Why art is important in preschool (and elementary school too)

From the Dec/Jan issue of Mailbox magazine (an idea book for teachers)

"82% of scientists responded "YES!" they would recommend an arts and craft componet in education as an important background for scientific innovators....why?  Because they believe that promoting creativity and problem solving sets the stage for innovative thinking years later."

  This is why it is important to give children a variety of experiences....so they can use their brains to think, not just memorize or regurgitate answers

Trinity Preschool Activities for Monday, October 7, 2013

Oak Room- 5 day pre- k class

We read a fun book called "Parts" by Tedd Arnold

We worked on our letter E chart.

We made the cover for our "All about me" books using prickle balls dipped in paint.

We did "Today is Monday", "Play the band" (we used instruments) and "When I was a little fish" for music time today.

We will be working on our all about me books this whole week.

Maple Room: MWF class

We read "The falling leaves and the scarecrow" by Steve Metzger

We made leaf prints for art.  We painted real leaves (that were glued to a heavy cardboard base) with watercolors and then pressed a paper on top to make a print.

We glued real leaves to a board (vein side up) and gave the children water colors to paint the leaves with.

We pressed a paper onto the leaves to make a beautiful fall print.

We had black paper at the easel with oil pastel crayons.

We did "Brightly colored leaves", "Hands are for clapping" ,"Tommy Thumb" and "The October song" for music today.

Willow Room: MWF class

We read "Ten red apples" by Pat Hutchins

We used corks dipped in paint to make "apples" on a tree shape paper.  We had farm animal shaped stencils and dry erase markers at the easel.

We did "This old man" (Greg and Steve CD), "Little Old Wagon" (Carole Peterson, Sticky Bubble Gum CD) and "Your face will surely show it" (Jim Gill CD) for music today.

W had a feeling question today,  How are your feeling? and we had a happy, sad, angry, silly, sleepy faces for them to put their name tag underneath the one that showed their feeling today.  Most were happy.

We did a number game, Mr. Worm was hiding behind an apple with a number on it, the children took turns guessing which number apple the worm was hiding behind.

Stay & Play:

We listened to a book on CD "Apple trouble"

We used paint rollers with designs on them to make interesting rolling print designs with a variety of colors of paint.
We did Brown Bear, Brown Bear, "Put your finger in the air" for music.

Trinity Preschool Activities for Friday, October 4, 2013

Oak Room- Pre K 5 day class

We are finishing our unit on senses and today we did a story that talks about using all the senses.  It is called "Rain"by Manya Stojic
We also read Magic school bus comes to its' senses.

We painted a picture and we sprayed it with water (like rain)

We did leaky umbrella for music and we used maracas to make sounds like rain.

We also did the 5 senses song.

We thought of words that start with the letter D

Maple Room- MWF class

We read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?" by Eric Carle

We made a 3 D art project using paper towel paint rollers.  We used red, blue and yellow paint with rollers at the easel.

We did the October song, Brown Bear song and the students acted out the parts of the song.

We read the book little Blue , Little yellow, by Leo Lionni

We had red, yellow and blue water play in the sensory table. with red, yellow and blue toys in there too.

Willow Room- MWF class

We read "Who said Meow? by Maria Polushkin

We did a group art project, we had a big sheet of paper covering the whole table and we used the "flip flop design painters to stamp designs across the whole paper.

We had oil pastels on black construction paper at the easel.

We "Can you leap like a frog" (on the Greg and Steve CD); Cool Bear Hunt and 2 little blackbirds (Susan Salidor CD)

We played a color guessing game, which color honey pot is the bee hiding behind?  The kids love this game.

Stay & Play:

We read "Mommy, where are you? by Leonid Gore

We did a mosaic art project.  First the children used a pencil to  trace inside a stencil, a heart or a star shape for example, then they put a line of glue on the  line they made.  Then they pressed collage materials onto the glue.  

We used rhythm sticks to the song "Tempo marches on" a Jim Gill song.  We also used the sticks to "row, row, row your boat" and the "Wheels on the bus".

We had water play with tubes and tunnels and our dramatic corner is set up like a vet clinic so we can take good care of our play animals.

Trinity Preschool Activities for Thursday, October 3, 2013

Oak Room- 5 day pre -k class

We read "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb" by Al Perkins

We did Sand designs, we brushed glue inside a stencil shape and then sprinkled it with colored sand.

We are talking about our sense of touch.

We did the "finger band", "Funny fall animals" a beginning letter sounds song, and "Get ready, get set, let's dance" for music time.

We had textured puzzles, and books.  We had a variety of texture objects for children to feel.

We asked the children if they have the letter D in their name?

We mixed cornstarch and water into a "goop" substance for the children to explore with their hands.

Maple Room: Thursday class

We read Llama, Llama Misses Mama" by Anna Dewdney

We did a math activity- patterning, and we wrote our first and last names.

We did The October song, Alphabet letter sounds song, Wheels on the bus using letter sounds, and we did the 5 little ducks song and acted it out.

Willow Room- Terrific 2's and 3's class

We read "Cock a doodle doo! A barnyard hullabaloo" by Giles Andreae

We asked the children have you ever visited a farm?

We painted with animal shape stampers.

We painted on farmer overall shape paper.  We painted with ice cubes made out of paint.  

We talked about our sense of touch, we felt ice cubes they are cold and smooth.

We did "animal action song", "BINGO", and "Come and join into the game" for music today.

We used a puppet mitt and did the song "Old Mc Donald had a farm" using animal props.

We are enjoying our farm in our dramatic play area.

We have hay and farm animals in our sensory table.  

Trinity Preschool Activities for Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Oak Room- Pre K 5 day class

We read "I can tell by touching" by Carolyn Otto.  We are learning about the sense of touch.

We also read "Spiky, slimy, smooth" by Jane Brocket

We worked in our journals on the letter D.  The children write the letter in upper and lower case and they either use a stencils of something that starts with the letter D or they draw something that starts with the letter D.

We put some in the paint at the easel to create a different texture.

We did the letter D song, "hands are for clapping", "Five green and speckled frogs" for music time.

We played a small group game called ABC mystery box.  The children reach into the box and pull out and object, they figure out what it is and what letter is starts with.  The put it on the alphabet letter it sounds like.

We did an experiment with apples; we put a piece of apple in lemon juice, milk and water and will observe to see what happens.  Which will turn brown, and which won't.

Maple Room- MWF class

We read "Mouse Paint" by Ellen Stoll Walsh

We used dry tempra paint that the children added water to to create their paint mixture today.  WE painted on leaf shapes.

At the easel, we had red, blue, and yellow watercolors on white paper.

We did color mixing in the sensory table, with red, yellow, blue.

We did an experiment with ice melting to combine colors, red, yellow and blue- what colors did we create?

We skyped with one of the children's grandma in California.

We did the  "Month Song", October song", "Down around the corner at the pumpkin patch.

Willow Room- MWF class

We read "Cock-a-doodle-doo! A barnyard hulabaloo" by Giles Andreae

We asked the children "Have you ever visited a farm?"

We used animal stampers painting on paper.

We used ice cube paint (we froze paint into ice cube trays) at the easel and painted on farmer overalls.  
We talked about our sense of touch.

We did animal action (from the CD, kids in motion)
"BINGO" , "Old Mc Donald had a farm" and "Come and join into the game" by Tom Glazer

We used the puppet mitt and did "Old MC Donald had a farm"

We have hay and farm animals in our sensory table and our dramatic play area is a farm.

Stay & Play:

We read "Dinosaur Pet) a book on CD by Mark Sedaka

We did a shape painting: we used rectangle and round shapes and dipped them in glitter paint.  We pressed them onto paper.

We did "This is the way we do it" for music and we played with the parachute outside.

Trinity Preschool Activities for Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Oak Room:  5 day pre- k class

We read "10 apples up on top" by Theo Leseig

We also read "Little Mouse and the big red apple"

The children used a tall piece of paper and they drew a picture of themselves at the bottom of the paper.  Then they used an apple shape sponge to add apples "on top", like our story.  They counted the number of apples and we wrote on the paper "Name has 9 apples op top"; for each child.

We did an apple taste test.

We did "Way up high in the apple tree" and "I like my hat" for music.

We used bean bags on our heads to pretend they were apples, like our story.

Willow Room:  Terrific 2's and 3's class

We told the children a story about an apple that has no windows or doors, with a star inside.  Then we cut the apple in half crosswise and revealed a star. (The seeds are held in a star shape inside the apple)

We used the apple we cut for art, we made prints on paper by dipping the apple in paint and pressing it on paper.

We had tongue depressors which are painted bright colors with magnets on the back at the easel.The children can make shapes or designs with them on the magnet board.

We did a Mr. Apple worm rhyme. We also used a puppet mitt to do "Old McDonald had a farm song"

We did "walking shoes" and "Pass the bean bag" for music time.  

Our dramatic play area is now set up as a farm and we have hay and animals in our sensory table.  

Trinity Preschool Activities for Monday, September 30 2013

Oak Room- Pre-k class 5 day

We did a flannel board story about an apple.  The apple has a star inside that holds the seeds that you can see when you cut it crosswise.  Try it yourself.

We made applesauce, we cut apples into pieces and enjoyed using our sense of smell to enjoy the aroma.

We had apple stencils at the easel.

We did our letter D chart.  We also made a graph of the apples we brought in and talked about the results.  We discussed what we can do with apples and made a written list.

We did "A-P-P-L-E", "the pirate song", and "way up high in the apple tree" for music today.

Maple Room-  day class

We read "A new house for mouse" by Petr Horacek

We did marble painting with red and yellow paint.

We had foam paint rollers at the easel.

We did "Hands are for clapping" and the "September song" for music.

We talked about the seasons,  we read the book "Through the seasons" ( a knowledge quest book- for common core knowledge)

Willow Room: MWF class

We did the story about the apple with the star inside.  (See Oak room today)

We used real apples which we cut in half crosswise to reveal the star inside and we dipped them in paint to make apple prints.  

We had colored tongue depressors with magnets on them at the easel, the childrne used them to create designs. 

We did a cute Mr. Apple worm rhyme, we did Walking shoes, and Pass the bean bag for music time. 

We have our farm set up in the dramatic corner and we have hay in the sensory table. 

Stay & Play:

We read "The best gift of all" by Jonathan Emmett

We painted on plexiglass circles and then made prints of the painting.  We overlapped them too.

We did "Down by the apple orchard" , "Pass the apple" (like hot potato), "sticky bubble gum", and some bean bag songs, for music time.