On a Friday we have a time when all five children are doing school together. I use the term school loosely due to the age differences, however the older one’s are still learning. They learn their needs come secondary to their little sisters. They learn to put aside their wishes for a couple of hours and invest into the lives of their younger siblings. They learn to teach, to be patient, to love (sometimes when it’s hard). I know all three children have expressed a wish to home school in the future so this is good preparation for their own children. For the past year we have had a Thomas the Tank themed Friday. We’ll be due a change in September, so I’ve been collecting resources for a possible Mr Men theme:
Over the past few weeks I have been testing everything out to see if Mr Men were likely to hold the little one’s attention every Friday for a year. They will. We’ve had lots of fun with them and I have plenty of ideas how to extend the whole theme over a year.
For more book themed ideas see:
Our mornings started with some Mr Men themed Playdough. I love my husband so much. He knew I was planning Mr Men and he went on to Ebay and managed to bid successfully on some vintage Mr Men cutters, which will be used for play dough as well as biscuit making and pizza making. I so appreciate having a husband who supports us so much that he feels it is important enough to go searching for cookie cutters!!
After chores were finished and the play dough put away, using the cutters I cut some Mr Men shapes from Tortillas and let the children decorate them with icing pens:
The children did lots of tray activities. As B2 doesn’t nap until after lunch she now joins in:
Here’s a few pictures of the crafts in action and the resulting art work:
I had the children make up some Mr Men pizzas to go in their muffin tins. I got this idea from a great blogs for fun food, Bento Days when she did a pizza bar muffin tin meal:
These were popped into the oven and then onto their muffin tins:
Not my best effort it has to be said. I thought it would be so easy given how straight forward the Mr Men shapes actually are, but I found it quite difficult to replicate them successfully in the cakes and the jelly. Oh, well, maybe I’ll get better as the year progresses!
For more muffin tin ideas see:
After lunch I read them a few books and tuck B2 into bed for a nap whilst A4 had her quiet time for an hour. During quiet time she listens to a CD, in this case a Mr Men one:
and played with her Mr Men quiet time basket:
Inside there are books, coloured wax strips, cuddly toys, mini models, a box of Mr Men dominoes, a colouring in book, and the puppets we made are housed in the case the DVDs came in:
Once they are up and out of bed/quiet time, they are all allowed to watch an episode of Mr Men on the TV.
By September, I hope to have made some Little Misses costumes for them to wear each Friday. I also want to make some felt play scenes with felt cut outs of well-known Mr Men and Little Misses characters and maybe a printing set. We’ll see. All I know is that I’ll probably have more fun making everything than they will playing with it!
For more great ideas of activities to do with your pre-schoolers and toddlers:
Looks like a success! And props to your hubby for his ebay-ing skills. That’s awesome!
I know, I’m so blessed! I need to keep my eyes peeled for other educational resources for Mr Men. I’ve found very little, so far.
So very fun! And wow to Gary for bidding on those Mr. Men cutters. Awesome!
I know!! I’m not sure I know of many men who would do that off their own back!!
Great job finding those Gary! I think every kid loves cookie cutters.
They are so cool, and such great quality…they don’t make things like this anymore!
Excellent! when read with guidence from a parent/teacher in this way, these stories were the foundation of my childhood years. i was a very sweet girl and i remember these stories very well. the books are a little long for my youngest but, i retell them in my own words through the pages you know lol! at least the lesson is there! I never thought these to be a great teaching tool like this however and i am as usual truly impressed–i would like to re-blog OK??
Hello Jeanine!
Re-blog away!! I think there is so much untapped potential in these books. I did a search but there are very few resources out there. Ah well, I’ll just have to make my own!
Hey, so cute! And looks like such fun!
Thank you
And thanks for the mention!
My pleasure, Thanks for all the wonderful food ideas!
What an awesome set of activities! I love the box with foam to work with foam shapes. The pizza looks so cute. I will be sharing this post on Facebook and Pinterest.
Thank you, for the encouragement and for sharing!
Those pizzas are THE BEST!! I’m glad your youngest 2 are taken with the Mr Men. I love the Mr Men so I’m looking forward to reading about your activities! (yes I am 42 not 2 :-D)
The pizzas were delicious!
Are you posting this week about your pond? No pressure, but I’m looking forward to it!
PS you look MUCH younger than 42-secret please?!
Ahh you are sweet! Just don’t look at my roots to closely 😉 Thanks for the pond encouragement, I’m not sure how often to post about it. Perhaps I will just do a short one – it wasn’t quite as exciting as your last pond adventure!
Lovely fun with Mr Men, a classic for all children I think
The children are certainly enjoying them, even the older ones!
I’ve been wondering how you organize you school day with so many activities and different aged children. Together time on Friday makes a lot of sense.
Usually we’ve finished our work for the week, Gary’s home early and it’s my ‘take it fairly easy’ day!
All great ideas for Mr. Men. I have trouble keeping those books in the library. I’ve had fifth graders ask for them as well as K-2.
I know. I think my older three enjoy them more than the younger ones!
How did you do the Mr.Men puppets pls ?
You can find the instructions here:
http://angelicscalliwags.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/hand-made-simple-mr-men-puppets/
HTH
If you have anymore questions please do ask!