A Monster of a Week

While Halloween is not one of my most favorite holidays on the calendar, my children and my daycare kids love it.  Instead of doing a Halloween theme this year I chose to do a week of Friendly, Fuzzy, Adorable Monsters.  I had so much fun making games and researching for activities.  Even though this was only supposed to be a week long theme, it ended up being two weeks thanks in part to a nasty stomach virus that wiped out my whole FCC for four days and kept us from taking a very cool field trip to the pumpkin patch.  I took lots of pictures of the things we did, but something happened and I can't find them...ugh.  So I will try to re cap the week with a couple of the pictures I do have and tell you about some of the cool monster activities we did! 

We made Monster frames.  I bought some Crayola Neon paint and the kids painted the frames and then they glued lots and lots of wiggly eyes on it.  I thought it would be perfect for pictures of them in their Halloween costume!

For one of our group activities I covered a box with paper, added eyes, a nose, rainbow hair, and cut out a where the mouth would be.  It turned out quite cute, just wish I could find the pic I took!  I cut out shapes and passed them out to my kids at morning meeting.  When I called out a shape the kids that had that shape "fed" our monster.  Of course the box monster needed a name, so after much deliberation over names staring with M we decided to name her Merryweather!  

The most popular table activity was based on the book Even Monsters Need Haircuts by Matthew McElligott.  I made a simple monster head and taped yarn to it.  I placed scissors on the table next to it and encouraged the kids to give the monster a haircut.  We played a monster math game too, my kids really enjoyed it because I played it with them!  I made two simple monsters without noses and put a bowl of colorful pom poms on the table along with a die.  We took turns rolling the dice, counting the dots, and adding that many noses.  

Of course during Monster week we had to listen to The Monster Mash!  One day while listening to it the kids painted with potato mashers! 

It was a great week full of cute monster art, songs, and activities.  I think adorable monster week will have to make a regular appearance every year around Halloween! 

 

Creepy Crawly Spiders

What a great week we had learning about and doing spider activities!

 Painting with spaghetti...a new twist on string painting...to make a spider web

 Painting with plastic spiders.  I attached yarn to spider rings and the kids dipped the spiders into orange and black paint and "danced" across the paper.

 

Spider Math...practicing one to one correspondence.  I cut out the webs, colored the spiders, and added the dots.  When a child chooses this activity they put a black pom pom on each dot.  I also encourage them to count the pom poms. 

We did a group mural, more spider art, two spider related science activities, and more!  I plan on leaving some of the activities out and adding to them until the end of the month!  

 

Spider Fine Motor

The kids and I love this adorable fine motor tray!  They have played with it all week and have even learned how to put the glove on!  I drew a web on a piece of construction paper and laminated it.  I added tweezers, plastic bugs, and a black glove.  When the kids would choose this tray I encouraged them to put the bugs on the web with the tweezers, slip on the glove, and take the bugs off using their pincer grasp. 

Gr8 Spiders

This week we are doing lots of spider activities!  The spider theme is one of my favorites and one that all the kids really enjoy.  Today we did a creative math activity.  I cut out a number 8 and 8 rectangles for each child.  When they chose the math center, I armed them with a glue stick and they glued the 8 rectangles (legs) to the 8 shape.  Then they got a cup of glue, Q-Tip, and six wiggly eyes and they glued the eyes to the 8.  In the end it was a spider!  I had them trace the number 8 with their fingers to reinforce the concept of the number 8! 

Fabulous Fine Motor Activities

Fine motor activities are such an important part of the early childhood experience.  Fine motor activities do not have to be nor should they be confined to the table.  By adding dolls, doll clothes, and dress up clothes children have the opportunity to practice snaps, zippers, and buttons.  They are not only working those small muscles, they are also practicing self help skills.  Even simple finger plays and sign language help develop fine motor skills.  Clay is also a wonderful way to incorporate fine motor skills into your classroom.  I like to make different scents of play dough or add items to it so it has a variety of textures. These are a few of the fine motor activities I have put out at the table. 

 Normally, I try to make my own activities, but I found this cute bee in the hive game on http://www.amazon.com/PlanToys-Plan-Preschool-Bee-Hive/dp/B003COZJXO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380568688&sr=8-1&keywords=preschool+bee+hive+gameand had to have it for Bee week! 

 We used this during Apples week, the kids put cloves in the apple.

 Using tweezers to put apples on the tree

 This is a favorite fine motor activity, I put it out during Colors week or when I'm struggling to find a fine motor activity.  The tweezers aren't pictured, but they use them to drop the pom poms into the matching tube.  I painted the tubes myself, but you can buy them pre colored at craft stores. 

Marble transfer, we used this during Space week.  The kids used a melon baller to put a marble into each section of a clean egg carton. 

Apple Books

These are the books I am using for my Apple theme.  

When we read Ten Apples Up On Top we made a matching art piece.  The Owlets drew a self portrait at the bottom of a piece of paper and then glued ten apple cutouts onto the paper.  

Apple Theme Books

____________________________

Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss

Amelia Bedelia's First Apple Pie by Herman Parish

The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall

Johnny Appleseed by Steven Kellogg

Apple Picking Time by Michele Benoit Slawson

Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins

How Do Apples Grow by Betsy Maestro 

Orange Pear Apple Bear (not pictured) by Emily Gravett

 

My Love Affair with Books

It is no secret that I love books..especially children's books.  My mama read to me from the day I was born up until I could read on my own and once I could that I enjoyed spending time at the library searching for the perfect book.  I have been reading to my own kids since they were in the womb and I had a collection of kids books long before I even had my first baby!  When baby showers come along I have no trouble picking out the perfect gift...a baby robe (cause let's face it, they are just so dang cute) and a few perfect books, Good Night Moon always being one of them!   I mean, I love to read books that are meant for adults, but I am drawn to the children's section at the books store and then wander over to the fiction and religion sections.  I am never reading just one book at a time either, I usually have a stack that I choose from depending on my mood when I get a few moments to read!  I rarely leave the bookstore without a bag full of books, a couple for me, a couple for the hubs, a couple for each of our own Owlets.  All of the bookshelves in our house are spilling over with reading material...some books have been sentenced to life in boxes in the garage...waiting until their services are needed. 
When I am book shopping I have the upcoming themes for FCC in the back of my head and I'm always on the lookout for books that I can use.  Sometimes, though, a cute cover catches my eye and it ends up in the bag...eventually I'll get to use it...right?? 

The stack of books I am currently reading