Simple Drawing Table

Just off our kitchen we have a little area where the girls can draw and paint. The table they use was bought last year from a closing down preschool and is very well loved, the top is covered in texta and other marks so I had been considering covering the surface with something. 

I didn't want it to be anything too fussy (it's an art table after all!) and this solution has worked really well so far providing a nice workable surface that doesn't get in the way of their activities.

WE USED: 

* large bulldog clips
* roll of paper

(we buy ours from the stationary section in Coles for around $2 or $3 a roll)

It's as simple as cutting the paper roll to the length of the table and then securing each end to the table top with the clips.

Our table isn't very wide so we just used two at each end.

The girls love their drawing table and add creations to it constantly. When it gets a bit full we just unclip it and change the paper over for a new length.

Play Dough Echidnas - Fine Motor Practice

Squeak has low muscle tone so finds most fine motor activities tiring and a bit tricky. Cutting with scissors and holding a pencil in particular are things she tries to avoid, so finding activities that interest her and build these skills is high on our list at the moment.

Both of the girls have a new interest in echidnas since our Australian Animal Silhouette Game a few weeks ago, so this activity builds on that and adds in some scissor and pincer skill building as well.

WE USED:

* play dough

* drinking straws

* scissors

* googly eyes (optional)

I always put out a selection of different types of scissors during craft and activity time and encourage Squeak to try out different pairs. They all use slightly different actions depending on the style of scissor and it's all good practice to build up her hand muscles.

First the girls shaped their play dough into an echidna body shape. We looked at all the different body parts and talked about the echidnas long snout (or beak). The girls also added some googly eyes.

Then they cut their straws into shorter lengths to make spines for their echidnas.

Not only are the shaping and cutting skills great for fine motor strength but the pushing action is a good workout as well. The girls cut their straws whatever length they liked and then added them to their play dough echidnas.

Two little play dough echidnas, great job girls :)

Australian Animal Facts Hide & Seek

This activity was a follow up to the Silhouette Matching game we played earlier in the day. The girls had lots of questions about the animals so we had a fact finding treasure hunt to learn a little bit more about them.

WE USED:

* flag napkins (optional)

* animal facts

* animal pictures

* blutac (sticky tack)

 I printed out some fun facts for each of our native animal pictures and cut them into strips.

I also had some Australia Day napkins that I found in Spotlight recently for $1.50/pack which had the flag on them. We cut these up to create some mini flags for our Australia Day treasure hunt.

 

I hid each animal fact with a flag around the girls toy room for them to find.

 

Some were nice and easy for little Squeak to find and others were a lot trickier for Bubble to hunt for.

We spaced out our animal pictures on the whiteboard leaving room for the animal facts to go along side.

As the girls found each fact I would read it out and they could then match it to the right animal on the board and stick it on. 

We ended up with a board full of fun facts to learn about each animal.

Australian Animals - Whiteboard Silhouette Matching

Bubble and Squeak both love using the whiteboard so we did some silhouette matching today using some Australian native wildlife. It was great for fine motor practice and problem solving as well as a good speech workout while we practiced saying some of the trickier animal names.

WE USED:

* whiteboard 

(you could also use the front of your fridge or a window)

* whiteboard marker

(or chalk if using a chalk board)

* animal pictures

* animal silhouettes

(I searched for ours on Google Images and then printed them out)

* blutac (sticky tack)

Using blutac we attached our animal silhouettes to the top of our whiteboard and the animal pictures to the bottom. Be sure to mix up the order to make it a bit trickier to match them up.

 

Using whiteboard markers the girls took turns to match the silhouettes and pictures by drawing connecting lines.

They had fun mixing up the picture orders for each other and playing over and over. We said the animal names and worked on their pronunciation as we matched them up.

Learning States - Chalk Outline Activity

This activity was very simple but great fun, and all we needed was chalk. After we'd finished practicing our states the girls sat outside after lunch with their toys pretending to drive and fly all over the country. Great for learning and also imaginary play!

WE USED:

* chalk
* concrete area

* Australian states puzzle (optional)

Using chalk I drew a big map of Australia with the state lines included on our outdoor concrete area. It's not very exact but roughly correct! :)

 

I called out random state names and the girls took turns finding the right place. We used different actions to make it even more fun (ie: "drive to Queensland", or "jump to Western Australia").

We have a wooden map of Australia puzzle so we brought it out to do some matching.

The girls matched each little state puzzle piece to it's corresponding place on the chalk map.

We also spent some time talking about which states our friends and family lived in and what animals/fruits/cities were located in each one as well.

Tongs & Foam Letters - Australia Day Sight Words

The girls and I did some Australian themed sight words today using foam letters and water. It's summer here and the weather is lovely and warm (28'c and climbing!), so a water activity was perfect. We also threw in some tongs in honour of the greatest Aussie tradition of all - BBQs :)

WE USED:

* foam letters

* plastic tub full of water

* window

* various tongs

* paper and pen

* blutac (sticky tack)

We thought up some Aussie words together and spelt them out on flashcards cut from paper.

Then we filled our tub with water and foam shapes and I put out a tray with different types of tongs for the girls to experiment with.

We then used blutac to attach the sight words to an outside window. 

The girls had a great time fishing around in the water with the tongs, picking up each letter and sticking them to the glass.

This was a great fine motor activity and a good way to learn some patriotic words for the day :)

Australia Day - Jumping Kangaroo Races

Happy Australia Day to all of our Aussie readers! 

We have been doing lots of Australia themed activities today in celebration and this one is by far the girls favourite.

We actually did this activity years ago with aeroplanes (link to Elastic Aeroplanes post here) and I thought the girls would enjoy an Australia Day version using kangaroos instead. Squeak was only a baby when we first played this game so it was a first for her and she loved it!

WE USED:

* paper

* pens/textas/crayons

* scissors

* glue

* thin elastic

* dining chair or barstool

To start with I drew some kangaroo outlines on paper for the girls to colour in. You could print them from the net but I just traced them from the computer screen.

 

Once the girls had finished colouring their kangaroos we cut them out with scissors.

We folded some paper to make our launcher (see Elastic Aeroplanes post here for photo instructions on folding your launcher) and glued the kangaroos to one side. On the other we wrote the names the girls had given their kangaroos.

To make our slingshots we upturned some bar stools and tied our elastic around the legs. You could use a small table or chair for this too, or use an actual slingshot.

* Be sure to place the elastic way down the legs so it doesn't slip off when they pull back on it.

We set up one slingshot station for each of the girls so they could race their kangaroos.

They slid their launchers over the elastic, pulled back and let go to watch their kangaroos jump right across the room!

Squeak loved this part and would give herself a count down before letting her kangaroo go.

Once all the kangaroos had jumped we would check to see who had gone the furthest and who had done the fanciest 'jump'.