Insects at the Pond

With the older boys being off of school for who-knows-how-long because of the virus, they have been doing Experience Early Curriculum with Little Miss and I. Its kind of fun. They ask what we will be doing together. They do have their own set of work to keep up with their grade at school, but having them join us for this period of time has been fun... so far... we'll see how it goes in the time to come. Anyway, week 3 has been about the insects that enjoy the pond life. Below are some things that we've enjoyed together.

All the kids colored all of the coloring pages from the member resources link. They colored ALL of them at once. They sat and colored for a really long time; using paint sticks, markers, do-a-dots and crayons. It was really great to see Little Miss color with her brothers so nicely.

The story included in the curriculum also has many corresponding activities to accompany it. One being a puzzle. Little Miss still hasn't really grasped the concept of completing a puzzle on her own, so her brothers helped her. Teamwork is great to see.

My kids love the Make & Play crafts. There have been several this week and they all have a collection of homemade insects. Little bigs have been flying all over the house this week.

The kids matched the foam stars to the mat. Then, of course they became shooting stars when they began getting tossed around the room.

During the day for Waterstriders, we played a game. We rolled a die and moved our bug across the board. Since the game itself was short, we just kept going back and forth until everyone decided they were done with the game. We all really tried to get Little Miss counting correctly. She still skips #4 when counting. We'll get there eventually.

The Invitation to Create for the Waterstrider day included popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners. Nobody wanted to use the pipe cleaners, so I found these art swabs. They worked perfectly for the legs of their striders.

The kids added a painting project in the mix from last week. They painted some algae, swirled it around for a long time before adding some glitter when they finished.

We have a huge bin of extra materials to use as desired. The kids raided it to make their own Mayfly craft. One was not included in this day, but they decided to make one anyway. They found all the pieces they needed to make adorable Mayflies. These are the ones that the boys made. Little Miss just tore up paper. Sometimes, you just have to let them do what they want. Mr Z made little tiny bugs to go with his Mayfly; the yellow one is getting eaten and the small blue one on the wing is its friend. Creativity is the greatest from children. 

I receive Experience Early Curriculum free in exchange for our honest opinion and experiences with the product.

Pond Plants

Week 2 in our preschool curriculum from Experience Early Learning was all about the plants that live in or near the pond. Some grow completely under the water, some float on the top and others stretch from the bottom to the top. I must admit, that Little Miss wasn't too interested in the subject matter for this week, but loved the crafts and projects the most.

We learned that the cattails live around the edge of a pond. They create a barrier and add some protection for some animals that live in the center of the pond.

I love how the Invitation to Create art projects inspires the child. Little Miss really only wanted to cut her paper into small pieces. But, then decided to actually glue a few things onto her paper.

The games included for week 2 and week 1 were fun for everyone. We played them often last week, especially after dinner. I'm glad the boys still love the games too. They are 9 and 7 and wanted to play with everything.

My middle child, Mr Z had fun with the magnet story pieces that coordinated with a book included in the curriculum, The Turtle, the Beaver and the Pond.

I receive preschool curriculum from Experience Early Learning free, in exchange for our opinion on the curriculum and the experiences we have.