Mud Pies & Minivans: "B" Review

To kick off the “Letter ‘B’ Review”, we took our lil’ ladies out to see “Ballet Under the Stars”. This is a wonderful free show that Ballet Arizona puts on once a year for people to come out & with their lawn chairs & blankets to just enjoy dance. My girls were absolutely over the moon getting to see these wonderful ballerinas dance up close. Aidann is convinced she can be in point shoes in a few weeks like the big girls if she keeps practicing. I love her confidence! Asher’s eyes were just as wide as she realized that even “daddy dancers” exist. Lol.

A few days after the show (which was on a Saturday), I sat the girls down for our lesson. We opened it up with a book & a sing-along song, “The Wheels on the Bus”. After talking about how bus starts with a “b”, I had the girls go around the house looking for other items that made the same sound. The girls definitely enjoyed this activity. Next we went over a brief worksheet where the girls practiced identifying which items did & did not have the “buh” sound.

After worksheets, we got down to the real fun. Austin unfortunately fell asleep before this activity, but go to do it with me 1 on 1 later on in the day. This activity I found online that a kindergarten teacher uses to ease her new “Kinders” into math & utilizing their skills of observation (Ball Activity). It was just kind of a bonus that is involves balls which start with “b”!

I took out a big bucket filled with various types & sizes of balls. I then blindfolded the girls & they each selected one. I then had the girls look at the ball they had selected & describe it to me so I could write down all their thoughts. They observed things like color, how it felt, size, weight & so forth. I had them take a moment to sketch their ball on a worksheet I had quickly put together. For their 3^rd task on the worksheet I had them compare their balls. Again they focused on the difference or similarities in shape, size, color, texture, & then they even tested to see who’s rolled faster across the carpet or would hit the ground first if they dropped them at the same time.

Once the 3^rd item on their worksheets was completed, the girls dumped out all the balls & tried to group them together in different ways. One time they put them together according to sizes & then another time they grouped them according to colors. After this they wanted to race all the balls across the floor which was really fun to do!

The next day for “B”, after enjoying some bug shaped mac & cheese (in the organic aisle of Frys), we went outside & blew some bubbles. Of course the kids had a blast with that. There is just something about kids & bubbles! I had also purchased some bubble wrap & they thought popping those with their feet & between their lil’ fingers was so fun (not Austin quite as much). We even used cut squares of bubbles wrap to stamp pictures with paint onto our papers. I found that activity on Pinterest.com. You can search it, I am sure. While outside, we noticed a next up in our tree & got to also observe the birds flying in & out. That was cool for the kids to see & definitely a lot less stressful than when we observed an anthill for “A”, lol. Well, after all outside activities were finally completed, they got to experience a nice long bubble bath-haha!

Overall, “B” week was pretty awesome & I am definitely looking forward to “C”!

-M&M Momma