PDO Peeps Bulletin Board

For our Spring

Parents Day Out Bulletin Board

at church this year

I was inspired by

a pack of foam chicks/birds

I picked up at

Target's Dollar Spot...

 I traced the hands of all the preschoolers

on different brown patterned scrapbook paper

and cut them out...

...to form nests for all of the little birdies.

The birds were just plain yellow foam,

so I added different colored

scrapbook paper wings to them

to give the board some more visual interest.

I used crumpled up brown construction paper strips

to create tree limbs for most of the nests

to rest on.

Using scraps for leaves from the green corrugated paper border

gave the board some more dimension.

The paper letters for the board 

were constructed from the same paper I used

for the bird wings.

All in all,

this was a simple board to pull together,

but it will definitely bring the feel of Spring

in the church hallway!

Peep!  Peep!

Spring and Summer Bulletin Boards

I change the Bulletin Board 

at our church for our 

Parents Day Out program,

and may I just say how 

THANKFUL

I am for Pinterest!

It consistently inspires me with ideas,

which I need,

since I plan on changing the board about

six times a year.

So,

let me introduce you to

the Spring P.D.O. bulletin board...

...P.D.O. if the Place to "Bee!"

By combining THIS, THIS, and THIS

bulletin board ideas,

I was able to create the board above.

First...

...I had the kiddos make bumblebees using

pre-cut paper shapes, wax paper wings, googly eyes, and glue.

I created flowers out of tissue paper

and construction paper...

...for the bees to buzz around.

With touches like a braided crepe paper border...

...the board was ready to stay until Summer...

...leaving me time to stop and smell the roses.  ;0)

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When Summer came,

I knew what board to put together

after being inspired by THIS and THIS...

Summer Bulletin Board:

"Our Future is so Bright,

We Gotta Wear Shades!"

These paint chip samples 

made such a pretty

(and simple)...

...border.

They also served...

...as the sun's rays.

(BTW, my Baby Girl is the one who suggested I use

the flower from the Spring bulletin board

as the center of the sun-

she is so creative!)  :0)

But the best part of the board is...

...the cute kiddos, of course!

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I need to give a BIG shout out to my kiddos...

...for always helping me out with these 

bulletin board projects.

They keep kiddos corralled...

...and entertained while I put up the board.

Yes,

my kiddos ARE so cool

they gotta wear shades!  ;0)

Bird Watching

While studying birds with my preschoolers,

we were lucky enough to have several types of birds

around us to observe and study.

 We went to a local park

to observe the ducks...

 (Sorry-

I know she is not a bird,

but she sure is cute!)

A few weeks later

we went backs and found...

...six little ducklings!

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In our neighbor's yard,

there was a nest full of Robins

we got to watch hatch and leave the nest...

There were four eggs,

but only three of the birds hatched.

It took about two weeks,

but the baby Robins did grow up and left the nest...

...one at a time,

until the nest was empty.

(You can see what we learned about Robins

by clicking HERE.)

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Perhaps one of the best

(and closest)

experiences we had with our bird watching

happened in our own garage!

We have a small pane of glass

that is broken,

which is how the Mama bird made her way

into our garage.

When the birds starting flying,

they were a bit confused,

and ended up all over our garage,

for about a day.

One of MY favorite observations

occurred on this day.

 One of the babies sat for a while amoung

among some of my book and craft boxes

which enabled the kiddos

to look at him up close.

That's when I snapped this pic!

Don't their faces

just ooze the excitement of discovery?  :0)

But they all finally made their way into the 

great outdoors,

and we were sad to see them go.

At first I thought these birds were some

type of Nuthatch,

but upon further investigation

I concluded they were...

...Carolina Wrens.

(You can read all about the Carolina Wrens

by clicking HERE.)

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Finally, 

my parents' neighbor

currently has a nest of bluebirds

we are keeping our eyes one...

 They are HARD to observe, however.

This picture of the eyes was taken by 

Baby Girl,

while she was on my shoulders,

holding a flashlight.

We are still gonna keep checking in on them,

but I HIGHLY expect us to see much of them,

(We can read about them by clicking HERE...)

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TO see what other homeschoolers

have been observing in the Science arena,

head on over to

Science Sunday...

May Day Basket Gifties

After seeing THIS post over at

The Vintage Umbrella...

...I was inspired to let the kiddos put together some

May Day baskets

for our neighbors.

We LOVE our neighbors-

really!

 They deserve a little color...

 ...and chocolate...

 ...to brighten their day.

Happy May Day, everybody!

Little Rabbit Learning

My preschool kiddos

(both age three)

recently completed a rabbit unit,

using

The Little Rabbit by Judy Dunn

as the main text.

Most of the activities the boys worked on

came from

Homeschool Creations'

The Little Rabbit Pre-K Pack.

Here is a recap

of all of the workbox activities:

Drawer 1:

R is for Rabbit

alphabet book page

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Drawer 2:

Bunny Puppet

from

KidsSoup

This is a great way to practice 

those scissor skills...

(Please note that Little Wild Man and I
assisted the boys
with their cutting-
our three year olds are
NOT 
scissor savants...)  ;0)

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Drawer 3:

Matching Up and Cutting Out

Bunnies page

from

KidsSoup

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Drawer 4:

Tracing Sheets

from

The Little Rabbit Pre-K Pack...

...and KidsSoup.

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Drawer 5:

Bunny Puzzle

from

The Little Rabbit Pre-K Pack

The numbers that correspond on the puzzle

are actually 10's,

but I cut them to be Units numbers,

since my littles

are working on counting to 12.

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Drawer 6:

Pattern Making

with

erasers from the Target Dollar Spot

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Drawer 7:

Bunny Games

from

The Little Rabbit Pre-K Pack

The first game was a typical

Matching Game,

which the boys enjoyed...

...but their FAVORITE game was

"Where's the Rabbit?"

We used this game to continue working on the numbers

1-12.

The boys got a kick out of closing their eyes

while I hid the rabbit cart 

behind one of the number cards...

...and then working together to find out

where the rabbit was hidden.

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Drawer 8:

Carrots for Rabbit Palydough Mat

from

PreKinders

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Drawer 9:

"What Starts with the 'H" Sound?" Sheet

from

The Little Rabbit Pre-K Pack

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Drawer 10:

More Bunny Games

The first game in this drawer

was one I picked up at a

consignment sale

a little while back.

You roll the colored die

and used a hook to pick up the same colored bunny.

It was NOT a big hit with the boys...

...but the

"Build a Bunny" game

from 

Homeschool Creations was!

The boys enjoyed trying to roll all 

the correct numbers 

to build their bunnies,

but they 

ESPECIALLY enjoyed

rolling a number 6...

...because then they got to hop!

(I do believe they rolled the number 6 about

20 times during the game...)

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Besides the workbox activities,

I had a simple...

...Rabbit Explorer Box

pulled together

for them to play with.

It contained...

...Easter grass and wooden carrots...

...a couple of small rabbits

and a wooden barn cut out...

...and fence sections so the boys

could build homes for the bunnies.

But what was EVERYBODY'S 

favorite part of the box,

you ask?

Making messes with the Easter grass,

of course!

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Oh,

and let's not forget to include a pic collage

of all the fun the kiddos had...

...while playing Bunny Bowling.

(We also used this Bunny Bowling set

to hunt for rabbits a couple of years ago.

You can read that post by clicking HERE...)

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Linking up

with

Preschool and Kindergarten Corner...