This year we started our Spring project learning about weather! Since for us here in North Carolina, we've started this season with lots of rain and thunderstorm, it was a great way to get started.
I found those two books at the library, that were great! Not only they had great pictures, but everything was explained in a very easy to understand manner, that even my little one was able to grasp lots from it! But mostly it was a fun way for her to learn vocabulary and see real life pictures of nature at work. It's always a great opportunity to talk about the Creator of all things as well :)
After reading those books, we played with this wood puzzle bellow, which was perfect to reinforce some of the vocabulary we had talked about. I've found that wood puzzles are a great way for little ones to learn vocabulary! It's amazing what the combination of touching, seeing and hearing can do to a child's mind. Part of the reason I enjoy Montessori methods so much.
I found those two books at the library, that were great! Not only they had great pictures, but everything was explained in a very easy to understand manner, that even my little one was able to grasp lots from it! But mostly it was a fun way for her to learn vocabulary and see real life pictures of nature at work. It's always a great opportunity to talk about the Creator of all things as well :)
After reading those books, we played with this wood puzzle bellow, which was perfect to reinforce some of the vocabulary we had talked about. I've found that wood puzzles are a great way for little ones to learn vocabulary! It's amazing what the combination of touching, seeing and hearing can do to a child's mind. Part of the reason I enjoy Montessori methods so much.
Once we were done with the puzzle, we decided to spend some time coloring with crayons, and V did an awesome job attempting to actually color inside the picture! This was a first for us....hehehe...she was usually much happier just scribbling around the entire page with crayons, which eventually led to her just playing with the crayons and doing very little actual coloring or drawings on the paper!
She even got stickers as a prize for her "excellent work!" She LOVES getting stickers! It's a huge reward for her.
She even got stickers as a prize for her "excellent work!" She LOVES getting stickers! It's a huge reward for her.
Here is where you can find this weather printout page: Weather Printout
After that we played a "weather memory game" that became more like, "finding the matching card" game...hehe...not a lot of "memory" involved! But she just LOVED finding the matching card and then would tell me what it represented. Again, just a fun way to reinforce all the things we had learned that day.
After that we played a "weather memory game" that became more like, "finding the matching card" game...hehe...not a lot of "memory" involved! But she just LOVED finding the matching card and then would tell me what it represented. Again, just a fun way to reinforce all the things we had learned that day.
I guess if you're really interested in making this into a "memory" game, you need to glue it to another piece of paper that will ensure you can't see what each card is once flipped...because as you can see, "you CAN see"! hehehe... Not very helpful if you're trying to do a memory game. But for my little one who was still a bit young for the game, it was great. And I think she didn't even noticed you could actually see what the cards were without having to flip them around! hehehe...
Can find the weather matching cards here: Matching Weather Game
This day we were surprised with a little rollie pollie that somehow found its way inside our house. V was really curious and interested in the bug, asking me lots of questions about it. So we went to the computer to do some research on it, and I was able to print a few things about it.
We attempted to make a little "home" for it from what we had read with things we had inside the house already. As a kid, I used to love collecting these bugs and playing with them! One time I even decided that they would be my "pet" so I took a bunch home and added to my mother's pots of plants inside our apartment. Don't have to mention she wasn't too happy about it when she found them all over the house!
We attempted to make a little "home" for it from what we had read with things we had inside the house already. As a kid, I used to love collecting these bugs and playing with them! One time I even decided that they would be my "pet" so I took a bunch home and added to my mother's pots of plants inside our apartment. Don't have to mention she wasn't too happy about it when she found them all over the house!
We got some old decaying salad to see if it would like it...but it just did not show any interest at all. Once the bug found its way underneath the little wet piece of bread, it did not leave. And the funny thing was that no matter what we did to it, it would NOT turn into a ball. Kind of frustrating, since this is the most interesting part about rollie pollies. I was all excited telling my daughter how they turn into a ball when scared, but couldn't get the bug to show it (one brave rollie pollie I have to say!)...just like she will do when we're trying to show off one of her new skills to family members! hehe...
We ended up putting it outside, and I found another one to show her how they turn into a little ball.
We ended up putting it outside, and I found another one to show her how they turn into a little ball.
Pill Bug (Rollie Pollie) facts page here: Pill Bug Facts
And this was just a great way to kick-start our Spring learning activities! V had a fun time playing and learning about all of these things, and kept talking about rollie pollie and lightning for quite a while. It's amazing to see how she's not at all scared whenever we have really rough weather (and let me tell yah...they can get pretty rough around here!), and she usually just tells me in a very "matter-of-fact" way, "that was a loud thunder!...it's raining a lot!" and she'll want to just be starring at the back door or window. I'm amazed because I was always scared of storms and still am! But I guess, lucky for her, she took after daddy on this! But it's cute to see her vocabulary growing and her being able to express herself better and describe to us all of her new discoveries as she learns more and more about this amazing world around her that our God has made.
And this was just a great way to kick-start our Spring learning activities! V had a fun time playing and learning about all of these things, and kept talking about rollie pollie and lightning for quite a while. It's amazing to see how she's not at all scared whenever we have really rough weather (and let me tell yah...they can get pretty rough around here!), and she usually just tells me in a very "matter-of-fact" way, "that was a loud thunder!...it's raining a lot!" and she'll want to just be starring at the back door or window. I'm amazed because I was always scared of storms and still am! But I guess, lucky for her, she took after daddy on this! But it's cute to see her vocabulary growing and her being able to express herself better and describe to us all of her new discoveries as she learns more and more about this amazing world around her that our God has made.