LDS Activity Days - Russia

I taught the girls about former Soviet Union today - the country where I grew up.
First, I showed them the countries that Soviet Union got divided into on the map.
Then we learned a few phrases in Russian:

Привет  - Preevyet  - hello

Как дела?  -  Kak dyela? – how are you?

Хорошо  - Kharasho  - doing well

I loved hearing the girls speak Russian.

Then we watch my favorite episode of "Masha and Medved". Even though the cartoon is in Russian, but it has minimum talking and plenty of laughter.

Then we played Morskoi Boi - Sea battle - one of my favorite quite games ever. 

If you want to play it with your friend, print the "seas" (one copy for you and one for the opponent), position your battleship and have fun. 

Then we had yummy Russian Medovik - Honey cake. It is not too sweet; just right to satisfy a sweet tooth.

We finished our activity by playing Rezinki - some people call it Chinese jump rope. This was my all time favorite active game when I was growing up. There are levels, so I enjoy the fun of progressing - just like in video games, but it is also a wonderful exercise. 

Laptime "Bathtime"

1. Hello song (I put the bathrobe on for this laptime)
2. Who like to take baths? Story about animals who didn't like baths.
 "Mrs Wishy-Washy's Farm"

3. Bathtab song (take props out of the tub as you sing)
("If you're happy and you know it" tune)
There is a duckie in the tub, in the tub,
There is a duckie in the tub, in the tub,
There is a duckie in the tub
Rub-a-dub-a-dub-a -dub
There is a duckie in the tub, in the tub.

(other props: dolphin, fishy, turtle, diver)

4. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 once I caught a fish alive

5. Rubber duckie from Sesame Street

6. I had a little turtle rhyme and fingerplay


7. "The treasure bath"

8. This is the way we wash ("Here we go round the mulberry bush" tune) Give out washcloths

This is the way we wash our face,
Wash our face, wash our face.
This is the way we wash our face
Rub-a-dub-dub in the tub.

(our hair, fingers, arms, bellies).

This is the way we brush our teeth...

9. The teeth book Dr.Suess

10. Bathtime by Raffi and catching bubbles

11. Now it's time to say goodbye

Laptime "the Moon"

1. Hello song
2. Hey diddle, diddle on a flannel board
3. Give kids white paper plates and let's all jump over the moon
4. Book "Kitten's First Moon" Kevin Henkes

5. 1 little, 2 little, 3 little moons (counting song)
6. Take a trip in my rocket ship to the Moon.

Zoom, zoom, zoom, We are going to the moon,
Zoom, zoom, zoom, We'll be there very soon.
5,4,3,2,1  Blast off.

Fly around the library.

7. Aiken Drum with props (ladle, spaghetti hair and such). Kids make music with shakers.
8. "Goodnight moon" by Margaret Wise Brown
8. Now it's time to say goodbye.

Audrey Wood

We have been reading books by Audrey Wood and we love them. Here are a few of our favorites.

 "The Napping House"

This book came with a CD and we had a blast listening to the Napping house songs in the car.

 "Silly Sally"

Audrey Wood's website has images from her books for coloring.

 "Quick as a cricket"

Kids can relate to this one :) These books have fabulous words and beautiful illustrations.

Lori Walburg

I usually have a list of books that I want to check out for my kids at the library; however, my girls like to go through the rows of books and randomly pull some out. I look through the books to make sure that they will be interesting for my girls' age group. Last time they pulled out two books that turned out to be true treasures. They are written by Lori Walburg "The Legend of the Easter Egg" and "The Legend of the Candy Cane". The words, the pictures, and the messages were amazing. My girls have big smiles on their faces every time we read these books. Even though they are about Easter and Christmas, we enjoyed reading them now.

Library - picks of this week

Our family loves the library. We had amazing libraries where we used to live, but now our library is very small, so we commute to another nearby city to get a bigger selection of book.
My children get so much joy from going to the library and reading the books we check out. The benefits of reading a great: vocabulary, imagination, fun, healthy.
We usually check out about 20 books a week. Some we like so much that we keep them longer and can't stand parting with them.
Here are some of our favorites from the last couple of weeks.
Ella Sarah gets dresses by Margaret Chodos-Irvine
My girls love this book a lot, because they can relate to Ella Sarah, who chooses the clothes that her parents and older sister consider too "dressy", "fancy", and "silly". But to little Ella Sarah and her friends the clothes is just right to have a tea party.

"Llama llama red pajama" by Anna Dewdney
Another favorite. My children and I can relate to llama's experience: minds of little kids can't understand that mamas can be busy. However, "mama llama's always near, even if she's not here".

"Our library" by Eve Bunting

This is why we love our library. We can learn anything from the books we check out.

"There is no place like space"

An awesome book about space. I think I will be buying this one. My girls loved learning about different planets, the Sun, the Moon, constellations from this easy to understand rhymed book. It can also be a base for a lesson about the Solar System.

Week 2 topics

We chose Australia for our country.
Alisa said she wanted to learn about koalas.
Science: water and water cycle.