Friday, October 30, 2009

Preschool Activities - Magic Wands & Relaxation


I thought all of us could use some ideas for preschool activities that focus on relaxation and listening skills. With Halloween at our doorsteps, my preschoolers are wound up like a spring! Listening skills are beginning to wane as well.

Here are two creative preschool ideas that one of my readers sent in recently. They are simple and so effective.

Keep these in your repertoire of preschool relaxation ideas


Magic Wands
This works really well for the preschoolers who do not want to sleep at rest time.

Buy some liquid glitter wands, ask them to lie on the floor or a mat, put on some quiet, relaxing music and ask them to follow your slow movements with the wand. When finished all the movements you can think of, ask them to sit up and do some movements with the wand. Then ask them to roll on each side and move with their wand sticks. Lastly ask them to stand up and ask them to follow some different slow relaxing movements.

Alternatively you can start with standing and slowly work to lying down and then ask them to place their wand on their chest, close their eyes and finish with a story on a tape. Preschoolers love this!

Listening Ball
When children are learning about listening and talking you can have a ball or special decorated box. Only the person with the ball or box is allowed to talk and gives some the confidence to speak. It works!


If you like these 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

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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Halloween Activities for Preschool - Black Cats & Trunk or Treat

Well the momentum is building and the preschoolers are so excited! Here are a couple of Halloween activities for preschool to help put some of that extra energy into a creative learning experience.

My mission is to tone down as much of thes scary aspects of the holiday and focus on the fun times that can be had together.

These ideas are ones I've used in the past; some were sent to me and others were introduced by parents. Give them a try. Send me any others you may have and they will be shared for sure.


Black Cat Hand Print
Paint the child's hand black. Make sure their fingers are spread open, put on white paper. The thumb is the neck of the black cat, cut out circles the size of about a big Gatorade bottle top. The fingers are the legs for the cat. We cut small triangle black ears, use goolie eyes and a tiny small red pom-pom for the nose. I hole punch white paper to glue two dots right under the nose. The kids glue the head at the end of the thumb, ears, eyes and nose on. We did the white hole punched paper ourselves. Once that is all done we had the children make their own tail.

Next we cut around the cats leaving just a little white showing. You can either trace a moon on yellow paper and let the kids cut out or you can cut out a moon out of yellow paper. I bought the white fencing that you use on bulletin boards so the children would glue the moon down on dark blue paper and then glue the fencing down and then glue their cat just above the fencing. This is a long process, but turns out so cute. Decorate your room or hallways with their creations.

Trunk or Treat
This idea was suggested to me and it has become one of our annual events and it is very fun and families love this too.

We have "Trunk or Treat" - Section off a part of the parking lot with cones for safety purposes. Invite parents and families to come and park their cars with the trunks open in our parking lot. They are invited to also come in costumes and to bring treats for the children. Most of them also decorate their trunks. We bring the children out with special treat bags that they decorated with markers and stickers(they are also invited to dress in costumes) and they trick or treat from car to car. Then we meet their families back inside and sing a couple of fun songs.

This gives everyone a chance to really see everyone's costumes - especially if the weather is a little cool and the children have to wear jackets outside. We love this activity!

Happy Halloween to all.

Mary

P.S. If you like these ideas Check out my Preschool Lesson Plans here:

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

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Friday, October 23, 2009

Preschool Counting Games - Number Recognition & Counting

One of the basic responsibilities of a preschool teacher is teaching numbers and counting. These are a few of the preschool counting games that I have used for years with great response from my preschoolers.

Give these a try and also use your imagination to make variations on these to meet your childrens level of ability and interests.


Number Uses
Try this at circle time when you have the direct attention of your class. Make a list with the class about all the times you might use numbers. Talk to them about how numbers show up everyday, from things like telephone numbers, street addresses, prices on things in stores, radio stations, etc. Ask them when they remember seeing numbers and if they remember their own telephone numbers, house number, classroom number, etc.

Counting Items
Hold up flashcards with different amounts of items. You can have 7 hats or 3 ice cream cones, etc. Ask students how many items they see and walk them through the counting process.

You can hold up signs or book covers and ask them how many of a certain letter they see, for example: How many “A’s” do you see on this page?

Number Word Recognition

Write the numbers 1-6 on the board. Under each number, write the word for that number. You will also need each number and each word written on separate pieces of paper. Have your class say the number and point out the word to them as they say the number. Next, cover the board (or erase it) and take your individual papers out. Hold up a number and ask what the number is. Then take a word and ask them if they can remember the word or the number it represents. You can actually place these in random order on the floor and ask the children to put them in order with the correct word under the correct number.


If you like these preschool counting 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

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Preschool Dinosaur Activities - Dinosaur Land


As a preschool teacher you know that a popular universal theme for preschoolers is dinosaurs. Add these preschool dinosaur activities to your list of favorites!

This idea finds a way to use playdough that is past its prime to create a fantasy land that your children will create and love. It was sent to me by one of my readers who wanted it posted for all to share.

You can use it to teach colors, textures, counting, landscape such as lakes, hills, mountains, foliage, etc. It lends itself to so many opportunities to teach using "hands-on" methods. That is my preference 100%.


Dinosaur Land

I had a large amount of homemade playdough that was past it's prime and instead of throwing it away the children and I used it to sculpt a land for our miniature dinosaurs. We started with a large plastic tray. We actually used a re-purposed diaper changing tray so it was very large. Any size would work, but the large size gave us room for many possibilities. We started pressing the playdough into the tray and playing with it creating mountains, volvanos, a depression for a pond, trails with dino footprints, dinosuars nests with effs, etc. We added plastic foiliage for trees, bushes, and flowers. When we had just the way we wanted it we let it dry for a couple of days. It dried to a hard state, with some surface cracks that made it look even better. In the depressed pond area we put glue with a little blue paint and let it dry overnight. It looked just like a little pond of water and gave the little dinos a well used watering hole. The kids played with this for weeks, and were very careful to preserve it as we made it. They were anxious to make repairs as plants would come dislodged. When it finally started to crumble it was easy to pull the plactic pieces out and get rid of the rest. This was one of my most successful impromptu activites.


If you like these preschool dinosaur 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.

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

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Friday, October 16, 2009

Preschool Themes - Permission and Licenses

One of the preschool themes I like to introduce is the idea of getting permission to do things. I link this to the concept of licenses which they may be familiar with.

To begin we talk about what a license is and what it means, for example, a driver's license. Most children know that you need a drivers license to drive a car. Ask them what they think this means. Their answers give you a clue as to their understanding. Point out that this license means that the person has worked hard to learn to do the special things that the license requires.

Ask them if they can think of other things that require a license. You can help them by giving ideas of driving a school bus, working as a doctor or a dentist, flying an airplane, etc. You can even mention that you need a license to have a preschool or home day care.

Most important is to draw the comparison to your preschoolers in getting "permission" to do things. Permission is a kind of license for them. If they get permission to do something it means that they have learned about what they want to do and have shown their ability to do something correctly.

One examples of a license you can make up for your preschoolers. Make "licenses" for outside activities such as riding tricycles. They have to show you the right way to get on, the ability to steer forward and how to stop. Then you can give them their license to participate in this activity.

You can use this concept for most situations that you are teaching. Showing ability and responsibility even at this early age helps them with manners, social skills and sense of self.

If you like these preschool themes, 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.

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

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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Preschool Science Activities - What Sinks and What Floats

Some of my favorite times with my preschoolers are doing preschool science activities. The children are so attentive and can't wait to be involved in the activities. During this time they are learning, observing, and helping each other and discovering the concepts that I am teaching them.

This is a preschool science activity that was sent to me recently. Try this one, add to it and modify it to your own situation.


Science-What sinks? What floats?

Ask the children what sinks or floats, after you collect a few items, penny, paper clip, block of wood, lego, duplo, spoon, pencil, or what ever you think of, enough for each child in the class. Also can turn into Math by asking How many sinks and how many float. Make it fun by letting them play in the water afterwards with boats.

If you like these preschool science 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.

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

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Friday, October 9, 2009

Preschool Fire Safety Activities

I believe all children should be offered preschool fire safety activities. It is critical to make these instructive and yet not frighten your preschoolers. Giving them the opportunity to pretend in a safe setting is a good place to start.

One of my readers shared the activities below. These activities also include alphabet recognition and reasoning skills.

Blanket of Smoke
I just did a fire safety unit and to reinforce crawling if there is smoke and letter recognition, I had the children pretend a blanket was smoke. They had to crawl under it and then find an alphabet letter. It was a fun way to handle a scary subject. I also bought some fireman figures at the dollar store and we talked about when it is appropriate to call 911. If it was a good reason we decided how may firefighters to put on the job and then counted them on a firehouse I made.

The kids loved it!

If you like these preschool fire safety 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.

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

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Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Preschool Ocean Themes - Under the Sea Room

My kids absolutely love it when we use preschool ocean themes for classtime. They have a fascination with the water--ocean, lakes, rivers, etc and the sealife that lives there.

Below is an idea that I do on the first day of the week when we are going to use preschool ocean themes for our lessons. The preschoolers enjoy making their own special place to have circle time, to look at books and to admire their art work.


The idea for the Jelly Fish was sent to me recently by one of my readers. Thanks so much for sending this in. Give it a try and your kids will like the feel and the lifelike creature they have created for their under the sea room.

Under the Sea Room
create an undersea area in the room by attaching blue and green crepe paper streamers to the ceiling with fishing line. Turn on the classroom fan or air conditioner to make a streamers wave like water. Hang some of the week’s undersea decorations including the mermaids from the “Mermaid Me” craft in the under the sea room, and mime swimming around the area. Add other decorations like spongers, sea shells, and seaweed.

Jelly Fish
Cook some Bean Thread or cellophane noodles according to directions (about 5 minutes in boiling water) Drain and rinse with cool water. At this point you can put them in the fridge until you are ready to use. (noodles can be found with Asian food or if your lucky at the 99 cent store, which is where I found them.)

For the "body" of the jelly fish, have the children take a piece of cellophane, or plastic wrap, scrunch it up so it looks like a jelly fish body and glue to paper. Now take the cooled noodles and let them hang from the body like tentacles.

The extended activity would be to paint a blue background on paper first so the jelly fish will show up. The noodles will stick to the paper, but because they are wet the paper does shrink some when it is dry.

The tactile stimulation of the noodles is great!


If you like these preschool ocean themes, 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

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Saturday, October 3, 2009

Preschool Curriculum Ideas - Fall, Apples and Counting

I find it easiest to use seasonal plans when creating my preschool curriculum ideas. For fall here in New England the ideas for my preschool class are numerous.

A favorite for sure are apples and foliage. One of my readers sent in this preschool idea recently and it takes both of these themes and uses them for counting, color recognition, shape recognition and most important, a hands on learning project. Give it a try!

Apples, Colors and Counting

This project was completed with a class of 3 and 4 yr olds.

1. Cut out a large apple using white card stock paper.
2. Depending on the number you are working on with your students, use that number for the activity. You can use the number 3 for 3 yr olds and the number 11 with 4 yr olds.
3. For each child, cut out:
A. 11 red circles for each child
B. 1 brown stem for each child
C. 1 green leaf for each child



Have each child pick up their own red circle and have them count out load (you will be assessing one to one correspondence).

Pick up one brown stem and one green leaf (ask the student to tell you the color of each…assessing color recognition)

Have student glue the stem and leaf on white card stock apple.
Now have your student glue the designated number of apples on the card stock apple.
Have student use crayon to color stem and green leaf on each of the apples.

Send the apples home, or put in their portfolio, or place on the classroom wall.


If you like these preschool curriculum 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.

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

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