Calendar Picture Cards

Remember Maddie's new calendar? We're still loving it and using it daily. She says that her favorite parts are changing the weather card and telling me how she's feeling (which, by the way, is always happy because I think she just loves to draw a smiley face with me).

Since I wanted her to be able to see what we'd be doing throughout the week, my sweet hubby made these photo cards on the computer.

He used iPhoto, which made it quick and easy. After printing them on cardstock, I laminated and punched a hole through each one.

So far, we've made five pictures each of her at gymnastics and her at ballet. Gymnastics hasn't started back up again yet, but together, we sat and put one ballet picture on each Friday.

There's also a picture of Maddie at the zoo and one of her at Disneyland. Together, we plan a day to do each one of those places, once a month (we have passes for each). There's also a special picture of her and Daddy, which we use for when he's taking her on a date, which in her case, means dinner at Denny's (or Daisy's as she calls it) and then a shopping trip to Target or Wal-Mart. Fun, huh?!

The pictures are (mostly) 2x2, so they fit nicely over the date cards.

And now, when she asks when ballet is, we head straight toward the calendar to count how many days until she gets to go.

I would love to make some more cards that would show playdates with her buddies, special time with each of her grandparents, aunts or uncle or family outings for the three of us. It's a work in progress!

Maddie's Calendar!

When I was teaching first grade, one of my favorite things to do with the kids was calendar time. We would do it in third grade too, but for some reason, those little first graders were always so excited for calendar time every morning that it always warmed my heart.

Because Maddie is always asking what we're going to be doing that day, or if Daddy has to work tomorrow, or if ballet is in the afternoon, I thought it'd be the perfect time to introduce a calendar to her. So, I grabbed an old corkboard from the garage and set to work.

I had a giant calendar from my teaching days, but it was a little ragged. So, Maddie and I headed to the local teacher supply store and she chose a calendar and number cards. She chose the umbrellas, which have been super appropriate for our weather this month! I have many sets of number cards in the garage, so we'll swap different ones out each month.

I made a month and year sign and laminated them. I also made a little weather station for us, complete with four types of weather: sunny, cloudy, windy and rainy. I love that our calendar is right under a big window, so when she goes to switch the weather (which, by the way, she insists on doing throughout the same day) she can just look out the window.

I know it's a little bit cut off, but on the right of this picture, you can sort of see a hook. It holds the weather cards that aren't in use (oh, and the weather cards are just clip art pictures that I printed, mounted on colored paper and laminated). They hang on a small binder ring.

So, when we "do calendar" in the mornings, we sit and talk about what day yesterday was and what day it is today. I use a big binder ring that circles the date, and Maddie moves it over each day. We sing a quick song, which she loves and it helps her learn the seven days' names.

(Sung to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday too

Wednesday, Thursday just for you,

Friday, Saturday, that's the end,

Now let's say those names again!

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday!

By no means does she know all the days of the week, but it's a fun little game to play and point to the days as we sing it (and she has a sparkly pointer I made from a popsicle stick and glitter).

After we do the calendar, moving the binder ring over, we talk about what the date is and what that number looks like. She then has to find that number on the polar bear and cover it up with a sparkly star sticker. I found this polar bear HERE and if I can't find one for February, I'll just make my own. It's a really quick activity, but is an awesome way for her to strengthen her number recognition.
She helped me put the numbers on the calendar, back when we were assembling it. I have these really cute, funky push pins (because yes, along with my sticker collection, I have a weird affection for push pins, too) that we used. But, as cute as they are, they're a little tough for Maddie to wrangle, so for February, it's back to the standard push pins that she can really push in.

There is more to our calendar, so we'll have to share that in a separate post. We are both loving it and she is always excited to work with it. So, stay tuned for how she "plans" out her week (ballet, play dates, ect.) and how we incorporate patterning and other early learning math skills!

Thanks for reading through this, too! You all deserve your own sparkly star sticker! :)