Disneyland Fitness & Nutrition Worksheet

     Now that I am getting back into regular life after having a baby, we are able to make more trips to Disneyland again!  YAY!  Seriously, it is my home.  I always feel happy at Disneyland and could stay all day long.  Since we do stay most of the day, we end up eating there a lot.  I am a huge fan of Disneyland food.  It is SO good.  A little pricey, but very delicious and filling.  A few of my favorites are not very expensive like the Corn Dog (best corn dog ever!!) and the Clam Chowder Bread Bowl.  I usually just share one with my kids and it is plenty for half the day.  My husband would joke about all the hidden calories in something like a corn dog or churro, so I decided to do some research.  I was pretty certain that with all the walking we do at Disneyland, that the calories are gone by the time we leave the park.  I put together a worksheet with some of the staple foods at Disneyland for those interested in finding out the results.

Here is my
DISNEYLAND FITNESS & NUTRITION WORKSHEET.
Have fun!

Skeleton Lesson Plan for Preschool (includes links to FREE printables, instructions, and videos)

     We are continuing with our Halloween theme for October, and next week we are studying SKELETONS!
     I am aware that some people are following my theme schedule for the year, so I have decided to post my lesson plans the weekend prior, so that anyone who is following along can have time to prep.  If anyone is interested in following a more detailed step-by-step schedule, here is the link to my Daily PreK Schedule.  I was able to do one activity this week with Marley as a fun preview to what we will be learning about next week.  

This is an outline of my Skeleton theme curriculum for the week:  

PICTURE BOOKS:

- Skeleton Hiccups 

- The Skeleton Inside You
- Skelly the Skeleton Girl
- The Skeleton in the Closet

EDUCATIONAL BOOKS:

- Bones: Skeletons and How They Work

- DK Eyewitness Books: Skeleton

- Scholastic Reader Level 2: Skeletons

WORKSHEETS:

- Build a Skeleton  

- Cutting Practice   

ART/CRAFT PROJECTS:
- Q-tip Skeleton
- Q-tip Hand Bones

VIDEOS:

- Schoolhouse Rock: Them Not-So-Dry Bones

- Silly Symphony: The Skeleton Dance

- Animated Skeleton Video for Kids 

GAMES/ACTIVITIES:

- Skeleton Game 

- Why We Have Bones (Option 1) (Option 2) 

- Make Your Own X-Ray

     I taped together two long strips of butcher paper and had Marley lay down so that I could trace her body.  I then drew in with pencil the major bones of the skeletal system.  I let her use a black marker to trace the bones.  Then I labeled the basic bones.  I did not ask her to copy the words, but she wanted to do it.  So she ended up writing the words below my labels.  It makes me so happy that she is always enthusiastic to do more work than I ask of her. :)

Farm Field Trip 2014 - Link to Educational Worksheets for Kids

     This past weekend we were able to visit a local farm to go along with our Farm Animals theme for September.  So I had to dress my sweet Dyl in her spiffy little overalls! Haha.  She got to sit on a real tractor and feel awfully special for a few minutes.                               

     The highlight for me, as the educator, was the cow milking demonstration.  The girls saw them wash down the udder and hook the cow up to the milking machine.  We saw the milk get transported through clear piping to a refrigerated system.  And Marley pointed out a poster nearby indicating with a flow chart how the milk gets to the grocery store.  It made me so happy to see her focusing on the educational aspect of the farm.  I think it helps that we watch a lot of "How It's Made" on Netflix.  Haha.

     The girls interacted closely with the calves, because the cows walked over to us quickly and began mooing loudly.  The girls really liked this part and were convinced those baby cows wanted to be our friends.  

     I think the most surprising sight at the farm was the peacock and the peahen.  I did not expect to see peafowl there, but it was cool and we sat down and watched them for a while.  We learned that the male peacock is the one with the colorful feathers, where the female peahen does not have them. Apparently that is so the male can attract the female with it's more beautiful feathers.  Interesting!    

     

     The farm had all kinds of animals: Geese, Chickens, Chicks, Roosters, Pigs, Cows, Goats, and Sheep.  There were many others, I just don't remember all of them.  The farm also had so many fields of different crops. 

     It was a very fun morning and we experienced the farm with much interest.  Since we had already covered sheep and pigs this month, I was able to review some facts with Marley and she impressed daddy with her knowledge.  I guess you could say it was a fun way to do a pop quiz without any pressure or intimidation. ;)

     On the farm's website I found several printable educational worksheets to go along with the farm experience.  It was a perfect way to go home and review what we had seen and to continue the educational value of the trip.  Click here to view the farm worksheet options.

A Disneyland Counting Book - FREE printable template

     In honor of the annual "Not Back To School Day" at Disneyland.  I would like to share a fun preschool or kindergarten activity that we did at the Magic Kingdom today.  This activity was an adventure for the whole family. It also gave Marley the opportunity to apply counting, math, search skills, drawing, tracing and the experience of creating her own book.

     I told Marley she would be creating her own counting book from things that we see at Disneyland.

  1) While exploring and enjoying rides, we found objects around us that corresponded with the numbers 1 through 10.  I helped her with this process.  By the end of the day (even after we completed the assignment) she was pointing out everything she could count.

3 MINNIE EARS

  2) I took pictures of the objects, so that we could refer back to those pictures at home.

1 TEACUP

2 CHURROS

4 SINGING PIRATES

5 COTTON CANDIES

7 CARROTS

6 HONEY POTS

8 MICKEYS 

9 ELSA CROWNS

10 MISTING FANS

 3) When we got back home, I prepared a traceable template for her to use as a base for her book.

 4) I wrote in the missing words and titled it "My Disneyland Counting Book." I had Marley trace the title and numbers.

 5) I asked Marley to illustrate her own version of each object we found.  This is when referring back to the pictures helped. (I decided to insert the pictures into the document so that she could refer to them easily and it added an official look to the book)

 6) Once it was completed, I stapled the left side in 3 separate spots to create a quick binding.

     It was a drawn out process, but very enriching in many ways for both of us.  I was very impressed with how much the assignment engaged Marley. She was very focused and said, "This is a fun project."  Marley enjoyed the tracing and drawing portion very much, and she now has a cute little memento from Not Back To School Day 2014.

     Marley made her counting book about Disneyland, but counting books can be themed for anything or anywhere: the grocery store, a playground, around the house, etc.

Here is my free printable for your child to create their own My Counting Book.

     I hope some of your children can have fun with this assignment!