Sand Dough

No-Cook Sand Dough Recipe:
* 1 cup of salt
* 2 cups of plain flour
* 2 tbsp oil
* 2 tbsp cream of tartar
* 1.5 cups boiling water
* white sand (found at Dollar Tree)
* gold glitter

I ended up having to tweak the recipe as I mixed it. It was a little gooey, so I added sand and flour until it was the right consistency. In the end this playdough looked just like beach sand and had a nice gritty feel. I enjoyed playing with it as much as the children!

Summer Fun

The preschool class is feeling festive and our sensory table is full of red, white, and blue things. We have added flowers, confetti, gems, and feathers along with some trays for sorting.





We have also been camping in the dramatic play center. I took advantage of the vents on the floor and made a campfire with crepe paper. We have really enjoyed "roasting" marshmallows and getting in our tent.

Taking the Plunge

Mrs. Cathy has been busy creating activities for the toddlers using items from from around the house. This week she made a ring toss using (new) plungers and swim rings. The toddlers really enjoyed stacking the rings and carrying them around.





This color sorting activity was made using counting bears, bear shaped muffin tins, and colored bowls. The bears fit just right in the muffin tins and helped reinforce one-to-one correspondence, an important math concept.

Muffin Tin Monday: Ocean

Today we enjoyed our third muffin tin meal. The theme was the ocean and it was my favorite so far! We had (from the top left):
Shells and cheese
Sandy beach with an umbrella (made with yogurt and crushed Graham crackers)
Coconut water
An octopus hot dog on a bed of seaweed (ramen noodles dyed green)
Dolphin shaped chicken nuggets
Baby goldfish crackers

The children were so excited and ate very well!

Beach Bingo

The preschoolers had a blast playing a Beach Grid Game. Each child rolled a die and counted the dots rolled. Then they placed that many ocean animal counters on the grid. We kept going until all spots were covered. This game is great for practicing counting and one-to-one correspondence.

Find the grid game at www.prekinders.com

Something Smells Fishy

The preschool class is beginning a unit on the ocean and our room is full of opportunities for exploration and learning. We have added a second sensory table full of pirate goodies... Jewels, ships, coins, rings, and a treasure chest!




We have also added a light table with photos of shells and their x-rays. We even have the book "What Comes In A Shell?" for research.




The science center is filled with sea shells and ocean reference books. The children's favorite item is the shark specimen!




The literacy center has a tray of sand where the children can draw or write with their fingers. I included some textured letter cards that spell "ocean".

It's A Jungle Out There!

On a recent road trip to King Dollar in College Station, I came across these gardening baskets. They are made to hold plants on the wall, but to me they seemed to be perfect additions to the block center. Since we are learning about Zoo Animals and reading Good Night Gorilla, the baskets quickly became cages for zoo animals. I was surprised at how serious the children were about keeping the different animals grouped together. Today we took the animals and cages outside so they could "eat" some grass and play in the mud. We even added the water table into the mix for the water-loving animals!

Muffin Tin Monday: Zoo Animals

Phew! I have been trying to post our muffin tin meal since Monday and I have had all kinds of technical issues.

From the top left: a panda bear made of crackers, cream cheese, and olives; elephant shaped canteloupe; a bear filled with brown rice; animal crackers; a peanut butter sandwich lion with a cheetoh mane; and vanilla yogurt with cheetah spots (black and orange sprinkles. The lion was definitely the favorite with everyone!

Radio Scientists

One of our radios bit the dust the other day. We aren't ones to throw something away without finding a use for it, so I opened up that radio and gathered our tools. The preschoolers got to tinker around with the radio and discussed how to take it apart, what was wrong with the radio, and how they thought it broke. I was surprised at their ability to use the grown up tools like pliers and screwdrivers. Some of the screws were tiny, but they found a way to unscrew them.

Z is for zipper

This week the preschoolers are learning about the zoo. We are also learning that z is for zoo and zebra and zipper! The literacy center has six zippers to explore. The children are getting great motor practice and the zipper makes an awesome zzzzzzz sound to reinforce phonemic awareness.





The back of ou shelf has made a perfect spot to hang monkeys from our barrels of monkeys. It takes great skill and concentration to hang all of those monkeys by their tails!