Owl Diorama

The second half of our February we are focusing on owls.
I compiled a list of books that we either had, borrowed from a friend or from the library. WE LOVE THE LIBRARY! I mean, come on. It is an entire "book store" without having to buy OR store. It is like being able to have access to every book your local book store has but they basically volunteer to keep the books safe for you until you need them. love it. can't say it enough. Visit your local library.  Seriously. Do it.

OWL BOOK LIST

The Little White Owl by: Tracey Gorderoy

Owl Moon by: Jane Yolen

Big Bad Owl by: Steve Smallman

Owl Babies by: Martin Waddell

Owls by: Gail Gibbons

Owl and Moon by: Heather Swick

Oola the Owl Who Lost Her Hoot by: Tim Bugbird

The Littlest Owl by: Caroline Pitcher

WOW! Said the Owl by: Tim Hopgood

Three Little Owls by: Sandi Harrold

Little Owl’sNight by: Divya Srinivasan

Little Owl’s Day by: Divya Srinivasan

Owls by: Sarah Courtauld

Owl Howl by: Paul Friester

Twelve Owls by: Laura Erickson

Owls by: Natures Children Scholastic

Owl Moon Diorama 

After reading Owl Moon by: Jane Yolen the threenager and I made a diorama. Inspired from here. 

We took an old box (We used the box our snacks get mailed in bc it was sturdier). 

The threenager painted the inside of the box with black paint. For the ground we used water down liquid school glue. I watered it down for easier spreading with a paint brush. 

Then sprinkled it with purple sand. Her choice. Her reasoning? "Because sand doesn't look white at night mommy. It looks Purpley." (Is that a word? Eh. 

We have been gathering sticks for this project on our walks. We trimmed them to fit and hot glued them. (I did this part bc the glue is hot for tiny fingers.) 

She drew and colored a moon then cut it out and glued it in place. 

Next were the owl eyes. I drew circles on a paper and had her put two matching sized eyes in each. Then counted and discussed how "4 owls would be how many eyes?"  Etc. 

She placed the eyes where she wanted them on the scene and I hot glued them in place. My favorite ones are where there are two sets of eyes on top of each other. 

Me: "Sweetie, are you sure you want two sets there?" 

E: "Yes mama. It's a mommy and a baby snuggling."  

Me: heart grew two more sizes.

And done. A beautiful night scene with peeping owls. 

"Late one winter night a little girl and her father go owling. The trees stand still as statues and the world is silent as a dream. Whoo-whoo-whoo, the father calls to the mysterious nighttime bird.

But there is no answer." ~ Owl Moon 

Owl Dress Up

We are in full owl mode over here. Everything about them is a "hoot"! (See what I did there? ;) )

Our favorite by far is the owl wings and mask. 

We started with the wings which can be found here: 

We altered it so we could use what we had here at home. 

Our wings are made of felt and hot glued (originally tacky glued- learned the hard way).

 I punched holes in the top and tied ribbons to loop her arms through. 

The mask I found here: 

We used an old mailing box and glued feathers. 

Isn't it just "hoo"dorable? 

Feeling Lucky

I can't even believe it is March already! I'm pretty sure we just celebrated Christmas. I am excited about the learning activities we are doing for this months themes: Rainbows, St. Patrick's Day

It is no surprise how much we love our books in our home. I love to rotate them out according to our themes we are doing. I have comprised a list of books that flow with the themes above.


St. Patrick's Day Book List

Good Luck Bear by: Greg Foley

Green Shamrocks by: Eve Bunting

Jamie O’Rourke and the Big Potato by: Tomie DePaola


Leprechauns Never Lie by: Lorna Balian

St. Patrick's Day by: Anne Rockwell

The Leprechaun Trap by: David and Kelly Clinch


Lucky Tucker by: Leslie McGuirk


St. Patrick's Day by: Gail Gibbons

The Naughty Leprechaun Story by: Stephanie Hicks

It's St. Patrick's Day by: Rebecca Gomez

Ten Lucky Leprechauns by: Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook


St. Patrick’s Day by: Dorothy Goeller


St. Patrick's Day from the Black Lagoon by: Mike Thaler

Looking for Leprechauns by: Abby Klein

The Story of the Leprechaun by: Katherine Tegen


What is St. Patrick’s Day? by: Elaine Landau



TODDLER TIME ACTIVITIES

Rainbow Sensory Ribbons


Materials:
White foam (you could use anything, cardboard, cardstock, etc.)
Hole punch
Ribbon in the colors of ROYGBV and of different textures

Directions:

Punch 6 holes on either side of your foam or board.
Thread the red ribbon through the first hole and across to the other side, tying it off in the back.
Continue doing this for all 6 ribbons.
WAHLA! that is it. You have a completed ribbon texture board.

textures, math (colors), sensory




Color Sort the Rainbow


Materials:
One pipe cleaner of each ROYGBV color: cut in half
Cardstock the colors of ROYGBV
Paper cutter
Stapler


Directions:

Using the paper cutter, cut the cardstock in half, then fold one of the halves.
Staple two of the sides to create a pocket.
Write the color of the cardstock on the outside.
Hang color pockets on the wall and give your toddler the pipe cleaners to sort by color.


textures, math (color sorting, matching), fine motor







Irish Flag Suncatcher

Materials:

contact paper

masking tape

green construction foam

white construction foam

orange construction foam

Directions:
Cut as large of a piece of contact paper you wish to use.
Using a sharpie, draw two lines to separate the sheet into three areas.
Cut pieces of all three foam colors into varied sizes.
Using the masking tape, hang the contact paper onto a window or wall sticky side out making sure the three areas are vertical.
Give your tot the cut foam pieces and have her separate the colors in the right order (green, white, orange).

*NOTE: I like to use foam on these contact paper projects so they can be used again and again. Paper makes it hard to take a part.

fine motor, history, multi-cultural, math (color sorting)


**** EXTENSION ****


This can be done as a tearing project. Simply have your tot tear the papers of each color and glue onto a sheet of divided paper to make the flag.




PRESCHOOL ACTIVITIES


Irish Flag

Materials:

white cardstock or construction paper

one piece of green paper

one piece of white paper

one piece of orange paper

child scissors

glue stick


Directions:

** This is basically the same idea as the above toddler time flag suncatcher.

Draw two vertical lines onto the white paper so there are three equal parts.

Cut green, white and orange paper into strips.

Draw vertical lines onto the strips. They all don't have to be of equal sizes.

Your child will cut these lines until the strips are into pieces.

Have your child glue the pieces onto the white cardstock into the correct areas to create the flag (green, white, orange).

History, fine motor, color sorting, cutting practice

*** EXTENSION ***


You could use paint swatches, the lines are already there for them to cut.








UnLucky Green Clovers

Materials:
green playdoh

White cardstock


Directions:


Draw four leaf clovers on your white cardstock (you could clip art them).
~~ laminate this, optional but highly recommended because the doh will stick.

Have your child create balls to fill the leaves of the clovers.

Next have them "smash" (why they are unlucky) the balls so they come together to make it appear like 4 leaf clovers.


fine motor, texture, sensory





Leprechaun Camouflage

Materials:

outside (anywhere)

eye spies (their eyes)
~~ optional items

clip board

paper

pencil

Directions:
Go to your favorite outside place.

Talk a walk around having your child spy all things GREEN! (This is where a leprechaun likes to hide because it is harder to spot them) ;)

~~~ optional ~~~
You (or them) can write down all the things they found.

They can later illustrate these objects into a retelling book.

We plan to use rainbow binoculars while we do our search thanks to Crafty Morning. They can be found here.