Potato Head Play Dough

My students love the fun Potato Head pieces they make these days.  They play with them nearly everyday.  I can't wait to do this.

I found this pictures on Pinterest, but the site was no longer working.

Microwave Play Dough

From Just for Daisy:

Play Dough Learning Mats

These are so simple!

From The Imagination Tree

Play Dough Math Mats

These are a must do!  My students (and kids) will love, love, love doing these.

From PreKinders:

Mats include:

Carrots for the Rabbit

Dog Food & Cat Food

Feed the Giraffe

Gingerbread Mats

Christmas Tree 

Snowman

Ten Red Apples Mats

Farm Mats

Homemade Play Dough Recipe

There are lots out there.

My favorite is at My Montessori Journey.

Play Dough Snowman

From Along the Way

Sight Word and Letter Pounding

From I Can Teach My Child:

Here’s what you’ll need:  a piece of styrofoam, golf tees, a permanent marker, and a toy hammer.  

 1.  Begin writing letters or sight words (or even numbers & shapes) on your piece of styrofoam.  I chose to do capital and lowercase letters for Little Brother.  He didn’t recognize many of them but it was an opportunity for me to work with him at identifying these letters.

 2.  Gather your mallet/hammer and golf tees.  Set the styrofoam in front of your child.  Please note:  If your styrofoam isn’t very thick, I would recommend putting a foam placemat (or some type of protection) underneath.

 3.  Give your child the mallet/hammer and ask him/her to say each word (or letter) as they place the tee into the foam.

Psst…this is great for fine motor control as well!

Snowman in a Bag

From Teach Preschool:


This process is similar to our snowman in a bottle but if you didn’t have a bottle on hand, then gather up a baggie, some buttons, a snowman nose, and some snow and you are all set to go…

Place just just a couple of large spoon fulls of snow is all you need in the bag and then lay the bag flat.  Press and pack the snow so it stays flat and then arrange your button eyes and nose on the snow to make a snowman face.  Press the buttons and nose firmly into the snow…

Tape the snowman in a bag to a window so it can get some sunlight and let the melting begin…

Here’s what my snowman looked like after about 30 minutes…

And after about 1 hour…

After about 1 hour 30 minutes…

And about 2 hours later…

A very simple way to explore the melting of snow. Did you notice that bag seems much less full with the snow melted than before? And did you notice that the nose floats but the buttons sink?  And did you notice that snowman moved down the bag as it melted?  And did you notice that all that is left of the snowman is a bag of water?

If you want the printable to go with the snowman in a bag, just click here: Snowman Science by Teach Preschool

Fun ways to use alphabet books found at Mr. Printables.

Magnet Board Stories/Activities/Songs etc.

  Some of the cutest little pre-made manipulatives for favorite songs from Serving Pink Lemonade!

Zoo Pack

Cute, cute, cute

Groundhog's Day

From All Kids Network:

What you'll need:

• Groundhog Template
• Brown paint
• Black construction paper
• Lightweight cardboard (old cereal boxes work well here)
• Toothbrush
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Brass brad
• Optional small hole punch

How to make your Groundhog Shadow Craft

1. Print our groundhog template. Cut it out and then glue it to a piece of lightweight cardboard to give it some strength.
2. Let your child paint the groundhog brown with a toothbrush.
3. Once the groundhog is dry, cut it out of the cardboard piece.
4. Print the template out again. Cut it out and trace it onto a piece of black construction paper and cut that out as well. The black groundhog piece will be his shadow.
5. Lay the groundhog’s shadow under the painted groundhog and push a brad through towards its tail-end.

Hibernation

Found this poster at My Montessori Preschool.

A great site for some animals that hibernate:

http://www.earthrangers.com/wildwire/top-10/top-ten-hibernating-animals/

Christmas Tree Number Assessment

From Making Learning Fun

Christmas Science

I found this at PreKinders.

Density Experiment

[Science]
For this activity, you will need four small water bottles, four bowls, funnel, water, clear shampoo, clear hair gel, corn syrup, glitter in Christmas colors, and paper towels. Place water, clear shampoo, clear hair gel, and corn syrup in the four bowls. First, show children the bowl of water and allow each child to dip one finger in and gently stir the water. Give each child a paper towel for drying off their finger. Pour the water into one of the bottles using the funnel, add a pinch or two of Christmas glitter, and attach the lid. Ask the children to predict whether the glitter will move fast or slow in the water when you shake the bottle. Shake the bottle and set it on the table so everyone can watch the glitter move. Repeat this process with the shampoo, corn syrup, and hair gel. You can also have the children move their bodies as fast or slow as they see the glitter move in each substance. These bottles can be added to the science center for further exploration (add masking tape around the lid or hot-glue the lids closed).

Christmas Action Cards

Actions include:

Run like a gingerbread man.
Twist like a candy cane.
Prance like a reindeer.
Twirl like a snowflake.
Roll like an ornament.
Chuckle like Santa Claus.
Twinkle like a star.
March like a nutcracker.
Fly like an angel.
Spread your branches like a Christmas tree.
Sneak like an elf.
Melt like a snowman.

The Mitten

  This week, I started lesson planning using The Mitten by Jan Brett.  I love lesson planning around books.  The kids enjoy listening to the same story several times and then "reading" the story on their own later.  There are lots and lots of resources online, but I also made a packet for Teacher's Notebook that you can get here.  A few freebies are below:

Skills

Speech and Language

·        Increase vocabulary

·        Retell a familiar story

·        Story map

·        Rhyming words

·        Positional/location terms

·        Answer “who,” “what,” and “where,” and “why” questions

Math

·        Shape naming/matching

·        Big/little sorting

·        Size sequencing

·        Patterning

·        Numeral/sets matching

·        Order numerals/sets in order

·        Matching sets to numerals

Motor

·        Throw balls of yarn into a basket

·        Shaving cream play

·        Crystal painting

·        Mitten lacing

Cooking

·        Mitten Toast

·        Hot Chocolate Mix

Science

·        Touch and tell mittens

 j

Wondrous Winter Activities for Kids

http://blog.melissaanddoug.com/2012/12/13/6wondrouswinteractivitiesforkids/

 http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2012/12/gingerbread-party-playdate/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ICanTeachMyChild+%28I+can+teach+my+child!%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail

Rudolph! Rudolph!

  This little booklet is much loved by my class.  I made it into a felt board activity and we enjoy it each day in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  After we complete the poem, we also listen to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer adding our own motions to it.

  You can find the booklet here...