Shark Paper Bag Letter Review at Preschool

Shark Paper Bag Letter Review

I do an Ocean theme every year for preschool, but I like to change up what crafts we do. You can see other ideas here. This year we had a lot of boys so I thought it would be fun to learn about sharks. To make them, I turned the paper bag upside down so we could make it like a puppet. I drew triangles on white paper for the teeth and blue ones for the fins. The kids cut them out and glued them on as well as the eyes.

One of the kids wanted to make a hammerhead shark so I roughly traced out an image on blue paper for him to cut out. Once the puppets are dry, I cut a slit in the mouth area to feed letter fish to the shark.

We sit in a circle and the kids fish for letters and then feed the sharks when they find the letters. 

I like to try and find ideas for the kids to make a craft and follow directions, while focusing on fine motor and scissor skills, then I take it a step further and try to incorporate letter reviews and a game as well. Pinterest is a great place for a jumping off point when looking for ideas.

Rocks and Geodes at Preschool

Rocks and Geodes at Preschool

Because I have a few Minerals and Rocks, I always look forward to our letter R day at Preschool. 

Letter R Rock Paper: I always try to have an activity that works on fine motor and learning a letter. You can draw small circles on a paper for the children to cut out. On this day I think I folded the paper into 8th's and cut them myself so we would have enough time to play a game. It is hard for the kids this age to cut so small. If I wanted the kids to work on this skill I would start with tearing the paper.

Rock Counting Game: I got the bag of rocks, the spinners, and the trash can at the Dollar Store. I think I dumped the rocks in the small can and then the kids spin the number and find the matching yellow card. It is helpful to have the numbers written out on a paper. When they can't remember what number it is, they count in order on a "cheat sheet" to figure it out on their own. Most children do better at counting then they do at looking at a number and knowing what it is. You could alter the game so each child got a number and then you roll a dice or spin to match the number or gather enough to finish their number.

If needed, depending on the child's level, you can color that many circles on the card so the kids put the rocks on top of the circle. Older kids can do it without, some 3 year old's start out matching the dot to the rock.

Break Open a Geode: I got a "break open geode" on a family trip. I saved it all year in anticipation for this day. we found a rock in my yard of similar size so the kids could learn the difference between a rock and a geode.

The before...

The after... What a let down, haha. It looked more like a lava rock. Thankfully I had a Geode so the kids could see and touch one. 

I started my collection on eBay. I found things for a good price and got a few items. I put them on a towel and set out Magnifying Glasses and Flashlights.

Song: 10 Little Pebbles

(Tune: 10 Little Indians)

1 Little, 2 Little, 3 Little Pebbles

4 Little, 5 Little, 6 Little Pebbles

7 Little, 8 Little 9 Little Pebbles

10 Little Pebbles in the Stream

Hot Rocks: I've never done this with my preschoolers but I have with my kids. You put clean rocks on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven for about 10 minutes. I can't remember the temperature. It is most likely in between 250-350 degrees. In the meantime, take the wrappers off some crayons. When the Rocks are hot, remove from the oven and set a rock on the ground. The kids carefully put the crayon on top and melt designs. The rocks ended up not being too hot and cooled pretty quickly. I think we got one rock done and by the time we made it to the second rock, the crayons weren't melting very much. 

If all else fails, just paint them or make them into a rock person by adding google eyes.