This week we focused on Valentine’s Day again!
Candy Land—I don’t know if you would consider this to be a Valentine’s Day game, but it just seemed like a good time to introduce this game to Gabriela (because of all the candy, of course). She loved it! It was good practice for colors, and she’s also learning to take turns and to move an object along a path.
Clothespins on a heart box (again).
Candy Graphing—Unless you’re from the UK yourself, you’ve no idea how hard it is to find Valentine candy here! Valentine’s Day is not a big deal here like it is in America. They don’t have the conversation hearts or Sweet Tarts like we have in the US, but I finally found these “Love Hearts.” They’re similar in that they have the same sort of messages, and they’re pastel colors. However, the flavor is entirely different (the kids liked them…I didn’t). Anyway, they served the purpose for which I wanted them. Gabriela placed several on the chart, and then we counted them. I got this Valentine Graphing chart from Confessions of a Homeschooler.
Spooning/Transferring pink rice—We did this activity last year, but this year we had the nice Valentine bowls.
Gabriela eventually got tired of using the scoop and used her hands instead. Can we say big mess??? But she enjoyed this activity and did it for quite awhile!
Valentine Art—I gave her the supplies and let her go! She had several sizes of pink and red hearts I cut from construction paper, a paper doily, a glue stick, foam heart and love stickers, and regular Valentine stickers (with the backing removed so she could peel them easily). My only disappointment was that she stuck most of the stickers on top of each other, so you couldn’t see the stickers underneath. But hey, it’s her work, and she was proud of it. So I told her how pretty it was, and she was pleased.
We also read Valentine Mice! after the art project.
Felt heart bag—I found a use for my heart felt! Hurray! After posting last week’s tot school, where I begged for ideas for the felt and other things, I actually found a perfect idea on another blog! Visit A Little Learning for Two to see their felt Valentine bag and to get instructions (which are much better than mine)! I did use different stitching, so you can choose which you like best if you do this project.
I cut my felt into 2 large heart shapes, and I marked (and pre-cut) small holes for Gabriela to “sew” with yarn. Unfortunately, I possess neither a child-safe needle nor any needle at all that can fit yarn. I am going to order one from Amazon.uk as soon as I can, but I knew it wouldn’t get here in time, so I improvised. That thing at the end of the yarn is a wire, the kind that comes on toy packaging. We’ve saved several of these in the past, because they have come in handy on more than one occasion (holding our gate shut, replacing the zipper pull on our camera bag, etc.). I turned this one into a needle…it was all I had! Even though it wasn’t the best needle, it actually worked alright.
Gabriela has never done any type of sewing before, so I had to help her. I told her ahead of time what we were going to make. She loves purses and bags, so she gave her full attention to this project! I held it and showed her how to poke the “needle” up through the hole and pull it through. When she finished, I braided some yarn for the handle. She absolutely loves this bag and carries it everywhere!
Valentine cookies—Gabriela did not help with these. In fact, she was taking a nap when I made them. I’ve included this picture because eating the cookies was part of our Valentine’s Day activities and also because this picture just looks so yummy! They disappeared in less than 24 hours, by the way (not that I had much to do with that…ummmmmm…yeah…I’m guilty).
Cutting Practice—I got this idea from Counting Coconuts. (Check out her other Valentine activities on that post, too…they’re awesome!) I put Valentine stickers on a strip of paper and showed Gabriela (using the white strip you see in the photo) what to do. She needs more practice on how to hold the scissors, but she did pretty well on the cutting.
Heart Grid Game—I’ve seen grid games on several blogs in the past, but I created this one myself. I used the same candy we used for the graphing. Gabriela rolled the die, and I helped her count the dots. She’s pretty good at counting to 10, except that she often skips #5. Getting her to count out the same number of candies was more difficult, so we did that together. 
At one point, I left her for a few minutes and came back to see 4 candies neatly sitting on the dots making up the 4 on the dice. I thought that was a pretty neat way to figure out how many candies she needed! She never did put them on the grid, so I’m still not sure if she is making the connection. I thought it was pretty clever, though!
Painting a wooden heart ornament--After begging for ideas in my last Tot School post, I received this suggestion from jess_hak at The Preschool Experiment! I had several of these wooden heart ornaments, and I didn’t know what to do with them. She suggested I have Gabriela paint them, and I thought that was a great idea! I’ve never really had her paint with a paintbrush before (only finger painting). She did one side of a heart one day and the other side the next day. She absolutely LOVED this! Now I just need to go buy the non spill paint pots I’ve seen at ELC—they’re meant for paint, but I need one for water, because she nearly spilled it several times. Also, I think a shorter brush would be easier for her to use. Removing the string might have been helpful, too, but it was easier for me just to hold it out of the way…those things are hard to tie and untie! Anyway, I think I need to let Gabriela paint more often!
Do visit The Preschool Experiment—she has some wonderful Tot School activities posted!
Pin pricking—This was more like an experiment than a carefully-planned activity. I had these cork coasters, and I wanted to test them for a pin-pricking activity. I had Gabriela prick around a heart outline, but she didn’t really understand what to do. I’ll have to rethink this one.
Sensory Tub I Spy—I got this idea from Counting Coconuts. I took photos of some of the little objects I put in the tub, and then I printed out a page of the photos and put it inside a workbook extender (I didn’t have time to laminate). Gabriela hunted for items and put each one on the matching photo. She loved this the first day. She was so excited to find the items pictured. However, she didn’t do the whole page, and she showed no interest in it after that one day…which is sort of typical of her with any activity we do.
Sensory Tub Imaginary Play--Her favorite thing to do with this particular sensory tub is to pretend the little animals are falling off the top rim of the tub. Then she uses beaded necklaces or pipe cleaners to help them climb, or she’ll use the bucket or other container to catch them. I love that she uses her imagination when playing with this tub. At her age, I think it’s the best thing she can do—better than all the activities I could think of for a sensory tub!
She even figured out that one of the Littlest Pet Shop toys could stick to the side of the bucket (since the feet are magnetic)! This tub has definitely been her favorite.
Not Sure What to Call This Activity—How’s that for a title? This is a jewelry box with a top compartment that can be removed. I gave Gabriela some flower-shaped “jewels” and a wooden heart box with satiny red hearts inside. I did suggest putting the red hearts in the ring slots, but mostly I just let her play with it. She just explored different ways of putting everything in the box, and she lasted for quite awhile with this tray!
Matching Playing Card Halves—I got this idea from Counting Coconuts. I only cut the hearts (for our Valentine theme), and I separated the halves into 2 bowls. However, Gabriela didn’t get that she needed to choose one from each bowl to make a match. She easily matched the kings, queens, and jacks, but she struggled with the numbers. She also tried to pair the cards by turning them over and matching the backs, even though they’re all the same! I may set this up differently next time, and I think it’s something we can come back to, both for matching and also for numbers and counting. 
Feely Bag Game—I got this idea from my Montessori book Teach Me to Do it Myself (by Maja Pitamic), but I “Valentinized” it (you know what I mean…).
Texture Matching Hearts—I had 5 pairs of hearts, each pair made of a different material: foam, felt, wood, a satin-type material, and whatever my heart erasers are made of (synthetic rubber or gum). Gabriela had to match them. The first day we did this, she didn’t get it. She wanted to match by color. Today, however, she “got it” and knew exactly what to do. Again, I have jess_hak at The Preschool Experiment to thank for this idea! She suggested it after I asked for ideas on last week’s Tot School post.
Storytime--Here are some more Valentine books I read to Gabriela:
I’m linking this post to “Tot School” at 1+1+1=1.
P.S. This coming week is a half-term school holiday here in England. Even though I homeschool, we generally take the same holidays they do here. So…there won’t be a Tot School post from me next week. We’re taking a break!
