Winter

This is by far my favorite time of year. Even though winter dosent officialy start for a few more weeks, my class has been diving into snowy fun. 

To start winter off we made these cute winter snowmen. The bottom circle is actually a circle map. The students drew five pictures that represented winter and then decorated their snowmen however they liked. Due to the students getting older, I don't need to give them as much direction as I have done in the past. So each one was completely unique. 

These our one of our many winter trees we make this season. The students drew and cutout their own trees. Then I have them use snow paint ( glue and shaving cream mixed together). When it dries it creates such a unique texture. 

These are our torn snowmen. Ripping paper is such a wonderful fine motor activity for young children. They turned out so cute. 

I also taught the students how to cut snowflakes. They loved it. They were so surprised to see what they looked liked once opened. 

These are our wonderful borox crystal snowflakes. It really was a long process to make all 30 of them but the students loved it. I told them it was magic snow water. They kept looking at them as they were growing their crystals. Waiting to see the magic. Here is a picture of them in process. 

This has to be my favorite thing for the students to experience. It is our snow sensory bin. I purchased the snow from a company called Snow Wonder. It is imitation snow that feels like the real thing. It is even cold. I added some gems to make it even more enticing. It has to be one of the favorite centers right now. 

Community and Transportation

Over the past couple weeks, we have been learning all about community. The students seem to really respond to this unit. They love to discuss all of their favorite place to go outside of school, the different types of vehicles there are, as well as possible career choices. Of course I love it bevcouse we get to do a bunch of cute projects. 

The first thing we did was make a giant community map. The students each made their own house and got to put it up. We then added roads, trees, and a few community buildings as well. 

Then the students got into groups of three and as a team made their own maps. I provided the students will pre drawn community buildings and asked them to fill in the rest. This was the first real project where they got to work in teams. It was so cute watching them all discuss what was going to be on their map and take turn drawing. 

This is one of the finished maps. 

We also touched on transportation. Learning the difference between moving through air, water, and on land. Each child got to choose their own modes of transport and add backgrounds to fit the vehicles. They turned out so cute. 

At the end of the unit we talked about careers. Each child got to choose a hat that went with a career they liked. It was also the week we learned letter H so it fit in perfectly. 

Halloween

For the past two weeks we have been celebrating Halloween. The students had so much fun creating and participating in the many different activities. Sadly, I do not have to many pictures because most contain the students. However there are still a few to share.  

These are two of our wonderful shape monsters. The students got to use their creativity in order to make their imagination come alive. I put random shapes of different sizes and colors on each table. I gave the students no directions or rules. It was so interesting to watch their thought process when creating their monsters. Each one was so different and had its own story. 

This is a different kind of monster the students made. I gave each child apre drawn monster, paint, and q-tips. They had to pinch the q-tips and cover the entire page. This was a great project to work on their fine motor skills and build up their finger strength. 

One of my favorite projects was our character pumpkins. This was a at home project for the students to create with their parents. Each child had to choose a character from their favorite book and then decorate a pumpkin to look like that character. The students did such a great job on the project. They were so proud of these pumpkins and loved sharing with the class. 

This was a fun one also. I bought these sticker scenes from Oriental Trading. I use these to teach prepositions to the students. I would ask them to put a ghost on the tree or a bat under the moon. They loved using the little stickers and had no idea they were learning. 

This is our classroom tree for the month of October. On the bottom the students each created jack-o-lanterns made with paint and paper scrapes. There are also bats that have the number 4 painted on them. We also did a marble painting activity for the leaves that cover the tree. 

There were so many more cute projects and activities we did this past week. I wish I took pictures of everything. 

Fall

My favorite season is here!!! For the past two weeks the students have been learning about fall and all that it encompasses. This is a wonderful unit to teach because it lends itself to hands on activities for the kiddies. 

Marble painting is always fun. The students got a kick out of it. Once there paintings dried, they cut out leaves and we hung them on our class tree. 

We also made individual fall trees. This particular one was made by making dots using q-tips. It was a great fine motor activity. Each one turned out so different. 

The students also made wreaths for fall. This project took some time but was good to build up their endurance. They looked so cute when finished. 

I asked students to bring in different leaves from their neighborhood. They had so much fun sorting and categorizing the different leaves. Plus they liked to see all the different fall colors. 

The students then got to replicate the different colors using water colors. They really were looking hard to match all the different colors in the leaves. 

We also incorporated fall into our academics. This was a lesson on height where they measured a pumpkin using snap cubes. 

Overall, they had so much fun learning about fall. Now we are moving onto more fun for Halloween. 

Self Portraits

This past week my students created their very own self portrait. I absolutely love doing this art lesson with my little ones. It is a step by step process, but once completed, the students are so excited that they were able to make such a beautiful work of art. 

The students had to first create an outline using black marker. I chose to do this in small groups to better focus the kiddos. Once they completed their outline, they filled in their faces with crayon. The next day, the students filled in the background with watercolor. 

Every single portrait came out so beautiful. 

Family and Sorting

This past week was all about family. This unit gave the student the opportunity to learn about different types of families as well as family roles. 

One of my favorite activities in this unit is the family glyph. It's a great way for the students to compare the different types of families that are in our classroom. 

The students have to follow a key and create their own house based on who lives in their household. Each square represents a different family member. As you can see, our class has many different families. This one activity lead to so many great class discussions about family. 

We also incorporated sorting into our family unit. The students had to sort different family members into two categories: child vs adult. This lesson was really great for math, language arts, as well as social studies. Plus the kiddies loved it. 

We also did a really cute rainbow sort when talking about colors. The students had to create a rainbow by matching similar colors. They turned out so cute and colorful. 

To end our family unit, the students created "helping hands". They each got a hand and had to draw a picture of how they help a family member. Some of their responses were so adorable. 

Fire Safety Week

This past week was fire safety week. We learned about the different types of fire, how to be safe around fire, and also what to do in an emergency. Of course we also did so fun art projects to go with the theme. 

The students each made a very cute fire truck. On the wheels it says "stop, drop, roll". Each one turned out so cute and with such personality. 

We also are learning about patterns this week and I created a fire pattern worksheet to continue the theme. Every student did such a wonderful job. 

At the end of the week we got a surprise visit from our local fire department. The kids were so shocked to see real life firemen. The loved looking at all the equipment and being able to try on the clothes. 

After the firemen left, the students drew thank you pictures for the firemen. They were so unique and thoughtful. I can't wait to send them out. 

A big thank you to station 12 for taking the time to come out. The kiddos can't stop talking about it. 

Shapes and more Shapes

Last week we finished our unit on shapes. The students had so much fun creating and playing with all the different shapes. 

One of the books that went with the theme was "A Fishy Shape Story" by Joanna and David Wylie. 

This is an old book, though a great one when it comes to learning about shapes. After reading it a few times, I had the students make their own shape fish. They turned out so cute. 

The students also did some shape cutting practice. It was really interesting to watch the students manipulate the different shapes with their scissors. Cutting is a new skill they are all working on. 

The last big activity we did was make mouse shapes. This project came out so cute and unique. I absolutely love how they all turned out. 

The students all added a background to their mouse. It was really cute to hear the stories of where their mice were and what they were doing in the pictures. 

Sensory Table

One of my favorite centers I have in my class is the sensory table. This center allows students to play and discover with new objects and materials. They have so much fun touching and playing within this center. I like to change the contains monthly and always try to add new and exciting experiences for my students. 

This month I have colored beans and water beads. 

I have used colored rice many times in the past, however I found that using white beans is a lot easier when it comes to cleanup. The students absolutely love playing with the beans and the little toys I add in the bucket. 

 To make colored beans all you need is one bag of beans, 5 - 10 drops of food color, and 1/2 cup vinegar. Put all the contains in a ziplock bag and mix. When the beans are completely saturated, lay them on a piece of tinfoil to dry over night. 

The other sensory bin I have is full of clear water beads. I have never used these in a center before but now I don't know how our class went without it. The sensory experience form these beads are amazing and so interesting for the students.

Water beads are polymer beads that absorb water. Traditionally they are used as decoration in vases or bowls. You can purchase water beads at any craft store. I bought the dehydrated clear beads and added them to a bucket of water. The beads took about three hours to plump up. 

I honestly believe a sensory center is a must for all TK classrooms. The students love playing with the unique objects inside. 

All about Shapes

For the next two weeks, we are learning all about shapes. This is a large math unit that we do in TK. I love this unit because there are so many cute projects that you can do. 

One of my favorite ones is the Pete the Cat shapes. I found this on Pinterest a while back and adapted it for my little ones. It is great to reinforce shapes, position words, following directions, and endurance.  Plus they are super cute and all have such personality. 

We also did a shape hunt. The students had to find different shapes around the room and draw the object in the corresponding shape. They were so creative with what they picked to use. 

I'm also teaching the students how to trace, which is a difficult motor skill for this age. They did really well with it. 

We also did a little cutting practice at the beginning of the week. I gave each student three pieces of paper with different lines. They had to follow the lines with their scissors and then glue the pieces on paper.  I was so proud of their cutting skills. 

Next week will continue with shapes but we will also start learning our letters. There is a lot more fun coming up.