by A Frugal Friend on February 2, 2012
I love finding creative ways to reinforce teaching lessons in our house. My 4 year old knows all her letters, uppercase and lowercase, and sounds. She’s even starting to read a bit. Such fun….as reading is a favorite hobby of mine.
We’ve been doing a lot of different types of scavenger hunts lately…..this one was to reinforce letter sounds.
It’s easy to ask a child what does “dog” start with. But, it’s a bit harder to say “Find something that begins with a D”. So that was the purpose of this activity.
I simply used letter flash cards we had and sent her on her way throughout the house to find items that began with that letter.
A great activity, and one that you can set up and then go about your chores. 
**Be sure to check out all the other “Preschooler Projects” on the tab above! I’ll be adding to this throughout the year!
by A Frugal Friend on June 25, 2011
Traveling this week without a preschooler has been completely different. All I had to worry about was myself, which was particularly nice when we were stuck on the plane before takeoff for 2 hours (lavatory flooding).
Keeping children (especially young children) occupied on a plane is something all parents deal with.
Look what I found:
My Plane Trip Coloring Book
From the reviews…..it looks like this coloring book also talks about the roles of everyone from the flight attendant to the air traffic controllers. Sounds great! Think I’ll order it for my daughter’s next airplane trip.
BUY IT: Only $2.95 on Amazon (a great filler item on an order)
Eligible for Free Super Saver Shipping with orders of $25 or more.
by A Frugal Friend on May 15, 2011
With this past winter being soooo cold, and this Spring being WET and STORMY, we just haven’t been outside as much as we’d like. That means not much painting……as Mom here likes to do messy projects outdoors.
But I’ve got a little girl who loves to paint……..so we got creative. So creative, in fact, that she almost didn’t want to participate.
Our Preschooler Project: Ice Cube Painting
It’s true…..when she saw that this didn’t involve paint brushes, she was NOT interested. I really had to sell her on this. Really!
We placed a piece of regular paper inside a rectangle shaped cake pan. We then poured just a bit of washable paint in a few spots around the paper….various colors.
We dropped one ice cube, fresh from the freezer, into the cake-pan. Using a spoon, she then painted —-> scooted the ice cube around the piece of paper and over the paint colors. She created this masterpiece, which then needed to air dry for an hour or so.
We cut out a heart using the pretty painted paper and VOILA!
The best part…..clean up was super easy and no paint brushes to wash out. Of course, you aren’t using as much paint as you might with another project, so it stretches the paint budget!
A great rainy-day activity!
by A Frugal Friend on April 21, 2011
I have to admit, I’ve got more Easter eggs than I know what to do with.
In my “former life”, I had a just a few around for decorations. Add in one child and a couple of Easter egg hunts and now the attic is full of them. In fact, I only got a fraction of them out this year to decorate…..that was until I discovered a great activity for my 3-year old, thanks to The Hills, via Lorie.
This activity is perfect for preschoolers who are learning their letters, since it seems all kids (or maybe just mine) love to sit and pull apart Easter eggs and put them back together. Is it just mine?
Easter Egg Letter Matching – Capital Letters and Lowercase Letters
Using a permanent marker, I placed a Capital Letter on the bigger end of each Easter egg. I then placed a matching Lowercase Letter on the smaller end.
I made sure to keep a match the same color….just to help them out a little bit in case they get stuck. They’ll know to just look at all the pink eggs, for the match. You can use fewer colors for more difficulty.
I placed them in a container and the activity is ready to go. This is one activity that children can do on their own and even take their time throughout the day.
My daughter gets real excited when she finds a match – a sense of accomplishment. And Mommy isn’t necessarily helping along the way, which promotes a bit of independence in learning.
Other Egg Idea: Number Matching (Write number on one side and draw dots on other)
Look for more Inexpensive Preschooler Projects in the coming weeks!
Have a great idea for a project? Feel free to email me at afrugalfriend (at) gmail (dot) com.
by A Frugal Friend on March 20, 2011
We had a bit of fun going on our very first Scavenger Hunt…….with a Number theme!
She wasn’t really sure what a Scavenger Hunt was, so I joined in the fun!
I had laminated this numbers chart that I bought at Mardel and we set it in the living room as we ran around the house. This Mama wanted to start with the biggest numbers first….wasn’t sure it would be easy to go the other way around.
From Little People and crayons to Toy Screwdrivers and Hair Bows…..we finally finished!
What types of Scavenger Hunt ideas do you have? Let’s share!
by A Frugal Friend on March 16, 2010
I’m actually glad St. Patricks day is almost here. I don’t really like to “overlap” holidays…don’t they all deserve some special attention? But, it’s been really hard not decorating for Easter or having some Easter fun.
I know many moms out there will be filling their menus with green food on Wednesday, and I’m starting to work on that too……but I didn’t prepare early enough and order my natural food coloring/dyes
. With a child just now recovering from the stomach flu, I’ll have to use natural green foods instead of dyeing them! Any suggestions?
We’ve been having some St. Patricks Day fun with free crafts and templates from First – School.
Free Printables!
Leprechaun hat – my daughter is really learning to use her glue stick and it reinforces shapes and sizing too.
Sequences – this is early math. It reminds me of Sesame Street and Bert’s Pigeon Patterns. She had to figure out what went next in the sequence and glue them on.
Of course there are plenty of activities for older preschoolers and just plain holiday coloring pages too!
What fun things do you do with the kids on St. Patricks Day?
