Preschool Week 27: EASTER

Preschool was cancelled this week due to many sick children, but we still wanted to post some of the ideas we'd prepared for the week.

Monday with Arielle

Opening Activity: Easter Letter Maze, Time Worksheet, review sight words.

Circle Time: 

• Date/Weather/Time
• Easter Songs 
• Read, “The Easter Egg” by Jan Brett

Snack: Bunny food (carrots and ranch)

Wiggle Time: The Bunny Hop.

Lesson: What is Easter all about?

Craft: Bunny mask out of paper plate and construction paper

Wednesday with Naomi

Opening Activity: Easter word flashcards

Circle Time:

• Date/Time/Weather
• Sing "Little Bunny Foo Foo" and other songs about bunnies
• Read the story of Easter and other books about new life and Spring

Snack: Bunny Bait (Recipe can be found HERE)

Wiggle Time: Easter egg hunt outdoors!

Lesson: Where do baby animals come from?

Craft: Easter Egg Candle Holder! (Tutorial can be found HERE)

Preschool Week 25: St. Patrick's Day

Monday with Arielle

Opening Activity: S is for Shamrock Worksheet. Review sight words. Add, Subtract, and Estimate using "gold" coins.

Circle Time:

• Date/Weather/Time
• Read "The Night Before St. Patrick's Day"
• Sing St. Patrick's Day songs (see below).

I'm a Little Leprechaun

(Tune of I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a little leprechaun (hands on hips) 

Dressed in green, (point to shirt) 

The tiniest man (hold thumb and index finger about an inch apart) 

That you have seen. (point to the other people) 

If you ever catch me, so it's told, (make a motion like you're grabbing at a leprechaun) 

I'll give you my big pot of gold. (make a motion like you're giving something away) 

Eensy Weensy Leprechaun 

(Itsy bitsy spider) 

An eensy weensy leprechaun 

Came out for St. Patrick's Day 

To look for the gold that 

was hidden far away 

over the rainbow 

was where he was told to go So, 

with a wink of his green eye 

He ran to get the gold!

Snack: Lucky charms and "gold"fish crackers

Wiggle Time: Dance and twirl to Irish music and use streamers.

Lesson: Find Ireland on the map. Discuss who St. Patrick really was.

Craft: Cut and color our own leprechaun.

Wednesday with Naomi

Opening Activity: Sight Words and Phonics Game - If this says "B" and this says "ig" put them together and it says "Big"

Circle Time:

• Date/Time/Weather
• Sing the Rainbow song
• Read books about leprechauns and rainbows

Snack: Color Tray (Red strawberries, yellow bananas, pink yogurt, green celery sticks, purple grapes, orange carrots, blue blueberries)

Wiggle Time: Hang crystals from the window, give them a spin, have the kids chase the rainbows around the room!

Lesson: Primary Colors- 3 clear jars filled with water. Add food coloring to make one red, one yellow, one blue. 3 clear empty jars. Pour combinations of the colored water into empty jars to see what colors you can make by mixing the primary colors.

Craft:  Use pom poms to glue together your own rainbow!

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 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)

Preschool Week 11: Thanksgiving Continued...

Monday at Arielle's

Due to lots of sick little kiddies, we actually had to cancel all our activities for this week so there will be no pictures, but I thought I would leave up the plan incase anyone wanted to reuse the ideas in the future.

Combined Pilgrims and Indians Lunch Party!

• Cornucopia with fruit, cheese, and crackers, inside
• Turkey dogs in a blanket
• Apple Cider
• Pumpkin Pie in a Jar

Turkey Crafts while watching Thanksgiving Movie

Wednesday at Naomi's

CANCELED for Thanksgiving Break!

Preschool Week 10: Thanksgiving

Monday with Arielle

Opening Activity: Thanksgiving maze and coloring page

Circle Time:

• Date/Time/Weather
• Thanksgiving songs
• Read “Mary’s First Thanksgiving” by Kathy-jo Wargin.

Snack: Grapes and Goldfish Crackers

Wiggle Time: “Gourd Games” (from Pinterest). Wiggle block/dance videos

Lesson: Discuss the first Thanksgiving. Map skills - follow the journey of the Mayflower.

Craft/Activity: Color/Cut Turkey worksheet (from Pinterest)

Wednesday with Naomi

Opening Activity: Use water colors to paint Turkey Dot to Dots and then make Thanksgiving hats

Circle Time:

• Date/Time/Weather
• Watch the story of Thanksgiving
• Sing thanksgiving songs

Snack: Food Turkey made out of PB&J sandwich for body, apple slices for feathers, etc.

Food Image Found HERE

Wiggle Time: Catch the Turkey! Take turns wearing the turkey hat and running from everyone else! Other two wear Indian feathers and pilgrim hat. TAG!

Lesson: Review story of Thanksgiving

Craft/Activity: Make the My Thanksgiving Story Book

Preschool Week 8: Halloween!

Monday with Arielle

Opening Activity: Fall scissor skills worksheet.

Circle Time:

• Date/Time/Weather
• Songs - “Hello My Friends” and “Knock, Knock Trick-or-Treat” http://supersimplelearning.com/halloween/songs.html

Snack: Mandarin Orange Jack-o-Lanterns (Pinterest)

Wiggle Time: Monster Freeze Dance Put on "Monster Mash" and other seasonal tunes. Have kids show off their silliest monster dance moves—(also try having them stagger like zombies, fly on broomsticks like witches, or hop like toads) but they must freeze in place when the tunes turn off!

Lesson: Halloween Around the World! (map skills) - Draw a card from trick-or-treat bucket with a picture of a country, find the country on the map, talk about how they celebrate Halloween.

Craft/Activity: Paper plate Ghosts and Jack-o-lanterns

Wednesday with Naomi

Halloween Trick-or-treat Party! 

Preschool Week 5: Christopher Columbus

Monday with Arielle

Opening Activity:  File folder games, then make a Telescope out of paper towel rolls!

Circle Time:  

• Date/Time/Weather 
• Songs:  “Row Row Row Your Boat”, “Sailing Sailing”, and “Day-O”.   
• Counting with the Calendar: count length of voyage-72 days, count how many weeks are in those 72 days, and count how many full months are in those 72 days.

Snack:  “sea” biscuits with jam and mandarin oranges to prevent scurvy!

Wiggle Time:  “A Sailor Went to Sea Sea Sea”  - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKCKjdf5TVY

Lesson:   

• Story – “Let’s Meet Christopher Columbus”    
• Map Work: Use telescope to help locate Genoa, Italy; Indies; Palos, Spain; San Salvador. (letter recognition on map)  
• Buoyancy Science Experiment.

Craft: Cut-N-Paste Ship

Wednesday with Naomi

Opening Activity: Build “The New World” with blocks and Legos

Circle Time: 

• Date/Time/Weather
• Story Time: Christopher Columbus Video
• Singing water songs with the Ukulele (Row, row, row your boat, Give said the little stream, etc.)

Snack: Blue Jello cups with orange slice boats and gold fish

Wiggle Time: Boat races in boxes

 

Lesson: Make Christopher Columbus Story books recapping what he did

Craft: Paper Mache Earth Globes

Friday Field Trip

Make boats out of recycled material and take them to a local park with a water feature where you can have boat races!

Magnificent Mommies Week!

In preparation for Mother's Day, me and the girls spent all last week learning about different kinds of moms! Here is a little of what we did:

Monday: Mammal Mommies

On Monday we learned about Mammal Mommies. This involved sitting at the computer, learning about mammals, watching a LIVE birth, and coloring pictures of mammal moms. The girls LOVED it and were surprisingly more mature than I was when we watched the baby be born :)

Tuesday: Marsupial Mommies

On Tuesday we learned about marsupial moms, made a Kangaroo mom and baby (complete with toilet paper roll pouches), and had pouch races! The pouch races were hilarious! I just tied a bandana around both the girls' waists, let them pick a stuffed animal to stuff inside, and then we did hopping races and running races whilst trying to keep our "babies" safe in their pouches!


Wednesday: Mommies that lay eggs

On Wednesday we did the Naked Egg Experiment and learned all about how eggs work and what kinds of animals lay eggs. The girls were fascinated by the eggs and REALLY enjoyed busting them open!

Thursday: Bird Mommies

On Thursday we learned about bird moms and then we made a bird house to put outside our dining room window. The bird house turned out pretty crooked with all the extra "help" we got from the girls, but they LOVED it and are very proud of all their hard work.

Friday: Mom's Day

On Friday I began a whole weekend of being spoiled for Mother's Day! I was fed many fantastic meals, got to spend the night with one of my girl friends while Kevin took Brooklyn camping, received many fantastic gifts, and had an incredible time hanging out with my wonderful husband and cute little girlies! Can't wait for more fun to come!

Outdoor Adventures: Pilgrims and Indians by Erin Uda

This week we’re going back in time to experience life as a Pilgrim or an Indian. Create a teepee in your yard using an online pattern, or a sheet and some sticks/PVC pipes. Let the kids help you tie, sew, and decorate. If you’re not crafty, feel free to use a tent and some imagination.

(Click HERE for image source and the pattern to make this Teepee)

If the teepee is a bit too involved for you, try making a fort using blankets, chairs, and books or tarps and rope. You can pretend to be the Pilgrims instead of the Indians.

Or do both – first be Indians, then be Pilgrims.

Spend a few hours living outside and learning what they went through that first winter. You could make it an immersive experience, actually having them carry buckets of water around and trying to re-create their simple, impoverished lives; or you could keep it fun and light by simply reading books and telling stories together in the teepee or fort once it’s finished, and then leaving it up for them to play in for a few days.

When it gets closer to Thanksgiving, plan a children’s feast. Bring the meal outside and talk about the first thanksgiving, the pilgrims, the Indians, and how they worked together and helped each other.

And remember to dress the part! Make a feather headdress and a paper grocery sack vest or a Pilgrim hat/bonnet and buckles for your shoes.

Recommended Reading:

• Thanksgiving on Plymouth Plantation, Diane Stanley
• Alligator arrived with apples: a potluck alphabet feast, Crescent Dragonwagon
• Friendship’s First Thanksgiving, William Accorsi
• I know an old lady who swallowed a pie, Alison Jackson
• Thanksgiving Day, Anne F. Rockwell

Pumpkin Carving and Pumpkin Seed Recipes!

Last night for Family Home Evening we decorated PUMPKINS for our front porch! 

 We started out the night by getting the girls all geared up for some painting. They loved swirling colors all over their little orange friends... and then their hands, faces, and chairs! :) And while they were painting the town, Kevin and I started carving our own pumpkins.

Kevin carved this fantastic Cannibal Pumpkin (complements of Pinterest) and its accompanying victim. Lily had unfortunately become very attached to the little pumpkin and was very upset when she saw it being eaten!

I also stole some inspiration from Pinterest and carved this fun little Puking Pumpkin. Brooklyn and Lily both worked VERY hard with me to separate the seeds from the pumpkin puke so we could bake them today.

The girls' pumpkins both came out resembling "modern art" and they are both very proud of their creative efforts!

Side by side our pumpkins make a pretty fun scene. Our neighbor even took a moment to stop and complement them (which made me feel good since his porch is TOTALLY decked out for Halloween!)

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Anyway, this is what our porch looks like right now. Not much when it comes to decorating, but it is enough to make my girls happy and to leave me with a little less stress and a little extra spending money!

As for those seeds... Brooklyn and I got them all seasoned up and baked today and they turned out great! In fact, I offered Brooklyn some cookie dough after lunch and she turned it down with a request for seeds instead! I didn't think that was possible.

When the seeds were all done, we sat down together on the couch and munched on them whilst reading Halloween books under a blanket. It was AWESOME!

If you are looking for some good Pumpkin Seed Recipes, we borrowed THIS ONE from 100Cookbooks.com:

Curried Pumpkin Seeds

1 egg white
2 teaspoon curry powder
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grained sea salt
1 cup fresh pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 375.

In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the egg white, curry powder and salt. Add the pumpkin seeds and toss well. Drain off any excess egg white (using a strainer) and place seeds in a single layer across a baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until seeds are golden. Sprinkle with a bit more curry powder when they come out of the oven. Taste and season with more salt if needed.

Makes one cup.

And then we made our own by mixing 1 Cup of seeds with 2 Tablespoons of melted garlic butter, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, spreading it out on a pan, and baking at 375 for 14 minutes. YUMMO!

Halloween Sneak Peek...

For Halloween this year, Brooklyn put in a special request to be dressed up as a "Pink Cowgirl" with a pink horse. And because the only thing I love about Halloween (besides gorging myself with sweet-chocolatey-goodness) is watching my kids dress up and party... I caved!

So, I jumped onto dandee-designs.com and pulled up the HOBBY HORSE TUTORIAL and got to work! An old fuzzy sock, plunger, some felt, safety eyes, twine, and a little yarn later, we had this guy all ready to ride!

I know its not the most beautiful horse around, but it is pink, and it does match Brooklyn's pink boots. (And in my line of work, that counts for something!)

Now I just need to find her a pink cowgirl hat and we should be good to go. Oh yeah! and in case you were wondering... she will be accompanied on her trick-or-treating adventures by her little sister dressed as a baby cow, her daddy dressed as a cowboy, and her mom dressed as a mommy cow... Sexy... I know ;)