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