Imprints From Tricia

I love the dollar store almost as much as I love Target! Speaking of the dollar store be sure to check out this post from growingajeweledrose.com: 100 things to buy from the dollar store

Her list is fantastic and she gives examples of how she uses each item for play. We already used many of the materials she suggested but I was also inspired by many other ideas I hadn't thought to use before. She also has wonderful sensory play and bath play ideas on her site so be sure to check it out!

A recent trip to the dollar store inspired this activity. It's not ground breaking or anything, it's been done many times but it's the first time we did it and the girls loved it. One of the best parts is it all was purchased at the dollar store for $5 and it can be used over and over again!

The materials are simple: pom poms, ice cube trays and tweezers.

The girls used the tweezers to sort the pom poms in the ice cube tray.

My 4 year old sorted them by color and counted each color after sorting.

My 2 year old had fun simply using the tweezers to pick up the pom poms. Great fine motor skill activity! Also an example of how this activity lends itself to different skill levels.

So simple and fun all for $5!!

We had fun with this activity celebrating the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

We read a couple of books about about peace and friendship including Can You Say Peace by Karen Katz and We All Sing With The Same Voice by Phillip J Miller.

We discussed the theme of peace and friendship and talked about what it means to be peaceful and friendly. (topics that aren't limited to MLK day, we discuss these themes quite often.)

We then read this beautiful book I recently discovered called I Have A Dream by Martin Luther King Jr. and Kadir Nelson. The book has gorgeous illustrations!

This description was from Amazon:

from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s daughter, Dr. Bernice A. King:

“My father’s dream continues to live on from generation to generation, and this beautiful and powerful illustrated edition of his world-changing "I Have a Dream" speech brings his inspiring message of freedom, equality, and peace to the youngest among us—those who will one day carry his dream forward for everyone."

Although the book is beautiful I did skip over some of the vocabulary/parts that I knew would be too complicated or mature for my 4 year old and 2 year old. I still think it's a great book to introduce MLK day to preschoolers and it allowed for age appropriate discussions about who MLK was, what he stood for, and why we celebrate him.

After we read and discussed the story I asked the girls to draw illustrations (observational drawings) about what they liked about the story. As they recalled what they wanted to draw they revisited the story, turning to favorites pages. This is a great comprehension activity to do with any story!

The girls were given clip boards, paper and pencils to do their drawings. Clip boards are another great way to make drawing and writing fun! Kids love them and it also allows for writing to be done in many places other than a table.

When they were finished they were asked to tell me about their drawings. As they told me about them I wrote down their dictations on the drawing. This is a great way to model that print has meaning. You are teaching them that what they say, their very own words can be written down and thus words have meaning!

Here is my 2 year olds

Here is my 4 year olds:

When they were done I mounted them with black construction paper and displayed them in our kitchen.
Don't forget to display those drawings! Kids love to see their work displayed with honor!