July 2010

Preschoolers can serve their own lunch!

July 31, 2010

Today, I observed these preschoolers serving their own lunch. Let me begin by saying that the room was not quiet and there were a few dropped cups along the way (luckily all empty). Looking around, I saw children serving themselves in a orderly, considerate, and talkative manner. It was quite fun to be there with [...]

Chalk paint and print-making with preschoolers and toddlers

July 30, 2010

For those of you following along, you know that I am on a quest to introduce the concept of painting to my little nephew Wy. I could make Wy sit down with me, hold his hand, and make him paint a picture but that is a sure fire way to get him to NEVER want [...]

At play with baby: musical instruments

July 29, 2010

When baby Clara kicks the tambourine it goes “jingle, jingle!” When baby Clara kicks the maraca it goes “shake, shake!” The rhythm sticks go “tap, tap, tap!” “Jingle, jingle, shake, shake, tap, tap, tap!” I wander if Clara can go clap, clap, clap? See why reading to your baby is so important from Room to Grow: [...]

Puffy ice cream cones in preschool

July 28, 2010

The children enjoyed the sensory experience as well as the creativity of making these puffy ice cream cones… The teacher added some glue and food coloring to shave cream…. And then the children mixed it all together… Each child chose the color they wanted to use for the topping of their ice cream cones… They [...]

Wordless Wednesday:Hands

July 27, 2010

See more Wordless Wednesday Photos! Here too!

Making bubble prints in preschool

July 27, 2010

The children spent an entire week exploring bubbles. I happen to catch a few of the activities in action… In the twos class, the teacher set out bowls of bubble solution mixed with yellow, blue, green, and red food coloring. The teacher blew into one color of bubbles and once the bubbles were up high [...]

Natures color wheel in preschool

July 26, 2010

I saw a color wheel at one of our schools recently where the class glued colorful plastic flowers on each section of the color wheel. It got me thinking why not use real flowers? We went on a little nature walk to find flowers and put them in a bag. Wy wasn’t exactly sure why [...]

Exploring and creating with craft sticks in preschool

July 25, 2010

I cannot stress the following message enough… Before preschoolers are ready to be creative… They need time to explore the materials! When introducing new tools or art mediums to young children, they need time to explore what happens when they manipulate the items before they will be ready to create with the items. The art [...]

Craft stick painting with toddlers

July 24, 2010

Yesterday Wy and I tried a little kick box painting so while Wy was still in the mood, we tried a little craft stick painting too. We gathered a handful of craft sticks, some paint, paper, and a box with a lid. Wy dumped everything into the box and tapped on the paint cups to [...]

Kick box painting with toddlers

July 23, 2010

My nephew Wy loves to kick balls, push cars, and color with markers but there is one thing that he really doesn’t seem to like…. Wy doesn’t like to paint. When Wy gets a little paint on his hands, he stops in his tracks and just stares like it is a disease. But unfortunately for [...]

Blogging tips from teach preschool on facebook

July 22, 2010

Follow Fridays are a popular way to meet new bloggers! As many of you know, I follow a lot of blogs so that I can share ideas on facebook with others interested in the field of early childhood education. I am such a huge fan of bloggers that take the time to share their early [...]

At play with baby: Up and Down

July 21, 2010

Baby Clara sits on mommy’s knee! And mommy’s knee goes up and down… Baby Clara goes up! Baby Clara goes down!

Graphing and painting with oranges

July 20, 2010

When painting with objects, I always print the word of the object on the paper so the children can see that word as they participate in the activity. In this case the word is Orange. We cut an orange in half and used one of the halves for creating orange prints on our paper. For [...]

Creating a parent board for your preschool classroom

July 19, 2010

As you prepare for a new school year, you may be considering a parent board. Here are a few tips of what you might want to consider for your parent board. Let me begin by saying that the most important things about a parent board are… Location: The parent board needs to be placed where [...]