The Value of Play

Endless fun with flowers in preschool

March 29, 2011

The preschool children loved playing with the flowers and play dough from one of our spring activity boxes!

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Rainbow sensory play plus a rainbow linky!

March 16, 2011

I have a tendency to over-think or worry about what I plan for the children to do! Last week I decided that we should try adding rainbow bottles to our activity boxes… To make the colorful rainbow bottles, we simply filled the bottles about 3/4 of the way with water, added about 1/2 cup of [...]

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What can your preschooler do while you make potato soup?

March 15, 2011

Here are a few potato activities to keep your preschoolers busy while you are making potato soup! Paper Potatoes This is simple but I thought it was kinds of fun… Simply cut or tear a potato shape from a brown paper bag… Set out a little green paint and make fingerprints on the potato for the [...]

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Should preschoolers have homework?

March 13, 2011

This is the question being asked on the latest BAM Radio Network show that I commentated on: “Should You Be Assigning Homework in Preschool?” by Rae Pica along with Etta Kralovec and Dr. Ann Barbour. Go and take a listen to the show and see what you think! Before you answer this question consider this… These [...]

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The shave cream table is irresistible in preschool

March 11, 2011

I wish everyone could have seen the delight in this little girl’s face as she was playing in the shave cream today… Shave cream play was one of several activities the teacher had out on the classroom tables to explore… But this little girl just kept going back to the shave cream table… Once she [...]

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We play hospital in preschool

February 21, 2011

The children have been checking out medical supplies in their continuing exploration of community helpers… In our activity boxes, we set out a variety of first aid supplies as well as toy medical tools for the children to play with… As I observed the children at play, I noticed that many of the children liked [...]

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We played fire station in preschool

February 15, 2011

We provided fire station activity boxes for our continuing study of community helpers. I shared the idea of making our own fire stations from a post I read at No Time for Flashcards… Along with the fire stations we set out some fire trucks and then added some waffle blocks to extend the play a [...]

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Exploring measuring tools in preschool

February 14, 2011

Part of learning how to use a measuring tool is to first be given the opportunity to explore the use of measuring tools through their play. In one of our most recent activity boxes, the children found a set of measuring tools, a measuring chart, and some items and pictures to measure. The measuring box [...]

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Are preschoolers interested in magnets?

February 11, 2011

I would have to answer the question to the title of this post as a big “YES”! What caught my attention about today’s play with magnets was that the little boy was playing with the magnetic toys on the side of a book shelf…. At first, I thought the entire side of the shelf was [...]

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Ice play in preschool

January 14, 2011

Today, we enjoyed a little ice play. Sometimes the simplest of ideas can be the most enjoyable for young children. The teacher in this class set out a bowl of ice with some cups, smaller bowls, and spoons… The children scooped the ice from one container to the other… And some children used their hands [...]

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The things that go on in our preschool classroom

January 12, 2011

Because most of my articles only focus on one activity at a time, it may look like there is nothing else going on in the classroom. So today, I wanted to show you how there are lots of things going on all at the same time… Each day, our teachers follow a lesson plan that [...]

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Snowman and mitten activity boxes for preschool

January 10, 2011

Our activity boxes this week consisted of snowmen and mittens… In the snowman activity box we placed paper plate snowmen shapes and small felt cut-outs for the childrern to add as buttons, eyes, nose, scarves… The snowman activity boxes (just as we do each week) were then placed on classroom shelves for the children to [...]

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Preschool large motor fun with tape shapes

January 3, 2011

Wy and I had a busy new year’s night trying all kinds of fun art activities but it was also nice just to do something geared more towards using our large motor skills… I started us off by making some shapes with yellow painter’s tape on the floor. Painter’s tape is always better than masking [...]

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Working on weaving in preschool

December 14, 2010

I have learned so much from others since I started Teach Preschool. I am always amazing at the creativity of all the other bloggers out there and I am constantly sharing the ideas I read about with the teachers and children from my school. As I continue the process of setting up classrooms, I want [...]

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Making AB patterns in preschool

December 8, 2010

As we continue to explore the letter K this week, the children worked on practicing their skills for identifying and making AB patterns… Introducing patterns first begins with a hands-on type of activity followed by the activity page. The activity pages we use are usually something I have created on my own computer. They are [...]

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Christmas bows and boxes in preschool

December 7, 2010

The other day, I shared with you how our curriculum coordinator puts together activity boxes for the classrooms. I thought I would now show you one of the activities in action… In this particular activity box, the children found boxes with numbers (1 – 5) printed on the outside and a set of Christmas bows. [...]

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