Here are a couple actitivies we did this week.
First, a new toy and a new interest. She has always had an interest in what is happening with her body. Why does my owie heal? Where is my blood? What happens to my food? I saw this puzzle and was just waiting for the right price. $19.99 on Amazon with free shipping and I jumped. This is the girl puzzle and a friend went in on the order with me and ordered the boy puzzle for her PK son. Kind of spendy, I suppose but I will sell it when she is done using it. (She looks tired using it here but really enjoyed it and has probably completed the 5 layers at least 20 times since I opened it a few days ago.)
To go along with it I ordered the Magic School Bus Human Body DVD based on good reviews. also on Amazon. She loves it and after watching it she goes to her puzzle and talks through what happened on the episodes. She has always been into “acting things out” and so this is a great way for her to take in the information.
And a couple months back she had requested to learn Spanish. I pulled out a Hooked on Phonics Spanish kit and she is enjoying it. She is in the middle of the second level on this 3 level basic program designed for 3-5 year olds. I thought it would be fun to take the Spanish names of the body parts she is learning and use them with the Potato Heads, so we created this game.
Here are the different pieces set out in categories with the Spanish word cards labeling each section. Setting it up gives us a good review.
Then I would turn the cards over into a pile and we would take turns turning over the top card to reveal the Spanish word for a body part. You get to pick the body part the card reveals on your turn. There is no big strategy to this. I keep the cards in order so that by the time you have gone through the pile twice you both have a complete Potato Head. She LOVES this.
Chasedbyblessings's Blog 
Tot School week of April 27th « Chasedbyblessings’s Blog said,
May 4, 2009 at 10:00 am
[…] I also did some fun projects specifically for the 4y9m prekindergartener and I’ll post about those here. […]
Jennifer said,
May 9, 2009 at 4:33 am
I was looking at that puzzle for the future. Do you think it was worth the price?
chasedbyblessings said,
May 9, 2009 at 4:59 am
Hi, Jennifer. Well, I wish it was priced a little lower. I guess $20 shipped for a quality wooden toy like this is not bad. You can watch some sites to see if it drops at any future point. They were spendier new on ebay and I wish these types of toys were easier to find used. I guess if we resale toys like this then it isn’t as spendy. A friend would like to buy mine when I am done and if I sell it for $12.50 then it only cost us $7.50 to use and she can use it and sell it again herself down the road?
I do wish it had veins/arteries layers, though. Other than I think it is marvelous. You might add it to your list of wants and just keep prioritizing your list and if this one is staying at the top then I would definitely spend the $20 on it. I hope that helps a bit. Feel free to ask more questions if I didn’t answer enough for you. Thanks for stopping by!
GranolaMom4God said,
May 9, 2009 at 7:03 am
I had no idea there was a Spanish Hooked on Phonics! Perfect! I also loved the body part puzzle. Thanks for the great ideas!
Michelle said,
May 9, 2009 at 10:12 am
Wow… you are very busy!!! Looks like you had a lot of fun and I love the puzzle. I would spend that price in a minute if it provided that kind of learning for the 3’s and 4’s in my care. So many theme’s revolve around it, it should provide many hours of fun. And the Spanish Mr. Potato Head… Excellent Idea!!! I like the way you think out of the box!!!