January 6 - 9

Welcome back Pre K!  2015 is bound to bring us great things!!

We celebrated National Bubble Bath Day, as students brought in their rubby duckies for a "river race."  They had so much fun using their own personal straw to blow their ducky from one end of the river to the other.  Watching their strategies as they altered them to get their ducky to go faster has shown a lot of growth in each little one.  So much fun watching the competitive side come out in a healthy way.  We even had cheerleaders that wanted to stay and watch each person go to cheer them on.

Bringing snow in from outside was pure joy for them.  Their face lit up when they saw us bring it in.  We also froze water this week in cups to let them stack large ice cubes to see what would happen when they slid.  Some of the kids quickly learned to pack snow onto the ice to then stack them.  Smart brains!

How tall are you in snowballs?  A super fun activity where we measured each student by "snowballs" and then allowed their imagination to go as they decorated their snowman.  Connecting more Math, each student wrote numbers on their snow balls as they counted how many snowballs tall they were.  

We use a lot of glue sticks in our class, but not often do we use Elmers glue (the kind you squeeze).  What a great fine motor activity to have more practice how to effectively squeeze out the glue with just enough strength to cover the lines of our snowflakes.  When they were done, we covered them with glitter and they will be hung around the classroom this week.

Shhh!  Do you hear that?  Placing jingle bells inside of boxes added loads of excitement as students were able to build with the boxes and blocks together.  Connecting sounds with an activity like building brought their imagination to life even more!

What a gem we have in Miss Scooter!  She takes time each week to prepare a fun felt scene for students to spend time putting together in any way they like.  Here is a snowman with extra pieces to decorate and accessorize.  

Learning a new gross motor game this week was fun!  Spinning the wheel, seeing what activity the class is to do and then showing them a number (how many times we are to do the activity).  Associating gross motor with cognitive growth, like number recognition 1 - 20, is providing more hands on ways to learn.

Painting with water.  Who doesn't like to write their name?  :)  Here students are showcasing how they wrote their name in chalk and then used a paint brush and water to follow over top of their letters.  Connecting again, cognitive growth with fine motor skills, another great way you too can do this at home! (This center will be available next week as well as each student was not able to attend due to snow delays)

Fine motor practice as students used a knife to cut pieces off of a banana and then put together their own miniature snowmen.  Their faces when I mentioned they were allowed to use a knife was priceless!  Parents you have done a great job teaching them the safety of not using them.  Questions like "is my Mom okay with this?" and "Are you going to tell my Mom I used a knife?" were heard.

I used The Pampered Chef's "My Safe Cutter" knife.  A great knife that does cuts through cooked meats and veggies/fruits but does not cut flesh or uncooked meats.  Great tool to use at home if you want your child to gain more independence at meal times or more fine motor and hand/eye coordination skills.