Chicken Playdough Mats

I found these playdough counting mats from Making Learning Fun. Since they are fairly small, I was able to fit two on each page. I used the numbers 0-5.

Since there was a blank page behind the numbers 0 and 1, I also printed the chicken magnet page to go there. 

Trip wasn't so interested in this activity the first time we tried it, but the nice thing about having laminated materials is that we can save them for another time and keep trying. We got two eggs on the 2 chicken and then he decided he was done and started putting the playdough away.

Bunny Sandwiches

Growing up, my sister and I loved it when we got to make bunny sandwiches. Making them is one of those childhood memories that has stuck with both of us. It was a fun lunch for anytime, but was especially great when we had friends over.

Mom would cut circles out of bread, put out some spreads, and make a tray of toppings. We each got two bread circles, one for the face, and one that we cut in half to make the ears. We would then spread our bunny with cream cheese or peanut butter. Next, we got to choose from carrots, raisins, sprouts, bananas, sunflower seeds, and whatever else Mom put out to make our bunny's face.

I knew I had this picture somewhere, and searched high and low for it. I finally found it in the second grade pouch of my "School Years" memory book. My friend Celine and I are showing off our bunny sandwich creations. Just seeing this picture made me smile for hours.

Fast forward a couple of decades, and I figured it was time for Trip to have a bunny sandwich. I had hoped to make bunny sandwiches when Trip had some friends visiting, but it didn't work out, so we'll have to save it for another time. Trip was plenty happy with this bunny, though.

I only got one photo of it before this little boy couldn't wait any longer to eat his lunch.

Little Lamb Lunch

Trip sure enjoyed this easy lamb lunch.

I cut a large flower shape out of a slice of bread,

then spread it with cream cheese.

I broke mini marshmallows in half to make the wool. A mini chocolate chip eye, raisin ear and mouth, pretzel stick legs, and lettuce grass finished it off nicely.  

Farm Tot Pack

I found these great farm printables from 1+1+1=1. There are lots of options, so I chose the ones that I thought Trip would enjoy the most. If I catch him at the right time, Trip does really well with these activities and seems to have fun with them.

He liked matching the cards to the animals on the grid. I made words to go with this for us to use in the future.

On this particular day, he asked to do this activity. He started off well, 

and then suddenly decided to put the grid on his head, so it was all over and the silliness began.

I thought this matching game was really cool since it had cartoon animals to match with pictures of animals. We had a lot of fun making animal sounds with this one.

 The heads and tails puzzles were another of Trip's favorites.

 The tractor size sequencing was fun too.

I printed the Barnyard Colors mini book for Trip to color.

He liked finding the color that each page called for and making sure that the animal was colored in.

There are many more great printables from 1+1+1=1, so be sure to check them out!

Farm Pancakes

We purchased some squeeze bottles, which have made making shaped pancakes much easier.

Trip had fun with this pig.

He also liked this cow, especially since it had a raspberry tongue.

Farm Sensory Table

Trip's water table transformed nicely into a farm and he really enjoyed the results.

I filled one section with wood shavings and the other with a mix of steel cut oats, wild rice, and the bottom of a couple of other bags of grains. I also filled a bowl with glass beads to make a little pond.

Then, the animals came to live on the farm.

Finally, it was all ready for Trip to wake up from his nap.

As soon as he saw his farm, he was ready to play.

Soon, the pond was filled in with grains.

Trip enjoyed scooping "hay" from place to place and feeding his animals.

The farm became more and more of a jumbled mess as the two weeks went on, but it didn't matter because Trip was having so much fun.

Farm Thematic Unit

We just finished this farm thematic unit and have had a blast with it! Check back for the next couple of weeks to find out more about each of these activities.

Trip enjoyed his water table being transformed into a farm.

We did several fun matching games,

worked with playdough mats,

and did some coloring.

We also made our farm books come alive by acting them out with Trip's farm animals.

Trip got some special meals too, which he always enjoys. He had a pig pancake,

a bunny sandwich,

a cow pancake,

and a lamb lunch.

Trip also got to help Daddy work on the chicken coop that he's building for us. He was a great "gofer" and liked hammering and pretending to use the drill.

For more farm ideas, you can check out my farm theme board on Pinterest.

Microwave Puffy Paint

Microwave puffy paint was another activity I've been wanting to try. It ended up being the perfect thing for a day when we had friends over.

There are several different recipes floating around the Internet, but the one that I chose to use was:

1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
food coloring
enough water to form a smooth paste

I made a double batch and poured the paint into six containers. I then added some food coloring to each container.

We used paintbrushes to create our designs, but q-tips would also work, or you could put the paint in squeeze bottles. I cut up a cardboard box for us to paint on. Since the creations have to go in the microwave to puff up, regular paper won't work.

Trip and his friends had a fantastic time painting and I was so busy microwaving that I didn't get any pictures. Once they were done with their artwork, I would put it in the microwave. It took about 30-45 seconds on high for the paint to puff up and get dry. A couple of pieces took a little longer, but I always stopped every 15 or so seconds to check on it.

Trip enjoyed creating some abstract designs.

I made some flowers.

We discovered that you do need to put quite a bit of paint on the cardboard for it to really puff up. One of our friends had the idea to drip globs of paint from his paintbrush to make polka dots. He then started dripping colors on top of other colors and created some really cool designs.

They puffed up really nicely.

I think this might become a new go-to activity when we have friends visiting. I always have the ingredients on hand and the kids really enjoyed seeing their artwork come out of the microwave.

Edible Playdough

We are right in the midst of our two week farm theme and having a blast. I will have lots of fun farm things to share in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, I wanted to catch up on a few activities that we have done recently that I haven't blogged about yet.

Edible playdough was something that I've wanted to try for almost a year now. I can't believe it took me so long to finally make it. You can find the simple recipe here from I Can Teach My Child. All it takes is peanut butter, dry milk, and honey.

Once I had mixed up a batch of dough, I got the table ready. Each child got some playdough, a plastic knife, and a small package of Skittles. I also put out bowls of pretzels, raisins, and mini chocolate chips.

Z was the first to finish his creation.

E made an Easter egg.

A was proud of her creation too.

I joined in the fun and made a fish since we were in the middle of our swimming theme.

Trip observed what his friends were doing and ate some of his playdough, but didn't really create anything for a while.

Then, Z had the idea to make some ships.

Trip was quite taken with that idea, so his friend helped him make one. Then, they had lots of fun making their ship's cannons go BOOM!

 

As A started eating her dough, she stuck it on the knife and made it an ice cream cone.

The big kids ended up eating all of their dough, but Trip didn't finish his, so we just put it in the fridge and enjoyed it for another couple of days.