Preschool Corner - Bunnies

M is 3.5 years old.

This week we had an impromptu bunny theme going on.  You can see the many (very good!) bunny books we read in this post.    

I created an indoor hopscotch on an old roller shade:

M loved this.  L-O-V-E-D it. :)  We had a couple of rainy days and it was the perfect game to play inside.  He’s actually gotten very good at hopping in the past week.  Just like a bunny! ;)  This was a fabulous gross motor skill workout – for both of us!  It also is a good help for number recognition.

After we played this a few times, he decided to get out our buttons and count them out onto the squares:

By the way, he really doesn’t wear jammies all day, every day.  You wouldn’t know that from reading this blog though (sigh).

We sorted these “If-Then” cards for The Runaway Bunny: I found these in a lapbook file at Homeschool Share.

 

As well as this patterning worksheet:

And this counting, cut and paste worksheet from Bry-Back Manor:

We also did a leftover Easter activity – a matching egg designs game: I believe this was originally intended to be a file folder game.  I’ve had this for at least a year if not longer, and think I originally found it at Childcareland (check out the free printables there!).  This time I gave all the mats and all the eggs to M at once so he had to sort through everything to find the right matches.  He did great of course, and most likely this won’t be coming out again.


Other activities this week…

Playing Bingo:
And lots of fine motor work, like sharpening crayons:
Sewing yarn through a foam tray:
Lacing beads (and drinking a smoothie):
Putting together elaborate Kid K’nex structures:
Punching holes in foam strips:Sorry the photo above is blurry.  I wanted to share this activity anyway because it was definitely a favorite!

And I put together this little cardboard rectangle and ponytail holder activity.  He really enjoyed doing this also (no action shot, sorry!).  Work those little hand muscles by stretching the elastic bands over the cardboard and pushing them down.  This would be fun patterning work too!  This idea came from Nicole at Mama to 3 Blessings.  She used a star shape; she’s much less lazy than I. ;)  
For more Preschool Corner posts, go here!

Have a beautiful day! :)

Books of the Week – Bunny Theme

 
Early on this week I realized we were reading an unusually large number of books containing rabbits… I’m not sure how this happened, except it started with Peter Rabbit a little before Easter and then the books just… multiplied.  Not altogether unlike rabbits themselves do. Thank goodness these are only books, not real rabbits. ;) 
So, we ran with the theme, and did some fun bunny activities and crafts that I’ll be sharing in an upcoming Preschool Corner post.
However, for now, I want to share an amazing find that we came across at our library: The Golden Sleepy Book, by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Garth Williams.  Now, I know that’s a bear on the front, and I’m not sure why since the two main stories in it are about bunnies; but this is the best bedtime book ever.  EVER.  It has poetry and songs and two adorable stories…
The first one is titled, “The Whispering Rabbit”.   It’s full of yawning, so your little one (and you too most likely) will definitely be ready to go to bed.  This sweet little rabbit (the pictures are by Garth Williams and are sweet and colorful and fun to look at) is yawning so much he accidentally swallows a bumblebee who goes to sleep in his throat.  He can only whisper as he tries to make just the right sound to wake up the bumblebee.  It’s such a nice story to read slowly and whisper the whispering parts. :) 
The second story is titled, “The Dreaming Bunny”.  This story also has great pictures, but a couple of the pages are quite long on text and short on pictures, so a smaller child may have a hard time staying interested.  However, it’s a great story about a little rabbit that appears to be lazy, but really just wants to enjoy himself and dream his dreams, make up his little songs, and relax.  As it turns out his slower pace of life allows him to see things that the other bunnies are too busy to see.  He ends up saving all the bunnies and is a hero who is content to just go back to his dreaming.

We also read The Bunnies are Not in Their Beds, by Marasabino Russo.  We’ve read this book before and I’ve enjoyed reading it again, although I do worry that it might give M a few ideas I don’t want him to have!  These naughty little bunnies keep getting out of their beds and getting into mischief.  Mama and Daddy keep going upstairs to send them back to bed, getting a bit more stern each time.  But these bunnies aren’t so easily stopped. :)  This is a super-cute and funny book!
To hear about more kids’ books, check out Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns!
Have a beautiful day! :)