Our week on sequences

Top, middle, and bottom

• Build a tower that is one color on top, another in the middle, and a different one on bottom.
• Sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." Discuss which body parts are on top, middle, and bottom.
• Sing "On Top of Spaghetti." Make spaghetti for supper.
• Make a Three Layer Desert from pudding, whipped topping, and crushed Oreo cookies.
• Make 3 monsters. Cut them into head, torso, and legs. Trade sections to create new monsters.

First, next, and last

• Sing "Peanut Butter" song. Talk about what you do first, next, and last to make a peanut butter sandwich. Then make one!
• Do Five Little Pumpkins (or variation to fit the current holiday) finger play.
• Do the Cheerios counting book.

The Little Red Hen

• Read the book
• Use YouTube to show harvest, threshing, and grinding the wheat into flour. John Deere also makes videos on this process.
• Make bread or cookies. Discuss the value of working.
• Build a cottage for the little red hen out of blocks.

Three Little Pigs

• Collect straw, sticks, and bricks to show him what they look and feel like.
• Act out the story. Take turns being the wolf and pigs.
• Make pig tales from pink curling ribbon. Tuck them into your pants waistband. Chase each other and play tag by capturing the other person's tail.
• Make pigs in a blanket for supper.

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

• Do the rhyme.
• Play hide and seek. Emphasize counting to ten.
• Practice buckling a belt or shoes.
• Put two stripes of making take down on the table top. Practice lining the pretzel sticks up between the lines.
• Glue pictures inside a file folder. Cut doors to lift and guess what the picture is while only reveling part of it.

Weather Week

We love discussing weather. Every morning Greg and I talk about the current conditions. Is the sky cloudy or sunny? Is the temperature hot or cold? Is it windy or calm? During weather week we read God's Plan for Weather

Temperature (hot vs. cold)

• Make a paper doll. Dress him for hot and cold weather. Discuss the type of clothing worn in different conditions.
• Play Hot and Cold. Hide an object. Clue him to where it is by using the word hot to indicate he's close and cold to indicate he's far away from the target.
• Make pudding. Pour it into Popsicle molds. Freeze and eat.
• Melt crayons in the oven. Then pour the melted crayon onto paper and watch it solidify. Discuss the changes in the crayon that the changes in temperature create.
• Freeze a small toy inside an ice cute. Then put it in a warm spot and watch it melt.

The Sky (sunny vs. cloudy)

• Play shadow tag. Point out that you can only play shadow tag on a sunny day.
• Paint with water on the sidewalk. Discuss that the sun makes the water evaporate.
• Look through a prism to show the colors in sunlight.
• Cut out different types of clouds from a poster board. Put the clouds on the ground. Hop from cloud to cloud.
• Cut out 6 different clouds. Trace them on a blue piece of paper. Shade in the traced clouds in gray. Have child match the cut out with it's shadow on the blue paper.

Rain

• Sing Rain Rain Go Away.
• Use a spray bottle to make 'rain' on a cookie sheet. Compare the sound of a mist to a downpour by adjusting the nozzle on the bottle.
• Play umbrella up-side-down. Toss squishy balls into an upside-down umbrella.
• Watch storm footage on YouTube. Find rain, tornado, and hurricane footage. Discuss that dark clouds are often full of water droplets and bring rain.
• Draw a storm scene with crayons. Then paint over it with blue water colors.
• Create static electricity and compare it to lightening.

Wind

• Use wind to blow bubbles. Chase the bubbles as the wind blows them.
• Make a kite from a paper bag and yarn. Decorate it with crayons/markers and stickers. Go outside and fly the paper bag kite.
• Rock a stuffed animal and sing "Rock a bye Baby"
• Try to blow several item across the table with the 'wind' you make from your mouth. Which things float easier?

Snow

• Ice skate on the carpet. Use rectangles of wax paper under you feet to slide on the floor.
• Snowball fight. Crumple white paper into balls for the snow balls.
• Cut snowflakes from pieces of paper.
• Make a marshmallow snowman. Anchor him to a Graham crackers. Use frosting for features. Use pretzel stocks for arms.
• Fill a box with the flake style fake snow and play with it like sand.

Shapes Week

This week we studied shapes: circle, square, triangle, ellipse (I was told this is the new name for oval), and rectangle. We read the book The Wing on a Flea by Ed Emberly. As a special treat on Saturday, we went to the Kansas BEST Robotics competition to cheer on Southeast High School. Greg was intrigued by the robots. We came home and built our own out of Lego's.


Circle Day

• Play "Ring Around the Rose"
• Play with the ring stacker and discuss the sizes of the circles
• Put circle stickers (colored dots) on each other and on a box. Play inside the box as our "Dotty House"
• Eat round butter crackers
• Draw circles on the sidewalk with chalk. Step from circle to circle.
• Hit a balloon back and forth with circular paper plates.

Square Day

• Do Washington Square rhyme: From here to there to Washington Square; when I get near, I'll pull your hair.
• Eat Cheese Zit type of crackers
• Build with square alphabet blocks. Make squares out of the blocks and count the squares.
• Cut squares out of sand paper and make crayon rubbings of the squares.

Triangle Day

• Bake cup cakes inside ice cream cones (that didn't work so well)
• Make pizza and cut it into triangle slices.
• Play music on the triangle.
• Set-up the Tee-Pee and play.
• Make a triangle hat out of folded newspaper.

Ellipse Day

• Put a chocolate chip inside 15 different Easter eggs. Parent hides the eggs. Greg hunts for the eggs and we discuss the shape.
• Throw the football.
• Hit balls off the T-Ball stand with a tennis racket.
• Slice bananas at an angle to create ovals.

Rectangle Day

• Make a stained glass rectangle to hand on the window. Make two identical rectangles out of wax paper. Use a cheese grater to shave crayons. Sandwich the crayons between the two pieces of wax paper. Use an iron on low heat to melt the crayons and seal the wax paper together.
• Build with rectangular blocks.
• Make rectangles out of cardboard and step on them as if you were in a life size board game.
• Make lasagna in a rectangular pan.
• Build a fort out of a large, rectangular blanket.

State Fair Fun

This was our first trip to the Kansas State Fair as a family. Toby and I have been talking about it since we got married but finally got around to it. We had to start at the livestock barns. We saw people grooming sheep, goats, and cattle for the show. Then we were "grossed-out" at the K-State Animal Birth Center. We moved quickly though the poultry and rabbits so we could see the alpaca's fleece being spun into yarn. We had a lot of fun in 'Ag Land' crawling through the soil tunnel, comparing different grains, driving a mock combine, and milking a cow. Toby and I pulled Greg through the commercial barns. Greg picked one ride for us to enjoy, the train of course. Greg had to sit in every boat, tractor, 3-wheeler, motorcycle, and lawn mower in the "big boy's toys" commercial area. We introduced Greg to Pronto Pups and Funnel Cakes. I was the only parent to wear the paper sack hat that their child made at Do Art.

The Pumpkin Carvers

We love pumpkins! Greg loves to go out into the pumpkin patch and pick them right off the vine. Our first adventure was to the Priest Pumpkin Patch in Winfield, KS. We were one of the first customers of the season to walk thought their fields of large green leaves and orange pumpkins. Look at all this variety in their farmer's market area!

Last year Greg and I had so much fun at Walter's Pumpkin Patch, that Toby decided to take a day off of work to go with us this year. Walter's Pumpkin Patch has so much to do. First we rode on a wagon pulled by a tractor to the pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkin.

We also got to slide down pumpkin hill on a saucer sled, jump on the giant inflatable pumpkin, play in the corn, pet the goats, ride adult and child-sized tricycles, go through corn and hay mazes. Greg also climbed this rope ladder. I was so proud of him! He did it with very little help.

We did Bergmann's Corn Maze, but I don't have any pictures of that. We went at night. It was fun, but I must give you some warnings. Expect mud. Bring your own flashlight. Be prepared to carry your 2 yo. You must pay for the inflatables advertised on their web-site with cash. Don't rely on the info in the web-site; call to confirm their hours of operation.

This year we participated in the pumpkin carving party at the zoo. That was so much fun. We each carved a pumpkin for the Night of the Living Zoo celebration. It was a cold night. Next time we will make sure to wear more layers and bring gloves. They did provide some piping hot chocolate. Just in case you can't tell, the pumpkins are dotty, kissing grommies, and a dog's face.

The Elusive Girl Cow

I haven't told you about "Girl Cow" yet. She showed up at our house early in August. No, we haven't acquired a new pet. Girl Cow is Greg's first imaginary friend. Girl Cow plays with Greg, sleeps in his bed, rides with us in the car... We've learned that she is small enough for Greg to hold in his hand. She's a dairy cow, white with black spots. Greg has added to his circle of imaginary friends to include several cartoon characters, but Girl Cow was the first. Tonight at Tricks not Treats I had to explain to Greg that since the workers couldn't see Girl Cow, she couldn't get a bag of candy. He decided to share his candy. BTW, I am so proud of the little boy Greg is becoming. He was so polite at Tricks not Treats tonight. He said "thank you," "excuse me," "please," and patiently waited his turn.

An Enlightening Trip to the Mall

Every Monday Greg and I go to the mall. We meet another SAHM and son for a little shopping, a lot of chatting, and tons of socialization. The mall has a great new kids play area. Everything is fall safe: the floor is spongy, the climbing equipment is soft and rounded. Greg looks forward to the mall from Sunday afternoon and talks about it all day Monday. He loves seeing his friend and playing. Yesterday didn't go so well though. When we got there I chose to sit in a new spot. Greg walked to our old spot and sat down. He took off his shoes and put them in the cubby-hole where he always does. Then, instead of playing, he came and sat in my lap. When his friend got there Greg had trouble sharing. He was fussy and crabby. We even had to leave early due to a giant temper-tantrum.
My friend asked me "Greg thrives on routine, doesn't he?" The answer is a resounding yes! It took Toby and I awhile to figure this out. I don't know why, I'm the same way. When things don't go as I expect, I get crabby. Greg had a lot of problems sleeping until Toby and I became disciplined enough to get him to bed at the same time every night. It changed Greg's whole temperament. He would wake up in the night unable to sleep and go through the days in cranky exhaustion. Greg also loves music; the predictable repetition of the beat and melody delights his senses. He learned the actions to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" by 15 months. I always attributed my annoyance with a break in routine as control issues (and I'm sure it is in part), but now I see that it's part of my personality. Greg and I love routine!
This leads me to a whole list of questions: How can I help him to adapt to changes in routine? How can I respect his need for routine? What does this reveal about God's purpose for my son?