Gumdrop STEM

Gumdrop STEM project earlier this month. 

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We tried to build something that would stand up. So basically we just ate gumdrops and got sticky. 🤷‍♀️ Total success! 👊🏻

Tt is for Teeth

Green teeth? You bet! We learned about good dental hygiene this week and that meant "brushing our teeth" with minty green paint with toothbrushes.

Our teeth week also included a field trip to a local dentist office where the preschoolers got to learn all about a visit to the dentist. I love taking my preschoolers on field trips as often as possible. We learn so much when we can connect our classroom learning to our outside world!

Rr is for Robots

There are so many words that start with the letter R. But for me and my class, robots were the most fun R word to focus on for our letter R week. We created a different robot every day. We made balancing robots the first day. The preschoolers had such a great time trying to balance their robots on anything and everything. The trick to this balancing experiment is the two pennies that are stuck to the back of the robot's hands.

We read "The Robot Book" one day and learned that out of all the robots parts and gadgets, it is what's inside that makes him tick; his heart. 

The preschoolers also used their brilliant imaginations to invent their very own robot. They got to design it and decide what kinds of things it would do. 

Our culminating activity for robot week, was to build our own robots out of tin cans. I manned the hot glue gun while each student created their very own robot design using all sorts of materials. We even used metal washers and nuts. I think they turned out as cute as can be!

Robot week was Really Rad!

Christmas Time in Preschool

December is an exciting time in preschool! There are so many fun things to do as we countdown the days until Christmas Break! Mixed in with all the fun are some learning experiences in disguise. We continued to work on our alphabet letters with the Letter G (for giving and gift) and the Letter J (for jingle bells). We made count down chains using patterns and even built our own Christmas villages in the block center.

 On gingerbread day, each preschooler made their own gingerbread house. If you want a super simple way to make a gingerbread house with young kids, get a house-shaped cookie cutter! Much easier than trying to assemble graham cracker houses. Plus these were made of actual gingerbread! Yum! Add some frosting and a bunch of candy, and you are good to go! The kids were in heaven!

 For the month of December my preschool class collected small amounts of money from their parents, other family members, or just what they could find around their houses, for our Angel Jar. I introduced the Angel Jar early in the month so we could focus on giving to others leading up to Christmas break. The money raised was delivered to our local bank in town, where they use it for less fortunate families who need help for the holidays. I love watching how excited my students get every single year to fill our Angel Jar. This year they raised about $57 in small bills and change.

 On the last day of preschool, before Christmas break, we took some time to celebrate with a little party. We played games, watched a Christmas movie, made yummy ice cream cone Christmas trees, and even got to visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus!

This was the first year I invited Santa to preschool, and am I ever glad that I did! If you could have seen the kids' faces when they heard those jingle bells! Some of the children were a bit reluctant at first to visit with Santa, but by the end of his visit, every single preschooler had shared their Christmas wish with him. 

And then, December was over. Just like that. We had a fun and very memorable month! I am so lucky to be able to experience the joy of the season with these little angels!

Miss Heather

Halloween Week {B is for Boo}

Halloween week at preschool has to be one of my most favorite weeks of the entire year! We did so many fun things this week. And don't be tricked. Most of the things we did combined learning and skills practice with fun, festive experiences!

Our Spooky Spider was fun to put together, but the fan folding of the creepy legs, was quite a tricky skill to master. Folding is a great way to practice using our fine motor skills.

Our Candy Corn Mosaics turned out super cute! We practiced our cutting skills with this project.

I put a special Halloween sensory bin in the science center this week. The preschoolers had a blast scooping, digging and exploring all the different Halloween items in the bin.

Our letter of the week was the Letter B for Boo! I painted each preschooler's foot and we made ghosts. These ghosts will end up in our alphabet book portion of our portfolios. I got the biggest kick out of the preschooler's giggles as I painted their feet. Many of them were quite ticklish!

We culminated our festive week with a Halloween party. Each preschooler dressed up in their costumes. We played Ghost Bingo, watched a special Halloween Max and Ruby, decorated sugar cookies, and made another flying ghost where the kids wrote "Boo" all by themselves. We had an absolute blast learning and celebrating Halloween together. These kids are the best! 

A is for Apple

Last week in preschool we focused on the Letter A and apples. Apple week was filled with so many fun learning activities. It is not hard to have fun and learn and the same time!

We tasted three different kinds of apples and created a graph based on our taste test preference. Graphs are a simple, visual tool that allows the preschoolers to interpret data and learn from it. It is easy to see here, which apple was the most popular. 

One thing I really love doing in my preschool class is to connect literacy with a project. Before we read "The Apple Pie Tree" together, we discussed and guessed why the book had that title. The preschoolers learned that apples grow on trees, apple pies are made from apples, so therefore the tree in the book "grew" an apple pie. We then made our own apple pie turnovers and ate them for snack.

Apple week would not be complete without apple printing. We cut the apples in half and used red, yellow and green paint to print apples on our Letter A page. This page will end up in the preschooler's alphabet book. Apple printing is a fun way to explore the inside of an apple.

One final project for apple week included an apple shape and gluing. We glued red paper squares all over our apple to make it look "delicious!" Using glue in this way helps the preschoolers develop their fine motor skills. They turned out so cute, right?!

Fire Safety Week

For fire safety week at preschool I like to focus on the exciting things, like fire trucks and fire fighters while also teaching the kids about the importance of fire safety and the danger associated with fire.  Last week at preschool we dedicated the whole week to fire safety and all the things that go along with it. 

The preschoolers used shapes and practiced following directions when they made these shape fire trucks. I especially love the individual details each child added to their own personal fire truck. Some added a fire fighter, others added lights and sirens, and most added a hose to their truck. :)

For snack time one day, we used graham crackers, frosting, pretzels and candy to make an edible fire truck. I was able to snap this photo of one of the finished products before it was eaten up.

One of the other art projects we did during fire safety week was a fire painting. The preschoolers used red, yellow and black paint, and then used a piece of plastic wrap on top to move the paint around to make it look like fire. I love how different each one looks, even using the same colors and technique.

 No fire safety week would be complete without a field trip of our local fire department. The preschoolers loved exploring the engines and all the tools the fire fighters use. They were able to climb in the fire engine as well as in an ambulance. They met several fire fighters and learned about what they do and the clothes they wear when they fight fires. They also got to squirt an actual fire hose! We had a blast and learned a lot!