Paul Bunyan Fun for Preschoolers

This past week we studied the Tall Tales of Paul Bunyan with our
Mother Goose Time Fables and Folktales Unit.

MGT did not disappoint in the activity department either. 
\Here's just a few of the activities we did this week....

Literary Activities:

Each day we had a story in our bag complete with colored cardstock puppets to cut out and play with.  My girl's favorite was Bessie the Cow and Babe the Ox.  She's had all sorts of imaginary adventures with those picture puppets.

My girl also received a new I Can Read Book: Babe and Bessie along with 3 sight words: "likes", "the" and "is". During our Morning Calendar Time, we go over her sight words that I made into magnets and place on our magnetic dray erase board. You can read how I did that here.

Math Activities:

Did you know that Paul Bunyan was a towering lumberjack?

One activity had us using a measurement tree and leaves to record how tall things were.  We measured Sweet Pea, her cart, brother, baby doll, and Farmer Eddie (from Little People, haha!)

On the day that we learned about Paul's cooking companions, we played with our tangrams and sorted the shapes- pretending they were pancakes and placing them on a paper plate that had that shape on it.  She really loved this, and we did this activity over and over and over...because #preschoolers. 

Creative Arts Activities:

Besides the drama of playing with puppets and acting out our Paul Bunyan stories, 

we had quite a few fine art activities.

On our Paul Bunyan baby day, my girl drew this lovely self portrait of when she was just 3 weeks old, complete with a pink bow and blue eyes.  It is totally okay to LOL at this picture!  Not only did I laugh and laugh at this picture, but I framed it and will treasure it FOREVER! 

Those mountains at the very bottom of her drawing are toes yall! hahahaha!

The day we learned about Bessie and Babe, we did an Invitation to Create that also incorporated science as we discovered what happens when blue and yellow paint mix.

And of course, it ended up being a finger painting because ... #preschoolers.

However, she did realize that using the handle end of her paintbrush created some fun lines in her painting as well.  I also framed this and hung it in her playroom.

Our week ended with us watching the animated classic of Paul Bunyan.

You know... the Disney version?

I am so thankful for YouTube!  I mean where on earth would I be able to find that without the internet and YouTube?  

Well, I hope this post inspired you to have fun with your preschoolers and check us out next week as I give you a tour of our recently updated schoolroom! 

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Preschool Science: Volume and Water Displacement

I get so tickled when my preschooler does things that I used to teach in 4th and 6th grade.

Understanding VOLUME is a huge concept in both grade levels.

This month with our preschool curriculum we are studying Fables and Folktales; one being 

The Crow and the Pitcher- an Aesop fable.

The story goes that there once was a crow who was so thirsty on a dry, hot, summer day and the only water that could be found was in a pitcher.  However try as he might, his beak could not reach the water.  Using his brain, he determined to drop pebbles in the pitcher causing the water to rise to where he could get drink.  Smart smart crow.

After reading the fable, we did the STEAM experiment that Mother Goose Time suggested in the teacher guide. 

We used a beaker from when we did the Science Lab unit from Mother Goose Time, and a bunch of plastic gems that MGT sent with this unit.  We drew a line with a dry erase marker at the water level and then watched it rise as my girl put more and more beads in the beaker.

"Momma, look!  It's getting higher and higher!"

As the water reached the top of the beaker, my girl tried to take a sip and she could fully understand how the crow was able to drink.  We emptied the beads and did the experiment again, 

and again, and again.

Because preschoolers...and science.  You have to do many tests to make sure the conclusion is valid. 

If I was teaching my 4th and 6th graders, this would be an excellent Engage lesson (5 E Lesson plan)

Using a beaker or graduated cylinder, kids could actually find the volume of a pebble or bead by subtracting the starting volume (water level) from the water level volume after the bead was placed inside. 

My little girl.... already doing big things in science.  Big concepts start early.

Writing with Shaving Cream

I'll never forget my 3rd grade Language Arts teacher, Mrs. Carrier.

It was in her class that we practiced our spelling words every week with shaving cream.

I think it was on Wednesdays... could have been Tuesdays.  I might have forgotten the day,
but never what we did.

Today I had the privledge of watching my girl practice her letters in shaving cream.

I wonder if she will remember today 20+ years later.

Maybe.  I sure hope so.

Because we were studying reflections while studying the Aesop Fable of 

"The Dog and His Reflection", Mother Goose Time (our preschool curriculum) suggested putting a mirror or aluminum foil down then placing a layer or shaving cream in order to write some Reflective Letters.

I bought these cardstock mirrors a few years ago off Amazon,  I have to admit I forgot I had them, and when I saw this activity, I went and dug them out.  They worked perfectly!

I separated some ABC cards I had into 4 groups based on how the capital letter is formed:

Vertical and horizontal lines only, 

Verticals with curves, 

Slants,

Curved Letters

By only practicing a group at a time, it helped keep my girl's finger moving in the same motion for a while.  So where she struggled, she was able to practice more and more since the next letter has the same type of lines.  This definitely helped limit frustrations- on both hers and my parts.

 

This activity took us at least 30 minutes if not longer.

She had a fantastic time playing in the cream, and so did I.

After we had completed our letter practice, she decided her dinosaur needed to be
"camouflaged" by the shaving cream.

I wonder if she will remember all our Mother Goose Time moments.
Even if she doesn't, I am so glad I have them recorded here.