Once back in our room things settled back into routine. We sang some songs, read a story, and worked on a special art project. I thought our cute pumpkin sun catchers turned out great.
Nothing is more fun than dressing up with all of your friends! Everyone looked so cute this morning all decked out for our Fall Parade. We had fun visiting all of the parents and collecting some treats. Once back in our room things settled back into routine. We sang some songs, read a story, and worked on a special art project. I thought our cute pumpkin sun catchers turned out great. Our first class party is in the books and I would say it was a huge success! Thank you so much to the parents who generously provided us lunch and a combo craft/dessert! It was a big hit. Thank you to all the parents that attended. I hope you enjoyed getting to see your child interact with others and having fun. Next week we will be learning all about shapes! Hope you all have a great Halloween and stay safe while out Trick or Treating.
Our day was full of pumpkin fun! We worked on some letter recognition, counting, singing a new pumpkin song, and painting, just to name a few. We began working on our Thanksgiving placemats for the feast next month. The children worked diligently to squeeze brightly colored water colors onto paper towels. We were excited to see how the water colors were absorbed and bled into each other creating some beautiful artwork. Once they are dry we will add a photo and a quote about what we are thankful for and they will be laminated to use for the feast. Our scissor skills are improving. Most of the children are picking up the scissors and putting their fingers in the proper place on their own. We still need to work a bit on always holding the scissor so our thumbs point up vs. curling our hands awkwardly upside down. Overall, I see growth and more patience in the children while working with scissors because their not meeting with as much frustration as they did earlier on. These lifelong skills will continue to improve with every exposure. I am so excited to see everyone in costume on Friday. We will meet as a class at 8:45 in the center of the upper mall for the parade. Parents are invited to stay and pass out treats as we parade by. Please send a change of clothes if you do not want your child in costume all day. Don't forget your camera!
Our class party will begin at noon in the classroom. Lunch will be provided. Parents and siblings are welcome to attend. We enjoyed the cooler temperatures today. The children painted, made scribble monsters and enjoyed a great little science experiment as we blew up "monster" balloons using vinegar and baking soda. When I hear the phrase "scribble monsters", I am instantly thrown back to elementary school. We would often scribble away on paper and color the different sections in creating "scribble monsters". This morning the boys and girls had the opportunity to use chalk on black paper to create some really fun scribble monsters. Once they were finished scribbling the children were given glue and a handful of wiggly eyes to add to their masterpiece. Using these small broken pieces of chalk also helps promote proper pincer grasp. Another wonderful way to train those fine motor muscles. Preschool children are naturally curious and today was no exception. We learned how to blow up a balloon without using our mouth. The simple chemical reaction of baking soda and vinegar will produce enough carbon dioxide to inflate a balloon. Of course we decorated our balloons to look like monsters but the reaction the children had as they blew up their own balloons were priceless. The blessing of cooler weather was upon us today so we took full advantage and headed outdoors for some extra playground time.
The children had a wonderful morning surrounded by happy monsters. We enjoyed a host of games focused on sorting by color, fine motor skills, counting, and early literacy. We made some one of a kind monsters and created some pretty funny faces with play dough. Our art lesson incorporated some geometry. The boys and girls were given a sheet of paper to squeeze some brightly colored paint on. Once they were ready we folded the paper in half and squeezed the paint between the two halves. The children, then pealed the halves apart to reveal a beautifully symmetrical "monster". Each was given several wiggly eyes to decorate with. These were simple and yet quite beautiful. I loved how amazed the children were when they opened their paper to reveal a masterpiece. Before After We finished our day with some play dough fun. We made our own play dough monsters. They had such silly faces all with the help of a few Mr. Potato Head pieces. So much fun!
The boys and girls had such a good time being scientists this morning. During our story time we read a story about a boy who was afraid of spiders. He went through his home afraid of any and everything that looked like a spider. In the end he came to realize that little spiders aren't so scary after all. I told the children that I had a very special surprise for them. We talked about what a scientist does and what kinds of tools they use. Then I asked the children if they wanted to be a scientist. This got the excitement flowing! I told the children that if they wanted to be a scientist they needed to dress the part. So every child who wanted to be a scientist got their own lab coat to wear as we "dissected" a spider. We discussed how a spider has a large body, many eyes, and eight legs. Each scientist was charged with finding those parts in their molds using the tools provided or their fingers. The molds were made with gelatin. I put pipe cleaner legs, wiggly eyes and a black pompom in to represent the spider. The children had some tweezers and a magnifying glass to explore with. I was very surprised at how many were reluctant at first to even touch the gelatin mold. I think perhaps some actually thought a real spider was inside. In time all but one friend decided to "dissect" their spider. That was fine with me. I never want to force an activity on a child but I do strongly encourage them to give it a try. After all the sensory exploration is wonderful and the imagination at play is even better. Overheard while exploring... "It's cold." "Ewww! I'm not doing that!" "No, Ms. Kristen, yuck!" "It's jiggling!" "I grabbed a leg." "I did it, Ms. Kristen!" "Look at me, I found an eye." They all looked so cute in their lab coats! We also enjoyed some more glue work during our art time. We got to squeeze a spider web out of glue and covered it with black sand. When they are dry they will make a great textured art piece. Enjoy your weekends. I will see you all for some Happy Monsters next week.
We had a fabulous morning! There were several new experiences for the children to be excited about. We had a visit from the local fire department, learned about spiders, painted on the easel, and tried out our new listening center. This week we are learning about spiders so our new listening center had The Itsy Bitsy Spider on tape. I think using the large headphones was an exciting experience for all of the children. They were really taken with the story, music and being in control of their own copy of the book as they listened. The local fire department came for a visit this morning. We learned about their job and how fire fighters are our friends. Their big fire suit is to protect them and nothing we should be afraid of. We got to see the lights on the truck, walk through the back seat area and check out some of the tools fire fighters use for their job. It was very exciting! Once back in the classroom we listened to the felt board version of The Itsy Bitsy Spider and then got straight to work painting some spider webs of our own. We added in a little glitter paint for a beautiful sparkly effect. During our playground time we have been working on our gross motor (whole body) muscles. Play is hard work! We are climbing, swinging, jumping, and pretending with friends. Looking forward to Friday. We will be "dissecting" spiders. It is sure to be a fun sensory experinece!
Our day was full of fine motor fun from start to finish! We were introduced to knife skills, worked with spray bottles during art and enjoyed some play dough. This morning we got to do a little cooking in the classroom. Everyone was very excited to have the opportunity to cut their own banana with a real knife. We discussed the importance of knife safety and how we should never use a knife without an adult present. The children were each given a butter knife to explore. We talked about how a butter knife is generally safe for us to use because it is not very sharp. I demonstrated how to slice a banana into small circles before giving each student one. Everyone got to peel their banana and got busy slicing away. The boys and girls were so proud and excited to explore their independence with this activity. Once our banana's were cut, the children each got a chance to hold a hand mixer as we mixed up so pudding to go with our bananas. For our final step everyone got a cup of pudding and added a few banana slices and a vanilla wafer. Then it was time to eat! Our art time happened outside this morning. We made some pretty amazing paintings using a spray bottle and liquid water colors. Talk about a great hand workout! Our day concluded with some play dough fun. Next week we will be learning about spiders and having a special visit from the local firehouse!
This morning the children were introduced to bats. We looked at pictures of real bats, learned that they sleep all day and hunt for food at night. Some bats eat bugs and others eat fruit or smaller animals. We made our own one of a kind bat paintings too! This morning our art time consisted of looking at several bat pictures. Then we got to examine a bat puppet. We talked about how bats are furry, have wings and fly at night. Then I gave the children a sheet of gray paper and some black paint and asked them to paint a bat flying at night. They were also given some sparkly star stickers to add to the night sky if they desired. They were all very proud of their work.
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Why Blog?Here you will find little snippets of our days together. When my children were in preschool and would come home I would always ask, "So, what did you do today?". All they ever said was, "Played." That didn't tell me much. I hope this blog will be a place to share what we have done and help you ask more directed questions of your child. You will see first hand just what we do after you kiss your little one goodbye in the morning. It will also be a great place to visit and see just how much your child has grown and learned throughout the year. Archives
May 2023
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