Friday - Toddlers

Here are some of the things we did in our Friday toddler group this week.

Sticky Art - I taped sheets of contact paper on the table for each kiddo and set out a bunch of shapes for them to stick.  They enjoyed the project, and it was great for their fine motor skills.

 

One kiddo came over to see what we were doing and inadvertently put his hand on his contact paper... "Hey!  Why's the table sticky?!"  This started the kiddos sticking their hands on their contact paper.  Ha!  It is very tactile.

Yearbooks - I made yearbooks for the older kiddos.  I had these guys "sign" mine.  They loved seeing their pictures in my book.

 
Tent - I set up the tent for the older kiddos this week because we were doing a camping theme.  I left it up for these guys because I thought they'd have fun with it.

Stamps - These guys discovered the stamp bin.  A whole bunch of old stamps, so cool, so much fun!

Last Week of Preschool - Camping Theme

I can't hardly believe we are at our last week of preschool.  The hot weather is helping me realize that summer break is upon us.  This week we are using a camping theme to close out our school year.

Tp Campfires - The kiddos got to create their own campfire today.  As we worked we talked a bit about fire safety, then we pulled out some marshmallows to roast.  Some kiddos really got into it and pretended they were roasting, others just popped their marshmallow right in their mouth.

 A kiddo warming his fingers by his fire....

 Kiddos toasting their marshmallows....

Real S'Mores - Well, Almost - The kiddos got to stack their s'mores, then Ms. Sara popped them in the oven for few minutes to get them melty.  Mmmmm.

 Tent - I set up a pup tent in the preschool.  The kiddos had a blast playing in it.

Year Books - I made a year book for each of the kiddos.  We talked about how you ask a friend to sign your book ("Hey friend, would you like to sign my year book?") and how you respond ("I would LOVE to!").  I encouraged them to both sign their name and to draw a picture. 

 

They were so cute with this activity.  They loved looking at the pictures I had chosen and took signing each other's books seriously.  I loved it!

Paper Plate Owls - These turned out cuter than expected.  While I was digging out googly eyes, I happened upon a bag of feathers - perfect!  

As we worked we chatted a bit about owls:  how they hunt and what they eat, where they live, what sounds they make.

 

Fire Fly Jars - I told the kiddos about the fabulous insect:  fire flies.  I'm not sure they fully believed me, but they LOVED the project.  The kiddos painted glow in the dark paint on the inside of their jars, then drew the insect's outline on the outside of the jar. 

Once their jars were finished, they took them into the closet to see them glow.  As you can imagine, the kiddos were super excited to see their fire flies glow.

 

Graduation Caps - One of the kiddo's moms was super awesome and volunteered to make graduation hats for each of the kiddos.  The kiddos LOVED them and they look super cute!

Taa Taa for now!  There will be posts about summer camp activities we do, but other wise - we'll see you in September!

Learning Station - Abc Yard Hunt

I tossed the letters out onto the grass and had the kiddos find them.  Once they found one, they brought it back to me telling me the name and sound, then they could place it in the puzzle and go hunt another one.

Learning Station - Chalk Shout

For this activity you're suppose to dip chalk in fabric softener, but I didn't have any, so we used Shout (stain remover) and it worked great.  When you dip the chalk and then draw or write, the colors are much more vibrant and the chalk just glides across the paper.  It's very pleasant to work with.  I asked the kiddos to write their name and then draw a forest animal.

Friday - Toddlers

Chalk Shout - This project is usually done with liquid starch, but I didn't have any, so I used liquid Shout (stain remover) instead, and it worked great.  The kiddos dipped their chalk in the Shout and then drew with it. 

It is simply wonderful to draw with chalk this way, it just glides over the paper.  I think I will do this with the older kiddos next week.

Adding Machine - Wow, something that makes noise and has buttons - every kids favorite!

As the kiddos worked, they wanted their letter on their piece of paper.  When we were done we gathered up all their papers and sent them home in envelopes.

Hula Hooping - 

Beaded Memorial Day Bracelets - The kiddos did a great job of string beads on pipe cleaners and they were so proud of their bracelets when they were all done.  It was also wonderful fine motor practice.

This kiddos was naming off the colors of her bracelet.

I love how delicately the kiddos worked at this.

 

Here is the finished bracelet.

Cutting Practice - I just pulled scraps from projects for the kiddos to cut.

Counting Rocks - This is a kiddo favorite.  The rocks are so smooth and fun to handle.

A week on feet & animal tracks

This week we are learning about feet.  Our feet and animal feet.

Circle Time - Toe Count! - We counted our toes.  We had to do a re-count because one kiddo swore he had 11 toes.  Ha!

Journals - One kiddo drew feet in her journal, so stinking cute!

Toenail Painting - Since we are learning about feet, I figured we could do some decorating.  Ha.  

Shoe Compare - We talked about the jobs different shoes have.  We looked at the different structures of shoes and wondered which would be best for which job.  We investigated the tread as well.

 Then we tried them out.

Footprints - We headed outside to create some painted footprints.  The kiddos painted the bottom of their foot, we made a print then they got to run across some paper and finally the wash off.

The water from our "washing off" was running down the edging of the lawn.  One kiddo  created a bridge with his feet for the water to run under.

Foot X-Ray - We looked at a few x-rays and how the bones were placed, then we tried making our own...

These x-rays are from the youngster class:

Here is an x-ray from the preschooler class:

Mail Center - The kiddos rediscovered the mail center today.  They were having a grant time stamping and mailing things.

Jumping Feet Game - I found these fabulous craft foam feet at the dollar store.  I laid them out for the kiddos to hop from one set of footprints to another.  After a couple of hops the feet got all askew, but that made the game even better!

 

The second half of the week we are focusing on animal feet and their tracks.

Hunting for Animal Tracks - The kiddos each got their own tracks paper.  I "hid" tracks all around the preschool.  Then the kiddos went searching for them.  When they found a track, they had to identify it on their paper.  If they weren't sure which track it was, they were to look at the letters of the name to match them.  They did great!

 

Bear Caves - We made caves and then created a habitat for our bear to live in.  We talked about the need for food (fish, berries, honey).  As the kiddos worked, I glued their pom pom bears together.

Mouse Paint - We love this book.  Last week one of the kiddos asked if we could mix colors like the mice do.  I thought that was a great idea and it fit perfectly with our week on feet since the mice mix the colors with their feet.

We used Q-Tips for our mouse feet.  The kiddos enjoyed dancing their Q-tip mouse feet in the colors and then mixing them.  I always love the excitement and surprise they have as the new color emerges.