Travel tubs

Here are a couple of tubs that I put together for K and G for the week and a half they spent at their grandparents' house.  I wanted to have some learning activities for them to work on during the day.  I got the idea for these tubs from other blogs like Chasing Cheerios and Counting  Coconuts, who mentioned travel bags/activty packs


Here is a picture of what was in K's tub:

Contents:

Fun with Numbers Wipe-On Wipe-Off Book (purchased at Dollar Tree)
Fun With Colors and Shapes Wipe-On Wipe-Off Book (purchased at Dollar Tree)
Dry Erase Crayons
Pooh's Number Match cards (purchased at Dollar Tree)
Magnetic Fridge Letters (from dollar section at Walmart)
Coloring Crayons
Writing Pad (not pictured)
A few books to read/have read to him
Learning Mat

Here is a picture of what was in G's tub:

Contents:
Coloring Book (purchased at Dollar Tree)
Color Crayons
Lacing beads with string
Butterfly letter activity (mentioned in this post)
First Words Flash Cards (purchased at Dollar Tree)
Foam numbers (purchased some time ago at Staples)
A couple of books to "read"/have read to her
Pom sensory tub (of course, this didn't fit into the box)

Here are the tubs I used (purchased from Target some time ago).

Here are a few items I sent for M along with a couple of board books, which aren't pictured. 

Of course, the kids are able to work with/play with the items in someone else's tub. This is the first time I have done this, and it worked for us us since we drove to our destination.  I simply packed these things along with a few favorite toys in a reusable bag.

Week in Review (May 14th)

Hopefully, we will be back on schedule with posts after this week =).  We have continued to work on Titus 2:12, and the children have it memorized.  They really look forward to reciting their verse at the beginning of our learning time, which makes for a happy momma. 

I am also very proud of G's accomplishment this week.  She worked hard and was able to lace her string of wooden beads.  At first, she was only able to lace the shorter ones with the biggest holes, but eventually, she was able to lace the most difficult ones.  She enjoys this work and enjoys doing it again and again.

G showing off her work

K enjoyed working rhyming words.  Unfortunately, I have no picture for this one. He started by creating a four letter word with our foam letters and went to town from there, creating word after word.  He also does a great deal of verbally rhyming words.  I have to give a big thanks to my husband because he plays a major role in  Keenen's joy in and ability to rhyme.  He "reads" them a story before bed (based on the template of Super Why, Dora, or Diego on most nights).  He works on the children's listening and reading comprehension skills, asking them to find ryhming words, listen for beginning letter sounds, and questions about the story, while simultaneously using these stories to reinforce character traits we want to see in our children.  He's pretty awesome!

Our week was rounded out with a trip to Grammy and Paw Paw's (Mommy and Poppy got to spend some much needed quality time together alone).  The grandparents have a farm, and K and G got an opportunity to ride the horse, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

K and G riding Dreamer with Grammy as a safe guard

A good time was had by all! 

I am a little late in getting out last week’s review out; things have been a little busy around here.  There was still lots of fun to be had and lots of learning that took place.  We continued to work on Titus 2:12, emphasizing our use of self-control during the day.

K’s reading is improving every day; he really enjoys reading and figuring out words and tries to read everything he sees.  It’s amazing to see how many words he knows how to pronounce and sound out, some words I don’t remember having taught him the “rule” for.  The idea that reading teaches kids to read is definitely playing out with him.

K reading a Bob book

K and G also enjoyed working with the water beads this week.  This was the first time G has really tried to sort the beads by color on her own, and she is so proud of herself when she finds she has a substantial (to her) amount of beads sorted.  It was also good to see the two of them working together to accomplish a goal.

M loved playing with the pom tub, which I talk more about in this post.  He is actually transferring the poms and really engages with that.  He is my very focused boy; when he gets in the zone, he is in the zone =).

Go M!

We also made birthday cards for Ms. Flo, a close friend of our family.  The kids really enjoyed that and were really excited about giving her the cards. 

K at work

G at work

One of the most memorable moments this week was simply sitting down and coloring with K and G on Friday.  It was good to spend quality time together talking as we colored. 

I stepped away for a moment to take the photo

I am glad God has given me my sweet chickadees.  They are awesome!

The Kid Created Sensory Tub

For name sake, I will call this sensory tub the pom tub.  This tub came together through the play of my children.  My daughter G was having a great time preparing "breakfast" and "cake" for the family with a couple of crafting sticks and some of the pink and white poms in her previous tub, so I decided to put the rest of the package of poms in a tub for her. 

Then, K added the blue "gems," which I had put out for another activity (that particular activity didn't get a great deal of action).  And finally the bottle tops somehow made it into the mix.  Just this past week, M has started to engage with this bin, outside of his usual empty it onto the floor routine.  He likes to use his stacking cups to put the poms in and then stir them with the craft stick or attempt to move them with the spoon like his big sister does (I do have to keep a close eye on him because he tries to put the bottle tops in his mouth).  This is mostly a G and M tub; K only plays when his sister and brother are playing with it.

G cooking us up a little something

M transferring poms into his stacking cups

This week, I purchased a couple of those sectioned serving plates (the ones where you can put dip in the middle) for $1 and G has enjoyed incorporating the plate for sorting purposes.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of her while she was doing this, but I will try to get some as she continues enjoying the tub =).

The Week in Review (April 30th)

We've had fun this week at la casa de Jeune. We are focusing on the chacter trait of self-control now that we've finished Psalm 23.  The verse we are using is Titus 2:12; we learned the first half this past week, and we plan to learn the second half during this upcoming week.  I simply made up a tune for the verse (and recorded it so I wouldn't forget it).  The kids have been playing the Titus 2:12 "song" on my phone. 

For the past few weeks, G has worked matching lowercase and uppercase letters with this activity idea I got from We Can Do All Things.  Previously, we used these colored butterflies for some color matching with poms.  I couldn't access the template for the butterflies, so I simply drew them on cardstock, and then colored and "laminated" them with contact paper. G does this activity almost daily; it is a quick one, and she usually goes through it twice and is done. 

Working with letters F-J

Color matching wtih poms

 We used the pattern blocks my friend lent us to work on seeing patterns.  I have been trying to come up with creative ideas for pattern work, and I am thankful to God for this idea.  At first, K did not really want to do the activity, so the second day I came up with the idea of making each shape/color a person who needed to get in line in the right place, i.e. Mr. Blue, Mr. Red, etc.  Then, he was more open to participating and even tried to come up with his own patterns, though he is not quite there yet. 

I also pulled out our lacing beads, and both K and G enjoyed working with them.  K can do most of the lacing himself, and, of course, some of the beads are harder to lace than others, so there is a learning curve for him.  In most cases in regards to G, I lace the shape or bead and she pulls it to the bottom of the string.  She enjoys this acitivity greatly as well.

Look at G pull that string

 We also spent some time outside and used our sidewalk chalk on the deck.  G wanted me to write some sight words and her name (always a favorite), so we did that, and K wrote various other words.  He likes to make up nonsense words that rhyme with real words -- very funny. 

Some other things K enjoyed this week were working on his puzzles, the pattern blocks with pictures and reading, which is a fan favorite for all three children. K also takes pride in being a mini teacher, teaching his brother and sister things like letter sounds and words.  G loves her water beads, and, really, anything sensory in nature, and M enjoyed playing withe the leapfrog computer, banging things together, and pushing cars, trucks, trains, etc. on the table and couch investigating how they moved (I love to see the focus and attention he gives this playing he does).

M running his investigation =)

All in all, it was a great week!