Deirdre, Author at JDaniel4s Mom

Deirdre Smith writes/owns JDaniel4’s Mom. After twenty years as a elementary school and technology resource teacher in Northern Virginia, she became a stay at home mom in upstate South Carolina. Her blog features ways she and her 5 year old are exploring learning, crafting, creating healthy meals and living life to its fullest. Deirdre can also be found on twitter as @jdaniel4smom and on her blog's FB page. You can also check her out on Google+.

Olympics for Kids: Printable Passport with Learning Activities

January 10, 2014 By Deirdre

It is possible to travel to the Olympics with your children using this printable Olympic passport. They won’t get to travel to the Olympic host site using the printable Olympic passport. They will learn about what a passport looks like, review basic facts about themselves, and learn a little bit about the host country as they fill it out. This Olympics for Kids activity will make them feel more a part of the event.

I have updated the passport! The layout is the same. The graphics are a little different. You will see a version of the old one at the bottom of this post.

While they are filling out the passport, children will work on writing their name, address, where they were born, and their home country. They will also get to create an illustration of their home country’s flag and the host country’s flag.

There is a spot for you to glue or tape a picture of each child in their passport. You could also have them draw a picture of themselves if you like.

Getting the Olympic Passport

The calendar is a PDF. Once you have downloaded, the set you will need to open it with a PDF reader like Acrobat Reader.

Olympic Passport

What could you use the Olympics for a kid’s passport for?

Pass out the passports when you are going to view part of an event on T.V. It could be like a ticket to view the event.
Use the passports at an Olympic obstacle course you create in your home or classroom. Place a stamp on the back of the passport for each obstacle they complete.
Fill out the passports after reading a book about the Olympics or an Olympic event. We like the book Elympics
Have your class pretend they are going to the Olympics as an athlete. Have them fill out the passport and then write a story about them as an Olympian.
Put them in a center along with Olympic symbols for the children to explore.
Assign different children to various Olympic host cities from the past. Have them research that host city’s flag and have them display it in their passport.
Have your children create an imaginary Olympian and fill out the passport for them. Then have them create journal entries for that athlete’s time at the Olympics.
Set up a different Olympic event in various rooms in your house. Have your children show their passports as they enter each event.
Visit our local library with your passports and make looking for books on the host country or the Olympics an event.

Olympics for Kids- Printable Passport with Learning Activities

This is an older version of the passport. JDaniel worked on it when he was little.

More Olympic Activities

Olympic Shot Put Catapult

Code and Color Olympic Medals Algorithm Pages

Static Electricity Olympic Flame Activity

Gold Medal Painting Idea

Deirdre Smith writes/owns JDaniel4’s Mom. After twenty years as an elementary school and technology resource teacher in Northern Virginia, she became a stay-at-home mom in upstate South Carolina. Her blog features ways she and her 5-year-old are exploring learning, crafting, creating healthy meals, and living life to its fullest. Deirdre can also be found on Twitter as @jdaniel4smom and on her blog’s FB page. You can also check her out on Google+.

Finding Joy in Bleak Moments

January 8, 2014 By Deirdre

We can focus on the deep water covering the path we are on or find
the joy of seeing a bridge at the end of it.

I have decided to find joy in the challenging situations I am in this year. Instead of making a set of New Year’s resolutions this year I am choosing to focus on joy. As I mentioned last week things here are a little bleak. My husband is back in school after losing his job and my mom’s health is very unstable. It would be very easy to go through each day filled with anger and dread of what will happen next.

Yesterday we went by to see my mom in the rehab center she is staying in. The nurses came in as soon as I arrived. They wanted me to know that she isn’t eating and spends most of her day with her eyes closed. She doesn’t seem to want to respond the m or even be there. I don’t blame her. She has been through so much. There have been many tests, scans and procedures in the six weeks since she entered the hospital. The food she is been given is mushy and very much like baby food. Last Friday when she arrived she ate spoonful after spoonful of it when she first arrived. I think she hoped it would get better as she ate. Until her legs get stronger she has to stay in bed or be moved to a chair with a lift. Yes, right now her life is bleak and she is silently very angry.

We don’t know if the doctors will find cancer when they do a procedure to remove the stints in her liver and explore the pancreas next month. At this point, we don’t know much and she knows just about the same things we do.

Yet I know that each day is a gift and we are not promised tomorrow. We can choose to live a day in bleakness and anger or try to find joy. Even small moments of joy in a bleak day can brighten it a little. I talked her about just that yesterday. She opened her eyes and I squeezed her hand as I shared with her.

Will she choose joy? Can she through the mental illness she already had prior to this decline find a way to even think of joy? Can she open her eyes to the small and wonderful things that God has given her? Really only God knows.

JDaniel and I have started sharing 5 things about our day that filled us with joy or that we are thankful for each night after saying his bedtime prayers. I think I am going to try this exercise with my mom when I go to see her on Thursday. Even if she doesn’t choose to participate with 5 things of her own she will get to hear mine.

Why don’t you join me in trying to find things in our lives that bring us joy or that we are thankful for?

{Number Recognition} Do You Know Five?

January 4, 2014 By Deirdre

When you encounter a new concept or skill for the first time, your mind may need several experiences with it to find meaning and understanding in it. Numbers are one of those concepts. Children need to experience them through various modalities (tactical, visual, and auditory) before they have number recognition. They also need to view them with concrete (hands-on), semi-concrete (displayed in pictures) and abstract displays (numbers).

A number concept bag like the one displayed above can be filled with objects that will help children explore numbers. This bag explores the number five in many, many ways.

Let me share with you the learning tools placed in the bag and how to use them.

Wooden Blocks

Blocks can be used to explore the number five in various ways. A mighty tower of five can be built with the blocks. Children could create an imaginative way to display the blocks horizontally and then tracings can be done around the display of five. To bring in auditory learning the blocks can be dropped one at a time so children can hear what the number five sounds like.

Die

Beyond finding the five dots on the die there are several other ways the die can be used to get to know the number five. Children can find combinations of dots on the die that equal five and record them on paper. Another activity could be to keep track of the number of times it takes to roll the number five. They number of rolls could be recorded on paper with tally marks.

Glue Outline of Five

A number five can be created using glue on an index card or piece of cardstock. Children can rub their fingers over the shape of the number. They could also place a paper on top of the glue outline. A crayon can be rubbed over the paper to create a rubbing of the number.

Bean Outline of Five

A number five can be created using glue and beans can be placed on the glue number. Children can rub their fingers over the number five times to help create a tactile memory of the number. The bean outline could also be used to create a rubbing if the rubbing was done carefully.

Stickers on a Card

A card can be created displaying five stickers. The children can create the cards on their own or the card can be created ahead of time. Counting the stickers on the card gives children the opportunity to work with a number in a semi-concrete manner. There are still objects to count, but they are not movable once they are on the card.

Beads on a Pipe Cleaner

Placing five beads on a pipe cleaner could be done by the children or done ahead of time. The idea is that the pipe cleaner is bent to create a bracelet that students can wear once the beads are on it. They can move the beads forward on the bracelet when they count up to five. Moving the beads backward and counting backward from five to one would also be a great way to visualize five in a very concrete way.

Number Recognition- Tooth Pick Tally Marks

Toothpick Tally Marks Toothpicks can be arranged in play dough to display the number five in tally marks. Children can push the toothpicks into the play dough one at time counting as they go. Creating the gate across the four toothpicks to create the number five can be challenging. Children will really have to push down on the fifth toothpick unless they create a thick area of play dough.Popsicle Tally Marks

Popsicle stick tally marks are super easy to count with. Four blue sticks were selected for this activity along with one red. The four blue sticks would be displayed vertically. The red stick would place over them going diagonally. Giving the stick that will be displayed diagonally a different color helps it stand out visually.

Pentagon Puzzle Piece

If you have a shape puzzle, the pentagon puzzle piece from it makes the great tool for learning the number five. Children can see and feel the five sides and five angles that make up a pentagon. They can also trace an outline of that puzzle piece onto paper. The tracing of the pentagon can then be labeled with the numbers 1 to 5.

Five can be explored and understood when this Do You Know the Number 5 bag is shared during circle time or at your the kitchen table. It contents could be further explored in a center or work table. Leaving the materials out to be explored would be a wonderful invitation to learn more about the number 5 and work on number recognition.

Ready For a New Year!

December 31, 2013 By Deirdre

Some years are just hard. They have highlights and some wonderful memories. (Those need to be remembered with joy!) None the less they are just plain hard.

This year was one of those hard years at my house. Just as one thing seemed to resolve itself something else happened that was equally as challenging.

My husband had back trouble that seemed to plague him most the spring. He went to see doctors, physical therapists, and chiropractors to get it straightened out. Thankfully sleeping in a recliner seemed to give him a little relief as during that time.

Then my husband was laid off from his job of twenty years. He is a very gifted computer programmer. Unfortunately, the language he used for twenty years isn’t very popular here. He has gone back to school to learn a new language. Thankfully his former company gave him a wonderful severance package that included insurance through the end of this year.

I tried desperately to get a teaching job in the public school system and in several daycare centers. I just wasn’t what they were looking for or they didn’t pay well. The only job I was offered this summer was less than half of what I made before I stayed home. Thankfully I found a job at the beginning of November teaching in the computer lab of local public school. It pays more than the daycare jobs would have but doesn’t have benefits. My husband to negotiate the new government healthcare system for a week to get health insurance worked out.

The day before Christmas my mom went into the hospital with kidney and liver failure. She is still there. It has been five weeks. We have heard many thoughts of what the problem could be. We were told to take her off life support at one point. Which we did and she miraculously has had amazing days of talking and smiling. She had surgeries to fix problems and procedures to fix the fixes. We have been told to pick a rehab center and that she would be leaving in two days. Then we were told a week later to not plan on moving her.

It has been a hard year. I have cried harder and prayed harder than I have in years. My family has been blessed by people we know in real life and hundreds online over and over again.

Those hard times haven’t ended. My husband still needs a job. My mom still needs to get out of the hospital. We still need to figure out where she will live after rehab. (She probably will need us to sell her house and move her into a nursing home. )

I don’t want to end the year dwelling on all of this, though. I want to focus on the miracles we have been given. The friends that have loved and supported us. The amazing gifts I have living at my house with me. My guys are truly blessings to me. I am so thankful for them and to God. He has truly carried us each and every day through it all.

5 Little Firecrackers Craft and Song

December 29, 2013 By Deirdre

Five Little Firecrackers Craft and Song - This fine motor activity would be great to do for any patriotic holiday like the 4th of July. Kids can weave their own designs on the cardboard fire cracker they paint.

5 Little Firecrackers craft and song is the latest five little holiday song and craft we have done for the blog. It all started with JDaniel deciding he loved the book The Five Little Pumpkins. Since then we have explored the songs the Five Little Turkeys and Five Little Christmas Trees. I am going to be on the look out for more five little songs to share with you and him in the next year.Just as with the other five little songs we did a craft to help illustrate the song. This time we did a pipe cleaner lacing activity and craft.

Five long rectangles were cut out of the top of a pizza box. Then the cardboard rectangles were colored with a red marker and a red metallic crayon. It is a little hard to see that the firecracker’s surface sparkle a little in the picture above, but in real life it does sparkle.

Once the firecrackers were colored, random holes were punched into them. As you may remember JDaniel loves using the hole punch. I think lots of kids do. It is a great fine motor tool so when we have the opportunity pull it out and create with it. If you want your children to thread or weave in a particular pattern, you may want to punch the holes yourself. Our holes were really random.

When the holes had been punched, it was time to weave sparkly gold pipe cleaners through the holes. The weaving was done randomly from the top of the firecracker to the bottom. A little of the pipe cleaner was left at the top so the firecracker would have a wick.

With all the firecrackers ready, we started singing and almost chanting the song. It was so much fun!

Here is the Five Little Fireworks Song:

5 little fireworks standing in a row5 little fireworks standing in a row5 little fireworks standing in a rowAnd if 1 little firework decides its time to goWhoosh!There’ll be 4 little fireworks standing in a row3……….. 2 ……… 15 Shiny Rockets in the sky5 Shiny Rockets in the skyWatch them flying oh so high!If one shiny rocket goes BANG! BANG! BANG!There’ll be 4 shiny rockets in the sky3…….2……..1

If you like this patriotic activity, here are some more your children will enjoy.

Fine Motor Weaving Patriotic Colors
Water Gun Fireworks Painting
Bald Eagle Craft and Science Experiment
Grandma’s Garbage Truck and Parade Float
Musical Star Shaker American Flag Mobile
Chalk and Bow Fireworks Craft
Patriotic Lantern
Fireworks Straw Painting

Do you have a five little something song that I should share? If you do, please leave the name of it in a comment below.

New Year’s Drink For Kids- Firecracker Sparkler

December 27, 2013 By Deirdre

My son loves special drinks. I think it is because he is served milk at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A special drink for New Year’s needed to be super special and have a super special name like the Firecracker Sparkler. This New’s Year’s Drink for Kids is something super special. It includes ingredients my son will love celebrating with.

What is in our Firecracker Sparkler?

Sprite
Fun Flavored Popsicles
Licorice

How do you make one?

A Bubbling Beverage

It is really simple to put together. You simply pour Sprite or your child’s favorite fizzy drink into a glass. If they don’t like soda, you could use juice instead. I chose to use Sprite in our Firecracker Sparkler. A sparkling apple or grape juice would also give this New Year’s Eve Drink some bubbles.

Fun Chillers

We cut fun striped popsicles into cubes to add a fun color to the drink along with additional flavor. We used Sprite which has a lemon lime flavor. The popsicles we selected also had a citrus flavor. They were lime, orange, and watermelon. As the popsicle ice cubes melted, this New Year’s drink for kids got better and better. Matching your popsicle ice cubes flavor with your choice of beverage is a lot of fun.

Fun Straw

A fun straw was totally needed to accessorize our New Year’s drink. We used a stick of licorice as a straw because JDaniel loves red licorice. A fun twisty straw or sparkly straw from a party store might be fun to use in the drink too.

Firecracker Sparkler New Year's Drink for Kids - Kids will love making this fun drink.

This New Year’s drink for kids isn’t super fancy. It contains items you could easily find in any grocery. My son loved just loved. I bet if you a celebrating at noon on New Year’s Eve or just before bedtime your children will love this drink or a variation of it too.

New Year’s Customs Sheet and Activities

December 26, 2013 By Deirdre

It is fascinating to explore the customs and traditions people celebrate during New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day around the world. I made a New Years Customs Page that shares what people do to celebrate around the world. The customs sheet could be read and discussed or it could become part of a learning activity that you could do at home or with your students at school.

What activities could you do with the New Year’s Customs Sheet?

Red Suitcase Craft– Cut out each custom square and glue it to a red construction paper suitcase. The squares will look like the old fashioned travel stickers people used to put on their suitcases long ago.

Concentration Game- Print out two sheets of the New Year’s Customs Sheet. Then cut out each customs. Place 18 custom pieces upside down and search for the matches.

Custom Puzzle Match-Print out a New Year’s Customs sheet. Cut each custom piece into two sections. The top section should contain the picture and part of the world that celebrates that custom. The bottom section should contain the custom. The cuts can be made with various styles of jagged edges. Then try to match custom to its picture like a puzzle.

Guess the Custom Game- After reading over each custom, have one person describe one of the pictures and everyone else can guess what the custom is.

Pictionary Custom Game- Cut out each custom from the New Year’s Eve Custom Sheet and place them in a stack. Take turns selecting a custom from the stack and illustrating it. Everyone else tries to guess what custom is being illustrated.

I bet you can find more ways to this New Year’s Customs Sheet. If you do, please leave a comment below sharing your idea.

Happy New Year!

Angels Among Us

December 25, 2013 By Deirdre

While we totally celebrate Jesus’ birthday on Christmas day, it is the angels like the one displayed in this craft JDaniel made it school last year that are on my mind. I know that God sends his angels to look over us. The Bible shares numerous encounters with angels.

I have never seen an actual angel with wings and halo. They don’t seem to make appearance much anymore. Last week I did encounter a doctor that spoke to me the way I think an angel would.

My mom is in her fourth week in the hospital. I have talked with dozens of nurses and doctors during that time. They have almost all been kind and all have been very caring, but one really stands out.

Dr. H stopped in to check on Mom and I was sitting in a chair beside her. He updated both of us on how she is doing. (She hasn’t walked in weeks and can’t use her hands. They don’t know what started her decline and still are not sure what the cause of her current issues is.) Many doctors have done that with my sisters and I.

What made Dr. H different? He took my hand and said, “Thank you so much for coming to sit with your mom. Being here makes such a difference.” I was floored. What a kind thing to say! It is hard to know when some aren’t speaking clearly if you are making a difference.

What a gift his words were to me! I would continue to visit her daily anyway, but hearing his sweet and thoughtful words really made my day.

It isn’t easy to leave work each day, rush to the hospital for a few hours, rush home to eat dinner with my guys and try to get caught up with all the house and life stuff. (Thankfully my husband has been doing a lot of the things I normally do.)

Visiting with mom is the right thing for my family to do and I am so thankful Dr. H thinks so too.

Five Little Christmas Trees Craft and Song

December 22, 2013 By Deirdre

Five Little Christmas Trees Song and Craft

Have you heard the five little Christmas trees chant or song? My son loves the five little pumpkins chant so much that I searched and searched to find a Christmas themed chant that he would enjoy. I found one called the five little reindeer while searching. It is really cute, but I decided to keep looking. When I found the Five Little Christmas Trees chant, I knew it was the one. I just love that each of the trees finds a home.

Here is the chant or song:

5 little Christmas Trees
Standing all alone
Their hearts were very sad
’Cause they hadn’t found a home.
Then chop went the axe
And down fell the tree
And off they went with a happy family!
(Continue from 4-1 Christmas Trees)
No little Christmas Trees
Standing all alone
Their hearts were very happy
’Cause they all found a home!!!

Beyond just repeating the chant I really like when we can act it out or retell the rhyme with a manipulative or craft. We have made egg carton pumpkins for the five little pumpkins and handprint turkey puppets for the five little pumpkins. This time we made handprint trees with fingerprint ornaments.

When the trees were dry, they were glued to construction paper to make them a little bit sturdier. In hindsight I should have backed them with thin cardboard and added a cardboard stand for them. Things here have been a little upside down and construction paper seemed easier.

We lined the trees up on against a wall. When it was each trees time to fall, it was tipped over. We didn’t eliminate a tree after it was tipped over. It was just left lying on its side. We should have had one of JDaniel’s Fisher-Price people carry it off.

The five little Christmas trees is such a fun chant. I hope you will try it with the children in your life.

{Christmas Ornament Activity} Positional Words

December 20, 2013 By Deirdre

As you get ready to put away our ornaments, you may want to try this activity. It asks children to place objects in an ornament storage frame based on position words that I wrote on index cards. Non-fragile ornaments in our Christmas ornament collection worked out best for us. Many of them are ones that JDaniel made himself.

What relative positions are on the cards?

There are words like:

·Above

·Below

·Beside

·In front of

·Behind

·Next to

·To the left of

·To the right of

Exploring Positional Words with Ornaments

How do you play?

· Place one of the ornaments in the center of the storage grid.

· Turn one card at a time.

· Place an ornament in the position called for on the card.

· When you turn over the next card, you can decide if you are going place next ornament

by the first ornament or the second.

·Continue placing ornaments until every section of the storage grid is filled.

Exploring the Word Over with Christmas Ornaments

Working with position words and manipulatives is a core skill. I think I saw a similar activity done using a worksheet. Using objects and a cardboard grid seemed like it would be more fun. We really enjoyed it. In fact, we had to take out the ornaments and do the activity again. Working on relative position trumped getting the ornaments cleaned up.