Our PreSchool Blog

The toddlers were busy coloring coffee filters then adding water to create beautiful butterflies!

New little insects and grass were added to the sensory bins!

Butterfly play dough mats added to the fun!

Earth Day – a tissue paper craft, watercolor poem, and nature walk scavenger hunt helped to celebrate our world!

The toddlers have been watering and giving love to the grass cups!

Letter x is for xylophone

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Letter Hop!

Live Cooking Demo on Zoom:  Rice Krispie Treats

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!

This week was “bug week”! Each day the students learned about a different bug. All of the activities and snacks for the day revolved around that specific bug!  Check out these thematic lessons below!

Measuring with gummy worms

At group time, I demonstrated how a bee goes from flower to flower drinking their nectar and collecting pollen to bring back to the bee hive.

I then had the kids hold out their hands to act as flowers.

Acting out the butterfly life cycle!

April’s theme in Preschool Prep is based around gardening and insects. We have integrated this theme into our daily curriculum and are having so much fun!

*Fine motor insect sorting

   The Very Hungry Caterpillar story retelling 

Bug Fossils!

Each day this month we have done a “Daily News” segment in the classroom 🙂 We first have someone introduce the news, and then we work together to figure out what month and day of the week it is. Next, we choose a student to be our “weather kid” for the day. This person gets to wear a special badge and report the weather based on what they see outside and how it feels! Lastly, we complete a feelings chart where the students pick a face that mimics how they are feeling that day (all of the children have picked the happy face so far)!

  Our weather girl reporting her findings! 

We have been learning all about the nocturnal animals of the forests.  Today we learned that there are insects that are nocturnal, too!  We learned about the characteristics that make an insect and insect (head, thorax, abdomen, 2 eyes, 6 legs, and antennae) and about a special insect that sings songs throughout the night forest.  After reading The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle, we used play dough to make our own insects with all the parts!

Ms. Sarah was off on one of her adventures and found this Praying Mantis!!!

We learned it only has one ear…and it’s located on it’s bottom.

It was FAST when we took it out of the Mason Jar!

Since we couldn’t keep it for a pet, we all wanted to color one to take home.

Thanks Ms. Sarah!!!

At group time we read, “Bugs, Bugs, Bugs” and talked about the body parts of a bug.

We even made our own bug.

On our easel, we practiced matching colors of ladybugs to leaves.

In our discovery groups, we caught bugs and placed them in their cage.

During small groups, we matched plastic bugs to their picture.