F is for . . .

. . . float. We found letters and created words using floating bottle caps. 

The kids would pick a letter or word from the laminated word stips. Then they would fish out the bottle caps with the correct letters on them. 

This is an engaging and easy activity to do any time. You just need plastic bottle caps (like from juice containers, milk gallons, or gatorade bottles), water, and a slotted spoon. I just used a sharpie to write the letters on the inside of the cap. Sometimes they start to fade and I just rewrite them when that happens.  . . . fly. The kids practiced identifying letters with our fly swat game. I would call out a letter and they would swat it with the fly swatter. Want to play your own fly swat game? Download our alphabet of flies here.

. . . fall. We read the book, Let It Fall. After we used tissue paper to make our own fall trees. 

B is for . . .

. . . block towers. The kids picked a numbered card, identified the number and then built a tower that tall. 

. . . balancing. We practiced balancing on a beam while picking up letter Bs.

. . . bee balancer. We made balancing bees. Each bee was made from a file folder with two pennies attached to the wings. The kids added stripes and a face to their bee and then practiced balancing it across the balance beam.

B is for . . .

 . . . butterflies painted with bubbles!

Check out this post to get an idea of what we did then come back and read below to get more details on paint, dish soap, and water ratio. 

I don't have exact measurements, but I'll tell you what I did. Then, you can experiment with your own ratios to see what works for you. I'm such a visual learner that I made a little picture. I used a little dixie cup for each color and did something similar to the picture below then mixed it all together.

I don't have exact measurements so try it out different ways until you get a ratio of paint, dish soap, and water that works for you.  If you have too much water your colors won't be very vibrant. If you don't have enough water, you won't be able to blow bubbles.
After you have blown the bubbles, lay your paper on top of the muffin tin, then carefully lift it off without letting any of the colors drip. If you find some of your paper didn't get color on it, blow more bubbles and lay the white parts over the bubbles.  Lay it flat and let it dry completely before moving it. Some of the paper will have thicker paint on it and but letting it dry just like that, it enhances the effect.

. . . balancing while picking up letter Bs

. . . blocks and learning numbers. Can you build a tower that high?

. . . bugs that you can eat! (Celery, peanut butter, and different types of pretzels)

Just taking my caterpillar on a walk

A is for ant

Put those opposable thumbs to use to make these adorable ant As. Make sure each ant has 3 body parts and 6 legs. 

I is for Insect

I grew up with all brothers and we had a huge "wild" hill down the back of our yard. We spent a lot of time down there and as a result, bugs don't bug me much. (Hehehehe I crack myself up.) Except flying cockroaches. Gah! ross! I didn't even know cockroaches could fly until we lived in Arizona for a while and I was non too excited when I found out. 

   Anyway, we discussed insects during letter I week. We mostly talked about how insects have 6 legs and if they don't have 6 legs, they are a different kind of bug. 

   I found this awesome bag of bugs at our local party store. I did not realize what a treasure trove party stores are for preschool teachers who are looking for random little things that box stores only sometimes stock. 

  Well our bugs found their way into my daughter's bug jar that we made her for her birthday one year. (She doesn't mind bugs either.) 

  The kids had fun taking turns pulling out different bugs and then we sorted them into insects and not insects by counting their legs. It was great math practice and a lot of fun.

  My favorite part? When we were done and the kids just got to play with the bugs. According to my 2 year old son, cockroaches say rawr. I think it's pretty fitting cause those things are not my favorite. 

Here's a sneak peak into our life. My husband, also a bug enthusiast, is a teacher. His go to classroom pet? A praying mantis. Usually he just tells his students to bring them in and they find him one. Have you ever seen a praying mantis hunt and eat? It's pretty primal and very cool. Put it on your bucket list, it's worth seeing. 

Apparently there is a type of mantis that flies. He really wants to find one. 

Okay, back to preschool. Here is a two day project we did for letter I week. We did the insect i when we talked about insects and the ice cream I when we talked about ice cream. (You can check out that post here.) The pipe cleaners were a little hard to deal with so next year, we are just going to do paper legs. 

  

Love Bug Valentine

 I can't take credit for this cutie but, I just had to share. Anya made these at the library story time. The rest of the day she would show us her love bug and ask, "Will you be my Valentine?" Too cute.

It's pretty easy - heart shape, black paper head, googly eyes and heart stickers.

Alphabet Fly Swat

I don't know about you, but I hate flies. We live near a cow farm so flies are an inevitable part of our existence. Of course, since we have kids that love to play outside and often forget to close the door, flies are sometimes found flying around the house. My kids love it because I pay them 5 cents for every fly they kill. Plus, there is something satisfying about swatting something with a fly swatter. 

Well, here is a fun way to practice your letters and get that satisfying swat without the annoying flies that actually buzz around. These fake flies are just the trick. 

Put the alphabet fly pictures up on a wall or on the floor and call out the letter name or the letter sound. When the kids find the correct fly, they swat it with a fly swatter. Use as few or as many of the fly letters as you need to practice.  Pretty easy and pretty fun! 

Click here to get a free printable of the alphabet flies. 

W is for worm

 We made worm cups during letter w week. 

I love making these because I get to hear things like, 

 "These worms are so yummy!" and "I like dirt!" and "Can I have some more mud please?"

I started by filling some cups with mud (chocolate pudding). Then the kids made dirt (smashed chocolate graham crackers) and poured it on their mud.

 

Then we put some worms into our dirt (gummy worms) and ate it up!

W is for . . .

. . . whirlpool

. . . web

We learned how to draw a spider web - start with a small circle, draw larger circles around it, then crisscross through the middle. 

Our younger class got to make these spiders using pipe cleaners, puff balls, and googly eyes. We tried using white glue to put the head on top, but I think hot glue would have been best.

  . . . weather

When I was doing my student teaching, I spent 1/2 the time in the preschool on campus at Brigham Young University. My favorite thing we used to do with the kids was go on campus to survey the college students and ask them questions about the things they liked. 

I decided, why can't we have as much fun surveying each other in class? We did a weather survey in which the kids asked their classmates "what was their favorite weather". We talked about saying "excuse me," asking our question politely, then saying "thank you" after we marked their answer.

I don't know what it is about watching a preschooler walk around with a clip board and asking people questions, but it is awfully cute. Even though we weren't asking big college students, I still think this is one of my favorite things to do.