Tt is for Toothpicks

Last week, we worked on the letter Tt.  Actually, we were supposed to have finished it the week before, but since we were out of school two of three days, I thought we could use a little more time with Tt.

 

Our activitiy made use of some colorful toothpicks and a pattern of Tt.

The children traced Tt, then got a little fine motor work in by placing toothpicks along the lines of Tt.  For the lowercase, they had to carefully balance the toothpick going crosswise.

 

We also sounded out /t/, and named several words with Tt at the beginning.  We quickly figured out that two of our classmates' names begin with T!

Ask your kiddo to name some Tt words for you, as well as to practice writing some with markers, crayons, sidewalk chalk, etc.  This is one of the easier letters to form, since it is made up of straight lines only.

For more fun activities with Tt, check out:
Preschool Express
Everything Preschool
Gamequarium Jr.

Have a terrific time teaching your tot!


The Foot Book and Opposites

Hello!  I know it's been a minute (or several) since my last post.  We've had sick kiddos at our house, and that's never fun.  Then Mommy got sick too, and things pretty much came to a halt around here!  We were functioning on the bare minimum basically - going to school and work, doing essential laundry, minimal cooking.  But I don't have to go into details for the moms out there...you get it, right?!

 

So I will do my best to get you caught up on our classroom happenings from last week, but not in this post.  Those will come over the next few days.  Today's post is all about The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss and opposites.

 

Now, usually during Centers, we have the easel open.  On Monday, however, we decided to do something a little different.  Special.  We did the exact opposite of painting with our hands -  we painted with our feet!  What better way for the kiddos to get the "feel" of opposites?!

Oh I wish you could've heard the squeals of delight when the kids painted with their tootsies!  It was absolutely AWESOME!  And I will be honest - I didn't think some of the kids would do it.  We always encourage, but never force our children to participate in an activity.  If they really don't want to do it, we don't make them.  So when I told them what we were going to do, I did hear a few kids say "I'm not doing that!", but when it was their turn, they happily stripped off their socks and shoes and dipped their little piggies into pink and blue paint!  I heard lots of expressions like:

"It's cold!"

"It feels squishy!"

"It's wet!"

(and my favorite)

"Can we do that again?"

 

We also played an opposites matching game.  This one was challenging!  Before we even started, we named each of the pictures, so that the kids knew what they were looking at.  Some opposite pairs were up/down, happy/sad, old/young, hard/soft.  Once they got the hang of it, they quickly matched up the opposites.  This is a good skill to work on at home, because opposites are difficult for some children.  If you'd like to print out your own free copy of this game, you can find it at Over the Moonbow.

During Circle, we read:

 

We also played an opposites game with our feet.  I would call out something like "down feet", and the kids would do the opposite - put their feet up in the air. 

 

We introduced the letter Uu, and practiced counting by 10's to 100 by singing our "100 Days" song.  Ask your kiddo to sing it for you!

 

After snack, we read the very first book that Dr. Seuss wrote:

 

If you haven't read this one, you're missing out!  It's one of my favorites, and I think you will love it.  Check it out at the public library, or ask your kiddo to borrow it from our school collection! 

 

Much more Seusstastic fun is on the way - our March calendar is packed with Seussical fun!  Stay tuned!



Ss is for Salt

I know, at this point, that you know how much I love to do sensory activities with the kids.  I feel like using a sensory tool wakes up their senses, especially those of touch and smell, which ultimately makes the experience more meaningful to them.

 

We decided to use salt for our letter Ss activity.  The kids really got into this!  They loved how the salt felt and sounded "scratchy", and that you could shake the tray to "erase" when you were finished writing.

 

 

As the children practiced writing Ss, we talked about the /s/ sound and several words that begin with Ss.  We also put our hands together and made a slithering motion, like a snake.

 

Keep in mind that as we study a letter each week, we don't just do one activity at the end as a wrap-up.  We talk about the letter all week long, point it out in different places, find words that begin with the letter and so on.  The kiddos can practice the letter at home just as easily.  You don't need any special craft supplies to point out Ss in a book or magazine, or to find Ss on a Stop Sign!

 

For more letter Ss activities, please visit:

KidZone

First-School

Easy Fun School

 

Hope you have a Super Saturday and a Spectacular Sunday!



Rr is for Red Hots and Raisins

Hey guys!  I was juuuuuuust about to post our letter Ss activity, when I realized that I never posted for letter Rr.  Ack!  So sorry!  I know you totally look forward to all of our letter postings, so without further ado, here it is:

 

Rr is for Red Hots and Raisins

 

I always have the kids trace the uppercase and lowercase Rr with their finger first.  This is not only so they can learn how it "feels", but also the correct way of its formation.  I see a lot of kids at this age forming letters from bottom to top, and sometimes even sideways.  If your kid is doing this, don't worry or panic!  It's completely normal.  They are simply getting the hang of using a writing utensil to make the letters.  Forming them correctly will come with time and practice.

 

After we trace, I ask the children to make the /r/ sound and to think of an Rr word.  Most of the time, they can give me a word pretty quickly, but if not, I simply ask, "Do you see anything on the table that might start with the /r/ sound?"

 

Next, they used raisins and red hots to "trace" the Rr.  I also slipped in some math, and had them to use an AB pattern with our Rr foods.  Math and literacy activity at the same time?  Score!

 

For more Rr activities, please visit the following websites:

 

Preschool Express

DLTK-Teach

No Time for Flash Cards

 

And in case you were wondering - not one single kid wanted to try a Red Hot!  One child exclaimed, "Nooooo!  It will burn my mouth!!"  No worries, Little Guy.  No Red Hots for you!



Let Me Introduce You to...George Washington

We had some presidential fun on Wednesday learning about our country's first president, George Washington.  I was happy to know that several of our kids already knew who he was when I pulled out our big poster.  Way to go, little history buffs!

 

During Circle, we talked about how important George Washington is to our country, pointed out Washington D.C. on our map, and showed Washington on the quarter and one-dollar bill.

 

In math, we used red, white and blue unifix blocks (I love these things!) to create a simple flag pattern.  We used a blank flag found at Coloring Castle, and the kids had to place blue blocks (with star stickers) on top of the stars, as well as connect lines of red and white blocks for the stripes.  This activity also reinforces colors and fine motor development.

 

For art, we made two projects.  The first was a George Washington mask, like this one:

I cut out the middle of a paper plate, and the kids glued cotton to the top to represent Washington's white hair (which we also learned was a wig!).  Then we talked about how the men wore ruffly shirts at that time, and we used doilies for that purpose.  I taped on a craft stick, and they held it up to their faces, so they could be President Washington!  (Of course I had to take their pictures, but for the privacy of our students and families, I will not be posting them here.  They did come out super cute though!)  I originally found this idea in The Mailbox magazine several years ago.

 

Our second project was a tri-corner hat, like Washington wore.  I decided that our hats would be red, because we needed some color, complete with patriotic stickers.  This craft was easy peasy!

 

Cut 3 strips of red (or blue or white) construction paper.  Ours were about 3.5" x 12".  Give your kids some flag, eagle, dollar bill or other patriotic stickers, and let them go to town!



 

Next, staple the ends of the strips, as shown, forming a triangle.

 

Finally, pop it on your kiddo's head, and sing!

My hat, it has 3 corners.

3 corners, has my hat.

And had it not 3 corners,

it would not be my hat!

 

We read a presidential emergent reader about George Washington from Kindergarten Smorgasboard, and looked at pictures from:

Since we had an ice day today (aka no school), we will study Abraham Lincoln on Monday.  Keep your fingers crossed for good weather!  Stay safe out there, and have a great weekend!

Our Class Valentine Party...

...was a smash!  The children loved playing different kinds of games (and didn't even realize they might be learning something!), and enjoyed a red-licious snack!

 

We read the book:

 

and the emergent reader Valentine, Valentine, What Do You See? which can be found over at Kindergarten Smorgasboard.  It is a gem!  Go over and check it out!

 

At the math center, the kids played a number match game with heart boxes...

...and compared weights of sweetheart candies.

At the round table, we had a valentine pom pom transfer game, where they picked up a pom with tweezers and transferred it to the lid (which was turned over.  I wanted  you to see the pretty side for the pic.).

Also at the round table, we had two more sweetheart activities: a graph and a color sort.

 

At the sensory table, we had large sweetheart candies that I asked the kids to stack.  I originally wanted them to see how high they could stack the hearts, but one little guy decided to make multiple stacks. I love how these kids are such creative thinkers!  They are at an age where thinking outside the box is normal, because they don't know any different.  I wish we, as adults, could do the same!

 

For snack, I didn't get any pictures, because we were sooooooooo busy.  We made fruit punch slushies with the blender (ice + Hawaiian Punch), which the kids ADORED.  Who knew?!  Two simple ingredients that you probably have at home can make you a superstar to your child!  (The children know that ONLY a grown-up is allowed to operate the blender.)  We also had heart-shaped cakes and chips.

 

One last thing - we also had a heart estimation jar at the math table.  The kids were supposed to guess how many hearts were in the jar without opening it up to count them.  They wrote their answer on a piece of paper, and at the end, I gave out a treasure box toy to the one that was closest.

 

How many do you think are in there?

 

We had two kids that guessed the closest amount - 12.  There were actually 30 glittery hearts in the jar!  We will do more activities like this using estimation.

 

I hope you all had a love-filled Valentine's Day!



Be My Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Yesterday, we continued our theme of all things love with more valentine fun.

 

The children played a challenging game of Match the Sweethearts, where they had to pair up a small heart and a big heart.  The trick was that they weren't matching colors - they were matching words.  They did a great job and paid very close attention to the spelling of each word.

 

At the same center, they played a similar game, except this time, the words appeared on valentine plates.  One child said, "This is making me hungry!"  I love the things they come up with!!

 

In Circle, we reviewed the letter Ss (ask your child to use his/her hands to slither like a snake), and read the books:

 

         

 

Miss D found an adorable new toy for the kids by Melissa and Doug - a wooden birthday cake set!  It has candles, a server and decorations for the cake.  This was a big hit, and one group of kids even sang "Happy Birthday" when they were at this center.  Too cute!

 

Other center's of the day included:

• tracing wavy and boxy valentine lines
• sandbox
• playdough hearts
• easel

 I wanted to also show you these heart pins that I made for the kids in the 3 & 4 year old class.  One little boy noticed that Miss D was wearing a crocheted heart pin, and asked why he didn't have one.  (Aww!)  I just couldn't resist, and had to craft some up for them to wear too!  These pins were inspired by a post from Make and Takes. 

For the pin above, I used a safety pin to attach it to my shirt, but for the children, I used paper clips.  I'm always worried that I'll accidentally stick them with a safety pin, and besides that, we didn't have enough to go around.  The paper clips worked out just fine!

 I hope you all have a lovely Valentine's Day/Evening, enjoying the ones that you love the most!