Transferring Snowballs Tray Activity

I saw a similar activity on this post by Tot Play and I wanted to set up a similar activity of my own. I’ve seen similar ideas on other blogs too, but I first saw it on Tot Play so that’s the post I’m referencing.

I decided to set it up as a tray activity. I put the tongs and shovel at the top, the snowman tin on the left and on the right; I arranged the three bowls from largest at the top to smallest on the bottom. I took a course on tray activities once and it said to set up the tray as you would when you are reading. What they mean is have the very first thing the child will pick up at the top and then have the rest of the activity move from left to right as they work their way from top to bottom. They explained it better than I can, but I hope that makes sense. Since this was the largest tray I had and it still wasn’t big enough, I set it up as close as I could to that format. The snowman tin was a little too big for the tray, but I thought it was cute for the theme.

This is a great activity for fine motor skills. I started with the snowman tin closed.



Next the tin was opened and there were the assortment of snowballs. I used cotton balls, pompoms, marshmallows, beads and paper balls. The three bowls were supposed to correspond to the size of the snowball. The cotton and paper balls were for the large bowl, the marshmallows and medium sized pompoms were for the medium bowl and the beads and tiny pompoms were for the small measuring cup. The kids might decide though that some of the pompoms would work better in the larger bowl and that’s okay. They might also decide to sort them in a different way and do what makes sense to them. I included the tongs and shovel in case one or the other would be too challenging for some reason or just so they can have a choice of which object to use.





Finally, some extensions of this activity would be to make patterns with the snowballs. How many different patterns can you make? They can be sorted in a line from largest to smallest or smallest to largest. Each type of snowball can be counted and sorted. How many beads, cotton balls etc? For children who are a little bit older, you can use the snowballs to work on simple addition or subtraction problems. They can also transfer the snowballs back and forth between the bowls or pour a full bowl of snowballs into an empty bowl. How many snowballs does it take to fill up the large bowl? How many snowballs does it take to fill up the small measuring cup? How many more snowballs do you have to use to fill up the bowl if they are smaller? What other objects around the house can we use for snowballs? If you have snow outside, you can spend some time outside making different sized snowballs and doing some sorting, patterning and counting and making different sized snowmen or snow structures. Either way, playing with snow and snowballs is always fun!

Snowflake patterning

I’ve found these different colored snowflake pictures on Google Images to use for sorting and patterning. You can print out two or three copies of each picture cut them out and laminate them for sorting and patterning cards.
There are three patterns below as examples, but they can be arranged however the kids want. Patterning cards are good for beginners to learn the simple A B pattern, but they can be used for more complicated patterns as well. These can also be used as matching cards or to simply learn about colors. You could also find additional pictures of snowflakes that have different characteristics to pattern and sort with.

Special Snowman

This is a special snowman that was made by the older group of kids during my internship in 2009. I was going to post this to celebrate our first snowfall a few days ago, but that snow has already melted and we are waiting for more. I haven’t seen any other group of kids make a snowman like him since then. They had made him in the morning. It took the whole morning recess to make his huge snowballs. It was started by one kid and he did most of the work, but eventually others pitched in to help him. They realized he didn’t have a hat or mittens so they brought them out in the afternoon. They found things to use to give him a face and buttons. The kids were proud to show him off and we printed pictures to hang up and give to parents. Here he is, with all his accessories.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, A Film Review

I’m sick again.  Or maybe I never got better.  With that, the weekend was crammed full, exhausting, productive, and fun.  Keisha and I went and watched Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief over the weekend for a Valentine’s date, and now I submit my review.

Having not read the book, nor possessing any foreknowledge about the film, I had no real expectations for the movie.  Keisha has read the book and enjoyed it.  She wanted to see the movie.  In short, I think I probably enjoyed it more than her.

The film adaptation was directed by Chris Columbus, who also directed the first two Harry Potter films.  The movie stars Logan Lerman as Percy, Brandon Jackson as Grover, and Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth, along with several other celebrities.

The plot of the movie interweaves the modern world with classic Greek gods.  I’ve always been a huge fan of mythology (especially Greek), and I found this mechanism of the film to work well, with a few minor flaws.  Zeus’ lightning bolt of power has been stolen, and he accuses Poseidon of having his son to steal it.  Poseidon gets all indignant and says “No way, dude.  You got it all wrong.”  Zeus tells him that if the bolt isn’t returned by the summer solstice (wince!) then there will be a war between the gods.

Cut to Percy Jackson, a normal, everyday high school loner.  He’s grown up without a dad.  He’s angry and smart-mouthed.  He only finds peace while he’s in the water.  But then one day, on a class field trip, something goes terribly wrong.  A series of events leads Percy to a secluded camp for half-bloods, the offspring of a god and mortal, and his life will never be the same.

I thought the movie was fun and entertaining.  The light-hearted feel made for a pleasurable viewing experience.  The blending of Greek gods in our world made for fun watching.  The story wasn’t grandiose or even amazing, but it was entertaining, so that’s really all that matters.  I can definitely see how children would love the movie.

Flaw wise, I thought some of the acting was poor, and the villain was easy to peg from the get-go.  Some of the special effects were awesome (Hades was pretty cool), and others not so much (Pierce Brosnan’s centaur body was weird).  The gods weren’t how I would picture them, and there didn’t seem to be as many as there should be.  Keisha, on the other hand, said that the book and movie were quite different on several occasions, and this was a big flaw for her.

Overall, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief was a fun movie, but one that would be more fun for children or people who haven’t read the book.

Random Bits & Pieces

• We also rented and watched Surrogates over the weekend, which I thought was pretty cool, both plot-wise and effects-wise.
• Taxes turned out much better than I thought.
• More snow here.  It started yesterday around noon and hasn’t stopped yet. 
• Church was good yesterday.  And by that I mean worship.
• Why am I getting spam, even with CAPTCHA enabled?
• I hope I get feeling better soon.  My stomach is a clenched fist, my nose a runny mess, my eyes a swamp.  Ugh.

Mood Setting

Last night.  Big, flaky white chunks, mixed with drizzling rain and a cold, cold wind.  The black roads and the white dandruff blended together and made an ugly, brown mess of dangerous colors.  The trees bore the weight of the snow, minutely bending from the additional forces.  The dead, flavescent grass was buried by the cold mass, softly covered up by a giant, endless blanket of white.

Last night.  It began with a tickle in the back of my throat, not painful, but not pleasurable.  My eyes burned and watered, an oxymoron too true to doubt.  The dry, barren desert of my face begged for moisture, anything other than the leaky eyes, but I gave it none.  The tickle turned into an annoyance, a roadblock in my throat.  Sleep, thought I, and things will be better.  But Sleep was no friend to me.  The man came not readily with his dust of dreams, and when he did arrive, he sprinkled too little on my eyes.  I awoke sometime in the hazy hours, with my throat on fire and a cough in my chest.  Sleep…

Morning.  Snow is a lonely and cold thing.  How easily can its blanket smother?  Verily, the blanket itself provides no warmth, only faux comfort and shivering bones.  With it comes death.  A ceasing of existence for things caught beneath the deadly sheet of white.  Somehow, though, there’s a type of beauty in it.  A magnificence from the blinding sunlight reflecting.  The uncorrupted and undisturbed mounds and their sense of serenity.  The spherical men, made from loving hands and happy hearts.

Now.  A rubbing blob of red discomfort, reminding me with every swallow that it’s still there.  Tired, heavy eyes.  A dry, dry nose.  A face that feels like paper.  A lack of respect for Sleep and his selfishness.  A nice, hot cup of Earl Grey would be welcomed with open hands and a happy heart.

The Weekend: A Simple Recap

Quite a cram-packed weekend.  The snowstorm came on Friday, dumping around four inches or so in OBKY.  When I took Stella out Saturday morning the stuff was so deep around Stewartland that she was covered up to almost her neck.  Stella, with her thick hair, did not like it.

Friday night Keisha and I watched Monsters Versus Aliens.  It had several funny parts and an okay plot, but it didn’t do it for me.  Definitely not as good as some other Dreamworks animated films, but better than others.

Saturday morning we watched Valkyrie.  I’m not sure what the point is in watching a movie where you know the ending, but I did watch it.  Maybe I was interested in seeing people oppose Hitler.  Regardless, the ending was (predictably) sad.

Saturday afternoon/evening we went out and ate with some friends.  Then we came back to Stewartland and played Monopoly for a few hours.  I love playing board games.  Scrabble is definitely one of my favorites.  Apples to Apples is fun, too.  After Monopoly was over we played Mario Party for the Wii, staying up late, since church was canceled.

Sunday afternoon we went to the homeless shelter and held the worship service.  I didn’t feel too good.  I woke up with a headache and a stuffy nose and was kind of sick at my stomach a bit.  But I still played guitar and sang.  In the cold room of the shelter my fingers were chilled and I sucked it up with the guitar and my stuffiness made my voice off, but in the end we worshipped God with our hearts, and that’s all that matters.

Sunday night we watched a bit of the Grammy’s (not sure why), but I soon gave up.  I went upstairs and read for an hour or so.  I’m about 60% through Green now.  Hopefully I’ll start Best Served Cold before the week ends.

I had an overwhelming response to my giveaway of Tea with Hezbollah, which I reviewed here.  There were two entries.  I had two books.  That said, congratulations Dave and Alex.  Please send me an email with your mailing address and I’ll ship these books out pronto.  (Also, Kris, I’ll ship you the Abercrombie books, too.  I got your address.)

That’s it.  This bitter tasting bile that’s in my mouth prohibits me from going any farther.  The emptiness in my gut causes a lapsing in my brain and my ability to think coherently and reasonably suffers.  I try to push it out of my head but it seeps in if I don’t keep it in check.  People never cease to amaze me.

Sledding Is For Kids

As mentioned a few posts ago, Kentucky was hit with a severe winter storm. The storm surged through Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Arkansas, and Tennessee and resulted in many deaths, most from carbon monoxide poisoning or fire. This said, the county I am from, Muhlenberg, was devastated, and much of the county is still without power. Cell phone towers were down, too, and so there really was no way to communicate with anyone from back home.

Here in Louisville we got around 6 inches of snow and ice in varying layers. Layers stacked so perfect that we just had to go sledding. The first night of sledding was down a rather steep, mostly ice-hardened hill, containing several downed tree limbs, a few large tree trunks, and a monster dip in the middle of the hill that would propel the sledder off-ground a piece. This was awesome. The thrill of sledding as a 23 year old brought back memories of sledding as a teenager. In fact, I had so much fun I agreed to go sledding again the following night.

The second night was sledding down an intimidating hill in Louisville's Cherokee Park. My wife was feeling better on this particular night and so she decided to tag along for the sledding. While there I realized that I forgot to take my glasses off, so I took them back to the car before I started sledding. My wife walked with me and she said she was a bit hesitant to go down first, so I offered to head down and show her it was okay. BAD IDEA. I was on a round sled and so naturally I was rotating as I flew down the large hill. At the bottom everything happened really, really fast.

From what I can remember the ground disappeared beneath me, quite suddenly, and a wall appeared before me. I collided and doubled over and felt pain across my back like I've only known once before. At first, I honestly thought I wasn't going to be able to get up. I remember saying "no" and groaning, but I couldn't raise myself off my hands and knees. I wanted to throw up. My face was sweating. I couldn't see anything but black. Two strangers was yelling and asking me if I was okay. I said, honestly, "NO!" My wife was waiting atop the hill for my "It's okay," but I hollered "Don't come down." She walked down to where I was and helped me walk back up the hill. I came to realize that I had hit a ditch that had been created at the bottom of the hill we were on, and I must have collided with the opposite bank side.

Dynamically, I think I obeyed the laws of momentum, gravity, and conservation of energy pretty well. See, let m1 be the weight of me and v1 the velocity in which I was traveling downhill. Let m2 be the mass of the earth and v2 the velocity it was moving. Adding these terms, m1v1 + m2v2 = (m1+m2)v, where final velocity, v, equals sudden death. Furthermore, all kinetic energy from me traveling down the hill, .5m1v1^2, was instantaneously transferred from my body into potential energy that the ditch bank would hold, i.e. too much for my liking.

Regardless, and nevertheless, I am thankful my wife and I didn't go down the hill together, lest we both received painful injuries. I've basically been doped on Excedrin Back & Body since Thursday, resting on a heating pad, and using my massage chair. I'm strongly considering visiting a chiropractor or a professional masseuse. In short, sledding was very fun, but regrettably, I don't think I'll be going back for a while. Hope you all are warmer than I am.

Snowstorm 09

This is day 2 of our crazy snow/ice storm. We received around 5 inches or so of snow and ice in various layers. Everything is crazy. Power has been out throughout the city. Of course, since I live in the world's weirdest climate, one week ago it was almost 70*F and Sunday is supposed to be almost 50*F. Hope the slide show works. If it does, I'll love Google even more than I already do.


Wow, it does work. This proves that Google is on its way to global domination. You've won my heart, Google. And the Picasa program is pretty cool. Seriously, though, this storm was absolutely wild. Really cool, but fatal, too. Be careful out there folks. Enjoy.

PS: The statue of The Thinker is one of only 4 (I think 4, give or take a few) authentic replicas in the world. Pretty cool, eh?