Career Week Three (plus St. Patricks Day)

Monday's Schedule - St. Patricks Day

Book -  Alice the Fairy (I didn't have a St. Patricks book so I just grabbed one I thought they would like)

Movement - Find the Pot of Gold
Evan's mom, Denyal, made cute pots for gold for each kid.  I hid them and put gold coin clues around the house that helped lead to the pot of gold.  Each clue was finish the sentence.  There were four clues totally nothing super fancy.  They loved this and loved the prize at the end!  The pots of gold were a big hit.  Thanks Denyal!

Alphabet - Coin Toss
I cut out 26 shamrocks and laid them on the ground.  The kids were given golden (chocolate) coins. They tossed the coins and when they landed on a shamrock they told me the name and sound the letter makes.  If they were right they got to keep the coin and shamrock.

Numbers - Worksheet
If I was good I would have remembered and pinned where I got the worksheet, but I didn't:/  Anyway it was a gold coin count.  They counted the coins and matched that to the number.  Then traced the number with a pen.

Art/Craft - Leprechaun
We had to do this in sections.  First we painted the paper plates.  Then let them dry.  Next we cut the paper plates to make it look like a beard.  And pasted the leprechaun hats together and onto the plate.

I think they turned out pretty dane cute!

Game - Toss for Coins
I had a pot of gold in the middle of the floor.  The kids were told to toss pom-poms into the pot.  And if they got it in they would get a gold coin to add to their collection of gold coins.

Wednesdays Schedule -Scientist

Book - The Very Grouchy Caterpillar

Today Kathryn mixed it up a little and had different science experiments for the kids.

Experiment 1: Milk Painting -  Kathryn poured milk into a shallow dish. Had the kids put drops of food coloring into the center of the dish.  Dip a QTip into and show that nothing happens, then put dish soap onto Qtip and watch colors repel from the QTip. 

Experiment 2: Glitter Volcano - Kathryn poured baking soda into a flower vase along with food coloring and glitter, then poured in vinegar. And watched it explode! They did this a few times and she showed the kids how putting in 2 different colors of food coloring made the volcano would be a different color (like blue & yellow = green).

Experiment 3: Soap Explosion - Kathryn put ivory soap in the microwave and watched it explode. We then crushed the exploded soap in our hands to make snow. 

Experiment 4: Mentos & Diet Coke explosion - Kathryn put mentos in diet coke and then they would watch it explode.  

Art/Craft - Painting

Kathryn got out butcher paper and paint and let the kids go tot town painting.  Without direction they wanted to paint their names.  

The kids loved all the experiments and had a blast that day!

Careers Week 2

Monday's Schedule - Fire Fighter and Police Officer

Book - He Bear, She Bear

Movement - Fire House Field Trip
I put together a trip to the local fire house.  It was a great field trip.  The kids LOVED it!  The fire fighter that gave us the tour was amazing with the kids.  He played games, taught them about fire safety, and was able to keep their attention.

Numbers - Put out the Fire
I cut out flames on orange paper (suggestion get foam so you can reuse again and again).  I put numbers 0-10 on them.  Each kid got a spray bottle filled with water.  I would shout a number out and they had to find that number as fast as they could and put out the fire (spray the flame).  They really enjoyed this and wanted to play over and over again.

Alphabet - Alphabet Jail

I made a jail out of card board and black construction paper.  I talked to the kids about police officers and what they do.  That they are here to keep us safe and put people who could hurt us in jail.  Then I explained that there are letters have been really bad and need to be taken to jail.  But before you can place them in jail you have to name them and their sounds.  

Art/Craft - Fire Truck
I cut out a body of a fire truck, window, wheels, ladder. and hose.  They had to paste the pieces into place.

Game - Stop
I made police officer hats and cut out stop signs.  They colored in the police hat.  We took turns playing stop and go.  They got to take turns being the police officer.

Wednesday's Schedule - Dentist

Movie -
They watched a couple short clips about what to expect when going to the dentist and how to brush their teeth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy8JurvYlH4.

Movement - Brush and Clean
Kathryn made them each a mouth of pretend teeth made from a plastic egg carton. She talked about what they ate today and then made marks with a dry erase marker on the teeth representing what is left behind. I also put tissue paper and pom pom balls in between the teeth. They then used little foam brushes and pipe cleaners as floss to clean their teeth. A good activity for them to learn about how to care for their teeth.

Numbers - How Many Teeth?

Kathryn wrote down the numbers they are having troubles with on a large dice. They rolled the dice and that was the number of marshmallow teeth to glue on their mouth. They had a lot of fun with this and did well.

Art/Craft - Tooth and Tooth Brush

Kathryn made shaving cream/glue mix before hand. They covered the tooth in white paste.
She also glued together a large toothbrush made of paper. They wrote their names on the toothbrush. She then drew lines on the brush part for them to cut to make the bristles.

Game - Duck Duck Goose

Careers

Monday's Schedule - Architect/Contractor

Books - He Bear, She Bear

Movement - Build a Fort

We moved chairs and got out blankets.  The kids helped build a fort.  Then we played in the fort.

Numbers - Hammer Time

I got a box out.  The kids got a toy hammer and safety goggles.  They rolled a dice with numbers on it.  They had to name the number and then hammer nails to match the number they landed on.

Alphabet - Work Site

I got little toy tractors out and my alphabet letters.  I told them it is time to clean up the work site and put all the letters away.  They would pick up the letters using the tractors and place them on the correct letter and name the sound it makes.

Art/Craft - Gum Drop House

I got toothpicks and gum drops.  They kids put together structures/towers.  I learned through this that none of the kids like gum drops.  Oh well I guess I have to eat them all:)

Game - Follow the Plans

I built towers out of legos before hand and took pictures on my phone.  Then one at a time they had to look at the picture and build the exact same tower.  This was good for them to work and problem solve together.

Wednesday's Schedule - Vet

Movement - Pretend Play
Kathryn made the kids each a card with different animals on them with check boxes so that they could mark off which animal they had given a check up to. She also had a paper with body parts and things to check on their patients (example eyes, heartbeat, temperature). 

Numbers - How Many Animals?

Kathryn had them take turns drawings numbers. They then got to pick out that many stuffed animals from the pile and hide them around the room for the others to find.

Art/Craft - Doggies 

Kathryn cut up yarn and gave each of them a picture of a dog. They glued the yarn/hair onto the dog with some goggly eyes and a tongue.  They turned out really cute.

Game - Animal Food

She had 4 colors of paper and 4 cups with one of the colors on them and a picture of an animal. They cut up the paper and put it in the cups for the pretend animal food.  Great for fine motor and sorting.

Love/Friendship Week Four

Monday's Schedule

Book - Pluto's Best

Movement - Play Dough
We pulled out play dough and cookie cutters, plastic knives, and forks.  We then worked on rolling the dough and making letters.  Eventually we spelled everyones name with the play dough.

Names - Rice Bin
I put rice in a bin (or ice chest since that was all I had) and pieces of paper with letters from their names on it.  I also had a piece of paper with their names on it.  They searched through the rice and found the letters.  Once they found a letter they had to find it in their name and put it in order.  They really enjoyed this and asked to play a few time.

Art/Craft - Cookie Cutter and Potato Stamping
I pulled out heart shaped cookie cutters and cut potatoes in half then cut hearts out of the top.  They dipped it in paint and them on paper

Game - Matching
I cut out hearts and put numbers on them, two of each number.  Then set them up like matching game.  And we played till the found all the matches.

Wednesday's Schedule
Kathryn had family in town.  She is awesome and planned preschool out and I taught.

Book - I Can Help

Movement - Outside Play
It was such a beautiful day here that we took the opportunity to play basketball and soccer outside.

Numbers - Pin the Heart
Kathryn made hearts with little heart dots on them.  Then put numbers on clothes pins and had to match the number of heart dots to the number on the clothes pin.

Art/Craft - Butterflies
Kathryn decorated clothes pins to look like a butterflies body and put pipe cleaners as their antennas.  The kids were giving a piece of paper and clothes pins with pom-poms on them.  They dipped the pom-poms in paint and dotted the paint on the paper.  After the paint dried I cut out wings and added them to the butterflies body.

Game - Find the Hearts
Kathryn had little heart containers and she put the letters of their name in each container.  I then hid the hearts.  They ran around and found them all.  Opened them and then found the letters in their name and put them in order.

Love/Friendship Week Three

Monday's Schedule -

Book - The Best Thing about Valentines

Movement - Flower Shop
I bought a variety of fake flowers at the dollar store.  I got vases out and fake money.  We pretended to buy flowers and then arrange our flowers in vases.  They really enjoyed this activity.  Pretend play has been a big hit with them lately.

Art/Craft - Heart Stained Glass Window
I cut out open hearts and put it on contact paper.  Then cut red tissue into pieces (which I realized after that I should have let the kids cut or rip the tissue).  They stuck pieces of tissue paper to the contact paper and then took turns sprinkling glitter on it as well.  Turned out cute!

Number - Numbered Hearts
I found a blank worksheet on http://www.2teachingmommies.com/2012/01/valentine-expanded.html. I asked the kids what number they wanted in each heart (1-6).  Then we took turns rolling a dice that had numbers on them (instead of dots because they need to work more on number recognition).  They would name the number and then cross that number off of their worksheet if it was on there.  We did this until one of the kids crossed off all the hearts on their worksheet.

Game - Musical Hearts
Just like musical chairs but with hearts that they step on.  The really enjoyed this game and it was great for them to get their energy out.



Wednesdays Schedule - Olympic Day!
Kathryn thought it would be fun to add Olympics into this month since it has been going on.  It was such a great idea!  She added in friendship and love be teaching how to be a good sport and being nice.

Book - Choosing Not to Cheat (From Friends Magazine)

Movement/Game/Numbers -  Olympic Games
They watched clips of winter olympics sports and learned a little about the different sports they play.  They really enjoyed the ice skating! And also talked about the Olympic rings and the torch.

Games
1.  Kathryn put cups on the ground with numbers on them.  They had to name the number and then stand on a chair and try to drop a bean into the cup.

2. Bowling - She set up cups and let the kids roll a ball to knock down as many as they could.  Their favorite part of this was setting the cups back up for each other after they knocked them down.

3. Ring toss - Kathryn used a paper towel tube and had it stand up on the ground and the kids tried to toss rings onto the tube.

4.  Hockey - Kathryn made hockey sticks out of paper plates and wooden dowels.  She also put squares on the ground using tape.  The kids would try and hit cotton balls into the square.

Art/Craft - Painted Torches
She let the kids paint rings onto card stock using cups and paint.  Then when they dried she rolled it up and added yellow, orange, and red fabric to make it look like the torch.  These were so super cute!

Love/Friendship Week Two

Mondays Schedule -

Book - Froggy's First Kiss

Movement - Mailing Valentines
We had to do the art project first to be able to do this activity.  So with the mailboxes they made, they  pretended to mail valentines to each other.  I got a bunch of envelopes and cut pieces of paper small enough to fit.  Then gave them stickers and crayons to make valentines.  They put it in an envelope and then placed it in each others mailboxes.  They really enjoyed this and we ran out of envelopes:)

Art/Craft - Mailboxes
I found some cute mailboxes at Michaels.  They got to decorate them.  Before hand I used puffy paint to put their initial on the front so they knew who's was who's.

Patterns - Conversation Heart Patterns
I printed off conversation heart AB patterns that they had to finish (http://www.prekinders.com/valentines-theme/).  They then had to finish the patterns.  They were extra motivated to do this because they got to eat some conversation hearts at the end.

Game - Find the Heart
I had some heart sticky notes left over from last week.  I had them close their eyes. I then hid ten hearts around the room and then they had to find them.  This was super easy and fun.  They wanted to play again and again.


Wednesdays Schedule -
(Baylee was sick:( so Kathryn gave me all the materials she planned so we could still do preschool)

Book - (Toy Story) A Friend Is...

Movement - Heart Jumping
I placed heart doilies on the floor and they would jump from one to the other all the way across the room.  They really enjoyed this and it was great for getting their wiggles out.

Art/Craft - Necklaces
Kathryn cut out hearts and punched holes in them and then colored noodles red before hand.  The kids strung the hearts and noodles on.  We worked on AB patten as well.  They really enjoyed this activity and loved wearing their necklaces.

Numbers - Broken Heart
Kathryn made hearts and cut them in half.  On one half she put a number and on the other she put dots (to match the numbers).  We took turns matching our hearts.  This was great practice for them.

Game - Heart Walk
Kathryn gave me heart doilies with letters on them.  I placed them in a circle.  The kids would march on the hearts while the music was on and stop on a heart when the music stopped.  They would then name the letter and the sound that letter makes before doing it again.  Always a hit!

Love/Friendship

Mondays Schedule

Book - Valentines Mice

Movement - Heart Attack
I cut up pink post it notes into hearts.  Then one kid at a time we talked about what we loved about that person.  Then we would stick all the hearts with things we love about them onto them.  This was super cute to do with them.  I loved hearing what they love about each other.  It is very obvious that they love each other and are great friends.

Art/Craft - Heart T Shirts
I planned that the kids would paint heart shaped doilies with fabric paint.  Then I would press it onto t shirts and it would leave a pretty imprint.  Well it did not work out how I had hoped.  The doilies stuck to the t shirt and I could not pull it off.  However it made cute painting on the paper that was underneath the doilies.

I decided to wash the shirts and hope the paint would all come off.  It worked kind of.

They turned out very artistic:)

Alphabet - Broken Hearts
I cut out 26 hearts then cut them in half.  I wrote the upper case and lower case of the different halves.  The kids had to take turns finding the lower case letter of the heart.  They really enjoyed fixing my broken hearts.

Game - Bean Bag Toss
I cut a heart out and placed in around a bowl.  Then the kids took turns throwing bean bags into the bowl.


Wednesdays Schedule

Book - Cat in the Hat

Movement - Cutting Hearts
Kathryn drew hearts and a line through the hearts so that they had to cut the heart in half.  They really enjoyed it and are getting a little better at working sissors. They kept cutting the heart into pieces.  Kathryn put them in an envelope and they then put their name on the envelope.

Art/Craft - Heart Painting
Kathryn cut out hearts and let they kids paint one half of the heart with Q tips.  They then folded their heart and smooched the paint together.

Numbers - Life Size Game Board
Kathryn laid out a life size game board across her living room.  They had actions on some papers/board pieces like give each other a hug, say something that we love about each other, etc..  They rolled the dice and worked on numbers as they counted the number of spots they had to move.  It was also good for them to work on taking turns and understand winning and losing.

Game - Parachute
Put snow (cotton balls) on and practice moving the parachute slow or fast.  Sang songs and shook the parachute to the beat.