C is for Cool Creation

"Hey, Ms Tamra!

Check out our Cool Creation.  Take a picture, kay?"

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!

C is for Cookie Monster!

When talking about the Letter C today, I kept having kids tell me . . . 

"C is for Cookie Monster!"

So, for their at home viewing pleasure . . . 

Here is Cookie Monster's C is for Cookie!

On the Calendar Sept 26th-30th

Let's learn all about the letter . . .

Caterpillars, Cowboys, Cats and even Crunchy Carrots! 

But as someone very wise once said . . . 

"C is for Cookie, that's good enough for me!" --Cookie Monster

Monday Sept 26th

Snack: Hailey

Weds Sept 28th

Snack: Natalie

Friday Sept 30th

Snack: Bode

Show & Tell: Letter C 

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! 

C is for (more) Color Creations!

We started out the day listening to this great Alphabet Pals book . . . 

Penelope pig wants to paint her pig pen purple . . . but Zac keeps mixing the wrong colors.  

Will she ever get a perfectly purple pig pen? 

Then it was time to try our own magical color mixing with paint . . . 

Each hand was painted a different primary color (ex. left hand red, right hand yellow) and put on the paper to make a print. Next, hands are rubbed together (while saying magic words, of course!) and a new color appears! 

I try to do new things each year so kids who come multiple years get fresh activities, but this is one is such a favorite it's a guaranteed repeat :)

C is for color

We started off today's exploration of both color and Jazz Music with this fun book . . . 

I got this at a music teachers convention two years ago--
but you can get it online.
I LOVE  it and the kids do too!

After reading the story, we listened to the accompanying CD and drew pictures of whatever the music sounded like in the color we heard. 

Everyone heard something different--

 We had a pink dancing princess, a big brown bear,  

and even a green trumpet!

 Then we ended up with an impromptu dance--

the kids LOVED the Jazz music!

One of our gross motor activities for the day used these simple plastic lids with flashcards taped on the bottom.  

We put them upside down on the floor and marched around listening to our new favorite Jazz music.  

When the music stopped, we ran to put our toes next to a circle, then got to flip it over and name what was on the bottom.
We'll use this game throughout the year with letters, and numbers.

Did you know that some colors are made by mixing other colors?  

Ms Tamra used a green marker to draw a big green dot on this coffee filter then she used a straw to drip a little water on it. 

When it dried, we could see that the green had yellow and blue it in!

We also did this with orange and purple.

 We'll do more with mixing color magic on Friday :)

Finally, here's a picture of Ms Munching Mouth . . . 

She LOVES to eat letters!  

During our one-on-one assessments this week, the kids named letters as they fed them to her.  

There were lots and lots of giggles as she almost nibbled little fingers :)

See you Friday!

Crazy Colors

This book is a fantastic way to start a discussion of color.  

Each child picked a color and we'd read about an animal featured in that color. 

 Who knew frogs were blue? 

Or there's a bird with blue feet?  

The number one highlight of the day was our magical exploration of colors using Ms Tamra's magic powder and clear liquid . . . 

(vinegar & water; food coloring covered with baking soda . . . shhhh! don't tell!)

 As you stir and say the magic words exciting things happen . . . 

and then a color magically appears!

Here's a peek at a couple of centers . . . 

Can't wait to see what Wednesday has in store!

C is for COLD

C is for Cold and we had fun learning about how Cold things melt with this experiment . . .

I showed the kids two toys that had been frozen in ice and asked them to brainstorm ways we could get them out.  Responses ranged from putting it in the microwave (that would work quickly!)  to leaving it outside in the sun.

I asked them to hypothesize what would happen if we put salt on one of the ice cubes.  We tested our hypothesis.

It was a lot of fun to watch the ice turn to slush and even more exciting when the dinosaur's (on the green plate) head peaked through while the other dinosaur was still completely covered with ice!

It is hard to tell from this picture, but the green plate is so full of melted water it is about to overflow while the pink plate only has a small puddle of water.

This created a great opportunity to talk to the kids about how temperature changes the various states of water (gas, liquid, solid) c and how salt lowers the temperature at which water freezes, causing the ice to melt.

The kids really got a kick out of this "Magic Melting" trick and the fun Cold Ice can be!

C is for Colorful Candy

What a fun way to celebrate the letter C! We strung Colorful Candies on string to make necklaces.  If you try to do this here are a few tips . . .

1) Tape one end of the string to the table to prevent Colorful Candies from falling off the other end.

2) Tightly wrap a small piece of tape around the end that is not attached to the table.  This prevents the string from unraveling and makes it easier for little fingers to thread.

Your kids will have so much fun, they'll never suspect they are strengthening important fine motor skills!