A is for Africa - Weekly Wrap-up

We learned about Africa (and Ancient Egypt) and the Letter A, but what else did we do all week? Here's a quick recap:

Practical Life

M asked if she could cut out a blue circle. I gave her a sheet of blue paper and a set of circle stencils to trace some circles. Then she used her scissors to cut them out. She was way more successful than I anticipated - yay for scissors skills!

I just got this Geoboard for M this past week. I went back and forth trying to decide whether to get the smaller 5x5 boards or this larger one. I opted for the larger one (this is 11x11) so she could use it to make shapes and letters. Most of the geoboard printables I've seen are based on the 5x5 boards, but she could easily create multiple shapes or designs on this larger board (or I can buy the smaller boards at a later time if needed). I also figured I could take two large rubber bands and stretch them vertically and horizontally across the middle of the board to divide it into quarters for her.

Anyway, so far she has enjoyed putting the rubber bands on the pegs to create different shapes. It's great fine motor practice to get the rubber bands onto the small pegs.

My mom's birthday was on Friday, so M worked on creating a birthday card for her. She has this Make Your Own Cards kit that she received as a gift. She chose a picture of a birthday cake from the ideas sheet, found the shapes she needed, and glued them onto the card. I wrote "Happy Birthday Gigi!" on the inside of the card in pencil, and M traced over the letters with marker. She also signed her name at the bottom and decorated the inside with stickers. She was so proud of this card!!

Sensorial

It snowed on Tuesday, which is a big deal in South Carolina! M was so excited! We played outside in the snow, and she kept running from place to place in the yard saying "Look! There's snow on my slide! And look here! There's snow on the tree!" We caught snow flakes on our tongues, made foot prints in the snow, made snowballs, and smashed icicles on the patio.

When Daddy came home from work, they went back outside to collect some clean snow to make snow cream. Yum!

I made these control cards that match with my husband's socket set by placing the sockets in different configurations on the scanner. I got the idea from the Montessori at Home eBook. This was virtually free (just the cost of printing and laminating), and is similar to the cylinder sets.

Language

In addition to the Letter A activities we did this week, M did some other language activities.

My husband and I spend a lot of time on our computers, so M is always fascinated with computers and keyboards. We spent some time one afternoon typing names into Word. She would tell me what she wanted to type, then we would work together to sound out the letters to spell the word, and she would find the letters on the keyboard.

She has also been spending a good bit of time on ABCMouse.com. She loves the fact that she can navigate the site by herself and choose the activities and games that she wants to do.

Here's a picture of M reading a book with my mom while we waited for lunch. Smart thinking, Gigi!

This Spot It! Alphabet game was a total impulse buy that I got off Amazon when I ordered the new geoboard. When it arrived I was a little disappointed - it was a LOT smaller than I had expected. However, now that we've played it a few times, I think it'll be the perfect game to toss in my purse to take to restaurants or other places to play while we wait.

The tin contains a set of small cards with different letters and shapes on them. Each pair of cards has exactly one letter or shape in common. The first person to spot the similarity wins! There are three different ways to play for different levels of challenge. We also used them for "I Spy" by spreading all of the cards out on the table and calling out a letter or shape.

Mathematics

We were a little light on math this week. I actually made a mancala board out of an egg carton, but we never got around to playing it.

M did play some math games on ABCMouse. Here she's completing a color by number activity.

Science / Cultural Studies

Obviously most of our Cultural Studies this week had to do with Africa. However, Bob the Orangutan at the zoo was celebrating his birthday, and we couldn't skip out on that party! He even made his pick for the Super Bowl (Seahawks!). Bob and his parents thoroughly enjoyed their cake, cupcakes, and presents!

Physical Education

Well, we ran around in the snow, visited the Lego exhibit at the NC Arboretum, and danced to African music. The snow and icy conditions kept us inside more than I would have liked (our visit to Gravitopia and the Recycling Center field trip were both cancelled), but we still had a great week. Hopefully it'll warm back up and we can get outside for some more fresh air next week!

Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links for your convenience. For more information, see my full disclosure.

Make sure to check out the Africa  (and Ancient Egypt) and Letter A activities we did this week, as well as the rest of the posts in the Around the World series. Thanks for stopping by!

Linking Up With:
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