Trinity Preschool Activities for Tuesday, April 30, 2013

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

We read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle

We asked the children "Have you ever planted seeds?"

We made beautiful bubble pictures by by blowing through a straw into cups filled with paint mixed with soap.  Then when the bubbles got big, we pressed a paper on top to make a print.

We practiced songs for our Mother's Day party.

We did a 5 kites rhyme. 

We planted seeds today, sunflowers and strawberries.  We discussed what plants need to grow.

Our dramatic corner is now a flower shop.

Oak Room: Pre- K class

We read "Where does a butterfly go when it rains?" 
and "The crunching munching caterpillar" by Sheridan Cain

We used bells today and danced to music.  We also practiced our Mother's Day songs.

We played with puppets and had a "dance party" with our puppets.

We played musical chairs and have fun because those who don't get a chair become the cheering section.

We also read "Berenstain Bears and the picnic" by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Trinity Preschool Activities for Monday, April 29, 2013

Willow Room- MWF class

We read "The very hungry caterpillar" by Eric Carle

We asked the children "Do you have the letter U in your name?"

We painted by blowing into a cup of paint through a straw to make bubbles.  Then we took a piece of paper and put it gently on top of the bubbles.  It left a bubble shape print on the paper.

We practiced our songs for Mother's Day.

We looked at objects that start with the letter U and talked about the sound it makes.  Our dramatic play area is a flower shop.

Our seeds have grown into plants!

Maple Room: Morning class

We had camp day today.  We had a pretend fire in the room and we sat around it for our circle time and stories.
We had a tent and flashlights and we wore camping clothes for our "hike" and "Bug hunt".

We did "Going on a bear hunt" for music time.  We ate a special snack with teddy grahams and bananas.

We made fire fly bug jars for art and had bugs in grass at the easel.

We had water in the sensory table with glo bracelets. We had a camp site set up for our dramatic play area.

We read "Goodnight, sleep tight, Don't let the bed bugs bite" by Diane De Groat for our story.
The children wrote a story about their camping day.
Camp Trinity:
"Once upon a time there was a class that went camping.  They had dinner. Then they got lost. They went home to sleep.  Then they ate their lunch.  They saw 100 ghosts and were frightened.  They heard a bum and a thump and then there was a big scary ogre.  Then they brushed their teeth.  And then they went to sleep.  They ate dinner.  Then they roasted marshmallows.  Then tey saw a fairy. Then they went to a place they go to school.  They saw a lot of cats and they brought them home.  They saw a bunch of dogs and they brought them home.  Then their flashlights stopped working. So they sat near the fire."

Maple Room: afternoon class


We read "Sunflower house" by Eve Bunting

We painted with yellow paint and we had paint and brushes at the easel.

We practiced our songs for Mother's Day.

We had water and glo bracelets in our sensory table.  

We had fun with a tent and the pretend camping site in the room today.

Oak Room- pre- k class

We read "The very hungry caterpillar" by Eric Carle

and "Houdini the amazing caterpillar" by Janet Pedersen
We painted with prikley rings in bright colors of paint on white paper.

We practiced our Mother's Day songs

We also read "The Berenstain Bears new kitten" by Stan and Jan Berenstain


Stay & Play: 

We read "Pigeon wants a puppy!" by Mo Willems

We did spring stampers on paper for art.

We used ribbon bells and did the "Hooray March" for music time.

We had foam flowers and we enjoyed playing with puppets.

Transformation from caterpillar to butterfly project

 This is such a cute project.  

We always get painted lady caterpillars in the spring and watch the transformation from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly; we then have a release party to set them free.  In our Maple room the children paint egg cartons to look like caterpillars.  Then as our real caterpillars transform into the chrysalis stage, we have them put their caterpillar inside a paper bag to be their chrysalis.  They stay in there a couple of weeks having on a bulletin board in the room.  Meanwhile the children paint "wings", we used eye droppers and folded paper to make them look symmetrical, but you can do any creative art process.  Then the fun part begins.  When the children are not there, we take their caterpillar out of the bag, add wings and put it back in the bag and back on the bulletin board.  Then we wait and when our real butterflies start to emerge we do something really fun.  We added to the paper bag on the end a piece of fishing line and when the children are sitting at circle time, one of the teachers is gently pulling on the fishing line, to shake the bag until one of the children notices the noise or movement.  Then we announce the butterflies are trying to emerge from their chrysalis and take the bags down.  The children open the paper bag (chrysalis) and find their butterfly inside!  They are beyond excited!  We tie this all in with various books about butterflies including The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

We're buggy about spring with caterpillar bulletin board

This is one of our favorite bulletin boards and each year we change it up a little.  This time we added our group project caterpillar to the grassy area.  

The lady bugs are paper bowls painted red with black dots added using corks.  The caterpillar is our "Very Hungry Caterpillar" and the kids painted paper plates green.  We get caterpillars each year and watch the transformation into butterflies.

Trinity Preschool Activities for Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Willow Room: MWF class

We read "Whoosh went the wind" by Sally Derby

We asked the children "How do you feel when it rains?"

We painted with watercolors in a sponge painting tool on white paper that revealed a surprise.  (We wrote their name in white crayon, and when they painted over it, their name showed up.)

We painted turtle shapes at the easel with rollers that had squares on them.

We practiced our Mother's Day songs.

We did a science project, called make it rain.  You use water and cotton balls as clouds.

We thought of words that start with the letter T.

Maple Room- morning class

We read "Butterfly House" by Eve Bunting

We did self portraits today.
We had pizza shapes at the easel with red paint, glue and cut out shapes to look like pizza toppings.

We practiced our Mother's Day songs.

We did letter Z activities, upper and lower case and thought of words that begin with the letter Z.

Maple Room- afternoon class

We read "The letter T alphabet book" and "Very Special Friends" by Jane Chapman

We worked on our letter journals on the letter T

We had paint with scrapers , toothbrushes and mesh brushes at the easel.

We did letter T activities- dry erase boards, letter sounds game, and did a letter sounds song "The letters on the bus go ..." to the tune of Wheels on the bus.

Oak Room: Pre- K class

We had beach day today.  One of our favorite activities.

We read "Harry by the sea" by Gene Zion ( we laid on our beach towels for the story)
We had a beach bag and played a guessing game- "what  
is inside the beach bag?"

We did a watercolors and salt art process- you paint with water colors and then sprinkle salt on the paper, which creates a cool effect.

We had the estimating jar with bugs in it.
We did an alphabet fish matching activity and a patterning board game.

We did snack and music in the gym; we did pretend surfing to music.  We played pass the fish, if you are holding the fish when the music stops, you stand up and say "Bloop, bloop"

We played balloon volleyball and balloon badminton today.

we had water table play, sand in the room, and did magnetic fishing activities.

We had snack, picnic style in the gym.

Stay & Play:

We read "The dinosaur who lived in my backyard" by G.G. Hennessy ( a book on CD)

We had oil pastels to draw with for art and chalk at the easel.

We did The freeze song, ( march skip, jump)
and using bells we did "I know a chicken"- a very fun song.

We played the game of Uno with small groups, had magnetic fishing and had sand in the sensory table.

Trinity Preschool Activities for Tuesday, April 23, 2013

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

We read "The best nest" by P.D. Eastman

It is a story about homes, so we asked the children "What do you like best about your home?"

We painted with bug and flower stamper shapes.

We painted at the easel with rubber brushes on flower shape stencils.

We practiced our songs for Mother's Day.

We did a kite rhyme.  We looked at a real bird's nest and we looked at our caterpillars- which are now in the chrysalis stage.

Oak Room- Pre- K class

Beach day tomorrow.

We read "The three little fish and the big bad shark" by Ken Geist and "Don't eat the teacher" by Nick Ward

We painted with watercolors of blue and green to create an ocean.  Then we used sea creature stampers to make an under the sea picture.

We did Body Rock, Baby Beluga, and bean bag boogie for music.

WE watched a DVD of under the sea with the magic school bus.

Trinity Preschool Activities for Monday, April 22, 2013

All of our caterpillars have formed into chrysalis. 

Willow Room- MWF class
We read "The best nest" by P.D. Eastman

We asked the children "Do you have the letter T in your name?"

We decorated kite shapes with tissue paper squares.  We painted tulip shape flowers using stencils at the easel.

We practiced our Mother's Day songs for music time.

We did a kite rhyme, looked at objects that start with the letter T.

We looked at a real bird's nest.


Maple Room- morning class

We read "The grouchy Ladybug" by Eric Carle

We painted paper then added black dots to the with corks to look like the spots on a lady bug.

We had paint at the easel.

We practiced our Mother's Day songs for music time.

We did letter Z activities and we also did an estimating activity.

Maple Room- afternoon class

We read "Butterfly House" by Eve Bunting

We painted with back massagers- they are fun to roll on the paper and make a cool noise.

We had paint with brushes at the easel.

We practiced our Mother's Day songs.

Oak Room- Pre-K class

We read "The Berenstain Bears by the sea" by Stan and Jan Berenstain
and "Gilbert Goldfish wants a pet"

We cut out air balloon shapes and painted them with back massagers.  We will add them to our bulletin board next week.

We did "Toe, Leg, Knee" ; "Join in the game" and "Rock and roll freeze dance" for music.  We also played a game "which cloud is the balloon hiding behind?"

Stay & Play:

We read "Harry and the lady next door" by Gene Zion

We painted with rainbow colors inside a stencil.

We played musical chairs and did some sing a long songs for music time.

We did some building with waffle blocks, and enjoyed exploring with magnets.