Tag: Preschool

Activities for Groundhog Day

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Every year Groundhog Day sneaks up on me, but this year we are actually doing something to recognize it! I hosted the Sweet Bee’s preschool group today and we had some groundhog themed fun.

After our usual introductory stuff (some free-play time, welcome song, talk about the calendar and the weather) we read Animals in Winter.The book details, briefly, what various animals do to survive the winter: migrate, hibernate, or adapt. I previously found images online of each animal mentioned in the book, and as we read the book we added the animal picture to the appropriate poster. This book was a really great way to bring a little science into our lesson, and the activity as we went along kept the attention of the children.

Then it was time to focus in on the groundhog (aka the woodchuck). The children colored a groundhog and decorated a cave (toilet paper roll) for it to pop out of. Snack time: Edible Groundhogs!I originally found the idea for this groundhog here and I thought it was so cute. I modified the instructions slightly based on the amount of supplies I was willing to purchase (I left out the cookie frosting and just used chocolate pudding to stick it all together). Here is the breakdown:

-chocolate pudding for the body

-vanilla wafer for the head

-edible eyeballs (I found some at Walmart in the cake decorating aisle–the kids thought they were the coolest thing ever!)

-butterscotch chip for the nose (or you could use a chocolate chip)

-mini marshmallow for the teeth

-vanilla wafer broken into pieces for the ears and the front paws

The children were very enthralled with this little edible critter!

To conclude our day we ended with a few songs and a game.

(sung to the tune of 10 Little Indians)
One little, two little, three little groundhogs.
Four little, five little, six little groundhogs.
Seven little, eight little, nine little groundhogs.
Sleeping down under the ground.

(sung to the tune of I’m a Little Teapot)
I’m a little groundhog, furry and brown.
When winter comes, I sleep underground.
I’m curled up, as cozy as can be.
When it’s spring please wake me up!

I brought out my laundry basket and the children took turns laying inside, with a blanket thrown over their heads. I would sing the song and the child would pop up when I said “wake me up!” The kids loved it and wanted multiple turns, so I sang a lot! A simple game, but perfect for the 4-year-olds (and the the almost 2-year-old) in our group.

If I have time tomorrow, I plan to make this footprint groundhog with my children.Image courtesy of The Educator’s Spin On It

Here are the other books we are reading in honor of the furry little groundhog:

Geoffrey Groundhog Predicts the Weather by Bruce Koscielniak

Gregory’s Shadow by Don Freeman

Happy Groundhog Day!

P is for Pilgrim (and books to read in November)

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I was excited to plan and host the Sweet Bee’s weekly preschool group. Last week the theme was turkeys and thankfulness, so today I focused more on the pilgrim side of things. Most of our activities came from this fun tot pack graciously provided by Our Little Monkeys.

I printed and laminated these cards to make a matching game.

Each child put together a puzzle.

The Thanksgiving Tot Pack is full of fun worksheets that take only a minute to do. To save paper, I printed one of each worksheet, and then stuck the worksheet inside a sheet protector. The children then use a dry erase marker to complete the worksheet. Erase the marker with a tissue paper, and then the worksheet can be used over and over again!

We made feather headresses.Look closely at the snack–we had cornucopia’s and apples! The cornucopia’s are Bugle chips, but they do the trick.

A little coloring page to take home.

And because I’ll want to remember this next year, here are some of the books we are reading this month.

The Story of Thanksgiving by Nancy J. Skarmeas

In November by Cynthia Rylant

Arthur’s Thanksgiving by Marc Brown

If you sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 by Ann McGovern

The Very First Thanksgiving Day by Rhonda Gowler Greene

This First Thanksgiving Day: A Counting Story by Laura Krauss Melmed

Thanksgiving on Thursday and Pilgrims: A nonfiction guide by Mary Pope Osborne

 

From A to Z

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From A…

…to Z….

…and all the letters in between!

After 9 months, the Sweet Bee and I have finished our crafty tour of the alphabet. I don’t have individual pictures of each letter, but here is the rundown if you can’t tell from the photo:

alligator A

bumblebee B

caterpillar C

duck D

elephant E

Frog F

green and glittery G

house H

island I

jelly bean J

kite K

ladybug L

mountain M

noodle N

owl O

piano P

queen Q

rabbit R

starry S

train T

umbrella U

vase V

watermelon W

xylophone X

yellow Y

zebra Z

Most of our inspiration for this (almost) weekly letter project came from No Time for Flashcards. This was a great activity that didn’t take a lot of prep work, since we just used supplies we already had on hand.

Hmmmm, what should we do next?!

An index of preschool number activities

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Last fall I wrote about my ambitious plans to have regular “school time” lessons with the Sweet Bee. Our day-to-day lessons haven’t always gone as planned, and they haven’t been every day. Out of necessity, I don’t spend a lot of time preparing for our lessons. But I have realized that the Sweet Bee really loves our school time. With the Ant Bug at school and Baby Boy Z napping, this is her chance for some one-on-one time with mom. Some days we just snuggle up together and read books, or we play a game of Memory or Zingo, or just find a coloring page online to print off and work on. What is important is that we have a few minutes of positive interaction.

That being said, I regularly try to include a good number of counting activities in our school time. I haven’t been able to post all of my lesson plans here as I had hoped to do, but today I am sharing some of our best number activities and games.

Foam Numbers

We use these foam numbers all the time because they give her a chance to “touch and feel” the numbers. I use them to introduce the number of the week, and then we quite often play a simple matching game. Easy to set up, I just wrote the numbers 1-10 on two sheets of paper, then stick them in a sheet protector for durability.

I also use the foam letters and numbers to play a game we call Whack It. The items (in this case letters and numbers) are scattered on the floor, and the child is given some kind of whacking tool (we use a feather duster). I call out one of the names, like “A” or “1″, and the child gets to “whack” the correct item. You can reverse positions and have the child call out the items while the teacher uses the whacker (sometimes I whack the wrong item just to get a reaction). I use this game all the time with my piano students and flashcards, and it could be used in a lot of ways. The kids always enjoy having a legitimate excuse to hit something.

Clothespins

Clothespins are a wonderful tool for a homeschool library. Opening and closing them is great fine motor practice. A large bag was very inexpensive, and the possibilities with them are pretty endless. I numbered 1-10 on a set as shown above, and we use them for the Clothes Pin Number Match from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

One wintery day we matched the clothespins to these snowman counting cards.These number cards from The Activity Mom were easy to create. I used index cards and foam shape stickers, writing three numbers on the side. The Sweet Bee counts the stickers then places the clothespin on the appropriate number for the card.

The Activity Mom has some great ideas for using clothespins. We played this dice rolling game using a cooling rack, and we’ll be trying this activity soon.

Bottle Cap Numbers

Bottle caps are another great tool.  I first got the idea of using them as a manipulative from The Activity Mom.  You can use them in a similar way as the counting and clipping clothespins. Tot School has number templates you can print and then mod podge to you caps to make them a little nicer, but I haven’t ever gotten around to doing that. She also has a number of worksheets available for animal counting.

This is a one page sticker counting sheet. Count the stickers, then cover with the appropriate cap.

As you can tell by all of the links, much of my inspiration comes from The Activity Mom. I also get a lot of ideas from Confessions of a Homeschooler. Her PreK review post has a lot of great ideas and resources for everyday: Clothespin numbers, number sticker sheets, number word cards, number magnet pages, etc. She also has a lot of worksheets and activities posted with each letter theme, many of them that develop pre-math skills, like all of these frog activities we used one week.
We’ve also been discovering a number of great counting books, but I’ll leave that for another post!

N is for Noodles

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Last week I hosted the Sweet Bee’s preschool for her and five other three year olds. We had a great time discovering noodles for the letter N.

In preparation for our activities, the girls and I colored noodles a few days before. I followed the directions here (using a 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol and a few drops of food coloring for one cup of noodles) and it was pretty simple. Because the noodles were slightly yellow-ish to start with, that set the tone for the colors, but I think they were quite pretty.

We explored the many varieties of noodles: macaroni, rigatoni, rotini, lasagna, corkscrew, spaghetti, bowtie… Each child got to hold a cup of noodles, and then we passed them around. It was a great touch and feel activity. Then we cooked up some spaghetti and made noodle art. I’ve done this before with my girls, and it was a hit both times. This time around the kids colored their letter N poster first, then laid out the cooked noodles on top to dry.  Although this picture is blurry (you try to get 6 three-year-olds to hold still!!), it gives you a good idea of how the activity went. There was a lot of tasting along with the crafting!

One of the finished projects.

Of course, snack time was noodles. I cooked up a pan of these alphabet noodles I found at the grocery store and served them with a little butter and parmesan cheese.

Our last activity was noodle necklaces. We used the previously dyed noodle to string up some lovely jewelry. It was interesting to see the different personalities of the children as they made their necklaces: one child laced 6 noodles and was done, another child laced every noodle she could until the string was full, and another child only used the green noodles. I had planned to do a little noodle counting and sorting by color, but we ran out of time. I’ve still got some leftover noodles for an activity another day with the Sweet Bee.

Most of my ideas came from this preschool lesson site. We had a lot of fun with our noodles!

Preschool Lesson Plans: Letter B, Number 2, Circle

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These lesson plans are planned for my 3 year old daughter. We don’t always do all of the activities in one setting. We focus on one topic a day. You can read the background on my preschool lesson plans here.

Letter B
Introduce the letter: use a letter grab bag with the various letters we have in the house (foam letter, blocks, magnet letter).

Book List: Birds by Kevin Henkes

Song: I’m Bringing Home My Baby Bumblee Bee

Fingerplay: Here is a Beehive

Create letter artwork: Bumblebee B from No Time for Flashcards

Color a basic letter poster for the wall, add a letter sticker

Number 2
Introduce the number: use a number grab bag with the various numbers we have in the house (foam number, blocks, magnet letter).

Read:10 Trick-or-Treaters by Janet Schulman

Use the counting cups to count a snack (cheerios, crackers, grapes, etc).

Play a number/counting game: Bottle cap numbers and counting cards from The Activity Mom

Circle

Introduce the shape using the felt shapes. Play a matching game.

Create a shape poster by gluing small colored shapes on a larger shape.

Go on a shape hunt and search the house to find the shape.

Preschool Lesson Plans: Letter A, Number 1, Color Green

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The Sweet Bee and I are enjoying our special school time together each day. I’m a little behind in posting my lesson plans, but I’ve got the first three coming for you this week. You can read the background on my preschool lesson plans here.

Note: I don’t always do all of the activities in one sitting.  Some activities I save for her “homework” to do while the Ant Bug does her homework after school. Other days we get interrupted or she loses interest, but we often come back to it later.

Letter A

Introduce the letter: use a letter grab bag with the various letters we have in the house (foam letter, blocks, magnet letter).

Create letter artwork: Alligator A from No Time for Flashcards (The Sweet Bee liked this so much, she decided to make a baby alligator A also)

Book List: Alligator Baby by Robert Munsch, Snip Snap by Mara Bergman

Color a basic letter poster for the wall, add a letter sticker.

Number 1


Introduce the number: use a number grab bag with the various numbers we have in the house (foam number, blocks, magnet letter).

Read: How Does a Dinosaur Count to 10? by Jane Yolen

Use the counting cups to count a snack (cheerios, crackers, grapes, etc).

Play a number/counting game: The clothespin game from The Activity Mom

Color Green

Create a color poster using crayon, colored pencil, marker, paper scrap, paint, etc.

Go on a color hunt and search the house to find the color.

Read a book and look for the color in the pages.

Paint with paintbrushes and toothbrushes using the color.

A Preschool Lesson Plan with a Dinosaur Theme

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The Sweet Bee is participating in a co-op preschool this year, with 5 other children. She loves to go to school each week and play with her friends. Since the children are all 3 years old (or nearly so), the mothers of the group all agreed that focus of the group would be mostly fun and social, with some learning thrown in too. I was excited to host this week, and I thought I would share my lesson plan with you.

We focused on Letter D and Dinosaurs (I made sure to allow plenty of noisy roaring). Most of the items are pretty self-explanatory. I found the song lyrics and the coloring pages online doing a Google search. The craft project was mostly my creation; it went over really well and it was fun to see the variety in the finished products.

9:00-9:20 Play Time/Free Time
Puzzles, Blocks, Little People, Lacing shapes

9:20-9:30 Circle Time
Good Morning Song
Calendar—Talk about the day, the month, and the date.
Weather –look out the window and discuss what the weather is like.
ABC song-sing while doing something silly like jumping up and down, clapping hands, swimming our arms, etc.

Introduce letter D. Place letter D objects in a grab bag for the children to take turns choosing one. Use letter block, foam letters, magnet letter, D poster page and D sticker page.

Sharing Time-each child shares what they brought that starts with the letter D.
9:30-10:15 Lesson Time
Dinosaur Dig (outside)
Have a container of sand to dig through and find a hidden dinosaur. (Two beach buckets of sand, with 3 small dinosaurs hidden in each)

Song (to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb)
Dinosaurs were very big
Very big
Very big
Dinosaurs were very big
Very, very big

Read a dinosaur book: Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs by Byron Barton

Song (to the tune of “Did You Ever See a Lassie?”, have the children stand and move left and right)
Did you ever see a dinosaur, a dinosaur, a dinosaur?
Did you ever see a dinosaur go this way and that?
Go this way and that way
Go this way and that way
Did you ever see a dinosaur, go this way and that?

Song (to the tune of “This Old Man”, use actions and roaring)
This T-rex, this T-rex, he goes tromping all around,
With a stomp and a tromp and a (clap, clap, clap)
This T-rex is tromping on!

This T-rex, this T-rex, he goes roaring all around,
With a grump and growl and a great big (Rroarr!)
This T-rex is roaring now!

Craft Time
Color a dinosaur shape, glue on googly eyes and spikes.
Need: glue sticks, crayons, markers, googly eyes, triangle shaped colored paper for spikes, dinosaur shape (cut out of cardboard) for each child.

10:15-10:30 Snack Time
Meat eaters vs. Plant eaters
Hot dogs on a toothpick, dip in ketchup
Broccoli trees and baby carrots, dip in ranch
Cheese cubes
Water, juice to drink in sippy cups.
Napkins

10:30-11:00 Free Play

11:00-11:30
Read books: How does a dinosaur…various by Jane Yolen, Oh My Dinosaur by Sandra Boynton
Color dinosaur pictures
Dance and sing to dinosaur songs, and fun wiggle songs from the preschool playlist