Adorable Valentine's Card

 I know Valentine's Day is over, but I had to share this adorable "card" that a friend posted on facebook. Sometimes this blog becomes a sort of filing cabinet for ideas and projects that we have done so that's why we're doing this even though it's late. :) This adorable girl is the little sister of one of my old students. Unfortunately we moved before I got a chance to teach this cutie. I miss her family so, so much so it makes me happy to have them guest appearing on the blog. 

The front says: There's a Valentine standing at your door. I'm one of a kind, you can't buy me at the store. I have something for you, That you won't want to miss. Just pucker up and give me a GREAT BIG KISS!!!

The kids wear it like a poncho. You need butcher paper. Fold it in half and draw a large heart so the top two curves of the heart are on the fold. Cut out the v and the bottom of the heart but leave the folded curves in tact. 

It's pretty much the cutest thing ever! Thanks for the fun idea Diana, I sure do love and miss you guys!

Happy Valentine's Day

Man, this week was the week of cutting a million things out. Between my kid's Valentines Day cards, my daughter's science fair board, and cutting things out for preschool my Cricut earned it's keep this week! I sure am grateful for that handy little machine. My little man (who's two) loves helping me push the buttons and peel things off the mat. After this week, he knows which button makes it cut and which unloads the paper because we cut so many things! At least my helper is super cute. :)This is my cute helper and his handsome daddy trying out a backpack before a camping trip. (Brandon wasn't going on the trip, my husband was just testing to see how it felt with the weight in it.)

Anyway, I digress. . . Valentine's day preschool stuff. Here are a few of the projects we did for Valentine's Day.

Heart Wreath

We used a paper plate and different sized paper hearts to decorate it. We added a ribbon with a stapler to hang it from before we glued the hearts on. 

Love Bug Valentine Holders

We slightly altered the love bug this year. We used a paper plate and half plate stapled together to make a pocket. We used Valentine stickers to decorate the pocket. 

We cut a 4 inch circle for the head and added heart antennae, googly eyes and drew on a mouth. We used velum scrapbook paper for the wings instead of tissue paper. And we left off putting on the legs. It gave it a cleaner look and made things a little more simple to make. This does have a lot of steps so make sure you plan enough time to make it. We broke it up and did part, then read stories or did other things then came back to finish.   

Shark Valentines! 

We didn't do this in class, but I had such a blast making and playing with these sharks, that I had to post it! These were the Valentines that my cute little helper, from above made to give to friends. Since he's so young, I made them for him and I kind of had a blast. They are attached to a clothes pin so you can make them talk. Am I a huge nerd that I spent the whole night last night using these sharks to say goofy things to my husband while we watched American Idol? They are pretty much my new favorite thing. 

Here's What you Do:

Print the template from Family Fun and cut each side. (It's linked below)

Trace onto card stock and cut out as many as needed. 

Add an eye. 

Glue half of the template to each side of a clothes pin. (We used a glue gun.) 

Bend one half slightly out so the halves don't hit each other as the clothespin opens and closes. 

Make your shark say something funny as you test it out!

I got the idea from family fun. The link is here and the template is under February 2015. Here's what their professional version looks like. :)

Happy Valentines Day!

M is for . . .

. . . maracas

. . . magnets

. . . marble mazes

. . . music

I have to say that I was super excited for our music lesson. We have started doing rhythm and basic notes during our carpet time. So it was fun to explore music a little more during this lesson. We listened to different genres of music and the kids danced to them. FYI country is not a big hit with this class. :) We watched a clip from Blues Clues the Big Musical with Ray Charles and the Tones as the voice of musical notes who teach Steve and Blue about high/low, tempo, and rhythm. While we watched the kids used their maracas to play along while they learned. We listened to some classical music and the kids drew pictures while they listened. We played on different instruments like the recorder, piano, drums, etc. It was a busy day, but a lot of fun!