Whether you’re looking for activities as a full-time teacher, a group of co-opting preschool parents, or a parent with curious kids and an afternoon to fill, you’re in the right place! Find more Thematic Units here!
Whole Child Development
by notjustcute Filed Under: Learning through Play and Experience, Uncategorized, Unit Themes 4 Comments
Whether you’re looking for activities as a full-time teacher, a group of co-opting preschool parents, or a parent with curious kids and an afternoon to fill, you’re in the right place! Find more Thematic Units here!
by notjustcute Filed Under: Building Readers, Learning through Play and Experience, Music and Movement, Positive Guidance and Social Skills 1 Comment
Here’s a combination of hibernation activities for your preschoolers that fit nicely together for a story time or large group activity.
by notjustcute Filed Under: Building Readers, Learning through Play and Experience, Music and Movement, Positive Guidance and Social Skills Leave a Comment
Here’s a combination of hibernation activities for your preschoolers that fit nicely together for a story time or large group activity.
by notjustcute Filed Under: Get Outside, Learning through Play and Experience 2 Comments
Kids love the adventure of camping! Particularly when it comes to camping in a dramatic play scenario, anything can happen! When I set up a camping theme dramatic play area this week, my own 3 year old asked, “And where is the bear?” I could guess he already had a storyline brewing. In the course of a few days, he and his friends camped, chased bears, were bears, and in a strange twist, even turned their tent into a tank and joined the military. (I told you anything could happen!)
by notjustcute Filed Under: Building Readers, Create, Learning through Play and Experience 7 Comments
As you’re talking to your preschoolers about dinosaurs, it’s great to talk about what they might have looked like. No one was around to see them, so no one knows for sure, but paleontologists have used some clues to help them make some really good guesses. Some “mummified” dinosaur remains show dinosaurs with scales. That would make sense since they are considered reptiles! (The name brontosaurus actually means “thunder lizard”, just a tid-bit kids love to hear.) Here’s a great activity to explore the scaly nature of dinosaur skin while also building creativity and motor skills.
Start this one out with a discussion about dinosaur’s skin. I have used the book Dino Pets, by Lynn Plourde to introduce this idea, since it does a great job of illustrating and comparing the many characteristics of dinosaurs. I’ve also used samples of leather (or imitation leather, it may be easier to come by) for the children to feel the bumpy, scaly texture. Then, using a dinosaur outline as your base, (I found these dinosaur outlines online), have the children rip colored paper into small pieces and glue them on the dinosaur to represent the dinosaur scales. (It may be easiest just to cover the dinosaur with your glue stick before tearing.) Don’t be tempted to cut the paper for them! The tearing action utilizes the pincer grasp and builds fine motor strength and control. These are all skills children need to develop in order to have the physical ability to write. Of course, since we have no way to be sure what colors the dinosaurs were, the children can use their imaginations and implement any colors they like. Challenge their creativity and talk to them about their ideas as they make their own colorful dinosaurs. Where would such a colorful dinosaur live? What is it called? What does it eat?
by notjustcute Filed Under: Building Readers, Create, Learning through Play and Experience 2 Comments
Laura Numeroff has a good thing going. And it keeps going, around and around as her circular stories charm children every time. As part of her series that began with If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Numeroff explores the cause and effect cycle from the obvious to the outlandish as a pancake leads to syrup, then eventually tap shoes and even a tree houses! All coming full circle as the pig is led to ask for another pancake!
As you read this book with children, pause before some of the pig’s requests to see if the children can anticipate what will come next. After reading, you might even pose some hypothetical questions, like, “What if you gave the pig a blanket? What might she ask for next?” Remember that there isn’t a right answer. You might think the logical request would be a pillow, but a child may connect the blanket with something entirely different. Just as a pancake eventually leads to a tree house, your children will have reasons for their connections, so let them explain! This kind of discussion reinforces the concept of cause and effect, while also allowing for creative thinking.
by notjustcute Filed Under: Building Readers, Learning through Play and Experience, Music and Movement Leave a Comment
Photo courtesy of night fate.
by notjustcute Filed Under: Building Readers, Learning through Play and Experience, Music and Movement Leave a Comment
Photo courtesy of night fate.
In early education, there is too much distance between what we know and what we do. I bridge the gaps that exist between academia, decision-makers, educators, and parents so that together, we can improve the quality of early education while also respecting and protecting the childhood experience.
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