Play-Dough Snowmen

First of all, let me say how good it is to sit down and blog.  Life has been so busy!

We had our first snow about a week ago. It happened over a weekend so I didn't get to bring any in for the kids to play with.   I thought it would be fun to see them make snowmen with pay dough.

  I have to admit, I am a one color at a time kinda girl! 

 Mixing the play dough colors drives me CRAZY! 

 So, I modeled how to carefully build a snowman and then take it apart without mixing the colors.  I was blown away by their creativity.  Check these adorable snowmen and snowgirls out!

We had to get fresh play dough after this one, but the story that was being told as she built her snowgirl a beautiful dress was priceless!

Thanks for stopping by my blog.  Here's a little Christmas freebie for you! 

Just a fun way to practice one to one correspondence and number recognition.

Just click on the page below and get it for free at my TPT Store.

Superhero Week

This is one of our favorite weeks!  Check out some of the fun we had!

The kids LOVED learning how to fly....

 Each child brought an old t-shirt from home that we used to make capes.  

They were welcome to dress up as superheroes all week if they wanted. 

 I had some little boys that were more than happy to wear their Halloween costumes again!

 We discussed the character traits of superheroes and ways we could have those same traits everyday.

 We also learned about some superhero's weaknesses.  

We were very careful not to touch the "kryptonite" as we had races to fill our buckets.

 We used our wrist shields to protect ourselves from the Bubbles of Doom!  

 Our superhero boots came in helpful too!

 Who says Venn Diagrams are only for big kids!  

We found things that were the same and different between Superman and Spiderman.

 We learned about the "super power" of static electricity.  

Rub a balloon on the carpet then hold it just above a plate of salt.  

The salt jumps up and clings onto the balloon!

 Some were curious what else they could get the balloon to stick to.  

Then they found the air vent! Amazing fun!

 

 Magnets were another fun "super power" to explore.

 The girls loved it just as much as the boys!

So did we!

This Week in Pre K... "Scarecrows"

A big thank you to Deedee Wills and everyone that entered the monster give away this weekend! 

Those are always so much fun! 

I worked on a new unit to go along with my scarecrow week.
You can get it in my TpT Store. It will be 10% off today only!

I am linking up with Deedee from Mrs. Wills Kindergarten.  Great ideas to be shared!

Thanks Deedee!

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Going Batty and a FREEBIE!

All you need are two ladders, a broom handle, and some tape!

  We had some gross motor fun today by hanging upside down like bats!  

The kids loved it!!

We had some fine motor fun too while working on number recognition and counting!

Here's a little FREEBIE for everyone! 

Enjoy!

This Week in Pre-K..."Insects and Spiders"

With all the creepy crawlies moving about, this is the perfect time of year to teach the kids about insects and spiders.  The weather here has finally started getting cooler.  This makes it easy to find spiders and other insects to catch in jars for the kids to observe for a day or two.  I just finished a fun product for this week to add to my math, literacy and science centers.  I  can't wait to see what kind of critters we can find this week!

My Lesson Plans : "Insects and Spiders"

Have a great week!

Worms and Apples

During centers today we observed worms. I encouraged the students to watch how the worms move.

 Some students were brave enough to touch them to explore how they feel, others observed from a distance.

 Some tried to find the longest worm!

We also made apple puzzles today.  I provided the students with an apple template and asked them to color and cut out their apple.  When they finished I drew a zigzag line across their apple.  They cut the zigzag line turning their apple into a simple puzzle.

Community Helpers - Construction Workers

Today we discussed how important construction workers are to our community. 

 They build all kinds of buildings....Wal Mart, McDonalds, churches, hospitals, banks, and even our school! We learned the names of some of the tools they use and  had some fun.

Measuring some wood for my building!  I will teach them how to really measure later in the year. 

 For now, this is more about the jobs and tools of a construction worker. 

 It's a great way to get number recognition in your block area! 

I used some nuts and bolts from Lakeshore and made up a fun game to play.  I  handed each student either a nut or a bolt and had them hide it behind their back.  When I said "GO!" they had to find a friend that had the matching piece and put them together.  Fun way to build problem solving skills, fine motor, cooperation, math-color and shape match, and reviewing new friend's names. 

The picture is a little blurry, they were in a hurry to find their match!

Name recognition and eye color!

We made it through our first full week of school!!!

  This week we spent a lot of time getting to know one another.  We discussed lots of ways we are the same and different. Like who's in our families, hair color, pets, the way we dress, the way we talk......

Here are some pictures of Friday's discussion about eye color.

The students took turns coming up to the chart to color their "eyes".

  I had two mirrors on the tray for them to use in case they wanted to check.

We couldn't leave Sampson our Bearded Dragon out!

We have also been working on name recognition.

  I have used a photo name chart for years and love it!  I thought I had a picture of it but I don't.  

 You can see part of it above in the picture with Sampson.  I tape pictures of the students on the back of a shelf and place their names under their pictures.  The names are laminated for durability.

  I attach them to the shelf with Velcro dots.  The students use them ALL THE TIME!!! 

 Here you can see students using them during our morning message.  

It is also great to use for classroom management as well as name writing practice!

During centers the students must sign up if they want to go to the sensory table.  This helps me remember who was next and relieves stress in the students by reassuring them they will get a turn IF they signed up. (They just practiced writing their name and didn't realize it!)

Everyone is happy!

Preschool Mazes

I had a student last year that was really interested in mazes. 

 I had a hard time finding some that he could be successful at on his own.

  Most of the ones out there are designed for older aged kids.  I created these with him in mind.  

There are 10 different mazes to choose from. 

 Just a fun way to build those "left-to-right" and "fine motor" pre-writing skills

 as well as problem solving skills!