Hi friends! Last week our learning unit was SPACE! It was really fun having this unique theme to inspire our learning and play, and I know Ella really enjoyed it. If you haven't already, please check out our previous learning units, which were all about under-the-sea!
For anyone wondering, I get a majority of my activity inspiration from Pinterest, as well as just browsing the aisles of the craft store and The Dollar Store. You can find some amazing and cheap activities at the store to fit any theme of learning that you want.
Our subjects changed just slightly this week!
Sunday- Art & field trip day
Monday- Music
Tuesday- Language & math
Wednesday- Practical life
Thursday- Sensorial & science
Friday- Geography
Saturday- Art
Monday- Music
Tuesday- Language & math
Wednesday- Practical life
Thursday- Sensorial & science
Friday- Geography
Saturday- Art
Our shelf got a little space makeover with a cute space banner from the craft store. We added some space themed activities for Ella's shelf as well.
We decorated Ella's table/learning area as well. Her table is where we do the majority of our learning activities, and I like the wall-art to match the theme we are focusing on. It's also fun to decorate the wall with her art that she creates during our weeks of learning.
Okay, onto our activities...
Art-
We made a spaceship and Ella really enjoyed it. We got this craft kit at Michaels craft store for less than $2. Obviously I had to guide Ella on where we had to put the little sticker shapes, but she did a really good job lining things up on her own. She is such a little perfectionist and kept adjusting them so they were closer to where they were supposed to be, and would ask "Momma, fix!"
Field Trip-
We were supposed to go outside to look at the stars, but with all the fires we are trying not to spend too much time outside and you couldn't see much in our skies at that time.. very hazy/smoky with ash in the air.
Monday-
Music-
Mr Sun.
Those are just a couple of examples of songs we found, but we listened to tons of space related toddler songs. Ella loves playing with her musical instruments while she listens to music too.
Some space songs on Youtube and banging around on our musical instruments always does the trick!
Tuesday-
Language-
We read our space words book. We found this free printable to make our own book of space words, and laminated it using my laminating sheets. We kept this book on her shelf all week long and one of Ella's favorite things was actually coloring the pages with her markers, and then wiping the marker off with a wet wipe. Whatever keeps them entertained, right?
Math-
We printed out a little picture of the sun, colored it, added some numbers to the individual sun rays and laminated it using my laminating sheets. Using our wooden clothespins, we counted the little sun rays together. This activity also helps Ella practice her pincher grasp, which she is still learning.
Wednesday-
Practical Life-
Wednesdays always feel like a busy day for our family, so we ended up doing this activity over the weekend instead. But we made 'moon muffins' and Ella helped me with everything, from lining the muffin trays, scooping the ingredients, and even mixing it all up.
Thursday-
Sensorial and science-
We got this great moon mud kit at The Dollar Tree. It contained cornstarch, a mixing tray, and different colored dyes. Ella really liked helping mix everything together and really enjoyed playing with the mud after. We added small amounts of water as we mixed so she could see how adding the water made the mud easier to mix. This activity made a huge mess, so I wasn't a huge fan of that part. But it's fun when we get to do scienc-y things together.
Friday-
Geography-
I couldn't come up with a real geography related activity, so we just played with Ella's solar system felt map and matching planets and planet names. We got this at Michael's craft store for less than 5$ and I think it was an incredible deal! She helps me place all the planets in the correct spots and then I give her the matching planet name for her to place on the map. This will be a great activity to use as she gets older too.
I keep it on her shelf so she can play with it whenever she desires.
Saturday-
Art-
This was a simple art activity using planet cut outs, crayons and markers. Simple and easy, but fun for Ella.
And those were our simple space activities! It will be fun as Ella gets older and we can expand our activities a bit. But for now, we want to keep things simple and age appropriate for her. Thanks for checking out our activities from last week! This week we are starting our "Fall" unit and it's going to be lots of fun... (And a lot easier to come up with activities.) We are probably going to keep our Fall theme going for the next few weeks and will share as we go.
-Ashley & Ella
xoxo
Even though I do not a little one, I am enjoying reading about your lessons. You are very creative and it is amazing all that you have found at the Dollar store.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work!