Colors, colors, everywhere!

A is for alligator! Watch out or he might munch you up....aaaahhhhh. That's what the A would say too!

We also talked about the letter B this week.

We used our colorful counting chips to practice forming the letter B. Each chip has a small metal ring around the edge, so after the kids finished making their B, they could use their "magic" magnetic wand to pick up all of the chips in one swoop!

For a math center, we used the stacking cups shown below to race a friend as we counted to ten. Each cup has a number on it from 1-10 so we took turns playing this game that can definitely stack up!

We also played with some Orbeez! These are always a favorite! They come in many colors and they grow from the size of a needle tip to the size of a small marble by absorbing water. They keep their smooth, wet feel even after they have fully grown which the kids love. We used them as a color sorting center.

We had different colors of cannisters, and could either drop or bounce (yes they bounce!) our orbeez balls into the correct corresponding container. Oh, what fun!

We also mixed colors with water and water droppers to see what colors we could make. Then, we'd empty the cups, fill them with primary colors again, and do it all over again.

Check out all those colors.

Another color recognition and color mixing center we had were these color paddles.

I just love watching children's minds at work. They were SO happy when they put the paddles together and saw that it really worked!

A really fun game that is excellent for color and number recognition is a game called Hyperdash. There are many different modes and levels of play, so it really is fun for all ages. For our colors week, we simply played the level where it would ask you a color and you would have to touch that color with the tagger. Then, it would tell you how many seconds it took to complete, and they enjoyed trying to beat their own score.

We also sorted fish by color. We did this using rainbow colored goldfish, so its always fun having a snack while we work.

I am pretty sure that yellow won for most goldfish everytime. Guess we know what the box has the most of :)

We did an art project we called scribble art. The children were asked to find the black crayon in their box and to simply scribble a design onto their paper. After doing so, they could then use any other color to color their designs. 

For another math center, we used these pegboard numbers. Each mat has a number from 1-10, and then the corresponding number of holes to add that many pegs to that board.

Songs of the week: We sang about our primary colors this week.

R-E-D Red

(Tune of Are You Sleeping)

R-E-D, red. 

R-E-D, red. 

I can spell red

I can spell red.

Fire trucks are red,

Stop signs are red, too.

R-E-D, 

R-E-D. 

BLUE

(Tune: THE FARMER IN THE DELL)

 

B-L-U-E SPELLS BLUE

B-L-U-E SPELLS BLUE

HI-HO DID YOU KNOW

B-L-U-E SPELLS BLUE?

 

THE BIG SKY IS BLUE

THE OCEAN IS TOO

HI-HO DID YOU KNOW

B-L-U-E SPELLS BLUE?

YELLOW

(IF YOU’RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT)

 

Y-E-L-L-O-W SPELLS YELLOW.

Y-E-L-L-O-W SPELLS YELLOW.

LIKE THE EARLY MORNING SUN

WHEN THE DAY HAS JUST BEGUN.

Y-E-L-L-O-W SPELLS YELLOW.

 

DAFFODILS AND BABY DUCKS ARE YELLOW.

LEMONADE AND SCRAMBLED EGGS ARE YELLOW.

I LIKE THE SMILEY FACE THAT’S YELLOW.

HE IS SUCH A HAPPY FELLOW.

Y-E-L-L-O-W SPELLS YELLOW.

Book of the week: Our book was called Mouse Paint by Ellen Scoll Walsh. Excellent book! for color mixing. Really cute.

School is cool!

And so are my awesome students! We had a super first week of school! Super fun and super busy. The first week is always a busy one because there is so much to accomplish! My goal is to introduce myself and the kids to each other, as well as show them how much fun preschool can be but at the same time set the rules and establish a routine. And, of course, we want to learn! So, this week we focused on each other, as well as some of the staples of preschool fundamentals.  

We completed this heart puzzle as a teamwork activity. We talked about how if we each just had one piece of a puzzle and were asked to complete it by ourselves, would we be able to do it? No, but if each of us does our part and puts our piece of the puzzle on, we can complete it as a team.

One of those "staples" of preschool that I mentioned earlier is definately playdough! It is so versatile and the kids love it! We will play with this various times through the year for fine motor skills like cutting,  and finger strength. We may also use it as a shape formation and recognition tool, and to help us with letter formations.

We made these adorable duck hats to go along with our Duck Song. Look for the words at the bottom of this entry. This is one of the songs that we sing to get our wiggles out!

We also talked about the letter A this week. "A" is for apple, and all of the other surprises that started with A that were hidden inside of these apples.

We also used apples for our math center this week. We took turns recording how tall each of us was, and then counted how tall in apples. Ask your child how many apples tall they were!

Each child received a puzzle with their name on it to take home for name recognition practice. We built them in school a couple of times too!

We also got to play with blocks, and some magnetic toys. Can't go wrong there!

For a reading center we took turns listening to the story readers.

And finally, for the introduction of colors week next week, we played with the parachute! A must play for every child! The plan was to do this outdoors, but we were really short on time so we decided to just move some tables and play inside for awhile!

We celebrated some birthdays this week! Happy Birthday to:

Aydon!

Easton!

and Taryn!

Songs for the week:

The Duck Song

I am a duck 

I quack, quack, quack. (using hands as a beak)

I have some feathers. (using hands as feathers)

on my back, back, back. (Turn around and wiggle back side0

When I go down (shrink your body down)

to the lake (open arms wide like a circle of water)

I wiggle, and I waddle (wiggle and waddle)

And I shake, shake, shake (shake body while turning all around)

September

Tune: "Are You Sleeping"

It's September.

It's September.

Fall is here.

Fall is here.

We are making new friends.

We are making new friends.

We like school.

We like school.

Book of the week: How Do Dinosaurs go to School by By Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

Summer Alphabet

Ever heard of the summer alphabet? My friend, Camille, found this idea on a blog and did it with her kids last year. They had a ton of fun and I promised myself I would do it with my kids this year. So, join me in enjoying your summer with your family.....alphabet style. Take a notebook and pen and write down each letter of the alphabet. Next to each letter, think of something you would like to do this summer that starts with that letter. Then, in any order, follow through on completing your list!
I told my kids about this last night and they wanted to sit right down to make our list. They were very excited! I am too! What a great way to stay busy, have fun, and still incorporate some learning into summer vacation. If you'd like to follow the things that we will be doing for our alphabet list, check us out here.
This does not have to be extravagant or expensive. The important thing is just spending time as a family. Some ideas may be:
Letter M: movie night (at home or at the theater)
Letter G: game night
Letter B: bubbles
Letter H: hiking
Letter S: swimming
Letter Z: a trip to the zoo
Letter C: craft night
Letter P: make your own pizza night
And so on and so forth. I hope you join us in this alphabet adventure! Have fun and can't wait to hear what fun things you do!

End of year festivities!

We had a lot of fun in class the last couple of weeks of school.......the kids deserved it, they worked hard this year!! Unfortunately I didn't take a lot of pictures because we were extremely busy working er, playing. But, I did get some of one of the favorites amongst the children.....GAK!

Gak has a gooey, yet stiff, tough, yet slimy texture. It is a great change from the traditional playdough. If you want to form it into a shape, you can. But, then as it sits it slowly melts into a puddle. I promised the kids that I would post the recipe for Gak onto the blog so that they could make it at home with you guys if you wanted to make some, so click here to be directed to the recipe. Please be very cautious and careful when making this as it does contain a small amount of Borax. Thouroughly wash hands after play and NEVER let children play with this without your supervision to ensure that they don't eat it. Very fun in a controlled setting though!

We also had a beach theme our last week of school and played with bubbles:

We intended to do this outside, but the weather thought otherwise so we settled for the garage. We still had a blast.

We also made sandcastles out of sandpaper for an art project, and dug in the sand to find seashells:

And, we played games like beach ball basketball and beach ball relay races.

We made snowcones and ate fishy crackers for our snack. It was pretty much a great end to a great year!!

We celebrated the summer birthdays this week too! Happy Birthday to Maxx and Jacob this summer!

And, our final stars of the week were:

Cy!

and Jacob!

I sure am going to miss those faces!! Please keep in touch through the blog! I will occasionally post with various summer activities and updates on the upcoming year! I love you kiddos!