Entries from November 2009

November 30, 2009

Soup from a Stone?

The story of Stone Soup is a popular old fable that has been retold countless ways.  (If you need to brush up on the tale, you can find books at the library or online, and can even find online versions here and here.)  You can help your children be a part of this timeless story as you [...]

November 28, 2009

Positive Guidance Tools of the Trade – Redirection

I’m hoping you’ve spent enough time in your life observing water to understand the following analogy (and if you work much with preschoolers, I’m sure that you have).  Imagine water running down a slight decline.  It’s spreading and gaining speed, and headed right for , say, your favorite book.  Destruction is imminent.  And so you [...]

November 27, 2009

Preschool Christmas Party – The Spirit of Giving

With Thanksgiving just now appearing in our rearview mirrors, it’s time to start  planning for Christmas!  Most everyone needs a Christmas party idea.  Whether you call it a  “Christmas Party” or “Winter Celebration” or what have you, most preschools have some kind of celebration at the end of the year.  Now whether  you teach at [...]

November 25, 2009

Thanksgiving Turkey Craft Times Two

Now, before you get all worked up over the word “craft”, let me reiterate what I said in this post.  Crafts are not inherently evil.  They’ve just gotten a bad rap because too many people have misused and abused them as a substitution for creative art experiences.  Open-ended creative art activities should be the mainstay of a [...]

November 24, 2009

The Story of Milk – Making Butter with Preschoolers

While exploring a food theme, I really like to teach the children about where food comes from.  Milk and dairy products are a great group to explore this way.  I start out by asking the children if they have milk at their homes.  They usually all reply in the affirmative.  Then I ask where milk [...]

November 23, 2009

Book Activity – The Hungry Thing

I was first introduced to Jan Slepian and Ann Seidler’s The Hungry Thing at a workshop on phonemic/phonological awareness (learn more about that here).  So, obviously, this book and activity are great for building those critical prereading skills.  In this story, the Hungry Thing shows up in a town, asking for food.  The people can’t figure out what [...]

November 21, 2009

Positive Guidance Tools of the Trade – Say What You Need to See

Have you ever told a child not to do something, only to have them do that very thing one second later?  Infuriating, isn’t it?  The child, it seems, is being belligerent and willfully disobedient.  But things aren’t always as they appear.  You see, children are very suggestible.  Once they have a mental image of a [...]

November 20, 2009

Moving Water

Here’s a quick and easy, yet fascinating , activity for your sensory table.  (Find how to make your own here.)  Inside the table, place two smaller containers.  (I used the shoebox size storage containers here.)  Fill one box with water.  You may want to add a little coloring to make the water more visible as [...]

November 20, 2009

Foods! A Preschool Group Collage

Young children are very emphatic about their food.  They love it- they hate it.  There are few in-betweens.  Let them share their tastes and build their literacy by creating a group food collage.  You can do this using a wall or a large piece of butcher paper.  Provide the children with appropriate magazines and scissors [...]

November 19, 2009

Excuse Me Please. Do You Have Any Picture Books About Using Good Manners? Thank You.

Having good manners is a key social skill.  It’s also a bit of an abstract concept for preschoolers.  Using picture books as a tool for teaching good manners goes a long way in making that concept more concrete as the children can see illustrations and hear dialogue that makes these concepts more relatable.  I like [...]