We're back! We attempted a quick, last minute attempt at some Tot School activities to ring in the holiday week for the 4th of July and learning all about America and Patriotism! This was our first week back at Tot School since Acelyn has joined our circus, so it was all over the place and we didn't do quite as much as we are used to. Yet, Nolan was thrilled to have some fun learning time back in his life! I really need to set up our monthly routine by mapping out some activities and themes for our future weeks... life has just gotten a little bit crazy with another little person in the mix! Here's a look at our 4th of July + America activities:
We started off the week by reading the book, You're a Grand Old Flag, which Nolan quickly picked up on identifying on each page. Throughout the week (and even still) he can find a flag and usually says, "Flag of America!" as his way of saying the American Flag. It's pretty adorable. We also created our own "Fireworks in a Jar" which Nolan absolutely loved watching. We did this four times in a row, and he enjoyed helping me drip the dye into the bowl and helping pour into the water and oil mixture. Our first attempt was with baby oil, which was a fail, so we quickly switched to canola oil and it made such a difference. The colors separated so much better and we could really see the droplets spread throughout and make some cool displays!
Afterwards, we played a game of 4th of July Scavenger Hunt, found here. This was a huge hit for Nolan and he really liked finding things on his own and feeling super proud when he figured out it was the correct, matching item! He was able to identify everything, including an American Flag on our book we had just read, and the stripes on his own shirt! The only thing I needed to help him with was the picture of a President, which I showed him a penny with Abraham Lincoln. We played this multiple times, also, and he even asked for it again later in the week.
Our craft for the day was making our own Fourth of July Fireworks, using a fork! We've done fork art before, so I knew Nolan would enjoy this and be able to do it himself with little help. He managed to make his own firework after I guided him for the first ones, and gave his own special touch with lots and lots of glitter!
Our books for the second day were not super interesting, so Nolan didn't quite pay attention to them as they were way over his head and too detailed for him to care. Instead, he learned how to play Bingo for the first time, and with lots of instruction throughout the game, successfully beat Mommy his first time! He would pull out the picture, and I would have him find the matching picture on his card (if it was there). He then placed a coin over his picture, and we continued on, taking turns picking out the cards each time. I had to remind him that he was getting closer and closer to having a "Bingo!" by forming a straight line across his card, and when he won, he was thrilled to yell it out... "BINGO!" We played multiple times after, and he really loved sorting out the coins as his Bingo markers and carefully selected each coin every time. I loved that the pictures from this printable were super intricate, so he had to pay extra special attention to details to match the correct image.
Our craft for the day was creating our own American flag. I had Nolan use his Do-a-Dot markers, and he (roughly) marked up the colors in the appropriate areas. I covered the corner and created stripes by placing paper and tape over the current paper, and lifted each section as we went on. He was able to place the star stickers where he liked in the corner, and got to dabbing, again. When he was finished, we peeled everything off and glued his stick on, and he was stoked to wave it around and was sure to show Daddy his creation when he came home from work.
On our last day, we read O, Say Can You See, which was a cool book that identified lots of patriotic themes and things through history and landmarks! Nolan enjoyed learning about different American icons, but the book was a little much and over his head, so we created our own little story as we read. Afterwards, we sang along to the Star Spangled Banner printable, and Nolan helped me learn the words by identifying each picture!
We had another fun fireworks art project planned, and Nolan was able to do this project completely by himself, which he thought was pretty cool. We used toilet paper rolls cut up to help create our fireworks, and of course, couldn't finish the project without some more glitter!
Here's to our first week back at Tot School with a great fun and interesting theme to celebrate our country and holiday! Happy 4th!
