"Mathiplication"

O(5) was SO excited that she has learned to do "mathiplication" at school last week! She loves working with the multiplication board, and she was excited to record her work on this sheet.
O has requested to have a multiplication board at home, so I'm working on a homemade one (and I'm VERY excited about it!). I'll write a post about it once I'm finished with it!

Placing Marbles on Suction Cups

E(2) LOVES this work! She picks up one marble at a time and places it on a suction cup. (I watch her closely to make sure she doesn't put a marble in her mouth). This is a great activity for strengthening the all important pincer grasp. It's also great for builidng concentration skills and developing the ability to maintain focus on a challenging task.

Halloween Lanterns

My sister, mom, and niece made some awesome Halloween lanterns last week, and I just couldn't resist sharing them with you! (we made some of these a couple of years ago, but theirs are much more creative!)

To make the lanterns, they decoupaged glass jars and drinking glasses using mod podge and strips of tissue paper. Very simple, fun, and creative!

This one is a drinking glass turned upside down. They used electric tea lights instead of candles.


I love the mummy they made with gauze! What a great idea!


The striped one is super cute :)


My Halloween addiction...candy corn!

Great job, Mem, M, and Mom! We love them!

Halloween Felt Board

E(2) and I had fun playing with our Halloween felt board on Friday morning. I have to admit that while E loves this activity, I think that I may enjoy it even more than she does!

Thanks for Reading!

I just noticed that this blog has 1500 followers through blogger! Then, I checked the google subscribers, and it's at almost 3,500. Wow! Thanks for reading Chasing Cheerios!

Finally!!!

We've just mailed ALL of our cultural exchange packages!!! I feel like we need to go out and celebrate! A weight has been lifted off of my shoulders! While this was a fun process, it has also been time-consuming and a little stressful. I hope that everyone will enjoy our packages. We've planned and thought and bought and added and taken out and added back in and finally finalized the contents of the packages. Thanks for all who participated in this exchange! I'll definitely be doing this again within the next year! Also, I'll post as we open each package (with the sender's permission)!

Pouring Corn Kernels

E(2) has been learning to pour corn kernels this week for "C" week!

She poured them perfectly the first 2 times, but then she started putting her fingers on the spout. She really enjoys pouring, and she's been asking to pour water. That's definitely an activity that we'll do outside!

Halloween Coloring and Activity Books

The girls LOVE the Halloween coloring/activity books that I made for them last week!
(the zipper pouch is covering their names)

I printed the coloring pages from Activity Village and DLTK. I LOVE Activity Village!


E(2) has really loved coloring in her book!


Here are a few of the pages...





These books have caused so much excitement since they came in the "mail" that I'm already planning a Christmas version.

Our Crafty Halloween Centerpiece

I set up this crafty Halloween centerpiece for the girls last week, and they went straight to work as soon as they saw it! They received the Halloween puppets craft foam pumpkins in their October Fun Box.

Decorating the craft foam pumpkins and then gluing them to construction paper has been their favorite activity so far. I love setting up seasonal/holiday craft areas like this. Such fun!

We're Going On A Bear Hunt (BFIAR)

The girls and I completed our first Before Five in a Row book a couple of weeks ago. Our first BFIAR book was We're Going on a Bear Hunt! This book has been a favorite of O(5) and E(2) for years, and we thoroughly enjoyed reading it (almost) everyday for 2 weeks (I decided to be very relaxed with this, so we read the book for 2 weeks instead of 1). Here are some of our Bear Hunt activities...

E loved matching colored bears to their appropriate circles.


They loved putting the bears in order according to size (via Homeschool Creations).


We did a science experiment with gummy bears (via Sandbox Scholars). First, we measured a gummy bear.


We put one gummy bear in each bowl. The bowls each had a different liquid in them...white vinegar, water, and salt water. We planned to measure the bears after they sat overnight, but they basically dissolved.

O loved putting the pictures in order (according to the book) and matching the phrases to the pictures (via Kizclub.com).


They loved playing the Bear Hunt board game (via Homeschool Creations).


O enjoyed tracing the Bear Hunt words, tracing lines, and Bible verse.






We spent A LOT of time playing with this dressing bears puzzle. E REALLY loved it!


O had fun counting teddy grahams, and then both girls had fun eating them!

The girls LOVED listening to our cd version of Bear Hunt, AND they acted out the Bear Hunt during their tumbling class. E was SO excited. When she came out of class, she ran to me with a huge grin on her face and said "We went on a bear hunt!!!" SO much fun!

I almost forgot the girls' favorite activity...I read the Bear Hunt book "opposite style!" They thought this was hilarious! Here's an example of what I said "We're going on a cricket hunt. It's going to be a tiny one. What a nasty day! We're SO scared!" As I'm writing this, O(5) is coloring and reciting opposite Bear Hunt stories. She has no idea that I'm writing this, so it's just a coincidence :)

We also had fun "splash sploshing" through the water and "squelch sqerching" through the mud.