Ms. Penny taught us about Pablo Picasso today and his unique style of art! We learned that he used many different shapes in his work and that the “people” in his artwork are made up of all of these different shapes. After studying his work, The Three Musicians, and made our own rendition!
This morning we learned a new sorting game using big shapes and different items that were all different shapes. The kids took turns placing the items on the correct shapes. We talked about the characteristics of each shape and the kids just loved it! 
Popcorn Snowmen
As the weather continues to get colder and the snow begins to fall, often times we find ourselves frantically looking for new ideas for indoor fun. This recipe/craft is tons of fun and a perfect indoor activity that kids can munch on once they’re done! Have Fun! Send us pictures we can post on the blog!
Put the popcorn in your largest mixing bowl and set aside. Melt the butter or margarine in a nonstick saucepan over medium-low heat. Add all the marshmallows to the pan, stirring continually with a wooden spoon until they’re completely melted. Pour the mixture over the popcorn and stir to coat evenly. As soon as the marshmallow is cool enough to touch, rub a little butter or margarine in your hands and make popcorn balls (about 1 cup of popcorn per ball).
Build and decorate your snowmen on sheets of waxed paper. For each one, stack three popcorn balls atop each other. Push pretzel-stick arms into the sides of the middle popcorn ball. Add raisins for eyes and a candy corn for a nose. Arrange a row of mini jawbreakers into a broad grin. For buttons on the snowman’s chest, use gumdrops or red hots.
If your popcorn balls aren’t sticky enough to hold the decorations, mix up a small batch of stiff white icing by adding water, a few drops at a time, to 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar and stirring until smooth. Use this to glue the candy in place. For snowmen’s scarves, cut rectangles out of fruit leather and fringe the ends. Makes 5 snowmen.
A turkey is a funny bird
The children have been using bright and beautiful water colors to create turkey feathers. This week we have been talking about the Thanksgiving holiday and they couldn’t wait to create their own turkeys! Here is a song we have been singing that you can try to sing at home!
(to the tune of “Pop Goes the Weasel”)
A Turkey is a funny bird
His head goes Wobble, Wobble
He only knows one word…
Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!
sensory table colored pasta
This week our sensory table is full of colorful noodles! The kids have been digging their hands in this colorful pasta and scooping and dumping it! They have been using spoons to scoop the noodles into the bowls and pretend they are making soup! Since all of the noodles are different colors this has been a great way to practice our color recognition as well!
Here are some of our Early 3’s children working hard at their scissor skills! They are cutting their paper into little pieces and sorting the scraps by color. They are really coming a long way with their scissors!
scissor skills and shape sorting
children created and extended their own patterns
Our focus in math during the month of November is patterning. The children were introduced to patterning last year during their preschool classes and this year the children are creating their own patterns and extending them independently. The children used different types of manipulatives today to create various patterns. Some children were still most comfortable doing a simple AB pattern based on color while some children created more complicated patterns based on size or type of animal (using the pet manipulatives set). Using everyday objects in the kitchen are a great way to reinforce patterning at home.
sand painting the letter "Bb"
Today and the rest of this week we will continue to focus on the letter Bb. The preschoolers used small paint brushes to paint their upper and lower case Bb’s with sticky glue. We talked about the shape of the letter and of course the sound that the letter Bb says. Once the letters were completely painted with glue we sprinkled them with bright blue sand. Using several different approaches in our letter Bb practice allows us to have repeated exposure to the letter and therefore better recognition. Not to mention, we’re having fun doing so!
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