Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Happy

When we saw Unplugged's theme of "happy" this week, we decided to take a scientific approach to it.

So first we sang all about ways to show you're happy. We must have sung "If You're Happy and You Know It" a zillion times. Fortunately I like that song! Clapping and "hooray!" are my favorites.
Mommy found some great emotion cards online. She printed them out twice - one set we painted with watercolors, and the other we left uncolored. She had me match one set to the other - easy peasy! The colors didn't get me confused at all! I know my faces.
Then she would show me two emotion cards at a time and ask me which was which. I had no trouble identifying all the emotions, except when she paired "surprised" and "afraid." Those really look a lot alike...

We talked about how colors can correlate to emotions. Since we're on "Y" week, we spent lots of time looking for the "happy" color - yellow!

We drew lots of happy faces. I've been specializing lately. I like drawing EYES more than anything else. Here's an example - Mommy drew the exquisitely detailed artistic face in the middle. I drew eyes - a pair in the upper left corner and a pair in the lower right corner.
Mommy cut out some felt pieces for me to put together a happy face. Here I am working on it. When it was done, I threw it in the trash. Maybe the purple hair just didn't do it for me.
I took a closer look at the smile on a happy face using my professional investigative techniques.

I experimented to see if a smile is still a smile when it is upside down.

And last but not least, I verified that even when a smile is smiled in the middle of the forest (or under a cap) with no one around to see it, it is still a smile.
For more "happy" projects, visit Unplug Your Kids.
Oh, and H is for "Happy"! So you can check out ABC Wednesday for more H's, too!

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17 comments:

sunnymama said...

You took a much more scientific approach than we did! I love the investigations in the last three photos.

Meg said...

My son is totally into drawing random eyes right now, too!

We had to lay off the emotion talk 'round here because apparently mommy is always sad.

So Smrt said...

Thank you for visiting our blog. I've seen yours several times...what a different life. We are so "home" in MI...we travel, but I don't see a world adventure anytime soon. Incidently, I've been to Kenya twice, and I'm just a little bit jealous of your place in the world!

I hope that the Toy Society works for you, and if not, it gives an interesting idea...that you can just put stuff out there for someone to find, and what a feeling that is!
Meg

Unknown said...

Looks like you had a happy week.

charrette said...

I'm a big believe in letting the kids grow up unplugged as much as possible. Look at all the wonderful, creative things you did!

Crescent Moon said...

Your pictures are great! It made me happy, just looking at all those smily pictures.

ShEiLa said...

Well,
I am later than usual at keeping up with your post.

Love happy!

Don't worry... be happy.

If you chance to meet a frown
Do not let it stay
Quickly turn it upside down
and Smile that frown away.

No one likes a frowny face
Change it for a smile
Make the world a better place
By smiling all the while.

I learned that as a wee-tot.
Still remember it.

ToOdLeS.ShEiLa

Damselfly said...

How ... happy! You and Esme do such fun activities.

grammy said...

"Can we smile on the inside and not the outside?" Loved the purple hair face going into the trash (o:

Tumblewords: said...

Happy is good! Great photos and projects. Lots of thought and fun going on here.

dani said...

a :) is a :) is a :)...
whether seen or unseen, e:D
and i love the eyes you drew; they made me :)
l,
d

Danielle said...

Great cards!! Love it...and I loved the unplugged concept!

Pfingston said...

if no one is around in a forest and you smile, it's still a smile -! Love it!What a fun week.

Anonymous said...

I never tried to teach my kids emotion, but I did sing the happy song a few times. And I might have done some mugging. The grinning kind! Not the take his quarter kind.

Andrea said...

Wow...happy is a great theme...and I LOVE the eyes you drew!! :)

Unknown said...

You always inspire me to be crafty with my kids ... and that makes me happy.

Winks & Smiles,
Wifey

Munchkins and Music said...

Hey, It's good to be back. Thanks. :) Great idea on the emotion cards. I'm going to print them off, my daughter will love this project!