Preschool Curriculum Activities - April Fool's Day Fun

What better way to celebrate a new month than with preschool curriculum activities for April Fool's Day! The basic idea is to have fun, play jokes, and laugh.

Try the ideas below and enjoy yourself and let your preschoolers have pleasant fun. Preschoolers love this day and tricking their friends and parents.

For preschoolers, "Knock, knock" jokes are a favorite. Here is a joke I have used for years and as simple as it is, the kids enjoy it:

APRIL FOOL Question:

Q: Why are people so tired on April 1st?
A: Because they just finished a 31-day March


Silly Pictures

Find pictures from magazines, old books, (even draw your own) that are familiar to your children in everyday life.

Next cut out a section of the picture which makes it look silly or "wrong" such as gluing it upside down, cutting a wheel off of a bicycle or car, gluing flowers upside down in a flower pot. etc. Make as many silly pictures as you can.

Use Circle Time to show them the pictures and ask what is wrong with them. The kids love this. You can make some easier than others so that even the youngest will be able to participate!

April Fool's Snack:

BUGS IN THE SAND

Graham crackers (sand)
Chocolate sprinkles( resemble ants)
Raisins (resemble beetles)
Red Hots (resemble lady bugs)
Oyster crackers (resemble spider eggs)


Place graham crackers in a plastic sandwich bag and crush with a
rolling pin. Use these individual plastic bags or small cups and put the crumbled graham crackers in them. Then put one of the ingredients above to make the bugs, then seal the bag or cover the cup. Give these to the kids to take outside and eat or let them pour it into a small bowl and eat at the table--using their fingers, of course.

Ask for their ideas of what the bugs are that are in the sand. Give hints and have fun. You can serve juice that is colored green and call it Bug Juice!

For a fun April Fool's Snack, try these "Fooled Ya French Fries". I saw this recipe at the link below:

http://www.recipezaar.com/April-Fools-Fooled-Ya-French-Fries-159047

My kids loved this and had so much fun being "tricked"!

If you like these ideas, you'll love the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

Check them out:

http://www.preschoolplanner.com/thefullstory.html

There are Two Editions now for the Preschool Planner: Basic or Platinum.

If you prefer lessons which have ideas for the Toddler Age, go here to the second volume of lessons. There is an entire bonus section devoted to TODDLERS.

http://www.preschoolwhiz.com/v2.html

Send me any ideas you would like to share and I will post them on my Blog.

Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com

Preschool Motor Skills - Fitness Tape Shapes & Wiggle Wiggle

Hi there,

According to the calendar it is spring but the weather remains wintery and still keeps us inside. Cabin fever and boundless energy need an outlet. I have these suggestions for preschool motor skills and both can be done inside.

The children have fun, expend their energy and learn ways to control their motions, learn balance and coordination skills and work together.


Wiggle Wiggle

Need: Large dark room
Let the kids stand in a room---preferably lots of space--.
Turn out the lights & yell, “Wiggle, Wiggle”. They move about all they want, but when you turn on the lights, yell “Freeze!”. They then have to freeze where they are & wait until the lights go out again. Vary this game by letting them act like animals (if you’re teaching an animal theme) or cars or whatever. It’s so fun & easy to do almost anywhere. This is such a simple game for Preschoolers, and they love it!


Fitness Tape Shapes

Materials-Painters masking tape
Procedure-Tape one or more lines or shapes on the floor to create a floor level balance beam.A good length is between 4 and 5 feet.Use three straigh lines,3 wavy lines,and 2 zig-zag lines.

Fitness Activities for tape shapes
1. Walk on the tape with one foot in front of the other
2. Walk on the tape with one foot in front of the other and put down your toe-walk heel,toe,heel,toe
3. Walk on tip-toes on the tape
4. Walk in giant steps on the tape
5. Squat and walk on tape like a duck
6. Turn sideways and walk on tape
7. Walk sideways on tape
8. Stand on your tip-toes and turn in the opposite directions
9. Squat down and turn in the opposite direction


Fun for any age of preschooler from the youngest to the oldest.


Have fun with this and enjoy the activities. Please leave a comment and other suggestions you would like to share!


Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


PS: If you would like to receive my free newsletter for more ideas for your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

http://preschoolplanner.com/preschool-activities.html

Preschool Themes - Recycling for Kids

One of the preschool themes that I stress is recycling for kids. It is so important to bring awareness to being earth friendly to everyone and what better place to start than when our children are young.

These preschool ideas can be used to teach sorting, counting, color matching, textures, etc. The ways to use recycling materials is endless, cost saving and teaches our preschoolers how important it is to be "green" in regards to our earth and environment.

Recycling Station

Ask your students to bring in a large number of cans (only those with smooth edges), bottles, small boxes, packing foam, bottle tops, buttons and other recyclable materials. Create your own storage area for these items. Have the children sort the recyclables by size, color, material, etc. Make sure everything is clean and ask for their ideas on how to re-use the things that they are sorting.

Give suggestions to encourage them to challenge their imaginations. The sky is the limit here and you will all have them reinventing new ways to use old things.

Snack Time - Donut Holes

Show the children a “donut hole” and ask if they can identify it and where it came from. Explain how those pieces went to waste before someone figured out that they could be sold. Try to think of other things that used to go to waste but are now use again. Serve “donut holes” as a snack.


Have fun with these ideas and please continue to send me more or to leave a comment.

Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


P.S. Looking for NEW IDEAS for your classes but don't want to spend your free time planning--Check out my preschool lesson plans:

http://www.preschoolwhiz.com/v2.html

Preschool Themes - Music and Body Awareness

Two preschool themes that go hand in hand with preschoolers is music and body awareness.

You can use music to teach them music from around the world. They love these songs and the motions that go with them.

You can teach set movements to songs or simply allow them to feel the beat of the music and move in their own way. Use this as an opportunity to look at a globe of the world, show them where the song is from, and talk about the country and culture.

Music Day --Music of the World

Explore Music from other countries: London Bridge (England), Day-O (Jamacia), Did You Ever See a Lassie? (Scotland), I Am a Pretty Little Dutch Girl (Holland), Waltzing Matilda (Australia), Kum Ba Yah (Africa), Frere Jacques (France), the list can go on.

Following Instructions

Take any household object and place it under a chair or on a table. Ask your child to close his eyes and then ask him to find the object. Make him learn the concept of under, over, on, beside, etc. Explain verbally where the object is such as "under a chair" and see if they can follow your instructions.


Have fun with these ideas and please continue to send me more or to leave a comment.

Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


PS: If you would like to receive my free newsletter for more ideas for your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

http://preschoolplanner.com/preschool-activities.html

Preschool St Patricks Day Ideas - History and Leprechaun Hunt

If you're looking for preschool St. Patricks Day ideas, check out the ones below. These are ones I've used for years and everyone always has fun.

My kids always enjoy celebrating holidays. My own preference is to explain the history of the holiday and how we come to celebrate it the way we do.

Try these preschool St. Patrick's day ideas with your preschool class or preschoolers.


WEARING O' THE GREEN
Explain to your child that it is customary to wear something green on St. Patrick's Day. Let them choose a green article of clothing to put on for the holiday. Or tie a green ribbon or piece of yarn around their wrist. If you go out for a walk, encourage them to look for green items others are wearing in honor of St. Patrick.

LEPRECHAUN LEGEND
Tell the children that there are many stories about the magical little characters called leprechauns. Legends state that they are hard to spy and very hard to catch. But if you should catch a leprechaun, the theory is, he will have to show you where his pot of gold is buried. Ask your class to tell you some ways they might try to catch a leprechaun if they spot one.

MYSTERY LEPRECHAUN VISIT
In the morning, everyone arrives to find strange little green footprints on the floor! Then...the teacher's chair (or reading circle chair) is missing! But wait...a clue in here, a Leprechaun story book." The children love trying to find the Leprechaun and the chair so that they can have story time.


Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


PS: If you would like to receive my free newsletter for more ideas for your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

http://preschoolplanner.com/preschool-activities.html

Toddler Activity Ideas - Let's Pretend

Are you trying to come up with toddler activity ideas for the younger children in your class? Imagination is the key element with all of these and we all need to be encouraged to draw on this resource!

Try the ideas below and you'll find that all of your preschoolers will enjoy these and learn from them no matter what their age may be.


Let's Pretend

The teacher names the theme, gives an activity, and then teaches concepts or following directions about that activity.

Here are suggestions to start and you can add whatever you wish to your list:

Theme Pretend Activity Directions/Concepts

Children -> Getting Dressed-> Name Body Parts
Hiking-> Marching/walking-> Slow, fast, climb
Tricycles/bicycles-> Moving on a path/road-> Stop, go, slow, follow
Grocery Shopping-> Pretend to go shopping-> In, out, reach, up, down
Nature Walk-> Pretend to go on walk-> Name colors,trees, flowers,
Meal times-> Name the meal-> Name items we eat then
Clean House-> Pick the room-> clean, dirty, messy



I hope you get the idea here. This is such an easy activity to do with your children and there is no end to the ideas you can use. Just take a topic from every day life and then have them imagine and think about how they do these things. Use the terms they need to know and understand and you will find they may have some unique suggestions of their own to add to the class!

Fun for any age of preschooler from the youngest to the oldest.


Have fun with this and enjoy the new month!

Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


PS: If you would like to receive my free newsletter for more ideas for your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

http://preschoolplanner.com/preschool-activities.html