Hot Cocoa day

I introduced a song called "Hot cocoa" found over at Teach preschool blog . We used real marshmallow for visual aid.
http://littlefingersplay.blogspot.com/2009/12/hot-cocoa.html
Then i printed a picture of mug and we used to make cocoa . I print these mugs
http://www.timtim.com/drawing/view/drawing_id/457
we ripped brown paper ,color our mugs and added cotton balls as marshmallow . (could use real marshmallow but they didnot want to ? )

we then had hot cocoa,cocoa goldfish with mini marshmallows and marshmallow for snack .

We added mugs ,cotton balls, empty cocoa boxes empty cocoa packets i printed this and lameated them and spoons to play kitchen area . (i was served hot cocoa all day )ok i toss my cocoa box out this week end so i have to make my own and made my own packets .

We also took a mug cut out and did some math with marshmallow (i love food math )

So i hold up an number and they add that many marshmallow to the mug . Then they get to eat the marshmallows when we where all done yummy!

We read if you give a mouse a cookie to finish out day .

I did not do this but chocolate scented play dough... would be a fun idea to .

Febuary Fild folder part 2

So i have not used file folder games in years but as i decide this year each month will have new table games i decide this was a good time to make some new ones . I made a Dinosaur color match , Alphabet one and a counting heart one . One for each level of children i have in my care age two to five . There are many site to print pre-made ones or easy to make your own (April i'll show you some of my old ones i made ) or just easily cute out the hearts your self . It nice to label each game and even add directions . Then i use a zip lock bag to keep pieces in and also can tape it to back .

http://www.preschoolprintables.com/filefolder/filefolder.shtml


http://www.filefolderfun.com/SearchPreschool.html

There is man more fun site to use . Here the one i used .

Feburary Eye spy + part 1

Letter N =newspaper O , P and Q number 6 .. Color Red , We have Valentines day , dinosaur Ground hog day and President day ..

So i made an eye spy bottle of ABC's . I took empty bottle , scrap book letter from dollar section at target and a bag of rice . I was going to color it red for February but decide not to though could see the letters better in white . Then i took a picture of all the letter and laminated them and put on change to hang form the bottle . shack and find . The first picture from the back of the letter package which i think make a great eye spy card also .

Sunday Area Reading area

So here my reading area . Which in home childcare poses some issue as i have a group of children from 12 weeks to 12 years of age . I do lose a few books each year by being ripped or eating by a toddler or two year old . But so worth it to watch a two year old or 4yr old sitting and reading a story to another child or out loud . I do rota my book and each month add the books we are using at circle time and then remove at the end of month . I just in January remove some books so it was not so many .

Why are Polar Bears white .

First we read Polar Bear What do you Hear. In my large version . As we talked why Penguins have waxy skin the way it help with cold and water to keep them warm . Now we talk why are polar bears white . See if they can guess .

need :

pattern (i got my at Kidssoup.com)

blue paper

white paper

white paint

sponge or we used cotton balls with clothes pins to paint with

Tape

So i cut a polar bear shape out in white.

Lay it against white paper ask children can they see the polar bear .

Now lay on blue paper and ask again

Tape top down (this is so the children can left up later and see the pattern under it )

Let children sponge paint the white over the polar bear and blue paper .

When dry left up polar bear to peak and see the blue polar under . And talk about how the polar bear blends when all white and stands out when blue .

Snow Tracks Who's prints are they ..

As we are finish Arctic animals and snow .. We go on a search for snow prints and try to guess who print are they . Here some prints we seen out today .. Then i take pictures as the children love to look at them and talk about all they seen . Then we took white play dough (snow and made our own tracks ... ) guess what they are ?

Mm For .....Marshmallow's

Thursday we introduce a new letter . Today we are on Mm . We always first make a list of all the words they can think of that start with Mn , mom, we have a Matty in our class . I really try to get them to do this . They are getting pretty good with this . Then older ones do a trace page of Mms . Then we do a letter craft . I cut out a template of M (always in our months color)This month is blue .. Tired of it yet ..

OK so the M craft is Marshmallow gluing marshmallow to the M . Now we are trying something new i read you can lick the marshmallow(Magic) and it will stick to the paper . We will see .I have glue handy ready if needed . Did not need glue the magic worked ...impressed .

Of course snack is marshmallows ...

Penguins how they move

So today our last day of Penguins . We read another Lets Find out from scholastic . if you never heard of them check them out . I been getting them for years at pre K . I think they are a great addition to your current curriculum .

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/classmags.jsp?srcId=138

Then after we used some basic shape to make a paper penguin. kind of cute !

I'm a Baby Penguin

So we started off reading Scholastic "Lets Find out" it about mommy and daddy are different then baby penguins for a while .

Then we made these hand print penguins to take home .(now am not sure i like them but i keep looking at them and they get cuter ) but parents will like them anyway .. Kids love doing hand print art too ..