Showing posts with label leaves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label leaves. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Fall / Leaves / Squirrels / Scarecrows
Hope you enjoy all the fun fall inspired activities I am posting
that we did in our classroom last week.   I will also be posting 
our ideas from our Pumpkin Week that we are doing this week, so make sure you check back for that!

Leaf sensory bin (we used fake leaves as ours were wet outside)
We added plastic acorns and leaves to find and sort or pattern with.


 Leaf shaped cookie cutters and Play-doh


 We used contact paper & tissue paper to make leaves

 Filling our letter of the week with fall manipulatives


 We mixed up salt/cinnamon play-dough made some leaf
ornaments.  We heated them in the oven for about 4 hours on 200
 These turned out so cute and if you made the leaves small
enough and thin enough, they would make cute necklaces.

 Counting, tallying & graphing

 Painted Hand/Leaf cards to make cards with.  The hands can
also be turned the other way to make a heart and it could say
"I Love Fall!"
 We measured many things in our room with leaves we found 
outside...including ourselves....
 Then we graphed them to find tallest/shortest

 Take a tray or board and lay a few fall time items on it.
Have children study to board for a minute or two.
Then have them turn around and hide their eyes.  While they
are turned...."steal / borrow" one of the items and place 
behind your back.  See if they can identify the missing object.

 We went on a scavenger hunt and found all the items on 
our paper.  We checked them all off and put them in a bag
with the picture so they could be shared with family or they could 
go on a scavenger hunt with their family and see if they could 
find them all too!

 We have too fire-bellied toads that we brought out to play 
with us in our fall stuff for a while.  This is Gilbert whom we have had for 11 years.

 This is Daisy whom we have had for 8 - 9 years now.

 We used paint dabbers to color all of our scarecrow's clothes....
 then we added their faces and some leaves from outside to 
complete our scarecrow pics.

 Using fall items to pattern
 I laminated these leaves years ago and we use them to 
sort by type and then by size.

 Please help our squirrels find the right tail!  It will soon
be winter and they may need those furry tails to stay warm!

 Played our "Oh Nuts!" Game
If you turn over am "oh nuts" card you lose a turn.
If you land on an acorn, you get to move ahead 2 spaces.
Be the first to make it to the tree to win the game!
 Use brown, black and white paint to paint a squirrel shape,
then glue leaves from outside to his tail and give him a nose and eyes.  Cut out around the outline.
Color the leaves by following the color code at the top. 
Great to see if they know their colors :)
Use tiles to finish a scarecrow picture to make sides match

Followed directions to see what color to trace each leaf or acorn 
with and then finished coloring according to color.

Followed directions.  Listened to hear how many leaves of 
each color to color and what color to trace the bag and rake tines.

That is a lot of what our FALL week was about!
Enjoy fall ---- My favorite time of year!!
Remember to check back for pumpkin ideas!!!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

FUN THINGS for the CLASSROOM or HOMESCHOOLING!

I have been getting some things for school this year and have found a few neat, fairly cheap, things to use with preschoolers.  Whether you are buying supplies for your classroom, homeschooling, or just to have at your house...I will list a few places and items I have found to be fun and educational at the same time.

Remember:   PLAY can be a very handy learning tool!

One of my favorite places to search for fun manipulatives and neat toys is  

BIG LOTS!
 Here are a few things I got the other day:

Acrylic Leaves & Pumpkins
These were in the fall/Thanksgiving area.
Each bag was $4.00
There are about 40 leaves in a bag.
16 Pumpkins in a bag (they are fatter)
They also had acorns which had about 25.
(I didn't get those cuz by then I had spent too much money!  LOL)
Each piece measures about 1 1/2 inch across.

These will make great counting/sorting/patterning tools during our fall/leaves theme.
Also great to hide in your sand table in sand, real leaves from outside, dried corn.

Small Square Containers
These came in a pack of 8 for $2.00
(I split half and half with a friend)

Great for keeping dice contained during a game with preschoolers.  Instead of having your dice bounce all over the place, they shake the container and when placed on table, see what the dice read.


Milkshake Straws
 There are at least 40 - 50 straws for only $1.80
These are big straws!  You could probably fit 3 regular straws in one.
These would be great to use with Play-Doh to make some neat things:
You can cut them to different sizes and have them sort by size or color.

You could also let them cut them into one or two inch pieces and string necklaces with them, maybe adding some wooden beads in between.

Another place I just bought some things: birthdayexpress.com
My nephew just turned 2 and is really into pretend play with costumes.  They have some cute/cheap hats I got for him.  Here are a few:
 
Pirate Felt Hat  -  $3.99

Pirate Mask  - $0.99 (Sturdy Foam)
Engineer's Hat  -  $2.99
Chef's Hat  -  $1.99
Fireman's Hat  -  $1.29
They have lots of party items and make sure to check out their CLEARANCE section.....never know what you might find!

Checkout Educator's Outlet  -  This place always has a sale and lots of times they have 50% off of their clearance stuff!  Here are some of the examples of savings I have gotten over the years:

Lacing Buttons  
Normal price $15.00  Clearance  $7.98  I paid  $3.00
There are a lot of buttons in here and lacing strings.

Teddy Bear Bingo
Normal Price $15.00   Clearance $8.98   I paid  $4.00
Lots of bears to use in the game or just as manipulatives to count/sort/pattern

Floor Puzzles
Normal Price  $12.97    Clearance  $4.98   I paid  $2.49 ea.
They have these puzzles for lots of themes ( I have about 7 of them)
That is just a sampling of their products.  Make sure to check back often to get a great deal!

Also check out Discount School Supply!   They have many sales too and sometimes you can save quite a bit during their "Dollar Days" sales.  You never know what they will offer during these sales, but here are a couple things I got last time:

Rainbow Dance Ribbons (6 in a pack)
Normal Price $33.95    Their price  $9.95     Dollar Day Price   $3.00
These are great to use during music or gross motor time.  Kids love them.
Colored Bean Bags (pack of 12 nylon bags)
Normal Price $17.00     Their Price  $12.95   Dollar Days Price  $2.00


These are all just a few samples of some neat things you can find.
Keep checking places and looking for those sales.  It really doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg to get some fun things to use with your kids!

Always check your stores like: Dollar Tree, Dollar General, & Family Dollar Stores.....Have had some GREAT finds in these places too!