February is a time filled with hearts in our classrooms. You can make this heart love part of your curriculum in natural ways. To practice fine motor skills, sequencing, math skills, following directions, and vocabulary development create a silly valentine person.
Begin by cutting out 2 hearts, one larger than the other. You can ask children to cut these out or you can pre-cut them, depending on the skills of your class. Have children talk about the sizes of these hearts.
Next, have children glue the hearts together, as shown below. Remember that squeezing the glue bottle helps develop hand muscles. This is why we prefer bottled glue over glue sticks.
Give your children 4 strips of paper, as shown below. Again, ask children to order them according to size and talk about this. Additionally, have them discuss number (for example, 2 hearts and 4 strips).
Give the directions to fold "back and forth" as you show children how to do this. Hold up a finished strip and laugh at the bounciness of it!
Glue the shorter arms and longer legs onto the valentine body. "Shorter" and "longer" are good vocabulary words for children to use. Have children complete their valentine person by adding a face and perhaps hands and feet. You may even want to add hair.
Finally, have children hold up their dancing valentine people. After a few minutes of play, have them give you descriptive words. Write these words down on a chart. Each morning read the words and have fun laughing at your silly valentines!
For more ideas see our post - We Love to Talk About Hearts http://www.maggiesbighome.com/2014/02/we-love-to-talk-about-hearts.html
Standards Alignment:
NAEYC: 2.C.03; 2.D.03; 2.E.05; 2.F.03; 2.J.05
Head Start: I.D.; III.C.; VII.D.; VIII.B.;X.E.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Monday, January 26, 2015
Fine Motor Snow Fun
Is snow falling in your area? Are you snowed in? Even if you
are in the sunny South, take advantage of all the snow talk in the media to
involve your children in integrated fine motor and science activities.
For those of you in snowy areas, bundle up and observe the
snow. Use a giant magnifying glass to look at the banks of snow or collect
individual snowflakes on a mitten. Ask children, “What do you see?” Invite them
to explain why snow falls.
Guiding questions can include:
·
What is the air temperature like when it snows?
·
What does the sky look like when it snows?
·
Do you think the snow could turn to rain?
·
When could it do this?
These and other questions involve children in scientific
inquiry.
There are many fun activities to encourage learning that can
be done even in snowy weather. Build a snowman and use words like rolling,
lifting, above, etc. These help children to use verbs in correct
ways. You can even add math to the fun by talking about the 3 snowballs for the
snowman’s body, the 2 eyes, 1 nose, etc.
When it’s time to go into the warmth, build those fine motor
skills with this engaging art project.
The adult cuts out a mug.
Draw an outline of hot chocolate. Have the child cut this
out. (This allows important cutting practice.) I like to draw the outline and
give the child an appropriate-sized piece of paper, as shown. This helps
children cut with a greater degree of accuracy.
Have the child glue the hot chocolate onto the top of the
mug. This uses another direction word, top. In addition, squeezing a
bottle of glue helps build hand muscle strength, needed for fine motor control.
Give the child a scrap of white paper. Encourage him or her
to use the thumb and forefinger (pincer grasp) to tear small pieces of paper.
Glue these on the hot chocolate to become marshmallows!
Enjoy the weather and the range of possible learning
activities it brings! Why not visit your library and check out 2 of our favorite snow books? We love The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats and Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin.
Standards
Alignment:
NAEYC: 2.C.; 2.D.; 2.G.; 2.H.
Head Start: I.D.; III.C.; IV.A.; IX. A. B.; XI. A. B.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Art and Alligators + Science!
We know that animals
fascinate children. Many of these animals are humanized in children’s books,
but it is always helpful to invite children to explore the realities of the
animal world. This week, our activity
(which is FREE to you if you sign up in the white box) educates children about
the always amazing alligator.
We like to begin a lesson
about animals by asking children what they already know. You can make a list of
these facts by writing them on a chart. This helps children understand that
reading and writing are simply “talk written down.” It doesn’t matter if any or
all of your students can read your chart, you are modeling the importance of
writing.
If children offer facts that
are not true, put them in a column labeled, “To Check.” This is an important
school-readiness skill that models for children the importance of using
resources to make sure their thinking is correct.
You can read aloud the text
from our activity or from books you find in the library. Then invite children
to make changes or additions to the set of alligator facts. You may want them
to view this video the Maggie’s Big Home team took while on a recent visit to
Mississippi. Can they spot the swimming alligator? Ask them to look for clues about where alligators live.
In our activity, we offer
children the chance to make a puzzle out of the alligator. But here, we share an
outline of an alligator for children to color, cut, and paste on another piece
of paper. They can then draw objects like water, the sun, or a grassy bank to
show an alligator’s habitat.
Standards Alignment:
NAEYC – 2G.05; 2G.06; 2G.08
Head Start – XI.A
Monday, January 12, 2015
Sequence Stories
We know it is necessary to
read to and with preschool children. But did you know that oral storytelling
can be just as important? Watch the video below for more information!
You can suggest this to
families by placing these few sentences in your newsletter or posting them on
your door:
Ask your children to tell
you about their day. Give them the beginning sentence, “When I woke up.”
Encourage them to tell about all their activities. End with, “And then you went
to bed.” This helps children talk about their day in order (sequencing).
Standards Alignment:
NAEYC: 2.D.03; 2.A.04
Head Start: VIII.B; IX.C5
Monday, January 5, 2015
Play = Science Understanding
The wonderful world of play can help preschoolers learn
important science concepts. As your children roll toy cars around the room, ask
questions designed to get them thinking.
Questions that begin with the words, “what if,” encourage children to develop an understanding of scientific concepts. For example, ask questions such as:
Questions that begin with the words, “what if,” encourage children to develop an understanding of scientific concepts. For example, ask questions such as:
·
What if your car didn’t have wheels? What might
happen? This could lead to children using objects without wheels to try and
make an object move. Children can then see the power of the wheel.
·
What if you used blocks to make a ramp? Would
your car change speed? Have children change the slope of the ramp. This
develops key ideas about slope and speed.
·
What if your car rolled on snow, rain, or rocks?
What could happen?
These and other questions encourage children to predict and
describe their play experiences. They
investigate and share outcomes. These are skills of scientists and necessary
school readiness thinking skills.
For more on how vehicles work, share this video with your class.
Ask children to share their observations about this machine at work.
Note: Sharing observations are an important part of the
scientific process and, of course, help to develop verbal skills and
vocabulary.
Please sign-up for our FREE printable activities. You can
use them in your classroom or send them home for family engagement. This week,
we highlight the wheel!
Standards
Alignment:
NAEYC: 2.D.03.; 2.D.06.; 2.G
Head Start: IV.A.; VIII.B.; XI.A&B.
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Preschool Pinecone Science and Math
The holidays are a wonderful time for families
to support learning in fun and natural ways.
Go for a walk. Collect pinecones. This is a perfect opportunity
to talk about the different kinds of trees: those that stay green all year long
and those that shed their leaves. Ask children to tell about the trees. Have
them explain their observations.
Children may even collect pinecones that are on the ground.
When you get home, children can line-up the pinecones from
largest to smallest. Have them tell about this sequence. This is a good
vocabulary builder!
Standards Alignment:
NAEYC: 2.C.03; 2.D.06; 2.G.02; 2.J.05
Head Start: I.D; III.C.; VIII.B.; XI.B.
Monday, December 15, 2014
Evergreen Trees: Art and Science
In the autumn most of us talk about the changing trees, the
colors, and the falling leaves. Now that it is winter, this is a wonderful time
to point out the differences in tree types. Invite children to look at those
trees with bare branches; the ones that just a few months ago sported vibrant
colors. Then have them look for trees that are still green – the evergreens.
Develop vocabulary skills by having children talk about the
differences between the evergreen trees and deciduous (those that lose their
leaves) trees. How motivating as those that celebrate Christmas will be decorating an
evergreen tree!
We suggest having children collect pinecones that have
fallen from nearby evergreen trees. Below is an integrated art and science
project that will help children understand that evergreen trees keep their
needles all year long. It is a project that preschool children can complete without adult hands needing to intervene. We love this type of project as it is truly child-created. The bonus? Fine motor
skills are practiced and refined!
Collect a few pinecones.
Color a paper plate green.
Paint the pinecones green.
Gently tear apart cotton balls. Glue the cotton to the paper plate.
Glue the pinecones to the winter scene.
Now have children describe their winter scene and what it
tells us about evergreen trees!
Standards Alignment:
NAEYC: 2.C.03; 2.D.06; 2.G.02; 2.J.05
Head Start: I.D; III.C.; VIII.B.; XI.B.
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