Day one:
We began with our handwriting practice. This time, instead of my homemade handwriting sheets, I printed some out from The Measured Mom. I like hers because they have I's of all different sizes, from very large to very small. The very small ones are excellent fine motor practice.
I wanted the boys to be able to recognize what both a big I and a little i look like in comparison to other letters. So, I mixed them in with several other letters and had them circle the "sneaky Ii's". It took a little practice for them to grasp this; as you can see, Will initially was circling UNDER the Ii's he found and Camden was scribbling them out. Eventually, they both started circling the letters correctly.
Time for some math! I printed out these awesome little ice cream cones from The Measured Mom. Both boys really enjoyed this activity. As you can see, each ice cream cone had a certain number of dots on them (from 1-10). The boys had to count the dots and then choose the corresponding number to place on their ice cream cones.
Finally, it was craft time. Of course, we had to make some ice cream cones. I'm so proud of the way the boys are really making progress with their cutting. I'm doing less and less of the pre-cutting each week. I did draw 3 circles for each of them (the ice cream scoops) and a big triangle for both boys (the cone). They were thrilled that they got to put real sprinkles on their cones!
We finished up day one with (what else?!) some real ice cream.
Day Two:
We started Day Two with a dot sticker printable of an igloo from The Measured Mom. While they were working on their printable, we talked a little bit about what an igloo is and who lives in igloos.
We then moved on to another I word-- insect-- and played a math game using this cute caterpillar printable from (you guessed it!) The Measured Mom. She has different versions of the printable, but I used the blank one so I could fill in my own numbers for the kids to identify. I knew some would be a challenge for them, but that's what I wanted. We used the little people from Chutes and Ladders and some color-coded cards I made (green, yellow, and blue) to play the game. The boys took turns drawing a card and then found the spot on the caterpillar that corresponded to the color card they had drawn. Once they found their caterpillar circle, they had to identify which number was written on it. If they were unsure, I allowed them to consult with each other.
We then played "Catch an Insect". I printed the little insect jars from The Measured Mom but I made my own version of the game. Our insects came from a package of those little capsules that grow in water (Camden already had these on hand). I mixed a bunch of those in a bowl with some animals (and even a few dinosaurs) to throw them off. Then, I used numbered cards and color-coded cards to tell them what they were to "catch" in their jars. For example, I would hold up the number 1 and the color blue. The boys were then to catch 1 blue insect from the bowl to place in their jars.
For craft time, we turned our focus back to igloos. I drew a basic outline on a piece of construction paper for each boy. They filled it with glue, and tore some cotton balls apart to create their igloos.
Their finished products (top: Will's; bottom: Camden's)
