Favorite pre-school activity? My ds did one of my favorites today.

[FloridaLisa]

I am teaching a pre-school class at our co-op this year. I love it! After dealing with heady issues in my older dc's literature, math and science, I *love* the simple pleasures of pre-school. Today we taught the letter "T" and did one of my favorite activities: painting toast. We colored milk with food coloring and the sweet kids painted their hearts out. We toasted it and they loved eating it. It's a hit every time I've done it in Sunday School as well.

So, what are your favorite pre-school activities?

Many blessings,
Lisa

[Texas T]

We do most things in game form for learning. One thing we like to do (now that Easter just passed) is I have a bunch of small foam letters & numbers that I hide in the Easter eggs. I hide them around the house. He has to hunt the eggs then bring them to me. If it's letters, he identifies the letters for me. If it is numbers, he has some manipulatives and he has to count out manipulatives to go with each number. You could do that with the letters and numbers you have learned, and it could be done with a group.

I bought some colored paper clips. I string them together in a pattern and he has to match that pattern. It has been harder than I thought because it is difficult for him to connect them, but then that is a good thing because it is more work. I could also see this working for a group.

My 4yo also enjoys shape puzzles. They have those at abcteach.com. I have all of their free ones printed and cut out for him. There are several fun things at that website, printables, hands-on, etc.

We read a bible story and listen to bible songs on the cd player after that.

I hide colored popsicle sticks for him. He finds them, counts them & tells me the colors. He plays with puzzles.

We do flash cards of the alphabet & numbers.

I get a teacher's catalog in the mail that has all kinds of preschool games to order. I look at them and see if there are ways I can make those games up myself, some of the simpler ones anyway. They had an alphabet tossing game in there and I've been thinking of buying some felt and one of those velcro balls and making felt squares with the letter sounds he knows so far and having him toss the velcro ball to hit the letter sound I make.

Those are a few ideas I've had or found on different websites. I know it is different with a group of kids. To me, that would be so fun, working with preschool. I love doing that with my 4yo and 2yo now that I have one in 7th...the simplicity of learning at that age is like a breath of fresh air!!! lol

Teresa

[MomOfOneFunOne]

I used to LOVE to make book boxes! Get a box/bag/whatever, a good book, and a bunch of fun materials. Read the story and play with the stuff.

Some fun ones I remember:
Sheep in a Jeep -- I got a red jeep at a garage sale for a dime. I got a pack of 4 sheep somewhere pretty cheap but I don't remember where. I also put in a big bunch of silk flowers b/c I never came up with a tree.

Old Hat, New Hat -- Again, I scoured the garage sales and got about a dozen hats and a hand mirror.

Blueberries for Sal -- a stuffed bear, a bunch of something from the silk flower section at Joann's (I don't know if it was blueberries but it had blue berries all over it.), a couple of jam size jars and lids, funnel, bucket.

These are some I recall my daughter really enjoying. I know we did more but I just can't remember off the top of my head.

[Sahamamama]

We sing -- to Wee Sing & Learn CDs. My oldest daughter (3) loves to dance around and pretend to be the fly (on the ceiling, upside-down), then the green grasshopper ("I'm getting some nice exercise for my legs, Mommy"), then the spider (Spin, Spider, Spin).

Can you picture this? It is even cuter to really SEE it. Daily. :001_smile:

[ArwenA]

My 3yo (almost 4yo) reads on a roughly 4th grade level and reading is her favourite activity. She also likes:
-felt board, we have Bible figures and she loves to create the stories she's been reading
-nature journal, she loves to draw, press flowers, make leaf rubbings and be outside
-singing, she is in a homeschool choir and will break into song at any moment
-science experiments, her favourite is a baking soda and vinegar volcano with red food colouring
-cuddle time, where she's just with me and we read together and talk
-asking when the babies will be born and feeling my belly

[FloridaLisa]

Ooh, I'll have to add that to my list. That could be really fun for my 3-yo at home or at co-op. Thanks for the idea!

Lisa

[FloridaLisa]

I may have to try hiding some things on Monday. He'd love it! Or have one of my older dc hide some things for him outside while I'm teaching inside.

Thanks,
Lisa

ETA: I obviously don't know how to post right underneath other folks just yet!

[FloridaLisa]

I can only imagine. Just the picture of those three little sets of feet is cute! We also sing a lot in the car and have recently discovered Judy Rogers' Go to the AntCD.

Thanks!
Lisa

[FloridaLisa]

Wow, and I thought it was busy around here. :001_smile: If I had known I'd have 7 children, I would have invested in felt pieces way back with my first. I always felt it was such a splurge.

Thanks for the ideas --
Lisa