Common activity (art)

This is very common activity, which many teachers use in their curriculum.

Activity is easy to execute, clean and children enjoyed it a lot. As a result, parent may have a wonderful picture which they can frame and put on the wall. Just look on the pictures and if you will have any questions feel free to ask me in comments.

Compare real pictures

I just was reviewing my "Spring project" and reminded that we had very interesting activity.

We could see our playground through our window; so once children realised that the view from our window changes every day. I brought my camera and we took pictures every day during the week. I developed pictures on weekend and on Monday we could compare pictures and notice the changes.

Sweet and sour

During last week my children were exploring kitchen staff. We could not believe how those little people were interested to discover any kitchen staff such as pots,  pans and lids, spoons, bags, also artificial and real food! Activity "Sweet and sour" had a purpose to introduce our children different tastes.

Texture, sensory and art

This activity combined a few purposes:
- art - painting with ketchup - infants have no idea about differences between paint and ketchup or jam, is it? They usually taste everything that they have in their hands. We sometimes are very sorry about eating a lot of pain by our children. Once or twice they tried no so tasty "paint" they will remember that they shouldn't eat the paint.
- sensory - by smashing ketchup with the salt infants can explore different kinds of tactility.

- taste - infants certainly will try this mix (ketchup and salt). My children did not like that taste!(I put a lot of salt). We tried it a few times and now no one of my older infants do not put any kind of paint in their mouths!

Some ideas about cold and hot

Babies around one 15-16 months usually are not speaking; but they may say some words and actually they understand everything. I try to communicate with babies as adult people and usually they response in the same way. This is activity for babies but I think younger preschoolers will enjoy this activity also.

There are three bottles: two with colored water - red and blue. and plain water. The bottle with red water is warm, the bottle with blue water - friezed, and plain water is in regular temperature. Try to explain children a concept of hot and cold; sure they will response in proper way!

Thanks my friends!

Many of those activities below done by my friends, students of Centennial College in Toronto. Last semester we contributed them to the blog of our course "Curriculum development". Soon we will graduate and will not use this blog any more. I decided to save some activities in my blog, then anyone who read it may use it to work with children.

My greatest book

"One of the activities I was proud of implementing at my daycare was the activity of building children’s self- esteem. Preschool to Kindergarten is the stage where they begin to build self-esteem. I noticed the children at my placement were starting to compare themselves with each other and would say, “I cut better than Child E”, or “She doesn’t know how to play tag”. After that, I thought of making a book with the picture of each child in my daycare and on the bottom, it said something like, “I am Child E, I like doing my craft. I also like using chopstick”. After I read this book during the circle time, left it around the book area. That afternoon during their free play, I heard one child reading the book to the other three children imitating what I said and describing the picture saying, “I am Child E I like doing craft and I like color red”. The teachers in my room were really impressed with the book and said I did a great job. "
By Maryelle

Yucky germ

  Hello everyone!

This semester I did a few activities about germs. To get children attention I used some monsters toys. Next time I was talking about where germs are living and I got an idea to make germ from "smelly" socks! So, I bought two pairs socks for dollar, add a few beads, glitter circles, some stickers, one yarn and two googly eyes. Looks like children wanted to do the same and we just draw on the socks with markers faces! they enjoyed play with puppes. But before a lunch time they all went to wash their hands, without any remining!!!!

       Meet my "smelly" sock, a yucky germ!

PS. wonderful book "Germs" by Judy Oetting is very helpful!

Play Dough

The recepie is almost the same. Usually, teachers make play-dough by themselves, try to avoid mess in the class-room; but this is great opportunity  for children to feel themselves self-confident, creative and responsible.

This is a recepie:                                    There is the process

 

P.S. This dough called in Russia "Salted dough" or "Russian porcelaine" and many artists use it to create wonderful souvenirs.

A few years ago, before I came to Canada, I and my children with their friend gathered together to create ormanents for Christmas Tree. We dried it, painted with paint and decorated with glitter. There is a secret for modeling you have to exchange woter for potato starch glue( 1+1/2 tea spoon potato starch mix well with 1 cup boiled water and boil it for 1 min. Cool down)

     Here they are   And here some which we made for Christmas 4 years ago with Canadian children 4 and 6 years old         

                                              

                                            

Celebration of Spring

This week finished my project "Spring Sprouts", so we celebrated Spring with my children.I hope spring came to everyone in the WORLD!

   

Project includes over 20 activities such as painting pots, planting seeds, measuring sprouts, discovering part of tree, making noise makers to call spring, making different types of collages with seeds, vegetable printing, and many others. The top point was making a blossom tree, you can see it on the middle.

Spring garden

During my curriculum "Spring Sprouts" we planted with children many different kinds of plants.We find out that some plants grow up fast, some - very slowly.But the Garlic was the tallest. One child asked me if we can taste our plans. That is how emerged our Herb's activity! Believe, we had a lot of fun by tasting and smelling them!

       

I have no idea why pictures disappeared... I promise to make this activity with my children and post new pictures!

Science

Dear friends,

It is a experimental activity appropriate for the preschooler. Step by step listed below:

• Take a clear bottle with more than half water.
• Pour 150ml vegetable oil in the bottle.
• Mix few drops food colour as you like.
• Pour 100ml white vinegar.

Now put the lid on,you can see the magic. It's not going to over flow but it will move round and round inside the bottle.

Blossom branches

As a part of our project we decided to make a flower tree. There are many activities to make blossom but my idea was to give children a chance to see how it happened. So, when project started once I brought in classroom a few branches of different threes a nd ask children if they can guess what is that? They answerd sticks, branches, nothing else. We put those branches in the jar with water and observed the branches for more then 10 days. That was experiment which help children to understed where leaves come from in the spring. They were very surprised that the flowers were appeared first on the branches. But tu have first flowers you will need branches of apple, cherry tree. The best is genista, which has a beautiful yellow flowers.

 

                                    

Learning Math!

 

Measurement of heavy and light objects.

Different types of materials put in bottle for heavy and light measurement.

One side has bottle water and the other side has foam balls on a measuement scale.

Water is heavier than foam balls so, the bottle water is comes down on the scale.

Five little...

Does not matter who or what!

It may be ducks, pumpkins, donut or flower!

For my "Spring sprouts" curriculum I used flowers -

five little colorful finger puppets. Children could count,

describe shape, color, size and finally get it!!!

 Forever!

It is Ok to be different!

Spring is the time when many different cultures celebrate their events

such as Easter, Pesach. I have in my class(according to my Voluntare Questionnaire)

families who are celebrating Ester and one family, who are celebrating

Passover or Pesach.

My target was to explain children diversity people

who are living in Canada also as different events they are celebrating.

And That It is Ok to be different!

Decorate room

After activity "Coloring coffee filters we had left a lot of colorfulf filters (children did 5-8 each) and I was sorry to throw it away . That was spontaneous activity I decided to use those filters for decorating our classroom. With some my help children made that wonderful garland!

Also you can use those filters to make flowers (see activity for infants)

Learning colors

Infants are good in learning. You can start learning colors from first - second month; so around one year your child will know general colors!
I made five flashcards with general colors, plain pictures and numbers.

Musical instruments

Usually ECEsupervising teachers do not like this activity, othervise children are enjoing A LOT!!!

You will need any kind of beans(peas),paper rolls (I made it before an activity, I did not use rolls from

toilet paper, because...)

and any kind of decorations. 

 Paper rolls, peas, and decorations.....  

                                                                 Decorate rolls...

Put one or two spoons of peas inside and help children cover both sides with paper, glue ribbons, and.....

Turn on Music and enjoy dancing with your Noise Makers!

Carrot activity from Kaniz

This activity allow children make different shape with carrot and toothpick.They can make car with wheel, people, house etc.

The first week in infant room.

Hello everyone!
I am working now in infant room and feel very confused!
Look like I did not do a placement in infant room! The philosophy of my Day Care is combined with Reggio curriculum and theme based curriculum. Now I have to create a curriculum about flowers but have no idea how I can implement a activity about flowers in Infant room. If you have any idea - just share it, please!I have children around one year old.
Thank you
Lucy

There is a gift for our Moms!

Hi, my dear friends!

Hi, my dear friends!
It is my pleasure to present you today this blog. Here we all can share our experience regarding child development. Feel free to post your ideas to this blog. Together we can create a useful source of actual info that will help us in our job.

 

from here