January Shelf Work.

Happy New Year!

I’m excited to share some of our new trays and work. Javi wants to explore some weather-related work, so that’s where I started my planning. Once I realized that much of what he’d be interested in learning are hands-on experiments and activities (vs. self-directed shelf work) I gathered supplies for that type of learning, too. I decided to pull in some other ideas (seasons, arctic and Antarctica, animals) for our shelves because I felt they supported each other and knew that Lola would enjoy those activities.

Here’s what we’re up to —

Math:

1:1 Correspondence: I picked up these snowflakes from Michael’s (on Christmas clearance!) and used some glitter glue to write numbers (0-10) on each one. I paired them with pony beads so that Lola can start counting and learning numerals. I thought starting with 0-10 was pretty tricky so I only put out 1-5.

Weather clip cards: These cute free cards seemed like a great next step for math! The idea is you count the number of objects on each card and then use a clothespin to clip the correct number. I didn’t have enough clothespins so I kept pompoms in the basket for her to place a pompom next to or on top of the correct number. There were about 18 cards all together in this download, but since we’re only working on numbers 1-5, I put all the cards with more than 5 objects away for later.

1:1: Stamping: This was always a favorite in my classroom so I knew it would be a hit at home, too. Dot markers are so fun! The idea is she’ll stamp one stamp under the number 1, stamp two stamps under the number 2, and so on. Again, we’re only working up to 5. 

Addition and subtraction cards: Javi’s been really interested in math facts so these cards seemed perfect since they had winter embellishments to them. 

Language:

Object to picture matching: I matched these cards with our Arctic Toob figurines. I was missing a few objects (owl, ox and puffin) so I took out those cards. 

Opposites: These are such great cards! They are from an Antarctica printable pack that is free (as long as you subscribe to the blog.) They have real photos and children will match words like awake/asleep, and young/old, day/night, hot/cold, etc. 

Clothing season sort: These cards allow a child to sort through different clothing depending on the season. I guess if you don’t live in a place with four seasons, it might not make sense! But for us, in New England, it’s right on point. On the back of each card I wrote small letters (w for winter, f for fall, s for spring, and drew a picture of a sun for summer) to act as a control of error.

3 part cards, weather: These are available on my site! I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted so I made it. I like real images (instead of cartoons) and every time I searched for weather cards, all that came up were very cartoon-like images. 

Animal Tracks: These cards have children matching animals to their tracks. We may take this a step further and make imprints of our own tracks (footprints!)

Transportation in Antarctica: While in planning mode for weather and winter, I kept coming back to Antarctica and if there’s one thing Javi loves — is transportation vehicles! So these cards fit right in. I guess you could print two copies and have your child match them together. You could also cut them into two pieces and have them match the picture to the label. I might do that eventually. But right now, it’s mostly to learn the names of the vehicles — since, many I don’t even know!

Weather syllables: I was excited by these cards! The idea is to count the syllables in each word and then place a stone, pompom or clip onto the correct number on the card. I laminated the cards so Javi could also use a dry erase marker to circle the correct number if he wanted. I LOVE syllable games. 

Fine Motor:

Cutting strips: Lola loves these strips! These ones fit into the theme so I printed out a bunch!

Snowflake designs: Here, I just twisted together 3 pipe cleaners and paired them with pony beads. This work is great for fine motor development, and making and following patterns.

Coffee filter snowflakes: This work is geared more towards Javi. But I folded coffee filters into a snowflake shape and used paper clips to hold them in place. I’ve drawn designs on some of them where he should make the cuts, and I’ve left some blanks for him to make his own designs.  

Play dough snowman: I pulled this from our play dough kit! It already had all the supplies to make a snowman (branches for arms, a carrot nose, black buttons, and so on) so it seemed like the perfect addition to our shelf work. 

Science:

Book: This is a great little book about Arctic animals. I printed two copies; one to read so I stapled it and one where I chopped the words off from the picture so that it could be a reading/matching activity.

Water Cycle: I printed two copies of this printable. I laminated one and stuck velcro on the small pieces so that both Javi and Lola could practice placing the pieces in the right spots. The other copy I have ready should Javi want to cut and glue the pieces and write the words. 

Water forms: This activity teaches about water in its various forms: solid (snow, hail, ice), liquid (ocean, river) and gas (clouds, steam.) Children can sort the different picture cards and it’s a great conversation starter!

Weather Chart: This is the material that started it all! I really like how this chart focuses on yesterday, today and tomorrow. I laminated the pieces and then stuck velcro on the back of each card so they can be moved around. I have a basket nearby that we store all the extra pieces not in use and they are sorted and paper clipped.

Hibernation and Migration: I tied in hibernation and migration with weather and winter because what better time than now to bring it up! Our favorite book Winter Walk mentions hibernation and migration but we’ve also been reading some others too. I made these cards to support this concept. 

Hands-on activities:

DIY weathervane: We followed this tutorial! 

Watching snow melt: We filled a mason jar with snow, measured it and and waited an hour. We filled out a worksheet on the scientific method and wondered if we’d have the same amount of water in the jar as we had snow! 

Tornado in a bottle: If we did this again, I’d get a smaller bottle because the 2L bottle was really heavy for the kids to pick up and shake! But all you need is a bottle, a dash of dish soap (the kids put way too much in ours!), a splash of food coloring and to seal the bottle. Then all you do is shake the bottle in a circular motion and observe!

Make fog: We filled a pyrex with boiling water, waited 60 seconds, emptied most of the water then placed a ziploc bag filled with ice on top! Wait and observe and the container will fill up with fog.

I still have some more activities planned with these topics in mind so I’ll update this post later this month!

Happy January!