The Father's Day Feely Box

Fathers Day is quickly approaching and to get prepared I wanted to create a feely box. What's a feely box you say? A feely box in a sensory box with objects inside that may or may not relate to a theme. 

The Purpose:
The purpose of the feely box is promote critical thinking, sensory and vocabulary skills while having fun.

How to create:
Find a box. I like to cut a hole on the top or on the side of the box, so my students can't see what's inside.
Grab items related to your theme to go in your box.

How to play:
Have a child feel inside the feely box. Ask them to grab an item in their hand. What does if feel like? Your class may ask questions too. "Is it squishy?" "Is it sticky"? Once the child guesses what's in their hand, they can pull it out for the big reveal! Was it what they thought it was? Why'd they think it was something else?

When to play: 
I usually introduce the feely box in Circle Time. This gives me an opportunity to model the correct way to use the feely box. After Circle Time the feely box can be placed near the Dramatic Play area, Science or it can certainly stand alone.

Items to place in your Fathers Day Feely Box:
Comb                             
Shaving Cream                   
Keys    
Toothbrush                     
Deodorant                           
Wallet
Brush                            
Belt                                     
Watch            
Cologne                        
Remote Control   
Tie                                 
Wallet                                         
Golf Ball                       
Cell Phone                                                                                  

Memorial Day Craft Hat

To create these Memorial Day hats all you need is various collage materials. I used scraps of paper, yarn, stickers, ribbon and sequins. 

First, I created bands with construction paper. 

Then, I placed random items on the table to choose from. 

Last, I used the child's head to measure. 

For more Memorial Day activities, check out my Memorial Day Pinterest board here. 

          

Memorial Day Math

For the Math Center I created these simple pattern strips. I cut out more than enough pieces just in case we lost any. These aren't laminated but I plan on laminating them to keep them sturdy and lasting a long time.

For more Memorial Day ideas, visit my Pinterest Board here. 

Memorial Day Pom-Pom Toss

I made these patriotic pom-poms a year ago for my Girl Scout Troop to wear during the Veterans Day Parade.
The girls wore them in their hair and on their shoes.

When I pulled out my patriotic box I wondered how I could reuse these. I came up with the perfect little game. It's called the Memorial Day Pom-Pom Toss. I'll arrange these little dollar buckets in the center of the floor and place two pieces of tape a good distance from the bucket. The kids will take turns tossing the pom poms in the bucket.

A great way to have fun, celebrate the holiday and promote gross motor skills. 

Hooray for the holiday, 

To make cheering pom-poms for the Memorial Day parade see my pinterest page here.

  

Celebrating Memorial Day in the Block Center

There's always this great teacher who covers her blocks, or add numbers and shapes on them. Not me, I'm always "thinking", that's a great idea; I'll have to do that sometime. I rarely have time cover our blocks for the Block Center. But, this year I decided I wouldn't plan on covering blocks, I'll reuse boxes instead. I collected a few random food boxes. I taped them shut and covered them with patriotic colors.

These are smaller boxes that can be covered with construction paper.  

The final result was really cute boxes that will be a great addition to my Block Center. 

Find this activity and more from my friends on

 

Memorial Day and Dramatic Play

It has been months since I've been able to sit down and write a post for my blog. Just last year we moved into a new home and then my Mom fell ill. I've been out of the classroom and thankfully no Center and Circle Time events scheduled. I prepared myself to jump back in when I was a little more stable. Memorial Day is right around the corner and I thought it was the perfect time to get back in the swing of things.

This week I'll be working on Preschool Activities for Memorial Day. Whenever I start a new lesson one of the places I like to start is in my Dramatic Play area because it is one of the busiest centers. Here are a few items to put in your Dramatic Play area for Memorial Day.

Patriotic Center:
Flags
Red, white and blue beads
Red, white and blue bandanas
Plastic Patriotic cups, plates, etc
Picnic Basket

Barbecue Center:
Create a play grill using a card board box
Plastic Barbecue utensils: Spatula, Tongues, etc.
Play Food
Play Dishes
Apron
Chef Hat

You could also do a picnic theme, or a beach theme to celebrate the holiday as well.
Send me pictures of how you transformed your Dramatic Play area for Memorial Day and I'll add them to this post.

Preschool Thanksgiving Hats and Head Pieces

It's almost Thanksgiving! In this unit we learned about the Pilgrims and the Native Americans. 

We talked about the clothes they wear, the food they prepared and how they lived. 

We planned our own Thanksgiving  feast and enlisted the help of another teacher to pull it all off. 

We created some hats and headpieces to wear for our Thanksgiving feast. 

Here a some of our creations. 

The Native American girls used crayons and markers to decorate their head piece. 

They chose feathers to tape in place and finish the look. 

The boys did similar head pieces using more feathers. 

 The Pilgrim boys used black, white and yellow construction paper to make their hats. 

We measured the bands around their head. 

Then, the students glued the front of the hat to the band. 

The Pilgrim girl hat was a little more tricky and required more adult help. 

We used butcher paper to fold in place and added string to secure along the bottom. 

What a great addition to our Thanksgiving unit! 

Feel free to link your Thanksgiving ideas below.  

The Class Tepee

Tepee:
noun: tent of the American Indians, made usually from animal skins 
laid on a conical frame of long poles, having an 
opening at the top for ventilation and a flap door.

Last year one of my pretty handy dads built a tepee for our class. During our Thanksgiving unit we talked all about what it must have been like to live in a place with no running water, no bathrooms and no TV to watch. The tepee was considered a classroom center. 

The kids were allowed to take books and toys inside when was their turn.

 

Click here to view these pictures larger

Preschool Native American Vests

It's always a great idea to get acquainted with the neighborhood grocery store. One of my favorite places is my local Winn Dixie Supermarket. I make regular visits and the manager is never surprised when I ask for classroom help. I went in and asked for brown grocery bags for each of my students to create indian vests for our Thanksgiving Feast. As usual, they were more than happy to help. 

Here's what we did. I carefully opened each bag from the top and along the side seam. I opened them up and laid them flat. Then, I turned the Winn-Dixie logo on the inside. 

I made a u-shape for the neck and openings for the arms. My assistant taped each shoulder strap, and wrote the child's name on the inside. We made little slits along the bottom to create a fringe look. 

 The children chose 2 different colors to make handprints on their vests. 

While some students created handprints others were busy with markers and crayons decorating. 

We decided to take some early photos of the finished product since I'd be too busy to remember the day of the feast. 

We're "thankful" for our local Winn-Dixie for supporting our class and Early Childhood Education. 

Preschool ways to appreciate Veterans Day!

My 3rd grader woke up this morning and dressed in her Fourth of July flag t-shirt and blue jeans. I thoughtfully tied red, white and blue ribbons in her hair. She asked her sisters who they were thanking this Veterans Day. She told us she was thanking her school janitor who fought for our country. Veterans Day is not just reserved for school-age children, preschoolers can appreciate Veterans in their own small ways. 

Here's a few cute ideas to show your appreciation today. 

Create thank you pails. Allow the kids, teachers and administrators to write notes on strips of construction paper. Put the notes in the pail and tell your favorite veterans how much you appreciate them. 

Use stickers to decorate cards, posters and murals saying 

"Thank You" veterans!

Decorate your classroom for parents that are veterans. Prepare a special veteran cookie bag just for them. Remember to take pictures of the class and the child for a special keepsake.  

My class did this for the Fourth of July but it looks awesome for veterans. Use streamers to decorate your fence. Hang a sign that says "We appreciate You".

Here's a completed flag on our outside play area. 

We also used this same streamer for the Fourth of July, it's still appropriate to create a letter 

"T" for "Thanks". 

A Patriotic "Thank You" hat to wear home. 

Use red, white and blue craft items to create a unique collage gift. 

 Hope you encourage your preschoolers to say
Happy Veterans Day,

Preschool Keepsakes

Throughout the year I love creating keepsakes for my parents. It can be a card, a photo, or a Thanksgiving placemat. My favorite keepsakes are handprints and footprints. Two years ago, when my daughter was in Kindergarten her teacher created the cutest calendar keepsake using the students handprints. Luckily, I happened to be in the classroom volunteering one day and got to help create the handprint for that month. Take a look at how cute these are.

Mrs. Kovarik created a complete set of pages for the cover and each month of the year. They were reproduced so each child would have their own copy.  I covered my daughters name with a sticky note. But each child's name is on the front of their book. The children choose the handprint colors they wanted on the outside of the book and Mrs. Kovarik choose the colors for each month.

Here's the handprints for February Heart and the March Leprechaun.

To save time and money she only laminated

the front and back pages of the book. 

Here's the handprints for the June Tulip and the August sun.

The tulip is only the palm of the hand. 

I'm looking forward to sharing this keepsake 

with my daughter when she's all grown up!

A special thanks to Mrs. Kovarik for all of her hard work 

and making it a memorable first year for my baby girl:)