Marble Valentines

I've had this idea pinned for a long time from the Chocolate Muffin Tree. We used Super Foam from the Dollar Tree and food color mixed with a little water.

Spray lots of shaving cream on a tray and smooth it out. Bobo used a clay tool.

Use a dropper to put colors all over the shaving cream.

Then, cover yourself with the colorful shaving cream. What? Wait a minute, first cut out a heart from white paper and place it flat on the shaving cream. Scrape off the shaving cream and let dry.

After they are dry, you can glue them to anything. Bobo chose red paper. We've been reading lots of Valentine books the past couple of weeks. This activity goes great with any of them.

Shared with Read.Learn.Explore and TGIF.

Valentine Read Alouds

Jasper is searching for the perfect gift for his bunny love. Snowy Valentine reminds me a bit of the Gruffalo in that it is a circuitous story with a hint of danger. Bobo and I both enjoyed this adorable story.

I Love You, ZooBorns! is a fantastic easy reader with new vocabulary. The owl is our favorite. He's so fluffy and cute! The photography is just right with capturing the love mood.

The perfect Valentine book for a boy! Leon has a secret crush on Zoey Maloney. He makes her a Valentine confessing his love. The Valentine tries to persuade Leon to give up his crush because, 

Love is yucky,

Stinky too!

It will turn your brain to goo.

Bobo has been singing this song all week. The little Valentine may change his mind about love when he comes face-to-face with a girl Valentine. Definitely check this book out for a funny, upbeat Valentine story.

I love Jan Brett, but I don't often share her stories aloud. The story becomes richer with the illustrations, which you need to explore carefully. It doesn't lend itself to sharing with a large group. Fortunately, I have an audience of one at home, so I was excited to read the new Jan Brett book about a lovesick turtle. Mossy is an interesting character. She is a turtle who loves her home and even begins to grow part of it on her shell. She is discovered by a natural museum curator and taken away. But the curator's niece shows her aunt, Mossy would be happier in her natural environment. Mossy returns to her beloved Lilypad Pond to find her mate, Scoot. The last page is simply an illustration, which I flipped right over, but Bobo exclaimed, "Awww, her babies!" When I turned back, Mossy did indeed have a family.

What has your family been reading? Find more ideas for read alouds at Read-Aloud Thursday and the Children's Bookshelf.

Preschool Trays: Valentine's Day

Magnetic science tray. Bobo asked for the magnet balls and I added the pipe cleaner hearts.

Heart skewers in styrofoam. Stickers on heart-shaped box.

Heart beads and heart-shaped boxes.

I didn't get pictures of some of the invitations because Bobo was so eager to decorate. He filled a vase with heart gems and flowers. He put together the materials for this one.

I love these stamp sets they sell at the Dollar Tree. They are the perfect size with nice variety. The stamp pad was dry from this one, but we've gotten ones in the past that worked. I just used another stamp pad. Or you can use paint.

And now some non-related trays. Daddy's concert is coming up this week, so there's lots of music and practice. Bobo has his own music tray.

And a couple of trays that came in our early learning bag this month. Drawing shapes.

Thomas wooden puzzles. The puzzles we borrow in these bags are so much better than the ones I've bought at the dollar store. I'm inspired to look for high-quality puzzles, now.
Sharing with Montessori Monday, Tuesday Tots, Finished Fridays and the Kids Co-Op.

Sensory Bin: Valentine

What's in the bin?

Rose petals (fabric)

Heart jewels (pink and red)

Glittery foam hearts (pink and red)

Heart-shaped cardboard boxes

Heart-shaped balloon

Red potpourri

Bobo helped with the construction of the bin this time from start to finish. We also purchased some Easter items, which explains the bunny ears. I love how this box smells! Bobo had lots of fun sorting the potpourri. He was heartily disappointed that everything wasn't for decorating. However, I think I appeased him with other activities.

Shared with Tuesday Tots, Share It Saturday and the Kids Co-Op.

Preschool Trays: A little bit of Valentine love

Bobo is really ready for Easter, but I assured him Valentine's Day comes first.

Puzzles are quickly becoming a favorite past time. The transportation puzzle by Melissa and Doug have chunky pieces great for imaginative play as well.

The wooden horse puzzle is a challenge at 24 pieces with similar looking horses.

Zombie Lab experiment making zombie skin. Mix and 10 minutes in the fridge make a delicious treat.

My little joker loves this Valentine joke cards. Lift the flap to find the answers.

Hand-print craft kit makes a lovely Valentine's gift for mommy.

Sparkly hearts for decorating.

We have more Valentine activities planned for this week. Bobo also loves exploring his red sensory bin.
Sharing on Montessori Monday.

Tot School: Valentine

Month: February
Theme: Valentine

We've been using Pam's printables from Over the Big Moon.

Hidden object hearts. Bobo had to shake the hearts and guess what was inside. He was disappointed they all didn't have candy.

Transferring poms with tweezers (from the Zombie Lab set). Bobo also transferred the poms into his penguin nesting doll. The baby penguin was too small, so we had to hunt for something small enough to fit.

Cutting tray. Bobo loves to cut the little people out.

Sticker tray. We both love the Power Puff Girls. Mojo Jojo!

Homemade Cinnamon play dough. It was supposed to be purple, but we were out of red. We made a really ugly grayish color. Bobo added blue before playing with it and made a marble effect. He dumped the painted corn kernels to push into it.

Fun with science. We had bath tub science this week, so no pictures. Bobo mixed colored vinegar with baking soda. Then, he made color bubbles by spraying colored water in the bath. That led to spraying himself different colors. Lots of fun with rainbows!

Four more days to go!!!

Play Date: Valentine's Day

Month: February
Theme: Valentine's Day

This week at our playgroup...

Valentine-making invitation.

"I love my mommy" riddles and animal identification.

Edible bracelets. I don't know how many of these will actually become gifts, but the kids had fun making and eating them.

Large Motor Sort. I've set this out the past couple of weeks as it's a favorite.

I modified the Winter Tot Pack penguins. I always have a matching game in storytime. Instead of doing colors, I tried matching the number of spots on each penguin with the numerical penguins. I pasted spots onto the penguins, laminated them and pasted magnets on the backs. The game accompanied my flannel story of Pippa's Penguin.

Happy Valentine's Day!