Preschool Cooking Activity - Dairy Free Ice Cream

My preschoolers are as excited about the holidays as adults. They want to celebrate and get into the festivities so I though a preschool cooking activity is ideal.

You may be hosting a classroom party or small get together for the children and their parents so I suggest serving something that the children helped to prepare.

One of my readers sent this excellent recipe to share. If you have children with severe dairy allergies,try this recipe for creamy popsicles and our dairy free ice cream.

Dairy Free Ice Cream Popsicles
Need:
Bananas
Peaches
Fruits that are available
Coconut Milk
Honey

Have the children cut up fruits, such as Peaches, and Bananas. Freeze them in small slices. When frozen put them in the blender with an amount of coconut milk just to cover the frozen fruit and blend. Add small amounts of coconut milk as needed to
allow for blending and you'll have a delicious soft serve ice cream.

Very delicious, healthy, non fat and dairy allergy free. Honey can be used as sweetener if necessary.

Fresh fruits, bananas are always a good thickener, and juice or coconut milk to help blend, honey if necessary, put into popsicle molds and the kids love them, because there is no sugar or icky ingredients, I can use them often.

If you like this preschool cooking activity, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

http://www.mypreschoolplan.com/p/ar.html

Until next time,

Mary

Preschool Fall Activity - Thanksgiving Treasure Hunt

I want to share this preschool fall activity because it is one that can be adapted for all countries at harvest time.

In the United States, the holiday of Thanksgiving is in November. It is a time for families and friends to get together and share a special meal and talk about what we are thankful for.

Our holiday meal is based on the fruits of the fall harvest. Special recipes are shared among friends and families.

To teach my preschoolers about some of the foods they may have at Thanksgiving dinner, I like to show them what it looks like at harvest time before it is prepared.

We often show baskets or cornucopias filled with these vegetables and fruits. My fun way of doing this is to have a Treasure Hunt. This time the treasure is the food!

Thanksgiving Treasure Hunt

NEED:
Pictures of fall harvest vegetables and fruits. (I cut some out of magazines and laminate them or cut them out of construction paper and laminate those as well.)

Plastic foods can also be used in place of the pictures if you have them available. (Check out the Dollar stores for these.)

Empty cornucopia which I find at craft stores. You can use a harvest basket instead.

ACTIVITY:
Hide the pictures of the food or the plastic food around the room. Be sure to have doubles of everything you hide.

We start with a circle time where I show them what a cornucopia is and what foods are part of a typical fall harvest.

Send the kids on a Thanksgiving-themed treasure hunt to find all the foods they need to fill their cornucopia.

Divide the children into evenly numbered teams.
Give each team an empty cornucopia or basket.
Give each team a picture list of food items that you have hidden around the room that they must find.
The first team to find all of the items that they need to fill their cornucopia can help the other team find what they are missing.

My preschoolers never tire of treasure hunts. They are beginning to learn to work together in a spirit of cooperation.

I hope you like this preschool fall activity.

Please share this by clicking below. Leave me a comment too.

Check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

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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 here.

Mary


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Preschool Painting - Finger Paint Pumpkin

Fall here in the US is all about pumpkins! If you celebrates Halloween, you will be carving jack-o-lanterns. If you don't the pumpkins are also used for Fall decorations. Try this preschool painting pumpkin activity.

This is something that is for all ages and easily adapted for all ages.

Finger paint is a multi-sensory art experience for your students. They enjoy the feel, the texture and they discover the designs they create.

At first some of them may be hesitant if they haven't done this before. Let them use their fingertips to just touch the paint. It doesn't take long until they are enjoying the experience.

NOTE: Always have a bucket of warm water, towels and/or wipes at hand since they do want to wash their hands often.

Finger Paint Pumpkins

Materials:
finger paint paper
orange food coloring
condensed milk

For two year olds I draw a pumpkin shape on the finger paint paper ahead of time.

For older preschoolers I have a template of a pumpkin shape. Either I help the trace the shape onto their paper or with 5 year olds, allow them to trace on their own.

Mix the orange food coloring with the condensed milk.

Let the children to finger paint the pumpkin on their paper.

The finish results of this is amazing since they have a different texture than regular paint. The pumpkins dry and are SHINY.

Kids of all ages love this project.

Do you like this activities for preschool painting?

Please share this by clicking below. Leave me a comment too.

Check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

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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 here.

Mary


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Preschool Halloween Craft - Footprint Ghosts

October means fall and Halloween for most preschoolers. To corral this excitement try this preschool Halloween craft with them.

These make fun classroom decorations as well.

Footprint Ghosts
I only do this with 2 children at a time during center time.

Have children take off one shoe and sock. One child sits in the chair and the other child paints the bottom of that child's foot with white paint.

When the bottom of the foot is covered, have the child stamp is foot down on a piece of black construction paper. Have a tub of warm soapy water nearby and a towel for the child to wash his/her foot off. Then the children switch.

When the pictures dry, I let the children put two stickers on for eyes (or holes punched from a hole puncher or googly eyes). The heel part of the footprint is the ghost's head.

It's really cute and it's such an unusual art project that my kids remember it for the whole year!


If you like this preschool Halloween craft, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

http://www.mypreschoolplan.com/p/ar.html

Until next time,

Mary


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:

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Preschool Science - Window Nature Observers

Fall provides so many opportunities to teach preschool science--especially the seasons.

Go for a walk, and begin pointing out things that are changing--of course colors of leaves are the most noticeable.

The weather is changing too so there are many days you can't go outside so here is an option for observation skills.

Window Drawing

As the days get colder we enjoy, drawing on the windows. Use the crayola window markers.

Draw the trees with full leaves and day by day as the leaves fall erase a leaf, until the trees are bare.

I use this as a tool to teach about change, which also includes things around them and the environment.

You can also start a chart next to this and make a mark each time you erase a leaf. Then you can use your marks for numbers and counting fun.

If you like this preschool science activity, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

http://www.mypreschoolplan.com/p/ar.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


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Activities for Preschoolers - POWER TOOLS

What a treat to receive this idea for activities for preschoolers. I couldn't wait to share this with everyone. This idea hits math, science, teamwork, communication, motor skills you name it! The key is safety!

This can fill days and weeks with ideas for your preschoolers.

Find someone who is knowledgeable with power tools, cordless screw guns, sanders, hammers, screw drivers, sand paper, router, saws all types, any power tools you can come up with. Maybe a parent or friend would volunteer for this.

POWER TOOLS
I know this sounds scary but our kiddos really enjoyed it. Of course we took all the safety precautions!

We first went to a construction site for a field trip. We were able to watch as they had trusses set on a roof by a crane.(We were in a lot across from the job site) sketch pads were in hand. They drew pictures of what they saw.

They heard all the power tools, and the men scrambling around. We talked about safety and why they wore hard hats, why some of them had ropes attached to them how they communicated and worked as a team. It was great.

Some of the crew came over on their break and answered some questions for us. They showed us their tool belt and some of their tools.

The next day we had a display up of all types of power tools. The children watched a demonstration of how all of them worked. Then they were given boards with screws, or nails and were able to test out what was faster and easier, screw gun vs screwdriver, hammer the nails, (we did not have them us a nail gun but watched again how fast they were). We did let them us a belt sander vs sand paper. We had small hand saws they tried and then watched all the other saws cut. Tape measures, yard sticks, rulers. Flat edges, squares and angles.

The class kept this project going for about 4 weeks. We drew plans and made a stage to sing on. We used boxes and made houses, then painted them. They loved using the power tools on just throw away lumber the construction crew gave us. (They throw away a lot!)

We glued tile down for flooring in a refrigerator box. There are so many ideas that come from this project.

BEST OF ALL-let the kids lead the way. Some of the kids were more interested in the drawings and painting. Some were more interested in using the tools.

Work with a local contractor. Let the contractor know that this is also a great lead for them! Put an article in the local paper. It will advertise for you and the contractor! Don't forget to thank them! We baked cookies and took them to the job site for their snack.

You can modify this idea for one that suits your area. Try visiting a working farm, post office, grocery store, etc. Use this for real hands-on learning. Nothing better than this!

Do you like these activities for preschoolers? Please share this by clicking below. Leave me a comment too. Thanks so much for sharing these ideas! Keep sending them to me and I will post them for all of us.

Check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

http://www.mypreschoolplan.com/p/ar.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 here.

Mary


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Preschool Games - Preschool Post Office

Here is one of the preschool games I use at the beginning of the year to help my preschoolers remember each others names and to recognize their own name when they see it in print.

This is something I have used for years and the children never tire of it. Learn by doing and playing; your preschoolers will love it.

Preschool Post Office
Set up a post office in your preschool. Cover a box to resemble a mailbox.
Fill the postbox with envelopes containing all the childrens names.

One person plays Postman and hands out an envelope to all the children. The children then take turns opening their envelope and trying to identify the name.

This is great to work on letter recognition and beginning sounds. With or without help from everyone else, once the name is identified the child delivers that name to the correct child and then that child has a turn.

Continue until everyone has received their name.

Variation: Put one of the letters, shapes,or even numbers you have studied in the envelope. Ask who can identify what is in their envelope.


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

http://www.mypreschoolplan.com/p/ar.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 here.

Mary


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Preschool Listening Skills - Who's Under the Blanket

With the start of the school year, we focus on providing our preschoolers the necessary skills to learn and the expectations of how to behave in preschool. Preschool listening skills are at the top of the list for sure.

One of my readers sent this in and I couldn't wait to share it.

It works on listening skills but it can also be used to help them get acquainted with their new classmates.

Give this game a try. You'll be as hooked as I am.

Who's Under the Blanket?

This is a game that the children just can't get enough of.
It's called "Who's Under The Blanket?"

Choose one child to go hide their eyes(behind a shelf maybe).

Motion for another child to quietly hide under the blanket, then everyone chants "Who's under the blanket,who's under the blanket, come and guess, come and guess".

The child hiding their eyes tries to guess who's hiding under the blanket.
Give hints by letting the child know if it's a girl or a boy or the child under the blanket can say "Hello"; that will usually give it away pretty fast.

Then the child under the blanket gets to go hide their eyes and choose another child to go under the blanket.

You can put your own twist on the game.

You can even gear the game for your theme, for example Dinosaur theme--"Who's the Dinosaur Under The Blanket, Come And Guess".

The children have to work really hard in not blurting out the name of the child under the blanket, great for practicing the rules of a game and listening skills.

Do you like this preschool listening skills game,?

Check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

http://www.mypreschoolplan.com/p/ar.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 here.

Mary


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Teaching Preschool - How to Get Preschoolers to LISTEN

Fall is just around the corner and all of us are getting ready for our new group of children. Teaching preschool means you are their first teacher and they have no expectations or experiences of what school is all about.

I believe that the sooner you set teach your preschoolers how to pay attention is with a rhyme that they can easily learn and know the expectation when they hear it.

Even better is that they begin to complete the rhyme when you start it and give you their attention quickly.

This idea is similar to one I have used but works even quicker! One of my readers sent it in for all to try.

123 Eyes on Me

When you start teaching your class and the children are not listening just say, "123. They will look at you and wonder what you are doing.

Say to them, when I say 123, I would like you children to say, "eyes on me".
They love it when I say this to them.

They love to answer back and it helps remind them to listen.

I get more done in the classroom setting because if it does start to get out of hand, I will just say 123 - eyes on me .

Once you start doing this they will automatically stop. It works every time! Most important--don't move on until they are quiet.

The whole point is to teach them politely to listen and they will mirror it back to you.


If you like this teaching preschool idea, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

http://www.mypreschoolplan.com/p/ar.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


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Fine Motor Preschool Activities - Scissors & Cutting Skills

Teaching preschoolers how to use scissors and is an ongoing task for us preschool teachers. This is one of my favorite fine motor preschool activities which allows time, fun, practice and "mess control" all in one activity.

This can be one of your centers in your classroom and four at a time is the maximum number of children I allow at any one time. Use this as a rotational activity with other similar ones.

Swimming Pool Cutting Center

One of the skills we are always working on is fine motor cutting with sissors.

You can buy a hard shell swimming pool for around 10$. It fits four students with lots of room to spare and it fits in the corner of the room nicely.

Fill it with old magazines and let them pick their favorite pictures to cut. They love being in the pool and all the mess is contained.

Be sure to make one of the rules--no standing!

Try this to allow them time to practice this necessary skill. They can simply enjoy the process and not have to worry about accuracy.

Let me know if you have any special ways you have of teaching this skill.

I will post them here for all of us to enjoy.


If you found these fine motor preschool activities helpful, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

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

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:

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Easy Preschool Summer Crafts - Summer Fish, Mirror Images and Sculptures

I hope your summers are going well and the kids are having fun. I have a few easy preschool summer crafts to share with you.

Thanks to all my readers who are flooding me with wonderful ideas! Preschoolers love to have hands on crafts that produce immediate results they can share with their classmates and families.

Give these a try and enjoy! Please send in your ideas to share. I will post them here on the blog.

Giant Wall Fish!
Here is a summer idea for giant fish! I cut a master copy of a giant fish from tagboard and let the kids trace it onto another piece of tag board (paint paper works too) and let them decorate it. The face was painted on and a giant eye was glued on the painted face.

We then used watered down glue to "paint" the fins and covered them with glitter. Last but not least we used colored "post-its" (we hat pre-cut one side round and left the sticky side straight) as the scales. Each child has a unique fish to call their own!! We put them on our bulletin board with other sea creature and they look awesome!

Styrofoam Sculptures
Mary, I've done this idea for a few years now and some of the things my preschooler's like the best is pieces of styrofoam. I borrow golf tees left over from summer, and go through my junk drawers to find anything they can hammer or press into the packing material. I take duct tape and secure each edge and provide plastic hammers and let them go! They love it, they love the mess and they love their sculptures, they love pulling pieces in and out and rearranging. It's messy but it's preschool!

Mirror Image Paintings
Let children paint a picture, when they are finished, we put another piece of paper over painted picture and use a rolling pin over it. It creates a "mirror image". They always think this is very neat!

If you like this idea for easy preschool summer crafts, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner a try.


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


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:

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Preschool Science Activities - Jumping on Air

If you are looking for hands-on preschool science activities you
must try the activity below.

In the spirit of sharing one of my readers sent this in and I couldn't wait
to share it.

It involves the kids, lets them experience and discover so many concepts--their own weight, what will hold them up, counting, cause and effect and even recycling!


Jumping on Air
Materials: plastic bags from grocery
plastic ties,large garbage bag

What to do:
1.Blow up a plastic bag.Secure it with a tie.Let a child sit on it.What happen?It will pop
2.Discuss the fact that one bag is not strong enough to hold us up.How can we make stronger? By adding more bags and bunching them together we can create a cushion of air. These can support not only one child but many.
3.Let the child help to blowup numerous plastic bags. Use the tie top to secure tightly.
4.Place many inflated bags into a large garbage bag. Secure the bag with a tie when it is stuffed with the air filled produce bags.
5.Let the children sit on,fall onto or jump on it.
6.What happens? Did the bag burst? Why not? The air distributed and formed a natural cushion for the children as they jumped.

Your preschoolers will love doing preschool science activities. Get them involved and learning takes place and so much fun.

If you like these preschool science activities, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner a try.

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

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:

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Circle Time - Quiet Bottles and Calendar activities

One of the special times each day in preschool is circle time.

It helps to set the tone for the day, to regroup after a boisterous activity and to review the events of the day. So much can be done at this special time.

Here are two wonderful ideas my readers sent it to share. We all can use ways to bring quiet time to the circle. Try the Quiet Bottles. Teaching calendars is so much fun and often challenging so try the Calendar Circle time idea with your kids.

Quiet Bottles
This is an idea that my 3-4 yr old class loves

I saved several of the smaller, plastic Coke bottles to make these.
(I make these in front of the children so their question of "How did you do that?"
is answered by observing.)

Fill each bottle about half and half of water and cooking oil.
Add a few drops of food coloring. Glue the lid back on
and twist tightly. I make several bottles and make them different
colors. The children can hold these during circle time and watch the
"waves" quietly while listening to our story, etc. I remind the
children to be as quiet as their bottle is. The bottle keeps busy hands
occupied instead of bothering a neighbor.

TIP: these bottles are also ideal for calming really hyper children.

Circle Calendar Time

One idea that I like to use during circle time when I do my calendar is:
When counting down the days of the month that have passed I like to incorporate movement, for example, in the month of October we pretended to pick pumpkins for every day of the month that passed.

Each month the theme changes and so do the type of movements. January we snow skied down the slopes, Feb. we did heart beats, March we were dinosaurs, etc... Use your imagination and let the children help decide, it is a fun way to get the wiggles out!

Thanks so much for sending in your ideas. Keep them coming and I will post them for all of us to use.

If you like this idea for circle time, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner a try.

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

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:

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Preschool Travel Games - Train Travel

With summer vacations starting I like to use preschool travel games and transportation themes in June.

Preschoolers love to pretend and what better way to to stimulate their
imagination than to take a pretend train ride.

I use circle time to talk about trains and ask about their own experiences with trains. Some children may have been on a train and others only read about them in books or seen them in videos or on television.

Train Depot Game

I often bring in a model train display to the preschool to show the preschoolers.

I set up a train depot with tickets.
The children buy tickets with fake money. The children give their ticket to my assitant, or to another child who acts as the conductor, so he/she can punch the ticket as they go in to watch the train display.

I allow them to take turns and run the train around the track.

They like to make the sound effects of a train engineer or conductor. Lots of fun here!


Crafts: Train Car

Each child will need color construction paper, large rectangle shape for the train car, 3 small rectangles for windows and two circles for wheels.

Use this activity to teach shapes, counting, and color recognition.

You can have an engine already displayed on a wall or bulletin board.
The students add their cars when they finish.

Each student starts with a piece of colored construction paper. If you have students who are able to use scissors, help them cut out rectanges and circles. If not, pre-cut these shapes for the younger ones to glue to their cars.

**(Remember that cutting can be difficult so depending on the ages of your children, you may want to precut some of the shapes or you can use stickers and labels of varying sizes. Mailing labels will make great windows.)

They can cut out a rectangle for the car (or you can help them cut.) Then, they can use several small, white rectangles to serve as the windows of the car.

Once those are glued in place, students can use two small, black circles for the wheels. When everything is glued together, students may decorate their car however they wish.

Each student makes a train car that will join with everyone else’s to make a full-length train.

If you like these preschool travel games, 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 Art Activities - Hands-On Activities: MESSY & FUN

I can't imagine a day with preschoolers without preschool art activities. These provide direct hands-on learning and can be done indoors or outside.

Here are a couple of activities that have been sent to me for all to try. The first one is using clay--an excellent medium to use at the water table and gives immediate gratification to children. They can learn to make shapes, figure out what shapes can hold things and which can't.

The second one teaches colors, mixing colors, cause and effect of actions and creative ways to use ordinary household items in new ways--Fly swatters!!!


Molding Clay Containers
All this indoor activity requires is:

Molding clay
Water- use judgment, enough to keep wet.

We put the clay and water on the table. Give the children enough to work with.
Wet the area with water(you may want to use sand/water table)
The children begin to create miniature bowls, baskets,(whatever their skill level may be).

Once they have molded their clay into their design, let dry for a couple days. Once dry good. Children can paint them. Fill the with miniature goodies, flowers, etc.

FAIR WARNING-- this can be very messy, but it is lots of fun.

Fly Swatter Art
I have a simple but really fun art experience for the theme BUGS!

I DO THIS ONE OUTSIDE. Smocks are essential. Messy but oh so fun!

You can either draw or print some flies onto large paper for the easels and give the children new fly swatters.

Place some paint onto baking trays, two colours that make a new colour is usually good and they dip their swatt in and swatt the flies.

This teaches hand & eye co-ordination and if the colours get mixed they learn about new colours.

The children love this! You just have to watch the over exciteable ones as they tend to swatt everything or swatt too hard making paint fly everywhere!!


If you like these animal themes for preschool, 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:

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Preschool Nature Activities - Wall Collage & Bird Nests

Here is in the US spring is finally here. I can't think of any better plan than to do preschool nature activities with my kids. These ideas are definitely not limited to the spring time but we are all anxious to get outside and enjoy nice weather--finally after so much snow.

Going outside for walks, observing their world around them, collecting things along the way provide hours of fun learning activities to do in the classroom or outside.

Here are just 2 of my nature activities that are always a hit.

Environmental Wall Collage
we like to walk around outside & find items to put on a giant wall collage. The children find the items, glue it to poster board if they want to or straight on the wall collage.

Next we write a short story on where we went, what we found, and the children get to show off to the parents or guardians. It’s a great way to get them to recognize the environment around them and then the gluing helps with the fine motor skills and the story helps the language & development.

Use this activity before an Open House in your school and all the parents get to see just how busy their children have been!

Bird Nest
Try making bird nests with your class. Go for a walk with your preschoolers and ask them to collect twigs from the school yard. Take your twig treasures inside for your project.

Show them a real bird nest or a picture of one and tell them they will get to make their own nest. You will need a disposable foam bowl for each child.

You will need to cover the inside with craft glue. They put their twigs inside their bowl and then they pour some more glue on top of it. Set them aside for two days (or until the glue has dried.)

After two days show them how to take it out of the bowl and they will have their own personal bird nest. They are so proud of the nest that they made.

If you like these preschool nature activities, 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 Earth Day Lesson - Garden Soil Friends

Friday, April 22nd, is Earth Day and I feel quite strongly about teaching my
preschoolers about it. Try the preschool earth day lesson below that one of my readers sent in.

This is a topic that you can teach in so many ways and of course, HANDS ON, is my favorite way to teach.

So many of my readers feel the same way and have sent me wonderful ideas on how they teach about Earth Day. Try the idea below. So simple and meaningful. Your preschoolers will love it and learn about how the soil becomes so soft and rich for planting a summer garden or flowers.


Garden Soil Friends
On Earth day/week,we studied worms first.

Our hands on learning experience consisted of briging in a pile of organic garden soil, from my garden, squirt it with water, and we waited for the worms to crawl out.

We touched them, smelled them, we could see them, listened to them, it was great!!

Each child took a bag of dirt home, named their wormie, and gave it a new home in their back yard.

It was magical to watch the children go from "ewe to wow". I want one, I want to hold one, can I take one home?

If you like this preschool earth day lesson, 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

Earth Day Preschool Theme - WHY IS EARTH DAY IMPORTANT

April is the month for Earth Day Preschool theme ideas.
It is never too soon to teach our children about Earth Day and how
important it is.

Preschoolers love learning about their environment and what better
time to teach them how to preserve it and take care of it.

Here is one idea I use to teach about pollution. It is my hands on
approach to teaching and quite effective.


WHY IS EARTH DAY IMPORTANT?

To teach my preschool class about pollution,
I asked each child to bring in a piece of recyclable garbage.

At circle time, I had prepared an imaginary pond filled
with paper fish. We sat around my pretend pond while I
told them a story about how the fish live in the pond
surrounded by the beautiful woods and how happy
they are to live in such a wonderful pond.

Then I explained that as people visited the area for picnics,
they begin to throw their trash into the water. I let
each child put their piece of trash in the pond and
they have to remove a fish. I let each child do this,
one at a time. As more trash goes in, the fish of course
have to come out. Soon the pond is full of garbage and
the fish are gone. How sad for the fish and the pond.

Next we all help clean up the pond by removing the garbage
and placing it into appropriate recycling containers which
I have made ahead of time by taping commonly recycled items
(newspaper, glass bottle, plastic container) to the outside
of a paper bag.

My preschoolers truly got the message of how important
it was to have the pond clean and the fish can come back to live!


If you like this earth day preschool theme idea, 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 Planning - Preschoolers Forum

I know how much time goes into preschool planning
for your weeks, themes, holidays, etc.

It is an ongoing process and always fun but here is
an outstanding idea that one of my readers
sent in recently.

She gives her preschoolers an
opportunity to be part of the process!

I can't think of a better way to build a sense of
self-esteem and ownership of a child's day than
to offer them the chance to plan!

Thanks for sending this. Love it!

Preschoolers Forum

My preschoolers and I have a preschool forum once a week where they get to be part of the planning process as to what they are learning and what their interest are.

We sit around the table and have "coffee"( in fun mugs mind you) and treats while we discuss what are plans should be.

This has been an amazing asset to my program as it gives the children confidence in themselves since they are an active part in my preschool planning.

Also, each of my students have a notebook so they can write down their thoughts (with my help of course) :)


If you like this preschool planning idea, 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 Alphabet Game - Mystery Letter Bag

Teaching the alphabet and letter recognition is one of the basics of preschool teaching. Use a preschool alphabet game to grab their attention and engage their curiosity.

Try this game that one of my readers sent in. I can't remember any preschooler who doesn't love mystery and guessing games! Thanks so much for sharing this.

Mystery Letter Bag
Every Friday my 4 year olds look forward to The Mystery Letter Bag.

A small white paper gift bag covered with question marks appears on a hook near our calendar each Friday. It's contents includes several small mysterious items that begin with our letter of the week.

I provide "clues" as to what they might be Letter O. "The first item in my mystery letter bag is a sea creature who starts with the letter O and lives on the bottom of the sea." If their hand is raised they will be given an opportunity to guess. If the correct object is not guessed I will provide further clues. "This item that begins with the letter O has eight legs".

I keep providing more clues until the correct answer is guessed. I will frequently put an interesting food item in for the children to sample Olives, Kiwi etc. They really look forward to this game each week.


If you like this preschool alphabet game, 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 Art Activities - Toddler Wall Mural

My preschoolers always enjoy their preschool art activities. I use art to teach as much as I possibly can--shapes, colors, science, nature, counting, numbers, etc.

Here is an idea that one of my readers sent to me that does exactly all of these things and can be used for your even your youngest preschool student.

Toddler Wall Mural
I have used this for my class of 18 to 24 month olds.

This time of year we are learning about our world starting with sea life, then insects, animals, then birds.

Each day I take one long sheet of colored paper (blue for ocean, brown for earth, green for forest, light blue for sky) and tape it on the floor covering **simple pictures of the types of wildlife we are discussing.

These **simple pictures I have outlined with hot glue so that my little ones can scribble over them and a "secret" animal will appear.

I then tape it to the wall: ocean lowest, earth next, forest, then sky highest.

We end up with a wall mural of different animals in their habitats and my students are so proud as they show Mommy where dolphins, earthworms, and deer live!

Thanks so much for sending in this idea.

I love getting these ideas and welcome any you want to send to me.

If you like these preschool art activities, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner and give them a try.


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


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

Animal Themes for Preschool - Alligator Hop & Penguin Village

Preschoolers worldwide love animal themes for preschool activities. It is a way to draw upon their imagination while teaching and enjoying hands on learning--my favorite!

Try out these ideas that my readers have sent in recently. The Alligator hop is an excellent use of recycling materials to make a gross motor activity for even your youngest preschoolers. You can include counting, color recognition and any other concept you wish to include.

The penguin village is perfect for all of us who are snowbound this winter! Again, using what nature has provided to fill your water table, add toy penquins, buckets, and, oh yes--gloves and towels for cold hands! Again imagination is key and it is a hands on activity that can be used to teach a science lesson while having fun.

It can't get better than this!

Alligator Hop
I took a colored print out of an alligator and put it on heavy cardboard. Laminated. Made 8 of these. Then made 8 pictures of logs (or rocks). Idea is to jump log to log----so you don’t fall into the swamp----and get your foot eaten off by an alligator. I used this even for my 2-3 year olds in home childcare.
Great for gross motor skills!!!

Penguin Village
For our Penguin unit we fill the water table with buckets of snow from outside and then let the kids play with small plastic penguins and other Lego animals in the snow.
We have 3 or 4 pair of extra gloves available for cold hands and a towel:)

We talk about what happens to the snow after an hour or so and get a science lesson about different forms of water and why it melts etc.
They love the inside snow and letting the penguins slide down into the water!

If you like these animal themes for preschool, 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

Activities for Preschool Children for Groundhog Day

The winter in the US and Canada this year has been particularly cold and snowy with most of us forced to stay inside! On February 2nd, the US and Canada celebrate Groundhog day. Here are activities for preschool children for Groundhog Day!

According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end.

If on the other hand, it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly "see its shadow" and retreat back into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks.

One of my readers sent this activity in for all of us to enjoy. Great for gross motor skills, following directions and just having fun!

Groundhog Tunnel Play
With Groundhog Day just around the corner I wanted to share this idea that my kids love.
I place a tunnel on the floor and they take turns crawling through pretending to be the Groundhog.
I sit at the exit end with a flashlight and a cloud shape and a sun shape that has a hole in the middle.
If the cloud is covering the flashlight there is no shadow so we say an early spring is on the way Hooray!
If the sun is in front of the flashlight there is a shadow so we say six more weeks of winter Oh NO!

Sometimes we do this after making a Groundhog Headband or mask that they can wear while crawling through the tunnel but they like to do this without one just as much.

I do hope you have fun with this one--wonderful imaginary play for all! If you liked these activities for preschool children for Groundhog Day, check out the other ideas in my 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

Inside Preschool Activities - Action Cube & Obstacle Course

January in the US for most of us means finding as many inside preschool activities to do that teaches, motivates and uses the pent up energy that results from "cabin fever". Preschoolers need to be active. They learn best when they are physically involved in the lesson.

All of my readers are sending in wonderful ideas to share and here are a couple of them that use the "learn by doing" philosophy that I use every day.

Circle Time Action Cube
This activity is a circle idea which involves a largish cube with a picture of a child jumping on one side, sitting on another, hopping on another, hands high in the air on another, crouching on another, lying down on another. The children take turns rolling the cube and everyone does the action.
Animals could be put on each side and the children be that animal on the roll.
OPTION: It could be a small group activity too where each child does the action individually - turn taking.

Literacy Obstacle Course
One thing I like to do when constructing the obstacle course for the class is incorporate literacy or numeracy learning–for example:

·Design obstacle course in a different shape each time (or number or letter) – children get a kick out of guessing.
·Write numbers, letters, sight words, or draw shapes etc in hopscotch squares for children to identify
·Place numeral, number representative, letters for sounds, shape etc cards around the course for children to identify.

If you like these inside preschool activities, 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 Alphabet Activities - Name Recognition

Happy New year to everyone! I'm back and so excited to share more ideas with all of you. We can all use preschool alphabet activities and this one is simple and easy and captures their attention.

So many people have sent in new ideas to me the past couple of months.

I find that some of the simpler ideas can be the most fun while teaching our preschoolers; that is what teaching preschool is all about! Having fun and learning all at the same time.

This idea for learning letters of the alphabet and name recognition is perfect.

All kids love singing a familiar song but changing up the words to personalize it make it ever better.


New variation of the BINGO song

This idea is one I do with my three year olds. During greeting time, we sing this song to the tune of Bingo.

"There's a little girl here we're glad to see and Greta is her name o, G, R, E, T, A, G, R, E, T, A, G, R, E, T, A, and Greta is her name o."

Explain to the children that you would like for them to stand when you call their name. I have a card with their name spelled out, and as I say the letter, I point to it so the children would hear the letter and see it.

The young children are learning to spell and recognize their names.
We all have a ball with this activity.

If you like these preschool alphabet activities, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner and give them a try.


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


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