Preschoolers gone wild!

After a fabulous Star of the Week presentation we began our animal themed week complete with word puzzles using animal names and bear paws to put on our hands and take home!

 We read lots of stories this week about animals from all around the world and learned about their habitats and the ways their bodies help keep them safe where they live.  After we read the first of many books we helped our fine motor skills by using chip clips and tongs to go on an animal hunt and pick up, carry and place animals into their appropriate habitats instead of letting them run wild around the room.

Then we made ourselves ROAR as we became lions and learned about making a mane.  We also learned that boy lions have a mane while girl lions do not and that is how we can tel the different of them in the zoo.  Then our students decided if they wanted to make a boy lion or girl lion and added either a few or a lot of strips of paper to the paper plate masks the teachers prepared for them.

 We worked on writing letters and making shapes of letters in tiny books we can take home to read our families about various types of animals. Remember that activities like this stimulate reading in children by giving them the confidence to read the pictures and later end up reading the words!

 After some singing and dancing we worked on some math graphs with goldfish crackers to show our teachers we know the meaning behind the number.  Though we threw out the goldfish we ended up sending the graphs home so the children can practice this math skill with small items at home.    

The Cat in the Hat is a terrific book about a crazy cat and pet fish and as we talked about some of the cats and fish we have as pets at home we then made some tall and silly hats out of red notecards and red solo cups to see how high we could make our hats climb.

Once we were done making a mess in the room like Thing One and Thing Two we got ready to mix some colors in a science experiment turned art project.  We were learning that mixing red and yellow together makes orange and so we did this while creating lion heads!

 Later in the week we mixed more colors to create silly colorful animals by pinching and squeezing ziplock bags filled with two different colored paints to make one color or a tye-dyed looking animal.

We learned this week again about the tools animals have in their favor to keep them safe in their habitats and revisited the polar bear experiment with blubber and icy water.  The children did a great job remembering what we talked about and the importance of the blubber to keep polar bears warm in the cold.  As we checked for understanding with questions and hypothesis the kids proved they remembered what would happen and told us the blubber (Crisco) would keep their hands warm in the ice water.

 Also in the arctic we learned that an igloo is a shelter that can keep people warm so we made our own igloos and upon doing so we figured out these tiny igloos made excellent hats!

There are other habitats too and in the zoo some animals have habitats that are made inside the cage the animal lives in so we used Popsicle sticks and clay to make cages and shelters for zoo animals and then dog houses for pets too!

 We heard a fantastic story about a Very Busy Spider and helper her build her web inside the fence and then headed over to the tables to place pictures of farm animals in and around the parts of a barn on the farm.  It was a lot of fun asking the children why they placed animals where they did on their barn picture.

 Later at the circle rug the teachers demonstrated how to help snakes grow.  These paper snakes were really straw wrappers that had been slid down their straws and were all scrunched up.  As the teachers modeled how to use pipets the children watched in amazement as the 'snake' grew!  Then, we turned the kids loose to the tables to try this out on their own! 

What's Coming Up?

• This coming week before Thanksgiving we will be talking about Sports and learned all about various types of balls and ways to play games.  We also will learn about healthy living and movement to allow us to be the best athletes we can be and hear about Olympians too!
  
• Don't forget there is NO PRESCHOOL the week of Thanksgiving, enjoy this time with family and friends and each other!
  
• Please remember that tuition for next semester is due by THIS FRIDAY, November 16th so be sending your $200 payments with your preschooler (checks made out to PHS) to ensure your spring semester spot in our program.  If you need more time please let me know so I can work out a plan with you asap.