Sensory Tables

Sensory tubs and tables play a big part in our preschool program.  They are often filled with sand, water, beans, corn, and occasionally water.  The children LOVE visiting these tables, and yes, they make a mess each time. 

But...that's exactly what they're supposed to do!

 

Each sensory table has several items for exploration - cups, pitchers, scoops, spoons, etc.  Currently, our bean table even has small apples, since we have been working on our apple unit.  Sensory tables are so important and have many benefits - learning to scoop, pour, sort and count, imaginitve play (we are often served steaming, hot bowls of homemade corn soup!), discovering different textures, and creative storytelling, just to name a few. 

 

You may have heard your kiddo talk about going over to the Block Room, where the children have the option of playing at the Bean Table...

 

or the Corn Table...

 

Both of these tables are very popular spots!

 

In our classroom, we have the sand table open at least once per week.  We will be exploring many other textures, smells and sounds throughout the school year. 

Coming soon...the oatmeal tub!  Stay tuned!

 

(For more information on the benefits of sensory tubs, as well as some pretty amazing sensory ideas to try at home, check out Counting Coconuts and Earlychildhood News.)



Saturday Scoop - A Week of Apples!

Our week was overflowing with all kinds of apples!

 

We started off by going on an "Apple Safari", hunting around the block room for different kinds of apples.  We found red, yellow and green ones.  Each child decided which type of apple they liked best, and we will graph the results next week. 

 

We read the books Johnny Appleseed, Ten Apples Up On Top, and Weekly Reader Clifford Can Count Apples.

 

We also learned the song "10 Little Apples", which we sang many times! 

Ask your kiddo to sing it for you.

 

10 Little Apples

1 little, 2 little, 3 little apples

4 little, 5 little, 6 little apples

7 little, 8 little, 9 little apples

10 apples just for me!

 

 

In math, we sorted "apples" on a mat, using tongs.

In science, we learned about the life cycle of an apple tree. 

The kids cut out each picture, then glued them in the correct order.  

 

 

We also worked on fine motor skills (similar to the sorting activity above), with this exercise from Making Learning Fun.  This time, however, we used tweezers.  This was a little more challenging for some of the kiddos, but definitely a good workout for those fine motor muscles!

 

Happy Weekend!

Get ready for some more "apple-y" fun next week!

Saturday Scoop

Hello Pre-K Families!

 

I will be posting the Saturday Scoop each week to recap what we've accomplished in pre-k.  We have definitely been very busy bees, working, learning, laughing, and playing.  The kiddos are getting into the groove of our daily routine, and forming friendships with their peers.  Check out what we did this week!  We...

• introduced the letter Aa.  Ask your child to show you how we sound out the letter Aa.  We practiced skywriting Aa, and forming Aa in applesauce.
• measured Curious George with different items, such as rulers, pennies and crayons.  Each of the children were also measured, and their current heights are on our growth chart.  We will do this activity again at the end of the year to see how much they've grown!
• read the books Curious George Goes to School, Pirates Ahoy!, Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC and I Love You.
• made adorable, "nice pirate" hats, using newspaper, cutouts and googly eyes, then went on a treasure hunt around our school to find buried treasure.  Ask your kiddo where we found it!



• learned that there is another way to blow up a balloon, other than using your own air.  Just use an empty 2 liter bottle, some vinegar, and a little baking soda!

•  watched the best part of the week - the soda geyser!  Using a 2 liter of diet soda and 7 Mentos, we saw the soda quickly shoot straight up into the air.  I loved hearing the squeals, screams, and giggles of delight, as well as "Do it again!" during this experiment.  And of course, we did it again!

 

We had a great week!  What was your child's favorite part?  We will continue with the letter Bb next week, our apple theme unit, and we will also have monthly science experiement days.  Can't wait until the next one!

 

Don't forget to follow us or subscribe, so that you don't miss out on our weekly updates.  Thanks!

 

Happy Weekend, and See You on Monday!!

 

 



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