A is for Apple

This week's preschool theme is "apples." I love teaching, especially my own kids. I enjoy being able to supplement the things she is learning at school. So, to go along with "apple" week we have done the following activities:

Apple Stamping

Science- we talk about the parts of the apple as we cut into the apple.
Art- the colors of the apples and the painting
Math- I stamped along side her and we talked about patterns. red, green yellow, red, green, yellow...
Afterwards, we counted how many of each color apple we stamped.

Paper Plate Apple Core

Science- Once again, we talked about the parts of an apple.
Fine Motor: Cutting
Art- painting

Apple Cinnamon Playdough 

Motor Skills- Using play dough helps a child practice using certain physical skills with the hands when they manipulate the dough with their fingers. Children can practice skills such as pinching, squeezing or poking while they play with the dough.
Math- measuring and counting 
Cognitive development- imagining she was a baker

Making Applesauce 

We found a million recipes out there. We simply peeled and cored about 10 apples, boiled until soft, mushed with potato smasher and then added brown sugar and cinnamon to taste.

We discussed our senses- what we smelt, how it tasted, felt

Apple Counting

We took the worksheet from preschool and turned it hands on. We got a basket and counted apples. I would take away and add apples and have her count how many apples were in the basket and recognize the number. I would also show her a number and have her count that many apples and put them inside the basket. She really enjoyed this activity.

Joy School- Fire Theme

This week for Joy School we did a fire theme. We had a tour scheduled at the fire department that unfortunately we will have to reschedule because they were not at the station. We were however, able to do some activities that went along with the theme that were a lot of fun. 

• We read books about firefighters.
• We talked about what we would do if our clothes ever caught fire and how we "stop, drop & roll". We all had a turn practicing. I cut out red, orange & yellow flames from felt and attached them to an adult shirt so it would be easy to put over there clothes and for every one to have a turn. 
• We all took a turn putting out a fire. They sprayed flames made of foam with a squirt bottle. They really liked this activity. 
• We made firetrucks out of construction paper discussing color and shapes.
• We talked about the letter "F" and what sound it makes. We then painted the letter "F" to look like a fire. 
• Everyone also had a turn to try on a firefighter costume. They all got to take home a fire hat which were purchased at a party store. 

There are so many fun things to go along with this theme, but this was just the right amount for our two year olds. What activities have you done for a fire theme? 

Joy School: Spider Theme

Late in the summer when the excitement of going back to school began I started thinking about putting together some lessons for my two year old. I then decided if I was going to go through all the work that it would fun for a few of her little friends to join us. So, we started Play School or "Joy School" as everyone but me has heard of. We only meet once a week for an hour and half. There are 6 kids signed up, but that number varies a little bit week to week with who shows up. Each week's lesson is based around a theme. In September we did: apples, leaves, all about me and owls themes. Today's theme was spiders and it was a lot of fun!

Books:

Snack: ritz crackers filled with cream cheese, pretzels for legs, chocolate chips for eyes and Twizzlers for a smile

Art: painting back circles with a toothbrush. black construction paper for legs and wiggly eyes added once the circle dried. They also colored these pictures to use to help tell the story of the Itsy Bitsy Spider. We cut them out and put magnets on the backs. 

Game: pin the spider on the web. used window cling stickers found at the dollar store. 

Activity: each child had their own bottle to fill up with *colored rice, sequence, lil pumpkin beads, bat and pumpkin confetti and spiders. Each child got to scoop the rice and sequence into a funnel which made it much easier to get it inside the bottle. * coloring rice- place desired amount of rice in a ziploc bag and a few drops for food coloring and rubbing alcohol, mix it around until all the rice is colored and then take the rice out of the bag and spread it out on a paper towel lined cookie sheet for it to dry over night. 

Song: The Itsy Bitsy Spider. We sang it with the normal hand motions and then each child got a straw to use as the water spout and a ring spider to go up and down the spout with while we sang it.