger children interested in matching the fallen leaves with their trees. It has lovely illustrations.

Discussion Focus: Finding details-This was more of a discussion only item for Tahoe, but with Kona and Tigger, I chose three different leaves and after reading the page on each leaf, they had to tell me at least two details. I had Tigger write down the details.

Autumn Leaves by Ken Robbins is a terrific non-fiction book that also matches the autumn leaves with their trees. It would be better for school-aged children rather than preschoolers. The photographs and text cover such trees as the sweet gum, hickory, red oak, linden, and dogwood. It would be a nice resource to take on hikes or trips to the park.

Discussion Focus: Finding Details- I had the grands look for details on the “shapes of leaves” as I read Autumn Leaves with them. Tigger had to write this information in his journal.

Why Do Leaves Change Colors by Terry Allan Hicks is a non-fiction book that is full of scientific explanations, photographs, and an activity for older elementary aged children. It was a wonderful resource book for me, and I did read a few pages to my grandsons and show them the illustrations. However, the grands weren’t ready to have the entire book read to them, even though it is only 30 pages long.

Discussion Focus: New Words-I used this book with Tigger to pick out words that were new to him and had him write them down so we could discuss them.

Fall Harvest by Gail Saunders-Smith is a great short book for vocabulary development and for early readers. It has wonderful photographs of people and machines harvesting a variety of foods including pumpkins, apples, sugar beets, wheat, corn, potatoes, and cranberries. There are short sentences on each page, so it is a good book for those children who are just beginning to read books and a glossary in the back.

Discussion Focus: How is Food Grown- I used this book with Tahoe to help him understand how food is grown (some in the ground, some on stalks of leaves, some on trees). Since the sentences are short, Kona was able to read most of the sentences once I had read the book to him several times and he began to recognize words such as harvest, people, and machines. Tigger and I discussed how many non-fiction books have a glossary in the back of it.

Animals in Fall by Martha E. H. Rustad (All About Fall series) is similar to Fall Harvest with its fantastic photographs and short sentences on each page. This book differs because it focuses on the many ways animals prepare in the fall for the upcoming winter season.

Discussion Focus: Similarities and Differences-I had the grands give me details from each animal that was discussed in the book and discussed how these preparations for similar or different from each other.

Fall Ball by Peter McCarty is a cute story about some children who can’t wait to get off the school bus so they can enjoy their favorite fall sport: football. As the children get of the bus, they start organizing a football game at the park, although one boy decides to stay behind because there are too many leaves on the ground. Another character in the story is their dog, Sparky, who also loves football. My grands loved the dog’s antics during the football game.

Discussion Focus: Making Predictions-There are many opportunities in the story to ask, “What do you think will happen next?” so this a great way to practice making predictions with all of the grands.

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart)

Walk around neighborhood and pick up some of the fallen autumn leaves. The children can later categorize them by color, shape, or even tree.
Create math problems with autumn themes such as: The squirrels in the neighborhood park are collecting acorns to store for winter. If five squirrels each collect six acorns today, how many will that be? What if one of these squirrels is very ambitious and collects nine acorns instead of six. How many acorns would be collected by all five squirrels now?
Have the grands throw a football and measure the distance it was thrown.

Musical Intelligence (Music Smart)

Play Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons-Autumn” as you read one of the stories aloud.
I found some great rhymes and songs including “All the Leaves are Falling Down” using the tune
“London Bridge is Falling Down” and “Saw a Leaf” using the melody from “My Darling Clementine” at this link:

http://www.preschoolexpress.com/music_station07/fall-leaves-songs-rhymes-sep07.shtml

Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart)

Autumn Leaf craft projects-Since most of the books focused on leaves, I designed some autumn leaf crafts for Tahoe (3). Among the art supplies that I frequently use are Creatology foam stickers and circle punches. I buy the buckets of foam stickers from the craft store whenever they are on sale or I have a 50% off coupon because the boys love to work with them. I also have three different sizes of circle punches because (again) the grands enjoy punching out circles from construction paper and the circles can be used in so many craft projects.

Tahoe, age 3, drew brown crayon lines to make his tree and then added stick-on leaves and acorns.

Here is Tahoe’s finished project.

Another autumn tree craft was made using circles I punched out for Tahoe. My 3 year old grandson used the larger brown circles to make a tree trunk.

Then he used a glue stick to place all the smaller circles as leaves. Can you see the leaves falling from the tree?

Scarecrow and Spider Crafts-My grandsons also enjoyed making autumn themed crafts for a scarecrow and a spider.

You can get the directions here from my other blog posts:

https://mimiandthegrands.com/2015/10/16/kid-craft-challenge-2-craft-stick-scarecrow/

https://mimiandthegrands.com/2015/10/02/kid-craft-challenge-1-paper-plate-spider-web/

Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart)

Dramatic play-Reenact the story of Mouse’s First Fall or Fall Ball with siblings.
Work together with others (such as siblings) to rake the leaves and create a large pile of them. Then take turns jumping in the leaves.

Bodily-kinesthetic Intelligence (Body Smart)

I found several physical activities on websites for autumn and created one of my own.

Acorn Race: I gave my grandsons one acorn and a wooden spoon. I had them hit the acorns with the spoons to move the acorns from one side of our front sidewalk to the other side. They got to practice first before an “official” race began.
Leaf Blowers: My grandsons were given each a leaf and a straw. The object of the game was to blow the leaf across the width of the table. After they raced several times and were getting really good at this, I challenged them to race along the length of the outdoor table.

I found the Leaf Blower idea and many other physical activities for autumn at this link:

http://www.kidactivities.net/category/Games-AutumnFall.aspx

Football Activities: Since one of the books we read together about autumn is focused around the game of football, I have included some bodily-kinesthetic ideas for football. One idea is to have the grands practice throwing a football through a hula hoop. Of course, the grands are at a good age to start passing the football to each other as well. I looked for other easy activities they could do with a football and discovered some excellent ideas on this website: http://fitfamilytogether.com/fun-games-for-kids-football

Intrapersonal Intelligence (Self Smart)

What is your favorite autumn activity? Draw a picture or write about it in a journal.
Discuss: Which is your favorite autumn leaf in the books that we have read?
I leave the library books in a convenient place for the grandsons so they can browse or read them on their own.

Naturalist Intelligence (Nature Smart)

Visit a pumpkin farm or an apple orchard. Grandpa Jim and I usually take our grandsons to the local apple orchards for a picnic, hiking, and buying apples. We also visit a nearby pumpkin patch.

: The grands enjoyed the “Kid Quizzes” on the nature trail we took next to the apple orchard.

: Grandpa Jim is demonstrating for Tigger why one should not pick up a pine cone from a Coulter pine tree.

: The grands always enjoy a trip to a nearby pumpkin patch.

Walk around your neighborhood and collect fallen leaves, seed pods, acorns, or other natural materials. I had the grands start a nature journal using natural materials we found on our walks or hikes.

I hope the children in your care enjoy these activities as much as my grandsons did.

I love to add my blog posts to link parties such as:

Autumn lessons Book Study Unit Education Multiple Intelligence Lessons

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Kid Craft Challenge #2-Craft Stick Scarecrow

by Nancy "Mimi" Taylor

As part of the Kid Craft Challenge #2, sponsored by The Resourceful Mama, I planned a scarecrow project for my five year old and seven year old grandsons using some craft sticks and leftover ribbon (from a Halloween project).

This is how one of the finished projects looked:

Materials Needed:

6 craft sticks

Glue (I used wood glue and glue sticks)

Leftover ribbon (fabric would work too)

Circle from construction paper

Crayons or markers

Wiggly eyes

Yellow yarn

Steps:

Take the glue and six craft sticks and make the outline of a scarecrow. (I made the outline with one of the craft sticks lower than the legs in case we wanted to stick the scarecrow into the ground.) Glue the craft sticks into place and allow to dry for about 30 minutes.

Make the scarecrow’s face out of the circles of construction paper. One grandson chose to follow the sample I made and used the yarn, wiggly eyes, ribbon, and red crayon to make the face, while the older grandson preferred to draw most of the scarecrow’s (multiple) faces.

Glue the face to the top of the scarecrow outline. Finish the scarecrow by gluing ribbon (or fabric) to the craft stick outline to make clothing for the body, arms, and legs.

Finished Scarecrows

Here are my two grandsons’ finished projects. (As you can see, one of the grandsons put heads on all the legs and arms. He told me he was making a “zombie” scarecrow.) I’m thinking both scarecrows would look cute stuck in ceramic pots with fall foliage.

I hope to contribute other crafts to the Kid Craft Challenge in the coming months.

Kids Crafts Multiple Intelligences

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Kid Craft Challenge #1-Paper Plate Spider Web

by Nancy "Mimi" Taylor

As part of the Kid Craft Challenge #1, sponsored by The Resourceful Mama, I used a paper plate to make a spider web craft that would be both a spatial and a bodily-kinesthetic activity for my three year old grandson, Tahoe. Since we sang “The Eensy, Weensy Spider” as we crafted, which is using a musical intelligence, I believe I can safely say that my grandson used three multiple intelligences in making this project. (I always try to consider Multiple Intelligences when I plan learning projects for my grandsons.)

Because Tahoe is 3 years old, I had to do some of the prep work. My older grandsons (ages 5 and 7) could probably do most of this themselves.

This is how the finished project looked, (although without the baseball clip that was used to hang the project in Tahoe’s bedroom):

So here are the steps to make this craft project:

Materials Needed:

1 black paper plate (or have the child paint a paper plate with black paint)

Yellow (or light colored) yarn

Tape (like duct tape)

Wiggly eyes

Glue stick

Hole Punch

Circle Punch (optional)

Steps:

First I cut out a circle in the center of a paper plate. I saved the circle that was cut out from the middle for later.

Using a hole punch, I punched holes around the plate. Later I had to punch more holes, so it is best to have double the amount of punched holes than what is pictured below.

From the middle circle that I saved, I cut out four long strips and used a circle punch to get a smaller circle that would become the spider’s body. (You could trace a small circle from the bottom of a cup and cut it out with scissors instead of using a circle punch.) I also cut three long pieces of yarn and wrapped some duct tape around the ends to make the yarn easier to thread through the holes I had punched in the paper plate.

To make the spider’s web I had Tahoe thread the yarn into the punched holes. He secured the ends of the yarn to the back of the plate with small pieces of duct tape.

To make the spider, I had my grandson crisscross and duct tape the four strips of paper plate to the back of the small black circle. Then he glued some wiggly eyes onto the spider. Lastly, he taped the spider to the yarn (or web) with the duct tape.

My grandson loved this project so much that I had to hang it on the wall in his bedroom right away, rather than place it on the refrigerator which is where his newly crafted projects are usually displayed. He was so proud of it!

I hope to contribute other crafts to the Kid Craft Challenge in the coming months.

Kids Crafts Multiple Intelligences

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“Ocean” Themed Lessons Ages 3-7

by Nancy "Mimi" Taylor

During the summer we took the grands to the beach again, and their mom took them to a small aquarium. I decided to build upon these experiences by creating “ocean” themed lessons for the grands. So I ordered several books from the local library and created some lesson plans that I will share with you in this post.

Linguistic (Word Smart)

Read books-These are the books I borrowed from the library and used to create the lesson plans. I read at least one of these books to the grands each day during the three week period. I chose three nonfiction books:

National Geographic Little Kids Ocean Counting by Janet Lawler has beautiful photographs. Besides being a counting book, it has has simple information on the animal featured on each page.
Oceans by Cathryn Sill has beautiful illustrations and features a nice variety of ocean inhabitants. The Afterword includes more information about the animals in each illustration.
Bill Nye the Science Guy’s Big Blue Ocean includes information and experiments related to twelve different topics about the ocean. The information in this book is more in depth, so it may appeal better to elementary aged children rather than preschoolers.

I also chose one fiction book for the Ocean Study Unit:

Sneakers, the Seaside Cat by Margaret Wise Brown is a fictional story about a precocious cat who explores the wonders of the seashore when her family takes her on their vacation.

Discussions-For the book Sneakers, the Seaside Cat, we made predictions on the topic of each page by looking at the illustrations. With the non-fiction books, I focused on the vocabulary and recalling details on each page.

Audiobooks-Our library also had an audio book version of Magic School Bus – On the Ocean Floor. I always try to have at least one audio book in my car for the grands because we spend some time traveling pretty much every day.

Musical Intelligence (Music Smart)

Finger plays and songs-I found some songs on the Internet to teach the grands, including a youtube video created by Toddler World TV for “The Underwater Song” which was a good one for Tahoe. It has simple rhymes and incorporates some common sea animals as part of the lyrics. Another easy song I used with Tahoe is “Animals in the Ocean” which uses “The Wheels on the Bus” for the melody. I found a youtube video of this song created by Nursery Rhymes TV. Other ocean songs to use can be found at this link which gives the lyrics for songs and uses familiar melodies such as “I’m a Little Teapot:”

http://www.preschooleducation.com/socean.shtml

Classical Music-I usually try to find classical music to play for the grands. For this lesson unit, I played a version of The Carnival of the Animals-Aquarium by Camille Saint-Saens. (This is easy to find on the Internet as well.)

Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart)

Drawings-

To help the grands develop their spatial and bodily-kinesthetic intelligences, I found some videos online that demonstrated how to draw a variety of ocean animals. I had the grands watch a video on sea jellies and they drew their own versions.

: This is five year old Kona’s version of a sea jelly after watching the video.

: Tigger (7) decided to color his sea jelly after he finished drawing the outline.

Besides using a video, I found a great book to help the grands draw ocean animals (which includes some fun facts about each creature as well). Learn to Draw Sea Creatures by Walter Foster Jr., shows step by step instructions to draw over 25 ocean animals starting with simple shapes such as circles, ovals, rectangles, squares, and triangles. Some of the creatures included in this book are dolphins, crabs, manatees, octopus, sea horse, and walrus.

Videos-The grands and I have been enjoying the television series Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin which we are able to access from the On Demand button from our cable provider and I believe some abc affilitates carry it as well.

Directed Projects-Tahoe needs to practice drawing circles and triangles so I used these shapes to help him draw some simple fish. Then he used a very diluted blue wash to paint over his crayon drawings to look like the fish were in the ocean. Kona did something similar but he used an oval, small circles, and two triangles to draw a parrotfish.

Kona used simple shapes to draw a parrotfish from a photo in one of our books.

I helped Tahoe draw his fish using circles and triangles. He is painting a very diluted blue wash over the fish to make it appear that they are swimming in the ocean.

This is Tahoe’s finished project using triangles and circles to draw fish with crayons. He brushed on a diluted blue paint to create the ocean feel.

On another day, we discussed sea turtles and created our own representation of one of these beautiful creatures.

Kona is painting a paper plate for his sea turtle project.

Tahoe starts his sea turtle project by painting a paper plate.

Green dot paint was applied to the paper plate as well.

With a combination of scissor practice and tearing, Tahoe cut out pieces of brown construction paper for the project.

Using my circle puncher, Tahoe cut out the circles that would become the head and feet of the sea turtle.

Here is the finished product. (Can you tell the circles are the head and feet?)

Sea Light Table: Just before I was to publish this post, I saw this amazing idea. I haven’t tried it, but I thought it was worth including in this lesson unit:

http://whereimaginationgrows.com/under-the-sea-small-world-light-play/

Interpersonal (People Smart)

Dramatic play-I love using dramatic play as a way to help the grands understand the stories I read to them. A fun activity was to have the grands pretend they were the characters in the book and act out the book with other members of the family.

Play dough mats- Tahoe and his seven year old brother, Tigger, enjoyed working together on a play dough mat. I loved listening to their conversation as they worked together. Just from their dialogue with each other, I could tell they both had learned a lot of new vocabulary as they named and described the ocean animals and plants they were making out of play dough. (This is also a bodily-kinesthetic activity for Tahoe, who needs to develop his fine motor skills so he can write as he gets older.)

: I created a play dough mat using construction paper. (I told the grands that the mat showed sand, seaweed and a sea jelly.)

: Tahoe and his older brother created all kinds of ocean life with their play dough.

Experiments-Kona and Tigger worked together on an experiment to help them understand why there is so much salt in the ocean. We read pages 24-26 in Bill Nye the Science Guy’s Big Blue Ocean and followed the directions for the salt water evaporation experiment on p. 27. This experiment needs a few days before looking at the results. (Make sure you tell the rest of the family that the wet plate with paper towels on the patio table is an experiment or else the experiment might get washed after dinner.)

: Tigger and Kona worked together to measure the salt for the experiment.

: Kona and Tigger pour the saltwater solution onto the paper towels.

Bodily-Kinesthetic (Body Smart)

Crab Walk-I had all the grands practice the Crab Walk (which is really good for developing upper arm strength….believe me…I had to model it for them). To do a Crab Walk, I had the grands sit on the rug with their hands behind them, their feet flat on the floor, and their knees bent. Then they used their arms to lift their bottom off the floor. If they could hold this position, then they could begin to walk; backwards is easier than going forward.

: Tahoe is able to hold the Crab Walk position, but still needs to practice crab walking.

: Kona was able to do the Crab Walk backwards.

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart)

Counting and measuring activities: There are always lots of counting opportunities for Tahoe in most of the books we read, but the book National Geographic Little Kids Ocean Counting was a good place to start.

Reading data on graphs-Using information found on a link to a local beach, Tigger, Kona, and I discussed the graphs on wave height and wind speed. Since some of these numbers were written as decimals, it gave me an opportunity to explain what .5 meant as a decimal and a fraction. We also practiced reading time on the graph (low and high tide.)

http://www.surf-forecast.com/breaks/Huntington-Beach/forecasts/latest/six_day

: Tahoe counted all the ocean animals on each page by himself.

: After checking the online chart, Kona was able to write the time and height of the high tide that day.

Subtraction Problems: Tigger and Kona created simple subtraction problems using the information about surf height from this chart:

http://solspot.com/north-orange-county-5-day-surf-forecast/

Intrapersonal Intelligence (Self Smart)

Personal reading – Giving the grands personal time to look over the books I have read to them gives them a chance to explore at their own pace.

Ocean in a Bottle-I made a sensory bottle for the grands out of salt, water (colored with a bit of blue paint) and vegetable oil. I had the grands shake the bottle and then watch it as the salty water and oil began to separate. This began a discussion on why water and oil don’t mix, and what happens when oil finds its way into the ocean. (I used hot glue on the cap so the liquid couldn’t accidentally spill out when they shook it.) This was an activity they could explore later on their own. It’s amazing how fascinating these sensory bottles can be. I found the basic information about this activity at this link:

http://happyhooligans.ca/ocean-in-bottle/

Make sure to secure the cap with hot glue or duct tape so the oil and water don’t accidentally spill out as the bottle is shaken.

Naturalist Intelligence (Nature Smart)

Field trips– My daughter had already taken the boys to a local aquarium and Grandpa Jim and I took them to the beach before I started this unit. I took Tahoe to a local pet store thinking we could find some salt water fish on display there, but alas, they only had freshwater fish for sale at this store. Tahoe still had a blast looking at all the different variety of creatures in the aquariums. I had to be careful not to get the shopping cart too close; he wanted to stick his fingers inside to grab some of them. Grandpa Jim and I plan to take all our grandsons to a local tide pool in a few weeks when all the boys have a day off from school.

: Tahoe and Tigger enjoyed visiting a local aquarium with their mother this summer.

: Tahoe was intrigued by the ocean creatures he saw this summer when his mom took him to a local aquarium.

Spelling practice in the sand-Whether at the beach, or in the sandbox in the backyard, I usually try to include natural materials when the boys practice their spelling, letters, or sounds.

Kona practiced some spelling words in the sand.

Thanks for reading my blog. I hope these articles are helpful when you are planning learning activities for the children in your care.

You can also find my posts on these linky parties.

Book Study Unit Education Multiple Intelligence Lessons Ocean Lessons Reading

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“Ocean” Themed Lessons Age 3

by Nancy "Mimi" Taylor

During the summer Grandpa Jim and I took the grands to the beach again, and their mom took them to a small aquarium. To build upon these experiences, I created “ocean” themed lessons for Tahoe, age 3. I ordered several books from the local library and created some lesson plans that I will share with you in this post.

As always, I used the Theory of Multiple Intelligence to help plan a variety of activities for Tahoe. I watch Tahoe three days a week, and we spent about three weeks on this study unit.

Linguistic (Word Smart)

Read books-These are the books I borrowed from the library and used to create the lesson plans. I read at least one of these books to Tahoe each day during the three week period. I chose one fiction and two nonfiction books:

Sneakers, the Seaside Cat by Margaret Wise Brown is a fictional story about a precocious cat who explores the wonders of the seashore when her family takes her on their vacation.
National Geographic Little Kids Ocean Counting by Janet Lawler has beautiful photographs. Besides being a counting book, it has simple information on the animal featured on each page.
Oceans by Cathryn Sill has beautiful illustrations and features a nice variety off ocean inhabitants. The Afterword includes more information about the animals in each illustration.

Discussions-For the book Sneakers, the Seaside Cat, we made predictions on the topic of each page by looking at the illustrations. With the non-fiction books, I focused on the vocabulary and recalling details on each page.

Audiobooks-Our library also had an audio book version of Magic School Bus – On the Ocean Floor. Tahoe and I travel in my car pretty much every day picking up his older brothers from school or activities, so I always carry at least one audio book for the grands in my car.

Musical Intelligence (Music Smart)

Finger plays and songs-I found some songs online that I used with Tahoe. There was a youtube video created by Toddler World TV for “The Underwater Song” which was a good one for Tahoe. It has simple rhymes and incorporates some common sea animals as part of the lyrics. Another easy song I used with Tahoe is “Animals in the Ocean” which uses “The Wheels on the Bus” for the melody. I found a youtube video of this song created by Nursery Rhymes TV. Other ocean songs to use can be found at this link which gives the lyrics for songs and uses familiar melodies such as “I’m a Little Teapot:”

http://www.preschooleducation.com/socean.shtml

Classical Music-I usually try to find classical music to play for Tahoe. For this lesson unit, I played a version of The Carnival of the Animals-Aquarium by Camille Saint-Saens. (This is easy to find on the Internet as well.)

Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart)

Directed Projects-Tahoe is practicing how to draw circles and triangles so I used these shapes to help him draw simple fish. Then he used a very diluted blue paint to brush over his drawing to give it an “ocean” effect.

I helped Tahoe draw his fish using circles and triangles. He is painting a very diluted blue wash over the fish to make it appear that they are swimming in the ocean.

This is Tahoe’s finished project using triangles and circles to draw fish with crayons. He brushed on a diluted blue paint to create the ocean feel.

On another day, we discussed sea turtles and created our own representation of one of these beautiful creatures.

Tahoe starts his sea turtle project by painting a paper plate.

Green dot paint was applied to the paper plate as well.

With a combination of scissor practice and tearing, Tahoe cut out pieces of brown construction paper for the project.

Using my circle puncher, Tahoe cut out the circles that would become the head and feet of the sea turtle.

Here is the finished product. (Can you tell the circles are the head and feet?)

Sea Light Table: Just before I was to publish this post, I saw this amazing idea. I haven’t tried it, but I thought it was worth including in this lesson unit:

http://whereimaginationgrows.com/under-the-sea-small-world-light-play/

Interpersonal (People Smart)

Dramatic play-I love using dramatic play as a way to help Tahoe understand the stories I read to him. A fun activity was to have him pretend to be Sneakers, the seaside cat, and I played the other characters in the book.

Playdough mats- Tahoe and his seven year old brother, Tigger, enjoyed working together on a play dough mat. I loved listening to their conversation as they worked together. Just from their dialogue with each other, I could tell they both had learned a lot of new vocabulary as they named and described the ocean animals and plants they were making out of play dough. (This is also a bodily-kinesthetic activity for Tahoe, who needs to develop his fine motor skills so he can write as he gets older.)

: I created a play dough mat using construction paper. (I told the grands that the mat showed sand, seaweed and a sea jelly.)

: Tahoe and his older brother created all kinds of ocean life with their play dough.

Bodily-Kinesthetic (Body Smart)

Crab Walk-I tried to teach the Crab Walk to Tahoe (which is a really good exercise for developing upper arm strength….believe me…I had to model it for him.) To do a Crab Walk, I had him sit on the rug with his hands behind him, his feet flat on the floor, and his knees bent. Then he used his arms to lift his bottom off the floor. Once he is able to hold this position, then he can begin to walk; backwards is easier than going forward.

Tahoe is able to hold the Crab Walk position, but still needs to practice crab walking.

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart)

Counting activities: There are always lots of counting opportunities for Tahoe in most of the books we read, but the book National Geographic Little Kids Ocean Counting was an excellent book to use for practicing his counting.

Tahoe counted all the ocean animals on each page by himself.

Intrapersonal Intelligence (Self Smart)

Personal reading – Giving Tahoe personal time to look over the books I have read to him gives him a chance to explore at his own pace.

Ocean in a Bottle-I made a sensory bottle for the grands out of salt, water (colored with a bit of blue paint) and vegetable oil. I had the grands shake the bottle and then watch it as the salty water and oil began to separate. This began a discussion on why water and oil don’t mix, and what happens when oil finds its way into the ocean. (I used hot glue on the cap so the liquid couldn’t accidentally spill out when they shook it.) This was an activity Tahoe could later explore on his own. It’s amazing how fascinating these sensory bottles can be.

Make sure to secure the cap with hot glue or duct tape so the oil and water don’t accidentally spill out as the bottle is shaken.

I found the basic information about this activity at this link:

http://happyhooligans.ca/ocean-in-bottle/

Naturalist Intelligence (Nature Smart)

Field trips– My daughter had already taken the boys to a local aquarium and Grandpa Jim and I took them to the beach before I started this unit. I took Tahoe to a local pet store thinking we could find some salt water fish on display there, but alas, they only had freshwater fish for sale at this store. (The store’s website seemed to indicate that salt water fish were for sale at the store, but there weren’t any on display.) Tahoe still had a blast looking at all the different variety of creatures in the aquariums. I had to be careful not to get the shopping cart too close; he wanted to stick his fingers inside to grab some of them. Grandpa Jim and I plan to take all our grandsons to a local tide pool in a few weeks when all the boys have a day off from school.

: Tahoe was intrigued by the ocean creatures he saw this summer when his mom took him to a local aquarium.

: Tahoe also enjoyed looking at the fish in the local pet store.

Thanks for reading my blog. I hope these articles are helpful when you are planning learning activities for the children in your care.

You can also find my posts on these linky parties.

Book Study Units Education Multiple Intelligence Lessons Reading

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“Construction” Themed Lessons for 3 Year Olds

by Nancy "Mimi" Taylor

I love spending time with my 3 year old grandson, aka, Tahoe, and luckily I get to spend three days a week with him. As a retired teacher, I also love to plan lessons to teach him, especially using the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. During the last two weeks, I have used a “construction” theme to help Tahoe explore a topic he really enjoys. As I planned activities for the “construction” unit, I tried to plan at least one activity for Tahoe in each of the eight intelligences.

Linguistic (Word Smart)

Read books-These are the books I borrowed from the library and used to create the lesson plans. I read at least one of these books to Tahoe each day during the two week period.

One Big Building by Michael Dahl is a counting book showing construction workers busy working on a twelve story building.
The books Construction and Demolition by Sally Sutton also have wonderful illustrations. Besides describing the different jobs, machines, and tools needed in the construction and demolition processes, there are rhyming words and samples of “sound words” in these books. These are great books to use when “modeling” expressive oral reading.
Builder Goose by Bobi Ashburn reworks familiar nursery rhymes and children’s songs using a construction theme. Examples are:

“There was an Old Foreman” (“There was an Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe”) “Roll, Roll, Roll the Road” (“Row, Row, Row Your Boat”) “It’s Spinning, It’s Roaring” (“It’s Raining, It’s Pouring”)

Discussions-Whenever I read to Tahoe, we have lots of discussions about the illustrations, rhyming, and new vocabulary (such as skid steer, jackhammer, and concrete mixer).

Musical Intelligence (Music Smart)

Finger plays and songs-Tahoe loves to sing. Since the book Builder Goose already contains familiar songs rewritten with the “construction” theme, I used it for my source of songs for the musical intelligence for this unit. Some examples of rewritten songs from this book are:

“Do You Know the Bulldozer” (“Do You Know the Muffin Man”)

“Three Dump Trucks” (“Three Blind Mice”)

“I’m a Heavy Grader” (“I’m a Little Teapot”)

Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart)

Videos-I played several videos for Tahoe (found online) which showed construction vehicles in action.

Freestyle Crafts-While I often give Tahoe a more “directed” craft project, I also encourage him to create art on his own. I gave him pieces of construction paper, scissors, glue, and crayons, and we talked about some of the illustrations of buildings in the books we read together. While Tahoe doesn’t cut on lines yet, he was happy practicing his cutting skills on scrap paper and using the pieces he cut for his projects. (His older brothers had cut some of the bigger pieces of paper for him.)

After gluing together his “building,” Tahoe decided his project needed more colors.

Interpersonal (People Smart)

Building Together-Tahoe enjoys getting involved in projects with my hubby, Grandpa Jim, with handyman projects around the house. I feel it is important that Tahoe learn how to work on projects with other people.

: Tahoe wanted to help put together the seesaw for our backyard and was given direction by Grandpa Jim.

: Both Tahoe and his older brother lent Grandpa Jim a helping hand to put together their new seesaw.

Bodily-Kinesthetic (Body Smart)

Pantomimes- Tahoe and I discussed some of the construction jobs from the books and together we practiced pantomimes for each of them. (He usually incorporates some of these pantomimes on his own during his dramatic playtime.)

Intrapersonal Intelligence (Self Smart)

Personal reading – Giving Tahoe personal time to look over the books I have read to him gives him a chance to explore at his own pace. Often, Tahoe retells the stories in the books as he looks at the illustrations.

Tahoe enjoys looking over the books I have read to him and retelling the stories to himself.

Building Towers-Tahoe also enjoyed being able to play with the building blocks and create his own “construction” projects.

Tahoe decided to construct a tower with the blocks.

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart)

Counting activities: There are always lots of counting opportunities for Tahoe in most of the books we read, but One Big Building was written as a counting book, so Tahoe got practice counting from 1-12.

Naturalist intelligence (Nature Smart)

Field trips-There are many opportunities to see construction in our area, so we stopped at a site (at a safe distance) and discussed the tools, machines, and vehicles that were being used. Also we discussed how nature had been changed by the new construction.

: There are a lot of construction sites in Tahoe’s neighborhood, so we had an impromptu field trip one afternoon (after I got my Starbuck’s iced coffee.) Tahoe enjoyed visiting a construction site as they closed down in the late afternoon.

: This building looked very similar to one of the illustrations in the books we read during the week. I discussed with him the different types of materials that were being used in the construction.

Thanks for reading my blog. I hope this article is helpful when you are planning learning activities for the “tots” in your care.

I love reading posts and getting ideas about teaching the preschool age group. Here is one of the links I love to explore:

Book Study Unit Education Multiple Intelligence Lessons Reading

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Educating Through Multiple Intelligences

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As part of the Kid Craft Challenge #2, sponsored by The Resourceful Mama, I planned a scarecrow project for my five year old and seven year old grandsons using some craft sticks and leftover ribbon (from a Halloween project).

This is how one of the finished projects looked:

Materials Needed:

6 craft sticks

Glue (I used wood glue and glue sticks)

Leftover ribbon (fabric would work too)

Circle from construction paper

Crayons or markers

Steps:

Take the glue and six craft sticks and make the outline of a scarecrow. (I made the outline with one of the craft sticks lower than the legs in case we wanted to stick the scarecrow into the ground.) Glue the craft sticks into place and allow to dry for about 30 minutes.

I hope to contribute other crafts to the Kid Craft Challenge in the coming months.

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Because Tahoe is 3 years old, I had to do some of the prep work. My older grandsons (ages 5 and 7) could probably do most of this themselves.

This is how the finished project looked, (although without the baseball clip that was used to hang the project in Tahoe’s bedroom):

So here are the steps to make this craft project:

Materials Needed:

1 black paper plate (or have the child paint a paper plate with black paint)

Yellow (or light colored) yarn

Tape (like duct tape)

Wiggly eyes

Glue stick

Hole Punch

Circle Punch (optional)

Steps:

First I cut out a circle in the center of a paper plate. I saved the circle that was cut out from the middle for later.

Using a hole punch, I punched holes around the plate. Later I had to punch more holes, so it is best to have double the amount of punched holes than what is pictured below.

To make the spider’s web I had Tahoe thread the yarn into the punched holes. He secured the ends of the yarn to the back of the plate with small pieces of duct tape.

To make the spider, I had my grandson crisscross and duct tape the four strips of paper plate to the back of the small black circle. Then he glued some wiggly eyes onto the spider. Lastly, he taped the spider to the yarn (or web) with the duct tape.

My grandson loved this project so much that I had to hang it on the wall in his bedroom right away, rather than place it on the refrigerator which is where his newly crafted projects are usually displayed. He was so proud of it!

I hope to contribute other crafts to the Kid Craft Challenge in the coming months.

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