Activity ideas

10 Fun Things to do with Mr. Potato Head

Hi Mommy Teachers! It’s Casey stopping over from Kidspired Creations! As a former Pre-K and Kindergarten teacher, and a current stay-at-home mommy, I always try to think of different ways I can approach play time to make it a great learning experience too!

Today, we invited Mr. Potato Head to join in on our fun. My boys and I were all sitting around MPH and adding different parts to his head. He looked like a monster with an arm sticking out of his eye socket, eyes where his feet should go and a nose in each ear. As I watched my boys, James (turning 4 next week), was holding MPH and bossing Leyson (20 months) about what he should do with the nose in his hand.

I then turned this into a learning opportunity about sharing. I took all of the parts off of MPH and then told the boys that they can only put one body part in at a time and then it was Brother’s turn. An eye in for James, a nose in for Leyson, then back to James. See what kind of a cool monster we can make together!

This reminded me of a time that I subbed for a 2nd grade classroom. I had the students all participate in creating a monster that I drew on the board based on their descriptions. They each told me one thing to describe what the monster looked like and I added that to our drawing. I then had each student write a paper describing in complete detail what the monster looked like so that anyone who had not seen the monster that I drew could draw the same monster on their own. (What? The teacher didn’t leave a lesson plan for me and I taught the wee little ones… no clue what to do with 2nd graders).

So I asked James to describe the monster to me: “MPH has a huge blue muscles on his arm that is sticking out where his nose should be.”

Then, I got to thinking… how else can we learn with Mr. Potato Head?
Here are my top 10 ways that you can join in on the fun!

1. SHARING
2. DESCRIBING / USING DESCRIPTIVE LANGUAGE
3. STORYTELLING
(We made up a story about Mr. Potato Head’s adventures as a Firefighter)
4. 5 SENSES
Mommy: “If MPH is a firefighter, what is he going to use to smell if there is smoke?”
Child: “Nose!”

Mommy: “Great! What is he going to use to hear if people need his help?”
5. HAND-EYE COORDINATION
(My little one was having trouble putting the parts into the little holes, but after a few tries, he became a pro!)
6. BODY PARTS
(Placement and Name Recognition)
Easy: “Where is the nose?” (baby points)
Harder: “Is this a nose?” (baby says “yes” or “no”…or nods or shakes)
Even Harder: “Is this a nose or mouth?” (baby says “nose”)
Hardest: “What is this body part?” (baby says “nose”)
7. RIDDLES
Mommy: “This part helps keep his head warm when it’s cold.”
Child: “A hat!”
8. RHYMING
Mommy: “This next body part rhymes with ‘south.'”
Child: “Mouth!”

9. SORTING

10. MYSTERY BODY PART

Place 1 pair of eyes, 1 nose, 2 ears, 2 arms, 1 mouth, 1 hat, 1 mustache and 1 pair of shoes in a bag. Have your child reach his/her hand in the bag without looking and grab one body part. They must then guess which part they have in their hand.

Now, if you don’t have a Mr. Potato Head, he’s everywhere… in fact, he pretty much has his own website where you can search for all of the different Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head kits available. ENJOY!!!

A special THANK YOU to the ultimate Mommy Teacher, Jessica, for allowing me to share my playtime experiences with every one!

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Firework Writing

This morning when I was re-playing the 4th of July in my mind, and thinking It’s time to share a writing activity with my Mommy Teachers, I had an idea…how much fun would it be for little ones to write about and/or draw fireworks?  And when I was thinking about a good “writing tool” for this activity I thought about the Q-tip.  Let your little ones paint with a q-tip and then sprinkle glitter on top of their picture.  Then, when it dries they have the perfect snapshot to “write about” – with your help of course.

This might sound like a headache because it is “messy,” but just lay down a bunch of newspaper and don’t sweat the mess because kids need these experiences for their creativity to blossom.

I found these q-tips if you want to dip the whole thing in paint and then lay it down in all directions to make it look like fireworks flares.

Me, My husband, and our one year old on the levee, overlooking the Mississippi this HOT fourth of July day 🙂

Some fireworks to jog your little one’s memory!

ooooohhhhhh…….aaaahhhhhhhh

Share your Fourth of July Family pics on the Mommy Teacher Facebook Page!

 

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Mommy’s Inside Scoop on Hopscotch

I know most of us grew up playing hopscotch and didnt think twice about what math skills we might be learning.  But when your little one is playing hopscotch, he or she is interacting with a lifesize number line.  And children learn so naturally through movement.

So, on this pretty day, I propose that you get outside with your little one, chalk up a hopscotch grid OR go to your local park or school that has a hopscotch painted on the concrete and keep these skills in mind:

1.  Counting practice – draw the hopscotch with numbers up to twenty!  I know that is a long hopscotch but children need more practice with numbers 10-20.

Start off just asking your little one to help you count the number spaces out in order.

2. Identifying numbers

Try to hop on one foot from 1 to 20 so that your little one has to identify the numbers in one- to- one correspondance.  If you toss a rock to a number, have them call out the number they are hopping to and then call out the numbers they hop on to get there.

3. Identify the numbers coming before or after a given number

After playing the game regularly at first, tell your little one that it’s time to play a new version of the game.  “This time we are going to play ‘hop to the number that comes BEFORE the number that the rock lands on.'”  Play this again but then hopping to the number that comes AFTER the number the rock lands on.

4. Identifying a number coming between two numbers.

Play “Can You hop to the number that comes between _ and __.”

5. Count forward or backward from a given number.

Have your little one count out loud as he/she hops forward or backward from the number they land on.  You want your little one to have the skill of knowing how to “count on” or “count back” from any given number because this will help your little one solve math problems in the future.

6. You can even use the hopscotch grid to practice simple addition and subtraction:

-examples of addition: if you hop one space and then two more what number will you land on? (three)   or if you are on the number five and hop two spaces what number will you land on? (seven)

-examples of subtraction:  if you are on the number 8 and you hop back three spaces what number will you land on?  (five).  Or, if you are on the number three and hop back two spaces which number would you land on?  (one)

Did you have any idea there could be six plus versions of hopscotch teaching all those skills?  Have fun!

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Map It Out

Today’s activity is a combination of kindergarten grade level expectations in social studies, math, writing, and reading!  And it happens to be one your little one will love. 

You are going to create a simple map of your child’s room with your little one (this is the social studies skill).  And you are going to use shapes to draw items like the bed, rug, dresser, desk, lamp, etc. (math skill).  Then you are going to ask your little one to help you sound out the words to write on each space (reading skill), and then have your little one write the letters as you name them (writing skill).  You are going to bury a “treasure” like a candy or other treat in the room and write a small “x” in the place where you have hidden it.  Then your little one will use the map to figure out where the hidden treasure is. 

A very simple, yet educational, and extremely fun activity for your little one to do!  Share about your experience on the Mommy Teacher Facebook Page!

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Stay Tuned….

I hope all you Mommy Teachers have had a fabulous weekend! Ours was crazy + busy and soooo much fun but now I am crazy tired.

And a not-so-fabulous thing happened this weekend – I have come across a bummer of a computer problem – so I will not be posting until Tuesday, but I am writing to encourage you to STAY TUNED because there will be a giveaway this week and an Easter-themed “Design for Development” that is going to be so fun!

Until then, look through some old posts….click around to see if there are any activities, tips, or insights that you might have missed 🙂

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