Cold Dough

I'm not real big on "dough" recipes, but this one from pinterest seemed simple and not too much of a mess :)

All you need is all purpose flour and baby oil.

4 cups flour and 1 (1/2) cup baby oil.  Mix it together and you're done! 

I was surprised at how well the kids played with this for a looonnngg time.

very mold-able :)

I had pictures of the kids playing outside, but accidentally erased them :/

Tuesday's Marchin' Tune

We're headed out tomorrow for the fourth of July to be in a community parade...our first ever! So, I thought this would be perfect to learn and sing this week! :) Happy 4th!

TOWN MUSICIANSSung to the tune of "Yankee Doodle"
Little musicians went to town
Playing in a band.
They made music as they went
All across the land.
Hear their music loud and clear
Hear their marching feet.
I just love to hear the band
Marching down the street!

source: http://www.preschoolexpress.com/

Tuesday's Patriotic Tune

The 4th is just around the corner, so here's some painting fun :)

Materials needed: craft sticks, red and white paint, glue and some construction paper.

While we glued the sticks on we talked about patterns...red, white, red, white, etc. 

Here's the end result held by the princess mermaid with white gloves ;)

FLAGS ARE FLYING

Tune:  “Frere Jacques”

Flags are flying, flags are flying

Oh, so high; oh, so high.

Flying for our country,

Red and white and blue,

Flying high, in the sky.

source: http://www.preschoolexpress.com/

sidewalk chalk paint

Another summer day with a list of things to try on pinterest :)

This was simple and quick. 

Ingredients: cornstartch, water and food coloring

Mix 2T water with 2T cornstartch and your choice of color

take it outside and ta-da! :) 

the best part is knowing it's safe when Sawyer puts the paintbrush to his mouth...which happens a lot! :)

the "paint" dried fast and washed off really easily, too

painting a smiley face :)

thanks pinterest :)

tuesday's beachy tune

 

Beach Song

(Sung to "Are you Sleeping")

 

I see sea shells by the sea shore
Sky so blue, Starfish too
All the boys and girls play
On a hot and sunny day
Summer's here, summer's here

source: everythingpreschool.com

Happy Summer!

Creation

Stella loves to read.  We try to read a story (mostly more) from her Bible each night before bedtime.  I saw this cute idea on pinterest, although there is so much more that can be done to make this even more exciting.  We just used what we had on hand :)  Each day or week, we'd talk about what God made when He created the earth, then learned a little song that went along with that particular day.  Here's our final work, complete! :) 

 Now, we are studying Creation in kids church, and this was one of the props that I made for last weeks lesson.  We talked about Day 2...God created the clouds and the water.  The kids loved this simple bottle that resembled the ocean. (one third part veg. oil, food coloring, and water)

So many things around us that remind us of God's love for us.  Don't forget to thank Him out loud to your kids...they might just be listening :)

Tuesday's Tune

A lot of children are getting out of school for the summer, so I thought this song would be appropriate for those park days on the swing!

 

Playground Song  by Jean Warren

Sung to: "Row, Row, Row, your Boat"

Pump, pump, pump the swing,
pump the swing so high.
you pump so high
You touch the sky
Then down you come again.

Climb, climb, climb the bar,
Climb the bar so high.
You climb so high
you touch the sky
Then down you climb again.

Ride, ride, ride your trike,
around the yard again.
You ride so fast
you're back at last
Then around you go again

Happy swinging :)

fun with chalk

I got these sweet little chalkboards at a yard sale for .50...I love them :)

 I chose to write a few letters from Stella's name that's still a little tricky. 

She loved it :)

make it easy:  Trace over the letter, paint a picture :)
make it hard:  Paint the letter that makes the sound /m/ 

craft sticks

Thanks to pinterest and those who are willing to share their ideas to help others, I've found some really neat, easy, and inexpensive ways for little ones to learn.  This was an activity we worked on together.  Stella painted some craft sticks...once they were dry, I hot glued small round magnets on the back on both ends, then we took them to their new home...the fridge! :)

I have this activity pinned on my "learning corner" pinboard here if you'd like to take a look at the site where this idea came from..and even more neat ideas! :)

Tuesdays Tune

I just posted about Musical Shapes, so today's tune goes right along with shapes :)

It's called "Spy a Shape" (tune: Do you know the Muffin Man?)

Do you spy a circle, circle, circle?
Do you spy a circle in the room?
Yes, I spy a circle, circle, circle.
Yes, I spy a circle in the room

Can you draw a circle, circle, cirlce?
Can you draw a circle, nice and round?
I can draw a circle, circle, circle
I can draw a circle, nice and round.

Square...4 equal sides
Triangle...3 sides than slant
Rectangle..2 long and 2 short sides

Have children draw shapes in the air, with their feet, on paper, in sand, etc.  Have fun!

Written by: Dr. Jean

Musical Shapes

The weather is nice outside, and even though we love outdoors...sometimes the same toys and scenery gets "boring" for the kids.  So, I've put on my thinking cap (and searched pinterest, too) to add some variety to our outdoor playtime.

A couple weeks ago, Stella found this princess CD player...the perfect tool for my musical shapes!

I demonstrated to her how to play the game...jump to a shape, skip around the shapes, walk, etc.  then when the music stops...you stop!  Then...you tell me what shape you are on!

She loved this, and even asked to do it again a few days later. :)

make it easy:  musical shapes, color shapes

make it hard:  musical letters: say the letter, say the sound of the letter

musical numbers:  identify the number or add 1 to the number you land on...so many possibilities!

Tuesday's Tune

Every  morning in Pre-K, Kindergarten and First grade, we always sang a weather song.  Now, I sing it with Stella and Sawyer at home.  There are many versions of the weather song, but this one is one is short and sweet. :)
This tune comes from the one and only Dr. Jean. :)

The Weather Song

What will the weather, weather, weather be?

what will the weather be today?

it is sunny, sunny, sunny?

S-U-N-N-Y today!

(repeat with cloudy, windy, snowy, rainy, etc, and spell)

You can also print the book out from Dr. Jeans page, for free!  (If you want the document, let me know, and I'll send you the Word Document I have saved on my computer...or you can search Dr. Jeans site)  

Tuesday's Tune

Mother's day is only a few days away!  Here's a cute little song to sing to your special one...mom, aunt, grandma, mimi, nana, and more :) 

I love you Mommy
(Original Author Unknown, Sung to: "You are my sunshine")
I love you mommy
My dearest mommy
You make me happy
When I am sad
I want to tell you
I really love you!
When I'm with you I am so glad!

find more songs here

special dates

We all have fun days we look forward to, especially in the summer.  In our house we are counting down until we see May 18th!  I chose to do a countdown, this time, so that Stella could tell me how many days left before we leave...instead of having to count something out everyday.  I like countdowns...it gives us something to look forward to! :)  

make it easy:  number recognition: mark off a number everyday (what number are we crossing out today?  how many days left until we leave?)

make it hard:  what number comes before 19?  after we mark 18 off, how many will we have left?

Even though this appears to be all math and numbers, it's also a pre-reading skill.  Being able to identify before and after are preparing little minds to comprehend parts of a story...beginning, middle and end. 

What are you looking forward to this summer?

Tuesday's Tune

There's a lot of planting going on around here...maybe where you are too!

Sung to: "I'm a little teapot"

I plant a little seed in the cold, cold ground

out comes the yellow sun, big and round

down come the raindrops soft and slow

up comes the flower grow, grow, grow!!

Make your own hand motions to the song for even more fun :)

Happy planting!

Tuesday's Tune

I'm setting some goals for the blog...one being, adding a tune each Tuesday.  Here's one for our Moms :)

M-O-M-M-Y
(tune of BINGO)
I love her and she loves me
And Mommy is her name-o
M-O-M-M-Y
M-O-M-M-Y
M-O-M-M-Y
And Mommy is her name-o.

source taken from :  perpetual preschool 

making connections

Everyday in some way, whether we realize it or not, little minds are making connections.  When I taught school, we always had a "theme of study".  All throughout that week, or sometimes month, we would study, do art projects, read, and hopefully have some real life experiences with what we just learned so much about. 

So, even though we hadn't planned a big "unit" of study or art projects, I picked up some zoo books to prepare us for our trip to the zoo later in the week. 

 Taking a picture of the zookeeper in action!

We loved looking at the family of baboons.  We even heard the Mom call them, and they all came running! So fun!

make it easy:  Talk about the days of the week and make a countdown to something you are looking forward to!  Ask questions about the trip...before, during and after. 

make it hard: Draw a picture or write a sentence about your favorite animal. Was it what you expected?

teaching how to hold a pencil

 I recently had someone ask about how to help a child hold a pencil.  I love getting questions...not that I'm a expert, but because I love helping them find a solution.  Some kids just naturally learn the correct way to hold a pencil...called, the pincer grasp. Others, have a harder time and don't want to let go of that fist clutch.  Here are some ideas worth trying. 

Get a ball...I happened to have one with lots of holes, so it worked perfectly for this illustration.  I would suggest a tennis ball, or something similar, so the ball holds the pencil in place rather than it slipping through the holes.   

This way helps those little fingers to open up and strengthen the muscles that will be needed to correctly hold a pencil.  The dollar store is you best friend... and the pet section.  Different sizes of balls may be needed depending on the size of the child's hand.

Another option is to put the ring and pinky finger to sleep.  Demonstrate how to hold the pencil, then tell them they have to lay their ring and pinky finger on a pillow (the cotton ball).  They have no other choice but to use those 3 fingers left to correctly hold the pencil.  Anything made into a game is always the safest thing. :) 

I also found these here, called "the writing claw".

No child is the same...so don't be discouraged!  Remember, the simple games like play-do and cutting are great fine motor practice, and help build muscles for handwriting! 

writing in the sand

Sand was always a favorite in my Pre-K classroom...for several different reasons.  I liked it, because it was used as a fun way to write letters/numbers, but the kids liked it because it was much more fun (to some) than holding a pencil and being drilled to write every letter, the same boring way...and it feels good on your hands :) 

We've been talking about the letter "E" this month.

I was chasing the little guy around and came back to find this! 

   

 Just shake and start over! how easy! :)

reminders for next time:  maybe take it outside since the sand tends to make it's way out of the tray :)

Make it easy:  just play in the sand, make shapes with each other

Make it hard: Can you write the letter that makes the /p/ sound?   

the new game...

I originally cut these masterpieces out (insert sarcasm) while supper was going one night, so Stella could create a little scene, for fun.  While she was playing, I heard her make up a little story (very proud) of how a little girl lost her Easter basket outside...so now, I think I'll call these little felt funboards: story starters! 

make it easy:  create your own scene

make it hard:  the sky is the limit!  I learned to ask lots of open ended questions..there is not a wrong answer! :)  Some of the questions I asked Stella while her creative juices were flowing were: "Where do you think the little girl is?"  "What's the bunny going to do with those eggs?" 

It's like my mentor always told me:  Always keep them thinking...ask them questions that you don't already know the answer to...only they do!