Zipper Bag Activities - Two Reading and Math Activities for Your 3, 4, or 5 Year Old

My preschooler attends a university three days a week! You heard it correctly, she attend the local laboratory school for university students. Through this laboratory experience, my preschooler is able to learn key concepts from her peers, the teachers, and her college peers.

Each week, the preschool sends a large ziplock bag filled with a unique homeschool activity for our little one. These activities usually include several manipulative items and a set of directions. These are easy to incorporate for busy, working families.

This week, we had two activities! Both activities were mathematics-focused and one include some literacy as well! These activities were: Sharing Hot Dogs and Button Bingo.

These were exceptional activities and they definitely caused this working mom to think outside of the box...playdough canister. :)

Through this activity, we received a canister of green playdough and a popsicle stick, and amazing directions! We had to divide the playdough into eight hot dogs.

This activity involved mathematics, reading, music! 

She really enjoyed making the hot dogs as well. We had to make eight.

Since dad was not at home during the time of this activity, we had to make a stick figure with the "knife". So, we made a "Gran Gran". :) 

Here's a close up of Gran Gran. She wanted to eat hot dogs too! Plus, we needed her in our mathematical problem. For example, if Gran Gran had eight hot dogs and gave one to you and six to mommy, how many would she have left? She conquered these mathematical problems with ease!

Then, we had to assess the activity. She is accustomed to rating her books on Amazon and she was eager to rate this activity as well. Five out of five stars!

The Button Bingo activity was also amazing as well! It had nine colored buttons of different shapes. I had to place these on the board and my kindergartener had to remove them while telling me which items were beside the item she removed. This was time consuming, but she really had to think about the items before removing them.

Here are the close ups of the buttons! It is an easy activity to replicate and it would be a great travel activity as well!

Thank you to the Child Development Center at Tarleton State University for these activities!

Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

About Weekends Count - Weekends Count is a Millennial Family Travel, Fun, Food and Activities blog based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas. We review hotels, travel and household items, and millennial family experiences!

Authors - Jennifer and Tony Edwards

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5 Innovative Ways You Can Use a Kids Cooking Set to Teach Your Children Science and Literacy

Our family is always looking for high-quality children's toys for a great price! The Little Chef eight-piece metal children's cooking set is one of the best toys (for a great price) for your 3-5 year old! This colorful playlet includes two pots, one pan, two lids, a set of utensils, and an oven mitt!

This post contains affiliate links to help you build your shopping list and travel list for your family. We are passionate about the product and the experiences listed in this post, but we also wanted to provide easy links you can click to purchase products for your busy lifestyle.

She has been in love with metal cooking sets since she discovered one in the childcare book fair last month. I promised her that we would find a great one or her and this one did not disappoint!

You can use the Little Chef cooking set for MORE than just dramatic play. You can use it in the following ways:

1 - Color Identification
Description - Have your child separate the pots/pans of a similar color to demonstrate the concept to color identification and separation. (1-3 year olds)

2 - Make Your Own Story!
Description - Enabling your child to make a story with a two item from the eight piece set.
*You can record this story by taking photos and copying and pasting them into a word document and then your little one can add words. THEN, you can print the items out for a story! OR you can video record the story! (3 year olds and older)

3 - Water Density for Preschoolers!
Description - Science Project - Will it sink or will it float?
*Purchase a large plastic bin from the Dollar Tree and fill it with water. Then, ask your child about the items they think will sink or float. Test the theory! (3-5 year olds)

4 - Balancing Dried Beans!
Description - Enable your child to play with dried beans and pour the beans from the pot to the pan, etc. You can also weigh the pot/pan that on a balance scale to demonstrate the concept of balance! (3-6 year olds)

5 - Forming Shapes!
Description - Have your three/four year old draw around the pots, pans, and their lids to create shapes.
*This is a great way for your child to refine their fine motor skills!

Please let me know if you develop any new ideas!

Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

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Participate in Our Evening Homeschool with the Creativity for Kids Plant An Emoji Garden Kit

Each weekday, we always try to do a project (or two) with our preschooler! This week, we had an Earth Day emphasis and we planted chia seeds as part of the Plant Happiness's Creativity for Kids Plant An Emoji Garden Kit! This was SO MUCH fun for her! First, you color the sheet, then you plant the seeds, then you water it and then you watch it grow!

This post contains affiliate links to help you build your shopping list and travel list for your family. We are passionate about the product and the experiences listed in this post, but we also wanted to provide easy links you can click to purchase products for your busy lifestyle.

Craft, plant, water, grow is the entire plan for this kit! These seeds grow in 3-4 days!

Here's a challenge! 

1 - Order the kit from our affiliate link - http://amzn.to/2oz07ml

2 - Craft, plant, water, grow!

3 - Capture a picture of your project and include the #weekendscount hashtag!

We will choose winners throughout the summer!

This kit includes: planting tray, color-in liner, markers, potting mix, chia seeds, scoop and plant mister.

About Weekends Count - Weekends Count is a Millennial Family Travel, Fun, Food and Activities blog based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas. We review hotels, travel and household items, and millennial family experiences!

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Learning How to Read with Reading Kingdom - A Dynamic Program for Evening Homeschool

We hope you are having a great week!

The Reading Kingdom program was perfect for our kindergartener. We integrated the program as part of our evening homeschool curriculum. This program is perfect for children in preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and third grade.

This software is web-based and we can even use it when we travel!

This post contains affiliate links to help you build your shopping list and travel list for your family. We are passionate about the product and the experiences listed in this post, but we also wanted to provide easy links you can click to purchase products for your busy lifestyle.

We are excited that she can still utilize the program in the summer when she prepares for her next grade level. We thought about ABC Mouse as a monthly subscription software package, but we will definitely stick with Reading Kingdom! She can use the program while she learns: reading comprehension, sight words, and phonics.

Find out more about Reading Kingdom by clicking here - http://www.ReadingKingdom.com/

Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

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8 Homeschool Science Experiments with the sepHbalance Digital pH Meter

We hope you are having a great week! Today is Science Monday for the Weekends Count Evening Homeschool!

This post contains affiliate links to help you build your shopping list and travel list for your family. We are passionate about the product and the experiences listed in this post, but we also wanted to provide easy links you can click to purchase products for your busy lifestyle.

Today, are integrating the  selpHbalance Digital pH Meter in our science experience focused on pH! Check out the video for today's experiment. Also, check out the 8 Ways to Use the selpHbalance pH Meter for Homeschool list below!

8 Ways to Use the selpHbalance pH Meter for Homeschool 

1 - Emphasize the Differences b/t

Acids and Bases.

2 - Learning the pH of Household Products

3 - Comparing the pH of Juice Drinks

4 - Comparing the pH of Different Types of Bottled Water

5 - Comparing the pH of Pond Water vs. Fresh Water

6 - Gathering the pH of Organic Products

7 - Utilizing the pH Powder Solutions available in the Kit

8 - Gathering the pH of Rain & 

Snow

Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

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8 Homeschool Science Experiments with the sepHbalance TDS, EC, & Temp Meter

We hope you are having a great week! Today is Science Monday for the Weekends Count Evening Homeschool!

This post contains affiliate links to help you build your shopping list and travel list for your family. We are passionate about the product and the experiences listed in this post, but we also wanted to provide easy links you can click to purchase products for your busy lifestyle.

Today, are integrating the sepHbalance TDS, EC, & Temp Meter in our science experience focused on pH! Check out the video for today's experiment. Also, check out the 8 Ways to Use the sepHbalance TDS, EC, & Temp Meter for Homeschool list below!

Here are 8 Ways to Use the sepHbalance TDS, EC, & Temp Meter for Homeschool 

1 - Comparing the temperature of refrigerated and non-refrigerated items.

2 - Learning the PPM of Household Products

3 - Comparing the PPM of Juice Drinks

4 - Comparing the PPM of Different Types of Bottled Water

5 - Comparing the PPM of Pond Water vs. Fresh Water

6 - Gathering the PPM of Organic Products

7 - Utilizing the pH Powder Solutions available in the Kit

8 - Gathering the PPM of Rain & Snow

Have a great week and plan for the weekend! #selpHbalancepHmeter

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10 Educational Ways to Use Vellostar Liquid Markers in Homeschool Activities

We hope you are having a great week!

This post contains affiliate links to help you build your shopping list and travel list for your family. We are passionate about the product and the experiences listed in this post, but we also wanted to provide easy links you can click to purchase products for your busy lifestyle.

This week, we were pleased to review the Vellostar Liquid Chalk Markers! These markers were perfect for our family, because we always highlight our daily reminders on our weekly calendar, create art projects, and brainstorm marketing projects for our business.

As a evening and weekend homeschool family, we are always looking for great ways to remember the important things that we need to do on a day-to-day basis. These makers are great for glass, plastic, ceramics, chalkboards, whiteboards, displays, windshields, LED boards, and other hard porous surfaces!

Here are 10 Educational Ways to Use Vellostar Liquid Markers in Homeschool Activities!

1 - Highlighting a Letter, Color, Shape, & Number of the Week on Chalkboard

2 - Positive Affirmations on Bathroom Mirrors

3 - Decorating Windows for the Holidays

4 - Label Your Curriculum Bins

5 - Decorating Garden Planters

6 - Creating Recurring Chore Lists

7 - Art Projects

8 - Writing on an Outdoor Board

9 - Promoting a Service Project

10 - Working Problems on a Glass Table

Have a great week and plan for the weekend! Please let us know if you have any questions OR if you have additional ideas for the Vellostar Liquid Chalk Markers!

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Top 5 VTech Toys for Christmas and Birthday Party Gifts! - Gift Guide

We hope you are having a great week!

The Weekends Count is super concerned about Christmas and purchasing the correct gifts for our little one and her friends! Here are the top 10 Christmas List Items for Preschoolers!

This post contains affiliate links to help you build your shopping list and travel list for your family. We are passionate about the product and the experiences listed in this post, but we also wanted to provide easy links you can click to purchase products for your busy lifestyle.

1 - Go! Go! Smart Friends Enchanted Princess Palace ($54.99 with Amazon Prime)
Here's the link to the item: http://amzn.to/2dqmFBy



2 - VTech Care for Me Learning Carrier Toy ($24.99 with Amazon Prime)
Here's the link to the item: http://amzn.to/2cJHCci



3 - VTech Go! Go! Smart Wheels Treasure Mountain Train Adventure ($43.99 with Amazon Prime)
Here's the link to the item: http://amzn.to/2cAeQrh



4 - VTech Bizzy the Mix and Move Bot ($24.99 with Amazon Prime)
Here's the link to the item: http://amzn.to/2cAdtsI



5 - VTech Touch and Learn Activity Desk Deluxe (Electronic) ($54.95 with Amazon Prime)
Here's the link to the item: http://amzn.to/2dqnJ8p




These items are definitely on our Christmas list and my little one will love them! When one do you like the best?

Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

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