U is for Up!

A Letter U Science Experiment . . . 

The supplies (each child was also given a paper to record their observations) . . . 

Like the giant sized vinegar?
We use a lot of that stuff in preschool! :)

Step 1: Use funnel to fill balloon with Baking Soda 

Step 2: Observe how the U is sad and upside down

Step 3: Carefully put balloon on top of bottle (containing vinegar and food coloring) 

without spilling any of the baking soda into the bottle. 

Step 4: Slowly turn the balloon up while saying the u sound . . . /u/ /u/ /u/

 and watch as the chemical reaction creates CO2 gas that fills the balloon. 

The U is now Up and happy :)

Step 5: Blow up a balloon with the regular air you breathe.  

Hold the CO2 balloon and the regular balloon next to each other and drop them at the same time.  

The CO2 will fall much faster and not bounce as much because it is heavier then the air around us (and the air in the other balloon).  Show a helium balloon--because helium is lighter than air, it floats!

Step 6: Record your observations! 

C is for Creepy Crawly Caterpillars!

The Classic Creepy Crawly Caterpillar book . . . 

So much fun! We can read this one again and again and again!

B is for Baby

Which Baby is which of your preschool Buddies?

The Baby Song

by Ms Tamra

(sung to Once There Was a Snowman)

Once I was a baby, baby, baby,

Once I was a baby,
 Small, small, small!

Now I'm growing bigger, bigger, bigger

Now I'm growing bigger,
Tall, tall, tall!

We were supposed to have a guest

 appearance by this funny baby . . . 

but she slept through the entire class!

And just for fun . . . 

here's proof even Ms Tamra was little once too . . .

B is for Backyard!

Thankfully we've finally had a break in our 

100 plus degree weather-- 

Just in time for B week!

What did we do?

B is for Bunches of Blue Bubbles . . . 

I used Ms Morgan's fantastic bubble recipe 

and just added blue food coloring, 

poured a little in plastic cups,

passed out the straws

And let the kids BLOW!!!  

What a BLAST!

(but positively an outside activity!!!)

B is for Big Blue Ball Game

The kids run around the backyard, 

Ms Tamra throws the Big Blue Ball

If it touches you, you have to go stand at the tree

until a friend gives you high five and rescues you.

We love this game! 

Sometimes Ms Tamra is a Dragon 

and the ball is a fireball . . .

or she's a shark and it's a bubble . . .

or . . .

well, you get the idea :)

Ms Tamra's Bookbag

Here's another fantastic book to enjoy with your preschooler .  . .

It's time for a long winter nap and baby bear just can't fall asleep! 

I love how sensitive and loving Momma bear is as she comes up 

with different solutions to help her little bear. 

The book has such a peaceful, loving feel and rhythm to it

that it also makes a great snuggling or bedtime book. 

Could be used to lead into discussions about 

Bears, Caves, The Moon, or even Mom's! 

B is for Bee!

What better way to learn about the letter B
then through exploring Bee's?!?

Here's a great link to read more about Bee's
with your preschooler creature feature bees.

Then have a blast dancing to this song . . .

In our class, after learning all about Bee's,
we turned letter B's into Bees

And did lots of singing and dancing to our letter B song:

(to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)

Busy, Beautiful, Buzzing Bee's

Letter B says /b/ /b/ /b/

Busy, Beautiful, Buzzing Bee's

Letter B says /b/ /b/ /b/.

And just because these kids are so cute, 

here's a peek at some of our center fun 

(love how they pose for the camera :) . . .

**{Parents, don't forget to send in your child's baby picture for Friday!}**

B is for . . .

Seriously love this book by Scott Emerson and the illustrations are gorgeous! 

I wish I could have taken a picture of the captive looks on the kids faces while I read.

Equally adorable is the concentration this little guy is using to trace his name :)

Calendar Sept 19-23rd

Our preschool adventures this week are all about the letter

Bees . . . Buttons . . . Balls . . . Babies . . . and Bears! 

Oh Boy!

**Please bring or email a baby picture before Friday! These will not be returned (any time soon and not in the same condition they arrived :) ).  One printed right off your computer is just fine. **

Monday Sept 19th

Snack: Carson

Weds Sept 21st

Snack: Tori

Fri Sept 23rd

Snack: Lucas

Show & Tell: Letter B

B is for BALLS!

Today we had lots of fun with BALLS!

I started out with a big bag full of balls.  The kids came up and picked a ball and compared it in size with the large green ball, and as balls were added, the other balls in line.  We did this with each ball--until we had all the balls ordered from largest to smallest.  We talked about the variety of balls, what we do with them and our favorite ball games. 

THEN it was outside to PLAY ball games! We played Soccer, baseball, basketball, golf, dodgeball, and a our all time favorite game (one we made up as a class) . . .Bomber (I'll have to explain that in another post). It was so much fun not only playing, but making up cheers as we celebrated our team mates.  

Finally, I have to share with you this adorable moment.

Kids were getting on shoes and I heard this . . . 

"Come here, little buddy, and I'll help you!"

and I turned to see this . . . 

Gotta love THAT teamwork!

How do we start our school day?

When the students arrive each day, there are a variety of learning centers set up that they are free to explore and move between as they choose.  Here is a peak of some of the work that took place today. 

The art center was creating color bug themed emergent reader books.

  I forgot to send these home--so look for them in your child's folder on Monday!  Here is the link I used for these great books-- Cover, Page 2, Page 3 

Let your child "read" and re-read these to you over and over and congratulate them each time.  Encourage them to point to each word as they "read" it.  You might need to do it with them the first time--but they'll catch on quickly!

We also had play-dough fun . . . 

Dramatic play included fierce treasure hunting pirates . . .

The math center was a bug grid game . . .

Want to print your own?  Find it here . . . I would love to have bug counters to use with it, but instead we had bears eating the leaves! At home you could use beans, buttons or other small objects. It's simple to play--roll the dice and cover up that many leaves (you could also use regular dice or number cards).  When the grid fills up, you win! I had two of these set up so two kids could play together or it also works for individual play.  

And the always popular Geoboard.

So there's a sneak peek at the work going on during our center time today!

Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!

Each day when the kids arrive at school, they have a variety of centers set up to visit.  Here are todays most popular bug themed ones . . .


Our sensory exploration center came out today filled with wheat and . . . BIG bugs!

This is just a large rubbermaid container filled with wheat and different objects for the kids to explore with.  The kids LOVE digging through this stuff!

We also had this simple fine motor center . . .

The goal was to fill the line with flowers for each bug to visit.  If you want to use this at home . . . simply print the file below (I like to print activities like this on cardstock and then put in plastic sheet protectors . . . this makes it easy to store in a binder).  I used flower beads I found cheap at wal-mart, but you could also use stickers.

Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!

B is for Bumblee Bee

Today while listening to a kids station on Pandora.com I heard this perfect letter B song! Here it is with a fun little video to sing and dance to . . .

Bumble Bee Buzz!

With this, take a few minutes to learn about the interesting way bees communicate through dance . . . Then dance with your child doing a bumble bee dance!

Here's some links to videos that might be helpful . . ..

Here's one

and

Here's another

Pretty interesting!

B is for Beautiful Butterflies

Here is a super simple way to make adorable butterflies . . .

Supplies:

• Tissue paper cut into 6 inch squares (2 squares per butterfly)
• Black pipe cleaner cut in half (1 half per butterfly)
• Clothespins (I pre-labeled these with each child's name using a fine tip sharpie) (1 per butterfly)

The Simple Steps

1. Take one square of tissue paper, hold in the middle and scrunch it up in the center.
2. Have the clothespin "bite" the scrunched part of the tissue paper.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with the other piece of tissue paper.
4. Have the clothespin bite the middle of the pipe cleaner.
5. Wrap pipe cleaner around to the top and twist.
6. Curl ends of pipe cleaner with fingers to create antenna.
7. ENJOY!

We took turns hiding our butterflies outside and then letting the other butterflies try to find the hidden one.  The kids loved flying their little creatures all around the yard!

Letter B is for Baking Bread!

As part of our introduction to the letter B we Baked Bread.  

We mixed the ingredients together and had fun watching the magic yeast foam up!

Then we kneaded the dough . . . 

and shaped it into loaves.

  

Here's a tip . . . when doing something like this with multiple children, put it into the pan or cookie sheet in alphabetical order.  Then you can easily keep track of which item belongs to each child. 

Then each kiddo brushed his loaf with butter . . . 

And we waited (played!) while they baked . . . 

I love the different personalities of each loaf!  

Yum! Learning about B is DELICIOUS!!

Letter B is for Buttons

To introduce the letter Bb, we made Beautiful Button pictures. This is a great fine motor activity that I got from Miss Morgan over at Brilliant Beginnings. Picking up all those little buttons really strengthens writing muscles!

I am trying to work on helping the kids recognize lowercase letters so I included both for this activity.  If you want to try something like this, click on the picture below and print on cardstock. 

Or if you just want the capital letter . . . here it is!

You could also try glueing other things onto the letter B . . . Beans, Balloons (before they are blown up!), Butterfly or Bug stickers. 

CALENDAR

Parents--

It's Bb week! Here's what you can look forward to this week . . .

Mon 3/22

• Introduction to B.  We'll be baking bread and exploring other B words!

Weds 3/24

• Big bugs, bitty bugs, lots of BUGS!

Fri 3/26

• Basketball, Baseball and all things Ball! We'll be spending a lot of time outside so please dress accordingly and wear tennis shoes.
• Show and Tell: Bring a picture of you as a baby and any other B item you'd like to share.  I'll photocopy the baby pictures and send the original home with your child.