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.
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.
At Preschool we celebrated Friendship Week. I felt that it was also fitting that we learned about Feelings at the same time. We all got to look at our faces in the mirror as we talked about some of the feelings we experience.
It is okay to feel what we do, but it is not okay to be mean when we are angry. I like to give several examples for the kids to understand that concept. This is great to do at the beginning of the year, or as needed with certain children.
I made these books for our younger kids so they can read them at home with their parents.
We had Transportation Week at Preschool recently. We made Cardboard Cars, Painted with Trains and Car Wheels, and Color Matched the colors of the Stop Light. As a way to incorporate science, we had a Sink or Float Experiment. I thought for sure all the cars and trains would sink and only my boats would float. I was pleased to see that quite a few cars and trains remained floating.
Each of the children predict whether they think the vehicle will sink to the bottom or float at the top of the water. I make sure to have a clear bowl for the kids to see around the table.
During Free Play time, we bring out the water table and add some dish soap to make bubbles. Then the kids pretend they are at the car wash. This is another great way for the kids to explore on their own the concept of sink/float.
For the Full Post on Transportation Week, Click Here.
On our very first day of Preschool, I asked the kids what they wanted to learn about that year. I wanted to lesson plan based on what the kids were interested in. One of my kids said she wanted to learn about horses and ponies. As I was looking for ideas, I saw one idea where you can make a ride on horse out of a pool noodle.
We were in season for Pool Noodles at the Dollar store, so I went and picked up enough for the kids. While I was there I also found some twine to make the reins. We had the Google Eyes and some yarn for the hair. I also found some leftover felt from previous projects.
I try to use the supplies that I have in the house. I am more concerned with teaching a concept than I am about something looking perfect. As I planned this, I tried thinking of a concept the kids could learn with their horses. Yes they could use this for pretend play, but was there anything else we could do? What I came up with, was a Letter Review, Hay Game.
How to Make a Pool Noodle Horse
This was a very easy project. I plugged in the Hot Glue Gun to start warming up while I tied the top of the Pool Noodle down.
Once the Pool Noodle is tied, You can attach the ears, cut out of felt, the hair, which can be felt or yarn, and the eyes. I suggest putting the glue on the item and let it sit for just a bit before putting it on the pool noodle. Otherwise it will just melt the noodle. I didn't realize that I only had 2 small glue sticks for 8 kids to complete, so I really tried to skimp on the glue. The yarn hair hung off quite a bit.
The kids chose their colors and eyes and then I glued it for them.
Letter Review Hay Game
For the game, I drew some straight or slanted lines on a paper and then the kids cut out the strips. We want them working on their fine motor skills, so they cut their paper.
Once the hay was cut, they either wrote their letters or traced them, depending on their level. Each piece of hay had a different letter on them. Once that was done, we threw them on the floor and the kids galloped after each other until it was time to "eat the hay".
Depending on their level, they either say the letter or they also make the sound of the letter as they feed their horse.
Horsey, Horsey, Don't you stop
Just let your hooves go Clippity, Clop
Your tail go swish, and your wheels go round
Giddy Up! We're homeward bound.
The kids thought they were being funny...
Horse Puppet
For our younger group, they made paper bag, puppets and then fed their puppet the letter hay. I just got construction paper and then tried to free hand the different pieces. For the Template, Click Here. It is hard figuring out which piece goes where, when the kids butcher them. :) I cut a little slit by the mouth for the hay to fit down. I never did get a finished picture, but you get the point. It's just a different, cheaper idea for something the kids can play with while they learn their letters. They love it.
A few years ago I got some shells from San Diego when we were there on Vacation. I always plan an Ocean Week because of them. I love pulling them out and the kids love looking at them and exploring them.
I like to have out flashlights and magnifying glasses as well
We rolled out a piece of butcher paper and traced the items we had and the kids had to match the object to the traced image.
Catching Letter Fish.
The kids had to throw them back if they didn't know the letter (but they could ask for help).
The kids painted an ocean on paper and added a few fish..
The kids made an Ocean in a Bottle. They learned how the waves moved, how to make the color blue by adding 2 different colors, and how some liquids don't mix.
Then we had a little fun and talked about pretend things in the ocean and made Mermaid Tails.
In the past we've made a Jellyfish and an Octopus Counting Craft.
As I was planning for our Ocean Theme at preschool, I saw the idea of making a shark out of cardboard. I got one of our large boxes and drew the outline of the shark and used a knife to cut out the mouth. I cut out triangles for the teeth and the kids did the rest.
They loved the making of it just as much as the playing with it. Some colored the shark and some put the teeth on. Because the box was large enough, we made 2 sharks so we could have more kids play with it.
The kids each took turns being the shark and then being the ones to feed the shark.
The kids feeding the shark had to say the letter fish before the shark would eat it. The sharks had to check the fish to see if they got the letter right.
We kept this out for a while because the kids enjoyed being sharks.
