Sunday, January 31, 2010

ICE STORM IN OKLAHOMA


I didn't get lazy . . . . we haven't had school since Wednesday - lol. An ice storm hit Thursday morning and lasted until Saturday. It seems to have passed (although it snowed for a few minutes earlier!), but schools are out again tomorrow because the secondary streets and parking lots aren't melting yet. I am adjusting my plans and will update when school is back in session. Stay warm. We tried to build a snowman at my sister's house today, but the snow wasn't right :(

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Fairytale Fun - Wednesday - Little Red Hen

We read the story of the Little Red Hen today. The kids enjoyed it. We made this red hen craft when we were done with the book. (Remember, I work with toddlers, and I let them do as much by themselves as possible.)
Supplies Needed:
Pattern pieces (right click on pattern pieces below and save to your computer. Open - print)
White cardstock or construction paper
Red, orange, yellow, and black paper scraps
Circle hole punch (optional)
Red crayons, markers or paint
Cut out your pieces as indicated and glue the head and wings to the body. Before gluing the other pieces, have your child(ren) color or paint the head, body, and wings red. Once dry (if using paint), glue the other pieces on. I didn't do a pattern piece for the wheat, but if you want, just add some little circles or torn pieces of yellow paper to represent the wheat that the red hen planted. As I went through the craft, we talked about the story. Thanks so much for reading. I hope you are enjoying the craft projects with your kids or group!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Fairytale Week - Tuesday - Goldilocks and the Three Bears


On to day two . . . . We read Goldilocks and the Three Bears and talked about it. The kids enjoyed acting out the story with props. We had some friends over, so we spent the majority of our morning doing free choice centers and playing outside. We combined our craft project with our learning activity today. First, we made three different bears and set them aside. Then, I read the story. We talked about the sizes of the bears and the number of bears (as well as the color). I let each child choose the color of paper they wanted for the background, and then we sat down at the table with our 3 bears each. I asked them to hold up the smallest, the largest, etc. We also took turns counting each person's bears, and sometimes I would remove one. We also talked about what color of paper they chose. Then, we glued our bears in order from smallest to biggest. They have been telling me all about their bears today. "This is baby bear, mama bear, Goldilocks ate all of baby bear's porridge, etc." Tomorrow, I am going to ask them if they want to tell me the story and show me the pictures in the book or use their size sequence picture.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Fairytale Week - Monday - Three Little Pigs



It's time for another week of fun, and this time we are talking about some of our favorite fairytale classics. Today, we read The Three Little Pigs. Our centers for this week are:
Blocks - added fairytale characters from Billy Goats Gruff and Three Little Pigs
Sensory - Beans in the sand table (with some beanstalk activities as well)
Math - teacher assisted counting activites (how many pigs? how many ears do they have?)
Playdoh - Gingerbread playdoh and gingerbread cutters (buttons and ribbon to decorate)
Art - teacher assisted see daily project listed
Literacy - Working on name recognition (names are printed on princess dresses and knight outfits and hidden around the room for students to find each day.)
Dramatic Play - bowls, spoons, and yellow paper shreds to act out Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Today, we made a paper plate piggy. No pattern necessary because it's so easy.
Supplies needed: paper plate, pink paint (or red and white), paintbrush, pink paper, black paper, scissors, glue, and a circle punch if you have one.
Remember, I work with toddlers, and I believe in letting them CREATE - enough said! LOL.
Have your child(ren) paint the paper plate pink. If they are impatient, dry it with a hairdryer. Cut out an oval for the nose and two ears from pink construction paper. Punch out 4 black circles for the nostrils and eyes. Glue pieces on, and you are done! Cute and easy. . . . . my group loves to paint. Never underestimate the importance of getting messy! Don't be afraid of it!

I also made up some little pig ears from pink felt and hairclips ahead of time so they could act out the story while I read it. You can just cut them out and glue them on the clips and put them in their hair. This is one ADORABLE little piggy!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

My Daycare / Playroom / Craft Studio

Call it whatever you want, this is where I love to spend time! I figured since it's weekend, and I'm sitting here planning for a week of Fairytale Fun, I might share my space with you. My husband helped me update my room for Mother's Day last May, and I absolutely love it. Before, it had been a bright blue, a light blue, a brownish/green/tan color, and now for a fresh keylime green and bright colors (mainly pink, black, red, and green). I have it decorated with owls right now, but all of my wall art is handmade, so it was cheap and I can change the theme whenever I want. Pretty much everything in the room is handmade (curtains, desk, skirt, wall art, banners, magnet boards . . . ) My husband was very cooperative, and I appreciate him so much! I have wanted a craft space for such a long time, and now I am able to keep all of my supplies above my desk (out of reach of the toddlers). I hope you get some ideas for your space as well. I keep all of the daycare centers in the "closet" behind the curtain so we have plenty of space to play.


That t.v. has been moved to a better location since this photo was taken. I thought having it on the floor was a good idea . . . . um NOOOOOOOOO . . . they all fought because nobody could see.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Friday Fun! Penguin Craft for Kids

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, it's Friday. I love my job, but I always enjoy the weekend with my family. We have several soccer games this weekend, and I have a project in mind (after I finish my homework of course!). I am going to have hubby help me make a coffee table out of a vintage window my FIL bought me for Christmas a couple of years ago. I really hope the weather cooperate! Anyway, the craft!!! We made this adorable penguin craft today.

Supplies Needed:

Pattern piece (right click on the above pattern piece and save to your computer. open and print)

Black, white, orange, red and pink paper (I used red glitter paper for the ear muffs)

circle punches (1 inch and 1/2 inch)

pipecleaner

glue

hot glue and glue gun (optional if you want to use it for the pipe cleaner)

paint or watercolors (for the scarf)

Cut out the pattern pieces, and then cut out a scarf by cutting a 1.5 inch strip across your 8 inch paper (you will trim later). Cut another piece about 2.5 by 1.5. Have your child paint stripes (or whatever they want) on the scarf pieces and set aside to dry. While that is drying, glue the penguin pieces onto a sheet of white construction paper or cardstock. Glue the pipecleaner from earmuff to earmuff (trimming as necessary). Glue the long scarf piece across the neck area and trim as needed. Glue the smaller piece hanging down from the long piece. Have fun!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Easy Walrus Arctic Animal Winter Preschool Craft


Walrus Paper Craft

Supplies Needed:
Brown, white, black construction paper
scissors
glue
brown embroidery floss or yarn
black marker

This is a very easy craft for the kids to glue together with minimal help. The older kids can cut it out themselves and use the glue alone as well ("dot, dot, not a lot"). The yarn/embroidery floss whiskers may require some help. I glued three on each side, but you can also just glue them straight across below his nose. The pattern piece is below. Right click and save as picture. Then open and print. Cut out the body, head, and flippers from brown, the tusks and eyes from white, and the nose and eye center from black. I use circle punches for eyes. You can purchase these at a hobby or craft store (and probably even Walmart). Use a marker to draw on mouth and freckles/whisker holes. Have fun!


As you can see, our polar bear puppets are still a huge hit around here! They have been playing with them a lot, and they are so proud of them. They hang them back up when they aren't using them so they don't get torn up . . . . cute!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

FREE POLAR BEAR PUPPET CRAFT FOR KIDS


We are still learning about arctic animals so on to the polar bear! We played our musical iceberg game today to reinforce our color skills . . . FUN FUN! We waddled like penguins and crawled like polar bears from iceberg to iceberg.

Then we made this fun polar bear puppet craft. I didn't draw out the pattern because it's so easy. You will need:

1 styrofoam cup per child

1 piece of white construction paper or cardstock

scrap of black paper

black permanent marker

circle punch (1/2 inch) or scissors

hot glue gun and glue

school glue


Trace the large end of the cup onto your white paper, cut out (that's the head). Next, cut out a smaller oval for the mouth/nose area. Two ears and two arms from the white as well. Then punch out two black circles or use google eyes (my kids are bad about picking them off and putting them in their mouths so I don't use them often.) Have your child(ren) glue (with school glue) the nose/mouth, ears, and eyes onto the large circle. ADULT PART: Use the hot glue gun to attach the head and arms to the cup. Cute little puppet.


They are hard to see on the giant white clothespins, but we always hang our projects for the week up and take them home on Fridays. I have clothespins on each wall and hanging from the ceiling. The kids love to see their artwork hanging up and show their parents as they come in each day.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

FREE PENGUIN CRAFT TUTORIAL / PATTERN

Our theme this week is polar animals. We are doing so many fun activities, and I want to share as many of those with you as possible. I work with toddlers (ages 1 and 2 primarily) so I have to change many activities to meet their needs. Feel free to use the ideas for your child(ren) in whatever way would best suit them. My first FREE craft pattern is below. I still do not know how to attach a pdf file, and I am working on it, but in the mean time, just right click and save the file to your computer and print it. The quality isn't great, but it's just a craft pattern . . .

Once you have printed this craft pattern, you can cut it out from the appropriate colored construction paper, or if your child is older, let them work on scissor skills and cut it themselves. This is a fairly easy project. For the eyes, I use circle punches. You can find these at craft and hobby stores, or you can cut them out yourself. Use regular school glue to put your craft together as pictured. I try to let my toddlers have as much freedom as possible when creating. I think they do a great job! Before creating this penguin, we read a book about penguins and looked at pictures. We also pretended to be penguins and waddled around the room looking for fish.

Tomorrow, we are going to read another penguin book and play a musical iceberg game. The icebergs are going to be different colors so we can work on our colors.

I want to share this website with you though. www.Childcareland.com She has WONDERFUL ideas for early childhood educators. I refer to her website often and am part of her email list. I was looking for some extras for our polar animal theme, and I found her Five Little Penguins poem and a penguin write on/wipe off board to add to theme.