The Evolution of an Activity

This morning Hannah asked if we could do an activity together, with her sweet, how could I say no face, with Ethan looking equally sweet behind her.  So I pulled out their art pad and some Zoo stickers (that Hannah got for her birthday that are amazing).  I figured their wasn't that much time before lunch so it should more than entertain them.  Well boy was I in for a surprise because Hannah and Ethan had big plans.

First, we placed the stickers all over our page.

Hannah told stories about each animal as she put them down.

Next, we brought out the crayons to add detail.

Next, we REALLY needed some scrap paper and scissors.

Finally, we used our glue to glue on on paper pieces.

Ethan even tried to eat each and every art supply.

I loved how this activity evolved from where I started it to where Hannah and Ethan wanted to take it.  One of my favorite moments was when Ethan scribbled all over Hannah's page with orange crayon.  I though she would yell or at least be very angry but instead she turned and thanked him for coloring beautifully.  

U wrap up and V preview

U was a funny week, every time I sat down with one of the kids to do an activity it seemed that the other was off doing something different.  I have to admit it was lovely to work one and one with both Hannah and Ethan.  The only down side was the number of photo's I took because the kids aren't in any together. hehehehe  Any how here are some pictures of our week, if the pictures bore you I apologize, skip over the pictures and click the funny video of Hannah singing with her letter box.

U Week

Hannah and I played the matching games several time and she has never matched so quickly, I guess giving the right incentive produces results.  Ethan just wanted to "find" the smarties and eat them.

I am always amazed at Hannah's precision and delicacy during activities such as the pin poking.

Ethan was dying to use the pin so it was good opportunity to let him have a go when I could focus on him completely.  The second picture is Ethan's current favorite way to work; on his hands and knees on top of the table.

Ethan enjoyed the U craft until I showed him how to dab his finger into the paint so he could make the rain drops, then he cried.  Hannah loved it.

Hannah and Ethan played very little with the letter box this week.  Probably because there were so few items in it.  The did like matching the objects to the picture on Hannah's ABC book that I made her for her birthday.

What surprised me the most this week was how much Ethan loved the matching puzzle. This is a puzzle from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  It has umbrella pieces that you match by shape.  Hannah did it but complained that her pieces kept "moving"

This last picture is of Hannah is her right out of bed insisting that it was activity time.  She is still in her jammies.

An original untitled song by Hannah

V Week

V letter box: Vase, vine, violin, violet, van, V letters, V bean bag

V is for Velcro- I put Velcro dots on Popsicle sticks.  Hannah and Ethan make things out of them, most obviously shapes, letters, and numbers. The sticks have Velcro on both sides for most of them, some are single sided. (I saw something similar on Chasing Cheerios) 

Sorting vegetables and fruits (source: KIZ CLUB)

Doting and poking the letter V

Flower arranging.  I took two empty water bottles and cut off the tops (carefully mom) and put tape around the edge to make sure the cut edge is smooth.  Hannah and Ethan can each fill their case with the glass stones to keep it from tipping over and because it sounds neat.  Then they can arrange their violet colored flowers inside.

P Wrap-up

  We do a lot of playing around our house.  I love watching Hannah and Ethan interact with each other when they play.  Their conversations are becoming more involved, especially as Ethan's speech becomes more understandable.  Although,Hannah doesn't seem to mind. We did a lot of P is for playing the last two weeks.  Here are some of the other activities we did:

Play dough and pasta.  Ethan is trying his best  to pull out the play dough.

Adding the pasta to the play dough was a big hit.
They tried stringing the pasta onto spaghetti but it was a little to flimsy and broke quickly.

Hannah and Ethan played with the things in their letter box.
Hannah lined up all the animals.

Ethan liked opening and closing the purse, after filling it up.

We decorated our let P's with pink and purple paper.

Hannah liked lining up her paper squares too.  A bit of a theme I've noticed.

Peeking through the P 

Hehehehe

Letter N Happenings

I tried so very hard to get this out yesterday but it just didn't happen.  We are in the throws of a cold with Andrew and I suffering the most.  Thankfully, Ethan has slept VERY well the last two nights.  Here are our N activities from over the past week.

Hannah sorted the nuts while Ethan tried his hand at the nut cracker.

Hannah ate one of the nuts (shell still on) and discovered that you cannot eat the outside.

I cracked the nut (I think we started with a pecan) and Hannah really liked pulling out the flesh.

She tried to crack the nuts herself.  She couldn't, but loved practicing.

We cracked open and looked at all four nuts that we had. (top L clockwise: pecan, walnut, hazelnut, and an almond).

The kids played with the items in the letter box.  I am always curious to see which items they like the most.  This time Hannah played with the net the most.  She filled and dumped until it was time to clean up.

Ethan liked the nail and the nickel.  Both silver and shiny.  I should  have guessed.

Later in the week we made an N craft.  N is for Nest. 

(I was inspired by this craft  at Rockabye Butterfly but I altered it for my kids).

Gluing nests onto their N's.

Hannah filled her nest with eggs very precisely.

Ethan's finished picture.

Hannah's picture.

Both of the children focused for quite awhile on twisting the nut on the bolt.  Although, neither could put it on the bolt if it came off completely.

Ethan doing his number puzzle.

I hid all the number pieces from the puzzle all over the room for Hannah and Ethan to find.

Ethan and Hannah wanted to play this game 4 or 5 times.

After each number was found they had to put it in puzzle before looking for another piece.

This was our last N activity. Learning to recognize their own names.  I painted big posters and taped them to the ground.

They each found their own name and then we played a loose variation of Simon Says.  I gave them an action to do on their name; jump, run, tiptoe....

Next was hop on your name.

Finally, sit on your name.

Stay tuned for out O activities.