Week 27 (April 1, 2)

  Week 27 (April 1, 2)

This was a short week, but FULL of fun. We started off on April Fool's Day (a personal favorite). We talked about it and what the difference is between a fun joke and a mean trick. So then when snack time came around, I offered them all a "lollipop" after I had served them the usual apples, oranges and goldfish… They all willingly accepted and popped them in their mouths, only to discover that they had been FOOLED. They were actually tomatoes! So funny! They all laughed and started shouting "Happy Fools Day!!" Then we made a plan to make some funny lollipops for the moms when they came to pick up.

Bubble blowing was another favorite this week. It was such lovely weather outside, we had to get all the outdoor things out!

The kids made these darling Easter egg paintings. They chose which colors and how exactly to make it. We talked about what shape eggs were beforehand, but that was about it. They decided on grass at the bottom too. Adorable.

For a fun craft activity during table time, the kids got to decorate little chicks. They turned out pretty cute, and the kids loved it.

More pictures from outside time, they were SUPER excited about the slides this day. It was hilarious watching them. Sliding upside down, making long trains, climbing back up the slides… Too fun. These kids have the BEST time together!

Week 28 (April 8, 9, 10)

We had lovely weather during preschool! The kids loved having all the outside time. They have been enjoying the sand box a lot more lately (as is evidenced in the pounds of sand I vacuum up each night). Swinging, on their own, and as spiders, is always a hit. Silly boys.

The kids started a few games of hide-and-seek one day and had a blast trying to hide in the pretty open space in the yard. It was very funny. In the top picture, Jeff was counting and Ryan was trying to hide laying down on the bench just behind him...

I gave the kids markers, 1 wiggle eye, glue, and a few feathers. We had just finished a book about birds, nests, eggs, etc. And they went to town. While coloring, they all started talking about what they were drawing and all the pictures ended up pretty similar, despite doing them each on their own. They are such little artists!

Another bird activity they did was a math game. They took turns rolling the die and writing out their math problem. The first roll was the first number in the equation, then they put a plus sign, then rolled again to find the second number in their problem. They drew a nest and drew in all the eggs corresponding to the numbers they rolled to find the answer. They are getting SO good!

Play time was mostly Color Clix. I know they love them, so I keep them out, but it's been a while now, so maybe I'll put them away for a couple weeks and let them find an interest in some of the other million toys here at preschool.

Some more math games. This particular game has different sheets to do patterning, completing a broken pattern, counting small and large numbers, counting by 5's or 10's, and more. It's so fun for them!

  And, introducing our new "Reading Room". I moved the book shelves into another room along with the stuffed animals and a large foam mat. It is nice having a second area for the ids to utilize, especially when they need to have a calm area for reading and relaxing. I love watching them read, along or in groups, it's awesome. What smart kids these are!

Week 29 (April 15, 16, 17)

I brought out lots of animals masks and we played poacher/animal hide-and-seek. We also made the distinction about hunting vs. poaching, and which animals there are plenty of - so it' okay to use them for meat to eat. I thought it might be a sensitive topic, so I was prepared, but they were all very logical about it all.

We pretended our apple snacks were really meat that we hunted together as a tiger family and we ate outside.

Of course, not everything was about animals, and there was lots of play time too. They are such BUSY kids!

Week 30 (April 22, 23, 24)

We turned Earth Day into an entire week. The kids had fun learning lots of things about reducing reusing and recycling! They all brought in different recyclable items. We had decided a long time ago that we wanted to build robots, and this was a great way to do it! They were very creative and shared items with each other when they needed something extra. Plus they added smiles and eyes.

We each wrote a wish for our Earth Day wishing tree. The kids were very thoughtful about what they wanted to wish for to take care of the earth, the animals, the plants, etc.

I wish that we can help animals. - Jeff

 They drew lovely Earth Day pictures and then experimented by rubbing their hands on their chalk pictures and then dipping them into the water table and then making handprints on the cement. So much fun.

Some playing pictures. What good is preschool if there isn't tons of playtime?

We used an egg carton to make turtles. They were excited to reuse the carton to make it into something new. They came up with another million ideas too. They are so clever!

At the end of the day, we listened, sang and danced to the "3 R's" by Jack Johnson all about, you guessed it, reducing reusing and recycling! They were WILD while I was trying to get pictures of them, and then when I told them I was going to make a movies for the mommies, they all stood really still. Silly kids!

Here is the little clip. Happy Earth Day!

 

Week 31 (April 29, 30 & May 1)

We did a lot of fine motor practice this week. Lots of cutting and writing in small spaces.  Cutting shapes out to make a picture of flowers and rain was pretty fun for the preschoolers.  I gave the initial idea, but it was up to them to create a picture on their own.

I seriously LOVE the finished products. They are so creative!

We made it rain with blue paint dots and then counted them up. Jeff made 100 dots, really. It took him a long time to do it, but he did it.

Writing on these little popsicle sticks was hard for my BIG writers, but Ryan loves writing tiny so he was excited to share some tips and tricks with the other boys.

Then more cutting, this time it was on thin foam, which is different feeling to cut. Good practice though!

April showers bring May flowers! What a perfect rhyme to do this week at the end of April and the first day of May!

Play time this week was 90% puzzles and Imaginext toys. These preschoolers have such similar interests, it's easy to come up with activities for them as a group!

I put up a new magnetic board to make story time, singing time and other circle time activities more exciting. They loved singing Old McDonald while holding and helping to put up the different figures. It makes it much more interactive and fun! They thought they were hilarious putting the farmer on TOP of the barn, and some of the animals upside down. We all got a good  laugh out of these silly boys!