Halloween week! Black cats, witches, cute monsters, pumpkins, sensory bins, dancing and a whole lot more!

The older kids (5-8 years) completed a directed drawing of a Black Cat. The younger kiddos made an art project to go along with the book Five Little Pumpkins. We also used finger paints and once dried added eye ball stickers to make monsters!
The highlight of my week was observing the kids playing their own version of Scaredy Cat, a color and number recognition game! It was so cute to see them playing and reciting on their own. We've been playing Scaredy Cat the last couple of weeks, I would hide the cat behind a pail when the kids closed their eyes and we would recite the poem "Scaredy Cat, Scaredy Cat hiding from me. He's in a pail. Which one could it be?" and they would take turns guessing the location of the "Scaredy Cat!" (This game is from Jaime White's Pumpkin Circle Time Unit on TPT).

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We made pumpkins, worked on number recognition, visual discrimination, scissor skills and had so much fun! 
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We put squishy balls, paper, paint in a container and shook it all up!  Once dried, if the child wanted, I cut their painted paper into the shape of a pumpkin.  Normally, the kids cut out their own art work.  However, we are still working on scissor skills so this time I cut out the pumpkins.  They made the stem either by tearing or cutting themselves.  For the younger children, I cut the stem and they chose where they wanted to place on their pumpkin.

Visual discrimination is the ability to recognize the details in visual images. These details include the likeness and differences of objects or symbols including shapes and colors as well as size and orientation.  We worked on this with file folder games!  Young children in preschool need to have good visual discrimination skills to begin identifying letters and numbers by name.

Pumpkin Fizz! We painted pumpkins with white paint. (Baking Soda & water) Then we used a mix of vinegar and orange paint and watched the pumpkins fizz! The kids used multiple processes to get the paint on the baking soda. Paint brushes, dipping and splatting, and eye droppers. ​  

STEM project! We have been reading the book Five Little Pumpkins. We used blocks and pumpkins to build today. They talked about the story, counted, built tall gates and so much more during this activity. They were so proud of their work! ​

We've had some beautiful weather so we've been playing outside in the leaves!  
We are not working on specific letters at this time but if the opportunity arises to use glue, paper and a letter then we certainly do so! Since we have been talking about apples we made the letter Aa into an apple. The kids chose what color of an Aa they wanted to make and we used tissue paper, markers and crayons to decorate. We are continuing to work on recognizing the letters in their names.  
We used Q-tips to paint lines and make their own designs.
We drew apples with sharpies and water colors to paint the apples.
Last but not least, we celebrated another birthday! ​

We have been reading the book Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni. This is a book about little yellow and little blue who are best friends.  One day they can't find each other.  When they finally reunite, they hug and hug until they become green!  The kids mixed yellow and blue play dough balls to make one green ball.  We also mixed  yellow and blue paint to make green.  

​We are learning all about apples.  We have discussed the life cycle of an apple tree using picture cards to show each stage.  Your child should be able to tell you how apples start with seeds and grow on trees. 
We made apple cinnamon play dough and an apple pie sensory bin for their imaginations to run wild!  
We used apples to make apple prints, using red, green and yellow paint.  
We have been reading Ten Red Apples and had story pieces for the kids to retell the story.  
We finished off the week making an apple with torn paper and choosing color of paint to make a painting with bouncy balls.  The kids picked the color and we put the paper, balls and paint into a container for them to shake!  

We have a new and colorful sensory bin!  We have pom poms, empty spice containers, baking utensils to make apple pies!  Sensory play supports language development, cognitive growth, motor skills, problem solving skills, and social interaction.

Writing trays are a creative way to help toddlers learn letter formation and pre writing skills.  This is a fun and effective way to learn letters!  Today we practiced with shape and line formation prompts. ​