The Last Week of Preschool

Here we go on our last week of preschool.  It doesn't quite feel like it's time, but maybe that's because it's not sunny and warm, not that I'm fussing about all the fabulous rain.

Chalk - Always love time outside and the backyard is all muddy, so front yard it is!
A princess and a sword.

 

Cookies - The kiddos are my "Smart Cookies" - so today we made a cookie craft.  The kiddos frosted their cookies with glue, then sprinkled on paper bits.

 The kiddos enjoyed cutting and punching little bits to become the sprinkles for their cookies.

Science - Lemonade Fizz Drink - The kiddos loved squeezing oranges during snack this year, so today we got to make juice officially.  The kiddos squeezed lemons.  They of course tasted them too.  
Here's the science part.  We added a bit of baking soda and look what happened!  Then we added some sugar and drank our yummy fizzy lemonade.

Wow!  Sunshine! - For our last day of preschool we ended up with warm sunshine!  Wahoo!

Outside Fun - You can't go wrong with water and liquid chalks!

 

We started with paintbrushes, but found it was much more fun to dribble with the toothbrushes.

We enjoyed creating "rainbow waterfalls".  At the end, the boys were dumping the last dribbly bits of chalk into our rivers. 

Once the chalk dried, it was glossy and really smooth.  It cleaned up really easily with water.

Liquid Chalk Recipe:

1 - 10 oz. box of cornstarch

2 1/2 cups water

food coloring

* This recipe fills one 12 cup muffin tin.

Water Play -  First the kiddos cleaned off the liquid chalk.  Then they played soak the driveway.  As soon as the sun dried a spot, they were right there to soak it again.

Then they started in on watering the road and a bit of each other!  And of course, some on Ms. Sara.  "Toes only please!"

* Well, that's it.  The end of the school year.  I'll post our summer camp adventures (see topics and dates in the right side bar).  Otherwise, see you in September!

End of Year Wrap Up

The end of the school year always comes with mixed feelings.  I'm guessing all teachers feel this way.  We're as excited about summer break as the kiddos are, but we sure are going to miss these sweet kiddos!

Yearbooks - Either because I'm crazy or I need another project to do (ha!) I make each of the kiddos a yearbook.  Their book includes a few class pictures from the year and favorite moments.  It also has a picture of each of their classmates with a space for each of them to draw something.  I also include their picture from the first day of preschool and one from the last month of preschool, so they can see how much they've grown.

I bind the journals myself, using the Japanese Stab Binding technique.  It's quick and easy and allows for any size I want to create as well as any number of pages.  I also create a larger one for myself so each of the kiddos can draw me a picture next to their photo.

The title page includes a picture of the kiddo (so with an easy flip, any kiddo can know whose book they've got) as well as the school year and name of the preschool (I'm a scrapbooker).

Certificate - I like to make a simple certificate to mark the year spent in preschool.  I don't do all the graduation stuff, just a simple celebration with the kiddos.  We eat cookies and work in each other's yearbooks.

Smart cookies - I found the sticker in the bottom corner at zazzle.com, here is the link: cookie

End of Year Gift - I love the chance to give a parting gift to my kiddos.  I hunt the clearance bins all year to find stuff.  Sometimes my best sucess is the dollar aisles at Target and Michael's or the Dollar Store.

My gift theme is always summer fun.  This year I found small sand toys at Target  and band-aids (Avengers and My Little Ponys).  I also love to include a book or two.  I get these from Scholastic with my bonus points earned all year (the kiddos heading off to kindergarten always get a special book about school).  Bubbles are a must (Dollar Store) and I found pinwheels on sale at Hobby Lobby.  My last fabulous find this year were snakes from a local museum gift shop.

Learning Station - Cookie Patterns

Since your kiddos are "Ms. Sara's smart cookies" - we created cookie patterns today.  The kiddos glued their "cookies" on, then decorated them with shapes then created patterns.   

I used my collection of punches and scraps of paper to create this station.

Learning Station - Word Toss

The kiddos tossed the cotton ball into one of the cups, then read the word.

Great Outdoors and Camping

This week we'll be enjoying the great outdoors with a camping theme. 


Sidewalk Chalk - I love it when the weather starts getting warmer and we just enjoy time drawing on the driveway.  It's so fun.  I love the stuff the kiddos create!  Here is a beautiful mermaid.

 

Backyard - A kiddo created this nest for real birds, and wanted to put it in the tree.  This was a good spot.

Building our Fires - The kiddos built their fire with logs, then added flames.  Once their fires were ready, they got to "roast" a marshmallow over their flames.  Yum!

 

Once the kiddos had "roasted" and eaten their marshmallow, we slathered their stick with glue and stuck a cotton ball on it so they could continue to play with their tp fire at home.

Real-ish S'mores - After a healthy snack, we enjoyed oven s'mores in the backyard!  Yummers!

We of course ate them outside as they were very gooey.  I love the abandoned s'more, carefully set on the dirty steps to the slide.

Tent - Whaaat?!  A tent in the preschool?!  Yep!  The kiddos LOVED playing in the tent.


Caterpillar - While doing chalk, the kiddos found a small caterpillar.  We tried to feed him leaves, but I think we were just scaring him.  Ha.  So once we got him onto a leaf, we put him in the bush, where hopefully he will eat lots, get fat and become a butterfly.

Stick Fire - Toddlers - Ms. Sara pre-glued the sticks, the kiddos glued the fire.  We also enjoyed some marshmallows with our fire.

Nature Journals - I made these simple journals from scraps of cardboard.

 

Trail mix - Yum!  The kiddos got a scoop of each.

Our Hike! - Before we left we discussed safety, staying together and what things to look for.  We brought crayons to do rubbings, tape to put cool nature stuff in our journals, and pencils to sketch. 

 

We arrived at the park and the a few of the kiddos made "fires" to roast their marshmallows over.

 

We found a bird's egg.

 

Kiddos found wishing flowers!   
"I wish I was half mermaid and half fairy."
"I wish I was a mermaid so I could be in the water all the time."

Learning Station - Bean Bowls - Toddlers

The kiddos enjoyed scooping beans into these little bowls.  Great fine motor and also surprisingly therapeutic.  I was donated these little bowls, the wood is a wonderful texture.  

It was interesting to see that some kiddos meticulously scooped beans, being so careful not to spill.   While others scooped a bit more wildly and got beans all over.

Learning Station - Father's Day - Shhhh!

We did something for Father's Day, so we can't show you. - Well, ok...

The kiddos drew pictures of their dad...

Then they painted cardboard frames.  I cut these out of scrap cardboard.

The kiddos had also answered a questionnaire about their dad.  We slipped it all in to some donated brown paper sacks.

 Then decorated the sacks!  Some kiddos drew on them, others enjoyed the washi tape.

We hope our dads LOVE their Father's Day gift!

A Week With The Big Hungry Bear

This week we are learning with the book:


Cut-able Strawberry - The kiddos enjoyed cutting this strawberry to the story.


Science - Strawberry Investigation - The kiddos learned today that strawberries are the only fruit with seeds on the outside.  They also learned that the average strawberry has 200 seeds!  Wow!  We tried to count, but it was a bit crazy. 
The kiddos observed their strawberries closely, then they drew them in their strawberry book.  They also removed a seed to put in their book.

 

Strawberry Smoothies - We raced upstairs to make smoothies.  We enjoyed some today and put some in the freezer to have on Wednesday as a Popsicle.  We used frozen strawberries, strawberry yogurt, and a bit of milk.

 

Sequencing - We added to our strawberry book by sequencing the events in our story.  We drew pictures for the main events.  

This kiddo drew the strawberry being buried (to hide it from the bear) and a trap to keep the bear away.

 This kiddo's drawing of the mouse guarding the strawberry.

Worm! - We found this HUGE worm!  Isn't it great.

Creation Bin - Recycling - Always a source of great fun.  The kiddos pulled out the bin this week and created some wonderful things.  Let's see, on the left was an airplane with comfortable seats (notice the tissue paper shoved in each carton) and on the right we have tri-noculars (binoculars plus a telescope) and a Frisbee.  The clear container became a trash truck of sorts.  Pretty cool stuff, all from the recycle bin.  All you need is a steady supply of duct tape.

 

Number Hunt - The kiddos first had to match the stickered cards with the numbers, then I had them run the numbers, from 1 to 10 and finally, they ran to collect all the numbers and sticks.  It was great to run them around a bit before circle time. 

 
Disguised Strawberry - In our book, the mouse tries to disguise the strawberry so the bear won't find it. 

The toddler class worked on cutting skills (leaves) and enjoyed fingerprinting the seeds.

Frozen Strawberry Smoothies - We made a double batch of our smoothies on Monday, so we could freeze some as popsicles for today!  Yum!

Rolley Polley Sighting! -