My Blue Boat (Before FIAR)

Before Five in a Row

This is a simple story of a girl who sails her boat from the bathtub out into the ocean with dancing

whales and dolphins.  

   I really liked reading this lighthearted story with the boys.  It was a simple story that both  

    boys could engage in together.  

                             After reading the story we made paper boats with blue paper.

                        We decided to sail them in the bathtub just like the girl in the

                        story.  

                               We threw some ping pong balls into the tub and the boys decided to put them into
                                their boats.

             
                                It was smooth sailing until too many balls were put into the boats and they sank.

This was a fun project and the boys wanted more paper boats to make for bath time that night with dad.

While reading My Blue Boat  our theme for the week happened to be the letter F for FISH.  We did

lots of activities that involved fish, and water.  

Measuring how long each fish was with goldfish crackers. You can find the printout here.

                                Learning our letters while playing the ABSeas game from Discovery Toys.

                                         
                                            Trying to catch the perfect fish.

                               Our craft for the week was making a fish bowl  mobile to hang.  I have
                               a template for the fish bowl, which I have no clue how to upload here?
                               (So if you know how to get a pdf file onto blogger let me know.)

                             
                                Putting the fish in our bowl.  I drew the fish and Big D helped cut out
                                the fish.

   
                                            Hole punching blue circles for the rocks on the bottom of the bowl.
                                            He was working very hard to punch all those circles.                    

                                            Big D's finished Fish Mobile

                                Little D coloring his boat.  

                 

                               Sensory Bin  - "F" for fish & My Blue Boat

                               I didn't have time to get whales & dolphins but I found Nemo!

                                I used a blue boat from our bath toys and I found some cards with
                                pictures of dolphins & whales.  I also used blue rice I had previously made.

                                While setting up for school I found this wood boat kit I had purchased a while

                                back and thought it would be a perfect activity to do with this book.

                                Dad decided to help out with this activity.

                                            Concentrating very hard on painting the boat.

                                The finished boat!

                           
                                            Lap book for My Blue Boat .

                                            Our blue boat and Letter "F" dinner.  We didn't have fancy food but the
                                            kids loved it!

                               
                                         

                                           We feasted on fish sticks and blue jello with fish swimming in the jello.
                                            I found a template for the paper baskets here.

                        A family celebration to end the reading of My Blue Boat

You can find more ideas for Before Five in a Row. Just click the link below.

Tot School - Letter H

Little D is 30 months old

                     
Educating at home is a new adventure for us and We're still working out the kinks.  We have been holding Tot school in the morning, and Big brother usually joins the fun!  Big brother then has to work with me later in the day to get the rest of his reading, worksheets and projects done while little bro sleeps.  Its still not perfect and probably will never be?    

                                         
                                Dot painting Letter H...   Find it Here

                                Glueing pictures.

                               Working on his puzzle.

                                            Coloring his space man.

                                           The boys working together.  I love when they work at something together!

                                Who Knew pipe cleaners and a colander could be so entertaining?

                              This item for Tot School was a big hit with both boys!

Building together with the wood blocks.

   

                                   
Big D is in Preschool, he will be 5 next month.


Here are some shots of him working on his projects while Little D was working on Tot School stuff.
For Big D we have been using a lot of the resources from my favorite site...

                                            Cutting out his memory verse.

                                Putting together his "H" is for Hippo puzzle.  Find it Here

                             
                             

 

                               Counting Hippos...  Find them Here

 Other resources used
-Spell Outloud


Come back next week for more tot school fun at our house!

Yummy Treats!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwiches


Yummy! So easy to make!

What you need

• Ritz crackers
• Peanut butter
• Chocolate chips; semi sweet or milk

What to do


Make peanut butter sandwiches with the crackers, as many as you would like.  Next melt the chocolate chips in the microwave; I start out with one minute in the microwave and then stir and continue every 30 seconds in microwave until chocolate is smooth and melted.

Use tongs to dip the peanut butter sandwiches into the melted chocolate.  Use a pan lined with wax paper to lay the chocolate sandwiches on.  Put pan with chocolate sandwiches into refrigerator until firm.  Store in airtight container in refrigerator.



         I found that a small cheese knife worked well to spread the peanut butter.

Let's go outside~Day 2

Day 2 


On our next expedition outside we played, picnicked, did some art, and found an interesting bug.

   The boys giving each other rides on the fire truck.  I love how they play together!

 
 
   Here is the bug Big D found crawling through the dirt.  It looked like some kind of beetle?

   Big D had fun watching this bug for a while until it flew into his face!  I wish I knew what kind of
   bug this was?  If anyone knows let me know.

       
                         We grabbed some paper and crayons and did a few bark rubbings and leaf rubbings.

                     
                        Little D enjoyed doing this more than Big brother.

   Day 3 of Let's go Outside!

   Little D worked so hard coloring in all the lines on our sidewalk.  I thought it looked rather pretty!  

    I loved all the colors he chose and told him I liked his art work!  He felt very proud and had to show

    Daddy when he came home!

                             
                               NOOO Pictures!      He was rather busy working on his coloring project.

                   

                     Painting our house.(with water of course)   Big D said they were getting the house
                     ready for company to come and visit.(not sure who was coming? But okay!)

    My favorite pictures of the day! 

 
    We had a Monarch butterfly come and visit the garden.  What a special surprise!  The boys enjoyed
   watching to see where it would land next.

Update on the seed pod we found...

In case you missed Day 1 of "Let's go Outside" we found this seed pod the other day and decided to try and grow the seeds.

                               The boys removed the seeds from the pod and we soaked them overnight.

   Then we placed the seeds in a sandwich bag with a wet paper towel and taped the bag to our 

   window.

                               Within a couple days the seeds started sprouting!

   It had been very exciting to watch our seeds sprout.  Next I need to find out what kind of tree these
   little sprouts will be?  And I need to get some dirt, they are currently wrapped in a wet paper towel.

What a fun adventure the boys and I have had outside exploring all that our Lord has created!

Get outside yourself and enjoy the wonder of His creation!

Blessings!

               ~Christine