Littles Learning Link Up: April 10, 2018- Construction Paper Handprint Flowers

 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?

Last week was a scheduled no-school week for us. We did some cleaning, visited with family, and possibly snuck in a bit of school work. This week we are back to our school routine. Except that Hannah's birthday is tomorrow, so we won't be having school. Just one of the perks of homeschooling. Birthdays are holidays!! 

Even though we didn't have school last week, we did have co-op. So I do have a craft to share this week. We are putting together a display for our end of year program. It isn't going quite the way I wanted it to, due to missing two weeks because of the pink eye. However, I think it will be nice nonetheless. 

I had originally wanted to make some handprint 3D tulips. Even though they sort of looked cute, I would have had to do most of the work. So, I went with a simpler idea. 

Construction Paper Handprint Flowers

Here is what you will need:

Green construction paper

Yellow Construction paper

Various other colors of construction paper

Glue sticks

Scissors

Pencil

I asked the children what color they wanted their flowers to be, then I traced their hands one time. I folded the paper over and cut out five of each child's hands. I cut out 1 large and 1 small yellow circle for each child. And I cut out green stems and green leaves. Older children could cut out their own shapes, maybe even their own hands, though those are a bit trickier.

This really is a simple craft. The children covered the larger yellow circle with glue. They then glued their handprints around the base circle with the fingers pointing outward.

Then they added the smaller yellow circle to the front of the flower.

We turned the flowers upside down to attach the stem, then flipped it back over to add the leaves.

Ta-da! Beautiful spring flowers for our garden display.

We read two springy flower books to go with this craft.

In My Flower by Sara Gillingham is a cute board book with a finger puppet butterfly that rests on a flower on every page. Each page talks about different things the butterfly can do, until on the last page she is with her family.

Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms by Julia Rawlinson is a cute book about a young fox named Fletcher who is excited for spring, but suddenly concerned when he notices lots of white falling from the sky. Assuming it is snow, Fletcher warns his different animal friends they need to go back to what they were doing for winter, such as hibernating. When they reach the orchard, so he can show them the falling snow, they realize it is not really snowing, but white flower petals from the blossoms are falling from the trees. Though this book focuses on blossoms more than flowers like the ones we made, I still thought it worked as an appropriate spring book. 

I love that both of these books include butterflies, as that is what we are adding to the display poster next time. I can't wait to share the finished poster.

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

Last week I shared my review of Creation Illustrated Unit Studies. This week I will be posting my reviews of Traditional Spelling II from Memoria Press and a movie titled Princess Cut from Watchman Pictures. And later in April I will share my thoughts on HelpTeaching.com, and the Planet 316 Story Book Bible plus app.

In May I will be sharing about some books from Weigl Publishers, along with the multimedia content we have been granted access to. Plus we are also reviewing Kids Email and Home School Navigator. Both of those reviews will also post in May.

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

Here are a few more flower posts. Maybe if we all start making flower crafts with our children the spring weather will stick around.

Flower and Gardening Fun Literature and Craft Round Up (featuring our Complementary Color Flowers)

"Fruit and Veggie" Flower Gardens

April Showers Brought May Flowers Round Up

Now onto:

Littles Learning Link Up Features

On my last Littles Learning Link Up post, there were 9 wonderful posts linked up. I will be sharing a randomly selected post and the top clicked-on posts.

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:

Kristen from A Mom's Quest to Teach shared Crafts: Easter Coffee Filter Sun Catchers

And here are this week's most clicked on posts.

Jeniffer from Thou Shall Not Whine shared Developing a Read Aloud Culture in Your Homeschool.

Jeniffer from Thou Shall Not Whine also shared Reading Aloud During Busy Seasons.

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.

I am sharing over at

An InLinkz Link-up

Littles Learning Link Up: March 28, 2017: "Fruit and Veggie" Flower Gardens

 Each month you will find:

• A seasonal round-up (toward the beginning of the month)
• Posts where I share what I have been up to with my preschoolers and/or 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?

We have finished up our study of Germany. We had our special meal on Saturday, though we didn't really have Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen time, as I was rushed. The children did help to shred the potatoes (in the food processor) and stir the mixture for our Potato Pancakes. We also had applesauce and a cabbage and sausage skillet recipe from Trim Healthy Mama.
We watched several fairy tale movies during our stay in Germany. We still have to finish our Nutcracker project that we started from ArtAchieve (one of our new review products). We are also going to be pressing flowers. We just have a hard time getting to everything these days.
Yesterday we "traveled" to Kenya for a two week "stay." We made Chapatis for our snack, spread them with butter and sprinkled with sugar, yum (yes, I had one too). No, I didn't remember to take a picture. Oops.

Now on to our project:

Last week at co-op, the preschool class made "Fruit and Veggie" Flower Gardens. At home, we were finishing up our V:Vegetables unit, and one of the suggestions is to make fruit and veggie prints. I thought it would be nice to make them into a garden of flowers.

You can use various fruits and vegetables for this craft. I chose to use: celery (yellow flower), carrot and brussel sprout (purple flower), lemon (orange flower), and zucchini (blue flower). The leaves were made from a single stalk of celery, while the yellow flower was made from the cut side of the bottom after all the stalks had been cut off (in one nice, straight cut). The stems were just painted on.

Here is what you will need:

Acrylic paints in your choice of colors.

White construction paper (though water color paper would probably work better)

Celery bottom

Zucchini (I cut the end off for them to use)

Carrot

Lemon

Brussel Sprout

Paint brush

I poured some paint on paper plates, one color per plate, and I set each fruit/veggie by a plate.

We used the carrot for the center of the purple flower, and the brussel sprout for the petals.

I love the prints that the celery bottom and the lemon make.

The zucchini was a little plainer than I would have liked, but it worked okay. I thought the celery stalk made great leaves.

As I did not want to waste food, I had the children all use the same fruit/veggie with the same color. I wanted to use the least amount of food possible for this craft. If you don't mind wasting more, you could easily cut more off of each fruit/veggie so children could have the opportunity to use other colors with the different shapes. 

When they were done with their flowers, they added stems with green paint, and then added the leaves.

"Fruit and Veggie" Flower Gardens:

Let's take a look at that review schedule:

We are using Color My Conversation from Northern Speech Services. Color My Conversation is "a dynamic, multi-sensory social skills program developed by a Speech-Language Pathologist to teach the skills of face-to- face conversations." That review will be posting in the second week of April. Last week we started Readers in Residence (Sleuth) from Apologia Educational Ministries with Tabitha. And we started watching Drive Thru History: The Gospels, which we are really enjoying. Additionally, we have been playing a game app called Daily Bible Jigsaw from Planet 316. All of these reviews will also be posting in late April. There will be a review for ArtAchieve posting at the beginning of May. We used Level 1 of ArtAchieve last year and really enjoyed it. I was very excited to see we were going to have the opportunity to try out Level 2, especially because there are quite a few projects that go with the countries/continents we are learning about (Germany, Africa, China, Japan, Australia). So far we have made the Swedish Dala Horse and we just started the German Nutcracker.

Some things I would like to share with you:

Resurrection Day is right around the corner. Last year I shared the Focusing On Jesus Resurrection Day Round Up.

If you are looking for another Flower-type craft, a couple of weeks ago, I shared my Flower and Gardening Fun Literature and Craft Round Up. This featured my Complementary Color Flower Craft and a round up of fun flower/gardening crafts and book lists.

I am trying to line up guest posts for 2017. If you would be interested writing a guest post for Littles Learning Link Up one of these months, please leave a comment or contact me via my contact info on my About Me page. I will need to have your email address so I can contact you. I am looking for posts that have to do with young children: crafts, activities, foods/snacks, tips, or other ideas. I am open to suggestions.

Now onto:

Littles Learning Link Up Features

On my last Littles Learning Link Up post, there were 10 wonderful posts linked up. I will be picking one randomly selected post to share, plus the top clicked-on post.  

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:

Ashley from Forgetful Momma shared Earth Day Books to Learn About Saving Our Earth.

And here is this week's top clicked on post.

Amanda from Sicily's Heart & Home shared How to Teach a Toddler With a Speech Delay.

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.

<a href="http://totsandme.blogspot.com/search/label/Littles%20Learning%20Link%20Up"><img alt="Tots and Me" src="http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt58/kewkewphoto/littles%20schooling%20b%20small%20Collage_zpsefibifom.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a>

An InLinkz Link-up

Littles Learning Link Up: Flower and Gardening Fun Literature and Craft Round Up

Welcome to Littles Learning Link Up. Each month you will find:

• A seasonal round-up (usually toward the beginning of the month)
• A guest post featuring crafts, activities, tips, snack ideas or other early childhood topics. (usually toward the end of the month)
• Posts where I share what I have been up to with my preschoolers and/or 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.

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.

It's time for this month's Round Up

Recently I have been trying something different for my round up posts. I share a selection of books that focus on a specific topic (like Celebrating the Birth of Christ or Snowmen) and then I share a round up of "Favorite Book List" posts that other bloggers have compiled, plus craft/activity posts that went with those books. I have decided I am going to continue this through the year. I hope these posts have helped you find some new books to share with your children. I know they have helped me find books I have never heard of before, and reminded me of books we have read in the past but I had forgotten about.

This month I decided to focus on flowers/gardening as Spring is right around the corner. Though, ironically, you wouldn't know it today with this lovely winter storm hurtling through the area.

This month, I don't really have any book selections, but I do have a fun craft to go with the book My Garden by Kevin Henkes. Then I will share a list of posts that focus on gardening books.

Flower and Gardening Fun Literature and Craft Round Up

Here is the flower we made:

I'm calling it: 

The Complementary Color Flower Craft

We used markers, and paint, and glue with construction paper to create these lovely flowers. I also gave the children a short lesson on color mixing, primary and secondary colors, plus a bit of an explanation on complementary colors. 

Here is what you will need:

Card Stock (for the flower centers and to glue the flower on)

Construction Paper (in various colors depending upon what colors the children want to use)

Acrylic paints

Markers

Scissors

Paint brush

Glue stick

The paper plate was for the color mixing demonstration.

As I mentioned, I gave the children a short lesson on color mixing before we started the craft. I placed one primary color at a time onto the paper plate, asking the children to tell me the name of the color after each one was added. Then I did the secondary colors by taking one primary color, placing it between two colors, and then putting a little of the other color and mixing it together. We ended up with a color wheel on our paper plate. I then explained that the colors opposite each other were complementary colors.

They were then asked which color they would like for their flower center. I put that color paint in their cup and gave them the complementary color marker to make designs on their flower. This goes with the book My Garden because there is a part in the story where the girl is imagining her garden and it would have flowers that would change colors and even have patterns on them just by her thinking about it.

When they were done drawing their patterns, they painted the circle.

The children ate snack and then played while we waited for the centers to dry. When they were dry, they were given flower petals in the complementary color, plus I also gave them petals in the same color as their center.

They used the glue sticks to glue their flower center to the card stock and then glued the petals around the center.

Complementary Color Flowers:

More Flower/Gardening Crafts and Activities that go with books:

Michelle from Delightful Learning shared The Carrot Seed {B4FIAR}, Ladybugs, Gardening, and Veggie Fun.

Sarah from Little Bins for Little Hands shared Spring Garden Activity With The Surprise Garden Book.

Sarah from My Joy-Filled Life shared Planting a Rainbow - Story Time Activities.

Trisha from Inspiration Laboratories shared Plant Science Experiment Inspired by Peter Rabbit.

MaryAnne from Mama Smiles shared Gardening Fun For Kids to go with the book The Curious Garden.

Jen from Kitchen Counter Chronicles shared Plant a Storybook Vegetable Garden with Kids to go with a couple of their favorite gardening books: Growing Vegetable Soup and The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Jennifer from Sugar, Spice and Glitter shared Lupine Mixed Media Provocation to go with the book Miss Rumphius.

Laura from Sunny Day Family shared Pipe Cleaner Lupines: Flower Craft for Preschoolers to go with the book Miss Rumphius.

And here are some Flower/Garden Book compilation posts.

Jodie from Growing Book by Book shared Counting Books in the Garden.

Deirdre from JDaniel4's Mom shared Dig Into Reading - 22 Garden Themed Books.

Jacquie from EDVentures With Kids shared Gardening Books and Activities for Kids.

Cerys from Rainy Day Mum shared Cool Garden Books For Toddlers and Preschoolers.

Jennifer from Sugar, Spice and Glitter shared 12+ Books about Botany for Kids.

Laura from Sunny Day Family shared 10 Flower Books for Preschoolers.

What are your favorite Flower/Gardening books that you read to your children?

I am lining up guest posts for the new year. If you would be interested writing a guest post for Littles Learning Link Up one of these months, please leave a comment or contact me via my contact info on my About Me page. I will need to have your email address so I can contact you. I am looking for posts that have to do with young children: crafts, activities, foods/snacks, tips, or other ideas. I am open to suggestions.

Now onto:

Littles Learning Link Up Features

On my last Littles Learning Link Up post, there were 9 wonderful posts linked up. I will be picking one randomly selected post to share, plus the top clicked-on post.  

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:

Our Home of Many Blessings shared Seven Hungry Babies.

And here is this week's top clicked on post.

Homeschool Base shared Free Homeschool Curriculum - The Ultimate Resource List.

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 my Toddler Ideas or other relevant board, 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, if applicable. 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 Sunday 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.

I would love if you could share my button. 

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An InLinkz Link-up

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