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!

Games based on books

This is sooo easy to do. I used my Martha Stewart round paper punch, poster board, copies of some of the pages out of books and misc. things for game pieces.

This teaches sequencing, cooperation, math, counting, patience, game playing. My preschoolers cannot wait to play.

Letters in the Rice Table

Today we were sifting for letters. We put brown rice in the sensory table along with our 1" letter beads. The kids looked for letters in their name, recognized letters, spelled out their name. It was learning but oh-so fun!

Beach

Growing up...we visited the beach every summer.
My Grandpa - my dad's dad - had a house on the canal just minutes from the beach.
I loved the beach. I still love the beach. My dad and my grandpa taught me to love the ocean.
I looked forward to visiting my grandpa. He was a great cook. He was a fisherman. He had citrus trees in his backyard and squirrels that danced like tightrope walkers on the overhead wires.
I collected seashells and sand dollars and bits of coral and an occasional starfish with my brother and sister every summer. We would collect them, wash them, and take them home. They were precious treasures. Magical, almost.
My favorite part of the ocean is just along the surf, letting it wash over my toes.
I miss the ocean. It's been a long time since I've been there. I miss my grandpa. I miss those summers of my childhood. Two days in crammed in the car were worth the sand between my toes, the salty air on my freckled face, the sun kissing my shoulders and nose, the treasures to be found, the memories to be made.

mel

Penguin Day in Preschool

Our letter of the day was P. My co-teacher was inspired to make it penguin day. So, we dug our the Ranger Rick magazine for the children to do "research" with and some toy penguins.
We leanrned that some penguins make a nest of rocks for their eggs. So we made nests too.
I made penguin stick puppets. I googled images, cut them out, and taped the picture to a popsicle stick.
Here, we practiced carrying rocks on our feet just like the penguins.
Balance is key.


We used foam shapes to match to the pictures above.
The above book has position words in it - over, under, in, out. The children used their penguin stick puppet to place the penguin in the correct position.
We made these adorable penguins. Then the children were interviewed about their penguins.
This one is so cute. His name is Shapey. He likes to eat fish. He likes to play hide-n-seek and fish.

Penguin day was a hit!

Preschool Game 2

Here's another game. It's so easy.

#1 I used an index card and divided it into 6 squares and numbered them.

#2 The child rolls the die. When they roll a 1, they cover up the #1 on the card. They roll until they have covered all the #s
I used animal beads as markers, but you could use pennies, Skittles, etc.

This teaches number sense and number value.

Preschool Game 1

Okay here's a cute way to play color bingo with a child. Simply call out the color and the child has to put a marker on the elephant of that color. I used these clear marble chips (you know, like you put in a vase or a fish tank).

It's sooo easy.