During our discussion about Earth Day and how to reduce, reuse, and recycle we decided to make a collage. We used old newspapers to paint a picture of earth and recyclable items we collected. Preschoolers need three separate skills in order to make a collage: ripping, cutting, and gluing. These skills are "process oriented" art skills and the child’s final product is often just part of that process. Children should be encouraged and praised not only for the final product but also for their progress in handling scissors, coordination in ripping, and the ability to use glue.
Jelly Bean Graphing
Not only is graphing with jellybeans a yummy way to spend some time, it’s also educational; there are so many learning concepts packed into this small activity. Obviously, the main is graphing. But graphing is just the umbrella that covers several mighty and oh-so important math principles. In this particular instance, the children must rely on their color knowledge to sort and classify the jelly beans. After placing the candy on their graphs, they will use their counting skills (one-to-one correspondence) to count and match the number of beans, in a row, to its corresponding number below. Graphing also incorporates the concept of more/less/same.
Estimation Easter Basket
After each child looked at the basket full of bunnies, I asked them to give me an estimate of how many. We then counted the bunnies and discussed what was the same/difference.
Our Little Chicks
We've painted with balls and the kids thought it was funny. This week I asked them to paint a baby chicken with a fork. Their faces were priceless. Fork painting is such a fun and clever painting technique. It allows for different textures and lines and creates something far different than a paintbrush. Definitely worth giving it a try!
Children play with balls in many different ways. They throw them, catch them, kick them, and roll them with seemingly endless delight. We are learning how natural forces, such as gravity and friction, affect the movement of balls. We discussed the meaning of force and how we can use it to move a ball. Using forced air from a blow dryer, we discovered how the air can affect a balls movement. Then, I gave each student a straw and pom pom balls to move with our breath. We discussed how the ball's weight or how hard air blew made a difference in the distance traveled.
Number Wall Ball
This is a fun way to identify numbers. The children were given a number to point at and then hit it with the ball.
Making a Rainbow
