All about Sharks!

Little Script Theater! The children enjoyed listening to a script about sharks, and acting out different parts of the story. Here you see some of the children swimming on their backs like a beluga whale. 

Shark Snack! We looked in the mirror and counted our teeth. We discovered that we did not have as many teeth as a shark. Sharks can have hundreds of teeth in many rows,  if one falls out, they have a new tooth to take its place.

I forgot to print out the shark mouth as suggested, so we used a bowl instead. Instead of giving each child a bowl with 20 snacks, we filled a bowl with 20 honey roasted peanuts. Then, we took turns rolling the die, counting how many, and taking the exact amount from our stash of snacks. All of the children were engaged using their fine motor skills, and counting aloud.

Here you see the children gathering toys that can fit inside their plastic sacs. This gave them an idea of what a bay shark sack is like. The baby shark sacs are soft, and are filled with nutrients for the babies. It was neat as an educator to see my toddlers trying to see if a large toy would fit inside the sac. I assisted them to find the right size toys for their bags.

 We learned that mother sharks can have babies three different ways. They can lay eggs just like birds do, hatch eggs inside of their bodies, or grow live pups without the egg. 

We played a game after the kids filled their sacks. I gave them two-step directions to follow with their sac in hand. Here you see M crawling under the table. I think all of the children did well using their listening comprehension skills for this exercise.

There is always time to enjoy some tunes with a little dancing!

M is reciting a rhyme about baby sharks! 

K is having fun with her shark fin! All of the children had fun pretending they were sharks swimming in the ocean.

Shark fin fun! Here we are feeling what a shark skin feels like by rubbing our finger against a nail file. We had a great time discussing how the texture of a shark appeared smooth, but it really is not. A sharks skin feels rough and scratchy.

Here you see the children applying glue to their shark fins! As you can see, I also allow my toddlers to apply their own glue using a glue stick. It really helps them to build their fine motor skills, and learn to control their small movements. Afterwards, we work together and apply Elmer's glue for the sand.

C is so happy that his shark fin is complete!

We learned that most sharks like to swim on their own to hunt for food, but they prefer to swim in schools when they mate or migrate. This brought up a discussion on birds migrating south for the winter. They remembered learning about that in our weather Mother Goose Time kit.

The children are building schools of fish. L made a pattern using her blocks.

The kids enjoyed pretending to be a school of sharks hunting for food.

Ocean Plants!

The children enjoyed making ocean designs out of the tangram shape manipulative's from the Mother Goose Time monthly kit.

Today's weather is cloudy and rainy.

The kids had fun singing a song about kelp. We learned that kelp is a plant at the bottom of the ocean.

The children explored the sea animal photos, and drew their favorite sea creatures. L drew her family and a whale in the ocean.

The kids enjoyed looking at the different sea creatures. They learned that the ocean has 3 zones.  We found out that ocean plants live in the top layer of the ocean (sunlit zone) because it is closest to the sun, and plants need the sun to grow. 

Afterwards, we taped the sea animals and plants along the different zones of the ocean.

Ocean Floor!

What do you think is on the bottom of the ocean? The children learned that strong winds create waves at the bottom of the ocean. They had fun building an ocean floor using blocks. The kids got to play in waves using a sheet, and made oyster pearls using pipe cleaner, beads, and a plate folded in half. Overall, the lesson was great today, and the children learned a lot about what they can find on the ocean floor. 

 For our playtime, I used a sheet instead of a blanket to try and create waves.

C suggested that we lay the sheet down, so they could swim. I thought that was a swell idea. Everyone got down low and pretended to be swimming in the ocean.

The kids are pretending to be an octopus in the ocean. C mentioned they needed 8 tentacles, so they grouped together to make 8 arms. 

K is Pretending to be a crab.

D is tracing the letter O with her finger.

Easter fun!

We started our day by discussing ways we celebrate Easter with our families.

We said a little rhyme called "Five Little Bunnies" to the same tune of "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed." The children had fun reciting the rhyme, and mimicking the movement of my fingers. 

C is in charge of the calendar for the month of April.

Once circle time was over we moved over to the tables and started working on painting our bunny faces. I assisted the children by helping them paint their hands and stamp the paper. The children had fun taking turns with the camera and snapping photos for me while I assisted each child. 

The next activity planned was the "Egg Hunt." We chanted, "Hunt, Hunt, Hunt for Eggs" and I called out a each child's name to hunt for eggs of a specific color. Most of them new their colors with ease. The older children assisted the younger ones by helping them select the right color eggs.

The children enjoyed opening and closing their eggs.

Our final activity for the day was "Guess How Many." Each child selected a number card that I prepared prior to class. The children took turns selecting a card with a number, and gathered the same amount of eggs. This was a fun engaging activity for the kiddos. They enjoyed choosing their number card and counting their eggs aloud.  

Overall, we had a great time counting, painting, and playing games. 

Connecting math with everyday learning!

This week we learned about dinosaur feet! We discovered that dinosaur feet were very large. They were so large that it took 5 or 6 of us standing to fill one dinosaur footprint that we made out of paper. We took off our shoes and socks to compare our own feet to see which ones were smaller and which ones were larger. We even counted our toes to see if we all had the same amount of toes as a dinosaur. We discovered that all of us had 5 toes on each foot. While the children were busy counting toes, some of them started to count their fingers and hands. I was amazed at their curiosity and how well they were counting. Even the toddlers started to display their counting skills aloud. These are just a few examples how a parent/caregiver can implement math learning into everyday activities using the Mother Goose Time curriculum.

Everyday, I like to look for other opportunities to teach my preschool kids math by asking them questions while they are drawing or coloring. I like to point out that they have 2 hearts on their page or that they have drawn a flower with 4 petals. I believe that using these strategies helps children become aware that math is all around them. My preschool kids have learned so much about math and exercise counting skills on a regular basis now. I thoroughly enjoy all that they have learned, and enjoy seeing them use these skills on a daily basis.