Fall Kinder Camp

Fall starts tomorrow, so today for Kinder Camp (2-5 year olds with a parent), we did a fall theme. Here's my lesson:

1. Coloring. I usually set out coloring for the kids to work on as they come in, since they come in at all different times. Coloring is good for little one's fine motor skill development. Today's 'letter of the day' was L, so I had a page of capital and small L's to trace, and a page with L things to color - lion, lamp, leaf, ladybug, lizard. I got these on Teachers Pay Teachers from Palabrisos.

2. Reading. I usually read two books out loud to start the day. The Denver Public Library folks will put together a set of books on request, so I just asked them for fall-themed read alouds for preschool and they sent me a bunch of books. I read Falling Leaves 1,2,3 by Tracey Dils and Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert.

3. Making applesauce! We made homemade applesauce in the instant pot! (I borrowed the instant pot from my mom!) I had all the ingredients prepped, including most of the apples cut into small chunks. But I gave slices and a plastic knife to all the kids and had them chop up some apples, too. Then we took turns stirring and adding the rest of the ingredients. I stuck it in the instant pot to cook. I used this recipe from Life is but a Dish. 

4. While our applesauce was cooking, we went out on a leaf hunt. There are 4 different types of trees right outside the classroom, so we walked around and collected leaves we liked in many different colors. Then we came back and glued them to construction paper. For older kids, you could have them make shapes or art, like the animals made of leaves in Leaf Man.

5. Next we did our letter of the day. I bought these cans with pictures of things inside for each letter. I had been doing these with actual little objects inside a paper bag, and the kids liked that better, I think, but it was a lot of work to track down 6 or so objects each week that start with that letter and fit in a bag that kids will know the name of. So the kids take turns reaching into the can and pulling something out and we say the name and the L sound, and then we go around and talk about some of the objects, then I ask for each thing to be put back in. "Can someone put the lion back in? Can someone put the lamp back in?" Then I read our 3rd book, It's Fall by Linda Glaser. This is usually the last thing I do, or I read it during snack, but our applesauce still needed more time.

6. Next we did these do-a-dot fall pictures. I got these dot markers from Michaels, and the printables from ProTot learning on TPT. I'll be honest, I don't really 'get' do-a-dot activities, I think they are kind of dumb. But I read a blog post about how the one-to-one correspondence skill is important for kids this age to work on. And the kids do enjoy it.

7. Finally our applesauce was ready! I mixed it up with an immersion blender, served it up to the kiddos, and gave them all some pretzels in addition. They mostly liked the applesauce! I think it was a very cool cooking activity for them to do. The only thing I would have done differently is to make it first thing after coloring, before reading, so there would be plenty of time for snack. We had just barely enough time to eat.

Last thing I always do is give each kid a sticker, and let them pick out a book to take home and keep (I got a huge donation of books, way more than I have space for in the center. So I give them away when I can.)

This was a great class today! It would be hard to do the applesauce with more than say, 6 kids, and they need parent help for cutting. And as I mentioned, I would start it earlier. But the result was delicious, and they cooked it themselves! Kind of. : )

DIY Flannel Board

Flannel boards are a huge part of story times in preschool and toddler education. I do not have much training or experience with preschool education, but I currently teach a once-a-week 'school readiness' class for 2-5 year olds to get them ready for preschool and kindergarten. So I decided I wanted my own flannel board. They aren't THAT expensive at places like Lakeshore, but I knew I could make my own. I googled plans for making your own flannel board, hit Joann's, and here is the result:

I bought a cheap bulletin board to start. I had intended to buy a prepared stretched canvas, but they were pretty expensive.  Then I bought enough flannel to cover it and staple it to the back. I picked this fun blue/green tie-dye look flannel, but the internet recommends solid light blue or light green, because those are more univerally useful for stories that take place in water or outside, and they are just mellow background colors. We'll see how well my background does. I borrowed my friend's staple gun to attach the fabric, and her suggestion was, "stretch that fabric TIGHT before you staple." I did stretch it tight, but I didn't stretch it TIGHT, so there are some loose spots, but hopefully it will be okay. 

For my first story, later this week, I'll read "I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean" by Kevin Sherry, and then have the children put up each piece as we retell it.  I got the idea and the template for all the characters so you can make your own pieces out of felt, at Storytime Katie. I also bought a few sets of pre-made felt pieces from the Etsy shop Storytelling Fun. I will combine some from the Ocean set I bought from Etsy and a few that I made from the template to do the story with the kids. Making them wasn't too hard, but obviously buying them was even easier. And the bought ones are quite cute. 

I made the whale and little blue fish. I purchased the jellyfish and crab

I haven't used these yet in a storytime, but when I do, I'll post the results...if they worked for me. I also bought some small canvas boards that I would like to cover with the extra flannel so the kiddos can have their own flannel lapboards, but that is a future project!