culture
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Preschool Easter Luncheon
One of my favorite classroom memories is the year that the children begged to have a fancy Easter lunch at school. At the time we’d been exploring holidays, and as Easter got nearer we began to talk about the things that came to mind when they thought of the Easter holiday. One of them mentioned wearing fancy outfits and it took off from there. They helped us decide on “the right kind” of decorations for a fancy Easter lunch and we enlisted parents in helping us provide potluck items that were traditional for their families during this particular holiday celebration. Most importantly, the children planned their outfits meticulously. On the…
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Thanksgiving Pie Experiment
I know that there are very strong opinions about using food for preschool activities, and I understand both sides of the argument. Personally, I believe that food is something that brings us together. It is a powerful way to open children’s minds to new experiences, and to introduce them to cultural experiences. I am especially partial to taste-tests as science and social studies activities because it gives me the opportunity to expose children to something that they may not ever encounter at home. I’ve been known to taste test fruits and vegetables, in order to introduce new foods and encourage children to be open to trying new things. This particular…
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October themes for classrooms that don’t celebrate Halloween
I love holidays and celebrating them in the classroom, but there are many completely valid reasons for not incorporating these into your lesson plans. When it comes to Halloween there can be religious considerations, cultural implications, and economic concerns. Every school has it’s own policy, but if you don’t celebrate holidays in the classroom it can be a real challenge to look for new lesson plan ideas and only find the ubiquitous Halloween ideas. I have a list of 35 fall themes that can be a great starting point for your planning, but these few October themes fit closely enough to Halloween that you can use many of the Halloween…
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Thanksgiving Day Photo Challenge
I am so ready for Thanksgiving! This year my goal is to take as many pictures as possible, so I created a little photo challenge for myself. I thought I would share it because it would be so fun to print and send home with all of your families – wouldn’t you love to see pictures from their celebrations?! Download a printable version here – and have a wonderful holiday!
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Activities for Thanksgiving Day
Whether you’ve got little ones to entertain at your own Thanksgiving celebration or your looking for fun ideas for your last day of school before the holiday, I’ve got you covered. Here are some fun ways to celebrate the holiday while enjoying each other’s company: Get everyone coloring – try these cute coloring pages If you want to hear everyone laugh, you can’t beat Thanksgiving Mad Libs! Remember cootie catchers?! Here’s a printable Thanksgiving version Family members of all ages will love taking photos with these Thanksgiving photo booth props There’s nothing better than a scavenger hunt to keep everyone busy This printable Bingo game will keep everyone awake after…
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Pie Filling Taste Test
I know that there are very strong opinions about using food for preschool activities, and I understand both sides of the argument. Personally, I believe that food is something that brings us together. It is a powerful way to open children’s minds to new experiences, and to introduce them to cultural experiences. I am especially partial to taste-tests as science and social studies activities because it gives me the opportunity to expose children to something that they may not ever encounter at home. I’ve been known to taste test fruits and vegetables, in order to introduce new foods and encourage children to be open to trying new things. This particular…
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Family Recipe Book
Thanksgiving is about two things; food, and family. Encourage your families to share their favorite recipes with each other by sending home these cute recipe pages. Once each family has completed one you can compile them to create a beautiful class recipe book that is sure to be a hit! Download your free recipe pages here!
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Irish Culture Resources
St. Patrick’s day is a lot of fun, but how many American’s actually have any understanding of why it is a holiday in the first place? While celebrating the holiday is a start to introducing children to cultural traditions, it’s important to go beyond the celebration and help make sure that the children have an understanding of the Irish culture. Here are a couple of websites that can help introduce children to Ireland – all are developmentally appropriate and full of photos and videos to give children a better visual understanding. Time for Kids: Destination Ireland National Geographic Kids: Ireland Country Profile Owlcation: Fun Irish Facts and Information for Kids…
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Cultural Sensitivity and Winter Holidays
Some teachers live for the holiday season and cannot wait to introduce holiday themed activities, others are more apprehensive about planning activities that meet the needs and beliefs of all of their students, and still others work in schools where policies prevent them from using any holiday-related materials whatsoever. I’ve met and worked with teachers who fall into all three groups, and I myself tend to end up in that middle category. Whichever of the three groups you find yourself belonging to, here are a couple of my tried and true resources for handling the holidays while still be culturally sensitive. First thing’s first, this little parent letter has saved…
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Social Studies Activities for Preschool
We’re working on social studies standards, and the timing worked out particularly well because today’s standard lends itself to Martin Luther King Day. Remember, the Standards that I use every day, and am most comfortable with are Ohio’s Early Learning Development Standards – you can review them here, however I’ve found that even if your State’s standards differ, many of these activities can still be aligned similarly. I’ve rounded up some great ideas today!Domain: Social StudiesStrand: GeographyTopic: Human SystemsPreschool standards are most concerned with making sure that students recognize similarities and differences between people, families, as well as recognizing characteristics of different cultural groups. Last year my class was fascinated by our…
