Fun with Plastic Easter Eggs

This year, instead of coming up with activities for Eva to do with plastic eggs, I gave her a basket full of them and let her creativity guide her.  Each day she has come up with something to do with them.  She has used eggs tongs to transfer them from the basket to a tray.

When she got bored with that, she dumped the eggs on the floor and then used the tongs to collect them again.

Here's a list of a few other Easter egg activities she came up with:
*  hide the eggs and then find them again (great training for Easter egg hunts!)
*  open the eggs and see what will fit inside (she's tried everything from dinosaurs to crayons to buttons)
*  put something in an egg and have someone else guess what it is by shaking it
*  sort eggs by color
*  sort eggs by size
*  roll eggs to see which ones will go the farthest
*  put small objects in two eggs and use as shakers to make music

Chinese Zodiac Matching Game

Eva loves playing matching games and they are super easy to make.  For this one I used red card stock and some animal stickers.  We only made 8 of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs- tiger, pig, monkey, rat, dog, rabbit, rooster and horse- because I couldn't find stickers for dragon, snake, oxen and ram.  Eight pairs tends to be a good amount to play with at this age so it worked out.

Eva was really interested to find out what year she was born in- the year of the pig and that mommy was born in the year of the tiger and daddy, the year of the rooster.  She found a match of mommy's year!

Welcome to China

Today we traveled to China.  Eva found it on her map and colored it in.  She also got another stamp in her passport.

The sensory tub has been filled with a staple in China- rice.  We colored some red and some pink and I added a set of red heart scoops and a bunch of red pom poms.  The rice is a huge hit.  Eva has always been drawn to rice tables and will spend hours scooping and feeling the rice.

I also made a few felt fortune cookies for Eva to practice transferring between take-out containers with chopsticks.  It is definitely tricky!

The fortune cookies are really easy to make.  Take a felt circle, fold it in half and place a bit of ribbon in the fold but sticking out at one end and then sew it shut.  Using a needle and thread, make a stitch 1/3 of the way in on the fold and another 1/3 from the other end, pull tight and tie off.  It should fold in like a real fortune cookie.

Chinese New Year

This Thursday is the celebration of the Chinese New Year.  We will be welcoming in the Year of the Rabbit all week!

Crafts
Chopstick Picture Frame- we'll use wooden chopsticks to make a special picture frame

Paper Fan-  a cardboard rectangle and a tongue depressor will be transformed into a beautiful fan

Paper Lanterns- similar to the Halloween lanterns we made last year, these lanterns will be used to decorate our dining room for the new year feast

Egg Carton Dragon- no Chinese New Year celebration is complete without a dragon puppet

Red Envelope- we'll make a red paper envelope and maybe Eva will find some lucky money in it on Thursday

Activities
Chinese Yo Yo- using a spool, some string and two popsicle sticks, we'll make this Asian take on the yo yo

Chinese Character Memory Game- Eva's been getting really good at playing Memory so this version will help her look carefully at the details

Chopstick Transferring- we'll use chopsticks to move felt fortune cookies from one bowl to another

Rice Sensory Tub- the snow is emptied out and in it's place is a lot of rice- one of Eva's favorites

Cooking
Lucky Noodles- we'll make a yummy noodle lunch

Chocolate Covered Chinese Noodles- a sweet treat to celebrate the new year with

Books

          

Penguins A-Plenty

Did you know the only land animals in Antarctica are penguins and seals (and occasionally people)?  Eva is a huge penguin fan so she is thrilled that we have been reading more about her little web-footed friends.
Crafts
Penguin Footprints- we made these last year too but this year they will be used as thank you cards for Eva's recent penguin themed birthday party

Shape Penguin- we'll be creating some different penguins from various shapes and colors

Feather Painting- this is always a fun activity!

Life-Size Penguin- we'll turn an outline of Eva into a giant Emperor penguin

Activities
Penguin Waddling- can you walk like a penguin?  can you walk with an egg on your feet?

Rock Hopping- another activity we did last year only this year we will take it outside

Hide the Penguins- Eva got a penguin Toob for her birthday and the first thing she asked to do when she opened it was to hide them so this game will be played a lot!

Songs
I'm a Little Penguin (to the tune of I'm a Little Teapot) by Victoria Smith

I'm a little penguin, short and fat
Wearing my tixedo without any hat
I live in Antarctica where I splash and play
Whales, sharks and leopard seals make me run away.

Have You Ever Seen a Penguin? (to the tune of Have You Ever Seen a Lassie?)

Have you ever seen a penguin, a penguin, a penguin
Have you ever seen a penguin swim this way and that?
Swim this way and that way and that way and this way
Have you ever seen a penguin swim this way and that?

(change out swim for waddle, slide, hop, etc and act out as you sing)

Books