Story telling with Puppets: Julia Donaldson's Room on the Broom

It's not surprising that my 3 y.o son Looo..oved Julia Donaldson’s “Room on the Broom”. I happened to see the character puppets on their website and got them printed right away! 

Pasted them on Popsicle sticks and made some more items such as the cone, bone, bow, hat, beast etc from felt. A plastic cup played the role of the cauldron.

It was definitely exciting to tell the story via puppets, ESP the part where the dragon chases the flying witch (we run around the whole house!). But after a coupla times he actually had the sequence memorised. And I realised what an excellent tool puppets make as a crucial step towards literacy. Sure I make all the books I read to him interactive, but puppets is taking that to a different level, it's HIM telling ME the story!

We also used it for phonics activities, as he JUST got the concept of alphabet sounds. I laid down all puppets and asked him to recognise the beginning sound and place the alphabets with the respective puppets. This was especially exciting  for me - since it was the first few times that he GOT phonics, after months of learning the alphabet.

Baking Soda & Vinegar Concoction - Science Experiment for Preschoolers!

Adding ANYTHING to paint makes it twice as fun. And adding it to a baking soda and vinegar Concoction resulting in a bubbling eruption can guarantee squeals of laughter and excitement!

We mixed a dollop of tempera paint with two teaspoons baking soda in each of the disposable plastic cups, arranged on a tray. In a beaker we poured some vinegar and few squirts of kitchen cleaner (to add a 'bubbly' effect). Then all he had to do was pour the vinegar into the plastic cups and voila! What happens is NaHCO3 + HC2H3O2 → NaC2H3O2 + H2O + CO2. (Or whatever that means!)

 

Is your child thorough with his ABC recognition, yet clueless about letter sounds?

All the alphabet packs and alphabet related activities in the last few months have done good w.r.t. Letter Recognition. But I still couldn't figure out how to teach my 3 y.o letter Sounds. When I would ask him the letter sound or make him repeat after me, he either didn't understand or wasn't interested. That's when Dr. Suess' ABC blue black book stepped came as a big help!

It's so silly and funny! And perhaps it's the quick succession of beginning sound words that did the trick of drilling the concept of phonics into his brain!

Why Not Use Sequins Instead of Glitter Glue! For Kids Christmas Crafts

Using Glitter glue can be so frustrating! You gotta squeeze em like your life depends on it. Not fun for little kids! So I got some Sequins! The timing couldn't have been more right, since we had been doing various Christmas packs!

Kids Craft: Glitter Stars with Popsicle Sticks (& Where to Buy Christmas Decorations in Pune)

Christmas is coming! And there are so many related activities to be done and so little time!

Glitter Stars taught my son how two triangles can make a star. He then painted them and painstakingly put glitter glue over them. 'Painstakingly' since I realised how painful getting glitter glue out of those tubes is! He would get frustrated and hand me the tube every now and then. Wasn't a cake walk for me either!