L is for Lemonade and Ladybugs

~Malachi is 4 years 4 1/2 months ~
We have been learning about the letter L and the sound it makes. Here is what we have been doing.
Books:

The Very Grouchy Ladybug, by Eric Carle

Grub to Lady Bug, by Melvin and Gilda Berger
L Songs:
Lemons in the Bowl
Two Big Lemons
Activities:
Lemon Prints
Mali painted the word “lemonade” and made lemon prints with a lemon cut in half and some yellow paint.  He used this to decorate his lemonade stand (below).

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

With summer here, we thought this a perfect time to make “fresh squeezed” lemonade!
The Best Homemade Lemonade
  • 10 lemons juiced
  • 2 cups organic cane sugar (more if you like it sweeter)
Combine in a gallon sized jar, add 2 cups of room temperature purified water and stir until sugar is dissolved. Then fill with cold purified water, chill until cold, or add ice. Float lemon slices on top to serve.
Lemonade Stand
We draped a piece of blue and white striped fabric over Mali’s workbox cart and added Mali’s Lemonade sign. He had fun pretending with the cart until our lemonade was chilled and even more fun pouring lemonade for his brothers and sister.  We each paid him a quarter for a glass but the memory of his first lemonade stand will be priceless.
Ladybugs:
Fingerprint Ladybugs
Mali made fingerprint ladybugs on this Letter L printable template. He drew in the dots, legs and heads.  I had to remind him that lady bugs only have 6 legs, as all insects do. He sat through most of our reading for our insect lesson and even searched for insects with us.
And he enjoyed doing his first online puzzle – Ladybug Jigsaw Puzzle
Science:
We read about the lifecycle of a ladybug in the book, Grub to Ladybug and learned lots of fun facts such as:
  • Ladybug eggs are yellow
  • A grub is a baby lady bug
  • A grub does not look like its mother or father
  • Grubs can eat 60 bugs in a day
  • Grubs shed their skin at least three times
  • A grub makes a hard shell called a pupa and changes into a ladybug after a few weeks
  • Ladybugs are insects
  • All insects have 6 legs
  • A ladybug has four wings
Ladybug Math:
I made this cute game based off of the idea in the link above.
Materials:
What I did:
  • I made a ladybug from a large red circle, using a smaller black circle for the head
  • Added eyes and a strip down the middle to make the wings
  • Cut out 10 small circles for the dots
How we played:
Mali added spots to his left and right wing and made a number sentence to tell how many spots in all.  I gave him 5 spots for each wing, the numbers 1-5 for each wing, and for the answer I gave him numbers 1-10 so we practiced adding numbers that equaled 10 or less.

You can also use this cute poem:

“Ladybugs come in every shape and size.
Some are even old and wise.
My little ladybug is different from the rest.
Now can you pass the test?
He has ___ spots on his right wing
and ___ spots on his left wing.
That’s all I saw.
How many spots are in all?”

Mali completed his lesson in the Get Set for the Code Book, which covered the vocabulary words leaf, letter, ladder, leg, lion, lightbulb, lamp and lips.

This week we are moving on to the letter G!

To see more of our alphabet fun, click here and to see what others are doing for preschool, click here!

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Posted by Michelle on July 6th, 2009 in Alphabet Fun, Preschool



6 Comments

Latte Lady said...
...on July 6, 2009 @ 8:24 PM

Oh my goodness! You are a good hs mommy!

[Reply]

MoziEsmé said...
...on July 6, 2009 @ 8:34 PM

Love these ideas! I've got this page noted for when we EVENTUALLY get to L. I'm having a tough time getting done with E!

[Reply]

Elsie said...
...on July 6, 2009 @ 9:27 PM

That lemonade recipe sounds great:) We need anything we can to keep us cool in Texas. I am so impressed that Mali is painting the word lemonade! Looks like you guys had a fun week!

[Reply]

Jolanthe said...
...on July 7, 2009 @ 4:49 AM

Love the ladybug math!!! :)

[Reply]

Susana said...
...on July 7, 2009 @ 12:34 PM

You had a really fun week! The lemonade was such a good idea. LOVE the ladybug fingerprints and the ladybug math!! Very cute and creative!

[Reply]

The Unsell Family said...
...on July 14, 2009 @ 2:34 PM

Love that lady bug game!

[Reply]


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