Spring Unit: Week One

Since we are done our letters, I am thinking of doing my 'lesson plans' in unit form. Not sure how long each unit will last just yet, but for now, we are working on a Spring Unit, which includes flowers, nature, and all things outdoors! Here is what we were up to this week!

Monday

Wow what a gorgeous day! We took full advantage of this wonderful warm spring weather and spent almost the entire day outside! We ate breakfast and then did some quick cleaning around the house. After we got dressed, we went for a nice long walk in the stroller and then played in the sandbox for an hour without any fights or issues. We came in for a quick snack, to use the potty, and to take a nap. After nap and lunch, we headed back outside to play with chalk, bubbles, and in the sandbox again. I have a feeling this is how most of our warmer weather days are going to be spent. I am will and ready to do all of our projects outside to enjoy the outdoors!

Tuesday

Rainy Tuesday. I am glad we spent all day yesterday outdoors because we were trapped inside this morning. Our new ‘toy’ is a piano Gpa was given. It’s our new motivator---if they eat all of their breakfast, then I set the timer for 10 minutes and let them play their songs. We had a lazy morning and took our time getting ready. After eating some snack, we read “Flower Garden” by Eve Bunting and talked about flowers. Our project for the day was first talking about the parts that make up a flower and gluing one together ourselves. I let them use the gluesticks themselves today and they did a fabulous job listening! I only used a little bit of guidance to show them what a flower looked like, and they did the rest on their own.

Wednesday

Ahh another beautiful day! We ate breakfast and played some tunes on the piano. It is slightly out of tune but once it’s fixed, maybe I will resurrect my knack to play things by ear (you don’t lose that, right?) and teach them a few easy numbers. They like to bang around on it and sing “Baby, you’re a firework” or twinkle twinkle. After we got dressed and I consumed my cup of coffee, we got shoes and coats on and took a nice long walk in the stroller. As promised, on our return, we played in the sandbox, with sidewalk chalk, and with bubbles. It was a little windy, but still nice enough to eat our goldfish and drink our juiceboxes outside at our little table. We came in to pee after they sucked down their juice, and then headed back out for some more outside time. We drew and labeled a big flower, and talked about how flowers need sun and water to grow. Once our piggies were quite chilly, we came inside and played a round of Cranium Hullabaloo, which is a fun game that works on listening skills. There are different colored and shaped pads you place on the floor that each have different pictures on them. The object of the game is to use your listening ears and follow what the speaker tells you to do. If you end up on the pad he guesses, you win. It’s fun to watch them think about where they want to go next. We are still working on the listening part! After we got tired of that, we did some threading with our wood sea animals and shoe strings. I found that set at the $1-3 bins at Target for three bucks and it saved me the trouble of making them on my own. Plus they are slightly more durable than cardboard. We read our books for the week and then took some nice very long naps.  After lunch we headed back outside to soak up some more rays.

Thursday

Nothing better than a gorgeous Thursday! Except of course a beautiful Friday but we’re almost there! We started out a little slow moving today. After we got dressed and ready to go, we got to play with a new manipulative I found in the $1-3 dollar bin at Target. I do not know how to pass by that thing without at least looking, and almost always buying something. Most of it has really come in handy to occupy their attention for some time! Anyway, I found these little circle/peg things that can stick together and make towers and bridges and all sorts of fun things! They spent some time with these until they remembered how nice out it was. We took a very long stroller walk today to get some fresh air for them and some exercise for me. We came home and played in our new outdoor haven. They were pretty good at listening so we ate our snack outdoors again today. Came inside to potty and to get ready for nap by reading our books, and they both fell asleep very fast. Ahh fresh air!

Friday

Well, it’s rainy and sort of gloomy, but we can get past that because it’s finally Friday! Yay! We had a very low key morning, which is sometimes needed. The kiddos stayed in their pajamas and played ever so nicely with each other, cramming into the tiny places between the TV stand and behind the chair. They were using “astroblasters” and “going on adventures” and “sitting on a train” and using their imaginations in so many other ways. I just sat back and watched them play. At one point, Tristan leaned over to Lily and said “Lily you are awesome.” And I may or may not have cried a little and she turned and hugged him. Oh these two buddies! After we danced out some energy and straightened up a little, we voted on playing with play doh. They sat for about 45 minutes building and cutting and rolling and making snakes and Pluto and frogs. Once again, their little imaginations were going full speed. I actually got some painting projects for our very DIY wedding which was a bonus! I think I might actually take advantage of this gray day and read while they finish up their naps!

Have a fun weekend! Hoping to get some more wedding stuff done this weekend and perhaps blog a little about that, but we're going to a food truck festival tomorrow so I sort of plan on being in a food coma for a bit!