School Time Spring Patterns

This week we focused A LOT on patterns. It started out with wanting to focus on spring and seeds. Then I was reviewing the FunBites cutter and I tried to figure out a way make a creative Muffin Tin out of tiny squares. After I decided on patterns for the Muffin Tin I brainstormed ways to combine patterns and spring. I came up with a Pattern Garden. I decided it would be fun to make it an ongoing project. We just worked on one aspect of it each day we had lessons. 

First we discussed patterns. I started a pattern on our easel board and asked them to complete it. Then they insisted on each making their own pattern. 

I think it is cute that Tabitha and Hannah are looking on with rapt attention.

Amelia had to be reminded to start her first shape close to the left side or she ran out of space.

Here Hannah had drawn a pretty good circle.

Then we moved on to making our garden. 

The girls started out by cutting fringes on green paper. I cut Hannah's and let her color it green.

Then the girls added some flower stickers I had recently purchased on a whim.  They were to add them in a pattern. Tabitha's went big, small, big, small. Amelia went the opposite way, small, big, etc. I just let Hannah stick the stickers on. She did a great job with one to one correspondence. 

Tabitha insisted the flowers needed sun to grow, so her hand became the sun. 

For lunch I served their pattern muffin tin.  

They took the square shaped food and made patterns either on a toothpick or the table.

Then I gave them M&Ms for dessert and they made patters with them.

Tabitha:

Amelia:

You know they are retaining information when they start their morning off with cereal patterns.

Amelia is still struggling with the concept a little.

Here is Tabitha's

And with a little reminding, Amelia made one too.

Then we made our pattern sun to help the flowers grow in our garden. 

The idea was long and short rays. 

Wednesday we took a library and out door day. I was going to have them pick dandelions (yellow flowers and white puffs) and set them out in patters. Unfortunately it started to rain. 

To finish off the week we added pattern caterpillars to our gardens.

We will be adding a little more to this next week.

Edited to add: You can see the finished projects here.

While I was on the subject of gardens I decided it was high time to make another word family chart of some kind. We haven't really been using our Caterpillar Word Family chart as it has been shredded (the joys of having young ones). 

I have plans to fix this soon. It is one of the things that needs to be finished before we start My Father's World Kindergarten. 

In the meantime we are making Short e gardens.  Each flower is going to have rhyming words. We started with the "ed" words on a red flower. 

Hannah's flowers are just going to focus on the colors.

Next week we will add additional flowers in different colors for the other short e word families. The plan is, per Tabitha's request, to make these into place mats. Stop by next week to see the completed projects.

In addition, I also added some fine motor skill activities. It has been quite a while since we did any specific activities. I know how much Amelia enjoyed putting toothpicks into a shaker jar. Guess what, Hannah loves it too.

And then I attached a couple of pipe cleaners to a tray and had the girls make patterns out of beads. Note to self, make sure there are enough of each color to make a decent pattern.

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