Preschool - What fun we have!

Preschool-made Butter

2010-04-27T10:36:00.000-07:00

This week our theme is "Old MacDonald's Farm". We will be learning about all sorts of different farm animals and what farmers do too. We just had a fun field trip on Friday to American West Heritage Center and got to visit all the new baby farm animals there. We held them and learned all about them - we had a blast. So we are following up with a fun week of what we have already learned on a real farm.

Can you guess that today we made our own butter! Today our emphasis was cows.....so milk and things that come from milk are an obvious choice!!

We put this activity in our messy table and the kids SHOOK and SHOOK and SHOOK!! I just put the Heavy Whipping Cream into little containers - baby food jars work nice or little tupperware containers. We had on some fun dancing music to make this a little more enjoyable at choice time.

Soon enough our Cream was becoming thicker and thicker. The kids kept asking, "Miss Chelsea, check mine, check mine! Is it butter yet?" When they are asking 5 seconds apart, the answer from the teacher will be, "Not yet, keep shaking - it will be soon".

As you are shaking, the cream will get very thick and hard to shake for a minute, then all of a sudden, the milk and cream will seperate and you will hear water sloshing around. When the kids heard this, they all thought our butter was ruined. But actually, it has just worked!!

After many tired little hands, and one tired teacher who actually had to do most of the shaking at the end ;) - we had BUTTER!! And some excited little preschoolers!!

So you'll want to pour that liquid out and then your butter will be ready! We spread ours on bread today for our snack, but you can spread it on Saltine crackers or other things. The kids LOVE IT!

Drippy, shiny milk pictures

2010-04-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

Since we are learning about cows today (within our "Old MacDonald's Farm" unit).....we had our activities based around "Milk". So at our art table we painted with drippy shiny milk!!

Basically, this is sweetened condensed milk with food coloring. I mixed three different bowls with red, blue, and yellow food coloring.

Once they are done painting, we hung them on the wall to watch them slowly drip! The kids thoroughly enjoyed this......."Wow, mine has dripped all the way to the bottom!" "My blue is dripping", "My yellow is beating my blue". I also tried to begin conversation about the mixing of the primary colors - what new colors are appearing?

Some kids enjoyed mixing them all at once for a beautiful brown color. Then folding their paper in half for some symmetry. Awesome! We had a fun painting day today!

Mama Cow Song

2010-04-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

This song goes to the tune of "Mary had a Little Lamb". The kids loved it!

Mary had a Mama Cow, Mama Cow, Mama Cow

Mary had a Mama Cow, it's milk was white as snow.

Everywhere that Mary went, Mary went, Mary went.

Everywhere that Mary went, she drank the milk you know.

She took the milk to school one day, school one day, school one day.

She took the milk to school one day, and drank it all day long.

The milk helped Mary laugh and play, laugh and play, laugh and play.

The milk helped Mary laugh and play, because her bones were strong.

We did little actions with the song that we just made up ourselves.

Have fun singing!!

Green Smoothies

2010-03-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

So I understand this does look kind of revolting....but you SERIOUSLY have got to try it. Not only is this delicious, it's SOOOO nutritious too!! We had this for our St. Patrick's day snack today and they were a total hit.....after all the kids got over the fact that this snack contains spinach - cool, they were gobbled right up.

Here's the recipe - really you make it to how it tastes good for you, and use whatever fruits you want.

*1 bag of spinach (I used the Baby Spinach)

*one 32 oz vanilla yogurt

*bananas

*mango's

*kiwi's

or any other type of fruit you desire (I used some frozen mango's, strawberries, peaches, and pineapple that came in a pack together)

Now you just blend these together (I used a food processor, but whatever works really)....I blend the spinach first to help compact it down, then add my other ingredients. I also added a little water to mine to help make it a little more runny. You could use milk or juice or something too if you want.

The best thing about this smoothy, is that it is so dang nutritious!! After you get over the green color of it.....it's wonderful, and seriously tastes great!

Now, go make yourself and your kiddos some of this GREAT GREEN GLOP for St. Patricks Day!!

St. Patrick's Day Lucky Pet Rocks

2010-03-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

Oh what cute little rocks.....for our craft today we went on a rock hunt and we each found a special rock to paint and call our "own" :) We of course had to paint them green since they are our St. Patrick's day lucky rocks!! Glued some eyes on and WA-LA! Your very own lucky pet for a lucky day. Some of our rocks had 10 eyes and some had 1. The names ranged from "Lucky", "Greeny", "Sainty", "Ironman", "Shirley" and so on............

Please go let your kids make their very own lucky pet rock, no kid should live without one - seriously!!

Happy St. Patricks Day

St. Patrick's Day Treasure Hunt

2010-03-17T10:58:00.000-07:00

I painted these little rocks gold to make them look like golden nuggets so we could go on a treasure hunt today for preschool. We hid some outside and some inside and we went a searching. We talked about luck today and leprachauns and green and pots of gold and Ireland......After we got done with our treasure hunt we counted out our gold nuggets onto sheets of paper with circles drawn on them so we could work on our one-to-one correspondance while counting. At the end, every child got to take equal gold nuggets home. The great thing about this activity is that it could last all day by re-hiding and re-counting...seriously children LOVE this type of game and it's educational also!!

Happy Hiding!

Fire Station Field Trip

2010-03-12T11:46:00.000-08:00

We were able to visit the fire station for our career week and we had a great time!! We got to look at all the different types of fire trucks. They had a REAL fire pole, we got to see how fast Fireman Matthew put his uniform/gear on, we got to climb through a fire truck, we got to try on his jacket, and we even got our own fire hats to take home. We had a great time!

Thank you Fire Station for having us, thank you Fireman Matthew for the tour, and thanks to all of my parent volunteers who helped drive and just came to help keep me sane - you guys are the best.

Welcome to Career Week

2010-03-09T11:18:00.000-08:00

This week we are learning about "Careers" and possible things we could "be" when we grow up. I love having the parents come in and share with us what they do. Not to mention the kids are SO EXCITED that their very own mom or dad is coming to preschool to tell us ALL about their job. It's a very exciting time.

I also like to have a Police Officer as a guest speaker and we'll be taking a field trip to the Fire Station on Friday. Lots of things going on.

For our Dramatic Play and Messy Table area (I combined them today) we turned the room into a Career center where the kids could dress up and act out in various job role plays. From being a Doctor, nurse, or veterinarian, to construction workers, computer engineers, secretaries - we had an array of jobs to fulfill.

The doctor was the most popular today, but kids always love working on and checking others as they have been checked at a doctors office.....it's something they can relate to and they know what to do with it.

Today we had a Highschool teacher as our parent visitor, and we'll have lots more stuff to share throughout the week. Stay tuned!

We are also working on a class book of "What I want to Be When I Grow Up".....kids minds change so often, this might be a pretty thick book. But I like to make copies for the kids and let them keep it so they can look back at it and see the things they were once interested in and their classmates also.

ABC Painting

2010-03-03T10:33:00.000-08:00

Today we had fun painting with the alphabet. Simply put the colors of tempera paint you want on some paper plates, be sure to have trays and smocks handy (easier clean-up), then all you need are some ABC cookie cutters.......the kids dip them in the paint and place them on their paper.

Be prepared for some teacher guidance as you discuss the letters they are stamping, or words they are even writing. This is a great activity to build your childs literacy!!

Eating Alphabet Soup

2010-03-03T10:19:00.000-08:00

We had a simple but yummy snack today in preschool. The kids thoroughly enjoyed eating the ABC's!! None of the kids had ever had this soup before which made it even more exciting. We had so much fun finding the letters in our name in the soup and then I would call out a sound or a name of a letter and we would see who had one in their bowls. As soon as we had found what we could the kids got to eat that letter off of their spoon.....it was a fun way to keep the anticipation up for eating.

After snack, most of the kids couldn't wait to go home and tell their moms to make them some "ABC Soup".......too much fun!

happy ABC eating!

Pretzel Letters!

2010-03-02T11:40:00.000-08:00

How can you learn about the alphabet and NOT make pretzel letters?? The kids had blast making the first letter of their names and then being able to eat them!!

Check out this yummy pretzel recipe so you can do it at home or in your own preschool!!

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups warm water

2 TBSP yeast

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

about 7 cups flour

2 TBSP baking soda

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Dissolve yeast in warm water and let set until activated. Add brown sugar, vanilla and salt. Add flour one cup at a time until mixture isn't moist. You may need a little less flour or a little more. Let rise for 30 minutes.

Let the fun begin!! Form balls of dough about the size of small fists. Roll dough into a thin rope (emphasis on thin) and twist into desired shape. Have flour available to roll and shape in.

While pretzels are being shaped, boil water and baking soda in a saucepan. Make sure baking soda is dissolved and then keep very warm.

After pretzels are shaped, dip them in the baking soda water and then placed the dipped pretzels on a cookie sheet. You can sprinkle with Kosher salt if you want (I don't like the salt) and then bake for about 8 to 10 minutes. When they come out, brush them with melted butter!!

These really are so yummy!

Fishing for Letters

2010-03-02T11:31:00.000-08:00

I put these cloth alphabet letters in the messy table and we used some fishing poles I've had for awhile that I think I got at Target......way fun and cute!! So the kids had a blast fishing for the letters, putting them in the bucket and making sure they don't get away by using the fishing net!

I saw so much great interaction on going on. I would jump in every once in awhile and ask, "What letter did you catch? OOh, I think I hear it saying something!" (I would obviously follow up with the sound that letter makes).

Don't let them get away!!

Something that I saw happening in the classroom that I didn't expect......the kids started bringing the letters over to the kitchen area and cooking up the "fish" letters. They would serve them by saying, "Here, have a letter M." I just love it when the kids carry the activity that I put out a step further!!

GREAT!!

Stamping Letters

2010-03-02T11:22:00.000-08:00

On with our ABC week.....stamping is always so much fun!! So we took out the old letter stampers and let the kids go crazy. This activity is great for letter recognition and even just getting to know what letters look like better!! Some of the more advanced students were sounding out and writing while some of the younger students were simply stamping...both are great ways to learn and both students are getting a great lesson from this activity. I would guide the younger students as they stamped, saying things like, "Oh, you found the 'b', it says b"...

This little boy wrote his name and was currently finishing up stamping, "I luv mi dad".....what great experiences!!

Happy stamping

Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom Trees

2010-02-23T10:50:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you all know the book "Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom" by Bill Martin Jr. I love his books! This is an activity that is done all of the time, but that's just because it's so great! Whatever activity you can link to a book is one of learning and the child will get more out of it.

I just had these extra letter tiles from when I taught the Saxon program in kindergarten. So I let the children glue them on and go to town. You could use any sort of letters, printed out, written, cut out, whatever you have on hand works great. This is a great activity for letter recogntion. I would ask the kids what letters they had on their tree and if it was ready to tip over yet? At the end of the day we read/sang the book together with our own Coconut trees!

ABC Week

2010-02-23T10:26:00.000-08:00

In the messy table today I had all of these different magnetic letters to explore with for the kids. Cookie sheets and magnetic chalk boards work great. I saw so many great things going on. I love the stage of reading and writing where the child links together a whole bunch of letters and then asks, "Teacher, what did I write?" This type of thing happened all day. We all get a big kick out of it because the words are so silly. For example......"trhugnf". I always say something like, "What did you write? trhugnf? You silly, what does that mean?" Sometimes they like to think of their own meanings for these silly words.

Some kids are at the stage of sounding out phonetically. When it comes to phonetic spelling I'm a big believer on letting them sound out on their own and figure out what letter it is. I don't care if it is spelled correctly, but just to see them figuring it out and getting the letter sounds is AWESOME!! Eventually, when they are more developmentally ready, they will be ready for all of the crazy rules. But right now, they need the confidence with those basic letter sounds.

One child sounded out, "pulees reer reer". Which translates into "Police - reer, reer" (making the siren noise). Wow - I LOVE to watch learning in action!!

Olympic Flags

2010-02-18T09:25:00.000-08:00

Now I realize these are cheezy and simple, but the kids absolutley LOVED these little flags. Some kids made the American flag, and others wanted the Olympic rings. We've been talking about the rings and how when Olympics first started there were five countries, and each ring represents a different country. They are linked to represent the countries coming together.

These flags were used in the classroom to cheer on our awesome Bobsled team (we had great cheerleaders). But then I also gave them homework to go home and watch the Olympics and share with us the next day what we watched. My daughter could not watch the Olympics without her flag......she thought for some reason she NEEDED it to cheer. Great spirit - right!

Happy cheering

Bobsledding - Olympic Style

2010-02-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

We have been learning about the Olympics this week and boy have we been having fun. In this picture you can see The Preschool Bobsled Team.....pushing off! We transformed our dramatic play area into an Olympic Bobsled Run.

We have talked about all of the different Olympic Events in the winter - Skiing, Snowboarding, Ice skating, Speed Skating, Bobsled, Luge, and the skeleton were the main one we discussed. I had the class act out each event to see maybe a little how it might feel and if we might like it.

Olympics are great!!

If I were the President of the United States........

2010-02-16T21:45:00.000-08:00

Since yesterday was Presidents day, I figured I would take the opportunity to enjoy a day of learning more about this special day. Along with books about the White House, what the President does and more, the children also had a great time thinking of things they might like to do if THEY were President of the United States......

Some other kids wrote things like......."I would write stories all day", "I would plant all the flowers I could".

I love how kids think!

Valentines "Chocolate" Playdough

2010-02-12T21:43:00.000-08:00

During our Valentines theme, I always love to make "chocolate" playdough!! Since chocolate is such a big part of the holiday, the children really seem to go with this and love playing with it.

It's easy to make....just follow your regular playdoug recipe and add some cocoa powder to the mix! It turns brown and smells like chocolate all in one. Just remember to remind the little ones, that it's not REALLY chocolate. Along with a variety of baking items, I also set out a few empty boxes of chocolates so that the kids can pretend to give valentines to their friends and make their own chocolates to put in. It's always so fun to see them handing out "chocolates" and to hear the socialization that goes on during this Valentines time!!

Love According to Preschoolers.....

2010-02-10T10:25:00.000-08:00

LOVE IS.....

when I get hugs
my mommy and daddy
my Wii and my Wii games
when my parents play with me
helping my sister
when I clean my bedroom
when my sister stops fighting with me
bandaides and medicine for my owies
when my parents build my toys with me
when I do stuff without being told
loving your mom and your family
when your friend is your best friend
loving everybody even when they are your enemies
reading books
giving people things they really want
hugs and kisses
cooking with my mom and dad (especially eggs)
drawing
being with my friends

Valentines Slime

2010-02-09T10:32:00.000-08:00

We enjoy getting MESSY in preschool! This slime always seems to be a favorite and really brings the kids together playing and exploring. I figure it's a great way to build our friendships stronger and have fun with eachother. We also talk about opposites...to me slime is an opposite word for Valentines day because slime is yucky and gross and love and friends are fun and enjoyable! To make this stuff, just mix as much elmers glue as you are going to want slime and add your food coloring. Poor in some liquid starch until it's not sticky but slimy and stir it all together. FYI - I buy the gallons of elmers glue. You can get it from Lowes or Home Depot or I'm sure order it from a school catalog.

Valentine I love you's

2010-02-09T10:25:00.000-08:00

There are plenty of ways to say "I Love You"......this week we are having a blast talking about all the ways we can say I love you and also how to be a friend! Today we made thise fun and simple hearts. The children were talking about who they were going to give them to, when, and even why. I have some students who just LOVE to cut and glue and others who would rather color or draw. So we had a few different variety of hearts today which is the way I like it! I love to watch a child make something his own and go with it.

With this craft we used construction paper, glue, scissors, and squares of tissue paper or crepe paper. It's fun to just pour the glue on everywhere and begin sticking the squares on. You can crumple them or stick them on straight!

Happy Valentinezing!

Meet Rude Rodney

2010-02-03T10:27:00.000-08:00

This week we are learning all about Nutrition, Manners, and Exercise. I have a friend that always visits us during our friendship or manners units (usually around Valentines day). His name is Rude Rodney and he has NO IDEA how to use manners. The kids always find him hilarious because, well, he's RUDE! It's a great teachable time when the kids become the teachers and they think it's great that they are "smarter" than him. Also, kids just LOVE puppets!!

Each day I have Rodney come out of a different container - first he comes out of an empty tissue box (or something similar that he'll fit in) and he sneezes and coughes all over the kids (It's fun to have a spray bottle to make it more realistic). We sing this song and the children TEACH him the correct way to sneeze and cough (in your elbow or tissue). I bring him out of a gift box on another day and we talk about saying "please" and "thank you". Another day he keeps interrupting the teacher while I'm reading a story - the kids really crack up and they really start to figure out how important it is to say excuse me and raise our hands in class. He also comes driving in on a big truck and we talk about sharing our toys.

The most important idea of this whole thing is to EXAGGERATE his rudeness and make it your own. It is such a fun thing to teach and enjoy with the kids!!

Happy Manner Making!

But I HATE Broccoli!

2010-02-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

Since we are learning about Nutrition and manners and exercise this week, I thought I would post some tips!! Thanks for reading.....

Parents often worry because they think their young children don't eat enough. Some children seem to be naturally finicky. But others simply may be so overwhelmed by the amount of food placed on their plates that they don't know where or how to begin eating. How much food is enough? And how can we get our children to particpate more successfully in mealtimes?

Physicians tell us that a child needs one tablespoon of food per year of age at each meal. that means a 3-year-old needs at least three tablespoons of food at breakfast, at lunch, and at dinner in order to maintain health and growth. These are not the heaping portions that we are tempted to put on our children's plates; they are standard measurment portions.

Allowing children to serve themselves encourages them to eat larger portions of a variety of foods. When children get to control their choices and the amount of food they take, mealtime becomes more enjoyable for them and you. Participation in meal planning and preparation also encourages children to feel that they are a part of the process at mealtime. A family meal can be a time of conversation and relaxation or a time of frustration and anger. By offering children smaller amounts, the opportunity to help prepare meals, and the chance to serve themselves, we can provide a calmer, more satisfying family time for everyone.

Happy eating!!

From "Family-Friendly Communication for Early Childhood Programs"

Happy Groundhog Day!!

2010-02-02T11:14:00.000-08:00

So this is a simple Groundhog craft we made today...and the kids thought it was just so cool!

I had the kids cut out a head and a body, some of the kids wanted me to cut it out, and some kids went all out with arms and legs and everything - so cute!

We taped a popsicle stick onto the bottom like a puppet.

Now get your paper cup or styrofoam cup or any cup you have on hand and cut a slit in the bottom of it so your popsicle stick will come through the bottom.

Here he is - sleeping in his burrow all nice and cozy. Because a groundhog is a hibernater don't ya know!! My preschoolers sure do!

And UP he pops to find his shadow or not find it. Remember, if he sees his shadow that furball gets to go back to sleep in his warm little burrow because we have 6 more weeks of winter. If he doesn't see his shadow, that cute little groundhog gets to stay up because spring is right around the corner. As a preschool class we watched the news broadcast (on the internet) of Punxatawny Phil today. As you probably already know he SAW his shadow which means 6 more weeks of winter. The kids thought it was so cool to really see him on the news.

Some Cool Groundhog Facts...

*A groundhog is also called a woodchuck

*A groundhog sleeps through the winter - he hibernates

*A groundhog is related to a squirrel, chipmunk, and a prairie dog!

Fun Groundhog Song

2010-02-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

Oh My Groundhog

Tune of Clementine

In a tree trunk with a chipmunk

Hibernating for a time

There's a groundhog who's the top dog

On this day in wintertime.

CHORUS

Oh my groundhog, oh my groundhog, oh my groundhog, so sublime

Is it frost and cold forever?

Are we stuck in wintertime?

Dawn appears on the horizon

Out of bed he starts to climb

Tis the day to find a way to

Check the length of wintertime.

CHORUS

Offorecasters he's a master

He performs his craft so fine

Shadows mean no early spring so

Best get used to wintertime.

CHORUS

Boat creations

2010-01-28T12:42:00.000-08:00

We make a lot of things out of "beautiful junk" or so I call it! Anything that is trash, but can be made into something GREAT is nothing like trash.

So today we made our own little boats out of my old plastic baby food containers. A few of the kids wanted to try the glass ones too, which I'm sure would float also! We went to work gluing on straws and cutting out triangles and of course decorating our "boats" with stickers and markers. I do let my kids use permanent markers often, but we discuss them every time and how important it is to be careful with them. So far, we've had minor accidents on the skin with them but nothing else - kids are so willing to listen when we explain it to them!!

Now, take these boats home and see if they'll float!! FYI: foam sails would work best so they can actually go in water. We happened to use construction paper today.

Happy sailing!

Wagon, Cars, and Boats Snack

2010-01-28T11:25:00.000-08:00

For our snack today we made our own transportation vehicles. YUMMY!!

For these boats.....just cut your hard-boiled egg in half lengthwise. Remove the yolk and mix with mayonnise and parmesian cheese. Fill the egg cavity with yolk mixture. You can use toothpicks or celery strips to help the cheese stand up as the sail. VOILA - you've got yourself the cutest edible boat that the kids go crazy for!!

I realize I'm not the best picture taker, but these will have to do!! These wagon/cars are pretty self explanatory. Basically you can fill your celery with ranch or peanut butter, stick toothpicks in for the axels and stick on your carrots and raisins. If you want a wagon, stick the toothpick out the front with a raisin on the end for the handle. If you want a car stick the toothpick standing up tall with a carrot for the steering wheel. OR you can let the kids explore for themselves how or what they would like to make!!

Happy car making!!

Color WHEELS

2010-01-28T11:12:00.000-08:00

Since many things that are "transportation" have wheels, we like to make something I call "Color Wheels". The kids are always amazed at how these turn out and are so excited to see a crayon take on a different shape - oooooo!!

I put a bucket of crayons in the middle of the table and invite the children to remove the papers and break the crayons into pieces. When they are finished preparing their crayons, give them paper cupcake liners and put their crayon pieces in their liners. Put them in a muffin tin and then put the crayons in a warm oven. When they are melted or squishy, remove them and let them cool.

When we did this I didn't have muffin liners and it almost worked better......To get them out, I just sat the muffin tin in hot water to loosen the wheels from the sides and they came right out.

Sink or Float?

2010-01-28T11:05:00.000-08:00

Today we discussed how a boat and different objects are able to float! Floating and sinking depends on an objects density. If an object is more dense than water, it sinks. If it is less dense than water, it floats. An object is more dense than water if it weighs more than the same amount (volume) of water! WOW - what great new vocabulary words we learned today!!

One of the experiments we did was we rolled a lump of clay into a ball and put it in the water? What happens? Then, we molded the clay into the shape of a boat, and put it back in the water. What happens? AWESOME!!

Why does a ship float? Steel has a higher density than water, so why does a steel shop float? (same idea as the clay experiment). The inside of the ship is hollow and contains air which is less dense than water.

Transportation brush painting

2010-01-28T10:54:00.000-08:00

For this activity, you'll need different sized brushes and about 4 or 5 different colors of paint and paper!

Simply put the materials out and let the children paint pictures of anything they want. We have obviously been talking about transportation and it seems what we are learning about is where a lot of the children's interests lead. I like to sit with them and discuss what they are painting, what they know about it, why the like it, and I add in little bits of information that they will help their interest grow......it's called teacher guidance and it's wonderful!!!

Brush painting is one of the most child centered, open ended, creative activities you can offer a group of preschoolers. In my classroom, whenever we have brush painting, the children can paint zero or ten pictures a day. I leave it up to them and I don't try and dictate a theme, but it often goes toward what we are learning about. The children may extend our "theme" into the experience for themselves. Or, they may just want to paint a picture of something that happened to them at home and that's great too!!

Happy painting!!

Transportation Time

2010-01-26T12:21:00.000-08:00

In the block area for our transportation theme today we had these mini plastic vehicles and the transportation mat. I LOVE these little vehicles! They are so durable and the kids love to explore with them. You can get them from any of the major child development companies like Lake Shore, Discount School Supplies, etc.

At the time I took this picture the mat was a little kiddie wompus (is that a word?)....but the kids absolutley loved the mat today and driving, flying, boating, their way from the hospital to the police station to the school, etc. What a great way to explore transportion!!

Transportation magazine collages

2010-01-26T12:06:00.000-08:00

Hello to all - FINALLY again! We've had quite a week around here...my 9 month old got RSV and was in the hospital for about 5 days. Thank goodness that is over and now I am BACK!! Hurray!

This week we are moving on with our themes to Transportation! At the art table we made collages by cutting out pictures from magazines that were "transportation" pictures. I save my kids magazines I get and catalogs for cutting up in preschool.

There was so much discussion about what is or is not a transportation picture. Some of the kids were laughing up a storm, "A banana is NOT transportation - that is so silly!" What cuties.

We also talked about all of the different types of transportation we each had and ones we wish we could try. We had a lot in common with bikes, our own legs, cars or trucks, scooters, roller skates, etc. It also seemed that we had a lot in common on what we WISHED we could do.....hot air balloons, trains, tractors, BIG boats, etc.

The cutting that happens in this activity is so great for small motor development and the children really get to start using their thinking skills to look for a "specific" picture throughout the magazines!!

happy transporting!

Pinecone birdfeeders

2010-01-14T12:55:00.000-08:00

I'm sure these are pretty self explanatory and have been being done (is that how you say that?) for years. But, nonetheless, I thought it was a great activity to do for our winter unit. We just got done talking about animals in winter last week, so we talked more about how many birds fly or migrate to warmer climates to survive the winter. But there are still many birds that stay where it is cold and eat what they need to survive. Sometimes snow can get very deep and it's hard for them to find food, so that is why these niftly little bird feeders come in handy!!

I let my kids go at this in the messy table, because after all.....it IS a mess! But they were so excited to "feed the birdies"!! Let each child have a popsicle stick and they can plop as much peanut butter as possible onto their pinecone.

As soon as it is covered with peanut butter (and believe me, this takes these little ones a little bit of time), they get to roll it in wild bird seed. I just got crushed sunflower seeds for birds from Walmart. I'm sorry about the above picture, it's kind of blurry.

Then I tie a string onto them so they can be hung from a tree for the birds to easily get at. For easy take home, I just put them in plastic ziplocks and put their names on them. Most of the kids made about 3 or 4 of these.....what a blast!!

Snowman Snack

2010-01-14T12:42:00.000-08:00

What a better snack to eat with our "Brrr, It's Cold" unit then these cute litte snowmen!!

And, they couldn't get any easier!! I just barely saw this on someone's blog and I can't remember where I saw it.....so if it's yours please give me a shout out and I'll put your link on here!

All you need are some bananas, raisins (or mini chocolate chips), mandarin oranges (you could use apple wedges instead if you wanted), pretzel sticks, and a kabob stick.

I'm sure you could make this work with a variety of fruits and things. I'm sure you could use grated up carrots for the nose, a grape for the ball of a winter hat....etc. Get creative and let your kids get creative with these! That's the fun of it anyway - right?!!

Happy snowman making!!

Salty Snow Prints

2010-01-13T10:30:00.000-08:00

I got this idea from Blissfully Domestic, and the children ABSOLUTLEY loved this activity. Many of the children didn't want to do anything else BUT this during our choice time today!!

Have the children draw a simple picture of their choice and then trace that picture with white glue. Make sure the paper is on some type of tray to catch the excess salt. The children can then spoon the salt onto their glue. Then simply dump the excess salt back into the bowl and VOILA - you've got yourself a beautiful Salty Snow Print!

The greatest thing about this project is that you probably have these simple ingredients on hand, HURRAY!!

Sparkling Winter Collages

2010-01-12T09:19:00.000-08:00

I sat a variety of materials out at the art table today.....cotton balls, sequins, googly eyes, glittler, styrofoam, etc. The children enjoyed making winter scenes and collages of all sorts.

What a great way to use imaginations and also self expression!!

Colored Snow

2010-01-12T08:57:00.000-08:00

Snow in the messy table today with bowls of colored water and eye droppers!! The children absolutley LOVED changing the snow colors. It was fun to see the primary colors make new colors. Since we have learned about colors earlier in the year, this was a great reminding concept for them. We talked more about snow today, how the clouds make it, where it comes from, etc. It is always so much fun to see how interested the kids are in snow and how it is made!!

Happy snow coloring!!

Snowflakes

2010-01-11T10:24:00.000-08:00

Since we are learning about Winter and how cold it is outside at our art table today we made our own snowflakes!! No two snowflakes are alike. They are all hexagonal (have 6 sides). The designs formed depend on the weather patterns in the atmosphere at the time. Snow that falls through warmer air builds up more elaborate patterns.

We used paper today, but you can also use coffee filters (easier for the younger kids) and scissors. Sit with them and let them watch as you fold a coffee filter and cut holes along the sides and from the middle. Unfold the filter slowly to reveal the "snowflake". Then, encourage them to try.

If you don't have coffee filters, here is a link on how to fold paper to make a perfect snowflake, they give some great examples. When you use paper, be prepared to fold the snowflakes for some of the children, many children will just want to experiment on their own, but others will really want it to be like a snowflake. The cutting is great motor development for these little ones and also eye-hand coordination!!

Melting Ice

2010-01-11T10:09:00.000-08:00

This week we are learning all about Winter and how cold it is outside!! In the messy table today we had ice cubes (it would also be fun to use large blocks of ice) and turkey basters and eye droppers. We had a hot bowl of water also so the children could drip warm water onto the ice. Watch them as the ice begins to melt. What kinds of interesting shapes begin to form as the ice melts? Does "steam" rise from the ice as the water is poured over it? Encourage the children to touch the ice and put their fingers in the holes that are formed!!

Happy Ice Playing!

Passing on the Sunshine Award......

2010-01-08T06:19:00.000-08:00

I am so very excited to be a recipient of "The Sunshine Award" from an excellent fellow blogger at Excellence in Early Childhood Education. Be sure to pop over to her site for some great ideas!! The Sunshine Award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blog world. The rules for accepting this award are....

Put the logo on your blog
Pass the award onto 10 bloggers
Link the nominees within your post
Let the nominees know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog
Share the love, and link to the person from whom you received this award

I would love to pass a little sunshine on to the following blogs in hopes to brighten their day!!

All of these blogs have such great ideas and wonderful inspiration!! Be sure to check them out!!

Let's Explore - Creative Activities for Preschoolers

My Montessori Journey

Make and Takes

Simply Home and Family

The Moveable Alphabet

Animals in Snow

2010-01-07T12:28:00.000-08:00

In the messy table today we filled it with snow, frozen snow (that acted as icebergs) and all sorts of animals that survive in the winter. I saw so much interaction going on and discussion of what we have learned this week about animals. I love it when an activity just enhances the learning I want to happen dramatically!!

Animals in Winter Song

2010-01-07T09:06:00.000-08:00

This is such a contagious song..... I find myself singing it all day once I sing it in preschool.

I have a bunch of animal puppets that I use, I pick one puppet at a time and hide it until the song says, "what does this animal do?" Then out comes the puppet and he talks and tells the kids a little bit about himself, how he survives during the winter and then he lets the kids ask some questions about him. Sometimes they are silly questions, but it makes for a fun time!! We could do this all day and the kids would be happy and entertained. What is it about puppets that kids love so much? Happy Singing!!

Animals in Winter Song

Some animals in winter sleep, sleep, sleep.

Some animals in winter eat, eat, eat.

Some animals in winter fly away...

What does this animal do?

Use winter animals puppets and pull out a different animal each time you sing it.

Animals in Winter

2010-01-06T10:50:00.000-08:00

So right now in preschool we are learning about Animals in Winter.....I don't know why I always have so much fun with this theme!! Anyway, today for a science experiment, we discovered what it would feel like to be a Polar Bear swimming in the icy water (kind of). First, have each child put their bare hands in a bowl of freezing ice water. We like to count and see how long they can hold it in there (great counting practice). Every class I always get at least a couple of brave souls who leave their hand in there as long as they possibly can - I always stop them at 30!! Who knows how long they would actually leave it in there - crazy kids!!

Then, take a rubber glove and have one child make a fist and have them put there hand in the glove (obviously you aren't going to have them put their fingers in the finger places :). I like to wear a rubber glove also, basically for less clean up.

and cover that child's hand with shortening.

I just plop it on until the whole fist is covered....I use quite a bit. I take my glove off and then I cover the child's fat covered hand with plastic wrap (this is for easier clean up also).

Now just have the child put their hand in the icy water now.......the kids think it is the coolest thing that they now can't feel the icy cold water. I don't count this time because we would be there all day.....I just let them see how a Polar Bear (or a penguin or a seal or any other freezing Arctic animal) might feel. Once you are done with the first child, I carefully slip the fat covered glove off and have the next child slip in their fist. It works pretty smoothly.

You can do this as a large group, small group, or even work it in to your choice centers at the messy table or something for less down time for the kids. We did it as a group at the end of the day. How fun!! Now.....go experiment!!

Go Away Big Green Monster Craft

2009-10-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite books of all time, simply because it really is soooooo much fun to read and the kids all fall in love with it!! At halloween time is when I usually incorporate it, and I love to have the children come up with their own "Big Green Monsters"!!!

Some children like to make it look exactly like the books monster....and others come up with their own. I always love to see the variations.

I simply sat out paper plates, crayons and markers and various construction paper colors. You will always have to be prepared to help some children who still need help cutting out, and others will be very independant with this activity

They can glue on the various monster face parts they decide on where they want and then I like to tape a popsicle stick to it for a "Big Green Monster" puppet.

Now.....

"Go away Big Green Monster!! And don't come back!.......

Until I say so!

Pumpkin Pie Playdough

2009-10-29T12:34:00.001-07:00

Playdough is always a favorite of mine and around holidays and such I always like to give it a twist. For halloween we made one of my favorites.....Pumpkin Pie Playdough.

You make this just the same as usual and add pumpkin pie spice to it. The kids love the smell of it and exploring with it. With this activity I also set out halloween shaped cookie cutters, and I couldn't forget the pie tins (it's a must when the playdough smells like pie!)

Pumpkin Pie Playdough Recipe

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

2 cups water

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp cream of tartar

pumpkin pie spice

orange food coloring

Combine all of the ingredients in a pot, stir over medium-low heat. Don't let the mixture stick to the pot. Keep stirring and cooking until the mixture looks like mashed pototes - instead of soup. Remove pot from the stove and knead when cool enough to handle.

Ghost Goo

2009-10-28T11:09:00.000-07:00

This is always a favorite and we usually have to keep it in our classroom for a couple of days because the kids just LOVE to explore with this stuff!!

This is actually called OOBLECK (most teachers know what I'm talking about), but at halloween time I change the name to "Ghost Goo". The kids think it is soooooo cool and talk can be heard throughout the room about ghosts, goblins, ghouls, witches, and much more.

One boy asked me today, "Do ghosts really leave this behind when they visit you?" I told him that if they were real they just might, but there is really now such thing as ghosts.

So the recipe goes like this (so simple)......cornstarch......water......voila!!! Just mix equal parts of each. This substances so interesting, it hardens when you pick it up and turns to slime in your hands. It really is too fun to play with. Just be prepared to have cornstarch drippings from your messy table to the bathroom.....or keep a tub of water close by for quick rinsing. The nice thing about this stuff is that it cleans up so easily (it's just cornstarch after all). So don't freak out if it gets splattered in a few places....kids will be kids! Happy Haunting!!

Ghostly Collages

2009-10-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

Today we had such fun making our Halloween collage crafts. I chose to have the kids explore with Ghosts and Jack-o-Lanterns.

You can make these by gathering your materials first......for the pumpkin we used black and orange construction paper, glue, googly eyes. For the ghost we use anytype of heavy paper (paper bags work or construction paper), tissues, black construction paper, glue and googly eyes.

I had many kids who wanted to cut everything out themselves and many kids who needed me to help them. We ripped up the orange paper to glue on the black pumpkin cutout, and the kids kind of chose what they wanted their faces to look like.

I had a few different ideas on how to make this ghost......cotton balls......crepe paper.....but then my mind landed on tissues (that's right my house is FULL of tissues right now), we could TOTALLY utilize them (not that we don't have runny noses right now:) The tissues worked out great because it even gave the ghost more of "ghostly" look!! They were my favorite.

The World of Music

2009-09-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

So you probably guessed, today we learned about our sense of hearing! What a great and noisy classroom we had today!! It's so fun to explore with sounds!

We decorated our own rhythm sticks so the children could go home and have so much fun showing their families all the great music they can make!!

I just bought big dowels and cut them into the same size of pieces and sanded the ends.

WA LA!!

We also made our own shaker bags. I usually use paper plates but to my dismay this morning we were out. Serves me right for not checking the night before (I thought for sure I had some - oopsie!!). So I compromised and made paper bag shakers which turned out great because they have a handle when you roll them up and make a great sound - hmmmm, I might have to make those again!! We were able to go on a listening walk and we heard things like, an airplane, dog barking, bee buzzing, footsteps, tree shaking, and more - I love to teach the children that when we listen we learn more about everything around us!! They get so excited to start listening better (even if it's just for that first minute after I tell them :) For snack we had squeaky cheese - yummy! I'm surprised every year I have a couple of kids that don't like it....but it does have a little different taste to it. Remember to try and keep it at room temp. or a little warmer if you want to really hear it squeak!! Happy noise making!!

Preschooler, Preschooler, What Do you See?

2009-09-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

For our Sense of Sight Day we like to make a class book. It's a spin off of "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?" A great child's classic!! Brown Bear is such a great book to read because the children can help you read from just one reading. It's so repetitive and the pictures are so easy to follow!! What a great sense of accomplishment!

So anyway, I have the children think of something they see at school and draw a picture of it.

These are pages done from a previous year. You can write the words or type them. Then on the page before each drawing I put the words, "Preschooler, Preschooler, what do you see?" and their picture below it.

This becomes a book that is read OFTEN in our classroom. I also take the pages to a copy center and have a copy made for each child. This is great book to keep to remind them of preschool, their friends, and something they might have seen (or not seen) when they were young. So parents of kids in my classroom, you heard me right.....a copy of the book will be coming home to you shortly!!

Happy reading!!

Painted Toast

2009-09-23T12:32:00.000-07:00

We LOVE painted toast in preschool!! We read the book "Mouse Paint" and then enjoyed painting with the primary colors on our own pieces of toast!! This was a great way to end our day of our Sense of Sight!! If you haven't ever read "Mouse Paint", it's a must and a classic! The 3 mice get mixed up in paint and it shows in a fun way how the primary colors mix and can make new colors. The children were begging to read again after we were done.

So for painted toast, just toast your bread, get 3 bowls of milk and add your food coloring. Give each child a food paint brush, toast, a plate and let them enjoy painting their toast. Yes this sounds kind of disgusting, but seriously, it's a preschool favorite!!

You HAVE to try it!

Tupperware Madness

2009-09-23T12:26:00.000-07:00

For our messy table on our sense of sight day we added LOTS of dried beans and tupperware. This was tricky and took thinking skill to match up the lid to the right piece of tupperware. The children enjoyed pouring, filling, and even started sorting the beans (I was quite excited to see this taking place, I didn't even think of it!)

One child was determined to find the lid to a particular tupperware piece. He had them all matched up (or so he thought). I watched him as he continued to figure out which lid was incorrectly placed. I love watching the wheels turn in their smart little heads. Happily, and with much excitement he finally figured it out!! Boy do I love preschoolers!!

Eye Doctor

2009-09-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

What would be more appropriate in the dramatic play area in our sense of sight day than.........an Eye Doctor!! The children enjoyed not only checking each others eyes, but also doctoring each other up. I had to set out a few doctor tools along with the eye tools so we could explore a little outside of the box! The kids were bandaged, knee tapped, and shotted up by the end of the day (what kind of preschool do you have your child in again?? :) Some cute things said today...... "What letter am I pointing to?" "M." "No, it's a 'K', I guess you need glasses after all!" (I am still cracking up about this, knowing the child who was the patient is still working on letter recognition! It's so dang cute) "Where do you hurt miss?" "All over." "Miss Chelsea, I think we need lots more bandages!" Happy playing!!

Sun Catchers

2009-09-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

If you didn't guess, today we are learning about our sense of SIGHT!! Our suncatchers were so cool to make and watch in front of a window. You can use transparency paper (which would probably be the best to use) or use what you have on hand like me and use plastic paper holders.

I basically set out permanent markers and the plastic paper holders and the kids did beautiful art work on these. I was really amazed at some of their drawings!! Then just hook a string to the already punched holes and hang them up in front of the window for the sun to shine in on them. It's fun to see the sun get caught on the paper and be blocked out where the drawings are.

Some Favorites Outside

2009-09-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post a few of the kids favorite things outside lately!

I absolutely LOVE to watch the children play outside and start different games with them. Lately their favorite thing has been the teeter totter airplane (seriously, what kid wouldn't just love it), it's too much fun! Another thing of course are the swings (every year it's a favorite). And just the last couple of days - SIDEWALK CHALK!! I love little kids pictures all over my cement. It brings joy and little warm fuzzies all over my body. How can you look at kids art on a sidewalk and not want to start doing cartwheels and head stands! It really is that exciting!

Sweet Smelling Shaving Cream

2009-09-22T11:57:00.000-07:00

OK, so don't you think shaving cream smells so good? I sure do!! So what a great sensory experience to add to our sense of smell day!! Not only do the kids LOVE to feel this stuff, but they get to smell it at the same time. Believe me, our classroom was super aromatic today (AAACHOO!)

We are also discovering more about the letter Aa this week, so I did some teacher guidance with the letter Aa in the shaving cream. The kids thought it was totally cool how you could make letters and pictures appear in the shaving cream. The children who know how to write their name had a grand old time with the letters in their names. It was also great practice to assist the kids who are still catching onto their name writing!

Clean Babies

2009-09-22T11:53:00.000-07:00

To go along with our smelling sense.......what better to do then make babies smell good!! This is always a preschool favorite - washing and dressing babies!

I don't think the couple of baby dolls we had out were put down the entire time of choice time today!!

Happy cleaning!!

Sniffable Art

2009-09-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

We are learning about our five senses the next couple of weeks......and today we talked about SMELL!!

I wanted to do a bit more with this project, but I could NOT find any scratch and sniff stickers!! So we compromised.......we used smelly markers (you know the kind you can sniff - yummy!), perfume/cologne and then regular markers and crayons.

The kids went to town on creating their pictures and choosing the perfume (the teacher was in charge of spraying:) to go on their masterpieces. It was fun to see what the scents made them think of (lots of fruits and different foods).

We are also discovering more about the letter 'Aa', so I also sat out some A's they could color and practice writing if they wanted. Most of the kids chose to work on the Aa's. It's so fun to try something new as a child.

HAPPY SMELLING!!

Classroom Muffins

2009-09-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

We made muffins today together and boy were they yummy! Why does it seem whatever is made in preschool seems so much yummier then if it was just made? Even to me it seems that way. These muffins are a very basic recipe and very simple, but every year, the children LOVE them and just can't wait to try and make them at home!! If you are a parent of a child in my class I really encourage you to make these muffins with your child. What a great way to connect the school to home experience together!!

Classroom Muffins

* 1 egg

* 1 cup milk

* 1/4 cup oil

* 2 cups flour

* 1/4 cup sugar

* 3 tsp. baking powder

* 1 tsp. salt

* 1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix wet ingredients together in one bowl, dry things in a large bowl. Make a well in the dry bowl and add wet ingredients. Don't stir too much. Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes for small muffins! YUMMY!

Painting with Variation

2009-09-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

Today we had painting with a different variety of paintbrushes. It's so fun to paint and explore with paintbrushes that a different!

This really allows the children to think in ways they might not have before! So lets unleash that creativity - PAINT!!

First Letter of a Name

2009-09-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

For this activity I drew capital and lowercase letters of each of the child's first letter of their name. Names are so great to use for young children because it's usually the first letters they recognize and have some type of ownership to. This is a great activity to discuss capital and lowercase letters, which one we use for the first letter of their name, etc. What are the similarities and differences?

The children were able to color, place stickers on, and cut out their letters. This is great small motor practice plus they really get an idea of how their letter is formed and what it looks like.

I love to watch young children cut! Their motor skills are still developing and you can actually see them think as they make their scissors go around!

Puppet Theatre Time

2009-09-16T12:53:00.001-07:00

We had the puppet theatre set up today that my older sister sent to me as a gift one year. I love this puppet theatre because it stores easily by being rolled up.

The kids are always HOOT to watch at this area. I always introduce it to them by making up a story of my own (using beginning, middle, and end sequence). Even just demonstrating how a story sets up, begins to give them basic storytelling AND story writing understanding.

While the kids are at choice time, I am always there to assist in a story or be the audience. When we get more familiar with the puppet theatre, I will set it up with some chairs as the audience and popcorn bags. It's always fun to mix things up and give them a different setting!

Many times, for a child to be comfortable at an area, they need teacher guidance. I will not exactly show them how to do something, but I will assist in imagination, or creativity. You will see this a lot in the dramatic play area, or places like the puppet theatre, where they aren't quite sure where to go with the idea. I always have a ball playing and interacting with the kids, watching their imaginations bloom. As soon as they get the hang of it, I step back and let them take it from there.

happy storytelling!!

Playdough Fun

2009-09-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

Playdough is another thing that most children are pretty familiar with. I like to start my year out with many things children are familiar with so it's an easy adjustment and they can identify easily with their surroundings. It's nice to have the children come into the classroom saying things like, "Hey, I've done this before." "Here, I'll help you, I do this at home.", etc. I set playdough out often in preschool, but I do change things each time. This time I put out many baking pieces, cookie cutouts, etc. I have also discovered that children absolutley LOVE cutting playdough with scissors. Have you ever tried it? It really is so fun and cool feeling!! Ever since I discovered this, I never set playdough out without scissors. Scissors are a very hard thing to master for young children, and playdough is a perfect way for them to practice without getting frustrated. So, cut...cut..cut!!

I've shared my playdough recipe many times on this site before, but I will share it again, because I LOVE PLAYDOUGH!!!!!!

*2 cups flour

*1 cup salt

*1 tblsp cream of tartar

*2 cups water

*1 tblsp oil

Mix these ingredients all together until it is like soup. You can add food coloring at this time or your choice of koolaid for a fun smell good playdough!!

Cook on Medium heat until it forms into playdough. Remove from pan and knead until it's nice a smooth.

Happy Playdough Playing!!

Colored Rice

2009-09-16T12:25:00.000-07:00

Colored rice is always a favorite in the Messy Table. Rice is so small and fun to feel between your fingers. It's just such a great sensory experience that is always a must! The children expecially love to watch the rice poor, fill and twist....oh to be a child again!!

To make....

Put about 2 Tblsp alcohol and your choice of food colorings into gallon ziplock baggies. I do a different batch for each color (obviously). So if you are making 5 different colors, you'll need 5 different bags for each one.

Now put rice into the bag. The more rice you have the lighter color it will be, the less rice you have in the bag, the brighter it will be. I try and make big batches for the messy table, so I make mine on the lighter side.

Now mix and squish the bag until all of the rice pieces are coated. Once you have it mixed to your liking, lay out to dry on a tray or sheet cake pan or whatever else you have that can let the rice dry pretty flat.

Happy rice playing!!

Creative Sticker Names

2009-09-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the year I always start with getting to know our own and each others names better. I especially want the children to experiment with their own name, figure out what letters are in it, how they are shaped, what their name looks like, etc. Many preschoolers don't know how to write their names yet, and what a better way to learn out then through art and play!!

I printed off each child's name on the computer, set out stickers of all kinds and crayons. This seems pretty simple, but it was also a great success. I saw so many great things going on from tracing, to copying, to outlining the letters with stickers, and simply coloring in their name. All of these outcomes are ways children get more familiar with their name and eventually learn how to write it!! Happy name writing!!

Watercolor Wonder

2009-09-10T15:24:00.000-07:00

It doesn't matter how much paint I put out through the year, the children never tire of it...and why would they, painting is simply AWESOME!! I change it up each time even if it's a simple change like, shape of paper, type of paint brushes, type of paint, how we paint, etc. Preschoolers NEED to paint!!

Small Manipulatives

2009-09-09T15:15:00.000-07:00

I have a small manip shelf that each week I put new things on to help develop the childrens small motor development, cognitive skills, eye-hand coordination and more.

This week I put out Legos, Fiddle Sticks, and stacking blocks. It's always interesting to see what things the children make and come up with. I also like to assess at this station to see where the children are cognitivley so I know what to work with them on. For example, one child might understand the concept of stacking the blocks from largest to smallest or smallest to largest, where another child might not be developmentally at that stage yet, or understand the concept. This is where I can jump in and help them or even just interact with them while they are working.

Many great things happen at the small manip shelves!!

It's Kitchen Time

2009-09-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

The Dramatic Play area, is always a favorite. Last year, my little dining table broke we used in the kitchen area, and I am still in the process of getting one. Right now I'm currently using a folding picnic table which proves to be too big for the classroom, this problem will be fixed this weekend - for sure. I don't think I can live with it much longer. The dramatic play area has always been one of my favorite places to play with the children and also watch them. It's serioulsy so funny to listen to the things they come up with when role playing with one another. Some orignal ones today......... "Miss, I'm sorry, but these eggs are rotten, I'll go make you some new ones." (while talking on the phone) "Hi mommy! Yes, I'm being VERY good at preschool" (this one I hear often - so cute) "You be the mommy, I'll be the daddy, you can be the baby, and you be the dog" (they're so good at making sure there's a place for EVERYONE!!)

Messy Table Moon Sand

2009-09-08T14:47:00.000-07:00

What a better way to start out the Messy Table then with Moon Sand - this great new craze!! If you've never played with it, you simply MUST!! It's absolutely cool! It never dries, and molds incredibly good!!! Just like other sand, it's not always fun to clean up, but what fun is the messy table without a little mess??

Preschool Painting

2009-09-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

It's always fun to start preschool off with painting. It's something that is usually familiar to all of the children, and also something they absolutley LOVE!! If it's simply filling the whole paper up with colors until they turn black, or actually making a picture - to a preschooler, it's all the same and should be viewed as the same also. It's the experience they are getting, not what they are turning it into!!

Happy Painting!

Spring Window Mosaics

2009-03-26T21:39:00.000-07:00

Need a little spring decoration......perfect!!!

Get some crayons, a cheese grater, wax paper, and a hot iron. It's so fun to watch the crayons melt and mix colors under the wax paper.

Just grate some bright spring colors of crayons, have your child sprinkle it onto their waxed paper. Fold the wax paper in half and run the iron over it. They can cut out their own decoration or you can draw a spring object for them to cut out.

In preschool we simply cut out flowers. Some of them ended up looking like clouds, but you get the idea.

Hang them up in your window and let the sun shine through and brighten up your house!!

Spring Finger Painting

2009-03-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

With spring comes lots of color!! It's so fun to take a look around and see what colors are coming out!! What a better way to celebrate the colors of spring then with some fun and messy and colorful fingerpainting!!

To make this fingerpaint all you need is......

* 1 cup flour

* 1 cup water

* 1 tblsp liquid laundry detergent (this helps it come out easily from clothing)

* food coloring

Stir these ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. Seperate into different bowls with however many colors you are going to use and stir until mixed to your desired coloring!!

Spring Trinket Holders

2009-03-18T17:11:00.000-07:00

It's so fun to make containers that can hold special trinkets, especially in the spring time when it's organizing time!! From jewelry, rocks, money, flowers, candles.....pretty much anything that will fit in it.....these are great and fun to make. Save yourself up some glass babyfood jars. You'll need some spring colors of tissue paper or crepe paper cut into squares, and then some starch (found in the laundry aisle).

Now just paint the starch over the tissue pieces all over the jar, let it dry, and you've got yourself a GREAT spring trinket holder!! How exciting!!

St. Patricks Day Green Painted Toast

2009-03-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

Painted Toast always seems to be a childs favorite!! I don't know why because it is simply bread painted with colored milk...........but it's sooooo COOL!! When I make this in preschool the kids always LOVE it and ask for seconds.

To make this "kids favorite" snack, just take a piece of bread, a paint brush, and milk colored with your childs favorite color of food coloring. We obviously used green today for St. Patricks Day. Your child can paint his bread however he desires, pop it in the toaster or toaster oven. Then eat it up......and believe me, it will be!!!

St. Patricks Day Green GAK

2009-03-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

Slime never gets old. This is another recipe, it turns out a little slimier then the glue and starch.

Recipe:

* 16 oz. white glue

* 2 cups water (halved)

* Green food coloring

* 3 teaspoons Borax Powder

* 1 medium bowl

* 1 large bowl

In the medium bowl, combine the glue, 2 cups of water and several drops of green food coloring. Stir this constantly. In the large bowl, combine the remaining water and the Borax Powder. Stir this until the powder is dissolved. Pour the glue mixture into the Borax mixture. Stir constantly until a glob of GAK forms. Let the children squeeze, knead, aquish, and ooze the GAK between their fingers.

St. Patricks Day Lucky Shamrocks

2009-03-17T15:31:00.000-07:00

For St. Patricks Day today we made lucky shamrocks out of crepe paper. We talked a lot about luck and what it means. We went on a treasure hunt looking for gold rocks and got pretty "lucky"!! We did all sorts of things having to do with GREEN!!

For our shamrocks, I simply cut out a shape of a 4-leaf clover and had green crepe paper cut in squares set out. The children chose to put them on collage style or twisting the squares around a pencil and sticking them on.....the results were very creative!

When I Grow Up.......

2009-03-12T10:21:00.001-07:00

We're finishing up our unit on careers and I had the kids draw a picture of what they thought they might want to be when they grow up. I absolutley LOVE children's illustrations. Many of the kids also wanted to write what they wanted to be all by themselves!! I'm so proud of their progress and all of the learning that I see is so exciting!!

Letter Tiles

2009-03-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

I had letter tiles set out today that the children worked with. They really enjoyed these and had fun matching the letters and spelling their own words. I love to watch literacy development!!

The letters on the mat are what I call "computer" letters. Then they get to match the tiles to the correct letter on the mat. It's important for children to know that letters can often look different, which is why I introduce "computer" letters (g, a, q, etc). Many kids might see these letters if they haven't been introduced to and have no idea what they are.

I also had the tile holders out so they could spell different words. I had a list of words set out on the table they could spell, but many just wanted to practice their names or family names or other words they like.

One boy said, "Miss Chelsea, how do you spell preparing taxes?" I couldn't help but chuckle......I guess we know what his parents must be doing - ha ha ha!!

Painting Fire

2009-03-11T12:37:00.000-07:00

We were learning all about what policeman and firefighters do. The kids really enjoyed painting fire flames which corresponded with what firefighters do. I basically cut out fire flames and set out yellow and red paint for the children to paint with.

"Firefighters are so brave!"

Grocery lists

2009-03-11T12:01:00.000-07:00

We were talking about Grocery Workers and I the kids write their own grocery lists. It was fun to watch them think about what they might find at the grocery store. I would either tell them how to spell the word as they wanted or I would write it down for them to copy. A few students aren't quite ready for that step so they would draw the pictures and I wrote down what they needed.

The kids would write their grocery lists and then bring their list to the "grocery store" I had set up in the dramatic play area to go shopping.

Shopping fun!!

Messy Table Madness

2009-03-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

We've had some fun in the messy table with colored rice. Rice is always a favorite because of the great sensory feeling the kids can experience as the rice runs through their fingers and pour them into different containers, etc. The children seem to really love that it is colored........"How did you do that Miss Chelsea??"

You can make colored rice by placing rice in a large ziplock bag and adding about 1 or 2 tblsp. rubbing alcohol and then some food coloring. Mix the rice around in the bag until they are colored evenly. Lay the wet rice out on a cookie sheet or tray to dry. WA-LA!! This is also they way you would color noodles for necklaces or whatever.

We've also had water in the messy table to go with our "firefighter" career day. It's so fun to act out being like a firefighter or policeman. We've had a lot of things going on in our classroom this last few days........I can't wait to be ____________ when I grow up!!

Policeman hats and badges

2009-03-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

What a better way to act like being a policeman then with some policeman wearing gear! There were a lot of hats and badges made and then being worn and role playing the life of a policeman.

From jail, speeding tickets, and helping lost kids.....our classroom was busy as the the life of a policeman!

This is the House that Jack Built

2009-03-04T15:40:00.000-08:00

Our new unit is all about Careers - "Workers, Tools, and Uniforms". Today we got to learn all about Construction workers and Painters. I love teaching all about the types of things kids can do when they grow up. In the end, they usually want to be EVERYTHING!!

We painted houses at our Art Table and we got to build our own houses out of popsicle sticks at the Cut and Color Table. This was a great experience for the kids to give them a little more understanding of what Construction workers and painters might do, plus develop a few skills while they are at it!

Construction Worker Dramatic Play

2009-03-04T15:33:00.000-08:00

I put set up a work bench for the children to work with at the dramatic play area for our Careers and Construction Worker day. They really seemed to enjoy this. I heard a lot of construction worker discussion and socializing going on.

"Hey, I'm building you a kitchen Miss Chelsea!"

"What does this measuring tape say? Is it going to be long enough to make my project?"

What great thought processing going on!!

In the past I've also set up large blue print papers for the children to draw, measure and figure out their projects on. My classroom is a little smaller this year.......maybe next year I could shrink the blue print book. The large one is just so fun and exciting for them to work in.

Fiddlesticks and legos

2009-03-04T15:29:00.000-08:00

For some Small Manipulatives, I had Fiddlesticks and legos set out for the children to explore with. I saw some great things being built as they all worked on their awesome construction building skills!!

"It's Chow Time" Books

2009-02-26T14:40:00.000-08:00

These are some of the books I've used for my unit "It's Chow Time"

HAPPY READING!!

I love that this book makes it so easy to help the children understand the different food groups!!

"Eating the Alphabet" introduces different foods that start with the letters of the alphabet. It's fun to see the foods that we are all familiar with, but then others that the children might never have heard of!!

This book is always a favorite!! The monkey absolutley LOVES spaghetti and she doesn't want to do anything else. When her friend finally tries the spaghetti he can't stop eating it either.

As I have said before I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Robert Munsch. He is definatley one of my favorite authors!! "More Pies" is a book about a boy who thinks he is absolutley STARVING. When he goes to the fair and wins the pie eating contest he ends up getting sick!! The kids just laugh and laugh!!

A great Caldecott Honor book. It's fun to talk about all the fruits we like to pick and I love to hear about the kids who have helped their mommies can fruits into jams, etc!!

A CLASSIC and a favorite! Enough said! We read this book many times throughout the year. With this unit we talk about how the caterpillar got sick eating all of the junk food and how the leaf made him feel much better!! Another classic and children's favorite!

I have a few different versions of the Little Red Hen. It's a great book to tie into our Grain day!! The children love hearing all of the different versions and trying to figure out how they are different and the same! Great literacy development!!

Like I said before - ROBERT MUNSCH!! I just love him!!

This is another of my favorite for this unit!! Gregory is one of the only goats who likes to eat "regular" food instead of junk like tires, cans, paper sacks, etc. The kids just love all of the funny foods goats eat and we talk about healthy/unhealthy choices of food we can eat!!

Kitchen Utensil Painting

2009-02-25T15:48:00.000-08:00

I found this idea at Lets Explore and I thought it would work great with our Food Group Unit. I cut our painting paper into the shapes of various foods and the children enjoyed stamping their foods with the utensils!!

I thought this was a great way to give the children a great new experience with painting and tie it into the unit also!!

Happy painting!!

ABC FlySwatter

2009-02-25T15:32:00.000-08:00

We like to play this game every once in awhile and the children just LOVE it.

Basically the kids SWAT the letter the teacher calls out. The swatter on the bottom is the person who gets to keep that letter. This works best as a small group with kids around the same developmental abilities so one child isn't winning all of the cards. To help with the kids not trying to be first, I say, "Hold your swatters up" and they hold them straight up in the air so they are all in the same position.

Just so you know, these swatters are UNUSED!!

This game also works with any other concept you might be learning about.....shapes, colors, addition, subraction, numbers, patterns, etc. Just switch it around with the appropriate cards or answers the children need to SWAT!!

Fruit Kabobs

2009-02-24T15:32:00.001-08:00

For snack today we had "Fruit Kabobs". What a better snack to have on "Fruit and Vegetable" day!!

We discussed the difference between fruit and vegetables (young kids have a difficult time distinguishing between the two). We also talked about how healthy it is for us!! The kids loved the idea of eating it WHENEVER they wanted. (I told them they had to make sure it was ok with mommy or daddy first). What is it with giving kids a little and they want it ALL!! They crack me up!

Here are some pictures of our awesome fruit kabobs!! They really enjoyed sticking these fruit pieces on a stick - oh the joy of simplicity of children!

This is the type of fruit we used for our kabobs!!

Yes, we talked about how POINTY these sticks are and that we have to be VERY careful when putting our kabobs together.....no accidents were had!!

Here is what some of the final kabobs looked like - they were so proud.

These were all eaten RIGHT up!!

Sand in the Messy Table

2009-02-24T15:27:00.000-08:00

Sand is always a great experience to have in the messy table. This sand that I have I got at an Early Childhood conference one year. It's VERY fine, and just runs right between your fingers!! If we get it wet, it is PERFECT building sand. This time we kept it dry. A great experience was had by ALL!!

Squiggle Worms

2009-02-24T15:22:00.000-08:00

I decided to set this game out for the children play together or alone. Since it's an apple I figured it would go perfect with our Fruit and Vegetable day!!

I'm constantly looking for great games for the classroom.

This one works on colors, eye-hand coordination (you have to grab the worms when they pop up) and of course small motor development!!

The kids really seemed to enjoy it!!

The "Corny" Counting Game

2009-02-24T15:14:00.000-08:00

We played the "Corny" Counting Game on our Fruit and Vegetable day. With this game, I set out styrofoam food trays with numbers written on each section. A little bowl full of popcorn kernals and then tweezers. I wish I had some large plastic tweezers, but we compromised with regular tweezers.

This game is great for one-to-one correspondance, counting, small motor development (squeezing the tweezers), and hand eye coordination.

This is how I had the game set up.......some trays had numbers, and some trays had dots.

Painting Fishies

2009-02-24T15:06:00.001-08:00

On our Meat, Egg, and Nut Group day we water color painted Fishes! Some children don't realize that fish is actually a meat!

It's fun to help these children LEARN by having them DO!! The activities I create in the classroom revolve around the theme. The activities not only develop certain skills but also help the children to REMEMBER what we were learning or doing that day!!

Ham and Eggs Anyone??

2009-02-24T14:57:00.000-08:00

What a better snack to have then Ham and Eggs on "Meat, Eggs, and Nuts Group" Day!! Whenever we have something out of the ordinary, it's not uncommon for a few of the kids to say, "OOOOHHH YUCK!!" I NEVER eat that!!

As I've said before, that we have a rule in our preschool that if we make something as a group, each child needs to try ONE small bite. If they don't like they don't have to eat anymore!

"Try it, you might like it!!" That is the chant that is heard throughout our classroom on snack making day!

This day was no different..........but EVERY child LOVED this snack today!! They all were begging for seconds!!

After reading Green Eggs and Ham at the end of the day, the children were all laughing at them selves because they were JUST like the book!!

Funny kids!

Dramatic Play

2009-02-24T14:52:00.000-08:00

Since we have been talking about ALL sorts of food, the children have really enjoyed the Dramatic Play area! I put out a few extra BAKING items, etc. They have been the greatest cooks and servers and I've seen a lot of discussion between the kids about the different foods they are eating or making.

One child was serving another child ice cream. Right before he gave it to him he said, "Now remember, this is only a SOMETIMES food!!

I love these little kids!!

The Fun of Flour!

2009-02-24T14:46:00.001-08:00

Last week in the messy table we had FLOUR!! This is such a great sensory experience since most children are not allowed to actually PLAY in flour. Not only does it have the coolest feeling, but if you pack it in just right, it will stay in the shape of it's container!!

We also got to play with bread dough......grind some wheat......etc! It was fun to see the process that wheat goes through! The Little Red Hen book was definatley a favorite throughout the week!!

The children absolutely ADORED experiencing flour!!

Snacky Necklaces

2009-02-24T14:34:00.000-08:00

When we were learning about our Grain Group, I put out multi-grain cheerios for the children to make Snacky Necklaces. These cheerios are not only whole grain (which goes great with our unit), but they are different colors with big holes. The children really enjoyed putting these neclaces together and snacking on them throughout the day!!

Patterns were seen and don't forget that small motor development which is so important for young children!

Puffy Paint

2009-02-24T14:25:00.000-08:00

On our "Milk and Dairy" day, we had a great time finger painting with Puffy Paint! I figured this paint would be fun to paint on ice cream cone and pie cutouts since it has such a great creamy texture.

Even better, this paint dries puffy and creamy!! It's a wonderful sensory experience along with exploring and creativity!

To make this paint, you just add 2 cups of shaving cream to about 1/3 cup of elmers glue. Add the color of paint or food coloring you want and enjoy!!

It's Chow Time - finding foods in magazines

2009-02-24T13:57:00.000-08:00

Our unit has been "It's Chow Time". We've been talking about the different food groups and "sometimes" food "all the time" food.

At our cut and color table we've had magazines out that the children have looked through to find the foods or food groups we've been learning about for the day.

They LOVE looking through all of the magazines and finding their favorite foods or even foods they don't like. I love to see their understanding bloom as they find a food and say....."Hey this is a GRAIN food" or "This goes in the MILK group!"

We can't forget to mention how great scissor cutting is for development. It's amazing to me how often I hear a parent say, "I didn't realize my child was old enough to use scissors." They definatley take practice, but it's such great small motor development!!! Writing comes much more naturally and easier to those who have worked their small motor skills!!

Small Manip Shelves for February

2009-02-13T09:25:00.000-08:00

The Small Manip Shelf is basically where the children can explore the different toys or games and help develop their small motor skills and also cognitive development with math and literacy.

I go over or demonstrate how to use these each time I change them so they know the basic rules and how to use the different manipulatives.

Here are the fun things I have set out for the month!

WIKKY STICKS I think wikky sticks are so great! There are so many different things you can do with them. Plus the children LOVE to explore with them. This time, I'm setting them out with a white board (which they stick to perfect) and the children can make different pictures, spell, etc.

This is an alphabet puzzle that is perfect for preschoolers. What a great way to help develop our letter recognition and also beginning sounds!

The Fishing Game has been a favorite so far this month. They can't seem to get enough of it!

I got these great fishing poles at Target (or you could easily make your own). The BIG material letters I ordered from a Books Are Fun place when I taught Kindergarten. The children LOVE the big letters because they are easy to recognize and fun to manipulate.

This is a great activity for eye-hand coordination also. It takes focus and the children LOVE it when they get a letter. I usually ask them, "Oh my goodness, what letter did you catch?" or "What sound does that letter make?"

The kids have also loved writing their names with the letters or asking me to help them spell a certain word out.......what GREAT literacy development!!

Valentine beading game........I set out some basic heart beads, string (shoelaces), and pink dice (for valentines time). The children roll a dice or both dice, count, and add that many beads to their shoelace.

This activity is going to help develop one-to-one correspondance, counting, eye-hand coordination and of course, small motor skills!!