Humpty Dumpty Math

Today we shared many fun nursery rhymes together.  

For our math lesson we built walls for Humpty Dumpty.  

This was our first official "group work" project.  Group work does not just happen for young children.  There is lots of teaching involved in helping them navigate certain situations that may arise.  In order for team work to be successful, we have to share, cooperate, take turns, be patient, and help our friends.

Each group was given a set up 12 blocks.  One person chose a number card from the bag of numbers.  Their goal was to build a wall for Humpty with the specified number of blocks.  

I was amazed at how well the children worked together.  As the teachers circulated around the room, we heard lot of nice words being shared.  When problems occurred, we were there to help talk them out.  

This was a great lesson in counting items, developing one-to-one correspondence, and numeral recognition.

We even saw a little addition and subtraction going on.  One team drew the number 10 first.  Once they build that wall, they drew the number 12.  Someone said, " Hey, we just need to add 2 to make 12"!  Look out kindergarten, here we come!

So proud of our Big Boys and girls!

Me and My Teddy Bear

Today we finished up with our Winter Wonders unit.  This week week focused on animals and how they behave in winter.  We learned about hibernation and migration.  For a fun celebration, our 3s brought their own "bears" to school.  Truth be told, some brought bears, some brought lizards, hippos, dinosaurs, and more...which I think made this day ever better!  I love they got to choose and really brought their best buddy to school today.

Once everyone arrived with their "bear"

We introduced them to our friends and talked about what makes each one special.

   "This hippo is pink".

This bear "has been to Disney World"

Then we shared the "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" action rhyme.

  You should have seen those bears touch the sky!

Finally, the lights went out and the bears went o sleep.

SHHHH, don't wake the bears!

Twister!

These silly Twister pictures just make me laugh! 

 I can just hear the giggles that must have been going on!

This is one of those great learning experiences, when the kids think they are JUST playing!

Through this one activity I could list many goals that we worked on...

Here are just a few! -color recognition, listening and following 1-2 and 3 step directions, developing spatial awareness, gross motor skill practice, cooperation, discerning right from left, and just plain having fun at school!

Good Job Rainbow 4s!

Snow Tracks

 Last week the 2s had a blast driving their cars in the snow!

  

 Then they drove the cars on the road...

It was very cool to see the tracks that each vehicle made!

Hats and Scissors!

It is always an exciting day when we get the scissors out in the 2s room!  As you can see the boys and girls were very interested in their friends' work.  Of course 2 is a little young to use scissors independently, but with a little help from some super teachers, this project turned out great.  

 I love that they are learning how to hold the scissors the correct way.  This is an excellent fine motor workout as well.  Just like at school, when cutting together at home, it is a good idea to talk about how to use scissors like big boys and girls.  We talk about good things to cut, and how to use scissors safely.

Snow-girl Mystery!

We have been playing a fun game at preschool this week, Snowman Mystery.  It starts with either a snow-teacher, or a snow-kid.  The class works together to dress the snowperson up with a hat, mittens or gloves, a scarf, and whatever else has made it to the winter clothing basket.  

 We added a hat

...a scarf 

...purple mittens 

Once the snowperson is properly decorated, everyone closes their eyes and we change, in this case, what the snowgirl is wearing.  This is a great exercise in visual discrimination.  The children open their eyes and try to figure out what has changed.  Sometimes it is easy, and sometimes a little more tricky.  The children really have to pay close attention to details, and think about them.  Thank you to Mrs. Renee for this fun learning activity.  

Ready, Set, Snow!

Today was the big day, it was finally time for our snowball fight!   We had ready about a snowball fight in The Snowy Day, and wanted to have our own...

 First, each child got a piece of paper with a number written on it.

 Next, crumpled up our numbers and waited very patiently for the magic words, "Ready, Set, Snow"!

Here is a video of what happened...

I must say that I did give out some serious instructions on how to stay safe during an indoor snowball fight. I was also very nervous about the distance that was required for me to video the event, but it turned out to be fine.  Having done this before with kindergarteners, I know that it can get wild, but my preschoolers did an amazing job.  They helped each other find a snowball, if they didn't have one, they waited and listened for instructions. We were super impressed with their "big kid" behavior.

Once everyone had a snowball, we opened them, and named our numeral.

We shared them with our friends.

 This was a super fun way to practice numeral identification, turn taking, and listening and following directions.  

Mittens

Our 2s have been exploring ways to keep warm in winter.  

 They made warm, cozy mittens with Mrs. Jill.

 The  they read The Mitten, and re-told the story.

 The boys and girls had fun pretending to be the animals crawling in the mitten. 

 It sure got crowded in there!

 They also had fun dressing up in

They also had fun dressing up in winter clothes. 

 That scarf looks so warm!

Finally, they practiced naming colors by playing the Mitten-pokey.  

Each child had a certain color mitten, when their color was named, they put their mitten in.

What a wonderful group time!  Keep up the good work 2s!

Snow!

It hasn't snowed outside yet this year, but that is not stopping us from pretending!

We dressed up in warm winter clothes...

The  we made our own snow!

 We explored Polar animals.

Hopefully soon, we can see some of the real stuff.  Until then we will continue to bring winter to preschool.  We are making snowmen, snowflakes, and soon will have an indoor snowball fight!  

We added a new activity to our science centers this week, the Can You Fix it Station.

It didn't take long for our 4s to give it a try. Here is what happened...

(truth be told, he did it so fast, that I had to have him do it again, a little slower, so I could get pictures)

I love the idea, it prompted thinking, problem solving, team work, and  was a little tiny physics lesson!  

I can't wait to find something else for them to try.

A Sort-of Snowy Day in Preschool...

Last year, by this time, we had had 2 snowfalls, but not this year.  If the snow will not come to us, we will bring the snow in, and that is what we did today!

 We started our day by reading The Jacket I Wear in the Snow.  Then we went through a basket of wintry clothes.  We talked about what each item would keep warm.  We learned new words like scarf and mitten. Then we tried it all on.

 During centers we used real scissors and cut yarn and ribbon.  Next, we glued it on our own pair of mittens. No two sets were the same, which means that each child created their own piece of art.  

I love these open ended projects that let the children determine the outcome.  

At the end of the day, we made snow!  I have this "magic" powder that expands to 100x in size.  We added water and watched.  The children were perfectly patient, engaged, excited, and full of conversation.  They talked about what they noticed, and made very good observations.  My budding scientists did a super job!

It was anther great day in 3 year old preschool!