Swamp Unit

This is kind of an involved post, so I am sorry if you get this in your inbox and don't really care. :) But...I made a Swamp Unit to work on with W this week. Some of the ideas were from June/July 2013 Mailbox Magazine, some were from my head, some were probably from Pinterest. It all gelled, though, and we had success with every single project. Let me tell you how often that happens. Never.

So - to prime the pump, I put together a little slide show with some swamp photos. These included animals/reptiles/etc...that live in a swamp, pictures of what a swamp looks like, trees, etc.. Since W had never seen a real swamp, I wasn't sure he had a frame of reference. We started there.  I played some Zydeco music while we viewed the presentation - a Pandora station, so it was free...which is good. You can only take so much of that noise before you feel like you're in a crazy house.

After we viewed the presentation, I took W outside where his swamp skill box was waiting. I had premixed mud and water, sticks, rocks, grass, lily pads that I cut from foam paper, plastic alligators, snakes, turtles, and frogs (all ordered from Amazon). W was a little reluctant to get involved with the skill box.
He asked me to put my hands in it - I reassured him that there was nothing in it that could harm him.
He asked if he could put his feet in it. He didn't get overly personal with the skill box.
I don't blame him. The look of this box is the main reason that I don't like swimming in lakes.

 

The next thing I presented was a lily pad letter recognition game. Using the foam paper, I cut out enough lily pads to spell out the word swamp. I had him identify each letter in the mixed up pile. We worked on the starting sound of sssssssssss-for swamp, then progressed through the rest of the word. We set out the lily pads in order. I had him pretend he was a frog and he jumped on to each letter that I called out. Then we switched spots and he called out the letters while I jumped. Either way you do it, it reinforces the letters; he liked the control of bossing me around.

Painting was our next event.

To begin, we taped a white sheet of paper into a roasting pan. I added the paint and the bouncy balls. I had W roll the balls through the paint to create a neat looking piece of art. We used some foam balls, but if I did the project again, I would use something heavier for easier rolling. From there, we got out tongue depressors and painted with those, even used them to push the balls around.

Take two - I taped down another piece of paper and brought out the magnetic fridge letters to spell out swamp. I gave W two paper plates with paint and had him dip the letters into the paint, then push them onto the paper. That worked surprisingly well. Again, this isn't about spelling because he cannot read yet.
This was just about recognizing letters - the order didn't matter.

 

Take three - I had W cover a canvas in green and brown paint. Then, I set out the leftover turtles and alligators from the skillbox. We separated them into piles and counted up how many there were of each group. After the paint dried, we added the alligators and turtles via craft glue to our canvas. We created some spooky 3-D swamp art!!

 

Now that alligators were a part of our vocabulary, we practiced snapping our hands together and got ready to "CHOMP!!" some fish. I used small paper plates and stickers to create the fish we would use for this greater than/less than game. I realize the stickers aren't super swampy, but it was what I had to work with. The game: hold up two plates. The alligator wants to eat the plate with the most fish....so can YOU figure out which one that might be? CHOMP towards the plate with the most fish. The goal was to get five in a row correct...before you could have a special swampy treat (a Swedish fish...). 

I also introduced some books on swamps that I had borrowed from the public library. W loves reading.

They all had some sort of rhythm and featured alligators, so that measured up to some success! Trosclair and the Alligator - one of our favorites from the stack - even had a YouTube reading of the book, which can be found here. (Or if that doesn't work, I just went to You Tube and typed in Trosclair. It was the fifth or so option down  - the only one that looked kiddy). 

This was a pretty involved unit and we did it over the course of several days. 

Up next, we are exploring the idea of camping - before it gets too hot and mosquito-y...Mainly because I want an excuse to have some s'mores, know what I'm saying? 

Actual camping will not be involved. Just faux camping in our backyard. Stay tuned.

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Annotated bibliography of books used for our swamp unit:

Appelt, Kathi. Where Is Swamp Bear? .2002. 25pp. $15.95 hc. Harper Collins Publisher. 0688171028.
While fishing with his grandather, a boy asks about the legend of Swamp Bear. Clever illustrations have Swamp Bear hidden in each picture.

Huggins, Peter. Trosclair and the Alligator. .2006. 25pp.  $15.95hc. Star Bright Books, Inc. 9671932065985.
Trosclair's father warns him about the rogue alligator, Gargantua, who is roaming the swamp. Trosclair and his dog soon find themselves in hot water with only their wits to help them escape.

Ketteman, Helen. Swamp Song. .2009. 32pp. $17.99hc. Marshall Cavendish Children. 9780761455639.
Each animal adds a little something to the music going on in the swamp. With a good, solid rhythm and cute pictures, this is a fun read aloud.

Weeks, Sarah. Catfish Kate and the Sweet Swamp Band. .2009. 29pp. $16.99hc. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 9781416940265.
Catfish Kate and her friends strike up a song under the moon, but it isn't appreciated by the Skunktail Boys...who are there in the same spot to read. Will they be able to reach a compromise?
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Wyatt Dodd

A little photo review of our boy - 

Our sweet baby!

April 2010

 

 

Our one year old big boy!

April 2011

Our big two year old - 

his last birthday as an only child!

April 2012

 Our three year old cowboy!

Yee haw!

April 2013

Happy Birthday, Dear Wyatt

W turned three this week. THREE!!! I cannot even believe it. I swear, we were just at the hospital, trying to figure out diapers and baths, etc...next thing I know, he's going to be in college. [Which might be okay because the Terrible Twos have rolled on in to three. So, thanks for that, world.]

Still pretty precious to us, though. 

This week has been great - with both of our birthdays to celebrate. 

We couldn't have done it without help from our network, which we are SO thankful for: Sue, Gabby, Pop Pops, Aunt Katie, Uncle Brad...

We celebrated W's birthday at The Barnyard. We  ordered some chick-fil-a nuggets, grabbed a pony and a petting zoo, and called it a party. Pinterest provided some ideas for a cowboy themed party, so that took up an exorbitant amount of prep time - but provided a pretty cute backdrop [and an insane mama...].

Thanks to everyone for the well wishing, the presents, and your time! 

We had a great birthday week and it wouldn't have been possible without YOU. :)
Happy birthday, Dub! You sure make us happy.

Memory + Alphabet Game + Word Families

We have so many baby food lids coming in and out of this house right now, that I knew there had to be some creative thing we could do with them. I consulted The Oracle (Pinterest), and adapted this one from several suggestions. 

I printed upper and lower case letters and created a basic matching game. 

It was interesting to watch W play the first round because I've forgotten how some letters don't look like their counter part. For example, E and e look nothing alike. 

Eventually this can evolve into a monster sized Memory game. 

It can also turn into a spelling game - using basic words.

...or a game about word families, as W gets older. 

So - if you find yourself in the same boat (too many baby food jars and so much waste)...try this simple activity out. Supply list included: jar of Mod Podge, a sponge paint brush, printed letters, jar tops that have been sterilized. One lady on Pinterest Mod Podged colorful paper on the lids. 

Nobody here has time for that - but it is cute. 

Let me know if you need a set of lids. I'm in the lid business at the moment.

Happy 87th!!

Monday, we celebrated Grandpa Griffiths' 87th birthday (87!!) by having a picnic at the Arboretum. Aunt Donna drove Grandma and Grandpa up from Tyler. Sue met us there, as did Susan and Margaret.  It was the last days of Dallas Blooms and the tulips were amazing. So large and vibrant. We walked around until we found a picnic spot in the (kind of) shade. 

Wyatt sang Happy Birthday To You to Grandpa. I think everyone had a nice time. There was lots of laughing and conversation over delicious sandwiches and cupcakes. Wyatt had about 16 glasses of sparkling lemonade.  

It was a nice testament to the patriarch of our family. His birthday is on April Fools, which always seems so cruel. I remember many a time Grandma encouraged us to wrap up some little thing to surprise him with - like a fake spider. It was hilarious to us, and he never let on that he was probably completely over "the joke" of having an April 1st birthday. That's the nice thing about grandpa - one of many. He never let on impatience or irritation. He was always so supportive and loving. Now that I have kids of my own, I know how hard it is to always reflect those feelings. Some days I want to have a box of Franzia (was always cooling in their fridge on Green Oaks), and just be by myself. But I never got that vibe from Grandpa. He was always up for a back ride to the bottom of the pool, for making a killer Caesar salad and spaghetti dinner off the cuff, or for conversation where he is actually interested in your opinion. One time, when I was probably eight, he asked me to bake some muffins for a meeting he had at work. That made me feel like I was on top of the world. He is a good grandpa. Happy birthday! 87 years young. :)You're pretty amazing.