Tot School - Kk

Tot School - Kk is for Kings, Kiwi and Kites

Owen and Eli: 40 months old

I had a hard time with Kk as I was researching some ideas. I didn't like the concept of using Knights because I think that's really confusing to kids just learning what sounds the letters make, and I didn't want to use Kittens because the K sound is the same as the C sound in Cats, which I also think can be confusing. So I was left with coming up with my own words without ideas already in existence. Check out how it went!

We started this week reviewing all the letters we've covered so far. I wanted to start incorporating more writing and not just recognition so I wrote all the letters in pencil on a piece of paper and gave the boys a Q-tip and watercolors. I think it was so successful because they could choose their colors and we made it a game (ie: Pick a color and write the F!) We used watercolors a lot this week and I think we had a much more enjoyable week (because I wasn't so busy getting annoyed when they wouldn't follow directions - ha!) We'll definitely go back to watercolors again in the weeks to come!

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the results of their color-by number pages. Only a week ago they would color just the number or randomly draw all over the paper, but this time they did GREAT! (Again, I credit the watercolors!) Instead of using our do-a-dots on the Find the Kk page we used watercolors to circle the Ks. 

The handwriting pages continue to get better every week, though they 'draw' the letters instead of 'writing' them. What I mean is, they piece the letters together with short little lines. (Look at the second written K on the bottom row for an example). Is this normal and they'll just figure it out or am I doing something wrong? The BIG excitement for the week was that Eli learned how to write his name! I love the length of some of his letters : )

We reviewed numbers 1-10 with our sticker books. They had to count the items, then find the corresponding number and stick it in the right box. They loved it!

I had a really hard time finding paper plate crafts or handprint crafts that I liked for the letter K, so I made one up! We used a potato to stamp kiwis on the page, then dotted them with black paint on a q-tip to make the seeds. I painted the boys fingers and top of their palm yellow, then they stamped twice and added glitter to make the crown. They painted the face orange and after it dried they added the googly eyes, used a paint brush for the hair, stamped their brown handprints three times for the beard and drew the smile. A little messy, but they were proud of the results and I think they turned out pretty cute. 

Letter L is next week - pass along any good ideas you've used! Linking up to Tot School.

Tot School - Kk

Tot School - Theme - Kk Owen & Eli: 31 months old

This week we learned Kk is for Kites and Kings. We started the week with this worksheet from Beginning Learning and I couldn't believe how well they did with it! Not only did they find all the K's, they dotted them perfectly with no help at all. I'm sure that 2 1/2 year olds should probably be able to do this, but I've never tested them and they did great! Using some contact paper, torn up tissue paper and popsicle sticks, we made a suncatcher kite... We had friends over for a Kings (and Queens) tea party and decorated kite shaped sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles - yum! - and decorated paper crowns to wear for our party. After they made the crowns, they wanted to wear them for the rest of the day! We rolled out playdoh into snakes and shaped the letter K (a favorite from last week)... The last thing we did this week was sponge painting to make a kite collage with the letter Kk. I cut a kitchen sponge into kite shapes and they dipped them in paint to press onto the paper. Once it dried, I added the 'strings and cross bars' to the kites. After I cut the sponges into kite shapes, I realized that the leftover corners made kites too when they were rearranged. I quickly drew a 'puzzle' on a piece of cardboard and they figured out how to assemble the kites based on sizes, shapes and colors. Not too shabby for a freebie! We have family visiting next week (yay!) but we're going to press on with the letter Ll. Any good ideas for activities? I'm linking to Tot School at 1+1+1=1