Spring Preschool Crafts - Art Work for Springtime or Easter

When we get closer to springtime here in the US teachers, parents and children love creating and decorating for the new season. Here are three creative spring preschool crafts that have been sent to me recently.

As preschoolers do arts or crafts projects you are providing a rich learning environment for them and best of all--It is Hands On! They improve motor skills, color recognition, spatial relations and the joy of creating something of their very own.

Give these a try for Spring or for Easter decorations. Any of the shapes can be changed to fit you or your childrens needs, such as eggs for Easter, flowers for spring, etc. These ideas are basically foolproof. Even your youngest toddlers are able to participate.


Confetti Picture what you need:
Hole punch, assorted colors of construction paper,craft glue, heavy-weight paper.

Punch out dots from different colors of construction paper to make confetti dots. If you want, keep the colors separate in small dishes or containers. Draw a picture, such as a bouquet of flowers, on a piece of paper. Fill in a section of the picture with glue, and sprinkle one colour of confetti dots over the glue. Let the glue dry, then shake the paper to remove excess dots. Continue coloring your picturre with more dots. If you want to be more precise, glue single dots in place, one by one, to "paint" your picture.

Marble Egg
Have pre-cut egg shapes already for your toddlers, and give them little toy cars. I had a tray of purple and pink paints in arms reach and they would roll the wheels of the cars into the paint and then make tracks for decorations on their easter egg shapes. This was done with children as young as an 18 month old, and a 12 month old. They had fun rolling the cars back and forth and saying vroom vroom as they did so. This has easily be done with any age group.

Stained Glass Egg
My class made stained glass paper eggs for an Easter card for parents. I pre-cut tissue paper into small little square. I demonstrated and then guided the children into painting water on their cardstock egg. Then they laid little colored squares over the water, sometimes overlapping. When dry, we peel the paper off to show a beautiful stained glass egg. Just gorgeous!

If you like these spring preschool crafts, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

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

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


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

Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


P.S. If you would like to receive my free newsletters for ideas for your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

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

Preschool Themes - Cowboys and Out West Fun!

One of the ways I keep the program fresh is to use varied preschool themes throughout the year. I have received many requests recently for ideas on cowboys and the great West!

How fun this is and you can use this theme to stretch over several days. You can use this to teach gross motor skills, following directions, coordination, fine motor skills for drawing, constructing and so much more.

Circle Time Idea
Start the discussion asking them what they think cowboys do. The replies will guide you in the remaining conversation. Explain their role in watching after cattle, moving them around from one place to another, corralling a cow who might have strayed from the herd.

Next select one of the children to be the cowboy and the others are the cows. The cattle are to line up on one side of the room as the cowboy needs to catch them and put them in the corral. When the cowboy tags one of the children, that child is corralled and stays with the cowboy in the pasture. You can do this giving each child a turn at being the cowboy.

Dramatic Play
Here is an opportunity to "recycle or re-use" large cardboard boxes if you have them (such as appliance boxes). You can paint them or cover them with paper and label them General Store, Bank, Barber shop, etc. Provide dress up clothes such as hats, bandanas, boots or whatever you may have and let the children pretend they are in the Wild West. You will be surprised at what they imagine and play!


Motor Skills
Use popsicle sticks and show the children how to glue them together to make fences for a corral. They can do this at the play table and set up their own little corral. I use these with the blocks and ask the children to make buildings and put the fences around them. If you have access to small plastic animals such as cows and horses use those as well but be sure they are not too small to create a choking hazard.

Snack
Provide biscuits (or rolls) and tell them that this was often what the cowboys and cowgirls had to eat on the trail.

Your preschoolers will get a chance to try their abilities to run, gallop, skip and jump like horses or cattle or cowboys. You can use the opportunity to teach directions such as "in front of", "next to", under, over, etc.

Painting, creating signs, thinking about what stores a town needs, all provide so many chances to stimulate and teach.


I hope you had fun with thess preschool themes. Check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner for more interactive fun teaching ideas for your preschool.

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

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


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

Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


P.S. If you would like to receive my free newsletters for ideas for your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

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

Preschool Curriculum Ideas - Upside Down Stories

Here are some preschool curriculum ideas that will take any chance of boredom out of your classroom and stimulate your preschoolers imaginations.

You are fully aware how children know their favorite stories by memory and ask that they be read over and over again. WHen they get tired of the story, they stop listening. Here is an idea that will tap into their knowledge base of the story and encourage them to come up with alternative characters or even endings!

Try this suggestion that another reader sent to me. It uses the same concept that I am describing.

When the boredom happens, I tell them that there is really another story in the book too. I turn the book upside down and tell them that there is another story inside it! Then I start narrating the story following the same structure and events as the original one, but changing ,let's say, the characters. An example to help you understand:

Upside Down Stories
Turning upside down the well known story "the 3 little pigs":
Once upon a time there were 3 little wolves living in a small house with their mother. One day the mother wolf gathered them around and said: "There are too many of us living in this small house, dear children. You are all grown up now, so you have to go build your own houses. But I warn you: beware of TIG-SHMIG, THE VICIOUS, EVIL PIG!!!..."
...and so on.

Kids find it very interesting and fascinating and soon they understand how to do it themselves. That way they get better with their speaking skills, expressing thoughts and creating stories!


I hope you had fun with these preschool curriculum ideas. Check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner for more interactive fun teaching ideas for your preschool.

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

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


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

Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


P.S. If you would like to receive my free newsletters for ideas for your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

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

Imagination Station Preschool - Imaginary Trip

I'm sure you often find days when the weather just won't allow some outside fun for your preschoolers. Here is where you use an imagination station preschool to stop the doldrums and bring out the creativity in all of your students.

I set the stage to go on imaginary hikes and trips. You can plan a camping adventure, a plane ride, train ride, hike through the mountains, etc. Offer options and let your children plan on the trip they want to take.

I had one reader send me this idea that her class love to do. It is a canoeing adventure.

Here is the idea:

All the children sit in a circle and pretend they are going on a canoeing adventure.
Start out with safety--"okay everyone find your life jackets. Let's put it on". Try to get the children involved and ask them what color of life jacket they would like to put on. We then pretend to put on our jackets and zip them up.

"We then will need to find our paddles. Does everyone have their paddles".
We go through the entire process of getting ready to canoe, canoeing (finding birds and trees, listening to the crickets etc.).

At the end of our trip we find an ice cream stand and the children tell us what kind of ice cream cone is their favorite.
Depending on the age and the attention, you can take it further and make a craft that involved part of our trip. The children love this and always have success with this adventure.

I hope you had fun with this imagination station preschool. Check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner for more interactive fun teaching ideas for your preschool.

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

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


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

Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


P.S. If you would like to receive my free newsletters for ideas for your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

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

Preschool Theme Ideas - Gardening & Spring Time Fun

I'm back from my break, rested and ready to offer more preschool theme ideas to my readers.

This gardening idea was sent to me recently and it has so many possibilities for teaching and fun. It can be used to teach science, colors, counting and even nurturing!

Thanks for all of you who are sending in more and more actitivities and teaching tips. Keep them coming and I'll share them here along with those of my own!


The Eggshell Garden

Need: egg shells, potting soil, tempera paints or markers, seeds of all kinds-even grass seed will work here.

If you provide lunch to your students and have boiled eggs for lunch, show the kids how to crush only the upper half of the egg, leaving the rest of the eggshell intact. Otherwise, ask parents to save and send in egg shells.

Then we put some soil and we plant 2-3 little seeds in it (don't think extravagant, a few lentils or beans would do just fine!). Water it regularly and watch it grow.
your preschoolers can take the time to paint the "tiny pots" before planting, and then place them inside the egg carton, it will look like a tiny garden!

your kids can start by making 3 of those little gardens, each containing 6 similarly looking eggs: we had the rainbow garden (eggs painted with a different color each), the dots and stripes garden, and even the family garden (a face was drawn on each eggshell to make it look like a person with the plants posing like the hair!)

They liked the eggshell gardens so much, now every kid has his/her own!

This is a fun activity for spring time or for fall to continue the idea of growing things inside if it is fall in your part of the world!



If you like these preschool theme ideas, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

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

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


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

Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


P.S. If you would like to receive my free newsletters for ideas for your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

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