Thursday, March 24, 2016

Hoppy Easter my little Bunnies!

What a quick week...with only 1 day it was hard to choose what to do! We accomplished many awesome things...including the letter Ee and some exploding of Peeps!

Tuesday:
After reading a fun story about Mice hunting for Easter Eggs...we made some eggs of our own!
Dot painting eggs...such great artists I have!



Egg-celent! 

Thank you to this mama...she helped me get those sweet feet painted, laminated, and cut so you could have a footprint carrot for your fridge! It is hard to believe those stinky feet will never be this small again! 


Many of you thought I was kidding when I said I was going to blow Peeps up in the microwave! Well...I wasn't!
We began our experiment with predicting what would happen when I put the Peeps in the microwave. Many said they would burn, explode, melt, and get hot. These were all amazing predictions.
This was a great way to teach that heat expands things. We talked about how when the Peeps got hot they grew...but when they weren't hot anymore...they shrunk back down. We also had a fun time recalling how we have roasted marshmallows before and we noticed that they got big too! And of course caught fire! :)

Just look at that giant Peep! The marshmallow...not my tummy! ;) 

The kiddos got to eat some Peeps. 

If you try this at home...the chicks seem to grow more than the bunnies for some reason. 

Math Time...
Let's sort some jelly beans. I love sorting things! This is for color recognition...1:1 counting...problem solving...and even fine motor (those beans roll everywhere!) 

So proud!
Remember this is a great activity that can be suited for all levels. Simple 1:1 counting (individual colors to counting them all together) to challenging when using words like least and most and simple adding (how many red and black beans do you have altogether)


Does it surprise you that I sent this activity home?? Let your kiddos show you what they know!

Math time with carrots.
The kiddos could either read the number or count the lines on the carrot to see how many carrot leaves they needed to add. Many found this fun way (pictured above) to match the leaves to the lines.

LOVE that counting!

Yes sweet girl...Perfection!

Driving the E!
A fun way for kiddos to trace letters is to use cars!
I found this cool link for all of the letters and numbers...you can print them out if you like!
http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/RacecarABCcards.htm


I touched on it with the kiddos that sometimes letters can make more than 1 sound. Yes...this is a tricky concept at this age...but it is good to introduce it to them.
Ee is for eyes!

I love when they peel stickers! Such a fun fine motor activity.

Jelly Bean Prayer...I sent this home with the kiddos as a gift from me. We spent a lot of time talking about the meaning of Easter (more than just egg hunts and bunnies).
Here is the link to my favorite website that helps me incorporate the bible into my classroom themes.
http://preschoolpost.com/blogupdate/2013/03/27/easter-bible-lesson/

Our Verse for the week was:
Matthew 28:6"He is not here; he has risen,"

What a fun day we had together! We also finished up Jane Yolen and Mark Teague. I sent home an author Biography for each author/illustrated. Take a look and read it with your kiddo!
Happy Easter! Enjoy your time off!

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Me and My Lucky Charms!

We had a fun week exploring St. Patrick's Day and rainbows. We learned about the biblical meaning of a 3 leaf clover and we made wishes upon 4 leaf clovers. We did lots of fun science activities and worked on the numbers 3, 4, and 6.

Thursday:
My sweet little leprechauns wearing matching green outfits!!

Gumby and his final adventure this year!

Leo whisked away Gumby until next year! 

Pokey's final adventures!

After learning about clovers and reading a fun leprechaun poem...we made puffy paint clovers!
This recipe of paint includes equal parts of: green paint, shaving cream, and glue!



Nothing like watching these sweet kiddos play, "ring around the rosies!"

A lucky snack!

Thanks sweet girl for bringing all these "green" foods!

Skittles and Math
I handed the kiddos skittles...and they sorted and graphed.
This is a great activity to ask problem solving questions! These questions include: How many, Which has the most, Which has the least. Simple adding problems are great for this age group too! 

Friends! I love when they help one another! Another great part of this activity is...these kiddos did this entirely on their own! Graphing and sorting at the age of 3...just plain amazing!

Of course I sent the Skittles and graph home to you so the kiddos could show you their amazing work! It is so important to connect home and school!
If I found a pot of gold...I would ________



Seriously...flowers for mom! Love...Love this response!
So sweet!


Science Time...

Every color of the rainbow...and some white carnations!

We predicted what would happen...and why we thought it would happen.
Response: The flowers will drink the water and turn colors...because they are thirsty! :)

I split one flower's stem and placed it into 2 colors of water.
*The more food coloring you have the brighter the flower will turn. My blue and purple didn't have as much coloring in it...and it showed when the flowers turned.
*This was a great time to talk about how we mix colors to make other colors!

 Friday:
OUr next day results! The kiddos were so excited!

checking the flowers out as a class. We checked our predictions!
Rainbow Noodles...

At home I made these awesome colored noodles.
Recipe: Noodles, 1 tsp of rubbing alcohol, and 6-8 drops of food coloring (the more food coloring the brighter the colors). 


Time for some fine motor fun! Stringing those noodles in the order of our rainbow!



Friendship bracelets!

At the end of the rainbow is a pot of gold...


Great job pretty lady!

Rainbows of ourselves.
This included the color of: hair, eyes, shirt, shoes, and our favorite color.
*Great grip on that crayon!

Fruit Loop rainbows. Another awesome activity. This activity includes: sorting, fine motor (pinch and grab), and ordering...It can even be carried over to counting each color.

Let's catch a rainbow in a dish.
Recipe: 1 cup of milk, primary food coloring colors (red, yellow, blue), and dish soap.

In this activity I placed the milk in the dish, added 4 drops of each food coloring. We then made predictions on what would happen. This was another great time to talk about mixing of colors to make other colors. I was able to connect the activity from the coloring of flowers yesterday to this activity today.

When you drop several drops of dish soap in the center of the dish is forces the colors to mix.

We talked about the mixing colors. I then had the kiddos "write down" the results of what happened.



Perfect work sweet buddy!
What a colorful week! We had a blast as always! Easter next week!