Our PreSchool Blog

We have been focusing on bugs, spiders, insects and creepy crawlers this month.  The toddlers have sorted insects by color and shape.  We have also read lots of stories, sang songs, and did puppet activities involving bugs.  Our class created insect crowns to practice fine motor skills with stickers.  We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, then reacted the story using magnets, and made a craft practicing patterns.  A sensory bin filled with insects and magnifying glasses have kept our toddlers engaged. We have been buggin’ out this month!

In celebration of Earth Day (April 22) our toddler class created the”Earth” using glue water and tissue paper.  We discussed that the blue stood for the ocean and the green for the land.  We talked about many of the different things that live on the Earth.

We have focused on the letter “X” this week.  Our class learned to make an X with our arms and then our pointer fingers.  We watched a video about the letter X and talked about the Xylophone.  The toddlers got to play the xylophone and make one to take home.  The toddler band played along to Itsy Bitsy Spider and the ABC song.  Our letter study this week was “x”trodinary!

St. Patrick’s Day celebrations start out with a sensory bin of water beads, gold coins, and scoops.

We created leprechaun beards by painting with a fork.

We heard the leprechaun was running around Creative Tots.   The toddler class traveled to the studio to look for him and found gold coins!  We practiced finding and counting treasure.

We continued with our study of green by creating a “green tent” for our color book.

Moving into spring with a sensory bin filled with eggs, butterflies, bunnies, and flowers.  Some children practiced scooping while others sorted by color or type.  The older children began to make patterns (a pre-literacy and math skill).

Matching Eggs…

Matching jelly beans.  Practice with one to one correspondence and color matching.  Also, an exercise in patience.  We had to match them all before we got to eat one as a treat.

Some fine motor skills are practiced when creating washi tape eggs.

Chalk eggs for our new easel.

Gross motor practice….Feed the bunny.

Painting feet for footprint bunnies.

In the toddler room, we discussed the difference between daytime and nighttime during our large group.  While in small group, the students sorted activities by things that we do during the day (ride bikes, eat breakfast, etc.) and things we do at night ( sleep, watch fireworks, dinner, etc.).  We then enforced the the idea by completing a daytime/nighttime craft.

We have also been having fun working on our art show projects.  Here is a peak at our collaborative piece.  See everyone on Friday night!

We had such a great time the past two days celebrating Valentine’s Day.  We invited families in to help deliver Valentines, decorate cookies, and share special music time with Ms. Joanie.

P is a fun letter to study.  We had pajama days, ate pancakes, played in the pink sensory tub,

and created a pig out of the letter P.  

We had so much fun in the Toddler room this month!  Focusing on the color white – we made sparkle white playdough, had white food for snack, and created white collage art.  Triangles are the shape of the month this January.  We used hands-on manipulatives (craft sticks and pretzel sticks) to create triangles and practiced with glue sticks to create a class mural of triangles.  Our study of polar animals led to some yummy snacks, a fun obstacle course through the arctic circle, matching animals, songs, stories, and fun!

Tis the season!  The toddlers have had a great time dressing up in elf outfits and “baking” in the dramatic play center.

We have been decorating our tree by sorting balls!

We have been focusing on our color of the month:  RED!  We drew red items out of a red hat and played in the candy cane sensory tub!

J is for Jingle bell – We painted our J’s with jingle bells!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Using our five senses strengthens our everyday experiences. The five senses introduce toddlers to methods of exploring the world around them and expanding their view of how things work. Drawing a child’s attention to the five senses and discussing them increases understanding of and communication about the world around us.

We used the all five senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste) to explore a giant marshmallow!

SENSE OF SOUND

Children use their ears to take in information about things around them.  Like other skills that children learn, listening takes practice. Indoors and outdoors, there are many opportunities for toddlers to engage their listening skills.  The marshmallows were hidden inside the mystery can.  We used our ears to try to guess what was in the can.  As I shook the can – our class discussed that they made a soft quiet sound.

SENSE OF SIGHT

When children play games that involve sight, they’re practicing early literacy skills!  Sight games help children recognize words, patterns, objects…and help them develop their memory!  Sense of sight activities help preschoolers learn about their eyes as they explore the world around them.  We used our eyes to observe the color, shape, and size of the marshmallow.

SENSE OF SMELL

Over time, children will recognize certain smells as comforting, yummy, scary, exciting, etc. As children are exposed to different smells, they learn more about our environment. They will be able to distinguish between good and bad smells, comfortable and uncomfortable smells.  In the toddler room, we used our noses to smell the sweet sugary marshmallows.

SENSE OF TOUCH

Most touch activities involve the hands and feet. Children learn how to communicate with others through touch. Engaging their hands builds their fine motor skills, helping them learn how to do more for themselves, such as writing their names and buttoning their coats.  Everyone got to hold a marshmallow.  We discussed that it was soft and squishy and sticky inside.

SENSE OF TASTE

Many events in a child’s life involve food. Sense of taste activities teach children that the sense of taste and smell are connected.  This was the best part – tasting the giant marshmallow!