Some like their vegetables steamed, some like them raw. How about covered in paint?! Today, the children practiced the letter V by tracing it with vegetable stamps. While practicing the /v/ sound, we also came up with words that begin with the letter V: vegetable, violin, vet, very, and everyone’s favorite…vvvrooooooommm!
In part two of our snowman building, our snowmen received a blast of arctic snow, along with a face, scarf and buttons! It was time to get ooey and gooey again with shaving cream and glue as we applied snow to our dry paper mache. Everyone dug in as we put our finishing touches on our snowmen masterpieces!
Beluga Whales live in frigid Arctic waters, but today, they came to life in our classroom! While working on the letter W, the children used their fingerprints to create an ocean scene. When the children were finished, we worked on building the letter W using our “big lines” and magnet boards. While working on the /w/ sound, we also discovered the letters V and X.
Even though our snow has melted, that doesn’t keep us from building our own snowman! Today, we made paper mache snowmen. Mixing equal parts water and flour, the children got ooey gooey by slathering our balloon snowmen with pasty newspaper. This two-part project has a ways to go. Next Thursday, we will get to decorate the snowmen by getting ooey gooey again when making them white (shaving cream anyone?!), and topping them off with their proper decorations. We can’t wait to to see the finished product!
Welcome back!! It was great to see everyone’s smiling face back in action today! To start the new year off, we introduce new center activities, along with a new January country: Greenland. With a cold climate and lots of white to see, the children have lots of opportunity to explore activities with letters, numbers and shapes that represent snow and ice. In Ms. Leslie’s small group, we played “Flurries or Snowstorm?” The children chose a number, then put the corresponding “snowflakes” onto our winter scene. In Ms. Lori’s small group, she showed the children several ways to build a snowman: rolling balls using playdoh, stacking different sized circles, and tracing a snowman. In Ms. Courtney’s small group, the children used “snow” to trace out the letters V, W and X. We had a snowtastic day!
Our preschoolers turned our classroom into Santa’s Workshop today as we turned red licorice and white yarn into a candy cane! This is no ordinary candy cane….it’s a number nine candy cane! In order to make this yummy creation, the children had to follow step-by-step directions, use their fine motor skills to twist, and use number recognition to create the number nine. It was a quite a treat to work on so many skills in one fun activity!
As we round out our farm month, Ms. Lori took the opportunity to have the children create the letter H using pieces of corn. With Ms. Lori’s help the children dotted glue along the letter, and used their fine motor skills to place the corn on the dot of glue. Starting from top to bottom and working from left to right, the children created their own H masterpieces!
Today, the children got in touch with their creative sides using a cob of corn to roll out some art! Using different textures sparked curiosity and interest. The children had the opportunity to explore the corn a little more in our sensory tub. The corn can be manipulated and plucked off of the cob to follow up this creative art activity. The United States is, by far, the largest corn producer in the world. Here’s to home grown food made in the USA!
Cutting with scissors is a skill that takes time to develop. Since the beginning of the year, the children have learned how to safely hold scissors when not using them, how to properly hold scissors when cutting, and how a line can be followed to help guide your cutting. We are still working on the latter. Today, the children did an excellent job trying to follow the lines while cutting out a barn. Following lines to cut out specific pictures or shapes gives the children purpose for cutting. When they finished, they glued the barn onto red paper, and then practiced tracing their names.
Working on more fine motor skills, Ms. Lori had the children make (adorable!) cotton ball sheep! The children used their fingertips to pull the cotton apart and glue it onto the sheep. Manipulating objects with fingertips is an excellent way to build fine motor muscles. These sheep are being used as classroom decoration.
As a preschooler, it is very common to mix up the letter N with the letter M. How do we fix that? Memorable experiences! Today, Ms. Lori worked with the children on the letter N. The children first practiced writing the letter, while discussing the sound it makes. Using real hay, the children then built a nest, using real hay, for Nellie the hen. As children recall these tactile experiences, they become more successful in deciphering between letters/sounds that can trip them up, such as N and M.
Creative Tots has specialized in the private education of both toddlers and preschool age children for over 15 years. We began in the heart of Madeira and now also have a new Mason location. We are specifically designed to focus on early childhood development for children ages 18 months to 5 years.
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