Our PreSchool Blog

Walking through the door this morning, the children were talking about how they have mittens to give other kids who can’t buy there own.  It is so heartwarming to hear three and four year old talking about the importance of giving to others.  We started our mitten activity by reading The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.  As we distributed mittens, the boys and girls sorted them by color.  After that, we sorted them into three categories: stripes, solid color and design.  Using an oversized graph, the children were graphing whizzes!  To finish our graph, the children identified the category with the largest amount of mittens (the design category), and ordered the mittens from numbers one to eleven.  We tried on a few different types of mittens, but we all decided it would be best to give to those in need!  Thank you very much for all of your generous donations and for helping us teach your child the importance of giving back.  We had mitten success!

Rectangles are so similar to squares, they are easy to confuse!  They boys and girls were rectangle detectives today as we found items around the room that were in the shape of a rectangle.  We prepared ourselves by reading a book about rectangles and discussing the similarities and differences between rectangles and squares.  Can’t get much past these boys and girls!

Building a snowball takes good fine motor control.  Today, the children had the opportunity to build their very own snowball!  Crumpling up paper, painting glue onto it, then pulling apart cotton balls to apply to the paper, are all excellent fine motor practice.  The children had a ball making their own special balls!

At Creative Tots, the weather took a turn for the….tasty?!  The Arctic blast hasn’t stopped us from cookin’ up some yummy, seasonal snacks!  In Ms. Lori’s group, the boys and girls made and edible glacier.  Using Jell-O, wafers and Cool Whip, the children built the layers of their glacier while learning what a glacier is.  In Ms. Leslie’s group, the children made snowman biscuits.  We build the snowman by connecting three biscuits using toothpicks, drizzling on some honey to be sure that our “snow” (powdered sugar) stays put.  Next, we put on the finishing touches using raisins and pretzel sticks.  Miss Katelyn, our special helper and Ms. Manda’s daughter, taught the children about kayaks while making a celery kayak.  Using cream cheese, the children put raisins to represent the seat and pretzel sticks to represent the paddle(s).  In Ms. Courtney’s group, the boys and girls made snowflake sandwiches.  Folding and cutting tortillas was extra special!  Building a sandwich is easy, yummy and healthy!  The children enjoyed making (and snacking!) on our storm of food!

How many different ways can you write the letters X, W and V?  Today, the children got hands on with their pre-writing skills!  Using mini chalkboards, playdoh, wooden lines, magnet boards, stickers and crayons, the boys and girls practiced making their letters in creative and memorable ways.

On our Arctic travels today, we discovered lots of new things!  In Ms, Lori’s group, the boys and girls learned about how polar bears stay warm.  With a little Crisco, plastic Ziploc bags and ice cold water, the children got to feel how important blubber is for Arctic animals.  In Ms. Courtney’s group, the children got in touch with their snowman building skills while rolling out some Playdoh to make the letters V, W and X.  The similarities in the “big lines” used to create all three letters helped the children remember how these particular letters are formed.  In Ms. Leslie’s group, the boys and girls created number twelve letter constellations.  Poking tiny holes into the paper made our “stars”.  The children were excited to turn the lights off and see their very own constellations.  We discussed what a constellation is, and the children got to see a very neat video on the Northern Lights!

Studying Greenland this month means learning about different animals in the cold, Arctic habitat.  Today, Ms. Krista, and a few of her zoo friends, came to see us!  We learned about how turtles hibernate beneath the ground during the winter.  We also got to see and touch a chinchilla!  Chinchillas live on the top of cold, snowy mountains, and use their incredibly soft, warm fur to keep them cozy from the cold.  We wish these cute little guys could stay with us all month long!