Farm Themed Tot School: Part II
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We are rolling right on through our farm themed tot school unit, and so far we have been having a blast! If you missed Part I, be sure to check it out. There were some really great crafts, recipes and activities for preschool or tot school. Today, our farm unit is going to the birds – literally! All of our crafts and activities revolve around poultry, so we will be feeding poultry, gathering eggs, gluing feathers and much more. Let’s get started!
Feed the Chickens Counting Mats
I think counting mats are such a fun way to combine fine motor skill development with early math skills. Plus, they make counting just a little more fun. I designed these mats for counting up to 20, although you could easily use only the first 10 to match your child’s skill level. On each card I have featured one or more bird from the farm, and these birds are hungry! I recommend using dry corn kernels but you can use any dry beans or small counter that you have at home. As always, any small object (such as corn kernels) can post a choking hazard to small children so use your own best judgement.
While Goose enjoyed working his way through all 20 counting mats, Nugget had fun helping by trying to name what type of birds were on each card. It’s always great when a learning activity can include both an older and younger sibling!
Visit my Digital Resource Library to download and print your free copy of my Feed the Chickens Counting Mats. Don’t have an access code? Easy! Just sign up below and one will be emailed to you right away!
Fruit & Veggie Search Sensory Bin
I wish I could take credit for this activity but all the credit for this one goes to Kim at Life Over C’s. Definitely check out her site for some fantastic learning activities and to download the printables for this fun activity.
This activity features a printable mat showing a wide assortment of fruits and veggies, along with a matching set of fruit and veggie cards. A quick pass through the laminator and a few Velcro tabs later and you have a fun and educational sensory bin search! I used Popsicle sticks and card stock to make garden signs that I adhered inside our sensory bin with a hot glue gun. This was definitely one of our cuter activities, and digging through the beans to find each fruit or vegetable kept Goose occupied for quite a while.
When we began I figured this would be one of those short-lived activities that wasn’t challenging enough for Goose but was a bit advanced for Nugget, boy was I wrong! It turns out that Goose’s fruit and veggie vocabulary isn’t quite as advanced as I thought and he learned a lot as he dug out each card and then let Nugget help him find the match.
Of course, soon the tractor was digging out the vegetables, and I had to watch Nugget like a hawk to be sure he didn’t try to eat the black beans, but overall I would call this one a win!
Decorate Your Own Rooster Craft
For this project we decided to create our own pet roosters! Goose named his ‘Captain Picklepuss’, which is of course a very respectable name for a rooster. We decorated our roosters using glue, feathers, crayons, and pretty much anything else Goose dug out of our craft closet. The end result was a rooster that would be the talk of any barnyard, I’m sure.
Visit my Digital Resource Library to download and print your free Rooster Printable. Don’t have an access code? Easy! Just sign up below and one will be emailed to you right away!
Egg Gathering Imaginative Play
My boys have very active imaginations and adore pretend play. I think that the creative thinking skills developed during imaginative play are vital to future success, so we put a lot of emphasis on it in our house. When shopping for toys I always avoid what Alton Brown calls ‘Unitaskers’. These toys that can only be played with in one specific way just seem limiting and are rarely the toys that see repeated play.
For this activity I made nests out of paper bags (instructions below) and then filled each nest with a few plastic Easter eggs. We were a little short on stuffed chickens so our nests included a variety of feathered occupants. After staging the nests, I also laid out a cowboy hat for costuming, and an egg carton for additional sorting practice. I gave each boy a basket and encouraged them to gather eggs and just have fun. Not surprisingly, Nugget decided to fill his basket with poultry and lovingly carry them throughout the house, carefully clucking and quacking at each one. This is such a sweet age! Goose took the task a little more seriously and was very intent on gathering all of the eggs, and opening each one in search of leftover Easter candy. As if candy would last that long in our house!
They returned to this activity several times this week, and each time they found new ways to interact with the nests. My favorite was when I walked into the room to find Nugget sitting very carefully on a plastic egg. Evidently his brother told him if he sat still long enough it would hatch! Oh how I hated to burst that bubble!
Supplies:
- Several Brown Paper Lunch Bags
- Scissors
- Glue
- Plastic eggs
Instructions:
- Begin by cutting off the top 2/3 of your lunch bags. You will need 2 bags per nest. (Don’t throw away the tops – I will be showing you next week how to use them for a fun craft!)
- Cut thin slices from the open edge of your bag down to the fold (see images). Don’t worry about making it perfect, messy is great for this project!
- Open your bag and then crinkle it in to a ball. The wrinklier the better!
- Repeat steps 1-3 on your second lunch bag, then open both wrinkled bags.
- Place one bag inside the other and using a rolling / scrunching motion to create a nest shape.
- Fill with plastic eggs, candy, or whatever else your little heart desires.
Our Favorite Farm Themed Books
We had so many farm themed books in our collection, that this was one tot school unit that hardly required a trip to the library. Here are a few of our favorites:
Dk Tractor Shaped Board Book
This is a book that I picked up a few years ago at a consignment sale, and it has been a favorite of ours ever since. It’s pretty short, but the novelty lies in the fact that it places you inside the tractor. It’s a fun short read perfect for a toddler who is just getting into tractors.
Otis by Loren Long
This is the original Otis book, although there are now several in the series. It tells the tale of a sweet tractor and his friendship with a lonely calf. The illustrations are striking and the plot is well-written enough that parents and children should both enjoy this story.
The Grumpy Morning by Pamela Duncan Edwards
This is a cute book about the morning that the farmer overslept. I like the fact that the farmer is a woman, since too many farm books only feature male farmers. It also has a nice rhythm that makes reading it aloud pleasurable.
Moo by Matthew Van Fleet
Matthew Van Fleet is famous for his beautifully photographed and highly interactive children’s books. Each page features tactile stimulation and moving parts, sure to hold even the youngest child’s attention.
Cock-a-Doodle-Doo! Barnyard Hullabaloo by Giles Andreae
Giles Andreae is back again with this tour through the barnyard. Each page features a different animal and a short rhyme. The illustrations are fun and bright and the rhymes are playful. It’s definitely worth adding to your bookshelf.
Lift the Flap Farm by Hinkler Books
This book can be a little tough to find, but it’s worth the effort. It’s chock full of photographs of farm animals, equipment and even produce. My boys love lifting the flaps, and I love the extra questions at the bottom of each page to encourage critical thinking or find hidden extras.
Pass It On! by Marilyn Sadler
This is a fun and silly story about how a message can be distorted as it gets passed from person to person (or animal to animal as it were). It’s great for an older preschooler who can understand the concept of pass it on, but the humor might be lost on younger children.
The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson
I love love love Karma Wilson. Her books never disappoint, and always include an attractive rhyming structure along with a playful plot. If you buy one fiction book from this list – buy this one. It’s just plain fun to read!
Have you enjoyed our Farm themed tot school unit so far? Comment below!
Be sure to check back later this week to see the final portion of our farm unit. Some of the best is still yet to come!