Spring Time Song with Finger Puppets

 Spring is upon us and summer is fast approaching. In our neck of the woods, everyone is planting their gardens and the roses are starting to bloom. Here is a fun spring time song with finger puppets for the kids to play along while you sing. 

It is titled In the Leafy Tree Tops. It is from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints children's songbook. The song can be listened to or downloaded at lds.org. Or you can go directly to the song here.

When we sing this each child has a flower on a popsicle stick and a bird finger puppet. Cut out the circles where the beak should be and their thumb and pointer finger become the beak. My holes are a little small, so you might have to cut a little bigger than what is drawn. I printed the bird to be about 5 inches tall.

In the Leafy Tree Tops

 In the leafy treetops, the birds sing "Good morning."

They're first to see the sun.

They must tell ev'ryone.

In the leafy treetops, the birds sing "Good morning."

In my pretty garden, the flowers are nodding.

"How do you do?" they say.

"How do you do today?"

In my pretty garden, the flowers are nodding.

I hope you have a great spring and that the birds sing and flowers bloom in your garden!

N is for . . .

. . .  nose! Can you name that smell with your eyes closed?

. . . number book! Check back later for a post on how to make these awesome, foldable books. No tape, glue, or staples!

. . . noodles!

Spring Trees

 Here in Utah spring has come early. I know it means we will get a crazy frost in May that is going to kill all our fruit buds, but I am trying to be positive and enjoy the beautiful weather while we can. This is the view out my front window. It's amazing and it smells just as pretty as it looks.

In our church we have a time during church where the kids have music time and sing songs. One song is called Popcorn Popping by Georgia Bello and it is a song about spring time. 

1. I looked out the window, and what did I see?
   Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!
   Spring had brought me such a nice surprise,
   Blossoms popping right before my eyes.
   I could take an armful and make a treat,
   A popcorn ball that would smell so sweet.
   It wasn't really so, but it seemed to be
   Popcorn popping on the apricot tree.

(Here's a link to the music and a free mp3.) 

Our neighbor has a "popcorn" tree so we sang the song and then went outside to look at it. Then we decided to make our own spring trees like the fall and winter trees we made earlier in the year.

 

I popped some popcorn without oil or butter so it wouldn't make grease marks on the paper. It was so simple. Put about 1/3 c popcorn kernels in the bottom of an opened paper bag. Fold over the top two or three times. Put it in the microwave and cook until there is a 1 - 2 second delay between pops. (Mine took about 2 minutes) Then take it out and enjoy your healthy, air popped popcorn. Easy peasy!

Then the kids glued the popcorn onto their colored tree. Make sure they do a pretty good puddle of glue so that the popcorn sticks since it isn't flat. 

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!