celebrating halloween- non-spooky style

This week we did some halloween crafts, non-spooky of course, but the batteries in my camera are dead and I have no pictures to show what we did. Oh well - life goes on!

We did:

-read Mirette on the High Wire at co-op and did lapbooking
-compound words
-bat worksheet (at family)
-rhyming words (at family)
-roll and color a bat (addition-hard version)
-matching number with number word (file folder game)

We made:
- paper bag jack o lanterns
- monster faces with paint chips
- orange play dough and used halloween cookie cutters

poetry cards

A project for one of my early childhood classes was to make poetry and song cards. I made 8 or 10 cards and they are great for circle time or anytime! They are super easy to make, the only hard part is finding the boards. They are thicker than poster board and I haven't been able to find them any where. When I had to make them, I was able to buy the cards at the bookstore on campus. Surely there is a supply store that carries them; I just haven't taken the time to search the internet.

materials:
colored boards
pictures from magazines or old calendars
2 copies of each poem or song
glue stick
clear contact paper

directions:
1. choose a poem or song for the board
2. find a picture to go along with the poem or song
3. glue the picture and 1 copy of the poem or song onto the front of the card
4. glue the other copy of the poem or song onto the back of the board (that way you can read the poem or see the words to the song without having to hold the board at a funny angle!)
5. cut 2 pieces of contact paper: one to fit the back of the board exactly and one piece that is at least a 1/2 inch longer on all 4 sides
6. remove the paper from the back piece of contact paper and smooth onto the back of the board
7. remove the other paper from the front piece of contact paper and lay it flat on the table
8. lay the board (front side to the table) directly in the center of the contact paper
9. wrap the excess around the sides of the board

Hope that makes sense!

enjoying the season

The weather has been so nice the past few weeks and my kids are soaking up as much of it as they can! One day while they were out playing, I packed each of them a picnic lunch complete with a love note from me!

pumpkins and such

This week we did a lot of pumpkin activities along with our other everyday learning.


life cycle of a pumpkin


pumpkin paper plate craft


dot-to-dot


ABC order (was supposed to be a file folder game, but all the pieces didn't fit in the file folder)


matching number with number word


telling time to the hour


blend ladders


letter P worksheet


copy work

Don't forget to check out the preschool corner for more preschool ideas and activities!

quilt along update

I'm a little behind on the 10 week quilt along, but I'm not discouraged because I have finished piecing the squares together! And that makes me excited! This weekend I will work on the boarders (yikes!) and get the batting and back ready.

fall bunting

My sister in-law and I made these fall buntings with our kids a couple of years ago, and I still love it! This will actually be my third year using it.

materials-
newspapers
leaf and acorn pattern
paint
twine
scissors
stapler

directions-
1. trace the patterns onto newspaper
2. have your kids paint the leaves and acorns (have your kids paint the whole acorn tan)
3. after the acorns have dried, go back and paint the tops dark brown
4. cut out all the leaves and acorns
5. staple the leaves and acorns onto the twine

fall leaves fall

This week our theme was all about leaves and acorns! The kids could choose to do any of the apple activities that we did last week, too. I say if they are still interested in an activity, let them do it!


fall sensory box


acorn lacing activity


file folder game(addition)


buttoning skills


fall books


leaf rubbings

I had planned for us to do these activities, but we haven't yet. I'm hoping we can do them today or tomorrow.
fall tree project
progression of a leaf change
fall collage

*Be sure to check out some more preschool ideas and activities at the preschool corner.

candy corn shirt

I made this super cute and easy candy corn shirt for the girls last year. I'm hoping they can still wear it this year, too!

fall sensory box

I finally jumped on the themed sensory tub band wagon and put together one for the kids today. They have played with it several different ways, but their most favorite way to play with it is to hide the wooden turtle under the leaves and then find him again!




materials-
plastic leaves ($1.00 at Dollar General)
felt apple beanbags
some old potpourri
wooden turtle

felt apple beanbags

I think these felt apples turned out so adorable! They will be going into our fall sensory tub. I've also noticed that the girls like to take them to their kitchen and cook with them.

materials-

apple pattern
red, green and brown felt
small beans (I used black beans)
pins
scissors
mark-b-gone pen
red embroidery floss or sewing machine

directions-
1. cut out the apple pattern
2. trace pattern pieces onto felt with the mark-b-gone pen (trace the apple 2 times for each apple beanbag you want to make)
3. cut out felt shapes
4. sandwich the stem and leaf between two apples
5. pin all 4 pieces together
6. sew around the apples by hand or with your sewing machine
7. leave a small opening to fill the apples with beans
8. after filling the apples, stitch the opening closed

memory matching game

I found this great idea for a memory matching game using cereal boxes a long time ago at plumpudding. It is so easy to make and so fun to play AND a great way to recycle all those expty cereal boxes!

materials-


several empty boxes (I used any kind of expty boxes)
circle pattern
scissors
pencil

directions-
1. trace the circle pattern 2 or 4 times anywhere on each box
2. cut all the circles out
3. place them face down on the floor or table
4. take turns flipping circles over
5. when a match is made, player gets to keep their match

Also check out these cute recycled bookmarks and turkeys that she made with cereal boxes. We made the turkeys last year and plan to make them again this year, too! I'm thinking we will make the bookmarks for the kids in our co-op class.

how 'bout them apples?

Our theme this week was all about apples! None of these ideas are really new, just some great gotta-dos with the kids. We also worked in our Abeka workbooks, too.


apple paper plate craft


apple pie scented play dough


life cycle of an apple


number sequencing 1-20


apple printing


apple of my eye


apple wheel (adjectives)


what's different?


color matching



apple books

*Be sure to check out some other great preschool ideas at the preschool corner!

busy boy

Thought I'd share a few photos to let you know what my little man has been up to these days...

play dough






sorting pom-poms by color






riding his bicycle






playing baseball