Halloween Celebration

Our Halloween party was on Friday - I am so glad we did it then - less hyperactivity today! For my toddler class I provide the costumes for them to wear - so that parents don't have to worry about the costumes getting soiled or ripped before Halloween night. I put a pile of costumes out and let the tots pick one out to wear for our festivities. Now if anyone else here knows toddlers, they will wear the costume for a very short period of time, so we had to take the pictures quick. LOL We had lots of fun and giggles and ate tons of treats!

All my costumes come from garage sales - perfect condition and a great addition to the classroom!

The feast begins!

Halloween Hygiene

So in my house we hand out Halloween pencils with erasers - no candy here - I want the kiddies to be healthy! Today in my classroom we talked about the fact that we should brush our teeth after we eat all the sugary treats. We practiced how we would do that.

I think everyone did a great job - now hopefully they will do it at home on a regular basis!



These are the cute little brushes we gave the kids to take home!



One last garage sale - maybe!

I bet you thought I didn't go to a garage sale today! :) Well I almost went to three - but only got to one :(
Oh well got a few things and I only spent $1.75

Mini 3 piece wooden puzzles!

Same / different game

Books!

Paper - which is expensive in the store - 25 cents!

Well I may have to go to the thrift stores in the colder weather to get my 'fix' - LOL!

This was a very slow day!

Sorting Activity Links

Here are a few sorting activity links for your preschoolers:

http://www.preschool-learning-and-crafts.com/preschool-sorting-activities.html

http://kreativeactivities.blogspot.com/2011/05/colour-matching.html

http://kreativeactivities.blogspot.com/2011/09/colour-all-around-us.html

http://kreativeactivities.blogspot.com/2011/05/matching-geometric-shapes.html

http://kreativeactivities.blogspot.com/2011/05/matching.html

http://kreativeactivities.blogspot.com/search/label/froebels%20gifts

http://www.theseedsnetwork.com/search_result.php?i=83

http://www.theseedsnetwork.com/search_result.php?i=172

http://www.theseedsnetwork.com/search_result.php?i=121

http://www.theseedsnetwork.com/search_result.php?i=238

http://www.playbasedlearning.com.au/2011/03/tong-play/

http://mamapeapod.blogspot.com/2011/07/guest-post-colour-sorting-collage.html

http://scottsbricks.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-many-ways-can-you-sort.html

http://www.teachpreschool.org/2011/09/outdoor-nature-hike-collecting-and-sorting-in-preschool/

http://www.teachpreschool.org/2011/05/counting-and-sorting-bugs-in-preschool/

http://www.teachpreschool.org/2011/04/sorting-it-all-out-in-preschool/

http://www.pre-kpages.com/sorting/

http://livingmontessorinow.com/2011/09/29/montessori-inspired-autumn-leaf-unit/

http://networkedblogs.com/pbD2g

http://www.theimaginationtree.com/2011/03/were-going-on-colour-hunt.html

Thank you to some of my blogging buddies for sharing!

Laura Eldredge, The SEEDS Network
http://www.theseedsblog.com/

Donna Ridley Burns & Sherry Hutton, Irresistible Ideas for Play Based Learning
http://www.playbasedlearning.com.au/

Jamie Reimer, hands on : as we grow

http://handsonaswegrow.com/

Scott Wiley, Brick by Brick
http://scottsbricks.blogspot.com/

Deborah Stewart, Teach Preschool
http://www.teachpreschool.org/

Vanessa Levin, Pre-K Pages
http://www.pre-kpages.com/blog/

Deb Chitwood, Living Montessori Now
http://livingmontessorinow.com/

Anna Ranson, The Imagination Tree
http://www.theimaginationtree.com/

Melting crayons - revisited

Well we thought putting the crayons we made in a icecube tray made for water bottle icecubes - we would have better crayons to use. Here's what happened.

I broke up the melted crayons we made yesterday and put them in the icecube tray - applied the heat gun and.....

....the tray started to melt - woops! But the crayon was cool! LOL

Maybe in the microwave again!

So into a metal tray - not so cool shape!

(It's a mini tart size)

Melted crayons - DO NOT TOUCH THE TRAY!

 I wouldn't do this with the kids around - too hot!

Here they are - I like them - hope the kiddies do! :)

Don't throw out the crayons!

Raining yet again! What to do! Get the kids to peel all the paper off the crayon stubs and melt them in the microwave to make new crayons.

We used this plastic tray to melt the crayons.

The microwave was not that powerful so it took about 15 minutes to melt.

Next time I may try to do this with my heat gun and a metal tray! :)

We popped them out when cool and dry. Then the kids coloured with these neat new crayons!

Some used them flat!

Some turned them on their side!

Fun for a last minute activity!

Garden Remembrance

So as the seasons change and the frost is eminent, it was time to select a few souvenirs of our garden labors. We wanted to memorialize a few plants from our very first garden. Thankfully I had a wonderful flower press/dryer to help with the task at hand.

First the children went to the garden to pick some plants!

Then we pressed them in our microwave plant press/dryer.

Then selected the ones we thought we could use.

We tried to make this picture - but everything slid when we picked it up! :(

Then we taped them on - but upside down - Ugh!

Soooo, we redid it - on different paper with a few different plants - and we love it!

This will be hung in the hall of our school for all to see! :)

Here it is on the wall! :) 

An Impromtu game of hockey!

An impromptu game of hockey broke out in our classroom today!
We were stuck inside because of drenching rain and a flooded playground. So what to do? Well sure I provided many suggestions, did some phonics practice, played a few games and read a few books, but the best ideas come from the kids. With dish brush and duster in hand, and a plastic scoop of ice cream for a ball - the game was on! It went on for at least an half hour - cooperatively and with great precision. Thankfully the other children were respectful enough not to interrupt the game. It went so well I may just sneak a couple of those small hockey sticks into the room! :)

Action shots! :)

Love the huggies peeking out the back!

Little Miss Liberty - Book Review

Little Miss Liberty
Author Chris Robertson

Today an adorable little girl arrived at my door, just in time to celebrate her 125^th Birthday! Her name and title of the book written in her honour is, ‘Little Miss Liberty’. The story chronicling her life, in a wonderfully whimsical way, is a fun easy read, which is perfectly fit for all ages to enjoy.

We first meet Little Miss Liberty in Paris France, where she is born with a greenish hue and the ability to stand. She also grew so incredibly fast that her parents had to wrap her in a sheet, as she outgrew the clothing her parents provided for her. She was an insatiable reader who absorbed all knowledge. “Little Miss Liberty was a friend to all. She was especially kind to those who felt different or misunderstood, lonely or sad.” As the story continues Little Miss Liberty sets out on journey to find out where she belongs, as she had outgrown everything in her life, including Paris. Does she find such a place? Well we all know where she stands today. 

Little Miss Liberty is a story I would read again and again to the children in my charge, and there is plenty in here to open a discussion on knowledge, being different, belonging, independence …. Let’s just say this is a wonderful book to have in your library. There is plenty of opportunity to extend this story at home or in the classroom.

A special thank you to Chris Robertson, author and illustrator of 'Little Miss Liberty', for sending me your wonderful book to review!

 You can visit Little Miss Liberty on Chris' Facebook page for more information on the book and where to purchase a copy of your own! Be sure to look at the pictures Chris has provided of school/book store events, where Chris celebrates his book with his many followers.

ISBN	9780811846691
Publisher	Chronicle Books, Scholastic, Harcourt/Houghton Mifflin, KwiqApps

Available for purchase through iTunes for the iPad.

Count to 10

I found these icecube trays on Saturday and I wanted to use them right away! I came up with this activity.

I had some dollar store dowels....

....I measured them to fit the tray.

My hubby cut them to size for me!

I sanded the rough ends with an emery board - I couldn't find my sand paper - LOL

I prepared the tray to hold the dowels while they dried. I used stick tack pressed into the tray.

I painted each dowel a different colour so we could use this for a colour activity as well.

Then I Mog Poged them!

The completed project! :)

The kids LOVED this!