Preschool Alphabet Game - Name That Footprint Letter

Teaching the alphabet and letter recognition is one of the basics of preschool teaching. I love to physically involve my preschoolers while teaching them and I use this preschool alphabet game to teach letter recognition.


Name That Footprint Letter

1. Cut out footprints with light brown construction paper. You will need one footprint for each letter you wish to practice. You may want to make these out of tagboard as they will be stepped on.
2. Print letters of the alphabet on each footprint to help the child identify whichever you choose. Choose one in the same for each footprint (like all numbers or all letter etc.)
3. Laminate the footprints or cover them with clear contact paper.

Place the footprints in a line on the floor. Don't put the letters in alphabetical order or you'll get the "A,B,C's" sung to you.

Choose a number of footprints appropriate for the skill level and attention span of your students. Some children are not ready to recognize all 26 letters at once or to wait in line very long for a turn.

Children form a line behind the first footprint.

The first child walks the footprints, saying the sound or each letter's name before it is stepped on, trying to get to the end without making a mistake. If a child does make a mistake, tell him the correct letter name and let him continue.

When a child gets to the end of the footprints, he sits down to watch the next child in line. Listening to their peers reinforces their own letter recognition also.

Variations:

Instead of letters you can put numbers, shapes, or even different colors by pasting a piece of colored paper on the footprints. Then they can say the number or color or shape as they step on the footprint.

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 Science Activities - Dinosaurs and Birds

If you enjoy teaching science to preschoolers as much as I do, you will want to try these preschool science activities with your class.

The first one combines a favorite topic for all preschoolers--dinosaur--with another favorite interest which is eating and digestion. This was sent to me recently by one of my readers and is so much fun. Your kids will love this!

Use this activity also to show how dinosaurs digested their food the same way that birds digest theirs. This can be done in a circle time activity and also for gross motor skills and following directions when coupled with music.

Dinosaurs & Digestion
To demonstrate how plant eating dinosaurs digest their food (Same process can be used for a bird unit!) put one or two large lettuce leafs in a jar half filled with water. Place three or four 1-2 inch rocks in the jar and screw tightly shut. Pass around having the children shake the jar up and down and all around. This process will smash the lettuce to a pulp rather quickly "digesting it". Dinosaurs swallowed small rocks with their food (birds swallow sand and gravel).

To make it more fun, put on music such as Greg and Steve's "Freeze" song, or any other song you wish, to add dance to the process. Every time they say freeze or any time you stop the music, have the children pass the jar to a friend. Great movement and exercise and gets the job done quickly!

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

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


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

Winter Activities for Preschool - Balloon Snowman and Snow Painting

January weather has left no doubt that winter is in full swing. If you are looking for some winter activities for preschool look at these ideas.

Thanks to everyone who has been sending me these great ideas that they are using with their children. There are indoor and outdoor activities here that can certainly add to your projects for the day.

All hands on activities are ways to teach colors, textures, counting, science and learning to work together on projects or classroom decorations.


Balloon Snowman

Blow up small balloon.
Dip in white paint.
Press onto blue construction paper (press harder to form large circle for base).
Press a second time for middle section (don't press as hard).
Press a third time for head (least amount of pressure).
Glue on precut rectangle for scarf (construction paper).
Glue on precut top hat (black construction paper).
Using black paint, dip Q-tip and dot on eyes, nose, mouth, and buttons on body.
Black marker to draw stick arms.

Children have fun building their own snowman!


Outdoor Snow Artwork
Idea #1
You need a cookie sheet, different colored tempera paint in cups, and paintbrushes. Take children outside in the snow and have children pack the cookie sheet with snow. Let them paint on the snow using the paintbrushes. Take a picture with a camera for a keep sake.

Idea #2
Prepare food coloring and water in spray bottles. venture outside on a sunny day and have your preschoolers Work together to build snowmen. Let them take turns spraying the clothes on the snowmen with the different colored water. Creative and lots of fun. The children especially enjoy watching the colors evaporate or change during the weeks to come.


Snowflakes
Cut a green pepper in half crosswise. Let the children dip the pepper into white paint and press down onto dark blue colored construction paper. Add glitter to the picture before the paint dries.


If you like these winter activities 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

Preschool Classrooms - Special Tables and Snowflake Artwork

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! Welcoming a new decade is always energizing. This is a time to look at your preschool classrooms and give some new energy to your class.

Here are a couple of ideas that you can use to jump start this change.

Special Table
Have a “special table” set up to change as often as possible (weekly or more) although they may be used throughout the year it is fun just to allow the children to have a different focus as well as your theme etc.

You can use puppets, stuffed animals, colored stones, rocks, phones, unusual toys, hole punches, keys and locks, plants, fish, animal, shells, tools, scarves, musical instruments, cash register, clothes pins, tape measures.

You get the idea--anything can be used. There don't have to be many, just something different for a week or so that is not being used for any other reason in the room. Make a list so it is always available for you to jog your memory.


Snowflakes Art

Cut a green bell pepper in half crosswise. Let the children dip the pepper into white paint and press down onto dark blue colored construction paper. Add glitter to the picture before the paint dries.

Hang around your room or on the bulletin board for winter wonderland decorations.

If you like these ideas for your preschool classrooms, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

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


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

Christmas Crafts for Preschool - Ornaments and Instant Christmas Trees

Glad to be back and offering more ideas for Christmas crafts for preschool.
Sorry for the time away-the flu was much more than I could have imagined!

Good to be back and having fun during this special time of year. I have received so many wonderful ideas from my readers and want to share a couple of them.

I chose these because they are ideas that even your youngest preschoolers, even toddlers, can do! Give them a try and let me know how they work out.


Ornaments
Need---clear plastic 16 oz cups, permanent markers, and for the adults who help, an oven set at 400.

Take a clear plastic cup and have children color the cup with permanent markers.
Place the cups in an oven (400 degrees), and watch the cups melt. Once they are flat, the cups can be removed.

These make a great Christmas ornament; make a hole in top for hook.

**Really nice if oven is accessible with students, so children can watch the process of the cups melting.


Easy Christmas Trees

Need--Sugar cone ice cream cones, vanilla or green frosting, multi colored rice crisp cereal.

We do a really cute craft at Christmas with my prechool class. The students make a Christmas tree using sugar cones, vanilla frosting and colored crisp cereal.

Cover the cone completely with the frosting and simply roll the cone in a pie plate full of the colored crisp cereal. Let it set for a few minutes and you haev an instant Christmas tree!!! Set aside an area on a table and
create a holiday scene.


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

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


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 Holiday Crafts - Snowmen Votives

I have been flooded with requests for ideas for preschool holiday crafts! I will give ideas to you over then next few postings to help with this.

Crafts provide your preschoolers with so many learning opportunities. I like to personalize a craft as much as possible and use something unique to the individual.

Here is a "green" idea for a gift for mommy or daddy.


Snowmen Votive Candle Holder

Ask parents to send in their empty baby food jars. You are using recycled materials to make a gift with a personal imprint on it!

This activity is easiest to do when you have a helper, parent volunteer, etc. It also requires starting a couple of weeks depending on the size of your class.

Paint 3 fingers of each preschool child,individually, in white. (I would set this up as a center with your aide there.)
Gently press each finger on the glass and quickly pull away. The prints should be one on top of the other to resemble a snowman.

Do this with each child over the next several days.

Then make a sample one and use a permanent marker to add eyes, orange stick nose and black dots for his smile. Show this to your preschoolers and then let each child decorate their snowman. I use aides and volunteers with this part and have them do this in pairs with the aide.

Spray with an acrylic fixative.

The children now have a snowmen votive candle holder for their parents for any holiday.

You can use this poem on a gift card attached to the holder:

"These are snowmen, happy and glee,
However, they are really my fingerprints three!"

These are wonderful personalized preschool holiday crafts that your preschoolers will love making and giving.

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

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


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

Toddler Preschool Lessons - Going on a Bear Hunt

A lot of preschool lessons are geared for three year olds and older. Here are ideas for toddler preschool lessons that were sent to me recently by one of my readers.

I definitely agree that toddler lessons should be physical and exploratory.
Two year olds need to move around, feel, experience and be part of the lesson to learn as much as possible.

Try this variation to do the traditional "Going on a Bear Hunt" with your two year olds and have fun!

Toddler Going on a Bear Hunt--

I like to do physical stuff with my two year olds. We set up for going on a bear hunt. we take blankets and bucther paper making caves, and tunnels, on tables and chairs. cover them.

We use different colors to stress the color that we are working on like we are going thru the blue cave. We turn out the lights and have flash lights. We put out all kinds of stuff animals and plastic animals like tigers, bears, lions and so on. We climb over and under the children love it (great way to teach directions such as OVER and UNDER).

Allow them to help set up and clean up. Make your Snacks or treats like a camp fire, sing songs and just have a grand time.

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

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


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