Happy Easter

I love this time of year!  The children are excited (but not too excited) about the Easter holiday and are eager to learn anything and everything they can about it.  We talked about Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection and what a special holiday this is to remember these sacred things.  We made resurrection rolls for snacks and I loved hearing them exclaim, "They're empty just like Jesus' tomb".  We also talked about bunnies and eggs and the new life that they represent.  Little Bunny Foo Foo is a favorite song we sang quite a bit.  We hid eggs over and over again and played "Don't Eat Peep".  The weather was gorgeous so we spent a little extra time outside checking on our plants, running, jumping like bunnies and observing the ducks and birds at the pond.  

Searching to match the uppercase and lowercase eggs.

 S is for success!

 The children love to run to the very edge of the grass and run super fast and hop over a little ditch in the grass.  A few rounds of this and I know their outside time has been productive.

 Working hard on our Easter bunny's.  This is one of those cute ideas I saw on pinterest that turned out to be a complete disaster.  The children were so patient throughout the process and we eventually created something resembling a bunny. 

 This amazing plant appears dead but after a few hours is a thriving green plant.  It's called the Resurrection Plant for good reason.

 The children love to see how they measure up.  They have all grown quite a bit since school started in September.

 Abie having fun with our number tiles.

 And the hunt is on!

 Thomas so excited to decorate eggs.

Camden worked hard to get his eggs vibrantly colored just right.

Spring has Sprung

 Spring is here!!  I love spring and I especially love teaching preschoolers about spring.  They are full of wonder and excitement and remind me that the world truly is a glorious place.  I don't have pictures of Tuesday's class as the computer and the photo card were in the shop (that's what happens when you put the photo card in the wrong spot in the computer).  We planted flowers, talked about the changing seasons, acted out animals waking up after their long winter's nap, went on a spring walk and used our five senses to decipher the changing world of springtime, used our thumbs in ink pads to create pictures of flowers, butterflies and animals, and used baskets full of flowers to decorate the preschool room for playtime.  

 Thomas practicing fine motor skills by weaving.

The seeds have been sown!  Perhaps this year we will be successful gardeners.

 Camden showing off his pot.  He still has lettuce growing from last fall!

 Kooper playing in the dirt.

 Kooper and Avah's dirty hands that you can't help but love (and rush to get the soap and water).

 Gideon's popcorn tree.

Taking a break from eating lunch to talk about the world.  The maps in the kitchen are discussed frequently.  

Dr. Seuss on the Loose

Dr. Seuss was a gifted author that left so many wonderful books to read over and over again.  Celebrating the characters from his books this week was a fitting way to teach the children that reading is so fun!  That is the message I reinforced throughout the week.  We played with books, read lots and lots of books, and talked about why reading is so important.

Kooper working hard on painting his hat.

 Books, books and more books during our reading focused week.

 Doing silly Dr. Seuss dancing.

Camden matching rhyming objects.  We focused on rhyming this week and I talked with the kids about the game "rhyme time".  While they are in the car or hanging out with you give them a word and have them rhyme it and vice verse.  We did it throughout the week and it was so much fun to hear their rhymes.

 Kooper's Yucky Face

 Gideon's Yummy Face

 Camden and Kooper being brave and trying out "green eggs & ham"

The superhero boys ready to go outside and save the world

Avah the horse butterfly princess (I think)

Abie the fairy bouncing high

Investigating the pond creatures.

The kids LOVED watching our very own Dr. Seuss crystal tree form.

After reading "Bartholomew and the Oobleck" we just had to play with ooey, gooey oobleck.

Abie having fun with the oobleck.

Thomas playing with play dough, since oobleck isn't for everyone.

The cutest Cat in the Hat's EVER!

Rootin' Tootin' Wild West

Yeehaw!  We had a wonderful cowboy week at preschool.  The children were so excited to learn about cowboys, horses and rodeo events.  With boots, hats and cowboy shirts the children had a great time playing cowboy and cowgirl.

Throwing bean bags into cowboy hats- great gross motor skill practice.

 Avah tying knots and more knots. 

 Thomas practicing his tying skills on a horse before he tried tying some shoes.

 Learning letters by going on an alphabet stroll.  This is similar to a cake walk but we call out letters and their are no cupcakes!

 Camden showing off his cowboy puppet.

 Kooper working on putting letters into words.

 All the boys gathered around their Lincoln Log creation.  I love how well they all work together.

 Abie playing her "guitar" in our rubberband band.

 Lassoing horses and

 barrel racing- preschool style.

 Gideon showing off his happy horse.  The horses face is actually their foot traced and cut out.

 Abie working on her beautiful horse.

Practicing some cowboy writing.

Happy & Healthy

This week we learned all about keeping our bodies healthy, with particular emphasis on keeping germs away.  We learned all about germs can make us sick and the proper way to prevent them from being shared with our friends.  Nearly a box of tissues later, the children seemed to get the hang of how to properly blow their nose and sneeze into a tissue.  We also discussed keeping our teeth healthy and strong.  Hopefully they are being fabulous teeth brushers for you!

 Thomas taking a break from playing hard outside.

 Kooper having fun playing outside.

 Gideon drawing a picture of germs.  The children's version of germs were so creative!

 Building, building building with their favorite straw builders.

 Painting with toothpaste & toothbrushes- so fun!  It was great to have Thomas' cousin Morgan come to preschool with us.  The girls especially loved having another princess in the group.

 We did a few science experiments with hard boiled eggs.  One egg was soaked in milk and the other in vinegar.  They learned that milk and other dairy food strengthen our teeth, while the one soaked in vinegar got quite mushy.

 I soaked one egg in soda and boy was it tough to get that one clean.

Gideon and Avah leading the preschool band.

Thomas making patterns.

 

 The children doing a great job of following the instructions in the dancing music.  They were running in place.

 Thomas running so fast!

 Watching their chattering teeth chatter away.

Playtime!