s is for snip
snip
snip
snip
snip
cut that apple. cut that banana. cut that pear. cut those grapes.
we snipped paper over a table-sized piece of clear contact paper. i make the “fruit” pieces small enough that one full snip should cut off a piece of paper (does that make sense?). during this project, if a child was successful in cutting, i did not correct scissor holding.
then we covered the snips of “fruit” with another piece of contact paper, cut them apart and sent them home.
fruit salad. yummy, yummy.
w is for wish
i wish i could do this tomorrow.
and my favorite part: when asked what the children will do with those things, he says: i don’t know.
![[IMG_0435.JPG]](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_A9GusUZeeIA/SuBZmKScSHI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/VvAqLy-8rZs/s1600/IMG_0435.JPG)
awesome. thank you, teacher tom.
h is for happy halloween
may it be happy and sweet and not a bit scary
(though i did scare a friend at school today. he only came to circle time when i took off my wig. sweetheart!)
r is for roll
there were some friends wanting a ramp for cars one day. we taped a piece of posterboard to a low stool.
we kept it for our rolling puzzle pieces.
p is for playground
our playground is complete enough to meet state standards! but the grass will wear down quickly so we are having ground cover installed (after some farm work is complete and the farm trucks are free). there are clusters of church friends who have energy and ideas to make this happen. i am so grateful.
these play structures are not meant to be moved and reinstalled.
it was a lot of work.
but many smiles have been had already.
here we are thanking mr. kevin in person. : )
we’re eager to enjoy hanging out in the space all year long.
f is for fire safety
every month we practice getting out of the building by pretending there is a fire in the classroom.
during f week, we also talked a bit about the work firefighters do, having a special meeting place, etc.
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fire drawing is so satisfying! there are different techniques used (one crayon at a time or all three at once) and i wait for the first person to ask for or go get the color blue.
we had fire in our journals and a house that really needed the help of fire fighters.
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a little fire fighter poem that ms carol helped color in (look at you work, ms carol!)
five little firefighters sleeping in a row
the first one said, i think it’s time to go
the second one said, that’s the bell i hear
the third one said, there’s nothing to fear
the fourth one said, we are on our way
the fifth one said, we’ll save the day (verse changed by the class)
oooooooooooooooooooeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooo went the siren
quick went their feet
we’ll go find find the family at their place to meet!
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inspired by our poem, we played a big body game indoors. while the firefighters slept, i put a cluster of “fire”-three feathers (red, orange, yellow)-somewhere in the room.
when the bell rang (“ding, ding, ding”), the firefighters got up and HURRIED to find the fire.
the feathers were small so it took a while. once the fire was found, hoses were sprayed.
they were tired firefighters again, so back to bed they went.
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we read about that silly monkey, george, who gets himself into some trouble at the fire station.
but then, oh joy, he helps save the puppy.
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we’ll keep our firefighter props out until the interest fades. until then, i expect sirens and quick feet to be heard.
p is for paper bag pumpkin
first stuff a paper bag (we used “large” lunch sacks)
then twist and scrunch the top shut
then paint it all orange with washable paint
then go wash your hands (and then wash the bathroom and the floor)
then let dry (unless you find some green streamers and add vines to each one during clean up time:)
then use duct tape to make a sturdy stem
then play with the pumpkins and wait to add black and yellow shapes for faces later this week
e is for exercise flags
(or penants or bunting…i wasn’t sure what to call them for the kiddos).
we made some with duct tape and triangle paper.
the children could make any pattern, make them as long as they liked.
we read the colors, counted the flags, added upper and lower case E letters, and lined them up to see how far they would reach.
c is for cross
cross your arms, cross your legs, cross your hands, cross your eyes…
we tried it all during exercise week!
e is for exercise
show and tell for these days was “some kind of BIG BODY toy.”
even though it was cold and drizzly both days (only 2 days of school this week), we went outside for show and tell time.
we had a chance to see how we use certain things to exercise with. and then, of course, used our bodies alone to get a good work out!
i’m almost embarrassed to admit i had some sore muscles the next day. lame.
e is for exercise poem
a little made up poem for the week:
I MOVE MY ARMS
I MOVE MY LEGS
I EVEN MOVE MY EYES
I MOVE MY HANDS
I MOVE MY HEAD
IT’S HOW I EXERCISE!
p is for (giant) pumpkin
it was a last minute idea to suspend a huge paper/masking tape ball from the ceiling for the children to paint.
it takes different coordination to paint something that moves.
yes, it has been used in a pinata like fashion.
yes, there have been conversations about keeping it as still as possible.
once it’s all orange, we’ll add a green vine.
o is for obstacle course
for “exercise week” we had an indoor obstacle course set up.
i am glad to announce there were no injuries!
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i want to remember to do this during the winter months when extended outside time is limited.
w is for waiting
when we have to wait (which i try HARD to avoid), i’ll invite the children to copy me.
sometimes it’s too strange to do more than stare or laugh, though.
thanks, carol, i don’t think i’ve ever seen a photo of this in action…they are so cute!
p is for pumpkin patch (inside)
we usually invite children to bring their own pumpkin to preschool for the few weeks before halloween (we always make sure there are plenty of extras!). we label them with names (and read them), count them, sort them, line them up, act out the 5 Little Pumpkins poem, pretend they are babies, cover them with blankets, load them up in big trucks, etc.
this year we have a friend who brought enough pumpkins and gourds for the whole school! his grandma and grandpa live on an apple farm (with pumpkins and turkeys too!), so he brought enough to share. we’re only disappointed that they live 15 hours away.
thank you, thank you…the pumpkin fun has only begun!
s is for spider
i know this as a song sung by raffi. (look on the right hand side for a “play” button for this song).
a spider starts on the floor…
then that spider goes up legs, stomachs, necks, faces and heads til he jumps off!
funny stuff.
w is for work
“Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.”
Maria Montessori
e is for envelope
we took advantage of “e is for envelope” to bring a mail center to the classroom.
thanks to my thrifty husband, we have hundreds of envelopes that come in junk mail, etc. shame on me for giving him a hard time for saving them.
family corner purses quickly became mail bags, random corners of the classroom quickly became homes that needed mail, and we had envelopes stuck in the oddest places.
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and did you know that 5 envelopes can make a capital E?
tape lets those envelopes stick together.
r is for rubber band boards
technically, these are geoboards. but we call them rubber band boards. they are a well liked activity.
a great opportunity to create in the abstract. this is a rocket ship:
expect to spend a lot of clean up time finding wayward rubber bands (or pieces of them) around the room. that is when i announce “rubber band rescue!”
c is for ceiling
whenever possible, put things on the ceiling.
we’ve put tucked our blue collage and yellow collaged in with the ceiling tiles.
w is for we wish you well
when children arrive at preschool, they find their name tags (which have a magnet on back) and stick it over their photo on our Picture Board (a cookie sheet with photos on it. the photos also have magnets on the back which lets the children rearrange the photos as they like).
when we gather for our first circle time, we take time to notice if there is a photo with no name tag on it. if so, we hide their photo with a paper heart (also with a magnet on back).
then we whisper their name in our hands, clench them tightly together and say, “we wish you well!” while throwing our hands over our heads.
it’s one of my favorite rituals of the day.
w is for web
another year, another web.
this time an elephant came out to play.
our egg carton elephant named ellie.
one elphant went out to play upon a spider’s web one day
she had such ENORMOUS fun that she called for another elephant to come…
two elephants went out to play… (you get the idea!)
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then we had some elephants walk on our own paper spider webs.
p is for paper ball
for great arm muscle work, make a ball (or snow ball or hail ball) out of crumpled paper.
then fore great fine motor work, cut or tear tape to keep the paper ball together.
make as big as children want to.
e is for egg
it was an egg-celent week. we started the days with egg experiments. the first one was finding out how to make the egg white white! yum. my favorite part of preschool experiments is writing down the guesses of what might happen (hypothesis!).
then we did the good old floating egg experiment. (the egg sinks in plain water and floats in salt water)
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the dinosaurs moved out, but the eggs stayed in the rice table. egg cartons were added as an extra sorting tool.
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families brought egg cartons for us to paint. stay tuned to see the finished result!
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there was egg shape drawing, EGG writing, a conversation about the difference between a circle and an oval.
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animal card sorting. knowing birds come from eggs, we sorted by “bird” and “not bird.”
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“egg” week brought the opportunity for us to change our breathing time. instead of pretending we’re blowing up a balloon over our head, we blew up an egg. of course that means we cracked the egg while we exhaled. : )
u is for ukulele
get one.
add a duct tape strap if too many rock start moves are happening, nearly breaking the instrument.
d is for dog house
i brought this travel crate for the days our dog sally visited, then it was cleaned out, door removed and became a family corner prop.
i only wish i had a photo of friday when there were four (4!!!!) boys in it…with pillows and blankets. all barking.
to be in the dog house at preschool is a good thing.
d is for dog bones
“d is for dog” week had many dog bone moments.
first of all, we had an ongoing list of things we know dogs need. dog bones came up more than once.
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this was not my plan.
i have a hard time using food products for art projects. and while dog bones are not people food, we made them inedible for the dogs.
my plan was to sacrifice about 10 of the dog bones for us to make prints using paint. the rest we would share with our dog visitors.
i left the bag of dog bones near the paint table (to show the children the package, etc.). within moments, the bag had been opened up and children were hand painting the bones.
i brought out paint brushes, quit trying to make excuses of why we were painting perfectly good dog bones, and let them enjoy the process.
we glued them to old foam board and sent them home. by the way, if your dog does eat them, the paint is officially non toxic.
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we made our own dog bones one day.
the recipe was very simple (and good enough for people to eat too):
1/2 c corn meal
2/3 c meat broth
6 T oil
2 c whole wheat flour
Mix ingredients well. (we smooshed it by hand)
Roll out to 1/4″ thick. (we each took a clump and flattened it with our hands)
Cut into shapes with cutter. (we shaped them by hand)
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 min. (we overbaked them each day but the dogs still ate them)
Cool on wire rack. (we left them on the pan to cool because we had to hurry to show and tell time)
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some of our snack friends brought dog bones for people to eat!
when we get prepackaged snack items, i like to put the scissors on the table (preferably only a few pair per table so problem solving and sharing comes naturally) so they can open their snack on their own.
d is for dinosaur
dinosaurs found their way into our “recycled rice” table along with sculpey eggs.
i put out several different tongs for picking up the eggs…all to help build those fine motor muscles!
these are definitely the trickiest:
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we used dot stickers and donut stickers (hole reinforcers) on precut dinosaur shapes.
some were to take home, some were added to a group project of a “family of dinosaurs.”
one of those dinosaurs is on roller skates. : )
d is for dog puppet
this is a really “crafty” project, but some children seem to be comforted by the simplicity, the short-ended process of projects like this.
paper bags and precut shapes (eyes, nose, tongue, tail). i didn’t take a picture of the “legs.” one friend wanted legs, so we simply cut a triangle shape out of the bottom of the folded bag….legs!
we used a mirror on the table to notice where our eyes, noses, mouths and ears are. then we looked at dog pictures and saw the similarities.
one little guy made three puppets, each a little different.
