Preschool Camping

"A camping we will go, a camping we will go. Hi ho the cherry-o, a camping we will go". Last week our theme was camping. On Friday, we strapped on our backpacks and paraded around the center on a nature hike. We found an orange tree, beautiful leaves for rubbings, pine cones, twigs, and logs for our indoor campfire. Since it was so hot outside it didn't take long for them get tired and long for the comfort of our classroom and a cool drink.

  

 








Once we settled in, we discussed the dangers of being outside, the sun, bug bites, scrapes, etc. I passed out plastic baggies, gloves, band-aids and alcohol pads for the kids to create their own first aid kit. While they worked at getting the items in the bag and securing it closed (great fine motor skill activity). I printed labels to place on their bags. I taped each label on with clear box tape.

 
















After lunch, we sat around our campfire to sing songs and listen to a spooky story. We ended the afternoon with smores of course!



Happy Trails,

Preschool Art Activity: Sandy Hands

While browsing Michael's for my beach theme I picked up these cute cards that were blank inside. Of course I had no idea what I might do with them, but since they were a dollar I couldn't very well pass them up. At the end of our lesson I took a photo of each child in our housekeeping area. One of my parents loaned us a huge colorful beach umbrella that served as a great back drop for the photos.

Each child make a handprint on the left side of the card. Then, we sprinkled colored sand on the wet hand print and placed their picture on the right side. It turned out to be one "cool" summer keepsake to send home.

Preschool Snack: Cream cheese water and goldfish

It's no secret, I'm fond of goldfish. They're small, colorful and yummy. When I was planning our beach theme I wanted to incorporate my little fishy friends. Here's how we did it.

I placed a spoon full of cream cheese in each child's bowl. I added a couple of drops of blue food coloring in each bowl and allowed them to stir. They loved watching the cream cheese turn blue exactly like our milkshakes the week before. I came back around and placed goldfish in their bowls of "water".

Some of the students ate the goldfish one at a time by using a single fish to scoop the cream cheese water, and others used the spoon to scoop the fish and water at the same time, before gobbling them up.

The recipe was inexpensive, quick and easy to clean up. My kinda recipe!

B for Boundaries?

In every classroom, there is one student who leads the class. This is the child who keeps every one else in check. He could run your circle time without you. She always tattles when the kids are out of line. Yes, they're the ones who set the standard for everyone else in the class. Usually, it's no big deal. Normally, I shrug him off and tell him "it's okay, go and play." But this day his list of demands were just too overwhelming. Honestly, here's him early that morning before class even started.

"The job chart fell off the wall."
"Oh no, the color yellow fell off too!"
"I don't hear any music."
"Can you play Boom-Boom Pow?"
"You didn't write my "f" word on the board."
"They're running."
"Look at me, I'm having a party."

Yes, my friends this was in less than an hour! I finally said, "Will you please, stop?" "I'm working as fast as I can, I'd like you to play and not call on me for the next few minutes so I can finish setting up our centers." He sort of cocked his head and stared at me blankly. I turned and worked while he played quietly for the next few minutes.

There is nothing wrong with setting boundaries of your own that your students may not cross. When you set boundaries for them and yourself it certainly keeps the peace. Lesson for today...Gimme a "B" for boundaries!

Patriotic Hats in Preschool

I think hats are like shoes, you can never have too many. I found this neat little template from a book and blew it up to fit a standard piece of paper. To keep the children from super-soaking them with paint, I handed out really small tipped brushes this morning. It was hard for them to over-do it even with the tried. Since there was so little paint, it cut down on the drying time allowing us to wear them by noon! Whoo Hoo!

Preschool Activity: "F" is for Fireworks

I'm a big advocate for using and re-using what you already have. In my Valentines theme box, I had red streamers left. From our Father's Day theme we had blue streamer left. We tore off pieces of the streamers and pinched them into little balls. The children took turns squeezing glue onto the large letters and pressing down their balls. This activity reinforced the letter "Ff" we were working on, and gave them and opportunity to work on their fine motor skills. You'll see these several times throughout my themes as I find it's one good way to evaluate which of my children still need more fine motor skill activities.

See a snapshot of some pieces below. Which ones would you say could use more fine motor skill activities?