Sunday Spiritual Thought

Doctrine and Covenants 78:18 "And ye cannot ^abear all things now; nevertheless, be of good ^bcheer, for I will ^clead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the ^driches of ^eeternity are yours."

Children's Book of the Week

 

This was a really cute book that we got from the library this week.

Good Night Sam by Marie Louise Gay

Synopsis

Stella’s little brother Sam is back in this charming picture book. Sam asks his big sister whether or not she is sleeping. "Yes," answers Stella. "Aren’t you?" But Sam can’t sleep: he misses his beloved and faithful dog, Fred. Where could he be? Sam knows that Fred is afraid of many things: the dark, the monster that lives in the closet, and the giant toad that lurks downstairs. Luckily, Stella is there to reassure Sam as they search everywhere. Gay’s delicate watercolors, full of whimsy and humor, bring Stella and Sam’s world to life.

Rhyme/Music Activity Thursday: Hickory Dickory Dock

First we read this book. I found it at the library. ;)

Then we learned this song.

We made out own clocks. ;) I cut the numbers out of an old calendar and I cut the 'mice' our of brown and white paper. They look sort of like half hearts.There is string attached to the mouse to look like the tail too. This is a picture of Collin's.

For older children: one of the girls at playgroup is 9 -- she's homeschooled and comes with her younger brother so we talked about limericks. Hickory Dickory Dock is a limerick so after we discussed what a limerick is -- proper order of rhymes and syllables -- she wrote her own. ;) It was fun!

Teeth Day 2

Craft: I drew a tooth on a piece of paper per kid. Then I gave them each an old toothbrush and some white paint. Again, we practiced strokes to brush teeth as they painted the teeth white.

Science: I drew a happy tooth on a paper bag and a sad tooth on another. Then I grabbed different foods from around the kitchen and laid them out. The kids had to tell me which bag they went in -- will they make the teeth happy or the teeth sad?

Alternate: Cut out two teeth and draw a happy face on one and sad face on the other. Then go through magazines and cut out pictures of food and glue them to the appropriate tooth.

Song:

Little Tommy Toothbrush

Sung to : "Eensy, Weensy Spider"

Little Tommy Toothbrush

Had a big job to do.

He spread himself with toothpaste

And jumped up on a tooth.

He scrubbed and scrubbed the germs away

To prevent tooth decay.

Then Little Tommy Toothbrush

Jumped down and said, "Hooray!"

Snack: We ate the items from the happy tooth bag.

Teeth Day 1

Science Part I: First, we took a "giant tooth" (a tile) and smeared it with different foods. We used orange marmalade, ketchup and mustard. Then we set it aside and let it dry. I talked to them a little bit about how teeth have armor (enamel). When food sits there it weakens the enamel so cavities can get through and cause tooth decay. Then we talked a bit about what tooth decay is.

Craft/fine motor skills: I printed out two 4x6" lips. You can draw them on red paper if you want to... I'm just not that artistic. Just do a Google image search. It works great! ;) Then I gave them a 1/2 x 8" strip of white paper and a pair of scissors (watch them closely with the scissors). Ronni got the children's scissors  and I gave Collin my small scissors. They cut the strips of paper up and then glued them to the mouths. The top one was Collin's and the bottom one is Ronni's. Whoever these mouths belong to are in desperate need of some orthodontic care. ;)

Science Part II: Finally, it was time to get back to the giant tooth. ;) First, I talked to the kids about the different ways to brush teeth (side to side, up and down, and small circles). I gave them each an old toothbrush with a small cup of water and smeared a bunch of toothpaste on the "tooth". Their job was to clean. I had them practice the different strokes for a little while then I just let them go at it. I thought they did pretty well. The food all turned green when mixed with the blue toothpaste... eeew! haha!

Music: I Brush My Teeth - sung to "Jingle Bells"

I brush my teeth, I brush my teeth

Morning noon and night.

I brush them, floss them, rinse them clean

I keep them nice and white.

I brush them once, I brush them twice

I brush them till they shine.

I always brush them up and down

Those precious teeth of mine.

I eat good foods, I eat good foods

I give my teeth a trea.

I always eat fruits, breads and milk

Vegetables and meat.

If I eat sweets, if I eat sweets

I brush right away

To keep my teeth shiny bright

And free from tooth decay.

FHE - Building Strong Families

Collin was in charge of music and he chose "My Eternal Family".
Then we said an opening prayer and started the lesson. I got the idea from here.
I talked about the first family -- Adam and Eve -- and discussed how they had to teach their kids so they could be a strong family. Then I had the kids name things that a family should do. The website gives examples like 'show love', 'service', 'use kind words'. I put them on blocks then we stacked them up and I talked about how if we do all these things we can be a strong building but if we don't do one of these (I pulled out that block) the family weakens (all the blocks fell over). We did this a couple of times, pulling out different blocks, each time the "family" fell over. The kids had fun!
Here are some examples:

Spiritual Thought Sundays

3 Nephi 17:21 And he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.

"The Savior made it clear through his simple but powerful example that we must make time to call our children to us, to see that they are blessed, and to pray unto our Heavenly Father for them."

                          -- Mothering with Spiritual Power by Debra Woods