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Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Group Time Ideas

We usually start our preschool day out by doing a group time. It usually consists of doing some of the following, plus any other other activities that I think work well then:
Do the calendar, read books and do the activities about the letter & number, read the book about spring and do the journal page (language/literacy), play large muscle game & sing music song.
I thought it might be helpful to show you some of the things that really help us in group time:

This is the calendar we use. We sing little songs about the days of the week and months of the year and I let the kids tell me all about our day (with help, if needed) and move all of the days tags into place. They really catch on quickly to the routine. We got our calendar at a Lakeshore Learning store in town.
This is just a fun poster that we use to identify the letter of the day. I will give clues about the letter such as: our letter is by the orange square with an elephant and an eagle on it ("Ee"), then the child will find it and tell me what letter it is (if they can).
After we identify the letter, we read letter books. These are the ones I use right now. I get them from our local library. As I read I have the child find all of the letter of day they can on each page and we practice saying its sound(s) as the child points to the letter.
After we have read and identified and practiced the letter sound, we practice writing the letter. I use worksheets from learning page. I write the letter to demonstrate it, then help the child (usually a 4 year old) write the letter, then I let them practice on their own. They certainly won't (at least most kids) be able to write letters very well, but I feel like it is a good introductions to writing, the letter shapes and how to form them.
When we get to the number we are doing, we count up using an abacus to find our number. For example, I reminded them that last week we talked about 22, so today we counted up until we found the number after, which was 23. Then I like to demonstrate how to write the numeral as well as the number word, and then I let them practice writing it, if they want to. If I can find a book about that number we read and count the number in the book. Then whenever we want we count to our number (rocks and other small items, on our fingers, etc.)
The BIGGEST part of our preschool is reading. I like to get at least 10-20 library books about our subject, letter and number. We read and read throughout the week. A variety of good picture books help teach about things in a fun and interesting way. Plus, reading to your child is SO important to do each day. We love the library!!!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Costume Parade

Provide a variety of costumes. Let the children dress up in different costumes and go on a parade to display them.



Painting with Props

Let the children paint on the easel of paper with either spools, clothespins or socks.

Sewing Machines

Show the children a sewing machine and how it works.

Tailor/Seamstress Shop

Set up a tailor/seamstress shop for children to pretend play fitting, sewing and mending clothing. Use any of the following props: sewing equipment, measuring tape, fabric, clothes, play iron, mirrors, phone.

Clothing Race

Set out different types of clothing. Have the children race to dress up in clothes as fast as they can.

Seasonal Clothing

Bring examples of clothing worn in the different seasons and talk about which season they are worn in and why.

Material Collage

Collect some scraps of material. Let the kids cut and glue the material to paper for collage.

Clothing Field Trip Ideas

Visit a laundromat, tailor/seamstress shop, or clothing store on a field trip to learn more about different types of clothes, how to make them, or how to care for them.

Laundromat


Tailor Shop

Line Them Up

Write numerals on clothespins, let the children pin them up on a clothesline sequencing them in numerical order.

Laundromat

Set up a laundromat for the children to pretend play washing, drying, folding and ironing clothing. Use any of the following props: clothes, laundry baskets, detergent bottles or boxes, washers/dryers (boxes).

Markers on Cloth

Find some old cloth, cut up to paper size. Let the children draw with markers on the cloth. Talk about the difference in texture from drawing on paper.

Pigs In A Blanket

  • 1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
  • 4 hot dogs
  • shredded cheese
  • ketchup
  • mustard

Directions Preheat oven to 375 F.

Separate crescent roll dough into 8 triangles. Take hot dogs and cut each on in half crosswise. Place each hot-dog half on the wide end of the crescent roll and sprinkle with cheese, then roll it up.

Space the hot-dog rolls evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake approximately 13-15 minutes until the rolls are brown and flaky. Let cool for a few minutes before serving with ketchup and/or mustard (These even go great with ranch!).

Recipe found here:

http://www.thebellalifeblog.com/2009/09/08/kid-friendly-recipe-pig-in-a-blanket/

Clothing Store

Set up a clothing store for the children to pretend play buying and selling clothing. Use any of the following props: racks, clothes, cash register, money, carts.

Sock Match

Provide different types of socks in a basket, kids can match and fold them into pairs. Talk about how a pair means a group of two.

Clothing-Costumes Journal Page

Read a book about clothes then hand out a journal sheet with this question on it: "What kind(s) of clothes do you like to wear?" Record the children's responses and let them draw a picture to go along with their response.
Click on the image to view and/or print.

Hat, Shirt, Pants and Shoes

(Sing to the tune of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes)

Hat, shirt, pants and shoes;
Pants and shoes;
Pants and shoes;
Hat, shirt, pants and shoes;
Cover all my body.

Washing Clothes

Proved clothes and water in a the sensory table for the kids to wash the clothes. When they are done washing them, they can ring them out & hang the clothes out to dry on a clothesline.

Sink & Float Fabric

Provide many different types of fabric and some water and let the children experiment with them to see which types sinks and which types float.

Who Wears This?

Bring different types of clothes (baby, sports, occupational, ladies, mens ...) and talk about who would wear them.

Sewing Buttons

Help the children to sew buttons on material, talk about the different equipment and tools you need and explore different types of buttons.