Water Creatures- Sensory Bin

 I was so excited about this sensory bin because 1) I had all the materials on hand (!!) and 2) I knew that E would love it!  So, I made it a few days before getting it out for E.  The fillers in this bin include:  blue colored rice, sea shells, sea shell shaped pasta, and rocks.  Utensils include: a magnifying glass, tongs, a shovel, and a funnel.  Other items include some sand paper, blue felt, big leaves, and plastic sea creatures.  And, my favorite part of the sensory bin, the water bag.  I was so excited about this part!!!  I put water in a big freezer baggie, then put on another baggie just to be safe.  Sadly, if you look closely at picture above, you can see that there was a little problem with leaking....

 This picture shows the bin without the water :(.  Not sure what I would need to do differently to make it work.

 E never knew that the water part was in the bin, so she enjoyed the bin just the same.  Her favorite part was digging in the rice using the shells, and she loved hiding the sea creatures.  As always, this sensory bin was a hit that filled a lot of time!  

Water Creatures- Opening Activity

 With our impending trips to the Great Lakes, I decided it would be a great idea for our next unit to be water related.  So, we started out by using a Melissa & Doug Magnetic Habitat Set E has.  We talked about the word habitat, and discussed what kind of animals would live in the three habitats included in the set. 

 One by one, I would hand an animal or creature to E, and she would move around the room placing it on the correct habitat.  We also used to the time to discuss the names of each animal and anything we knew about the animals.

This was a great opening activity to get E's mind thinking about the different water creatures we would be talking about.

Bugs- Ladybug Day

We declared today Ladybug day at our house.  I brought E's ladybug wings and doll to the living room, and took out all of our fun ladybug books from our bug theme book basket. I also added our nonfiction Ladybugs book by Martha E.H. Rustad.  We read the factual book about ladybugs, as well as The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle before doing our first activity...hatching our ladybugs from the ice eggs.

I took some of the wooden embellishment ladybugs I had sitting around, filled up ice cube trays half way, then let them freeze before adding water to fill them up the entire way to freeze again.  I wanted at least some of the ladybugs to be well encased into the "eggs."

I popped the ladybug ice out into a big bowl and equipped E with a watering can of warm water to help her hatch the ladybugs to get all 10 out.

To get the ladybugs out, we melted, threw, stepped on, picked at and simply waited for the ladybugs to free them from the ice.

This activity also involved a whole lot of counting.  E had a hard time remembering just how many ladybugs she had freed.  Here you can see her using her fingers to count...a great skill she is finally getting the hang of doing, even when mommy isn't helping.

After about an hour outside playing with subsequent bowls of ice cubes and refills of watering cans, we finally came inside to read Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth Summary, which is one of E's favorite books of all time. We started with a pile of 10 ladybugs...

...and as we worked our way through the story, E moved the "lost" ladybugs into another pile at the top of the book.

Finally, E match up each of her ladybugs with the ladybugs on the final pages of the book.  We plan to have another "theme" bug day soon!

Bugs- Books and Journal

We started this activity by reading Ugh! A Bug! by Ned Crowley and Bug Parts by Charlotte Guillain.  Both  nonfiction books have a lot of close up photos of real bugs and describe the bug and insect parts.   

Before reading the books, I had created a journal entry fill-in-the-blank page to fill in with numbers. I had planned on using a sticker page to have E pick out the correct number to fill in the blanks, but then we found these number stamps which she chose to use instead.  She actually remembered a lot of the facts from the books to fill in on her own.

Here is the final entry.  Unfortunately I did not leave enough room for the stamp numbers, but it still worked out okay!  We definitely need to continue with the journaling....such a great activity.

Bugs- Collecting

 I love giving E little gifts by putting them on her table after nap time.  This bug collection set, another dollar store find, has been a big hit.  It came with the collection container with a built-in magnifying glass, tongs, and  a small net.  We first created a bug habitat by finding a couple of plants, including one with flowers to put down into the collection container.  We then went to an area where we have some bricks that can be flipped over, revealing lots of interesting bugs.

 We collected a millipede, roly-poly bugs, a June bug, and a couple of bugs I don't know the name of.  Collecting the bugs was dependent a lot on me...the tongs can be tricky to use and not squish the bugs.  I read to try using a paint brush to pick up the bugs, so we will do that next time.

This is E studying the bugs from the bottom.  The clear container allows a great look at the bugs from all angles, allowing us to talk about all the bug parts, and make connections between what we read and what we see!

Bugs- Sensory Bin

 To get excited about studying bugs, I created a new sensory bin representing a word we have been spending a lot of time talking about-- habitat.  The fillers in this bin include two one foot squares of fake grass (I found it on clearance at Hobby Lobby with the Easter items), pebbles, and green poly fill.

 I included two plastic posts which I filled with a coffee bean/split pea/colored spaghetti mix left over from another sensory bin.  I then cut apart a silk flower bush and a silk leaf bush and "planted" them into the pots. Utensils include tongs, magnifying glasses, and a cardboard tube.  Finally, I added a couple of bags of bugs from the dollar store, along with some self-stick ladybugs and spider confetti.  

 As soon as we opened the bin, E wanted her bug viewing container to collect the bugs from the bin. Her favorite was finding the little lady bugs, which I had placed "crawling" in different spots throughout the bin.

 Here she is counting some of the bugs before placing them into her viewing container.

And here she is making the ladybugs crawl on her feet!  Looks like she needed a pedicure!


I just can't emphasize how great these bins are.  They are fun to put together, a great way to learn, and very entertaining!

Springtime- Four Season Picture

We hosted a preschool play date where we also discussed the four seasons. I was the leader, and to go along with the book and cling activity, I wanted to do an art project with the kids to work on their fine motor skills and to have the kids give a reason they like a certain season. These are the examples I made so the kids could see what theirs could look like. I had the moms trace and cut out the arm and hand of each child, then the children used glue sticks to put it onto a blank backdrop. Each child then chose the season he or she wanted to make his or her tree. Beforehand, I cut strips of paper-- green for summer leaves and red and orange for fall leaves were for cutting, and the white for winter and pink and green for spring buds were for punching.

After the kids punched and cut, they put glue onto the fingers to attach the leaves, snowflakes, or buds.

Finally, the kids dictated to their moms what their favorite season is and why. I think if E and I did this activity on our own, it would have been fun to do each of the seasons instead of just one, plus it would have given her the opportunity to have practiced the fine motor skills of both cutting and punching.

Springtime- Feed the Birds

Being outside and enjoying nature is something we love, especially in the spring. We haven't had a bird feeder hanging up in a while, so I finally picked up one to put on a shepherd's hook near our patio in an area where we can see the birds from the inside of the house. E stopped riding her bike (hence the helmet) and had to go in and get her sunglasses because it was a sunny morning before we could get to business on filling the feeder, working those motor skills.

E helped me to put in the birdseed (we used black sunflower seeds). Believe it or not, that mess was because of me, not because of her. She did a great job of unclogging the funnel to keep the seeds going in. While we were filling the feeder, we were talking about what birds eat and why it is important for them to have good nutrition in the spring because the mommy birds have to get strong to have baby birds.

Here is Ms. Fashion plate with her newly hung feeder. She has since spent a lot of time watching for birds on the feeder. We both enjoy talking about the colors of the birds that land on the feeder and watching the birds come in and out. This is a fun and easy activity to enjoy nature!

Springtime- Scavenger Hunt

Pinterest pages have been filled with the great idea of using an egg carton as a place to collect items on a spring scavenger hunt. So, I drew up a sheet of items that I thought we would be able to find on our walk through the park. I went over the items on the sheet (my drawings aren't the best) with E, and off we went to look for: a brown leaf, a rock, a stick, a yellow flower, a feather, a brown weed, green grass, a green leaf, a piece of bark or mulch, berries, a purple flower, and a pine needle.

Going on this walk was a great way to talk about the big ideas of the unit such as the grass growing green, the trees budding, bugs reappearing, etc. I would occasionally review the items on the list when they would come into view. E did a great job of collecting and exploring.We went through an old "barn" at the park, and E paused for a pic by the fence. Spring is definitely in the air in this pic!
Here E is getting a brown leaf to put into her egg carton from a tree that didn't drop its leaves the fall before. By the end of the walk, we found 10 of 12 items, and we had a great time in the process!

Springtime- Sensory Bin

Over the last couple of weeks, our family has been hit with a few minor illnesses that have lead to a lot of the activities I had planned to finish up The Five Senses Unit on tbeing left on the back burner. And, I realized that I am ready to move on and not try to finish them up, so today, I jumped in with two feet to some prep and activities for our next unit, Springtime! Our weather is supposed to be in the 70s and 80s all week, so I am afraid if I put this off too long, I won't be able to actually do the spring activities I want to do in conjunction with this unit such as planting our seedlings for our garden plants, scouting bird nests, paying attention to the return of the bugs, turtles, and other lifeforms absent from the winter, watching the yards and trees green up, etc.

For this sensory bin, I have focused on the idea of planting. The items include: dried split peas, green pasta tubes, green pasta sticks, mini decorator balls covered with moss (all of these items are to represent the greening up of the outdoors), tan felt, coffee beans (to represent dirt), sunflower seeds (to plant), a watering can filled with blue ribbon pieces, a fork and spoon for digging, candy flowers (that E does not know are candy) a magnifying class, a funnel, an embroidery hoop, and a few containers. I can't wait for her to get to play with it!

The Five Senses- Touch Activity and Journal Activity

On Pinterest, I saw (possibly pinned?) filling balloons with play dough as an alternative (and less messy) sensory activity. They reminded me of those original stress balls that were filled with a similar type substance. I loved them when I was a kid! So, I thought it would be cool to try to make balloons filled with various substances to continue working on the sense of touch and discussion of texture.

I really should have taken pictures of me trying to fill these balloons because it didn't go so smoothly. I used a funnel, a turkey baster, and my brute strength to get the balloons filled. There are balloons filled with play dough, sand, candy hearts, air with a few pieces of rice, and water.

When I brought out the balloons, E was immediately intrigued. Balloons, I had prewritten the journal fill ins to guide our play and discussions. The sentences say, "The _____ balloon feels _____ like there might be _____ inside." We spent a lot of time (probably like 15 minutes) feeling the weight, texture, bounciness, and even smell of these! I did get E to give answers to fill in each blank.
We were then getting ready to go to bath time, so I thought it would be fun to add on another element by asking about what ones she thought would sink or float. We made predictions in the journal, as well. She loved playing with them in the bath as much or more as she loved playing with them on the table! So, I guess the struggles I had with filling the balloons was well worth the outcome of having fun and learning with this activity!

The Five Senses- Sensory Bin

My goal for this sensory bin is to appeal to as many of the senses as possible, which I think this one does. If you are unfamiliar with sensory bins, please check out my first post on sensory bins that gives a little more background.


The main fillers in the this bin include small pieces of spaghetti colored green, a silk square, unrolled toilet paper, coffee beans, and river rocks. Some of the untensils and containers include a spoon, turner/tongs, an old spice container (still smelling of cumin), tongue depressors, pipe curve, a cup, coffee filter, clothes pins, a small Ziploc container, and a carboard box. Other items in the bin include foam balls, a car, rubber bands, sandpaper, and pieces of yarn.

The two most popular items in this bin are definitely the hand warmer and the reusable ice cubes. E spent a lot of time trying to warm up and cool down the other items in the bin. She wanted me to sit down to play, and I did some things she hadn't come up with like putting the spaghetti pieces into the foam balls, "drawing" with the yarn on the sandpaper, making hats with the toilet paper, etc. I can't wait to get it out again to see what she comes up with!

The Five Senses- Introduction, Activity, and Journal

To begin this unit on the five senses, we started by reading the book Look, Listen, Taste, Touch, and Smell by Pamela Hill Nettleton. It is a great overview of the senses and the body parts we use for those senses. Parts of the book go into more detail than what E probably understands, but the great illustrations by Becky Shipe keep her entertained. She has actually asked to read the book a couple of times since that initial reading.

After we read the book, we then used E's Mr. Potato Heads to work on matching the sense with body part. I would say, "put on what we use to hear." E did a great job of finding all the correct parts and wanted to do the second potato head. I made the clues for the second one a little more tricky, such as "if I am baking cookies, what might you use to know they were in the oven?" Once again, she did great! She even got the question right (also discussed in the book) for what someone might wear if they can't see well (that's why Mr. Potato Head has on glasses), and what we can wear to protect us from the sun (that's why the Mr. Potato Heads have on hats). The mustache is just for fun :).

Finally, we did a journal entry where E took the parts off Mr. Potato head and traced them. After she traced them, I had her dictate the labels and the corresponding sense to me. This whole activity was so fun and really solidified the background information for the whole unit!