Fall Preschooler Activities

This week we had some little friends over for a Fall Art event with our moms' group. I did some searches on Pinterest to come up with the ideas. Here are the activities that we did:

Paper piece pumpkins from Frogs and Snails and  Puppy Dog Tails. I actually cut out a pumpkin shape and had the kids rip the orange paper to glue on their pumpkins.

Painted Indian corn from Spotted Canary. I cut out paper shapes and had the kids use cotton swabs to dab their paint onto their corn. I had crumpled paper bag strips that we stapled on for the husks.

Fall themed bingo dauber sheets from DLTK kids. Bingo daubers are always a big hit with the 5 and under crowd. And I like that they are a lot less messy than regular painting.

We also did a tissue paper stained glass window. I don't remember where I first saw this idea, but everyone enjoyed it. I taped contact paper to our windows with the sticky side out. The kids placed tissue paper squares onto the paper. I will definitely be doing this one again with my kiddos.

Of course, no good playgroup would be complete without snacks. We had the "traditional" fall mix of roasted peanuts and candy corn. Apples on a stick from Ellies Bites Decorated Cookies. And candy corn dipped pretzel moms from Your Homebased Mom.
What projects have you done for fall with your kids?

Dinosaur Dig!

Recently the girls were invited to a dinosaur birthday party. Unfortunately we couldn't make it. This is a real bummer because the pictures of the party look awesome! My friend Janet did some really cute things. The girls were however able to do a dinosaur dig from the party at our house.

Just look at the cute packaging!

Inside, she had the name of the dinosaur skeleton along with some facts about it.

The girls had a blast excavating the dinosaur. We even did it several times before placing the "fossil" and skeleton into the sandbox. You can get all of the details to the project at the Mallard Cove Mommy blog.

Preschool at Home

Over the course of the past couple of weeks my Facebook feed and my Instagram has been filled with first day of school pictures. It is so fun to see these young fresh faces excited for a year filled with learning. And while Peachy could have joined the ranks in a three year old preschool class last year, we decided to keep her home. And we made the same decision this year. 

It wasn't an easy decision. I went back and forth on weather we should send her to preschool. Academically, I know she really doesn't need it. Sure, there will always be something new that she could be learning, but I am confident that she will have what she needs heading into preschool next year. Socially, she does fine as well. We participate in enough activities with other children that she has plenty of opportunities to practice her social skills.

So really that just left the fact that I knew she would enjoy the experience. And while there is nothing wrong with allowing your child to participate in something for simple enjoyment, it just didn't seem to be the right decision for our family. And there are lots of things that went into the final decision. 

I won't stand on my soap box for long here, but I will share a few of my thoughts on where America is on early childhood. I really think that we have been brainwashed into thinking that our children NEED to go to some form of education early on. For some reason, according to our society, just being an attentive stay-at-home parent isn't good enough for our children anymore. Yet, for centuries before this, it was the norm that preschoolers stayed at home. Why all of a sudden do they need an education in a classroom setting? When I tell people that we won't be sending Peachy to preschool, they usually say, "That makes sense. You have the education background." And while, yes, my degree is in education and I have taught preschool for many years, that doesn't mean that a parent with any other background can't teach their own children. The things that a child needs to know before entering kindergarten can easily be taught while going through your normal day. Colors, letters, counting, sorting, patterning, can easily be worked into the daily chores and activities around a house. You don't need to sit down and write a single lesson plan to talk about each of those areas. Ok, I am done now.

Please don't think that I am looking down at any of you who are sending your children to preschool. Some kids do need it. Some parents do need it. Will there be days that I will wish I had sent Peachy to preschool. Yes. (And I know because I have already had them!) But, I just am frustrated with the idea that everyone NEEDS to go to preschool. I don't want stay-at-home parents to feel that if they don't send their children they will enter kindergarten behind.

I am hoping to share some of the things that we do this year as we do preschool at home. I have already ordered the ebooks:

Ready for Kindergarten by Deborah J. Stewart, MEd

The Preschool Journey by Angela Thayer

And I purchased these sets of sensory alphabet cards:

Uppercase

Lowercase

I have a good stock of construction paper, regular paper, glue sticks, writing utensils, and picture books on hand. I am excited for the year ahead and seeing where it will lead us!

Kid Activities: Grass Heads

This is a fun project that the girls did at our family fun class a couple of weeks ago. It was super simple, perfect for lots of ages, and the fun is still going as we watch them continue to grow.

This is one week after planting.

We started by turning a knee high nylon over a plastic cup. (So that just the toe was left in the cup and the rest of the sock was stretched up and over the outside of the cup.) Then we added one scoop of grass seed and filled the rest of the toe with dirt. Tie a knot in the sock at the top of the dirt, cut off the extra, and flip it over so that the knot is on the bottom of the cup. The class had cute eye stickers that the girls added. (They only had one left when Peachy got around to hers, but she was okay with that. She said it is a one eyed monster.) To water it, we sprayed with water in a spray bottle. We have been watering ours every other day.

The other plants in the picture were form the Target Dollar Spot. One has basil and the other cilantro. Peachy enjoyed helping me plant those as well.

Kid Activities: Painting with Water

This is a perfect no mess, but lots of fun activity for really any age.

I simply gave each girl a piece of construction paper, a small bowl with a little water in it, and a sponge paint brush.

They each painted until their paper was saturated.

We just let the paper dry and then we could use it again another day! Perfect! We have also painted with water outside. Another no mess activity!

Kid Activities: Tubes and Poms

I have all of these great pins on activities to do with the girls, but so much of the time I just do the same old activities. I decided to try to start being more intentional in the activities that we do. (Thanks to the wonderful Emily of Imperfect for inspiring me!)
I started by looking through my Preschool board and making a short list of activities and pojects that we could do. I tried to keep them limited to simple ideas that made use of items we already had on hand.

Here is one of the successful activities that we completed. The idea is from Imperfect Homemaker's list of 15 (more) Independent Activities for One-Year-Olds. I used painters tape to attach paper towel tubes to the side of the cupboards, making sure that they lined up to make a clear pathway. The girls could put pom poms through the tunnels and watch them come out the bottom. Sometimes we let had them fall to the floor and sometimes we had something under to catch them.

 While this was aimed toward the younger crowd, both girls enjoyed playing with the tunnels together.

 Later in the day, while Cream was napping, we changed the path to make one that connected the tubes and zig-zagged back and forth.

And then Peachy tried her hand at designing her own path. She even tried to incorporate wooden blocks. When we were done, I simply removed the tubes and stashed everything away for another day.

Child's Easter Craft: Cut Paper Eggs

Peachy really wanted to do a craft with me on a recent weekend. I had seen this idea for paper Easter eggs and knew that she would love it. She has been into cutting "doilies" since I taught her how to cut snowflakes this winter. So we sat down with construction paper and scissors and got to work.

 I started by cutting out the egg shape for her, but by the end she was doing it all herself. After we each had made a handful, we punched holes in the top, ran some raffia through the holes, and hung them up by the window. It sure does brighten that corner of the room up. And Cream loved seeing it when she got up form her nap.

Preschool at Home: Dyed Noodles

(You can read other Preschool at Home posts here, here and here.)

Here is a great activity for you try try at home with your toddlers, preschoolers, and younger elementary schoolers.

 I did it recently in connection with studying the letter N, but Peachy is still enjoying playing with the noodles.

I followed the direction on dying noodles from eHow. I bought everything that I needed at the dollar store, except the food coloring which I had on hand. Depending on their age, your children can lend a hand in the dying process as well. Peachy helped me pour the noodles into the bags and helped me count the drops of food coloring.

I got out measuring cups, spoons, muffin tins, and bowls to play with the noodles. The kids enjoyed pouring, measuring, and sorting the noodles. We also made noodle necklaces.

I find that using something new, noodles, in addition to something from around the house, measuring cups, muffin tins, etc., can really bring about great play. I keep the noodles stored away and only bring them out every so often. That way they are new and exciting each time.

Paper Plate Snowman

As soon as I saw Kaysi's paper plate snowman post in my Google Reader it was pinned onto my preschool board. Since we are lacking in the snow and cold department so far this winter the preschoolers happily made the warm and paper version of a snowman. *Note, I am not complaining about the unseasonably warm temps we have been enjoying and the lack of white in our landscape. I am enjoying this tropical winter for all that it is worth.*As we were constructing our white friends, one of the preschoolers said that he would like a body for his. We just stapled two more plates on to complete them. I had the kiddos use paint daubers for the eyes and buttons.

I am linking to these wonderful parties this week.
Today's Creative Blog
Making the World Cuter

In Home Preschool

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I am currently teaching preschool out of our home once a week to a few of my friends' children. Someone asked if I would share what I did during our hour and fifteen minute session. So last week I took pictures as we went about our routine.
I base each week off of a letter, more to have a starting point than anything else. I don't go in alphabetical order, instead we are studying letters that are simpler to hear and understand and working our way to the more difficult ones. (I am using the order from this website.) I have one mom stay each week to be a teacher's aide. (They also help me care for Cream during the session.) I make use of the internet in my planning. There are so many great ideas out there. Just do a Google search and you will have more ideas than you can even make your way through.
-Table Time: We start our day at a little table that I have set up with a few activities on. (I got the table from Sams Club. It is great because it folds for storage and because it has three different heights.)

This week the activities were putting pipe cleaners into colanders and playing some Thanksgiving games I had printed.
-Circle Time: After everyone has arrived and is settled we head into the living room for circle time. I purchased carpet squares so that each child has a designated area to sit. We sing a welcome song and talk about our letter for the week. I choose picture cards that start with our letter and we put them up on the white board. We also read books that have something to do with our letter or with the season.
-Calendar Time: I purchased this calendar from Oriental Trading Co.
-Project Time: We head back over to the table and work on some projects. Every week we do a letter sheet. I print out the letter for the week on paper and we some how decorate it. This week we used paint daubers to put dots on our Ds.

When they were done with their Ds they could use the paint to decorate dinosaurs that I had made out of paper plates.

We also went on a dinosaur dig this week. I froze plastic dinos in small cups and we used warm water and utensils to dig them out.

-Movement Time: During this time we do some sort of large motor activitiy. Sometimes I will put on a kids' yoga video from You Tube. This week, in honor of letter D, we had a dance party.

-Goodbye Time: We wrap up our lessons and say goodbye.

Preschool

Peachy on her first day of "preschool"

After retiring my teacher hat in order to stay home when Peachy was born, I have decided to put it back on for a very limited amount of time. This year I am running a once a week preschool out of the house for some of my friends. The kiddos head over on Thursday morning. One mom stays as my helper and we work on movement, singing, and letters. We have had two sessions so far. It is very casual, but also fun.