Just Look What I Found! MORE Pringles Can Ideas!

Do you remember my 5 Green and Speckled Frogs that I made, and now have used for YEARS!?  Well, needless to say, these poor frogs and log really are just about to fall apart.  But, what else is there to do with a Pringles can, construction paper and bath toys?  Oh, do I have the answer for you!

I can't even tell you how excited I am to share this with you!  I came across Laura from Differentiation Station Creations who took my basic idea and RAN with it!  She has created several new ideas using this same basic concept.  Bumblebees, sharks and puppies...oh, my!  Now, these ideas may be more elementary classroom in nature, but can be adapted for younger students as well.   

Seriously, if you like the 5 green and Speckled Frog idea, you will love these other ideas!  You really have to check them out!  Now, I'm off to eat a few more Pringles!

Flower Power: Sorting Task Box!

I found some flower shaped pool noodles at a local grocery store.  I have seen so many fun activities using pool noodles around the Internet, that I just wasn't going to have the children in my classroom miss out! 

The addition of the flower shape, however, adds a whole new dimension!  We've already done flower pool noodle prints.  I also decided to add them to a task box!  I found some wonderful trays at the dollar store.  I will be working to help the children understand that if a task box has no cup in the top, then a tray will be used. 

I cut the pool noodles into about 1 inch sections.  I then cut dowels to fit through holes I made in the lid of the task box.  The dowels simply rest on the bottom of the box inside.  The child gets the flower sorting task box and a tray.  He/she then takes out all the flower shapes and places them on the tray.  The rods are taken out of the box and slid into the holes in the top of the box.  The child can then work on sorting the flowers by color.

When the child has completed the sorting activity, the flowers are taken off and placed back into the box.  The child then removes the rods and places these in the box as well.  This is a simple activity the child can complete with minimal assistance!  Of course, you could also make a task box for sorting shapes by using flower shaped pool noodle slices and round pool noodle slices!  For more pool noodle ideas, check out the ideas on this Play Time Link Up!

    
**This post is linked to Rainbows within Reach Making Math Meaningful Blog Hop!

Color Matching File Folder Game

Sometimes I do think I over think things a bit, especially when I create new items for the classroom!  Oh, but not this time! :) 
I made this several years ago for a little girl who was just beginning to match colors, but who was SO highly distracted by everything around her, that she simply could not focus on matching colors if it involved anything else! 

I have a few children now who could benefit from this very simple, basic matching as well, so I have it packed up and ready to go back to the classroom!

I basically just used Word to make color rectangles.  Then I cut out, laminated and put Velcro on the back of one set.  I kept the second set together on the page, laminated the entire thing, put the other side of Velcro on each color and attached it to a file folder (you could laminate the entire folder before you add the Velcro).

Of course, I added an envelope to the opposite side of the file folder to hold the individual color rectangles.  When I use this with a child, I always start by taking a plain piece of paper and covering all but a few of the colors for the child!  I always want this to be a successful, enjoyable activity for the child...a challenge...but not so difficult that the child doesn't want to participate.

This is an extremely simple idea, but effective.  For some children it is nearly impossible to "tune out" the visual stimuli around them and focus on any one activity.  Taking out ANYTHING visual that is not necessary to the activity allows the child to actually focus on the activity and complete it.  And this can bring such a sense of accomplishment that they want to try again..and again!

Wood Square Memory and Patterning

My multiple trips to Home Depot lately have paid off...I mean for preschool, as well as my home!  I came across these flooring samples (the wood laminate free samples) while looking for painting supplies for our kitchen.  As soon as I grabbed these, I began thinking of preschool! 

These are perfect for a visual discrimination game for the children.  Of course, the pieces will not be EXACT, but for children who are able to play memory already with exact pictures, these would be a great way to add some more natural aspects to the memory game.  They even have a tactile aspect as each match has a different texture.   (Of course, these aren't real wood, but they do have a semi-natural look and feel!)

Wood laminate samples turned over for Memory.

 For children who need to work on matching same item to same item, attach one of each of the samples to a board and provide the other samples to the child.  Encourage him/her to match the correct wood pattern to the match!

For children who need a bit more difficult work, provide various samples for the children to create patterns.  For those who are just beginning to understand patterning, attach samples in a pattern to a board.  Provide the rest of the samples for the children to extend the pattern!

What a great way to work on those visual discrimination skills, matching, sorting and patterning!  I'm pretty sure I haven't hit the end of the things that can be done with these samples!  I'm just not so sure how the people at Home Depot will feel if I come in and cart out a few dozen of these samples! :)  hmmm...might need to make a few more trips for my kitchen...might need a few more samples while I'm there!

One Elephant Went Out to Play!

I have been looking for the perfect way to make an "elephant prop" for the song "One Elephant Went Out to Play" for at least three years...probably more!  Today, I think I may have finally hit on the perfect prop for this song while cleaning out my prop/storage boxes!   

I have saved these three cute elephants I found among the bath toys at Walmart.  I also happened upon a set of the Velcro ball and catch game in one of my boxes!  My dog took off with the ball and it is probably in pieces as we speak on my living room floor!  I, on the other hand, began imagining the round surface of the ball catcher as the spiderweb!  Viola! 

I drew a spiderweb design on the round surface with a black Sharpie marker, attached Velcro to each of the elephants and stuck them to the surface!  The back of the ball catcher has a handle!  Perfect! 

Just sing the song, adding an elephant at the appropriate points and dropping the "spiderweb" at the end of the song when the spiderweb breaks...and you've got a great prop for the song!  Besides this, since the ball and catch game relies on heavy duty Velcro on the surface, the elephants store neatly attached to this until the next time you want to sing the song!  (I seriously think that was the quickest and easiest song prop I have ever made!  Even easier than the 5 Green and Speckled Frog prop!) 

Here's what the back of the catcher looks like. The Velcro strap is the handle.

Here's the song in case you don't know it!  (sung to 5 little ducks went out to play)

"One elephant, went out to play,
On a spider's web one day.
He had such...ENORMOUS fun, (draw arms out to sides in a big gesture!)
That he called for another elephant to come....
"OH, ELEPHANT!" (put hands up to mouth and all yell for the elephant!)

"Two elephants, went out to play,
On a spider's web one day.
They had such....ENORMOUS fun,
That they called for another elephant to come....
"OH, ELEPHANT!"

"Three elephants, went out to play,
On a spider's web one day.
They had such....ENORMOUS fun,
That the spider web broke...
and now my song is...done!"

Bugs in the Grass!

Today we enjoyed a very simple activity- Bugs (or insects) in the Grass!  We used tongs and our fingers to find pretend bugs hidden inside the grass (Easter grass). 

This provided the children with a sensory activity as well as fine motor work!

We used some of our wooden bowls to collect the bugs.  The children found bumblebees, spiders, ladybugs, grasshoppers and tarantulas! 

We put the bug box on top of a grass green table cloth on the floor.  This provided for quick cleanup as we could just fold up the cloth and empty the extra Easter grass back into the box!

For most of the children the tongs are a difficult skill to master!  Some children attempted the tongs.  Some attempted with help from an adult.  Some decided to use their fingers to find the bugs...and some just wanted to fill up their bowl with the Easter grass! 

Crunchy Carrot Painting!

We have been listening to the song 10 crunchy carrots by Charlotte Diamond this week.  To give us a visual as we're listening to the song, I attached 10 ACTUAL carrots to our flannel board with Velcro loops!  The children have been helping me take off carrots along with the song!   This has been a fun attention getter and visual prop to go along with the song.

Today, to extend this we decided to actually PAINT with carrots!  The children enjoyed exploring what they could do with carrot coins and large carrots.  They made lots of orange dots with the large carrots and used them to make marks on their triangle shaped paper.   After being shown how to make carrot "prints" with the carrot coins, one child also tried out this method of painting.

I am careful about what food objects we use for painting.  Most of the children in my room are not yet eating carrots and I wanted them to be able to explore more vegetables in at least some way.  I decided painting with them would be a good way to explore the vegetable in a way that did not include pressure to taste or eat it.

While we painted I made sure to emphasize the color word "orange" as well as the sign for orange (the link shows the version I use with the children).  "Orange carrots and orange paint!"  By the time we were finished, we needed to include; "orange hands!" 

This was a great way to introduce a new food item in a bit of a different and non-threatening way!  (don't worry- we plan to make carrot cupcakes later this week; so we will actually EAT carrots as well!)

I'm linking this post to the Sunday Showcase! (momto2poshlildivas.blogspot.com)

Rainbow Color Fun!

Here's a little rhyme and game with a fun rainbow ending to teach colors that I learned at a workshop years ago.  This year, I chose not to use all the colors, but just the ones I had actual objects to represent the colors.

You will need

1. Large pot (For the effect of a pot of gold, I've used a large plastic cauldren I found on sale after Halloween),
2. Large kitchen spoon,
3. Color cards, cubes or playdough lids as I've used,
4. Objects (or photos or drawings) of objects to represent each color.

Because I have a little guy who has a visual impairment, it's important to use an object to represent the color.  He may not be able to see the color; but he will learn to associate certain objects with certain color names.  For toddlers it is also a good idea to use actual objects until they begin to recognize the color (by pointing to it when asked). 

(To the tune of "Skip to my lou")

"Take some (red),

Put it in a pot,

Stir it, stir it, stir it a lot.

Pour it out

Now, what'll it be?

The (prettiest apple) that you ever did see."

(repeat with other colors- orange: orange, yellow: lemon, green: lime, blue: blueberries, purple: grapes or, of course, you could change these to be whatever you want.)

"Take all the colors,

Put them in the pot,
Stir it, stir it, stir it a lot.

Pour it out

Now, what'll it be?

The prettiest rainbow that you ever did see!" 

Have the children help put the "color" in the pot and stir it up.  Pull out the object that belongs with the color.  Then at the end, the children can help put all the colors in the pot and stir; then pull out the rainbow as the song is finished!

Birdseed Sensory Table

Towards the end of this past week, I decided to take out our cotton balls from the sensory table and add birdseed instead.  Previously, we had cotton balls and tongs and scoops to explore.  The children enjoyed this, but needed quite a bit of assistance to manipulate the tongs in order to pick up the cotton balls (and probably a better skill to work on at a different time of the school day).  So, I kept many of the accessories: the heart shaped scoops, measuring cups and spoons, the red sifter, the red heart shaped bowls and the pink boxes; and simply swapped out the birdseed for the cotton balls.  

The children CLEARLY enjoyed the change!  Several children have spent long periods of time at the sensory table scooping, filling, pouring, and sifting birdseed!  With past classes, we have seen a great deal of birdseed scattered across the floor when we've done this; but not with this class!  Not yet, at least!  Most of the birdseed has stayed in the table!

The children took the time to experiment with how full each bowl or box could become!  One child experimented with what would happen when he flicked the scoop up in the air very fast!  (This was pretty much our only birdseed on the floor!)  Interestingly enough, he didn't continue doing this, but went back to scooping, filling and pouring the birdseed in the table!

Another child decided holding the birdseed in his hands and slowly letting it sprinkle out was more rewarding than scooping with cups and spoons!  When we are finished using the birdseed in the sensory table, I generally would just sprinkle this outside for the birds. 

However, I'm tempted this time to roll the whole darn sensory table outside and see what happens!  I have a feeling the children may be more interested in watching the birds eat the birdseed directly out of the sensory table!  Then again, I'm not sure I want to CLEAN the sensory table after THAT experiment! 

The Mitten...sensory table experience!

Today we started reading the book The Mitten by Jan Brett.  If you want to see an awesome video clip of the story retold with stuffed animals go to visit Strong Start.  Maureen does an awesome job of storytelling!   We also used stuffed animals and a white pillowcase to tell the story for the children.  Although, I'm not sure my storytelling is quite as good!

After we told the story, we talked about how difficult it was for the little boy in the story to see his mitten in the snow since the mitten was white and the snow was white!  We went to our sensory table to experience this first hand!  Prior to this I had hidden white foam and felt mitten shapes in the sensory table with cotton balls on top.

We used spoons, our hands and tongs to move the cotton balls and find all the white mittens.  We had both big and small mittens, but all were white!  This was great fine motor work with the tongs, math concepts with both big and small mittens and tied in nicely and demonstrated to the children why white mittens were so difficult to see in the white snow!

Of course, this will be available to the kids all week to explore during center time.  We will leave the mittens, bowls, cups, tongs and spoons in the sensory table so the children can recreate this again and again if they would like!