Preschool Week 24: SPACE

Monday with Arielle

Opening Activity: Space word worksheets. Race to Space Game. Rockets in Order Activity. Review sight word flash cards.

Circle Time:

• Date/Time/Weather
• Space Songs (pinterest).
• Read - “There’s No Place Like Space”

Snack: Applesauce and “Moon Rocks”

Wiggle Time: Try to do the Moon Walk Dance. Pretend we are blasting off in our rocket and walk on the moon.

Lesson: Watch video of how food is made for and eaten by astronauts in space. Read “The Sun and Moon”. Identify the planets by listening to clues.

Craft: Solar system picture.

Wednesday Field Trip

Visit Adler Planetarium in Downtown Chicago

Friday with Naomi

Opening Activity: Reading with phonics AND practicing sight words

Circle Time:

• Date/Time/Weather
• Sing "Z is for Zelda who Zoomed off to Mars" and "Xavier the Alien came from Outer Space"
• Read "Jet Bed" together

Snack: Dehydrated fruit and Tang! Just like Astronauts would eat!

Wiggle Time: Physical fitness test to see if we're ready to go up into space

Lesson: Read book on the Solar System and attach Planet stickers to appropriate pages

Craft: Glitter Rocket Ships

Preschool Week 23: Fun with Animals

Monday with Arielle

Opening Activity: Q is for Quail worksheet. Practice sight words. Sort animals into groups based on number of legs, size, and color.

Circle Time: 

• Date/Weather/Time
• Zoo music CD
• Read “What Do You Do With a Kangaroo?”and “Wild Baby Animals”. 

Snack: yogurt, fruit, and goldfish crackers

Wiggle Time: Animal Dice - dance like the animal rolled. "Mystery Animal Box" - guess which animal from clues given and then act out the animal.

Lesson: Discuss carnivores/herbivores/omnivores. Discuss climates/habitats animals live in. Discuss special features about animals and special adaptations.

Craft: Making Tracks on paper. Choose pictures of animals to look for on Field Trip to Brookfield Zoo on Friday.

Wednesday with Naomi

Opening Activity: Recognizing animal words (cat, dog, fish, rat, etc.)

Circle Time:

• Date/Time/Weather
• Sing animal songs from alphabet book
• Read phonics animal books together

Snack: Kangaroo Treats (celery and carrots in ranch) and Monkey Snacks (Frozen bananas in chocolate)

Wiggle Time: Animal dances on the Wii

Lesson: Watch a part of Planet Earth with popcorn and juice and talk about the different climates animals can live in and then discuss the food chain.

Craft: Paper bag animal puppets

Friday Field Trip

Visit to the Brookfield Zoo!

Preschool Week 22: Presidents of the United States

Monday with Arielle

Opening Activity: Finish addition worksheets. Alphabet Worksheets - G is for Government

Circle Time:

Date/Time/Weather
Read “Arthur Meets the President” by Marc Brown

  
Snack: Presidential Pretzels, Pears, and Peanut Butter Finger Bars

Wiggle Time: Coin Toss

Lesson: Learn some facts about our current president. Watch Disney: The American Presidents (George Washington) on youtube.com

Craft: Presidential Mobile. National symbols coloring sheets to take home.

Wednesday with Naomi

Opening Activity: Sight Words and Presidents flashcards in rotations

Circle Time:

Date/Time/Weather
Read story about the life of Abraham Lincoln

Snack: Lincoln Logs!!

 Wiggle Time: Presidential Fitness Test

Lesson: Identifying presidents on our money while we scrub coins with baking soda and vinegar 

Craft: Washington Wigs or Lincoln Hats!

Preschool Week 21: The Week of LOVE!

Monday with Arielle

Opening Activity: “scoops to share” (mailbox worksheet), letter workbook E and F (E is for Exercise!)

Circle Time: 
Date/Time/Weather
Songs (pinterest)
Read, “The Night Before Valentine’s Day”

Snack: heart-healthy fruits and veggies

Wiggle Time: Wiggle Block - exercises for a healthy heart. Listen to hearts before and after!

Lesson: Where is our heart? What does it look like? How does it work? How can we make our heart happy? (good food, exercise, no drugs)

Craft: cut out heart, glue on pictures of things that make our hearts happy and healthy (foods, exercise, hugs, being kind)

Wednesday with Naomi 

Opening Activity: Math pages and sight words in rotations

Circle Time:
Date/Time/Weather
Sing songs about love and read books about love

Snack: Chocolate Chip Cookies and Milk (made during snack time!)

Wiggle Time: Wii Dance to love songs

 Lesson: What does love mean? Are there different kinds of love? How can we show love? (talk about love languages in little kid terms)

Craft/Activity: Make our own Valentine's day cards for each other, our families, and our friends. Pass out valentines with option to watch a movie about love (of the princess variety)

Preschool Week 20: Art in all its Forms

Monday with Arielle

Opening Activity: “Shadow Surprise” Worksheet (Mailbox pack).

Circle Time:

• Date/Weather/Time
• Cute song found about groundhog found HERE

Snack: groundhog treat (pinterest)

Wiggle Time: new wiggle block - dance moves!

Lesson: What is Art? Who is an Artist? What can we use to make Art?

Craft: pipe-cleaner sculptures

Wednesday Field Trip 

For our Field Trip, we paid a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago because they offer FREE admission the first and second Wednesday of every month!

 The girls were so excited when we got there and started our tour!

First we spent some time in the Children's portion of the museum...

 They actually had a lot of hands on things for the kids at the museum. They were able to make their own art books, discover art through games on the computer, and even put together puzzles of art pieces in the museum!

When we were done in the Children's Rooms, we headed over to the actual art exhibits...

The museum was AMAZING and I couldn't believe how excited the girls were about the exhibits. We thought for sure they would get bored, but they loved finding iridescent (our new word for the day) art pieces, hidden animals in the art, and beautiful "princesses". They also loved the "genie lamp" and "magical treasures" they spotted everywhere!

I thought this picture was funny because the girls are looking at a statue with multiple arms and their faces show obvious concern :)

We also had lunch at the museum and when we were done with our tour we picked up magnets and postcards from the gift shop before taking one last picture and heading home.

 

Friday with Naomi 

Opening Activity: Famous art coloring pages (Mona Lisa, starry night, etc.)

Circle Time: 

• Date/Time/Weather 
• Focus on music and poetry  (Read Mother Goose)

Snack: Make Fruit Loop necklaces and then eat them with milk

Wiggle Time: Practice different styles of dancing

Lesson: What does it mean to create art?

Craft: Sculpting and painting salt dough

Preschool Week 19: Our Heritage

Monday with Arielle

Theme - Our Heritage! - DENMARK

Opening Activity: Letter/Phonics worksheets. Play with LEGOs (because they’re from Denmark!)

Circle Time:

• Date/Weather/Time
• Watch “The Ugly Duckling” and “The Emperor's New Clothes” by Hans Christian Andersen

Snack: Danish Apple Charlotte

Wiggle Time: Dance like a mermaid to “Under the Sea”, stomp like a viking to the theme from “How to Train Your Dragon” (playlist.com)

Lesson: Map Skills - Where did we come from? Look for Denmark on the map. Denmark was the home of author Hans Christian Andersen who wrote many beloved children's stories. We looked at pictures of Denmark's little mermaid statue, LegoLand, and Viking ships.

Craft: Make an “ugly duckling” from a paper plate (Pinterest).

Wednesday with Naomi

Theme - Our Heritage! - HAWAII

Opening Activity: Blending sounds (on dry erase board) and Dry erase Math cards in rotations

Circle Time:

• Date/Time/Weather
• Sing songs with the Ukulele
• Read 2 Hawaiian books about counting in Hawaiian and about Hawaiian language 

Snack: Ask a student to bring a snack that reflects their heritage

Wiggle Time: Dance Puka Pants (a Hawaiian Hula learned earlier in the year)

Lesson: What does Heritage mean? What is my Heritage? What do I love about my heritage?

Craft: Heritage Collages

Preschool Week 18: Martin Luther King Jr.

Monday with Arielle

Opening Activity: math skills - adding and subtracting “people”, letter worksheets.

Circle Time: 

• Date/Weather/Time
• What is “peace”? 
• What is a “hero”? 
• What is a “dream”? 

Snack: make trail mix using foods that each taste good but look different.

Wiggle Time: marching, wiggle block

Lesson: Discuss Dr. MLK, Jr. Look at eggs that are different on the outside but have the same things on the inside.

Craft: color book about Dr. MLK, Jr.

Wednesday with Naomi

Opening Activity: Blending sounds (on dry erase board) and Dry erase Math cards in rotations

Circle Time:

• Date/Time/Weather
• Sing 5 fingers five toes. 
• Read the "I have a dream" speech and explain it. 

Snack: Stained glass Jello!

(Click HERE for image source and recipe)

Wiggle Time: The ants go marching one by one on the Wii. Nickelodeon Wii fit for kids

Lesson: What is peace? I feel peaceful when? I can create peace by...?
 (3 things paint page)

Craft: Peace Dove stained glass window craft

(Click HERE for image source)