B is for Bird Weekly Theme... and Miss E is about to start daycare!

Miss E is going to start going to school!! She has been craving having "friends" around, as she calls it; and my attempts to join/form a social group have not been super successful; and it would be beneficial for Mr E to get a little one-on-one time with us. So we put her on the waiting list and after a few months of waiting, she is starting in June! I'm very excited for her. She might do half days at first, just because I want it to be a completely absolutely positive experience for her. Although when we visited her classroom last week it was quite the tragedy when we had to leave. Heh heh... So we'll see how she does, and go from there.

In an attempt to provide a little structure and educational basis for our art, reading, and music time -all of which have previously served the single purpose of providing amusement for all involved- I've implemented a weekly theme. Okay, okay. In all honesty, I'm doing it because it makes things easier for me: Ideas seem to flow once I have direction. It's been much easier to "go with the flow" when the river of hilarity and messiness that is my household is going somewhere. I still think of the week in terms of art, books, music, school time (literacy and numeracy, plus any bits of "-ogy" that cross our way) and food; only this time it is organized around a theme, of course. Finally, a note on including Mr E, who is a toddler, but unable to do some things, such as cutting, or learning to write, of course- haha! I simplify some of these so that he can still do some things, and others he just has to skip. But he enjoys everything in his own way (and some things are absolutely age inclusive, like MUSIC!) and we always do something we call "messy play" which is some kind of water play or purposefully messy art that is mostly geared to him. So here goes my plan for this week:

B IS FOR BIRD

Dove, Red Chested Robin, Owls, Ducks and Penguins

Music-

http://www.everythingpreschool.com/themes/birds/songs.htm
http://childfun.com/index.php/activity-themes/animals/93-bird-activity-theme.html?start=4
I love this video so much!! My kidoes will LOVE it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlICxP2H1ec

Art

Birds, of course, are HUGE among the arts and crafts community, so it will be be hard to chose what to do. We already did a paper craft of white doves flying, and talked about how birds don't have a mouth or a nose like we do; but eat, chirp, and breathe through their peaks.

I helped Mr E by giving him a brush and a tiny cap with glue, and telling him where to put the glue, then I placed the paper in place, and he helped push it. Miss E worked independently.

My mom gave me this idea for paper towel tube owls (TP originally but I refuse to use TP tubes, yuck!)
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/209839663859568438/






or maybe we'll make the TP craft above but in the shape of penguins and make these owls:


And we want to make a nest of some sort (lots of conversations about how birds live can be had):
http://onetimethrough.com/diy-birds-nest-science-and-craft/


https://www.pinterest.com/pin/179088522658092929/


And a bird feeder:
http://www.prettyprudent.com/2012/04/baby-kid/cookie-cutter-bird-feeder/


There's a LOT more out there! But these are the main ones I want to do this week.
However, just off the top of my head-

*Bird garlands
* Bird cages or bird houses
* Birds on branches
* Bird puppets
* Bird silhouette painting

School Time

Things to talk about:
* What body parts do birds have, and what do they do?
* What kinds of birds live near us?
* What other birds are there? Where do they live?
* How do birds communicate?
* Why do their build nests?

Literacy & Science Printouts: B is for Bird 

Sounding out B, and getting familiarized with the letter.
Usually I would do printables like these, but we'll see if I get a printer in time to do it.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/B-b-is-for-Bird-Coloring-Pages-1229621

http://s.twistynoodle.com/img/r/bb/trace-the-letter-b/trace-the-letter-b_coloring_page_png_468x609_q85.jpg?ctok=20120311160556

http://www.kinderzoo.net/2012/03/five-little-penguins-slipping-on-ice.html

Games and Activities:

* If weather permits (I doubt it) I'd love to go to the Canyon for a hike and some real bird watching.
* Duck duck goose (duh!)
* Bird counting (bird watching for toddlers! Just have them look out the window after the rain and help count. Another idea is using the bird crafts to count, or cutting out the printables to count. If you're like us, you probably have enough stuffed animals to count and sort), egg counting, sorting, etc
* Other penguin activities from this post: http://ourcraftsnthings.com/2015/03/five-little-penguins-slipping-on-the-ice/
* Feeding the bird games (this is a role playing activity and a snack. I'll have them be the baby birds and feed them gummies. I like these because they look like worms and are somewhat healthy:
 And finally, the ultimate snack-- can't wait to make this one!!
http://www.icreativeideas.com/creative-ideas-diy-frozen-banana-penguin-snack/

Messy Play

http://teachingmama.org/penguin-sensory-sink/


Almost forgot! ASL for Bird
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c6KxzLfcq0

 Like Dr Seuss said,
"And that's that!"