At Home Classroom: Winter Wonderland

When N was little, before I had L, N and I used to do every kind of activity imaginable.  The first year of L's life though wiped me clean.  I finally feel like a human.  N is in his first year of preschool so I didn't feel so horrible laying off the learning activities but lately since L has become more manageable I've made it a goal to start doing more lessons at home.  I am a big follower of the play to learn approach.  Even Nick's preschool is play based.  At this age I feel that is the best way to approach learning.  The near mention of teaching something to N scares him off...so I have to disquise it.  I can see I am going to struggle with him in school! 

This week we are working with a theme.  I figured I should start with this before it is too late!  Our poor daffodils have already been fooled into thinking it's spring!  Our focus is on the letter W and the number 2.

Our first big activity for the week was our winter sensory table.  I used cotton balls and twigs...I sprinkled some cinnamon and ginger in there to make it smell nice and kind of bring in more of the senses.  The kids, especially the little guy, are having a blast.  We also went went on to making a snowman out of cotton balls, singing some snow flake songs, and today, tracing the letter W and the number 2.

We have a chalkboard wall in our kitchen where I wrote the letter and the number and I have N trace it using a wet paint brush.  He enjoys watching the paint turn to water...and then disappear. 

In the end, my play based approach is paying off!  Nick was able to spot the letter W in the alphabet today!  He calls it the triangle letter!  It's a start!

Here are some pictures.

I've also included an idea I got from Pinterest.  We made a roadway/town(with a land for dinosaurs) on craft paper.  It was a big hit!