Google+ Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas: September 2011

Friday, September 30, 2011

Show Us Your Town Hop 10/1/11 - Share Your Fall Fun!

Autumn Winds begin to blow,
Colored leaves fall fast and slow
Whirling, Twirling all around
Till at last they touch the ground!

I used to read that poem w/my students! 
Isn't it perfect?!

Now, onto the hop
I am hoping you will share your fall activities, outings and experiences with me on the Show Us Your Town Hop so that I may live vicariously through you since we do not experience Autumn here in FL! :)

Join the fun by sharing your local sights/hometown fun 
and hopping along to visit the other sights shared in the linky!

Your hosts are:
Me - Bernadette from Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas



Show me your town



The Big Red Barn & Handprint Farm Animals

We started our Farm Theme by re-reading one of our familiar & favorite books - The Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown!

I used to read the Lil Divas this story every single night when they were babies and into toddlerhood. I could recite it by heart and as the girls got older they could "read" along with me as well.

I was excited to re-visit the story with the Lil Divas and have some fun with farm animals.

Craft: Big Red Barn & Handprint Farm Animals


What You Need:
white paper 
(we taped two pieces together to make a larger sheet)
red, green, brown, yellow & blue paint
paint brushes
cotton balls
glue
wiggly eyes
black & orange permanent markers

What You Do:

1. Draw a big red barn onto the white paper.


2. Add grass if desired.


3. Make Handprint Farm Animals:
- to make a handprint horse paint hand brown 
and press onto paper with fingers pointing downward.
Add mane, tail, eye and mouth using black permanent marker.


 - to make handprint duck paint hand yellow 
and press sideways with thumb pointed upwards.
Use sideways thumbprint to make head.

Add beak and feet using orange permanent marker.
Add eye using black permanent marker or wiggly eye.


- to make a handprint lamb/sheep paint hand black 
and press onto paper with fingers downward.


Add cotton balls to palm to make wool & add wiggly eye.


Add scenery as desired in any remaining space
- trees, sun, etc.


The Lil Divas & I had a great time with this lil project!

Book:


What is your favorite farm book? Have you read The Big Red Barn?

Bern

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas Monthly Top 5 - September 2011

I have seen quite a few blogs do monthly re-caps and I thought it would be fun to share my top 5 with you in case you missed anything uber important :)

September 2011's Top 5 Posts:

1. ABC Fun A is for Apple Torn Paper Art

2. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Pre-K/K Unit


3. Rotten Apple! A Sight Word Learning Game


4. My Name is Special: Pre-K/K Name Recognition Activities

5. If You Give a Moose a Muffin Pre-K/K Learning Fun


Top 5 Referring URL's


1. No Time for Flashcards

2. ABC & 123

3. Homeschool Creations

4. Tightwad in Utah

5. I Can Teach My Child


Top 5 Referring Sites:

1. Google

2. Facebook

3. Pinterest

4. Twitter

5. No Time for Flashcards



A HUGE Thank you to all my referring blogs - You ROCK!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Educational Insights Alphabet & Phonics Bean Bags Review & Giveaway

I am SUPER excited about this week's review and giveaway! I was sent the Phonics and Alphabet bean bags from Educational Insight's. I have been wanting to get my hands on these for some time - there is just so much fun to be had with bean bags.


What's in the Box?
The Alphabet Bean Bags set comes with 26 double sided soft bean bags that depict the lower case letters of the alphabet on one side and upper case letters on the other. Vowels are stitched in red and consonants are stitched in blue. The set also includes an activity guide for further play ideas.

The Phonics Bean Bags set includes 26 soft bean bags with embroidered pictures that represent each letter of the alphabet. Vowel bags depict both long and short vowel sounds and c and g have pictures to depict both their hard & soft sounds. The set also includes an activity guide for further play ideas.

All the bean bags are washable and come in a drawstring storage bag. The bags are easy to handle 

How to Play:
To work on beginning letter sounds we played a fun game with both bean bag sets. I had the girls put the alphabet bean bags in ABC order on our large play mat. They had fun with that and once they were done - I told them we were going it as our game board! 

Next, I let them take turns pulling phonics bean bags out of the carrier. They had to identify the picture by saying the word and then tell me the letter that corresponded to the initial sound in the word.

They loved moving around to place the bean bags on the correct letters. We made a game out of that too by trying to come up with some action that corresponded to the picture. Like barking for the D-dog, walking lowly for the t-turtle, pretending to write for the p-pencil, etc. It was fun to see what they came up with!



* We also played by putting down the phonics bags first & picking letters and matching them up that way. It was slightly more challenging since they had to look all through the pictures to match the sound versus just identifying the letter sound and then scanning for the letter.*


Even More Ways to Play:
 I am seriously loving the bean bag sets! There are so many ways to play and incorporate learning into our day using them.

Here are a few more ways I've used them so far with the Lil Divas:

1. To make simple CVC words - the alphabet bean bags can be used with picture cards or alone.  We had fun trying to spell some of the pictures from the phonics bean bags too.


2. Word Family Practice - we have been using our alphabet bean bags to practice various word families. This is something I am really focusing on with my kindergartener and she enjoys using the bean bags to make words.



3. Sight Word Spelling - It was a fun change of pace to use the alphabet bean bags to spell out the sight words we have been working on.


4.  Letter Relay - this is a fun game that the Lil Divas really love playing! I wish I had pictures but it goes so fast - they kept coming out blurry! to play, I set up either the alphabet or phonics bean bags on the floor (not in ABC order) and then I call out a letter sound. The 1st Lil Diva has to run to the correct letter or picture bag and hand it to her sister, who then has to come up with a word that starts or ends with that sound (whatever I choose). Then we do it again, starting w/the child who gave me the word so that they are changing their role in the game. I can not tell you how much fun we have had playing this game!

5. How Many Syllables? - we play this game with the phonics bags. The Lil divas identify the pictures and clap out the syllables for each word.

Now that you've seen a few ways you can use these bean bags - don't you want them? I know you do! I am super excited to be able to give away one of each bean bag set thanks to the generous people at Educational Insights.

*********************
 Buy It: 
Purchase Phonics Bean Bags (Retail Price = $49.99)
and/or Alphabet Bean Bags (Retail Price = $34.99) on Educational Insight's website. 


Win It
Educational Insights is giving away both sets of bean bags!
We will have Two (2) Winners!
One (1) for the Phonics Bean Bags
and one (1) for the Alphabet Bean Bags

How to Enter:
**Contest ends on 10/13/11**
 One (1) lucky Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas reader
(US Residents Only!) is going to receive:
and one (1) lucky Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas reader
is going to receive the Alphabet Bean Bags


Mandatory Entry:
Tell me which set you would like to win & why!
Please include your email w/your comment so I can find you if you're our winner.
**Mandatory Entry must be completed for extra entries to count**

Extra Entries (Optional)
Please leave a separate comment
for each entry &
please include your e-mail
so I can get back to you if you win! 

*If you are already a follower leave a comment that counts as an entry*
  1. Follow Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas Publicly via Google Friend Connect  (+2) leave 2 comments
  2. Follow Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas on Facebook (+2) leave 2 comments
  3. "Like" Educational Insights on Facebook & tell them I sent you - even if you already like them, thank them for this giveaway! (+2) 
  4. Follow Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas on Twitter  (+2) leave 2 comments
  5. Subscribe to Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas emails  (+2) leave 2 comments
  6. Subscribe to Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas Newsletter  (+2) leave 2 comment
  7. Vote for me on Parents (Best Craft for Kids Blog) (+2) leave 2 comment
  8. Make a comment on any non-giveaway post on Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas Blog and leave a link.  You can do this for up to 5 posts but please note that comment must be dated after the start date of this post - not valid on previous comments. (+2) leave 2 comments
  9. Share this giveaway via your Facebook page - please mention/link back to Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas (+2) leave 2 comments
  10. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a link - can be done once a day. Example of a daily tweet- Tweet: #Win @ed_insights Alphabet or Phonics Bean Bags w/@Momto2PoshDivas ends 10/13  http://goo.gl/fb/pg3Lf  #giveaways #preschool #kindergarten

Giveaway Rules:
Giveaway ends 10/13/11 at 11:59 (PDT)
Winner will be chosen via random.org
& contacted via email if an email is given .
Winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize.
Please note any entries that can not be verified will be disqualified.

*****************

DisclaimerI received the Alphabet & Phonics Bean Bag Sets for free from Educational Insights  for the purposes of trying it out for this review. That being said, this review is my 100% honest opinion of this product - I  am not paid for my reviews or optinions! They are 100% mine! Please remember that your opinions and tastes might differ from mine. 

Good Luck,
Bern

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Wordless Wednesday w/Linky 9/28/11 - A Day in Preschool

I recently spent a morning with my Littlest Diva at her preschool -
 I LOVE seeing the kids in action!

Here's a peek at a busy day in preschool:











Kid Craft: The Seasons of An Apple Tree

Every Apple Theme must include talk of the seasons of an apple tree! Here is the craft/activity we did to help the Lil Divas remember what they learned.

Craft: The Seasons of An Apple Tree


What You Need:
(I went thru my supply stash for this one!)
blue construction paper
brown & green paint
cotton balls
flower sequins
fall leaf stickers (small)
red & yellow pom poms (small)
glue

What To Do:
1. fold construction paper in half & then half again to make 4 squares
2. winter tree - paint bare tree using brown paint
- allow to dry and add cotton balls for snow as desired 
(see completed project below for picture)
3. mix green paint w/glue
3. spring tree - paint green tree top and add flower sequins



4. summer tree - paint green tree top & add pom pom apples


5. fall tree - paint tree trunk & limbs and add  fall leaf stickers


Here are the finished projects for my 4 & 5 year old:


During the course of the last week and a half we read quite a few books detailing the seasons of an apple tree. 

Here are a few of our favorite Books:







Bern

Monday, September 26, 2011

Happy Birthday Johnny Appleseed! (Red Velvet Apple Cupcakes)

In honor of Johnny Appleseed's birthday (9/26) and our Apple Theme 
we whipped up these adorable & delicious
  Red Velvet Apple Cupcakes!




These are so cute & fairly easy to make.
They do require a lil prep but the end result is worth it!




To turn your red velvet cupcakes into apples you will need
chocolate twizzlers or tootsie rolls
sour apple laffy taffy

What To Do:
1. I cut the twizzlers into 4 pieces to make the stems
2. cut the taffy into small pieces and form a leaf
3. attach taffy leaf to stem by pressing them on - they will stick
Note: keep the taffy relatively thin so it's not too heavy. 
I learned this the hard way!


4. use red food coloring to turn cream cheese icing red
5. attach stems w/leaves to frosted cupcakes &
enjoy your Red Velvet Apple Cupcakes!


Additional Fun:
 Johnny Appleseed
 maze

Books:


Movie:


Did you celebrate Johnny Appleseed's birthday? What did you do?
Bern

Saturday, September 24, 2011

The Sunday Showcase - A Child Centered Linky Party 09/25/11

The SUnday Showcase
Welcome to the Fabulous Sunday Showcase -
where we showcase YOU!

We feel confident in saying that this linky is always full of amazing ideas
so be sure to check out what your fellow bloggers have linked-up.

You will be inspired, awed and ready to create!

If you are here for the first time please take a moment to read
our informational post for full details -
we like to think this is a relaxed linky but there are a few guidelines.

Anything kid friendly and/or child centered is welcome!

We don't accept links for giveaways, shops,
or downloads for purchase, etc.
They will be deleted & we do monitor our links.

If you're linking up with us - please visit some of your fellow bloggers!
We ALL love comments, encouragement, feedback, etc.

One of your 2 Hostesses (Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas and/or Classified:Mom)
will be visiting & commenting on your shared link(s) -
we always appreciate your comment love too!

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Here are this week's Showcase Features
(chosen from last week's amazing entries)

Hannah on Paint On The Ceiling showcased her DIY Puzzle Blocks


Go on a Bear Hunt and learn about the letter "B" 
with Lori from La-La's Home Daycare



Ladybird Ln shared their homemade magnetic car activities



My Silly Little Life shared some great Story Stones



Come Together Kids shared an awesome Flashcard Game



If you have been featured, grab a button you deserve it!

The Sunday Showcase Feature
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Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
Homemade Cinnamon Apple Play Dough Fun

Homemade Cinnamon Apple Spice Play Dough

Classified: Mom
"Teacher's Pet" Apple Paper Sculpture

"Teacher's Pet" Apple Paper Sculpture by Classified: Mom


Now that the school year has settled in, it is a great time to have your child make this Apple Paper Sculpture as a thank you for their special teacher.

Thank you for linking up with us!
Aimee (Classified:Mom) & Bernadette (Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas)