Anyone know a child that does not like to discuss the books they read?  Or do you know a child who is having trouble with numbers or colors?  Then these activities are for you! Not only are they learning games, they also involve physical activity AND they are frugal!

Materials:
Beach Ball-You can usually find these at the Dollar Store for $1
Markers

Directions:
1.  Label each color of the ball with a different story element (title, setting, characters, problem, solution, etc).
2.  Read a book with your child (make sure the story has the elements- some preschool books do not).
3.  Play a game of catch!  When your child catches the ball, have them look at the words their hands are touching when they catch.  Then have them choose which element of the book they want to tell you.  For example:  They catch the ball and their hands are touching title and setting.  They can choose either to tell you the title or the setting of the book, or both!

Modifications:
*For Math:  Label the ball all over with numbers.  Your child can add, subtract, or multiply whatever numbers their hands land on.  In the case of my 2 year old, he is working on number recognition so he just tells me the numbers he “catches”.
*For Color recognition:  Simply have your child tell you the colors the “catch”. You could also label the colors for them to recognize the color names as well.
*For Science:  Label the ball with the steps of the scientific method.  When your child catches the ball, whatever step they “catch” have them explain what it means. Example:  They “catch” hypothesis so they should tell you that a hypothesis means a guess.

2. CD storage
3. Kitchen storage like small utensils, medicine cups, batteries, those little corn holder things!!
4. Toys: legos, small trucks, small books, etc.
5. Drawer dividers

This is an activity I did with my students when I taught the 2nd grade life cycle unit.  I had totally forgotten about it until a friend was talking to me about her daughter’s butterfly themed birthday party. This activity can be as simple or as elaborate as you and your child choose.  I have included optional materials at the bottom in case you want to go all out in your creation!  Of course as a teacher, I must add that you should definitely take the time during this craft to discuss the butterfly life cycle.  For those of you who have forgotten it, I have included that as well. Have Fun!

Materials:
coffee filter
pipe cleaner
markers
spray bottle with water

Directions:
1. Use the markers to color the coffee filter.
2. Spray the coffee filter with water, wetting enough for colors to blend.
3.  Blot with papertowel or allow filter to dry on it’s own.
4.  Pinch the filter in the middle and wrap the pipe cleaner around it to create the body.  You can shape the excess pipe cleaner into an antennae.
5. Fan out the wings.

Optional Materials:
googly eyes
stickers to decorate “wings”
magnet (to glue onto pipe cleaner so you can make the butterfly into a fridge magnet)
fishing line ( if you want to hang the butterflies)
watercolor paints (to use in place of markers)
food coloring (to use in place of markers)
glitter

Butterfly Life Cycle
Stage 1: Egg
Stage 2:  Caterpillar (larva)
Stage 3:  Chrysalis (pupa)
Stage 4: Butterfly
** is a site that has illustations to the life cycle, plus tons of FREE printable activites!

Winter can be a challenging time for parents looking to find activities to entertain their kids.  Not being able to go outside and release energy can easily lead to melt downs.  Below is a  quick activity that can be fun, educational, AND frugal!

Egg Carton Math

Materials: 
Empty,cleaned egg carton
Permanant markers
Dice, cotton ball, scrap piece of paper balled up, or any item small enough to fit in an egg slot

Directions:
1.  Write a number in each egg slot (1-12).

2.  Place dice, etc inside egg carton and close.
3.  Shake egg carton as long as desired.  Open egg carton and see what number the place holder landed on.  Close the carton and shake again. Open and see the second number the place holder has landed. 

4.  You can add or multiply the 2 numbers together depending on your child’s skill level.  For my 2 year old, we simply use it to identify numbers.
5.  Your child can use the markers to decorate the outside of the egg carton.

*This activity can be modified into a reading/language arts craft by writing various letters in the egg slots and when the dice lands on a letter, your child can list words that starts with that letter.  When the list is as long as desired, you and your child can use the words to create a story (in pictures or words depending on skill level).

*As you can see in the pictures, our place holder was an MM. This made for more fun after playing the game because Will got to eat it when we were done!

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