Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you each had a lovely Thanksgiving!  The children each made a couple of turkey feathers and put what they are thankful for.  Then, each class made a Thankful Turkey to display!  Here are a few of the finished works!

 

As we learned about Thanksgiving, we made cornucopias which we talked about are a symbol of a good harvest and many blessings.  The children practiced cutting out the fruit and vegetable shapes.  Their cutting skills are coming along!  Even the 3-year-olds did a little cutting!

They also glued and colored as they put their own cornucopias together.

For snack, the kids got to eat a creative version of a cornucopia filled with popcorn and almonds (things similar to what the pilgrims and Indians ate).

Playing together during centers!  I love seeing how creative the children are as they play individually and with their classmates.  Check out the animals all fed and cared for, the little mother reading to her child, and the two boys in the back playing store together!  What fun times!

Working on letters and numbers!  And playing together at the play kitchen!

This little class got a special treat this week when one of the children brought their little pet bunny to show their classmates!  Everyone enjoyed the furry visitor and were so excited to pet and hold and look at this cute bunny!  If any other students would like to bring a pet to show their class, just let me know.  I love when children have new experiences which heighten their learning experience so much!

Native American Indians

As part of learning about Thanksgiving this month, Native American Indians was our theme this week.  We read stories and legends about the Indians and used these mini-figurines to help learn about the Indians' way of life back when the Pilgrims came to America.  We learned about their clothes, how and what they hunted, and how they used fire, to name a few.  

We made an "Indian Necklace" this week where the kids got to practice their threading skills.  

They really liked creating their own piece of jewelry.  This activity helps strengthen their fine-motor skills as they carefully thread on each bead or noodle.  We pretended the noodles were animal teeth or bones.  They all did such a great job!  

 This week we also enjoyed making Indian Vests!  The children learned that the Native American Indians used animal skin to make their clothing and blankets, and to wrap around their tepees.  We talked about how Indians did not use our alphabet to record stories.  Instead, they used pictures and symbols.  The children glued on many of these symbols and colored and decorated their own Indian  Vest!  

To review the letters we've been working on this school year, the children played an alphabet bingo game.  Alphabet games, like ABC Bingo, are great to help make learning fun at home or at school!

What a fantastic visit from Mother Goose this week!  She always brings Goosey and her eggs along!  This week, Mother Goose taught the children some nursery rhymes about family.  I love seeing the children's faces as Mother Goose shares with them!  They are delightful!

I just had to add this cute picture.  These kids were enjoying a little matching game with dominoes during centers.  It's fun to see how they play so well together and are such good little friends.  

Happy Halloween!!

We had a terrific time getting ready for and celebrating Halloween at the preschool!  It is always so fun to see all these darling kids dressed up and SO excited! 

Each class had a party to celebrate which was full of fun activities, games, treats, and stories!  A big THANK YOU to all the parents who helped with the Halloween parties--from reading stories to overseeing games and providing fun Halloween treats and more, we appreciate your willingness to help!  Making Halloween shapes and jack-o-lanterns with Play-doh was awesome!

This class loved playing with our little plastic spiders!

A twist on Twister--Halloween style!  What fun!  Working on left and right and balancing!

Halloween Bingo complete with plastic spider markers was full of creepy fun!

Before snack time, we had a pumpkin walk!  It's always fun to sneak in some practice with colors and numbers while the children just think they're playing a game! ; )

I love Halloween stories!  And so do the preschoolers!

A Halloween party wouldn't be complete without a tasty treat, right?!

Two Captain Americas!  Lookin' good boys!

A couple of darling little animals!

Earlier in the week the kids got to make their painted pumpkins into Jack-O-Lanterns!  They had been looking forward to this since they painted them!  There were lots of great faces!

We learned "J" for Jack-O-Lanterns and practiced writing the letter and drawing shapes for faces.



Working on fine motor skills and eye-hand-coordination as the kids poked holes along the lines of a pumpkin.

The week of Halloween we worked on the letter "H".  The Pre-Kindergarten kids made Hats- witch hats- and decorated them with the letter "H" and colorful stars.  The kids practiced their cutting skills for this project, which they are getting very good at!

Keep practicing letters at home with your preschoolers so all that we work on in preschool will stick with them!