Our PreSchool Blog

As the weather turns colder, we try to find ways to practice our gross motor skills while inside.  We do the parachute, wheel of fitness, dance party, four corners, marching band, bean bags, and relays.  One of our favorite indoor recess activity is the ever changing obstacle course.  This gives toddlers the opportunity to practice taking turns and get some energy out.   We incorporate walking a straight line, hoping on star mats, crawling, and of course – the tunnel.

The parachute is another class favorite!  We often have monkeys jumping on the “bed” or make small waves then big waves.  We take turns going under the parachute and sitting on top!

The beanbags help us learn parts of the the body and balance as we try to place them on our heads, shoulders, knees, and toes!

We do try to get some time outside but the rain and snow won’t stop the toddlers from fun gross motor activities!

Our toddler class continued to learn about the color red as we took turns peeling apples.  Our fine motor skills were put to the test as well as revisiting our study of the five senses. We enjoyed our peeled apple slices for snack. A yummy lesson indeed! We will be “picking” apples next week – a picture of this will be included in the color book sent home at the end of the year.

We’ve been exploring all things farm in Ms. Kelsey’s Studio Toddler Classroom. We talked about how pigs love rolling around in the mud, and then we made some muddy pigs of our own!

Our students love playing in some of our farm-themed centers. In the sensory tub, they have been hiding the farm animals under the rice and then digging them out! Farm animal noises can be heard a lot during our center time 🙂

Toddlers use all their senses to explore the world around them.  We spent some time naming the five senses, reading a story about our senses, then using all of our senses to observe a treat in the mystery can.

Hearing.  I shook the mystery can.  We used our ears and listened.  We decided it was a soft sound.

Sight.  I took the lid of the mystery can to give the toddlers a peak.  Inside were lots of round white items.  Marshmallows!

Smell.  We then used our nose to try out our sense of smell.  The marshmallows smelled sweet!

Touch.  We then used our hands to feel the squishy and soft marshmallows.

Taste.  Finally we got to taste the marshmallows.   Yummy!

Cooking is a fun way to use all five senses.  Last Friday we made pumpkin mini muffins.  This was an easy three ingredient recipe so we all took a turn adding items (1 box of spice cake mix, 1 can of pumpkin puree, and 4oz of apple sauce (one little snack cup).  Chocolate chips are optional.  We put all the ingredients into a large ziplock bag then squished it all together.  I cut off the corner of the baggie to squeeze into greased mini muffin tin.  It was fun, easy and delicious.  Bake 375 for 18 minutes.  This would be fun to do at home on a cold winter day!

The Preschool Prep and Toddler class had an awesome Halloween party at Tots! We had some Halloween sensory tubs and had fun decorating pumpkins with stickers.

Then we got to play some Halloween games like throwing spiders onto a spiderweb and tossing a ball into the “ghotst”!

We finished off the day with some monster snacks and dancing!

Happy Halloween!

The Studio Toddler Classroom had a great Halloween party, complete with dancing, games, and a monster treat!

Happy Halloween!   We had so much fun at our parties!  We have done several special crafts (handprint bat, spider, and peek-a-BOO ghost cup).  We played lego monster, beanbag monster, in and out of the tunnel, and practiced trick or treating.  Our special snack was a big donut with teeth! We even tried to get all of our friends together for a group photo.  After  full days of singing, dancing, stories, snacks, and crafts these toddlers might need a nap before the big night ahead!

Orange discovery bins have been a big hit this month.  The toddlers practiced fine motor skills, counting and sorting while finding Halloween cats in the orange lentils.  We also painted hands orange to make a page for our color book.  A wall mural, orange playdough, and painting with orange have all been fun and engaging activities to celebrate the color orange.