Swap #2

Our second swap was a great success. We all have 16 new activities to share with our toddlers and preschool children!

Activities in this swap included (instructions/details about each are coming soon):

1. Letter and Number Lacing Tags
2. Writing Skill Cards
3. Alphabet Floor Dominoes
4. A to Z Spoon Matchup
5. Popsicle Stick Shapes
6. Eye Spy Bottle
7. Pony Bead Counting
8. Playdough Counting Cards
9. Color Matching Game
10. Size Sequencing
11. Clothes Line
12. Brown Bear Puzzle Pictures
13. Popsicle Color Matching
14. Fishing Game
15. "I have, Who has" shape game
16. Planting Seeds

Playdough Counting Cards

Materials:

• cardstock
• laminator
• play dough
  

How to Make:
Print the play dough counting cards onto cardstock. The template is available here - print the pages you want, there are pages with circles and without, and numbers thru 20. Laminate.

How to Use:
Play dough counting cards are great for building math skills and developing fine motor skills. Put the counting cards on a cookie sheet (or flat surface), and the children make small play dough balls to put on the counting cars. When they are older, cover the dots on each card and have the children create their own design with the play dough corresponding to each number.

Resources/Inspiration for this project:

1. Child Care Land: Teaching Ideas Page 1
   

A to Z Spoon Matchup

Materials:

• 26 clear spoons
• 26 white or colored spoons
• cardstock
• printer
• laminator (optional)
• sharpie marker
  

How to Make:
Print out the A to Z spoon cards from here. Cut out the rows and laminate if desired. On one set of spoons write the uppercase letters using a sharpie. On the other set of spoons write the lowercase letter.

How to Use:
Set out the alphabet cards so they are in a long line. Have your child match the upper case and lower case spoons to the letters on the cards.

Variations:

Easy - Only give your child one set of spoons - upper or lowercase OR set out one or two cards at a time, and give your child only the correct matching spoons.

Advanced - Mix up the cards so they aren't in alphabetical order.

Alternate Activities:

1. Object Match - Give your child small items to place on the cards or spoons, like "cotton ball" for "c."
2. Picnic - Sit on a blanket with the spoons in a basket, bowl or bag. Each person pulls a spoon out of the picnic basket and says a food or drink that starts with that letter/sound. Pretend to eat the food with the spoon.
3. Pick-up Spoons (Advanced fine motor skills) - Dump the spoons out in a pile. Like the "pick-up sticks" game, try to pick up a spoon without moving the others. Say the spoon's sound or a word that starts with that letter.
4. 26 Spoon Pick-Up -  Dump the spoons out. Choose a letter sound and ask your child to find the spoon that makes that sound. Continue until all spoons have been picked up. Advanced - ask your child to find the spoon that is the first letter of a word.
5. Word Families (Advanced) - Select 2-3 spoons that make a common syllable, e.g. "at" or "ake." Help your child select 1 spoon at a time to put in front of the syllable to make words. For example, using "at" spoons, place a "b," "c" or "h" spoon in front to make bat, cat or hat. Sound out the words together.

Resources/Inspiration for this project:

1. Confessions of a Homeschooler: A to Z Review
   

Clothes Line

Materials:

• 1 string or ribbon at least 3-4 feet long 
• 15-20 clothespins 
• various colored felt

How to Make:
Print out pattern from here or draw some miniature clothing patterns.  Pin the patterns to felt (or trace onto felt) and cut out.

How to Use:
Tie or clip the string between two chairs or large objects. Have your child use the clothespins to attach the miniature clothing to the string.

Variations
Outdoor Laundromat (for older children)
Hang the clothesline outside between two chairs or objects. Give your child a tub of water with a little soap in it and a tub with water for rinsing. Let your child "wash" the miniature clothes in the tub of soapy water, rinse in the second tub and then hang the clothes to dry.

Clothing Patterns
Cut out miniature clothing in four different colors or fabrics. Have your child hang them on the line in a pattern (e.g. two blues, two greens, two yellows, two purples, repeat).

Resources/Inspiration for this Project: 

1. Money Saving Mom: Clothesline Busy Bag

Alphabet Floor Dominoes

Materials:

• cardstock
• printer
• laminator
• dry erase marker (optional)
  

How to Make:
Print the alphabet dominoes template from here, cut out and laminate.

How to Use:
For a younger child, spread out the letters and make them all face the correct direction. An older child may be able to work with the letters in a random pile. Beginning with capital A, form a domino train of uppercase and lowercase. A, a, B, b, C, c,...

An older child may use a dry erase marker to practice writing the letters by tracing within the light gray font.

Resources/Inspiration for this project:

1. Child Care Land: Teaching Ideas Page 3

Popsicle Stick Shapes

Materials:

• Popsicle Sticks
• Velcro circles
• marker
• colored stickers

How to Make:
Place the Velcro circles on each end of the craft sticks, just make sure you put one rough and one smooth one on each end. On the other side of the sticks, color code the ends for the shape you would build with it. Also, label the shape in the center of the sticks with a marker. The woman who made this swap activity started to put velcro on but then thought it might make it harder for the little ones, so she just included it in the bags if we wanted to use it. 

How to Use:
There are color coded adult models and sticks for the following: square, rectangle, diamond and triangle. You can lay out the model and let the kiddos copy the shapes with their own sticks. Also included are some extra blank sticks if there are any other shapes you or your kiddos come up with.

Leah, 2.5 years old, copying the triangle laid out for her to mimic. She also likes to create her own shapes from the sticks.

Resources/Inspiration for this project:

1. I Can Teach My Child: Making Shapes
2. Chasing Cheerios: Making Shapes

Popsicle Color Matching

Materials:

• Felt in various colors
• markers to match each felt color (use a white out pen for white)
• scissors
• glue or hot glue
• popsicle sticks
  

How to Make:
Cut 2 of each popsicle shape, from each color of felt. Glue the top and sides, leaving the bottom open as a pocket for the popsicle stick to go into.

On the first set of popsicle sticks (one for each color), color one end of the stick with the corresponding colored marker and write the name of the color using the corresponding colored marker on the other end. On the backside, write a flavor that corresponds to the color on one end and write the name of the color on the other end.

The woman who created this swap activity for our swap included a second set of popsicle sticks that only have the colors colored on one end of one side and are blank otherwise. This way families could write in a second language for each color if they desired.

She also included a printout with the color songs, which can be downloaded from the Kinder Korner website linked below under resources/inspiration.

How to Use:
Two sets of popsicle sticks are provided so that this game can grow with your child.

Match the color on the stick with the same color popsicle.
Questions to ask: Which colors do you like? What colors are you wearing today? What colors can you find in the room? Can you make two piles: light colors and dark colors?

Match the popsicle with the correct flavor stick. Which is your favorite? Which is your least favorite? Who would eat each popsicle? Can you arrange the popsicles to make a rainbow?

Basic: Start with matching 3 colors. Add more colors to progress.
Intermediate: Match the colors with the written words or the flavors
Advanced: Turn colors face down and play "memory" game to match.
Bilingual: Write the color names in your language of choice on the sticks.

Resources/Inspiration for this project:

1. Planet of the Apels: Popsicle Matching 
2. Kinder Korner: A Rainbow of Colors

Eye Spy Bottle

Materials:

• clear plastic bottle (water bottle, 20 oz soda bottle, etc)
• dry (uncooked) rice
• 10 (or more) small objects to find (our swap bottles included a square of felt, elbow noodle, colored noodle, colored fishing rod, blue bead, wooden tooth pick, seashell, tiny silver hat, colored flower light bulb, colored tooth pick, and a grooved bead.)
• photo of objects so you know what to find
• hot glue gun
  

How to Make:

First lay out all items that will go in the bottle and take a photo of them so that you know what objects are in the bottle to find. Fill bottle 2/3 with rice. Add objects to bottle. Hot glue the lid onto the bottle. Shake to mix the objects and the rice.

How to Use:
Shake and turn the bottle to find all the objects. For older kids, one person can call out one of the objects and the other person can try to find it. Set a time limit on finding it or time how long it takes to find it. Try to beat your time.

Resources/Inspiration for this project: 

1. Grow: Busy Bag Swap, I Spy Bottles

Planting Seeds

Materials:

• small ziplock bags
• paper towels
• seeds (our swap sets included pumpkin, banana squash and pawpaw tree seeds)
  

How to Make:
Place folded paper towel in ziplock baggie, and a few seeds near the bottom of the bag. 

How to Use:
Wet the paper towel and place back in the ziplock baggie. Replace seeds. Seal the baggie (leaving air in the bag) and tape baggies to a sunny window. Once the seeds start to sprout and grow roots you can (if so desired) plant them in soil outside or in a container pot. Once you open the baggies, they will smell terrible! Be prepared!

Resources/Inspiration for this project:

1. Preschool Plan-It: Planting Seeds
2. National Gardening Association
3. California Rare Fruit Growers: PawPaw Fruit Facts

Size Sequencing

Materials:

Pony Bead Counting

Materials:

• pipe cleaners
• cardstock paper
• marker or printed numbers
• pony beads (our swap bags included round and star shaped beads in 14 different colors)
• laminator

How to Make:
Cut tabs of cardstock, number, laminate. Punch hole near bottom of tab. Wrap pipe cleaner around hole. 

How to Use:
Place the number of pony beads noted on each pipe cleaners tab. Practice fine motor skills, counting 1 to 20 (each tab is numbered), colors and shapes (14 different colors of round and star shaped beads), patterns or sequences.

Sample One: Tab with “16” on top & star on back:

Ask them to place 16 “star” shaped beads on the pipe cleaner

Sample Two: Tab with “6” on top:

Make a pattern of Rainbow colors but only with the number of beads as on the tab

Resources/Inspiration:

• Pinterest Image

"I Have, Who Has" Shape Game

Materials:

• cardstock paper
• color printer
• laminator
  

How to Make:
Download the cards from PreKinders. Print, laminate and cut out.

How to Use:
Deal the cards out to the children. Have them lay their cards down in front of them so they can see. The first one (the eye) is what they have, the "who" (the owl) is what tehy are looking for.

Variations: Just focus on shapes for younger children, and for older kids they could do colors and shapes.

Extra: For younger students only play with a few cards at a time, you may need to look through the deck and pull out the pairs first.

Resources/Inspiration for this project:

1. PreKinders: "I have, Who Has" Shapes Game

"Brown Bear" Color Puzzle

Materials:

• cardstock paper
• color printer
• scissors
  

How to Make:
Print the Brown Bear color cards from 1+1+1=1. Cut apart.

How to Use:
Have children match the front half of each animal with the back half of the animal. You could also use as a memory game for older children. Identify the animal and color with your child. These cards are based on the book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See by Eric Carle.

Jillian, almost age 2, loves the Brown Bear color puzzle, as she is currently learning her colors and likes to identify the animals and what sounds they make.

Resources/Inspiration:

1. My Delicious Ambiguity: Toddler Busy Bag Activities Month 3
2. 1+1+1=1: Brown Bear

Color Matching Game

Materials:

• paint sample color cards
• 1 inch hole punch
• 1 1/8" wooden discs (I purchased 300 from woodcrafter.com for the swap bags, they had the best price+shipping I could find online)
• glue
• piece of fabric 14.5 x 6 inches 
• ribbon 
• safety pin (for threading the ribbon thru the casing on the bag)
• sewing machine

How to Make:
A Tutorial was provided by imakestuff. I followed this tutorial exactly, with the exception of the circles stitched onto the bag. Each bag had 18 wooden discs in it - two each of nine colors (red, yellow, blue, green, purple, orange, pink, black and white).

How to Use:
Play memory by turning all the discs to the blank side and then take turns finding matching colors.

For younger children, leave discs right side up for matching.

Resources/Inspiration for this project: 

1.  i make stuff: Color Matching Game How To

Writing Skill Cards

Materials:

• Cardstock Paper
• Printer
• Laminator
• Dry Erase Marker or crayon
  

How to Make:
Print the writing skill cards available for download from here. Laminate.

How to Use:
Children can trace along the dotted lines with their finger and then a dry erase marker or crayon.

Resources/Inspiration for this project:

1. Child Care Land: Teaching Ideas Page 2

Fishing Game

Materials:

• Colored Felt
• Wooden skewers
• Hot Glue Gun
• Large Metal Paper clips
• Craft Glue
• Thread and Needle
• Twine
  

How to Make:

1. For the fish, cut 2 pieces of felt for each fish. Place paper clip between the two fish, with about a half inch sticking out where the fish's mouth would be. Stitch in a straight line looping around the paper clip to hold it in place. I used a sewing machine at first but after 1 bent needle and 2 broken ones I decided to just do it by hand. Glue the rest of the halves of the fish together.
2. For the fishing rod, cut the pointy end of the skewer off. Wrap felt around the cut off end (due to risk of splinters) and hot glue. Sew a small pouch to put the magnet in, tie a knot in one end of the twine and stick it in the pouch too. Sew the fourth side of the pouch, thru the twine. Use a scissors to make an indentation in the other end of the skewer, tie the twine around the end of it 

How to Use:
Use the fishing rod to catch the fish. The magnet will attach to the paper clip. Practice naming colors as you catch each fish. You have to slowly pull the rod up when the magnet attaches to the paper clip, otherwise the fish will fall off.

Leah, 2.5 years old, sometimes uses her hands to attach a fish (or even 2) to the magnet. She has used the rod to catch fish the proper way before, though. 

Resources/Inspiration for this project:

• Unsolicited Advice: No Sew Felt Fish
• Shannon Makes Stuff: Quiet Book Page: Fishing with Peter

Letter and Number Lacing Tags

Materials:

• colored cardstock paper
• letter and number stickers
• laminator
• hole punch
• string to thread letter/number tags on.

How to Make:
To make the tags you will need to cut the colored cardstock paper in to small squares or rectangles big enough for the letter or number stickers to fit on, plus room at the top for the hole punches. Put on one letter or number per card stock piece and laminate. Cut out tags and punch two holes above each tag (see picture above).

How to Use:
Lacing tags are perfect for developing fine motor skills as well as letter and number identification and sequencing skills.

Children can lace the cards in any order they wish or they can lace them in alphabetical and numerical order. They can also do patterns with the numbers and alphabet.

Resources/Inspiration for this project:

1. Child Care Land: Teaching Ideas Page 1