The children had so much fun planting flowers and playing this morning. After snack we decorated our own biodegradable flower pots. They can be planted directly into the garden, pot and all! Each child then chose which type of seed they wanted to plant. We were all surprised at how different each plant's seeds were from one another. The green beans were rather large and the marigolds were long and thin. We discussed how seeds need good soil, sun, fresh air, and water to grow. Once our seeds were buried in the soil we gave them a quick drink. I can't wait to hear who's seeds sprout! Once we finished our planting the children enjoyed some more free play. At one point I looked over and one of the children had pulled a chair away from the table. Before I knew it another joined him. Then another and pretty soon almost the whole class had joined in. Everyone was delighted to drive around town together. One thought it would be funny to be an animal in the way of the car. Children brought their babies along for the ride and even some games to play. It was quite the impromptu joy ride! This style of group play would never have happened at the beginning of the year. The boys and girls have moved into yet another stage of their play development. Cooperative Play is typically seen in ages 4+. During this stage of play a child plays together with others and has interest in both the activity and the other children involved. Another reason to love this age group! So much change and growth in the span of a school year! Mrs. Lynch, the Zebra teacher, had found the exoskeleton of a tarantula in her yard yesterday. She brought it in to share with everyone. I was surprised everyone touched it! The Tobin Performing Arts Center returned for their final visit of the year. This time the focus was on puppetry. We listened to a fun story and then learned that even our hands can be puppets. The children throughly enjoyed the visit. We enjoyed making some play dough gardens before the playground. The Owls make some pretty cute flowers! Have a restful weekend! Next week we will dive into the world of bugs. We might even collect some roly-poly bugs to observe in our classroom.
We were blessed with a visit from Critterville today. Mr. John brought several specimens to share with us. We even got the opportunity to hold or pet an insect. The children were so engaged in what Mr. John was teaching them. They really enjoyed his visit. Our classroom was transformed into a bustling flower shop today. The children loved selling flowers, making arrangements, and trying on some fun dress up props. We also explored many other plant/flower themed activities. One of the favorites was peeling glitter flower stickers and creating collages. As you can see we were very busy. Friday will bring even more fun. We will all get to plant our own seeds! Very exciting!
The Owls had another exciting day learning about dinosaurs. To my great surprise a dinosaur showed up to class today during morning drop off. He got out of his car proudly, growled a friendly hello to his classmates, marched into school, washed his hands and played for a bit. It was so much fun for everyone. He even gave his friends a chance to model the dinosaur hat. Great start to a very busy day! We continued with some center time. The children pieced the large floor puzzle together again and practiced their jumping. During chapel time we sang and danced. We listened to a Bible story from Mrs. Kunkel. Snack time was another opportunity to show how much we have grown this year. Everyone had their own cutie to peel all on their own. Not only was everyone successful, they were quite proud of themselves as well. Next up, we decided to use our imaginations to pretend that we were paleontologists. I presented the children with a chocolate chip cookie and a few tooth picks. We discussed how paleontologists search for dinosaur bones in rocks. I asked each child to pretend that the cookie was the rock and the chocolate chips were the dinosaur fossils. We used the toothpicks to try and extract the chips from the cookies. This was a big hit and our busy little paleontologists each earned a cookie to eat as a reward for their hard work and focus during our experiment. Next we painted dinosaurs or dino footprints. We finished the morning with a little more center time. We matched letters, counted dinosaurs, worked with scissors, and so much more. Such a fun week for the kids.
Next week we will be learning all about plants and flowers. The dramatic play area will transform into a flower shop and we will be planting some seeds of our own. We will also have a visit from Critterville on Wednesday and the Tobin Performing Arts will host their last visit of the year, Friday. Looking forward to our time together. We were back at it today and boy were the kids excited to learn about dinosaurs. We got right to work exploring all of the dinosaur centers. After snack we set out on a Dino Hunt. Ms. Amanda helped hide 32 mini dinosaurs upstairs for us to search for. As we have been preparing to move up into the older three's classes the walking rope we had been using has been packed away. We are working on walking together in a straight line as well as how to climb the stairs safely. The boys and girls are really excited about this "big" kid responsibility. Back in the room several children enjoyed working collaboratively on a 48 piece dinosaur puzzle. It took about 15 minutes to put together and everyone was so excited to see the final product. Once it was complete it evolved into a jumping game where several students decided to see if they could jump over the dinosaurs. They all did a great job! Tootsie brought a friend to circle time today. We met her pal T-Rex. The kids loved him and most wanted to try the puppet on for themselves. Once we finished our story time we made our way to the big table and everyone got to color a dinosaur of their choosing and make it into a stick puppet. We finished our busy morning with some dinosaur play dough time. This class LOVES play dough! As long as we mix up the add-in's it will keep everyone entertained. I just love to sit back and listen to the conversations that take place while they play. Today was no exception. They all get in on the action their imaginations run wild! Overheard this morning... "My dinosaur is stuck in the lava!" "It's my dinosaur's birthday. Blow out his candles for him." "Help, I'm burning up in the lava!" "Look out, my guy is hungry and he might eat your guy." "Oh no he won't, he only eats plants." "Hey, how come dinosaurs roar so much?" Friday will bring even more dinosaur fun. We will be talking about fossils. The children will have an opportunity to discover some "dinosaur fossils" on their own. See you all Friday!
What a beautiful day for an Easter Celebration! The morning went by quickly as we enjoyed watering the new plants and playing with each other. After snack we decided to take in a great fine motor activity and help the new flowers the facilities team planted yesterday. We filled spray bottles with water and headed out to the gardens to water the plants. The squeeze motion and pressure needed to make the spray bottle work is a great fine motor strengthening activity and the kids just loved it. We were very careful not to trample the new plantings. These bottles hold 12 oz of water and the kids squeezed and squeezed until they were empty! Once back inside the kids painted Easter Eggs with quick dry paint sticks and modeled some cute bunny ears! We also enjoyed some new spring play dough! After our playground time we returned to the room, washed up and went for a quick egg hunt. The kids had a great time searching high and low for eggs hidden all over the lower mall area. They were pretty pleased with all they found. We returned to the room to have our Easter Party. The kids enjoyed a Chick-Fil-A lunch, balloons, music, and decorating their own cookies for dessert. I think that was the most entertaining dessert they have ever had. Each kit had a few cookies, sprinkles, icing, and a plastic knife. The kids loved decorating their own cookies (and eating them too!). A huge thank you to the party parents for the wonderful lunch and fun atmosphere. I think the kids really enjoyed it. I hope your families have a wonderful Easter! Enjoy making memories. Time flies!
Next week we will be learning about dinosaurs. This is the one week each year that the kids often teach me a thing or two! If your child has a favorite dinosaur shirt encourage them to dress the part! See you Wednesday! Today was a full of excitement and tons of Fiesta Fun! We began our morning with the annual preschool Fiesta Parade. The children (or should I say parents) made some amazing floats showcasing their favorite themes, toys, and interests. There were some really spectacular floats and the kids loved showing them off. From the parade we made a quick restroom stop in our room before heading out to the Fiesta Party. We enjoyed face painting, making tortillas, egg races, balloon games, and maraca making. Everyone found their favorite activity. Thank you to the party parents. It was a lot of work but we really appreciated your time and participation today. It truly helped make the day extra special for our kiddos. Next up was our Piñata. The kids had a ball trying to knock the contents out of the piñata. In the end, everyone filled a bag with treats to take home. In our room we had a few minutes to decorate our own piñata. It wouldn't be Fiesta without some homemade salsa. Next year, if your child is signed up for 3 days, I will still be working with them on Monday's! Lucky me!!! It is one of the parts I love most about my job, being able to still see and connect with past students as they grow and move on with other teachers and classes. On Monday I teach Life Skills to the 3 day classes. This is a class with a focus on cooking skills and science. We make all kinds of yummy things. Today the Owl's got a little taste of what Life Skills is like. We made our own salsa and each child played a part in making it. We began by identifying the ingredients. Then I explained some of the tools we would be using, cutting boards, knives, and a food processor. We reviewed knife safety and discussed that even a butter knife should not be used unless an adult is supervising. We talked about how to hold the knife to stay safe and then had the opportunity to use it to cut some tomato slices into chunks before putting it in the food processor. We also picked the leaves off some cilantro and tossed that into the machine. I opened a can of Rotel, and cut an onion to add to the mix. Then we set the food processor on the counter and the children had the opportunity to come push the on and off buttons. Everyone had a role to play. I find even the most reluctant eaters will try something they had a hand in making. During the process today several times I heard things like, "I don't like those leaves." "I don't eat tomatoes." "Onions are too spicy." I promised them that once the food processor was done none of the ingredients would look like they used to and that together they create something delicious. To my great surprise EVERYONE tasted the salsa and most asked for seconds. Our morning ended with a trip to the playground followed by a delicious bean and cheese taco lunch. It sure was quite the celebration! Next Wednesday the celebrations continue with our Easter Party. We will meet for a regular school day and conclude our morning with an egg hunt and party (lunch provided). I'm sure it is going to be another wonderful day! The children can bring an Easter Basket for the egg hunt. No worries if you forget we will have bags in needed. Enjoy the long weekend and we will see you all Wednesday!
Our morning began with center exploration and chapel time. Everyone had a lot of fun with our Taco Stand. After snack we got busy working on our cutting skills. We are introducing longer cutting activities versus just snipping paper. We are now ready to begin work on trying to keep the scissors in place and continue a cut down a line. This was frustrating for some and definitely the next step in scissor skills. Trying to manage a larger paper and keep scissors in place is a challenge. There will be many opportunities over the next several weeks and I am confident we will master this next step before we know it! The foundation is there! The children also enjoyed making some cute little worm puppets. The class was eager to spend some time with our worm friends so we brought them out again for a visit. There was no hesitation today. Everyone was excited to hold the worms and after about a 20 minutes visit we decided to bring the worms out to the preschool garden and release them into our raised beds. Here the worms will help aerate the soil and help our plantings grow. And the kids loved introducing them to their new homes. The weather was perfect so we headed to the playground for some fun. This coming week will be a quick one. We will only meet on Wednesday for our Fiesta Celebrations. We will be making fresh salsa together and spend time in the Fiesta room where we will enjoy a piñata, making maracas, face painting and more. Looking forward to another exciting day together.
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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
March 2024
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