Preschool Update-Week 20

This week we learned all about wheels and why wheels are round.
We made a tasty train:
(we used marshmallows for the smoke instead of cheerios)

The 4 year olds made shapes out of pipe cleaners and then helped me sort them by colors.
They found it a challenge to think about how a shape is made and how to form each one- I head a lot of "I Can't". I said, "YES, YOU CAN! You just have to try!"
We talked about how many sides and corners each one has.
We'll be working on ABC letters with them next for a new challenge!

Both groups did an experiment with all shapes of blocks as we discussed why wheels have to be round instead of triangular or rectangular or square. We watched how the square, triangle, and rectangles did not roll very far and stopped quickly. We watched how the round circles kept rolling and we had a race with them.
It's amazing how simple this activity was, but it really got them thinking as to why there are different shapes and what each shape is used for.
Ask your children WHY questions to see if they can figure out things on their own discovery.

We raced them to see whose circle could roll the farthest:

Since Valentines was just around the corner, the 4 year olds practiced cutting out hearts to put on their Valentine boxes. We ran out of time to make Valentine boxes, so each kid made their own at home, but the kids really enjoyed this activity and challenge. They did a GrEaT job on staying on the lines. This is excellent for their small motor gross skills in helping them use those little fingers.

They concentrated so hard,

and when they were finished with their hearts, they cut pictures out of kid friendly magazines. I would encourage more of this at home- have your child cut things out of magazines, newspapers, coupons (that you're not going to use), junk mail, etc. Make a collage of all the things that they cut out!

LOOK! I did it!! They were so proud of themselves!!!
Just fold over a piece of paper, draw 1/2 a shape on it and let them discover what it is when they open the paper! How exciting!

We had another snow day with the 3 year olds, so we have a lot to catch up on! But, don't worry- we still have time!