Tots and Me... Growing Up Together: Littles Learning Link Up: January 30, 2018- Mommy and Baby Penguins Print Craft

Each month you will find:

A seasonal round-up (usually toward the beginning of the month)
Posts where I share what I have been up to with my early elementary children (including occasional highlight posts where I share how we used ideas that have been linked up here on Littles Learning Link Up).

Each week, I will host a link up, where you can share either what you have been up to recently, or old posts that may go with the theme. Feel free to link up more than one post.

Each week I will continue to feature a couple of posts from those that have been linked up.

I hope you will continue to share your wonderful posts, and I hope you will find something new to try with your child(ren).

It would be great for everyone to stop by and visit the other linked-up posts as well. Check them out, leave some comments, pin those that interest you. Let's make this a real party and socialize with each other.

What have we been up to?

Well, we've had a nasty cold running through our household. However, we have managed to get school work done around the coughing, sore throats, and fevers.

Our main focus for our Bible time has been learning about the Tabernacle. We are even in the process of building one per child.

Harold even built one out of his Magna Tiles:

I guess it is the perfect landing spot for futuristic space vehicles?

We are a bit behind in our science lessons because we didn't have any Epsom Salt. So when hubby ended up going to Walmart last week, I had him pick some up. And I'm glad I did, this was a fun experiment.

(Please excuse Mister Nut-Case)

We added equal amounts of water to 3 cups. The one cup had no Epsom Salt, the second had a little, and the third had more.

Then we sat back and watched the bubbles form when we placed a 9-volt battery in the water.

Yes, even daddy was intrigued.

Have you ever tried this experiment? Do you know why the bubbles formed? I love that even I am learning new things with this curriculum.

We have finally gotten started using our newest review products. Harold and Hannah have been using Starfall, while Tabitha and Amelia are learning to type using UltraKey Online from Bytes of Learning.

First they learned about proper posture and the names of the fingers going by where they sit on the home row.

Daddy wouldn't let Tabitha look at the keyboard while she was typing. I have a feeling he's probably wanted to do this for a long time, seeing as he had someone do it to him when he was playing piano. Not sure though. Don't worry, this only lasted a few minutes.

Both girls get to use this program during their computer time.

Let's move on to our project for this week.

Mommy and Baby Penguins Print Craft

You will need:

Light blue construction paper

White paint (I use the bottled acrylic paint)

Orange paint

Black paint

Two potatoes (one smaller than the other)

Cotton balls

Fingers

Paintbrush

Black marker

This project was inspired by the book Baby Penguins Everywhere! by Melissa Guion.

I cut two potatoes in half, one slightly smaller than the other.

We used the larger one to make one potato print for the mama penguin. Then I mixed white paint with a tiny bit of black paint to make a nice light gray for the baby penguins. I love doing this in front of the children so they can see the colors mixing. Then they used their index finger to paint lots of baby penguin prints. We set these aside to dry while the children went to play.

When they were dry we used the white paint to give our penguins bellies. The smaller potato was used for the mama, and the children used their pinky fingers for the babies. They then used the cotton balls to create a snowy/icy environment.

When the white paint dried the children added orange beaks and black eyes (and one girl wanted to add some feet).

I sort of love the middle project in the picture below. She had been holding her potato the wrong way and I didn't catch it in time, so we had to have her do her project long ways. Then when she was putting on her white prints on the babies, she ended up putting them way down low. The thing is, the combination of these factors makes it appear as if the babies are tobogganing downhill.

Let's take a look at that review schedule real quick:

We have been using Bonjour! Let's Learn French. That will be a review that will post on The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's website. As I mentioned above, we have also started using our new review products for the 2018 Crew year. So far we have been chosen to review Bytes of Learning's UltraKey Online and Starfall's Home Membership. Those reviews will be posting in late February.

Here are some things I would like to share with you:

A couple of weeks ago I shared a round up chock-full of penguin activities.

Penguins Penguins All Around Round Up

Winter is here in full force, I thought you might like some ideas revolving around snow. We've been getting quite a bit around these parts. How about you?

Chock-Full of Fun Snowman Round Up

Only a couple more weeks to be getting ready for Valentine's Day. I'm sure you've noticed the candy in the stores like we did. Here are some ideas for celebrating Valentine's Day with your children.

Valentine's Day Literature and Craft Round Up

The Tons-of-Fun Valentine's Day Round Up

Now onto:

Littles Learning Link Up Features

On my last Littles Learning Link Up post, there were 18 wonderful posts linked up. I will be sharing a randomly selected post and another post. Usually I share the topped clicked on post. This week there is a big tie for the posts that were clicked on the most. So out of those 8 posts, I will choose one randomly. I am so happy to see people visiting the other posts. I wish I could have shared all 8, but that would have gotten a bit crazy.

Please, don't forget to stop by other posts that are linked up. See what catches your eye, stop by, pin the post to a relevant board, and perhaps leave a comment to let the author of the blog know you have been by for a visit. I know I appreciate others commenting and letting me know they have read my posts, so I am sure others do too.

This week's randomly selected post is:

Heather from Townsend House shared How to Make a Pivot in the Middle of Your Homeschooling Year.

And here is this week's randomly selected most clicked on post.

Mommies Reviews shared Homeschooling in Texas Lesson Plan/ Unit Study Paddington 2.

Join the Party!

I would love to have you join in this week! What sort of activities do you do with your young children? Do you have some favorite activities you would like to share? I invite you to link up below. I will be pinning posts on one of my relevant boards, and I would love to feature some of the activities each week from what is linked up.

Please know I may share a picture from your post and link back to it, along with sharing how we used your idea in our school time. By linking up you are giving me permission to use a picture from your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. Additionally, if you choose to try out any of the ideas with your child, please make sure you give credit where credit is due.

Linky will be open through Monday night, to give me time to check out all the posts and get the Features organized. Please take the time to visit some of the other wonderful posts linked up.

No button currently, and there won't be one until I can figure it out seeing as Photobucket has changed things. Feel free to still share the picture in place of the button. Just link it to my Littles Learning Link Up permalink please.