St. Patrick’s Day Index 2011

Just saving the index for next year before deleting the page! I hope you found it helpful.

Here’s some favorites from my search online.  I use these lists to help while planning activities or just pulling something up in the spur of the moment.  I hope they help you too!

• St Patricks Day’s packet http://www.2teachingmommies.com/2011/02/sneak-peak-st-patricks-day.html
• St. Patrick’s Day packet http://thoughtsofesme.blogspot.com/2011/02/im-back-mostly-with-new-unit.html
• Lucky Charms charting
• Color mixing pudding (green) http://quirkymomma.com/2010/yellow-and-blue/
• Papertowel roll shamrock http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2011/03/paper-roll-shamrock-craft.html
• Tissue Paper Rainbow http://thatartistwoman.blogspot.com/2009/03/tissue-paper-rainbows.html
• Felt Shamrock Matching http://gironlife.blogspot.com/2010/03/felt-shamrock-matching-game.html
• Rainbow pudding http://www.makeandtakes.com/mixing-and-layering-rainbow-pudding
• Lacing Cards http://www.chalkinmypocket.com/2011/03/st-patricks-day-lacing-cards-shamrock.html

Counting Clovers

This activity was done with no prep (it seems most of our activities this month are no prep since I’m crazy busy getting ready for a baby). 

I cut out the squares while J counted how many we had ( cut out 9 of them).  We then numbered them together (and he decided to make a number line with them).  I explained to J how to make clovers using a green marker and green circle stickers.  I used directional words like left, right and above (or sometimes “on top”) when describing where the stickers should be placed.  I also used this activity to practice ordinal numbers (first, second, third). 

At first I drew the stem myself and he added the stickers.  He counted and told me when I had made enough stems to match the number written on each square.   Then he made the stems himself too.  I actually didn’t have a lot of stickers left so he also used a green dot marker to create some clovers.

Age attempted: 35 months

Lucky Charms Math

I gave him a little bowl of Lucky Charms cereal and first had him sort the marshmallows using the sorting printout here.  I actually had a bowl of cereal to sort myself.  I’ve found this often helps J stay focused and work more independently.  Sometimes if he’s doing an activity with me just sitting there next to him, he’ll ask for my help more often.  If I have my own activity to work on, he’s fine doing this by himself.  It’s also a great way to teach something new since I’m basically modeling what to do (and helped a lot when we did the charting later). 

After sorting the marshmallows, he graphed them using the chart here.  We practiced reading the graph to find out how many marshmallows he had in each category (without actually counting), and quickly determine which category had the most and the least. 

 J did really well on this.  He waited so patiently to eat his marshmallows (I did let him eat the broken ones and the cereal as we sorted). 

Here’s another chart that would work well for coloring, but there’s not enough space for actually charting the marshmallows.

Age attempted: 35 months

A look back at St. Patrick’s Day

Here’s a couple activities we’ve done that would work with St. Patrick’s Day.  Also check out the index here that includes some St. Patrick’s Day links.

Building a Clover

Build a Rainbow

 Paper Towel Rainbow

 

St. Patrick’s Day Clover

We’ve done a few crafts this way and I’ve found they work really well for toddlers.  It requires simple shape matching and gluing. 

First I cut out the pieces and traced the shapes into the desired shape on construction paper.  In this case it was 3 circles (though hearts would probably make them look more like clovers… didn’t think about that until it was already done!)  I did not trace the stem of the clover; we just added that last.

J helps match the shape cut-outs to the traced shapes on the paper.  Using a Q-tip, he glues the shape in place. 

23 months

  This is J’s final product. 

J has also made a flower and a sun using this same process (I’ll post those pictures later). I have planned some pictures where he has to match multiple shapes in one activity.

Age attempted: this particular one was at 23 months, the flower and sun were done around 19 months

Teachable Moments:  I emphasize the shapes in the project, how to use glue (he uses the Q-tip to place a dab of glue inside the shapes)

Try Again?  Similar activities, yes