Flower Week FRIDAY Schedule (plus links to printables!)

Everyday activities:

Study vocabulary words. I like to use Montessori-style nomenclature cards for these. I print and laminate them, then cut them apart and punch holes in the corners. For some reason, my kids love flipping through the cards when they're on a little binder ring. More fun than a flat page I suppose! Download your free flower nomenclature cards HERE. She has a whole bunch of awesome nomenclature card sets for free to download, and I would suggest getting them all! But for this week specifically, scroll down just a smidge and click on "Flowers" under the heading "Nomenclature/3-part cards.

Work on beginning alphabet sounds. This week I chose to use the cards from a set of printables you can download HERE. Many of my resources are coming from that set, so while you're in there, go ahead and get all three parts. Again, I love to laminate these and put them on the binder ring. That way you can use a clothespin to mark the correct letter, or a dry erase marker.

Work on counting skills. I am using the counting clip cards that you can download HERE. I'm also having several of my resources coming from that set. Laminate, put them on the binder ring. Use a clothespin to mark the correct number, or a dry erase marker.

 Practice letter tracing. The set you downloaded for the alphabet sounds (HERE if you still need them) includes three alphabet pages. P for Pots, G for gloves, and S for Seeds. I laminate those as well, and the kids love doing them over and over again.

Scissor or prewriting practice. I found these in the set you downloaded for the counting cards (HERE if you still need them). If you intend on using these for prewriting practice, go ahead and laminate them. If you prefer to use them for your little ones to work on their scissor skills, just print them on regular paper.

Friday activities:

Nature Walk. The end of the week will be a little more relaxed - so we are planning on getting out and taking a nice long walk. Hopefully we will find some little wild flowers to pick for the next project that we'll do when we return home...

Nature Clay Prints. Inspiration found HERE. How much fun we will have pressing the little flowers we find into the clay! And they'll make great play pieces after they cure and harden - we might just have to paint them, too! We like to use Crayola Air-Dry clay.

Stamp and Sticker Art. Just hand the children a piece of paper, flower stickers, rubber stamps, and an inkpad and see what they do! When they're done, they could use it as the outside cover of their lapbooks!

Work on your Plant Lapbook. Work on this project one little piece each day, and by the end of the week your child will have their own little display of everything they learned. Great for showing off to family members and for reviewing the information after the theme week is finished. For the assembly of the actual lapbook, see HERE. For today, we'll add an observation chart. Find it HERE.

Flower Week THURSDAY Schedule (plus links to printables!)

Everyday activities:

Study vocabulary words. I like to use Montessori-style nomenclature cards for these. I print and laminate them, then cut them apart and punch holes in the corners. For some reason, my kids love flipping through the cards when they're on a little binder ring. More fun than a flat page I suppose! Download your free flower nomenclature cards HERE. She has a whole bunch of awesome nomenclature card sets for free to download, and I would suggest getting them all! But for this week specifically, scroll down just a smidge and click on "Flowers" under the heading "Nomenclature/3-part cards.

Work on beginning alphabet sounds. This week I chose to use the cards from a set of printables you can download HERE. Many of my resources are coming from that set, so while you're in there, go ahead and get all three parts. Again, I love to laminate these and put them on the binder ring. That way you can use a clothespin to mark the correct letter, or a dry erase marker.

Work on counting skills. I am using the counting clip cards that you can download HERE. I'm also having several of my resources coming from that set. Laminate, put them on the binder ring. Use a clothespin to mark the correct number, or a dry erase marker.

 Practice letter tracing. The set you downloaded for the alphabet sounds (HERE if you still need them) includes three alphabet pages. P for Pots, G for gloves, and S for Seeds. I laminate those as well, and the kids love doing them over and over again.

Scissor or prewriting practice. I found these in the set you downloaded for the counting cards (HERE if you still need them). If you intend on using these for prewriting practice, go ahead and laminate them. If you prefer to use them for your little ones to work on their scissor skills, just print them on regular paper.

Thursday activities:

Pollination Pom Pom transfer. As we discuss the process of pollination through various insects and birds. The idea is simple - Have the kids grab the pom pom balls from flower to flower. Good for eye-hand coordination, and just a fun little game for little hands to play. Inspiration HERE.

Garden sensory bin. Yep, here it is again! A sensory bin is one of the most anticipated activities for any theme week! Fill a bin with pinto beans, add some small pots or containers, silk flowers, and some kid-sized gardening tools.

Flower/Pot color matching. Found a fun printable HERE to have the kids match the colors of the pots and flowers. I think I will laminate mine, and then I can write uppercase and lowercase letters or numbers on the pieces with a dry erase marker to work with my older son as well.

Work on your Plant Lapbook. Work on this project one little piece each day, and by the end of the week your child will have their own little display of everything they learned. Great for showing off to family members and for reviewing the information after the theme week is finished. For the assembly of the actual lapbook, see HERE. For today, we'll add a fun flip book about the flower life cycle found HERE.

Flower Week WEDNESDAY Schedule (plus links to printables!)

Everyday activities:

Study vocabulary words. I like to use Montessori-style nomenclature cards for these. I print and laminate them, then cut them apart and punch holes in the corners. For some reason, my kids love flipping through the cards when they're on a little binder ring. More fun than a flat page I suppose! Download your free flower nomenclature cards HERE. She has a whole bunch of awesome nomenclature card sets for free to download, and I would suggest getting them all! But for this week specifically, scroll down just a smidge and click on "Flowers" under the heading "Nomenclature/3-part cards.

Work on beginning alphabet sounds. This week I chose to use the cards from a set of printables you can download HERE. Many of my resources are coming from that set, so while you're in there, go ahead and get all three parts. Again, I love to laminate these and put them on the binder ring. That way you can use a clothespin to mark the correct letter, or a dry erase marker.

Work on counting skills. I am using the counting clip cards that you can download HERE. I'm also having several of my resources coming from that set. Laminate, put them on the binder ring. Use a clothespin to mark the correct number, or a dry erase marker.

 Practice letter tracing. The set you downloaded for the alphabet sounds (HERE if you still need them) includes three alphabet pages. P for Pots, G for gloves, and S for Seeds. I laminate those as well, and the kids love doing them over and over again.

Scissor or prewriting practice. I found these in the set you downloaded for the counting cards (HERE if you still need them). If you intend on using these for prewriting practice, go ahead and laminate them. If you prefer to use them for your little ones to work on their scissor skills, just print them on regular paper.

Wednesday activities:

Dissect a bouquet. I picked up a fun bouquet of mixed flowers, and I will give the kids scissors to cut them into pieces so we can study the inner workings of each blossom. It would be good to have a good book showing diagrams of the inside parts of a flower, such as this one found HERE. 

Sticky flower art. This is perfect for us to use the parts of the flowers we just tore apart. Contact paper taped to a wall or window (sticky side out) and let the kids loose with all the random flower bits we just made. Inspiration found HERE.

Flower sticker color sorting. I made some quick fun printables to help my little guy practice his color recognition. He does pretty good, but a little repetition wouldn't hurt! HERE is my printable flower stickers - you should be able to print and cut into squares. And HERE is the printable colors page. I'll just have him sort the stickers by color onto that page. 

Work on your Plant Lapbook. Work on this project one little piece each day, and by the end of the week your child will have their own little display of everything they learned. Great for showing off to family members and for reviewing the information after the theme week is finished. For the assembly of the actual lapbook, see HERE. For today, we'll add diagram of the inside parts of a flower that you can find HERE.

Flower Week TUESDAY Schedule (plus links to printables!)

Everyday activities:

Study vocabulary words. I like to use Montessori-style nomenclature cards for these. I print and laminate them, then cut them apart and punch holes in the corners. For some reason, my kids love flipping through the cards when they're on a little binder ring. More fun than a flat page I suppose! Download your free flower nomenclature cards HERE. She has a whole bunch of awesome nomenclature card sets for free to download, and I would suggest getting them all! But for this week specifically, scroll down just a smidge and click on "Flowers" under the heading "Nomenclature/3-part cards.

Work on beginning alphabet sounds. This week I chose to use the cards from a set of printables you can download HERE. Many of my resources are coming from that set, so while you're in there, go ahead and get all three parts. Again, I love to laminate these and put them on the binder ring. That way you can use a clothespin to mark the correct letter, or a dry erase marker.

Work on counting skills. I am using the counting clip cards that you can download HERE. I'm also having several of my resources coming from that set. Laminate, put them on the binder ring. Use a clothespin to mark the correct number, or a dry erase marker.

 Practice letter tracing. The set you downloaded for the alphabet sounds (HERE if you still need them) includes three alphabet pages. P for Pots, G for gloves, and S for Seeds. I laminate those as well, and the kids love doing them over and over again.

Scissor or prewriting practice. I found these in the set you downloaded for the counting cards (HERE if you still need them). If you intend on using these for prewriting practice, go ahead and laminate them. If you prefer to use them for your little ones to work on their scissor skills, just print them on regular paper.

Tuesday activities:

Color Flowers. A great science experiment to demonstrate how a plant's root system brings nutrients up from the soil. I chose carnations because they are my favorite (and they usually aren't expensive), but I would imagine any white flower would work. I bought three skinny vases so each of my children could choose a color - but any vase or tall glass would do the job as well. You can find a good tutorial HERE.

Flower Play Doh Invitation. My kids love the stuff - we have enough Play Doh equipment to entertain a preschool class. For today, I will set up a (conveniently flower-shaped) snack tray with Doh and various elements to prompt their creativity. Flower cookie cutters, buttons, pipe cleaners, jewels, and silk flowers. I also found a fondant mold in my stash of stuff. It'll be fun to see where they take the activity. Inspiration found HERE.

Measure Garden Tools. I wanted to introduce my older boys to the concept of measuring. So I made up a little worksheet HERE. I'll have them measure the items and discuss how to read a ruler. It will also help with some number recognition. I found little set at the dollar store that included a small measuring tape and a dressmakers tape - I think those will work nicely since they are always trying to steal mine!






Pattern Blocks. I recently purchased some plastic pattern blocks and the kids love matching them to the printable designs I've found online. Great for working on shapes, colors, and analytical thinking skills. HERE is the link to a ton of free printable designs, and HERE if you want a flower specifically. Don't have any pattern blocks? She also has some printable ones HERE you can use!

Work on your Plant Lapbook. Work on this project one little piece each day, and by the end of the week your child will have their own little display of everything they learned. Great for showing off to family members and for reviewing the information after the theme week is finished. For the assembly of the actual lapbook, see HERE. For today, we'll add a flip book about the parts of a flower to the inside of one of the side flaps. Download your flipbook HERE.

Flower Week MONDAY Schedule (plus links to printables!)

Everyday activities:

Study vocabulary words. I like to use Montessori-style nomenclature cards for these. I print and laminate them, then cut them apart and punch holes in the corners. For some reason, my kids love flipping through the cards when they're on a little binder ring. More fun than a flat page I suppose! Download your free flower nomenclature cards HERE. She has a whole bunch of awesome nomenclature card sets for free to download, and I would suggest getting them all! But for this week specifically, scroll down just a smidge and click on "Flowers" under the heading "Nomenclature/3-part cards.

Work on beginning alphabet sounds. This week I chose to use the cards from a set of printables you can download HERE. Many of my resources are coming from that set, so while you're in there, go ahead and get all three parts. Again, I love to laminate these and put them on the binder ring. That way you can use a clothespin to mark the correct letter, or a dry erase marker.

Work on counting skills. I am using the counting clip cards that you can download HERE. I'm also having several of my resources coming from that set. Laminate, put them on the binder ring. Use a clothespin to mark the correct number, or a dry erase marker.

 Practice letter tracing. The set you downloaded for the alphabet sounds (HERE if you still need them) includes three alphabet pages. P for Pots, G for gloves, and S for Seeds. I laminate those as well, and the kids love doing them over and over again.

Scissor or prewriting practice. I found these in the set you downloaded for the counting cards (HERE if you still need them). If you intend on using these for prewriting practice, go ahead and laminate them. If you prefer to use them for your little ones to work on their scissor skills, just print them on regular paper.

MONDAY:

Go to the library. Have your children ask their librarian to help them find books about plants or flowers. Search for at least one that discusses the life cycle of a plant - something you can use to talk about all the different stages of a plant's development.


Investigate seeds. Take your seed packets, and empty each set of seeds into a snack size ziploc bag with the package. (So no one eats them or dumps them all over the floor) Talk about how flowers start as tiny little seeds and grow! Use your magnifying glasses to examine the seeds. Talk about each seed - ask them which are the biggest, which are smallest. Have you seen these kind of seeds before (such as watermelon seeds). I got the idea from HERE.

(Some more good resources for seeds can be found HERE.)

Plant a bean in a jar or old CD case. A classic science experiment for kids of any age - a great walkthrough of the experiment is HERE.

"Roll a Flower" activity. This looks like a fun game for the kids to play! Roll the dice to see which part of the flower you get to lay down. I may print two sets of this game, so both of my boys can play together. Laminate for extra durability! Found in the set you got the counting cards from (HERE if you still need them).

Flowers in a strainer. Perfect simple activity for my littlest one. Just take your silk flowers (after you cut them into the individual stems) and have them stick the stems into an overturned strainer. Fun, simple, and I know it'll keep her occupied for quite a while! Idea found HERE.








Garden sensory bin. This one you'll probably have to keep up all week, if your kids are like mine! A sensory bin is one of the most anticipated activities for any theme week! Fill a bin with pinto beans, add some small pots or containers, silk flowers, and some kid-sized gardening tools.





Start your Plant Lapbook. Work on this project one little piece each day, and by the end of the week your child will have their own little display of everything they learned. Great for showing off to family members and for reviewing the information after the theme week is finished. For the assembly of the actual lapbook, see HERE. For this first day, we'll work on a mini book for the plant life cycle. Download HERE.

More of the schedule to come!

Flower Theme Week Supplies List

Here is the list of items you'll need if you choose to follow along with all of the activities we will be doing for Flower Week. Remember that some items may be in your house already (if you hoard supplies like me), and I try really hard to get a majority of my supplies at my local dollar store. I will put an asterisk (*) next to any item that I usually can find at my Dollar Tree.

Basic supplies to have on hand for this and any future Theme Weeks:
toilet paper/paper towel tubes
straws*
file folders*
glue sticks*
child size scissors* (preferably one for each child)
markers/crayons/colored pencils/etc*
hole punch*
binder rings*
cardstock and copy paper
laminating machine and laminating pouches (optional but highly recommended)
buttons*
stickers*
pipe cleaners*
dry erase markers*
pompom balls*
paper plates*
large shallow plastic tub to use as a sensory bin

Supply list for Flower Week:
magnifying glass* (preferably one for each child)
3-5 packets of various seeds*
food coloring*
vases* (preferably one for each child)
small thongs or tweezers* (big enough to pinch a pompom ball)
child size garden tools or sandbox tools*
gardening gloves*
silk flowers* (I picked one bunch of each color of the rainbow)
small pots or cups* (I just am going to use empty frosting containers)
plastic strainer*
wood skewers*
Play-doh (or make your own)
pinto beans (enough to fill the bottom of your large plastic tub)
clay (I use the Crayola brand air dry clay found at Wal-Mart)
rubber stamps (optional)
flower and heart cookie cutters* (found these at Dollar Tree)
white carnations (preferably purchased as close to our starting Monday as possible)
inexpensive bouquet of various real flowers

Suggested food list for theme snacks and meals:
cantaloupe
strawberries
kiwi or grapes
bananas
chocolate pudding
oreos
waffles

Next I'll be posting our week's schedule of activities. Keep watching for that so you can get all your links for printables!

Introduction to Theme Weeks at Blue Donkey Diaries

Welcome to Blue Donkey Diaries!

I hope you're ready to do a Theme Week with us!

One of the great benefits of educating our own children is doing school - and life - at the pace that works for us. Another great benefit is doing those things alongside other families that know and understand the excitement, struggles, and joy that comes with the whole process. Since I am doing all this planning for fun themed weeks of school for my little ones, I thought I'd share the process and the links for you to follow along with us! Whether you do it on the same week as my family, or at some other time, I hope you find the resources I've gathered and created here to be useful in your own homeschool environment.

Now, please keep in mind that my children are all under the age of five, and I plan my school according to that general age range. As they get older, my material and activities will mature - but I am just getting started with this homeschool thing... just like you!

For each theme week, I will be posting a list of supplies and links to download printables. I try to do my school as inexpensively as possible, so you shouldn't have to spend much. Most projects will likely be using basic things you probably already have in the house. Some activities that I post may not be available to you, if the specific toys or games aren't already in your closet full of hoarded school stuff arsenal. I'll post links to Amazon so you can see if that particular thing is something you feel you would get a lot of use out of, but to be honest, I usually find things at my local thrift store. I never pass up a 30.00 game for 4.00 - even if there are pieces missing!

The printables will always be free, and I will post links to the other blogs that offer them. If it is something that I made myself, I will post a link to download them from Dropbox. I will always offer my own created items for free downloads, but you will have the opportunity to purchase some things such as the custom stickers I make from home. No obligation there, though. 

So get your shopping list made, and get printing all those worksheets! Include the kids in as much of the preparation as possible - they love knowing they were helpful. Visit the Facebook Page to post pictures of your family during the Theme Week, be notified when new Themes are posted, and to contribute your own ideas for future Weeks!

Don't feel obligated to do all of the activities I have listed - gosh, some weeks, I don't even get to it all! But I hope you'll find this a good resource and a fun place to share life and school... together!

I will admit that I have not been feeling myself the last few days - with the responsibilities at home, the many projects I have taken on, and the general fatigue that comes with being the vessel to create a new child. I have not been as diligent as I intended in keeping up with my blog posts. Tonight I am still pretty preoccupied with my other projects, but I will go ahead and share with you some pictures from the last few days bird-themed activities.



Working on bird journals



We made "binoculars" so we could bird watch better.



They seem to enjoy them!



We also did a bird themed sensory bin - that was a big hit.



Deker was tasked with "egg cracking", and he did well recognizing his numbers. The hole punch was a little stiff and he mixed up his six and nine, but he wanted to do that activity again and again. He then proudly glued them into his bird journal as proof of his hard work.



A last-minute attempt at a bird lunch.



New bird journal pages - Deker did the ones on top, Miles on the bottom.



And this morning we went to Lowe's for a free bird feeder build. (Seriously, they have great builds every month for free - go to lowesbuildandgrow.com and register your kids for the next one!)
They each wanted their names on them - Deker has his on the bottom, but Miles insisted on having his name right on the front.

And that concluded my week as far as bird work. I still have more that I didn't get around to for some reason or another, so we'll probably continue for a while longer. I'll be sure to keep up with the journals, as that seems to be a favorite. I think the next Lowe's build is a planter of some kind - maybe I'll start planning some kind of botany week for next month ...