Shapes Preschool Lesson

Shapes! What a wonderful topic for a preschool lesson, right? I was excited about this one. After browsing the internet for ideas (as I always do), my interest was piqued by the plastic tiles in various shapes used to make mosaic-like pictures. Have you seen them? I thought the idea was great: a fine-motor activity showing how different shapes fit together to form a beautiful picture. I was a little skeptical that they would keep the kids attention, however. Still, reading all the glowing reviews, I took a chance and bought a pattern block set by Learning Resources and some accompanying activity cards.

I had the tiles and cards out while the kids arrived, along with basic wooden blocks and Magformers (your family knows and loves Magformers as much as mine, right?) I was so thrilled; the kids loved the cards. The first thirty minutes of preschool saw five little preschoolers excitedly putting together pattern after pattern (two of the kids preferred blocks and Magformers. Either way, all the children were engaged creating with shapes!) What a great, fine motor activity as well as tactile geometry lesson.

As a few of the kids grew restless with the tiles, we cleaned up and did our usual circle time, reviewing our letter and number of the week. I could tell we needed some large motor movement, so we watched and danced to this "dancing shapes" video. It's not great, but the kids just needed something lively, and it did the job.

After asking the kids to name all the shapes they could think of, I read Shape by Shape by Suse MacDonald. It's a delightful book that slowly builds a dinosaur, well, shape by shape. I have to say, I was a little worried that these kids, many of whom are five, would already know all the typical two-dimensional shapes. I was surprised to find several  needed reminders on the most basic of shapes.

Then, I handed the kids a pile of Q-tips and began reading The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns. As the triangle added more sides and angles in each stage of the book, the children created each new shape with their q-tips. This was a nice, natural way to talk through many of the basic shapes. After the book, we made all the shapes again, this time using our bodies! Again, it showed me how much the kids like being involved and doing large motor activities.

Next, we talked about how shapes are all around us. To demonstrate, we took turns playing "I Spy," shape style. Each child had a chance to say he or she spied a certain shape in the room (usually with the color, too, to make it easier.) The kids enjoyed the game, and it again highlighted how several of the kids could not quite tell different shapes apart and gave us a chance to teach the correct name: "That is actually an oval, not a circle. See how it is more egg shaped and longer across this way than across that way?"

We briefly dipped into the world of three-dimensional shapes with our wooden blocks, identifying some of the more common ones. We played "Which shape is missing?" where three differently shaped blocks were put in front of a child. Then, after covering up the shapes, one was removed, and the kids had to see if they could remember what shape was now missing.

Our last book was Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh. I thought it put a nice cap on the end of our activities. We began the day by using shapes to make predetermined pictures on cards. Now, we read about mice creating their own pictures with shapes and afterwards went to do just that ourselves. I was delighted that the kids really engaged in making their own pictures using various shapes cut out of construction paper. I love open-ended art projects that really allow the kids to create rather than merely copy.

To wrap things up, we did a "snack sort" where they had to sort a medley of crackers, cereal, and chips into groups by shape before eating them. In hindsight I should have found more nutritious options. . . there are whole grain Triscuit crackers, at least!

Thanks for another fun preschool, kids! I'm grateful we have a chance to learn together.

Mammals, Reptiles, and Amphibians Preschool Lesson

Mmkay, the title already sounds like a doozy, right? I hosted preschool this week, and the topics assigned to me on the master calendar were insects, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Sheesh! That's a lot to cover in two days (fish and birds carry over into next week.) I happily reused my Very Quiet Cricket Lesson from last year (after consulting with SourPatch to see which parts I should change. He said the whole thing was great. He's such an endearing kid...) I added a more comprehensive introduction to insects and had them label a cricket in lieu of the salt painting, but otherwise, it was pretty much the same, butterfly snacks and all.

After reviewing our Letter and Number of the Week (J & 11) and doing circle time (welcome song, calendar, weather, etc.), I asked the kids to feel down their back for their backbone. I explained that many creatures, like the insects we discussed last time, have no backbone (or bones at all!) I showed them pictures of a medley of invertebrates and had them name them. I then said that animals with backbones are divided into different groups, and we were going to discuss three of them today. First the mammals:

Mammals
Admittedly, this section was the hardest for me. I think it's because mammals can seem more diverse than some of the other groups, and my time was limited. I did find a few books that make great introductions to the characteristics of mammals (forgot to picture Is a Camel a Mammal?; it's also a winner.) In the end, I just had time to read About Mammals by Cathryn Sill.

I wanted something large motor for our activity, so we played "mammal charades." I had several of SourPatch's toys in a sack, let each child take turns taking one out where no one else could see and then acting it out for the rest of the children (sounds allowed, but no talking.) After they correctly identified the animal, we set it up front and discussed the mammal characteristics it has.

Since they were still full of the wiggles, I put on Hop Little Bunnies. Now, this is Gumdrop's favorite song, and he is 2 to 3 years younger than these kids. I was worried they'd think it was lame to hop like bunnies. Not so--apparently this song transcends age and was a blast.

Reptiles
Next, we introduced reptiles with Miles and Miles of Reptiles. It's a long one, but they were attentive. We felt due for a song, so we watched this video of I'm Getting Eaten by a Boa Constrictor two (and then three) times to learn the words and sing along.

We then watched some Planet Earth: Jungles (it's currently on Netflix; I haven't checked to see if clips are available on YouTube.) These kids were mesmerized by Planet Earth; they could have watched it all day. Specifically, we put on the clip of the Draco lizard roughly from minute 8:40 until 11:50. When the lizard leaped into the air, spread its skin flaps, and soared away in a daring escape, the kids "ahh'd." Adorable.

Next we read Blake the Snake, an endearing if not very educational snake book. It segued into my idea to have the kids trace J's and 11's in glue and then, like Blake in the story, have their yarn "snake" make the letter and number. We also utilized our time at the table to do this simple (and free) mammal/reptile sorting page to see if they understood the difference. I'd say half the kiddos could actually do it on their own, but it was a good review for everyone anyway. This is a good age to practice using glue sticks, too.

What was our snack? We had "snakes" in the dirt: chocolate pudding topped with crushed Oreos and a few gummy snakes (okay, they were worms, but the kids went with it.)

Amphibians
Did you know almost 90% of amphibians are frogs (toad are frogs, come to find out.) That's what wikipedia says, anyways. Go figure; I couldn't think of any amphibians but frogs and salamanders. There's also a creepy creature called a caecilian that looks like a slimy snake. That's about all there is, folks.

Luckily, I love frogs (and salamanders! Jury is out on the caecilian...) I used the beginning of this video as an introduction with some hesitation; it makes some generalizations that aren't 100% true about all amphibians. Still, it was an efficient sum-up, and then I again turned back to Planet Earth and the jungle at minute 29:55ish to 35:24. There's this tiny, see-through frog that bravely guards his eggs from wasps. I did skip over the middle where the wasp eats some of the eggs (these are sensitive kids) but absolutely showed the part where the dad frog fends off the next batch of wasps with his kicks. Atta frog! Again, the kids couldn't look away (and begged for more.)

No time for more! Actually, we were running out of time. We didn't get to sing 5 Little Speckled Frogs or watch Caribbean Amphibian, nor did we hope across the living room on felt lily pads. We didn't read any of these great books, either:

Instead, we had time to do our salamander scratch art. After showing photos of how beautiful and colorful salamanders can be, we returned to the table to make some of our own. Do you remember doing scratch art in school? I do, and I remembered it was amazing. Turns out, it still is. My original plan was to DIY the paper with crayons and black paint. After practicing beforehand with SourPatch, the result was lackluster, so I caved and bought this paper instead. It came with four wooden styluses, and I made a few more out of kabob skewers for the rest of the children. I had preciously scratched out the outline of a salamander for each child, but they could then decorate it and the paper as they chose. I was thrilled that they really seemed to love scratching off the black surface to find bright colors beneath.

That's it! It's always a little hard to tell how much the kids absorbed, but when one mom picking up her son asked what he learned today, he enthusiastically said, "A lot!" Right you are; that was a lot of information, and I'm glad you'll take some of it with you.

Preschool Lesson: The Very Quiet Cricket

My husband and I are a little at odds regarding Eric Carle books. I think it's the simple text that fails to wow my sweetheart. However, I remember the childhood magic of opening a book and having it chirp, blink, or squeak at me. Marvelous.

So I was excited about our preschool based around The Very Quiet Cricket. Further, a cursory glance showed that there are many, many preschool lesson plans centered on bugs and insects. "This will be easy," I thought. Yet several days and perusals later, I was having a hard time pegging down my plan. Was it information overload? Did the ideas just not speak? All I know is that it was hard to sketch out a plan. Finally, I decided to let the book be my guide and to have one activity for each of the bugs Eric Carle includes in the story. It made for a fun preschool.

I almost forgot to mention Shoo Fly. I put the song Shoo Fly on repeat while the kids were arriving and had shakers available for them to jam along. SourPatch got so into singing this song, both at the beginning and end of preschool, and his enthusiasm was infectious; everyone got into this song.

Yet all good things must come to an end, so the music went off and we gathered in a circle. After a welcome song, weather song, and calendaring time, we read through The Very Quiet Cricket. After taking a moment to soak in the magic of the chirp on the last page, we talked about insects for a little bit, defining the important characteristics and discovering that crickets fit these parameters. We also put on insect hats. We needed to get our heads in the game, as it were.

We then did our "cricket activity." Okay, I don't know what the dealio is with paint, but this foursome of kids gets so excited about the very thought of painting. They're also an exuberant bunch, and painting is messy. Thus, I was excited to try "salt painting." Previous to preschool, I filled in the outline of a cricket (traced from the cover of the book) with Elmer's glue and covered it with salt. The children then used watered-down paint (very, very watered down paint) to paint the now dry crickets. It's an unusual activity, but the kids enjoyed it, and it gave us time to review what makes the cricket an insect while they colored the six legs, head, abdomen, thorax, antennae, and wings. So I'd call our first salt paint attempt a success.

Back to the book, we read about the locust and sang "Do as I'm Doing" spin style, just like the locust in the book.

Fact: I am now terrified of praying mantises. Not for myself, I suppose, but on principle. They are so, so scary. Did you know they've been known to eat mice, birds, or even turtles? TURTLES? Are you kidding me?!?! I digress, though; for the praying mantis, I showed the children the first two minutes of this video.

Next, the worm. After wiggling together like worms, the kids had to put this puzzle in order and practice using gluesticks to paste it to another page. I found this puzzle in an amazing free download from Royal Baloo. Love this site--she has a giant, creepy crawlies pack full of great activities for multiple age groups.

The spittlebug was a new one for me. Bugs that froth and blow bubbles? Cool. So we stepped out on the porch and blew a few bubbles of our own.

For the cicada, I turned yet again to youtube to let the children listen to a clip of noisy cicadas. I would have loved to show them the creepy exoskeletons I used to find all over the trees growing up...

We buzzed and flew like bees before chanting "Here is the Beehive but where are the Bees?" and doing a little fingerplay.

We did the next two insects back-to-back, as they both activities needing do-a-dot markers (or stickers, if you like). We whizzed like dragonflies and then completed this do-a-dot page from the aforementioned Royal Baloo pack (also the source for the mosquito page below.)

Ah, mosquitoes. Rather than go deep into what these pests do, we practiced sorting lower and uppercase m's in this do-a-dot page.

For the luna moth, we watched a video of its metamorphosis (after silently gliding around the room, of course.) Oh. My. Word. I know I should be used to caterpillars changing into moths or butterflies, but it's still crazy amazing to see. Here's the thing: I can't find the awesome video I showed the kids, and since my old computer sputtered and died, I can't search my history either. My annoyance is real. There are lots of online, time-lapse videos of metamorphosis for butterflies that show the same principle.

Ready for our snack, I arranged pretzels and fruit to look like a butterfly. A little extra effort on presentation goes a long way with these kiddos.

Apart from doing the individual insect activities, we talked briefly about loud and quiet, rounding it out with the "Two Little Blackbirds Sitting on a Cloud" fingerplay.

I loved the idea from teachingmama.org to use a box of "Back to Nature" bug pasta (I found it at Target). Sourpatch and I sorted the bugs and dyed them different colors (I discuss how in this post). We then worked on our fine motor skills by threading them onto pipe cleaners like beads, making some bug bracelets. Loved it.

Another great hit was few rounds of Bug in the Rug (I made them put back on their insect hats for this one.) How does one play that, you ask? One of the children leaves the room. Another child hides under the "rug" (or blanket). When the first child returns we chant, "Bug in the rug, bug in the rug, who is that bug in the rug?" The child then has to remember who is missing from the group and correctly guess who is under the blanket. Not hard in a group of four, you point out? Too true, but the kids loved the game all the same.

All these fun activities left no time for other books, which is a pity, since Sourpatch and I read so many books about creepy crawlies leading up to preschool. Two of his favorites were Fly! by Karl Newsom Edwards and The Magic Schoolbus Inside a Beehive.

All in all, it was great fun all around. For me, especially.

Preschool Lesson: America

Happy Fourth of July week, folks! A month late? Can it really be August already? I really do love my country and its yearly birthday party (even though it was over 100 degrees... wowsers), so I was all the more tickled to have my turn to teach preschool fall near Independence Day.

I actually didn't find as much as I expected on the internet for a patriotic-themed preschool. I supposed the subject matter is a little mature in some ways; how do you explain to 3-year-olds about freedom from tyranny or revolution against sovereign powers? Instead, I decided we would travel together across the United States of America.

First I did give a brief introduction. I showed America on a globe and America on a map, pointing out that there are so many countries in the world, and ours is just one of them. I told them about our ancestors traveling on boats from Europe in search of religious freedom. I simplified the American Revolution as best I could, showing pictures of King George III, George Washington, and the signers of the constitution.

Whew. And then we talked about the American Flag. They each got their own little flag to wave, and together marched around the living room to the first verse of "You're a Grand Old Flag." We then counted the stripes and stars. This was my segue into how the stars represent 50 states, and who better to introduce them all than Wakko? Love me a song to memorize things; I don't remember all the capitols myself, so I'd better brush up by watching that video 50 more times...

Okay, so now to the roadtrip. With my own map in hand and two megablok figurines, we were ready to embark. We started in our home state and then visited 6 other locations: NYC, Washington, D.C., Texas, San Francisco, Hawaii, and Alaska. At each place, I put up a backdrop picture on our TV and took a "tourist picture" of the kids in the location. In New York, we did Times Square, in San Francisco, we had a trolley car and the Golden Gate Bridge... you get the gist. At the end, we traced our route and let each kiddo glue their pictures on their own maps.

After a quick airplane ride, we landed in New York City. There, we talked about the Statue of Liberty and flipped through this interactive tour. We wrapped up by painting our own crowns and torches. As per usual, SourPatch was minimalist with his painting.

We next hopped aboard a train for Washington, D.C. Here, we talked about our nation's government and how we have a President. After identifying our current president, I showed them pictures of  George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. We had fun pulling out dollar bills, pennies, and quarters to find them on our money, too. Now I have to confess that I love me a good pop-up book, so I was tickled to go on a White House tour together in this book.

We then built "White Houses" out of sugar cubes. Now I had no illusions of these houses being particularly complicated... or of staying together very well. All the same, it's fun to build out of tiny sugar squares.

A bus took us to Texas. We were pressed for time, so we didn't do more than snap a photo here (pity.) We then went to San Francisco, CA, both to pay tribute to Patch's birthplace and to read a quick 1, 2, 3 San Francisco (after which we ate fortune cookies, a true American treasure.) We swung by Hawaii and Alaska for a few more photo ops.

You can see how many more activities one could pack into this roadtrip! Unfortunately, we filled the two hours as is. We wrapped up by reading God Bless America.

Another fun adventure with a pair of wonderful kids. Thanks for the trip!

Preschool Lesson: Letter "N"

Our Letter "N" day just flowed amazingly well. The kids were engaged; time passed pleasantly and was almost too short. I don't know if the kids were in a particularly good mood or if the lesson plan has secret magic.

One thing it doesn't have a lot of is the letter "n." After browsing ideas on the internet, I decided lots of what was out there didn't sing to me. I opted to go for a Noah's Ark theme.

After the usual pleasantries of looking at the lower and uppercase versions of the letter, making "N"s with popsicle sticks, and discussing the sound that "n" makes, we introduced prophet Noah and told his story using Peter Spiers rendition.

Next, we built our arks. Actually, I had pre-folded the paper boats. I long ago learned how to make these boats via Curious George Rides a Bike, but in case you didn't lock-in that life skill as a child, here are the instructions. Do-a-Dot markers in hand, the kids decorated them.

Arks ready, it was time to gather our animals two by two. We headed upstairs to Patch's room and did an activity similar to our animal search with the letter "a." I had pictures of the animals they needed to find laid out on the floor, and they searched the room for the hidden creatures. They always enjoy a treasure hunt.

 Arks ready and animals gathered, it was time for the rain!

We sang "If All the Raindrops were Lemondrops and Gumdrops" and "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man." We also watched "Drip, Drip, Drop, Little April Showers" from Bambi while shaking shakers to make our own rain sounds. After we were all rained out, we talked about rainbows and sang "When I am Baptized."

Next, I tried to make a rainbow for them using the flashlight/slit in paper/glass of water method. I can't find the link for the specific tutorial I used, but that's probably okay since it was a science flop The rainbow was feeling shy? I probably had the slit the wrong size or not enough water in our glass. Either way, we moved on. Ah well. Instead, we made our own rainbows with our do-a-dot markers.

We wrapped up our Noah section with a snack of animal crackers and nuts.

On a non-Noah note, we made noodle necklaces. I pre-dyed the dry pasta different colors using food coloring and vinegar (similar to this tutorial.) I basically just put a small amount of vinegar, food coloring, and dry rigatoni into separate ziplock bags and shook them with SourPatch until the colored vinegar was well-distributed. I then spread them out on a cookie sheet to air-dry.

At preschool, I gave the kids a long stretch of yarn with a noodle tied to one end and let them practice stringing their own necklaces (an excellent fine motor activity.)

Our letter craft was very simple: "N" is for Night. Yet the kids were very into gluing on the stars. Like I said, perhaps they were in a particularly amenable mood?

We had a great time with "n" and hope you do, too.