Community Helpers

What a great theme to teach!!  We talked about first what was a community.  Then we talked about who is a community helper.  I went onto Pinterest and printed out some images of community helpers and some worksheets.  We read stories and played doctor/nurse, vet, construction, etc.

This fun doctors kit was a huge craft hit!

Police cars made from paper plates.  Learning shapes as well!! 

Transportation

Transportation was a fun theme.  We talked about all ways to get from here to there. We did worksheets, group activities, and crafts.

Halloween Fun!

This lesson is easy.  You just get some books, some songs, and some crafts and have fun!! We also talked about Trick or Treating safety.

Animals, Animals, Everywhere!

We talked about all different animals. Where they live, what they eat, what they sound like, etc.  We read stories, played with stuffed and plastic animals, etc.


We painted a Lion, then cut around the edges to make his mane.

We had a math activity, then ate the animal cookies for snack.

They had to cut out and color all the animals that belonged on the farm. Again, a Pinterest find.

Fall/Apple Lesson

For the lesson on Fall we did a fall tree project.  We painted their arm to make the tree trunk and used q-tips to paint the colors on.  We love painting with different objects.  

Then we cut or ripped red paper and clued them onto a paper plate to make an apple. Later we read Ten Apples Up On Top and played an stacking game with blocks.

We also talked about harvest time and did a corn craft painting with legos! 

Number Stomp!!

This is our number stomp game!!  I draw a couple monsters with chalk on the driveway. Each monster has a different amount of eyes. When I call out a number, they have to find the monster with that many eyes and stomp on him!  They love this game.  Great exercise and learning.

You Smell That??

Our first lesson was the 5 senses.  We did many activities with this lesson.  We touched different objects and talked about what we felt.  We smelled all kinds of things.  We listened to everything. We went on a walk and talked about what we see, played Ispy.  During snack time we talked about how things taste.  What kinds of food we like and dislike.

Our first craft we did on the sense of touch.  I apologize for not having links to my projects that I found on pinterest.  But if you search, you will find it!

Next we did the sense of smell.  I wrote their names in glue and they added different seasonings/powders.  We did Cinnamon, paprika, cocoa, pepper, Italian seasonings, lemonade etc.

Preschool Journals..WHAT??

That was my thought when I first found this idea on...you guessed it, Pinterest.  The idea isn't that they actually write, although they can if they choose and probably will once the year goes by. The idea is that they learn HOW to use it.  How to get ideas onto paper. How to turn pages.  How to respond to the question that is being asked for the journal.  I LOVE this idea and they LOVE "writing" in their journals.  Again, I started it off by adding a picture and their name to the front.  Name recognition.  These children are ages 2.5-4 so some know, some don't, some know how to spell but not what the actual letter is, and some do.  Does it matter? Not at all.  They are having fun and learning!!

How it works; You give them a topic to "write" about.  It usually goes with what we happen to be learning that week.  Then they write or draw what it is they want.  I usually just add at the top what it is they are trying to say.  My thought is that one day later in the year they will start trying to copy what I wrote.

Getting Ready for Preschool

To get ready for our upcoming days of preschool, I made name labels. Another idea that I got off of Pinterest was to add clothes pins and have them match up the letters of their names.  Just another way to put name recognition into our everyday lives.

I also found this amazing matching game on Pinterest.  Go to your local dollar store and purchase the alphabet and number window clings.  Then purchase the foam pieces in their craft section. I took the foam pieces and cut them in half.  I used the same color as they were on the window clings and wrote each number and letter.  Now stick your window clings up on the window.  They match them up and stick the foam pieces over the window cling using a little water.  The kids LOVE painting the water on the back of the foam and sticking them on the matching letters/numbers!

A Little About Me!

I am a stay at home mom who loves to keep the kids occupied with doing lessons and crafts.  This year I even brought in some outside kiddos to make our very own Preschool.  Even though I have been at home doing crafts and lessons for 10 years, this is the first year I have a set curriculum.

Most of my ideas do come off of Pinterest. I usually just search what I am looking for and come up with a couple thousand options!! I do have years of daycare experience behind me and sometimes go to the good old fashion books that I have.  So while I can't take complete credit for my ideas, I wanted to put them all together for future reference.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Please note, that our preschool is just 2 mornings a week.
Also, every week we have a stack of books to go with our theme.  I just go to the library and borrow some on the topics.