Community Helpers-Fire Fighters

One of our friends brought a book for Show & Tell on Thursday!
We talked about the letters "P" (police officers) & "F" (fire fighters) this week, so this book,
"Princess Pigtoria & the Pea" was perfect for show & tell!
We read the book as a class & the kids loved pointing out the P words.

Another friend got to go up & show his fireman hat & tell the kids about his Grandpa's job as fire figther...

We made our very own Fire Fighter hats...

Honorary Fire Fighters!

Our cute fire fighters enjoying their snack:)

We played a fun game for P.E. today, where you had to quickly put the Fire fighter hat on & race the Police Car & Fire Truck across the room!

We also read THIS STORY as a class...read it with your kids at home & talk about Fire Safety!
We discussed the importance of Safety & Emergencies.
Don't be surprised if your children start reminding you to Buckle Up in the car:)


At Home Activity Idea:
Become a Jr. Fire Marshal HERE

Community Helpers

This week we are focusing on a variety of different careers that people have, that HELP our community. Today we talked a lot about Police Officers, focusing on the letter "P"
See if your child knows anyone in preschool that starts with P
(hint...there are 2 children that start with P!)

Blocks...opening activity today

We practiced writing the letter P today.
Encourage your children to trace the letters again at home...making sure they start at the TOP of the letter!

Every child was an Honorary Officer for the day!
We enjoyed a fun "Follow the Officer" movement activity during Music.
Each child had the opportunity to be the "Officer" and the children followed their movements, to the music!

We talked about Safety & the importance of BUCKLING UP in the car! They all had so many fun comments today on WHY we buckle up!:) Cute kids!

Olympic Ceremonies

Today we held our very own Olympics & medal ceremony!

We turned on THIS MUSIC & MARCHED, while we followed the LEADER who WAVED the AMERICAN FLAG...
(Opening Ceremonies)

The 1st Olympic Games of the day...
At the end of the day, every child was awarded their very own GOLD MEDAL(that they had finger painted at the beginning of class)

Every child went home an Official Olympian! :)

We focused on HANDWRITING today & discussed the LETTERS in our names.
Every child is at a different level in handwriting & letter recognition, but they all did great today. I HELPED them write the word Olympics on their paper & they also had a chance to try it on their own.

At home Activity:
Help your child practice writing his/her name at home. See if he/she can TRACE it after you write it out. If he/she can trace it, then see if they can write the letters by themselves. Bath time is a great time to learn! Finger paints or crayons can be used on the shower wall & they will easily wash off. Your child will think this is FUN & want to practice their handwriting in the tub all of the time!:)

"O" is for Olympics

Today we talked about the OLYMPIC GAMES!
We discussed how many different countries get together to play the games and celebrate friendship, unity & sports. We talked about some of the different sports they might see if they go home and turn their TV's on.
Then we all made Olympic Flags & talked about how there are 5 interlocking colored rings, representing the five major land areas of the world. The rings are interlocked to show friendship among the nations. Then each child was able to color their very own Olympic flag to take home.

"O" is for Olympics
Then everyone had a turn practicing the letter "O" on the white board.

We also did a little name recognition activity, as I am working with the children to recognize their own names. Write your name on a piece of paper for your child & see if they can slowly trace it. Praise them if they get discouraged. Over time they will start to write the letters on their own.

Olympic Games!!!
Time for the games to begin!
We played a few Olympic Games, starting with "Balancing the egg on a spoon, while racing across the room"
(This is a great hand-eye coordination activity & you can even use plastic eggs if you are nervous about them breaking!)

Our next Olympic Game was to hold a balloon on top of your head & JUMP across the room.
They were being so silly & had so much fun with this game:)

Our last Olympic Game was Basketball...

I challenged the children to watch an Olympic game at home & TELL the class about what they saw during SHOW & TELL on Thursday! We will see who comes to class with something exciting to share!

Valentine Week

We had so much fun this week talking about things that we LOVE!!!
On Tuesday, the children made their very own Valentine Decoration.
A little Hanging Heart...
You can do this with any shape...just cut out 4 the same size, fold in half & glue together with a ribbon in the center...simple & cute!

On Thursday, we had a Valentine's Day Party!
We made Valentine's for our parents, by dipping our hands in paint...

and pressing them down in "C" shapes, so that we made our very own handprint hearts...

We glued a ribbon on the back, so you could hang it somewhere in your house...

Then the FUN for the kids began!
We partied with POPCORN for our snack...
And then they each decorated their very own bag & then we gathered in a circle & one at a time, the kids were able to DELIVER their Valentine's that they brought to share with the kids in the class! They were all so excited to share & loved watching their bags fill up:)

The kids LOVE the following song & we sang it lots during this week!

"Skid-a-marink-a-dink-a-dink
Skida-marinka-do
I love you!
I love you in the morning,
and in the afternoon,
I love you in evening,
and underneath the moon!
Skida-marinka-dink-adink
Skida-marinka-do
I. LOVE. YOU!!!

"C" is for COLORS

Home Depot was nice enough to supply our activity for us today:)

The paint section at your local home improvement store, is a GREAT place to talk about COLOR!
They allowed me to grab a variety of paint samples from the Disney Section at Home Depot...perfect for our theme this week...

I helped the children punch holes in the corner of their color samples...

and then stuck a little ring(also at Home Depot in the paint section) through them, so each child had their very own COLOR FLIP BOOK!

We also got a COLOR palette for Behr paint & talked about all different SHADES of colors and how some COLORS are lighter & some are darker...

We also waterCOLORED a COLORful rainbow today...

We focused on using a VARIETY OF COLORS & taking our time while waterCOLORING...

We read "Go, Dog G0", which is full of all different COLORS of dogs & when the kids would see a BLUE dog...they would race to find their BLUE MICKEY MOUSE in their color flip chart. They had fun with this simple reading game!

During snack today, I turned on Clifford, the big RED Dog & we talked about all of the COLORS we saw, as we ate!


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At Home Activity Ideas:
Colors are EVERYWHERE! Take the opportunity to talk about COLORS with your child at the grocery store, while watching TV, while playing with toys, while driving down the road or plan a simple coloring activity with PAINT, MARKERS, CRAYONS or CHALK!

Play "I Spy" with your child this week.
Say, "I spy something___BLUE__"
Then your child can look around the room and try to spot what you are thinking of that is BLUE.
Then let your child take a turn "Spying" something a specific color!

COLORS

We are talking about COLORS this week at preschool!

Music:
(to the tune of Do you know the muffin man?)
"Do you know my friend_____?
My friend_____?
My friend_______?
Do you know my friend_______?
He/She is wearing_______Today!"

We sing this song on a regular basis & the kids enjoy filling in the COLOR they are wearing when I pause at the end before I say "Today"

Tables:
Coloring Activity-
We focused on NOT SCRIBBLING(normal coloring habit for 2-4 yr olds) & using a VARIETY of COLORS, coloring each circle of our COLORFUL CATERPILLAR. They all surprised me and were really trying to concentrate on staying inside the lines!

Physical Activity:
We talked about the colors GREEN & RED
& what they mean when they seen them on a trafficlight, driving on the road.
Then we played "Red Light, Green Light"
When I held up the GREEN light, they could GO
& when I held up the RED light, they had to STOP

Snack:
COLORFUL popsicles outside!

Story Time:
We read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you See" as a class and the kids pointed out the COLORS of every animal

Science:

We filled 3 cups with VINEGAR & then dropped BLUE, RED & YELLOW food coloring in each cup...

Then we talked about each of those colors & guessed WHAT color we would make if we mixed BLUE & RED and RED & YELLOW.
We experimented & poured the colors together & made PURPLE & ORANGE-the kids thought it was magic:)

Just for FUN, I poured baking soda into each cup, so they could watch a "Color Explosion" happen in each cup...

At Home Activities-from Babycenter.com

-Your 3-year-old now-

Three-year-olds are beginning to learn colors. They can usually point to a color when asked and may be able to name four or more by midyear. Some fun ways to help them nail this skill: Weave color references into everyday conversation. "What color shirt do you want to wear today?" "Let's find a white car." When you're reading, ask him to find the red bird on the page, or ask him what color the duck is. Mix it up. Make clay or cookie dough, and divide it into several bowls. Add a few drops of different food coloring to each and knead it in. Then experiment with mixing the colors together. "What do you think will happen if we mix the yellow and the red?" Another fun idea: Put water in fancy clear bottles and have your child add food coloring. Put the bottles on the windowsill and let the sun shine through. Sorting play. Most 3-year-olds start the year sorting according to their own whims rather than by color or size. But it's not too early to give him a shot at color coordination: Get some blocks in different colors and ask your child to sort them into piles by color. Or let him help you sort socks by color. It's fun to see the wheels turn in his mind as he solves the problem in his own way. Make colors appear out of thin air. For a real crowd-pleaser, dangle a prism in the sunlight. (Many gift shops sell inexpensive hanging prisms.) The rainbows dancing on the walls will delight your child, and you can point out the colors that make up a rainbow.