Too Nice to Stay Inside Today!

Sunny and temps in the mid 80's today! 

 I decided to pack everything up and spend the day outside!  We had a blast!

 This is "Sidewalk Chalk Paint".  I saw it on Pinterest and had to try it out.  The kids loved it!

  Colors were much brighter than regular sidewalk chalk. 

 Super easy to make.......

 2 Tablespoons cornstarch, 2 Tablespoons water, and 5 drops food coloring.

We are learning about different habitats this week.  They loved playing with the sensory table outside!

 Some bowling fun!

 ( Number recognition and forest animals)

 Click on the picture above to get these bowling pins.

 Paper, glue, and nature. 

 All we needed to build habitats!

Ocean Week Wrap Up

Two weeks of ocean fun has come to an end.  We really could have kept going for another couple of weeks.  There is so much to learn and explore!  This bulletin board was a two week project!  We added animals and "fact bubbles" each day.  My students LOVED being part of the process!

 I began the ocean unit by reading a couple of ocean books just to introduce some ocean animals to them.  I then asked the kids which animals THEY wanted to learn about.  They created quite the list!  Each day, I chose two animals (one for the morning class and one for the afternoon class) to teach. With the assistance of the National Geographic Kids website and some great ocean books we did it!

 My students loved volunteering to create the animals for the bulletin board.  All the bubbles were facts they would tell us after we learned about them that day.  Great for language and recall!

We read this great book today about using your five senses at the beach.  

The kids showed off their creativity by making necklaces like the little girl did in the story.

 You can't go to the beach and ocean without catching some waves!  We used shelves and flat boards from the block area for surf boards.  I found a fun you tube video of kids surfing.  They loved watching it on the Smart Board while trying out their new moves!

 Have a great weekend!

Walrus Blubber!

Who knew blubber could be so much fun! Today we learned about the walrus.  We made an experiment to help the students understand how blubber keeps a walrus warm in the cold ocean waters they live in.

Super easy to do! 

 Fill a large zip-lock bag half way with butter then tape a smaller empty bag inside.  Fill the second large zip-lock bag half way with water then tape a smaller bag inside that one as well. Place both bags in a tray of ice cold water.  The students will be able to place their hands inside both bags to feel the temperature difference without making a mess.

Measuring Sand Castles!

Today we turned the block area into a beach by setting up beach umbrellas and beach towels.  I encouraged the students to build sand castles with the blocks.  We then measured the castles with these fun number cards.

Just soakin' up some sun!

Every beach needs a life guard!

 Not exactly ocean creatures, but the next best thing......Goldfish in the sensory table! 

 We were able to observe fish up close.  Gills, scales, swimming, and fish lips!!

Today only, 20% Off Sale!

As of today, I am officially an Army Mom!  My oldest son, Blake, just took his oath and is headed to basic training.  We just had family photos taken last weekend.  Blake is the one petting Sheila, the black and white dog.  To celebrate this new adventure, I decided to throw a sale!  Today only everything in my store is 20% off.  Enjoy!

Octopus vs. Shark

Two, out of the many, ocean animals we learned about this week were the octopus and the shark.  I found this great footage of what would happen if you put an octopus and a shark in the same aquarium.  Don't worry, it's PreK friendly!  Very interesting and lends itself to a fun math lesson!

 We made our predictions before watching the video.

  After watching, we declared the winner!

 Some gross motor fun with bean bags. 

 Feed the shark!

Here are a few other activities we had fun with throughout the week.

Oceans!

For the next two weeks, we will be learning about oceans! 

 Today we talked about jellyfish.

  Did you know that jellyfish don't have brains and some have 24 eyeballs?!

 What kind of fish goes well with peanut butter?

(Jellyfish)

These were some of the fun activities in my "Ocean & Beach Fun!" unit.  

Check it out at my TpT store.

A Closer Look

Today we took a closer look at butterflies.  I was able to get real butterflies from The Butterfly House near St Louis. The kids loved using the magnifying glasses to look at the wings, antenna, and proboscis!  

Next, we went on a butterfly hunt.  I had planned to do this outside but we had storms pass through last night and left everything too muddy.  We still had a great time!

You can get the butterflies and graphing paper along with a more challenging graph in my

 "Butterfly Life Cycles and More" unit in my TpT store.

Then we made a MESS!!!  We experienced what it is like to be snug inside a chrysalis and then transform into a beautiful butterfly.

I linked up with this wonderful blog.  Click here for more great butterfly ideas!

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A Mystery, Butterflies, and The "BIG" Birthday

Busy day in Pre K today!

I found what looks like an interesting chrysalis at my house and had to bring it to school.  I haven't revealed the mystery to the students yet. Tomorrow we are going to chart our predictions. 

 So, have you figured out what it is yet?   

Praying Mantis Egg Sack!

Here are some of the centers we had today while learning about the butterfly life cycle. 

 You can get all the activities at my TpT store.

Today was also my birthday.  Yes, the "BIG" Birthday!  

My students asked how old I was so I made them figure it out.

  It turned into a fun counting activity!