Egg Colour Sorting

Building on yesterday's post about quick activities, I thought I would also show another colour activity that is Easter related that the kids have been working on.  I took an empty egg carton and put halves of the Easter eggs in it.  I chose to use three of each colour ensuring that there would be a good mix .  I then took a coloured hair scrunchy for each egg and placed them in the tray in front of the egg carton.  The kids then used the tongs they have from their pie activity to match the colours.  This also helps with their muscle development in their hands that will later help with other motor skills such as writing.  The girls were able to squeeze the tongs 4 or 5 times and then you could see their hands started to get tired so they used their other hand to help get the scrunchies on.  This activity was a little too easy for Joshua so when he does it he only uses one hand so that it is all about just practicing hand eye coordination.  We just kept all the activity in a wooden tray on our fireplace for easy access and to keep all the pieces together.

So simple and they have done it quite a few times.

Egg Towers

We have been doing this activity for at least two weeks now but life got busy and I didn't have a chance to write about it until now. Blame it on the nice weather and evening walks lol.  Another low cost but fun activity, I keep finding the kids building on their own all over the house.  Basically you just take the quite a few plastic Easter eggs and separate the tops from the bottoms.  Then the kids work on their building skills by seeing how high they can stack them into towers.  They have changed the activity up a bit on their own and have raced each other, tried to build with one hand, attempted to stack them blindfolded etc...  It's neat to see them try different strategies and I am surprised how much taller they can get their towers compared to mine.

I can't help but smile when I see the look on Emma's face.....come on dad add one more!

Insects

Last week we started a little more in-depth study of bugs and insects and with the weather warming up, we are able to find more bugs to examine during our outdoor adventures.  I also pulled out more of our story books with insects as the main character.  We used our felt very hungry caterpillar set that I had made before.

http://welcometogauthierland.blogspot.com/search?q=book+club

We changed one of the sides of the sensory table into an insect theme as well.  I took a picture of all the bugs from the Toob then printed them off and laminated them.  We put it on one side of the sensory table for their 'bug hunt'.
 

Zachary had got a microscope for Christmas that came with pre-made slides of insects but the coolest thing is the microscope tells you facts about the bug as you look at it.

A squirrel was eating out of our bird feeder this week so Josh moved his little table up to the patio door to watch.  All of a sudden he let out a yell of delight that he could see a bug on the window.  He asked me what kind of bug it was and I said I wasn't sure so he ran over and got his laminated sheet.  He examined it through the door for a little while longer then said...."hmm looks like a house fly but it has different wings.  I think we are going to have to get a book and look this one up Mama".  He then continued; "I bet Mathew has a book for just this".  When Mathew got home from school that was the first thing he asked and Mathew was more then happy to find his book for him and look up the different bugs.

Ice Sculptures

Over spring break the big boys hockey team participated in the Alaska State Hockey Championships in Fairbanks Alaska.  We all went as a family and loved watching all the hockey games but we were also able to take in many other things while there.  Fairbanks hosts the world's largest ice sculpting competition.  The weather was cold but the sun was shinning so the sculptures were amazing to see.  People come from all over the world to participate in this competition.  There are tons of different categories that include making sculptures from even one single block of ice.  There was so many things for the kids (and adults) to climb on and enjoy.  The sculptures were honestly breathtaking and I was flabbergasted by the amount of detail and beauty.

 The Mad Hatter's Tea Party!  The detail was phenomenal!  I stood there is awe for quite some time just taking it in.

I love how the light is gleaming on this one and making it look almost magical.

The kids had an amazing time on the ice slides.  I love when you get home and you find a picture on your camera that just captures the excitement of the day.

Just some Alaskan kids enjoying the weather on some Alaskan furniture.

I love that we got to explore something truly this creative as a family.  Thank you Alaska for another great adventure we won't ever forget!

as a side note, who could ever forget seeing a hat like this. I was a little scared at first!

Quick Activities

I love gathering materials or making new learning activities.  I love doing different units to go over with the kids but sometimes it's nice for just a quick activity.  I have found that the seasonal section of Walmart has a lot of items for one or two dollars that can be manipulated to make great crafts/learning activities.  I now buy ahead about 5 or 10 of these activities and keep them out on our buffet for quick access when I don't have a larger activity planned.  This week I made a colour matching activity by simply making oval coloured shapes that were the same colour as a package bunnies I purchased that were 4 different colours.  I laminated the oval shapes so the activity could be used over and over. It is so cute watching the little ones hop their bunnies to the matching colour of an egg.  They even created their own little spins on colour matching.  Joshie will toss the rabbits and try and get them to land on the right egg.  So I always keep an eye out for seasonal themed trinkets that we can turn into a little educational fun.

Q-Tip Painting

Let me start off by saying why have we not done this more often?  We had only used Q-Tips to paint when we were exploring textures to paint with.  That is until last week, when we sat down and used Q-Tips for a painting activity.  I went online and found Q-Tip painting sheets.  Basically they are pictures with little dots in them that are the size of the tip of a Q-tip.  The pictures we printed off had two different levels.  The ones I printed for the girls were an egg that had white dots to be painted in the designs and the one for Joshua also had the background that needed to be filled in as well.  I went through with each of them what colours they needed to complete their pictures and then honestly showed them once how to match the paint colour to the dots to be filled  and they went to town.  They sat for over 45 minutes quietly and patiently trying to dab the right colour of paint with the end of their Q-Tips onto the paper.  It was crazy how patiently and diligently they worked.  There was absolutely no paint on anything. Not one finger, not the table nothing!  I think we will be printing off more of these sheets in the near future :)

Now that's a look of concentration...even Joshie was silent concentrating for this one!

Birthday Wishes

Yesterday I celebrated another birthday.  The boys school was actually cancelled due to snow yesterday so they stayed home for the day with us and celebrated.  We played some games and activities during the day and the boys decorated my bedroom with birthday decorations.  It was nice to have all the kids home with me during the day.  I was spoiled again with way too many gifts and of course the meal and dessert was my choice.

Maybe I am starting to get emotional because I know our time here in Alaska is nearing an end but I can honestly say that I sat down many times yesterday with the boys and read through the birthday wishes that all you guys had sent me on Facebook and in email.  It was so incredible to read the wishes that everyone sent and to explain to them how I became friends with each of them.  It was an incredible walk through memory lane as I read each message and thought of each and every one of my friendships and memories.  I really am blessed to have met so many great people along the way. Each of you have made my life a little bit better and honestly, each birthday wish added to my day.

I am so grateful for all the love that surrounds me and here's hoping the next year around the sun is as good as the past one :)