Graphing Preschool Style

This child colors in the spaces on the graph every time she removes on of the fruits.
Here one child sorts the items and puts on his graph.

Data collection and recording is a math skill.

Making a footpath

Making a Footpath is so easy!
I am going to walk you through it now. You can do these with a variety of themes to fit any occasion - classroom theme, birthday party theme, etc.

You need:
butcher paper
stickers
construction paper
glue
laminator (optional)

#1 Lay out 2 pieces of butcher paper side by side. Mine are about 6 feet long each.
Find stickers (or clipart) that you want for your theme. I used these ocean stickers and color copied, enlarging them 400%.
I matted the color-copied stickers with construction paper for durability and to color coordinate with the path. I placed them on the paper but NOT directly across from one another.
Then I began making my path. Here, the yellow matted fish coordinate with the yellow strips of construction paper that I cut. I made the path twisty and turny for added fun.
Here my lovely assistant is gluing them down for me.
The process continues with each color. Blue here.
Then orange. See how the colors criss-cross and overlap?
Purple came next.
Last - green. Here's a view from the top. Children will start on one picture, say the shark, then follow that path until they reach the other shark. It's even more fun when more than one child is on the footpath at a time.
I laminated mine for durability but you don't have to. I saw this done at a children's museum in London, but they painted it onto the floor. Kids love it.

Add sparkle

Preschoolers are nature scientists. They are curious about everything. Here I have added strands of beads and mirrors to the window for a daily lesson in light and reflection. The children are curious about the light beams, the way the morning sunlight hits the beads and mirrors, and the sparkle catches their eyes. You could do this is a child's bedroom or any room of the house that has a lot of sunlight.

Plants and Preschoolers

Spring is a great time for science in preschool. New growth is all around us. Here, we put beans in a ziploc baggy with a damp paper towel. The seed (aka bean) will open up and start to get roots. The children are eager to come into the classroom to see if their seed is growing or how much it has grown.
Here to show how the roots soak up water, we dyed water with food coloring and placed a stock of celery in it. The food coloring with turn the leaves blue (or whatever color you use). Preschoolers understand by seeing that the colored water will travel to all areas of the plant.
Here are some of our bean plants growing. This is only after 2 weeks!

I Spy Name Bottles

To help with name and letter recognition, I made these I spy bottle. Start with rice, empty water bottle, and letter beads.
Fill the water bottle 3/4 of the way full. That way the letter beads can move around.

Spell out the child's name. I used my nephew Kyle's name.
Put the beads in and tighten the lid. You may way to glue it shut.
On a piece of paper, write out the child's name.
Every time, he (or she) rolls the bottle around and finds the letter, they get to circle it.
Keep rolling the bottle around.


When all the letters are circled, you can start again!