Creepy Crawlies

    We have spent the past two weeks exploring insects and spiders. Some of the books we used for the unit included Miss Spider's ABC, I Love Bugs and Moosekitos: A Moose Family Reunion. We also looked at the video of a dung beetle from Animals Town. The video of the beetle helped us focus on the head, thorax and abdomen as well as the exoskeleton.

     Our sensory experiences included a sticky easel for insects, insects in the water, finding insects in the beans and using our bubble wands. The wands are made from PVC pipe, cheesecloth and rubber bands.

 

We also explored the outdoors with magnifying glasses and found some spiders and ants.

     Our art and table activities included bingo markers at the easel, easel painting, chalk writing, wikki sticks and insect worksheets found through Google and bean mosaic beetles from Animals Town. We also completed a squish art activity that followed the story of a yellow caterpillar who visited other insects before turning into a butterfly.

 

     We also looked at the idea of flight and floating in the air through paper airplane tosses, balloons and paddles as well as racing balloons.

 Other activities that focused on insects included feeding some hungry fish at the light table, making a "catch the bug" toy with a small wiffle ball, cup and yarn, a worksheet from Making Learning Fun, sorting magnet "eggs" and insects.

   

 

 

 

     We also "chased ants" with a pepper chase activity. Sprinkle pepper on top of water and add a q-tip with Dawn liquid for the chasing effect.

    Activities that we completed these past two weeks that did not have a specific focus included domino play, playing with a variety of balls in our drain pipe structure and floating boats. We also had the opportunity to explore the inside of a VCR.

 

  

 

 

     We will begin our look at seeds and planting next week. I will post our activities at the end of the two-week unit. Here is a video that we enjoyed as we looked at the insect body segments.

 





Mouse Shapes and Mouse Count

This week we ended our look at Ellen Stoll Walsh. The week flew by and the children were so engaged in play this week. One thing I love about the Creative Curriculum approach is the emphasis on social development. The facilitator (teacher) puts the materials in place but the play is directed by the children. This play develops problem solving, creativity, social development and involves small and large motor development as well. Now is a great time to be an early educator as the influence of some of the most creative minds is at our fingertips. Check out some of my "heroes" in early childhood like Lisa Murphy and Jeff A. Johnson.

Here is a version of Mouse Count:

I find my ideas on Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers and through preschool blogs. If you follow me on Pinterest you will see that my boards are overflowing with ideas. I will share the activities from the week, saving the video from our look at the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for the end.

Here are the activities we completed as we ended our look at Mouse Shapes. The "soapy shapes" were inspired by the sensory sink idea found here:

We also searched for magnetic shapes in popcorn as inspired by this link and here.

Our shape activities included familiar games and manipulatives.

Our mouse project was found here:

We concluded our look at Mouse Shapes with a sensory table inspired by Teach Preschool. It moved from shapes to counting "mice" the next day:

We had a great time with our Mouse Count story props inspired by this link and here:

As you can see, we grouped the mice according to the story, which helps children see what a group of three or four looks like according to this link.

Some of our other activities for counting included a game from Scholastic, a number match found here and cube counting found here.

Our mouse game that we made was found here and here.

We also painted with q-tips with primary colors as a review. This activity was inspired by this link.

We had quite a few construction projects as toys we have available were turned into pet homes, a mouse "high rise" and other towers.

We also enjoyed a soapy sensory table and free choice at the light box:

We took time this week to look at the life and message of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The project was inspired by and the video was found at this link. I cannot find the link to the poem we used to post the project, but the results were beautiful. The life and work of Dr. King still inspires today.

Next week we will begin our look at Dr. Seuss. Until then, have a great week!