Sight Word Practice

Ella came back from Christmas break with a strong desire to "really read".  She has been sounding out what she wants to write on all of her drawings but we've been practicing some sight words as well.  I wrote some of her sight words on a sheet of paper and placed a sheet of vellum over it for her to trace them on.  She also wrote the words 'I SEE THE' on a sentence strip and then attached drawing of animals that she had drawn and labeled.  The drawings are stapled at the top so she can flip them.  (Note:  She is still most comfortable writing in all capitals most of the time so I go with that.)

Handmade Paper Heart Mobile

Ella was so proud when she mastered drawing hearts this week!  I gave her some handmade paper that I made a few years ago and she drew a few hearts and cut them out.  I helped her attach string and tie them on a piece of driftwood for a cute mobile.

Seashell Candy Bowl

A Saturday spent beachcombing resulted in a Monday spent painting seashells.  This one was perfect as a Valentine candy dish . . .

We used watercolor paint and painted the shell both inside and out.  We let it dry in the sun and then filled it with kisses :)

Contact paper hearts - part 2

We used watercolor paint to fill in the white hearts left by the contact paper . . .

contact paper hearts

This was a double-duty project.  We started by cutting hearts from contact paper and attaching them randomly to a sheet of watercolor paper.  Ella finger painted over the entire paper with red and pink tempera paint.  When it was dry we gently peeled the contact paper hearts off of the watercolor paper and Ella attached them to a piece of wax paper.  It makes a cute window display.  Stay tuned for part 2 of this project . . .

print making - circles

Experiments in printmaking -
bottles caps and lids
paint poured onto a paper towel covered paper plate
stamp pads

Valentine's Day cards perhaps?

Beginning Sounds Box

I've always been attracted to tiny things.  Miniatures for a doll house.  Fairies.  Tiny toy animals.  And so  I am excited that Ella and I are making a beginning sounds box.  We started with a plastic Art Bin that I picked up at Michael's with a 50% off coupon.  Then, we found alphabet stickers and labeled the individual cubbies in the box.  Finally, we have begun our search to fill each little box with at least one thing.  Some of the letters are more difficult than others.  For Ii - infant and insect.  For Nn, we found a ninja and a nut.  Still looking for something to fill Uu and Qq :)

Paper Fairy

It seems unauthentic to do a unit on snow and another snowman project when you live in a place where it never snows - where we spend Christmas day on the beach - where our little garden just gets going in January.  Ella has never left the state of Florida.  She is a Florida girl through and through - balking when she has to wear a jacket or even shoes that completely cover her feet!  And so we find ourselves doing a unit on fairies this month . . .

Ella loves making paper dolls.  This paper friend has raided the backyard and the craft box to adorn herself.

using my scrapbook supply stash for valentine's day projects . . .

I like to go through my scrapbook paper stash and clear out old papers that are really not my taste any longer.  I give them away or find a project for the littles.  I cleared out my reds/pinks for some valentine's day arts and crafts with Ella.

I used a paper cutter to cut the paper into 1 inch strips for both projects.  For the first project I gathered a canvas, glue, Mod Podge, scissors, and a paint brush.  We began by applying glue to the entire canvas.  Then Ella adhered the strips as she liked.  Some went off the canvas but that was okay.  We just trimmed them with scissors when the glue dried.  After 24 hours I helped Ella apply Mod Podge to the canvas for a pretty glossy finish.

For the second project we needed yarn, construction paper, and tape.  I pre-cut the yarn and taped it horizontally on the paper.  I showed Ella how to weave the strips - going in and out.  She immediately said, "Oh, I get it - a pattern!" and and she was weaving like a pro.

geocaching

Geocaching is a treasure hunt that uses a GPS to facilitate the hunt.  Today, using Leslie's i-phone and the geocaching ap, Leslie, and Ella, and I tried our luck at this game of hide and seek.  We discovered that our favorite new park (the statue park) has 2 hidden treasures and we set off in search of them.  Even with the i-phone ap, this was a little tricky.  We did eventually discover the first treasure but we decided to leave the second one for another day.  This was a really fun family activity, though.  I like how it gets everyone out and moving and exploring.  Can't wait to see what other treasures are out there waiting for us . . .