Today's Muffin Tin Monday is circus themed. I had totally different ideas than what I actually ended up doing for this muffin tin up until Saturday. I decided to use props and toys/games instead of only edible items. This was by far the kids' favorite tin. They loved everything about it from the treats to the props. This was such fun to make--even little Jack got to join in this week. I love doing this on Sunday's now, because my husband gets to see how much fun it is for the kids.
Here is what I put in our tins:
Peanuts-Nutter Butter cookies
Popcorn
Lion cupcakes-We are studying the letter "Ll" in our Preschool Corner this week.
Grapes with Wilton clown picks
Circus animal in a cage--the ones that "grow" over the next 72 hours
Animal crackers.
I also had some fun props:
Ring Toss game
Ringmaster riding a unicycle
Monkey visors
Large sunglasses a clown might wear
The kids loved their tins and hats! They enjoyed the little Ring Toss game too--and Joe is enjoying watching his caged tiger "grow" before his eyes:-).
Jack's tins were a bit different, he loved participating, I'll have to let him have some little tins each week:-)--he had:
Grapes
Nutrigrain bar
Bananas
Nutter Butters
Animal Crackers
We had such fun this week participating in Muffin Tin Monday. If you haven't tried this with your little ones yet, you've got to give it a try! I promise you'll be hooked. Head over to Michelle's to see everyone else's Big Top Tins today, and join in too!
I love seeing what you all share each week and want to thank you for linking up and participating! I hope you are having fun creating with and for your little ones each week in your kitchen! If this is your first time visiting and you are new to Simply Made Sunday, you can read the "all about" and rules for participation *here*.
This week I am sharing one of my favorite cookie recipes for Pnut Butter Oatmeal M&M Cookies--that's a mouthful!! I love all of these ingredients and I love cookies, so these are made often in our home. I like to substitute different colored M&M's for different times of the year to make them festive. These are so quick to make and have few ingredients too--super yummy--what more could you ask for:-). I got this recipe from a long time friend years ago at a holiday gathering.
This week my helper in the kitchen was Hanna. Usually Joe is jumping to help in the kitchen and Hanna isn't. It was nice to have her in there for a change. We enjoyed cooking and talking--it was lots of fun, and I was very surprised at all she could do on her own. She needed little help from me!
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 1/4 c. light brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
12 oz. creamy pnut butter
1 stick butter, softened (I always use unsalted sweet cream butter)
2 c. M&M's
2 tsp. baking soda
4 1/2 c. quick cooking oats
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Combine eggs and sugars in large mixing bowl (I used my stand mixer, this ends up being very thick by the end). Mix well.
Add salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter. Mix well.
Mix in M&M's, baking soda, and oatmeal (in this order).
Drop onto cookie sheet (I used my Pampered Chef medium scoop and lined my cookie sheets with parchment paper).
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not overbake, or they will become very crunchy.
Enjoy!
It's your turn now! I can't wait to see what creative and yummy things you all share today. I hope you've had a fun week in your kitchen!
We played lots and learned too this week in our Tot School. Jack is talking and learning new words daily. He is beginning to say two word sentences, and he still speaks gibberish all day long. He is my biggest talker yet. I can't believe all that he says and understands at such an early age.
His favorite toys of choice this week were once again his trains. He played with his trains daily, more than once a day even, and he has taken a liking to watching Thomas the Tank Engine on DVD. I love to see him play with his trains and make train sounds the whole time he plays.
He took his two beloved stuffed animals, Lovie and PJ Bear, on many stroller rides. After one of these stroller rides he decided they were ready to go for a spin in the dump truck.
Jack is still reading books and being read to often throughout each day. This is something I love to do with him.
Jack was able to participate in Open Ended Art with his older sister and brother. The theme was crayons--I can handle this one with a 17 month old:-). He used a cool Color Wheel Crayon that my friend Christy sent him. To see what all of the kids created for Open Ended Art, click *here*.
Our Leap Frog activity table was a hit this week. I think this is a great learning toy for young toddlers, and both Jack and his older brother have enjoyed playing with this table.
That wraps up our Tot School fun. Mostly play this week in our home. To see all that we've done in our Tot School so far, click *here*.
To see what others have done in their Tot School head over to 1+1+1=1. Don't forget about Carissa's giveaways going on now for her 1000 Subscribers Celebration while you are there!
This week in our Preschool Corner we studied the letter "Cc". We worked on our first lesson in Book C (the final book) of the Get Ready for the Code series! I am excited to move forward with this series at the end of Book C. I still can't say enough good about the "Code" books, lessons and content, and neither can Joe--we love this curriculum! Joe practiced writing in his Kumon workbooks and reviewed phonics with Starfall.com--one of our favorite websites.
Books
Math OK, I have to be honest--I do NOT like Abeka math! I like the flannel board pieces I ordered of theirs and the games that came with the 4K/5K math curriculum, but I do NOT like the daily lessons. Keep in mind this is my personal opinion--there are many that LOVE Abeka math and have used it for years. It is just too much repitition, too much busy work and monotony for me. From this point on I am using the manual as a guide to make sure I cover the materials Joe needs to grasp, but we will be using file folder games, Kumon workbooks, flannel board sets and lots of hands-on activities for our 4K math studies. I will find something that is more suited to our learning style for our 5K year.
We continued with calendar math, days of the week, practiced tangible addition with plastic dinosaurs and jungle animals and used our lacing tree.
Arts/Crafts Joe made a letter "Cc" caterpillar picture. I love making all of our letter pictures for his alphabet book. I think it will be so neat to look back at it after it is completed. He already enjoys looking at what he's made so far each week when I add his newest picture.
Joe once again partcipated in Open Ended Art, click *here* to see what he and his brother and sister made.
I couldn't pass up a car craft, or these cute caterpillars since we were studying the letter "Cc". To see a how-to on these crafts, click *here*. This was another craft that was quick, simple and used items you probably already have on hand.
Geography This week in our Me On the Map unit study we began to learn our place in our neighborhood by simply learning our address. We walked a bit in our neighborhood while I explained what addresses are, why we have one and it's different from each home. We talked about city blocks, streets and how a city is laid out. We did not draw a map this week. All of this info was alot for Joe and I chose to spend most of this lesson time outside visually and verbally learning. We will draw our home/street map next week, and move forward from there.
Science Another super fun week of observing our insects in Science! Our butterflies are now in their tent, and our mealworms are beginning their lifecycle process as they should. To read about our observations and exactly what our insects are doing now, click *here*.
We read several different insect books (in widget above), and after our reading I had Joe create his own "insect jar". He had fun with this and it turned out so cute!
We continued to study the Five Senses in our Me and My Amazing Body unit study. Hanna traced Joe's body on white paper and then he drew on the parts he uses for his 5 senses. We will add to this body drawing each week as our book instructs us to do so.
Joe created a 5 senses collage using pictures he colored and stickers we had on hand. I printed out our 5 senses poster using my Kids' Soup membership. (Still loving this site--review to come soon.)
We read two new books on the 5 senses, one of which I think is worth mentioning. Your Insides, by Joanna Cole (in widget above) is a great book to teach a child about the human body. It covers all parts and functions of the body, has great illustrations and easy to understand explanations on how and why our body does all that it is able to do. I love the way it easily explains what role the brain plays in using our 5 senses. This is one you should check out from your local library!
This was another really fun week in our Preschool Corner. To see all that we've done in our preschool corner so far, click *here*.
To see what others are doing in their Preschool Corner head over to Homeschool Creations for lots of great ideas.
This week in our fifth grade I chose to have Hanna focus on Science and History projects rather than mainly textbook work. We have gotten far enough ahead now since we began the beginning of summer vacation that I feel comfortable just having fun--we are still learning plenty--until Jesse's arrival. We are going to do what I enjoy most until then, projects, crafts, baking and "fun" learning!
As far as textbooks go this week Hanna completed:
Language Lessons 32-36
Grammar Ace Lesson 4
Rod and Staff Math lessons 40-42
Hanna worked on and created an Insect Diorama for Science. Over the past few years this has been a favorite way for Hanna to conduct the visual presentation part of the monthly projects she had to complete in public school. She asked to make one for this area of her Apologia Science text, and I thought it sounded super!
She made this from a cardboard box we received from a mail order this week, craft foam, beads, pom poms, pipecleaners, yarn, construction paper, cotton balls, tempera paints, hot glue and Elmer's glue. Basically, I gave her free reign of the craft supplies we had on hand and she created!!
Here is what she did:
Tape top and sides of box down with duct tape.
Paint inside of box colors desired for background. (Hanna painted the inside and sides, but she glued green craft foam along the bottom to resemble grass).
Cut out and assemble insects.
Place all insects with glue, yarn, etc. inside diorama.
For history Hanna completed a small poster on the building and design of pyramids in Ancient Egypt. She based her facts and drawings on books, history lessons and her History Pocket she has been studying up to this point.
This has been by far my favorite week of homeschool we've had. Between the critters we're observing in Science (click *here* to read about these), the crafts we made and watching Hanna have fun with her projects--this has made for a very fun week!
We studied the letter "Cc" this week and Joe made two crafts, the first--a matchbox car, literally! This craft took no time at all, used items we (and you probably do too) already had on hand and looked great when it was completed. It could easily be modified using shoeboxes, or any larger boxes you have on hand.
Here is what we used:
2 small matchboxes, one left whole, and the other cut in half--you will only use half of this second matchbox.
poster paint, color of your choice
4 appropriate sized buttons
Elmer's or craft glue
aluminum foil
Here is what we did:
Cut one of the matchboxes in half.
Paint whole matchbox and half matchbox color(s) of your choice and let dry.
Glue half matchbox on top of whole matchbox (in center) to create your car's body.
Glue buttons on sides to create 4 wheels.
Ball up small pieces of aluminum foil to make head and/or tail lights.
Crazy Caterpillars What we used:
two styrofoam rectangles (I bought styrofoam project boards and cut them myself.)
pipecleaners
beads
literally any small item around your home that could be glued onto the foam blocks--use your imagination!
poster paint of your color choice
Elmer's glue
What we did:
Paint styrofoam rectangles and let dry.
Cut pipecleaners to be antennae length and attach a bead to the top of each, bend pipe cleaner at top to secure bead.
Stick antennae into foam.
Decorate and glue/stick various items onto/into the foam to create your own crazy caterpillar.
These were such cute little crafts. Let me know what you think--will you try making either of these? Have you tried making any of the crafts I've posted about lately? Let me know--I love your comments, questions and input!!
*Original tutorials without any modifications found here.*
This week we've continued to study our insects. It's been fun checking in on them each day and watching the kids observe them.
Our caterpillars all entered the chrysalis stage yesterday and we placed them in our tent. We will be anxiously watching them to see our butterflies emerge. I just hope I'm not at the hospital when it happens:-).
Once a week the mealworm container has to be sifted and have the bedding replaced. I do enjoy looking at the mealworms, but I do not enjoy holding them, so this job is left entirely to Hanna and Joe.
Today was our week mark so they sifted through the container taking all of the mealworms out and placing them in a cup while they completed the cleaning process.
While they were sifting they found that many of our mealworms had already shed their exoskeletons and entered the pupa stage. We should have some beetles soon. I am interested in seeing the full mealworm lifecycle.
Hanna and Joe both worked on insect projects--Hanna a diorama and Joe an "Insect Jar". Hanna hasn't quite completed her diorama. I will post it in her Fifth Grade Weekly Wrap-Up post.
Joe and I read several books so far on insects that we've enjoyed. My favorite though, is A Ladybug's Life, by John Himmelman.
I drew and cut out a bug jar for Joe, glued it onto cardstock and then had him choose several insects we've read about that he could make and place in his jar. He chose a ladybug, bumblebee and caterpillar. I drew all of the shapes on construction paper and Joe cut them out and glued them down. This was fun and simple to make. He enjoyed doing this.
Our week in Science has been lots of fun. I am learning so much about insects. I think I enjoy reading the books and their Science lessons just as much (maybe more) than they do!
This week's theme for Open Ended Art over at Teaching My Little Bookworm is crayons. OK, so I wanted to do something that both Hanna and Joe could participate in (and possibly Jack), but that would be a little more detailed for Hanna's sake. I'd remembered when Hanna took pottery classes this summer she learned about a technique called Raku. Raku is a type of glaze that turns out "cracked" looking when it's all fired and finished. I remembered how you can color heavily on paper and then color over it with black crayon and then scrape off black until you have your desired picture showing through. With that in mind I set off to search for ideas and here's what I came up with:
First, we looked up some examples of Raku pottery online. We discussed the definition of Raku-1: Japanese hand-modeled pottery that is fired at a low temperature and rapidly cooled 2: a process by which pottery is fired at a relatively low temperature and then moved while hot to a closed container with combustible materials (as paper or sawdust) that ignite and cause a reaction creating colors and patterns in the pottery's surface, often small cracks.
Next, we made our "Raku" crayon pictures. Here's what you do, very simple:
Color your picture--color VERY heavily, leaving no white space anywhere on the paper.
Crumple picture up like you are going to throw it in the trash.
Spread picture back out as flat as you can.
Make a wash out of black tempera paint (original tutorial used water colors--I thought tempera paint would be more realistic) and water. This needs to be a very thin wash--you need hardly no black paint at all.
Paint wash over entire picture--it will settle in the "cracks". Let dry completely.
Paint over picture with Mod Podge (I almost always use mod podge to finish things like this off) to give picture a "sheen" simulating a glaze.
Let dry, and you're done.
First of all, I lost Joe when I asked him to ball up his paper. He just couldn't do it:-). He drew another T-Rex this week breathing fire on a tree. The T-Rex is saying, "Too late tree!" and the tree replies, "No, it's not!"--as narrated by Joe.
Hanna completed the whole process. I have to admit, to me, this didn't turn out quite as I'd expected. I thought it would look a little more cracked. I do love Hanna's drawing though, and appreciate all of the hard work and effort she put into this. She had lots of fun, it was a fun and simple process to complete and Hanna loved it--so overall, it was a winner and I'd do it again:-).
