Preschool | That Bald Chick

Frosty the Snow Door

January 12, 2012 By Virginia 10 Comments

I am always on the lookout for cute (and easy) crafts to do with the kids. So, when I saw Rachel’s Snowman Craft Idea, over at Yellow Tennessee, I had to pin it, so I could remember to try it.

Source: yellowtennessee.com via Virginia on Pinterest

Our refrigerator is a side-by-side, so I didn’t think it was a good candidate for the project. Not to mention, I didn’t want to move their chore charts. LOL.

We do, however, have six panel white doors. I thought that would be perfect.

Frosty the Snow Door

snowman craft

They agreed!

snowman craft

Thanks, Rachel, for such a fun craft project!

For this snowman, I used construction paper in the following colors- black, orange, red, and green. I didn’t have two sheets of black, so I had to make the hat out of a very dark green. LOL. I also used tape, a 32 ounce cup lid, scissors, and a circle paper punch.

Filed Under: Crafts Tagged With: crafts, homeschool, preschool

This Little Light of Mine

January 6, 2012 By Virginia 10 Comments

On New Years Day, I taught the preschool class at church (I teach that class about once every five weeks). I had decided it was high time we work on a new song, as we’ve been singing Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Star since October, and if I have to hear it one more time, I will rip my hair out. Oh. Wait. Anyway. I decided to work on “This Little Light of Mine” with them, and thought it would be cute to make candles with the kids. NO. Not real candles.

I determined what supplies I would need, which included:
Toilet paper tubes
Tongue depressors
Paperboard
Black and yellow construction paper
scrapbook paper
Glue sticks
A loaded stapler

Since I’ve been saving toilet paper tubes for projects at home, I had enough to spare for the project. I knew we had construction paper, tongue depressors, glue sticks, and a stapler in the classroom supplies at church. So, I grabbed the toilet paper tubes and a pad of scrapbook paper from my scrapbooking supplies. I could have cut paper to fit the tubes, but I knew we would have a shorter class period because of the holiday, and the precut papers fit perfectly.

The day before class, I used a lid from a 32 ounce cup to draw circles on paperboard and cut them out to use as the candle bases. Before the kids arrived in class, I affixed black construction paper circles to the paperboard, so they would be more attractive. I also cut out the flames and affixed them to the tongue depressors. I cut slits in the approximate center of the paperboard circles.

During class, we went over “This Little Light of Mine” a few times. When craft time arrived, each child chose a patterned piece of paper for the outside of their candle. After each child glued their candle cover on the tube, my classroom helper and I cut the base of each tube in four places, evenly spaced (if looking a clock, it would be at 12, 3, 6, and 9). This allowed us to bend flaps outward from the tube. We removed two (opposing) flaps, and used the other two to affix the candle stick to the candle base with the stapler. After affixing the candle to the base, I slid the tongue depressor with flame through slit in the bottom of the paperboard circle.

The next time we sang “This Little Light of Mine” I showed the kids how they could pull the tongue depressor down to make the flame disappear when they sing, “won’t let Satan blow it out” or “hide it under a bushel.”

I have to tell you, I was a bit surprised by how well this project went over. The kids LOVED it. They really enjoyed making the flame disappear! After church, I had the opportunity to speak with some of the parents, and they liked it, too! Then our Worship Leader’s wife saw it, and fell in love. She said she thought it would be perfect for the Easter program, and even mentioned it to her husband (the Worship Leader) and our Senior Pastor.

LOL… guess I’ll be hearing “This Little Light of Mine” for a few months now.

This Little Light of Mine Lyrics

This little light of mine… I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine… I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine… I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine… Let it shine… Let it shine

Hide it under a bushel Oh no! I’m going to let it shine
Hide it under a bushel Oh no! I’m going to let it shine
Hide it under a bushel Oh no! I’m going to let it shine
Let it shine… Let it shine… Let it shine

Won’t let Satan blow it out! I’m going to let it shine
Won’t let Satan blow it out! I’m going to let it shine
Won’t let Satan blow it out! I’m going to let it shine
Let it shine… Let it shine… Let it shine

Is it stuck in your head now, too? Good. LOL.

Filed Under: Crafts, Faith, Homeschool Tagged With: Candle, craft, homeschool, preschool, teach

BooBoo by Olivier Dunrea

January 3, 2012 By Virginia 10 Comments

Another favorite of Sister’s is a book about a curious blue gosling, called BooBoo, that likes to eat.

BooBoo is one of a series of books by Olivier Dunrea about cute and quirky goslings. Aside from authoring well-loved children’s books, Olivier Dunrea, is a painter and a sculptor. Gossie & Friends, the gaggle of tales about cute and quirky goslings, began in 2001 when Dunrea sat staring out his studio window as Canada geese flew overhead. As he sat sketching them, he started drawing them wearing red rubber boots, a pair of which sat on his bookshelf. Thus, Gossie was born, as well as her friends. BooBoo is one of them.

BooBoo the gosling likes to eat from morning to night and thinks everything is “good food.”

Well, almost everything.

Age Level: 3 and up

Series: Gossie & Friends

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company

We first met BooBoo at the local library, and Sister fell in love. The book is simple, with just a few sentences per page. The illustrations are cute and colorful. Most importantly, it is FUN and FUNNY. In the story, BooBoo eats different things and then says, “Good Food.” She learns, however, that not everything makes good food.

Sister goes into panic mode if she can’t find her BooBoo. And if someone else picks up her BooBoo, she says, “Hey, that’s my BooBoo. BooBoo’s a gusling.” It’s funny.

Hubs had adopted BooBoo’s simple phrase of “Good Food” to give his approval to different things. “Good Food,” said BooBoo he’ll say after a meal. Or, “Good show,” said BooBoo after a television show. He’s cute and funny, too.

BooBoo gets 5 out of 5 stars around here!

Gossie & Friends books are available on Amazon as boardbooks, hardback books, and for your Kindle, too!

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: books, homeschool, ilovetoread, preschool, Reviews

Baby Einstein Alphabooks

January 1, 2012 By Virginia 6 Comments

For over a year now, one of Sister’s favorite books (or set of books) is the Baby Einstein Alphabooks that we received from my cousin, Heather.

Product Description

Learning the alphabet has never been more fun than with this Alphabooks Board Book Set from Baby Einstein.

These 26 mini board books feature real-life photos and illustrations of everyday objects that help teach Baby about each letter. The books come in a colorful storage box that can be decorated. Each book is four pages long.

Box dimensions: 5″L x 5″W x 5″H.

We received the set from my cousin without the cute little box, because her kids had loved them first, so I can’t attest to the quality of the box.

The books, though, are cute, and have been good companions for Sister. While Mister never really went through a “must tear paper because it is there and can be torn” phase, Sister has. In fact, I’m not quite sure she is done with it yet. So these books have allowed our other books to be spared… for the most part. She often goes to bed with one of the letters, and usually has one or two in her pink backpack or in the van for day trips.

While some of the books have pictures on the cover that don’t necessarily go with that letter, *such as lizard for “A” and a dolphin for “U”, the set has been invaluable in teaching both of the kids their letter recognition.

Each of the books has three different pictures with corresponding words in block type print, so they are also great for learning some basic sight words.

All in all, the Alphabooks have been a great set to have around. Given that the books have last through my cousins sons and now my two, they are sturdy construction.

I would definitely recommend this set to a friend, and it would make a great baby shower gift or birthday gift up through two or three years old.

While I don’t have an official rating system for children’s books– I think I need to come up with one, as I will be posting more kids books reviews– I would give this set 4 out of 5 stars. It’s a great value for the money, but the odd cover pictures on some of them steal that fifth star.

Filed Under: Books, Homeschool Tagged With: Book, homeschool, preschool, Review

A Gruffalo Kind of Christmas

November 19, 2011 By Virginia 2 Comments

Ever felt like everyone was out to eat you? That’s exactly how the adorable little mouse in The Gruffalo felt. But, he was one smart mouse. He used his wit, and told all his predator’s that he is meeting a monster, a Gruffalo, which scares them all and they decide not to eat him. Mouse becomes increasinly confident, and he thinks there is nothing that can touch him. Then he rounds the corner and comes face-to-face with the terrible monster that he made up…

The Gruffalo DVD is based on the award winning book by Julia Donaldson. I had not read the book before we received the DVD for review. In fact, I hadn’t even heard of the book. After watching The Gruffalo, I can certainly understand why the book is award winning. It is quite possibly one of the cutest stories I have ever seen.

After watching the film, I picked up a copy of the book from our local library. I was really surprised to see that the movie followed the book to the letter.

The animation of The Gruffalo is seamless and beautiful. The colors are vibrant. The story is captivating and timeless. This is one of those stories that will long outlive the author that penned it.

Interestingly enough, the first time the kidlets watched it, Sister was afraid of the mouse. She has long since outgrown her fear of the mouse and loves this DVD. It is on her “go-to” list. Anytime it’s her turn to pick, this is one of the three or four that she pulls out of the cabinet.

The Gruffalo DVD is available at local retailers nationwide, at NCircle, and on Amazon.

If you are Christmas shopping, for your own child or someone else’s little one, I would definitely recommend The Gruffalo! Make it a Gruffalo Kind of Christmas!