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Friday Freebie – Bug Observations
Happy Friday! This is my one and only day off for Spring Break, in fact my only day off until Memorial day, so I am cherishing it! I have big plans for my day off, I’m road-tripping to the outlet mall to do some spring shopping, but before I head out I have a really cute freebie to share with you. When it comes to spring, there is one thing that preschoolers love – playing outside. With every group of children I’ve ever worked with, they’ve always been drawn to bugs. They love to find them, watch them, catch them, try to pick them up, you name it. This Bug…
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Last Minute Easter Basket Ideas for Preschoolers
If you’re anything like me, you haven’t bought anything to put in those Easter baskets yet. No problem, I’ve got you covered with a huge list of ideas to make your life a little easier. Crayons Markers Colored Pencils Fun Erasers Coloring books Stickers Shape Punches Hair ribbons Sunglasses Sidewalk chalk Bubbles Jump rope Frisbee Slingshot Bouncy balls Toy cars Modeling clay Watercolors Figurines Notebooks Play dough Card games Travel games Flip flops Books A kite Stuffed animals Reusable water bottles Glow necklaces Water balloons Chap-stick Silly putty Pool or bath toys A new beach towel A tote bag Temporary tattoos Legos New Pajamas Nail polish A toothbrush Special snacks…
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Preschool Math Concepts – Measurement
It’s Wednesday, and here at Preschool Ponderings, that means time to focus on the standards. Every Wednesday I choose an Early Learning Standard and share a number of activities that can be aligned with that particular standard. 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: MathematicsStrand: Measurement and DataTopic: Describe and Compare Measurable AttributesThis particular math standard covers three concepts related to size. First, children should be…
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DIY Easter Baskets for Preschool
Whether you need containers for an egg hunt, or are just looking for a great fine-motor/art activity to do the week before Easter, DIY Easter baskets are always a great activity for preschoolers. Here are a few ideas from around the web to help you plan! A newspaper basket, instructions at Captain Crafty Paper mache baskets from Vicki Odell Weave fabric strips in plastic baskets. (Idea from Attic Lace) Paper bag baskets, easy instructions at Teaching 2 & 3 Year Olds Paper Plate Baskets from eHow These are all easy, economical ideas that can be finished fairly quickly. I hope that your students love them!
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Preschool Printables for Easter
Can you believe that it’s almost Easter? I know it’s early this year, but it makes it feel like spring is flying by! I have a ton of great Easter activities to share with you. These would be perfect for the last couple of days before Easter at school, or for the kiddos at your family celebration to do. One of my all-time favorite printables is Fill the Easter Basket. It includes 4 Easter basket mats, each of which has it’s own list of items for children to put in the basket. Children have to look at the pictures in the list, find the objects in a group of Easter-related…
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Friday Freebie – Peep Pops
Happy Friday! I know that some of you are starting your spring breaks this week, I get next Friday off, so for me I’ve got one more short week and I’m ready to celebrate spring! These free tags, from Creating and Teaching, are for super easy “Peep Pops” all you have to do is put a Peep on a lollipop stick, wrap it in plastic wrap, and add the tag. This is a cute treat that I promise anyone can handle, and it will still look creative and DIY. Share these with your students or the kids at your family’s Easter gathering!
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Preparing for preschool conferences
April is almost here, and in my world April means parent-teacher conferences. Since I’m getting ready, I thought I would share my assessments process and all of my materials with you, get ready, this is going to be a long one! I start with three different assessments – yes, three. First, the portfolios. Each of my students has a digital portfolio, you can read more about them in this post and this post. Their digital portfolios are shared with their parents, so they can view them any time, but for their last conferences before kindergarten I print everything and put it in a binder. These portfolios include a page for…
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Preschool activities to promote patterning skills
It’s Wednesday, and here at Preschool Ponderings, that means time to focus on the standards. Every Wednesday I choose an Early Learning Standard and share a number of activities that can be aligned with that particular standard. 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: MathematicsStrand: AlgebraTopic: PatterningThere are a ton of activities that you can do with little ones to work on patterning skills. The general rule…
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Yoga for the Preschool Classroom
These last couple of weeks have been difficult for my students because it finally got warm enough to go outside, and then it got cold again. That little glimmer of hope, hope that spring might really be close, makes it even more difficult to stay inside all day. Luckily, I’ve found a great yoga program that my students love! Yoga is the perfect solution to this particular problem because it gets my students moving and uses some of their energy, without getting them all hyped up. Our favorite yoga program is Cosmic Kids Yoga. Jamie from Cosmic Kids takes children on yoga adventures, introducing poses throughout the journey. My preschoolers…
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Using Process Art in Preschool
Preschool should be all about exploration, which is why I’m a firm believer in encouraging children to express them selves creatively and giving them opportunities to explore art without boundaries. This is why I make every effort to promote process art in the preschool classroom. Process art places emphasis on the experience of creating the art. It encourages self expression and creativity, along with opportunity to explore new materials. The great thing about process art is that the final product is always unique. It also makes a teachers’ job easier because each art experience requires less preparation. Including process art in the classroom doesn’t mean that you have to give…
