Valentines Slime

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.

Valentines and Friendship Books

I wanted to share some of the books we'll be reading for our Valentines and Friendship unit. From love, hearts, kindness, friendship and more.....we always LOVE our books in preschool!!

I absolutley LOVE Robert Munsch. His books ALWAYS grab the kids interest and they are so FUN to read. The kids always say....."Read it again, read it again!" with any of his books!!

"But Mama, would you love me if I was a STINKY SKUNK?" The kids just crack up!! I don't know why it's so funny, but they adore this book!

Yes, there is a time and a place to be loud and quiet!! When we talk about friendship we also talk about how to be respectful of others!

This book is so fun to read, it says what would be rude first (which the children think is hilarious), then how to fix it by being polite and courteous!

The children laugh at this book because Froggy is falling in love. But in the end the valentine is actually for his mother. This is a great time to talk about saving kisses for JUST family! This is definitley a fun book!

HAPPY READING!!

Friendship smoothies

We got to make Friendship Smoothies today which turned out soooo YUMMY!! The children always love it so much when we get to make our snack together in preschool.

This is just a basic smoothy recipe with a "tweek" in the name! You can use any basic ingredients such as, OJ concentrate, yogurt, bananas, ice, and milk. You can make these as extravagent or non as you would like (using different fruits, etc). We kept with the traditional style.

When we make large group snack we basically take turns measuring, counting, scooping, or pouring in the ingredients. We of course learn the basics of cooking also - wash hands, have an adult there, etc. This is a great way to enhance a variety of math skills as we do this all together. The children are always totally enthralled and they always thing THEIR ingredient is the BEST!

This was how our finished product looked. We have a basic rule in preschool that when we make snack together we all need to take ONE taste, if we don't like it after that one taste, we don't have to have anymore.

The children LOVE our little chant, "Try it, you might like it!" It usually NEVER fails that the kids will eat the whole thing after they've taken the first taste, even if they said they weren't going to like it!! What a great way to explore the different foods we eat and make sure we try new things!

Friendship hearts

I love the process of how little preschooler minds think! These friendship hearts were a great Valentine craft activity and such a fun thing to watch come to life as the children explored in their own ways what they wanted.

Again today we had friendship abounding in the air as these hearts were made. I didn't emphasize the idea of giving these away today, but that is what the children wanted and enjoyed doing!! These turned out so cute!

Don't forget to keep in mind that when preschoolers are doing their work, it is the PROCESS not the product!! They are using their small motor skills, their imaginations, social skills, thinking processes and much more to create. They turn out how they want, not how we want!

Valentines and Friendship - A great day!

There is a lot going on this week with friendship and valentines. I always have so much fun getting the things together that the kids will be working with this next couple of weeks!!

Today we had to teach our friend "Rude Rodney" some manners and how to be a good friend!! He doesn't really know how to share or use please, and thank you, plus more!! Believe ME, the kids are GREAT at teaching him what to do to be a nice friend!! They always love Rude Rodney so much, and by the end of the unit, he is a great friend to all because of the kids!

Today we used our senses as we explored in the Messy Table with PINK shaving cream!! It's so fun to explore and discover in something you don't USUALLY get to get so MESSY in!

There was friendship exploding out of our ears as we wrote letters to each other and our families at the Art and Craft Table! It was so fun to see and hear the nice things we really love about each other!!

The children mostly decorated and drew pictures for their friends or families and I would dictate their letters for them. This is a great way for children to see how writing takes place......left to right, forming the letters and watching the words being written down on paper as they say them! What a great learning experience.

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This is how I introduced the activity with everything in hands reach! There were of course crayons, markers, and pencils available. It's so fun to get MAIL!!

I of course don't have a whole Post Office set of cubbies (which would be great one day), but until then I compromise. The kids didn't know any difference and loved it just the same. The box was definitley full by the end of the day!

My "compromising" mail box!!

We also had a great time with "sweetheart" playdough! This activity turned out great!! The kids had such a great time using their imaginations, small motor skills and creativity to make all different sorts of creations!!

For this playdough, I used strawberry koolaid (to of course give it a "sweet" smell) and red glitter. The students absolutley thought it was great!!

Here are some of the things the students came up with when making their creations!!

Aren't they GREAT!! It really was such a fun day and what a way to develop some skills!

Nutrition and Manners Song Page

Have you Ever Seen Rude Rodney?

Tune of "Have you Ever Seen a Lassie?"

Have you ever seen Rude Rodney?

Rude Rodney, Rude Rodney?

Have you ever seen Rude Rodney

sneeze all over you?

Ahh Choo! Ahh Choo! Ahh Choo! Ahh Choo!

Have you ever seen Ruden Rodney

without a tissue?

Have you ever seen Rude Rodney?

Rude Rodney, Rude Rodney?

Have you ever seen Rude Rodney cough all over you?

Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!

Have you ever seen Rude Rodney without a tissue?

Friendship and Valentines Day 4

Self Selected Activites (AM 9:00-9:45..PM 12:30-1:15) * Cut and Color Table: HEART SHAPES - The children will continue practicing their cutting skills with hearts today. The teacher will have various sizes or hearts pre-cut and she will continue to encourage the children to also cut them. The students can decorate the hearts with stickers, markers, crayons and also glue them together from biggest to smallest, etc.

* Messy Table: RED SHAVING CREAM - We will continue with the red shaving cream today. Children really love the feel of this and love to get messy with something they don't usually do. Again, the teacher will guide the children in writing or drawing messages to each other in the shaving cream. They will also just have fun smooshing, squishing, and spreading the shaving cream around!!

* Creative Art: EASEL PAINTING - Red, white, and pink paint will be at the easel today for the children to explore with!

* Dramatic Play: MAILBOXES - There will be an individual mailbox for each student with their name on it. The teacher will encourage students to make valentines for each other, write letters, draw pictures, etc. and place them in each others boxes. There will be paper, markers, envelopes, stencils, stickers, etc available for them to make letters right in the dramatic play area. It's so much fun to get things from others.

Snack (small groups come at different times to eat during Self-Selected Activities. Unless we are making our snack, then we will eat it during large group.)

* Snack: VALENTINE SUGAR COOKIES - We will be saving our snack time for when our parents come today!! We will get to decorate our own sugar cookies with frosting and fun toppings and eat them with our loved ones!!

Large Group (AM 9:50-10:15...PM 1:20-1:45) * Large Group: We will start with the song can, and continue to sing the Valentine and friendship songs we've learned. We'll read a story about love, and discuss how we know our families love us or our friends - what ways do they show us? We'll practice the letter Oo that we learned and continue discussing words that start with 'O'. We will talk about our moms or dads coming and what we will be doing - set up preschool room so it will be ready for parents! *Transition: Practice "I Love You" in sign language. Outside Play (AM 10:15-10:25...PM 1:45-1:55) Small Group (AM 10:30-11:00...PM 2:00-2:30)

* Small Group: PARENTS COME FOR OUR SMALL GROUP TODAY!! We will start small group by playing "Valentine March" as we're waiting for all the parents to show up. Large hearts with numbers or ABC's will be placed on the floor. As the music plays the children and their mom or dad or both will march from heart to heart. When the music stops, so do the people. Each child then tells the number or letter he is standing on. Candy hearts will be passed out for each child that gets it right (parents can help :). We will then go into decorating our Valentine cookies together with our moms or dads and brothers or sisters and of course eating them together!! To end the day we will get to make a valentine craft together. Your child will get to choose to make his own with his own creativity or choose from some of the examples that Miss Chelsea will have available. This should be a lot of fun and a great time to spend one-on-time with your preschooler and let them know you love them on Valentines day!

Friendship and Valentines Day 3

Self Selected Activities (AM 9:00-9:45..PM 12:30-1:15) * Cut and Color Table: ORIGINAL VALENTINE'S DAY CARDS - The children will be able to cut hearts out of construction paper (teacher will teach them or their will be pre-traced hearts for them to cut around). They can decorate them with lace scraps, yarn, and glitter to make their very own Valentine's Day Cards for whomever they want. Pre-cut hearts will also be available for who have not yet mastered the skill of cutting.

* Messy Table: RED SHAVING CREAM - shaving cream will be placed in the messy table today with red food coloring mixed in it. The teacher will guide the children in writing or drawing messages to each other in the shaving cream. They will also just have fun smooshing, squishing, and spreading this stuff around!!

* Creative Art: VALENTINE'S DAY BOXES - The kids will get to decorate their valentines day boxes today!! There will be all sorts of material, lace, shapes, hearts, cotton balls, buttons, candy hearts, etc to choose from!! We will use these boxes on Thursday when we pass out our valentine's cards we have made for each other.

* Dramatic Play: MAILBOXES - There will be an individual mail box for each student with their name on it. The teacher will encourage students to make valentine's for each other, write letters, draw pictures etc and place them in each others boxes. There will paper, markers, envelopes, stencils, stickers, etc available for them to make letters right in the dramatic play area. It's so much fun to get things from others!!

Snack (small groups come at different times to eat during Self-Selected Activities. Unless we are making our snack, then we will eat it during large group.) * Snack: HEART-SHAPED LOVE SANDWICHES - We will be making love sandwiches today out of bread, strawberry jelly, and heart shaped cookie cutters. Kids love sandwiches when they are in different shapes - we LOVE preschool!! Large Group (AM 9:50-10:15...PM 1:20-1:45)

* Large Group: We will start with the song can. And we will learn our Cupid song today. We'll move into Share n' Teach which develops speaking skills, and being in a group. We'll read the story "The Night Before Valentine's Day" and discuss all of the fun things that happen around or on Valentine's day. What are some things we do for others, how do we show them we love them, etc. We'll learn the letter Oo today, practice the sound, the name and writing it. Last, we will get to make and eat our yummy snack (check out the recipe page for "Heart-Shaped Love Sandwiches).

* Transition: We will learn how to say "I Love You" in sign language. Outside Play (AM 10:15-10:25...PM 1:45-1:55) Small Group (AM 10:30-11:00...PM 2:00-2:30)

* Small Group: We will start small group by reading a Valentine's story or Love story. Discussing feelings, who we love, friends, etc. We will start our activity by sorting feelings. Pictures of happy and sad people will be cut out of magazines. On the outside of two boxes, there will be a happy face and a sad face. We take turns sorting the pictures into the correct boxes and discussing why the people might be happy or sad. Then we will play "Broken Hearts". I will have heart shapes cut out of red and pink and paper or tagboard. A numeral will be on one side and that number of heart stickers on the other side. The hearts will be cut in half like a puzzle, the children will have to match the puzzle pieces by counting.

Friendship and Valentines - Day 2

Self Selected Activities (AM 9:00-9:45..PM 12:30-1:15) * Cut and Color Table: FRIENDSHIP EXCHANGE ART - Paper will be provided with "To: _____" printed in the upper left corner and "From:_____" printed on the bottom. The teacher will assist the children in printing their names on the bottom and the name of the person on the top. Using paper scraps, tissue paper squares, fabric scraps, and glue, each child will construct a picture for a friend. When they are finished, each child can pass the paper to the friend it was made for.

*Messy Table: RED WATER - The messy table will be filled with red water today, to symbolize love and friendship. Floaty letters, containers, scoops, squeegies, etc, will be placed in the messy table also. What a great place to interact with friends and share!

* Creative Art: GLITTER HEARTS - Glitter glue and large hearts will be available at the art table. The children can use their creativity to make the patterns and shapes they would like on their heart with glitter glue. Kids love glitter glue!!

* Dramatic Play: PUPPET THEATER - A puppet show will be set up in the dramatic play area with various types of puppets. The children can share puppets and act out friendships using the puppets in various situations.

Snack (small groups come at different times to eat during Self-Selected Activities. Unless we are making our snack, then we will eat it during large group.)

* Snack: NACHOS - since we are learning the letter Nn today, what a better snack then 'N'achos!! We will all dip tortilla chips into melted cheese for our delicious snack! A great experience for children to try new foods and also to help prepare it. We will also discuss other words that start with the 'N' sound.

Large Group (AM 9:50-10:15...PM 1:20-1:45) * Large Group: We will start by singing songs from the song can. We will practice our newly learned friendship songs - check them out on the "Song Page". We'll then read the story "The Rainbow Fish", enhancing listening skills and predictions. Discussions will take place about how to be a good friend and how the fish made good choices to be a good friend. We will then review our letter of the week - Nn. We will prepare our Nachos snack and talk about the ingredients that go in them, and last but not least, we will eat our yummy snack!

* Transition: Learn our friend poem - "I like my friends, So when we are at play, I try to be very kind, and nice in every way."

Outside Play (AM 10:15-10:25...PM 1:45-1:55) Small Group (AM 10:30-11:00...PM 2:00-2:30) * Small Group: We'll start small group by reading a friendship story - "Where are you Going? To See My Friend" by Eric Carle. This will give the children a chance to relax and also participate as I ask questions throughout the story. We will then start decorating our Valentine boxes or other containers. We will start by painting the boxes with their favorite color/s, and if there is time the teacher will do the hot gluing as the children choose the decorations they would like on their boxes. The hot gluing might be saved until Tuesday the 12th if we run out of time.