Our preschool experiment ended in failure on Friday. A (2) is simply not ready for a school environment. I pulled her out and have decided to enjoy homeschooling and maybe try traditional preschool again next year. Wednesdays will be our dedicated Tot School days, starting today with turkeys.
Pluck a Turkey
I printed out a turkey coloring sheet and spread craft feathers across it. Then I handed A some tweezers and asked her to use them to remove the feathers.
The tweezers turned out to be too hard so we tried tongs, but they were also too difficult. I need to find a good pair of toddler-sized tongs. Any suggestions?
Color a Turkey
She's a pro at crayons, so we gave up on the feathers and let her color her turkey page. Here's where I downloaded this pilgrim turkey coloring page.
Tickle a Turkey
I found this great little rhyme from LittleGiraffes.com based on the book If You Meet a Dragon
. A wouldn't do it with me, but she enjoyed watching me tickle each part of her colored turkey (and then herself!).
Tickle his feathers.
Tickle his nose.
Tickle his wattle.
Tickle his toes.
Tickle his tummy.
Tickle his chin.
And that will be
The end of him!
Baste a Turkey
To finish up, we painted coffee filters with an eyedropper and watered-down paint. For the first one, A dribbled paint onto the filter.
The second time, she added paint to the pan and then we placed the coffee filter on top and watched it soak up all the paint.
When the filters were dry, we added footprint bodies, googly eyes, a beak and a waddle. It's such a joy to see her discover her creation on the back door and exclaim, "Mommy! Look what I made!"
Thanksgiving Is for Giving Thanks
by Margaret Sutherland
This sweet little Thanksgiving book is perfect for toddlers and young preschoolers. The illustrations are colorful and full of scenes your child will identify with. The narration on each page is short and simple, perfect for holding the attention of little ones. As the title implies, this story celebrates family, friends, and everything for which we are thankful.I'm linking up to:
- My Delicious Ambiguity's Tot Tuesdays
GREAT ideas!!! i LOVE your blog!!! (pulling out the coffee filters for tomorrow morning! :)
ReplyDeleteA lot of great ideas! So sorry things didn't work out for A in preschool. I bet she'll be more ready for it next year.
ReplyDeleteLove the coffee filter turkey! It looks great on the window.
ReplyDeleteAwwww, it's too bad that it didn't work out. At least you are able to keep her home with you.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to tell you about the tongs we use. I got them from the Patch Bedbugs game. You can buy the game from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003BLQG9Y/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000GUXMGS&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=07JVH6QKBFNEESEP4849
ReplyDeleteThe tongs are the perfect size for little hands.
pliers, maybe? like the round kind?
ReplyDeleteI love to use child sized chop sticks. I found them @ our local learning store
ReplyDeleteI've also found chopsticks for kiddos at the Dollar Tree before...
ReplyDeleteOh, and "plucking the turkey"- what a hilarious activity! Your daughter is going to LOVE doing preschool with you...
so cute as for child size tongs look at the dollar store . I got clear ones 3 in pack made for like wedding . not sure how long they will last but 3 for a buck a good deal and i actual bought them for a party but now they are at for lots of things . Excite to use tomorrow with feather as we are working with feather tomorrow and letter F . Thanks for the droper idea as i had a parents bring me a bag full and want to use them .
ReplyDeleteUse sugar tongs - they can be purchased at kitchen supply stores - theya re the perfect size!
ReplyDeleteWhen my kids were that age, we used strawberry hullers for this kind of work. Short like tweezers but fat like tongs! Thanks for all the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteLooks like A had fun with all her tot school activities! The coffee filter turkey is really cute. Preschool can be a hard transition for some kids. I'm hoping that my now 2yo will be ready for a couple days next fall, too. His sister was fine with it when she was three, but kids do have different personalities!
ReplyDeleteAwesome ideas. Oh, and about toddler tongs--when I used to teach preschool we had the kids use those wooden bagel tongs all the time. :) Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your ideas!!! My 2 1/2 yearold daughter and I are making the coffee filter turkey's right now. They are going to be presents for her great-grandparents and other relatives that dont get to see her often!!!
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