Color Zoo

In class we read a fun book by Lois Elhert called Color Zoo. The author makes fun animals using simple shapes for their various face features. As you turn the pages, it takes a large shape away to reveal a new animal.

We made our own color zoo in class using a variety of shapes in a variety of sizes. We talked about what animals we see in zoos and how we can make their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths using shapes. Next time, I think we will look at pictures of the animals that they want to make and talk about what shape would be best for each feature. We would talk more about how animals with pointy ears, would use pointy shapes to make the ears, etc.

Very Talented

We have had an epidemic of talented toes in our classroom lately. The kids have all started picking up things that they drop with their toes instead of bending down to pick it up. (I wonder where they got that idea from? If you didn't know, I am 8 months pregnant.) It is so funny to watch and some of them have gotten quite good at it. It is so fun to be around such life, loving kids!

D is for Drums

We explored sound this week in preschool.

I have a collection of various different instruments that the kids got to try out and play.
We watched a short segment from Blues Clues: The Musical. Ray Charles teaches Steve about notes, rhythm, and tempo. Then we tried using our voices and instruments to make different notes, rhythms, and tempos.
We explored soft verses loud sounds by trying to put different objects into easter eggs and shaking them. We recorded which objects made loud sounds and which objects made soft sounds.

But most importantly . . . we made our own drums! (Thank you so much to Hudson's mom for donating the cans for us to use!)

We had our own drum line.

And you can't have drums without a parade!

Here's how you make it:

You Need:
Aluminum cans with lids (like coffee cans or instant breakfast cans)
Felt
Construction paper
Rubber bands
White glue & glue sticks
Tape
Flat push pins
Twine (optional)

What you do:
1. Cover the lid with white glue and press it onto the felt. After it has dried, cut a circle around the lid about 2 inches bigger than the lid.
2. Cut the construction paper to fit around the can. Tape pieces together as necessary.
3. Cut a strip of felt about 3/4 inch wide to cover the rubber band you will use later.
4. Decorate your construction paper and let dry completely if you have used glue.
5. Use glue stick to put glue all around your can and press the paper onto the can. Use a bit of tape to hold it on if necessary.
6. Put on the felt lid and secure it with a rubber band around the top of the can. Pull the felt tight under the rubber band. Glue the felt strip over the rubber band to hide it. Put the pushpin at the end of the felt strip to hold it in place.
7. (If wanted) Use a hammer and nail to nail two holes in the side of the drum. String the twine through the holes to make a band that goes around your neck.

For drum sticks, we used un-sharpened pencils, but you could make your own with dowels and rolled foam or yard covered foam balls.

Nutrition

As noted in our post about apples, we discussed healthy foods and what foods are good for our body. As an extension of that discussion we did this quick and easy project. (In my opinion, any time you have an excuse to outline the kids' bodies and do something with coloring, cutting or gluing, you are going to have a great activity. There is something especially fun about working on something that is life size.)What you Need:
butcher paper (we used the rolls from IKEA)
cut outs of various types of foods

What we did:
1. We traced one of the student's body onto the paper and I outlined it in black to give it more definition.
2. Each child got a few food cards that they had to decide whether they were healthy foods or not. If they were healthy, they taped them up on the body. (We want to put healthy foods into our body.) If they weren't healthy foods, we put them to the side. I explained that it is okay to eat those foods sometimes if you only have a little bit of them.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!

C is for Cookie . . .

". . .that's good enough for me!"

You can't have a letter C day without this song!

Art & Math: We made Cute Caterpillar Chains. To enhance the project, the kids made patterns with their chains to work on their math skills.
You need:
8 - 12 1 x 10 inch strips
1 - 2 x 10 inch strip
googly eyes
2 small strips for antennea (Curl the strips with a pair of scissors)

Math: Sharing Chocolate Chip Cookies
This is one of my favorite activities!
It is adaptable for preschool to 3rd grade. In our setting it teaches sharing things equally and counting.
We read The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins. It is a book about a brother and sister who have 12 cookies to share, but more and more neighbors keep coming so they have to share with more people.

You need:
Cookie Crisp Cereal
12 small individual pictures of a child or 12 "friends" to share with per child - You could easily use those counting bears instead of pictures. I used a picture like this:
Each student started with 2 people and 12 "cookies" (the cereal). They shared their 12 "cookies" evenly between the 2 people and counted how many cookies each person got. We then added 2 more people so there were 4. They shared the 12 cookies with the four people and counted how many each person got. You can then repeat the process sharing with 6 and 12 people.

Snack: C shaped Cookies!