Bunnies and Carrots

We had a great time learning about bunnies on Monday!  In Circle, we read a Scholastic reader called Hello, Bunny!, in which we learned that a baby bunny is called a kitten.  Who knew?!

 

Our centers included:

- art: listening/following directions bunny & carrot activity

- writing names on chalk clipboards

- bunny games: mini bowling, barrel of bunnies, real-life bunny picture puzzle

 

At the math center, the kids were given bunny picks (used for cupcakes, found at Wal-Mart).  They were asked to put the bunnies in the playdough grass in order, 1-12.

 

We also introduced new sensory tubs with cloud dough.  Have you heard of this?  It's really cool, and very easy to make!  I found the recipe at Inner Child Fun, and there are a bunch of other ones out there.  This stuff is super soft and it just feels nice to squish it in your hands!

 

At the end of class, we read:

This is the first in a series of three books by Mo Willems, and it is great!  Not only is it a cute story, but the pictures and art are very cool - drawings are integrated with real-life photos.  If you have a chance, check this series out at the library!

 

Tomorrow, the kids will be introduced to another new sensory bin in the block room - the butterfly garden.

 

This tub includes:

- birdseed as its base

- mini purple daisies (artificial)

- pink and yellow butterflies

- artificial leaves

- two plastic potted flowers

- wooden spoons and plastic bowls

 

 

I can't wait for them to try this out!  I think they're going to like it.  It was hard enough for me to keep my own hands out of it!  See you tomorrow!



Easter Egg Hunt

Are you having a super fun Spring Break?!

We decided to stay in town, get some things repaired (joy!), and just do fun things in the city.  We're having fun, except we can't stray too far from home - we have a couple of sick boys here!  Whatever you decided to do, I hope you're having a fun {and healthy} time!

 

On Wednesday before Spring Break, our pre-k'ers had an Easter celebration.  In Circle, we read:

(Because of the snow day on Monday and no school due to Good Friday, we did not start a new Letter of the Week.)

 

We decorated our little Charlie Brown tree with glittery Easter egg ornaments.  It was hard for the kids to push the ribbon onto the branches, but we had two very patient big kid helpers to assist them!

In Centers, we...

- painted with foam brushes

- sculpted with playdough

- decorated our Easter bags with stamps and stickers, then stuffed them with green, shredded paper

- played the Bunny and Egg ABC file folder game

- played in the sandbox and housekeeping

 

We also worked in pairs to match up patterned plastic eggs.

 

What holiday would it be in our class if we didn't somehow incorporate a science experiment?!  For this one, we used marshmallow Peeps.  As you can see in the picture, the one on the left is what we started with - a normal-sized, pink Peep.  We placed it in the microwave for 10 seconds, and repeated this 3 or 4 times.  It's hard to tell, but on the right, our Peep grew!  The heat expanded the marshmallow to 2 or 3 times its original size.  The kids LOVED this experiment, and our big kid helpers pretty much conducted the whole thing!

 

Toward the end of class, we had our egg hunt.  Since the grass outside was still wet, we decided to just have it in the Block Room, and I think the kids were fine with that.  (As long as they got some eggs, I don't think it mattered where their hunt was located!)

 

We also read an adorable story, complete with tiny animal figures hidden inside its thick, board book style pages:

 

I hope you all had a joyous Easter, filled with happy family celebrations!  We went to church, and then back home for a quiet family brunch.  We played a game of hot/cold with the kids, to find their Easter baskets.  The Easter bunny is running out of good places to hide their baskets at our house!  He may have to use a litte more creativity next year...

 

Enjoy the rest of your Spring Break!  See you on Monday!

10 {Snowy} Day Activities Round-Up

Ok, first of all, is this crazy weather, or what?!  Here we are at the end of March, and we've gotten about 5 inches of snow, with more falling as I type.  Last year at this time, we were experiencing 80 degree temperatures, and enjoying the beginning of a no-jacket, warmer-than-usual spring.  This is complete madness, I tell you!

 

Whew.  Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I'd like to share some fun, inside activities that you can do with your kid using materials you probably already have at home.  (Because we don't need to make a special trip to get craft supplies in this mess!)

 

Today (Monday) is a snow day for our class, and your kiddo will probably want to play in the snow a little bit.  So you'll indulge, then warm them up with hot chocolate, a snuggly blanket and some tv.  You might play Barbies or Legos and watch a movie, but then what?!  At my house, my daughter isn't satisfied with tv.  She'd rather be doing something hands-on.  Are your kiddos like that?

 

Here are some fun things to do while it's freezing outside!

 

At breakfast or lunch, give your kid some magic milk!  No, this isn't just for St. Patrick's Day.  You could use your child's favorite color or something with a springtime feel - yellow or orange, maybe?  Details on this super-easy, yet super-exciting trick are over at Feels Like Home.

 

Hop over to Make and Takes for an adorable bunny craft made out of plastic Easter eggs.  So cute!

 

Make an Easter card or two (or three!) for out-of-town relatives, neighbors or friends.  Inner Child Fun shares the details for this quick and easy craft.  No inkpads?  No problem!  Washable markers work just as well when "painted" on little fingers!

 

Kids Activities Blog shows how to make this festive pencil-stamped Easter egg.  Again, I think markers would work for this just as well as an inkpad.

 

Got some of those marshmallowy peeps hangin' around your house?  Do some easy science experiments with them!  Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas gives the deets on this activity, as well as a few experiments with eggs.

 

Make these adorable bunny ears with your kid using construction paper, glue, scissors and a stapler or tape.  This and other sweet Easter activities, crafts and printables are over at Kaboose.

 

Isn't this little bunny family too cute?!  I think this would be a good one for my own family to try at home!  I love it!  Head over to iVillage to check it out!

 

DLTK supplies a printable template and instructions for how to make this "egg-cellent" wreath, just in time for Easter!

 

Practice letter recognition with this idea from No Time for Flash Cards.  If you don't have letter magnets, just write letters on a piece of paper, cut them apart, and stuff them into the eggs!

 

Oh. my. goodness.  You have got to go over to Creativity in Progress to find out how she made plastic Easter eggs into these darling little tea cups!  And seriously - what child, boy or girl, doesn't like a tea party?!  Craft up a few of these, grab a blanket and some stuffies, and have a seat on the floor for some some good ol' pretend play with your little one!

 

If you still need more ideas for keeping your kid occupied, because let's face it, we may be inside for a couple days, check out Inner Child Fun's 50 Ways to Keep Kids Entertained During a Blizzard.

 

Whatever you decide to do today, have fun, giggle a lot, and enjoy this day with your child.  Hug them, kiss them, and make sure they know just how special they are to you!

 

See you soon!



Green Eggs and Ham

We continued on with Dr. Seuss month and one of his most famous books:

The kids adore this book!  They love the sing-song rhymes, and they helped to say each set as we read along.

 

"Do you like green eggs and ham?

I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

I do not like green eggs and ham."

 

For art, we made a plate of pretend green eggs and ham.  We used white foam and a green pom pom for the egg, and green foam and a white page reinforcer for the ham.  The kids added a "Green Eggs and Ham" sticker wherever they wanted on their plate.  Yum!

 

At the math center, we gave the kids a basket of green eggs, numbered 1-10, in random order.  Their job was to open the egg, then add the corresponding number of yellow poms, and close up the egg.  After all of the eggs had their yolks back in, the kiddos had to place the eggs in numerical order, 1-10 in the carton.  This was definitely a fun math game for them!

 

By far, the highlight of the day was actually cooking green eggs and ham!  Each child got to help crack open two eggs.  Then we whisked them together, and added green food coloring (about 20 drops).  We added a few pats of butter (in honor of our previous assistant-extraordinaire, Ms. Threasa) into the skillet, and began scrambling the eggs, adding in the diced ham after a few minutes.  I'm excited to say that all 7 kids that were present had 3 helpings of green eggs and ham!  I think they kind of liked it!!

"I do!  I like them, Sam-I-am!"

 

Other activities of the day included:

• skywriting, sounding and signing letter Ww; see our Ww activity here.
• March sensory tubs and easel "paintings" with dot markers
• housekeeping center
• out-of-the-blue conversation at Circle about what they want to be when they grow up - we heard kids say things like teacher, hair-cutter, doctor, mommy, and cleaner



At the end of class, we read another Dr. Seuss book:

 

"Think left and think right and think low and think high.

Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!"

Ww is for Water

What kid doesn't like playing in water?!

 

Our letter Ww activity proved to be one of the most-liked activities so far.  I gave the kids a tub of water with white upper and lowercase Ww's.  They had to catch the Ww's with a white spoon and measuring cup, and place them in a bowl.

 

Once they finished catching the Ww's, they got to play in the water.  Fun!

 

We also practiced skywriting Ww, sounding and signing it, and thinking of words that begin with the /w/ sound.  We heard lots of words like:

walrus, water, wind, and wagon.

 

For more fun Ww activities to do with your child, please visit:

No Time for Flash Cards

DLTK Teach

Enchanted Mommy

 

Have fun with your little wiggle worm!



Welcome, Spring!

Well...sort of!  A year ago, we were experiencing 80 degree weather, but not so much on the first day of Spring this year.  I think the high was something like 30 yesterday, and the wind made it feel even colder.

 

Even so, we still celebrated the first day of Spring in our class.  We read the books:

 

At the math center, we played a Spring roll and cover game from Mrs. Jones's Kindergarten.  This game reinforces number recognition 1-12.

 

At the literacy center, we played a Bunny and Egg Alphabet Match file folder game.  The kids worked with a partner and, one at a time, reached into the box and pulled out a lowercase letter.  They had to match the lowercase to its uppercase partner on the board.  This was challenging!

The kids also worked on the Spring Showers pages of this seek and find book:

 

Here is the Spring portion.  I'd take rain over cold temps any day!

 

Come on, warm weather!!



Vv is for Valentines

We completed our letter of the week activity for Vv on Monday.  The children used valentines to form a letter V.

 

It's hard to tell from the picture,  but the Vv on the green cardstock is actually made of pipe cleaners.  The kids traced the letter Vv with their fingers, getting a good "feel" of how this letter looks and is formed.

 

For each letter we study, we always ask the kiddos to show us Vv in sign language, as well as to make the /v/ sound.  They are also usually able to give us a word or two that begins with Vv.  We talked about words like:

violin, valentines, vulture and vanilla.

 

Again, this is a tough letter in terms of a preschooler's vocabulary.  Try to think of a few more words with the beginning /v/ sound, show your child a picture, or vividly describe what the word is.  This activity will definitely increase your child's vocabulary!

 

For more fun activities with the letter Vv, check out:

Preschool Express

Kiboomu Kids Crafts

Confessions of a Homeschooler

 

Have a very fun time practicing the letter Vv!