Our theme this week was "Our Five Senses" and we focused on the letter B and the shape circle. We read this week: Ferdinand by Munro Leaf Paddington by Mark Brown Paddington and the Busy Bee Carnival by Mark Brown The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle Stellaluna by Janelle Cannon Our question of the week was "What is something that you are really good at?" For our theme of the week, we talked a lot about our senses, what they help us do and why we need them. We made texture collages: This week is full of some of my favorite activities from the year, these texture collages being one of them. I love how each one is different, and the kids are so proud of the texture choices that they make. AND they look amazing on the wall. We tasted sweet, salty and sour things, and the kids had to vote on their favorite taste. (They think it's awesome when they get to eat things as part of a project.) We tested their sense of smells with this project where I asked them to describe the things that they were smelling. I used perfume, shampoo, chocolate syrup, pickle juice, toothpaste and (the most tricky) water. Out on our schools nature trail we talked about the different sounds that we could hear. We did this at various points of our walk, close to the school, by the parking lot and deeper in the woods. Lastly we did another activity with the sense of touch. I set up my table with different texture objects. I used flour, rice, oatmeal, sand and a scrubbing sponge. As the students felt each thing, I asked them to describe what they were feeling. It was hard to get them away from just telling them what the items were and to use describing words, but we got there in the end. For our shape of the week, the kids practiced drawing circles with this cool worksheet of circles and another with squares and circles. We also worked on recognizing circles out of other shapes. We talked a lot about things that are circles. We sang the song "This is a circle, this is a circle. How can you tell? How can you tell? It goes round and round, No end can be found, It's a circle, it's a circle." -Found Here For our letter activities, we used our handwriting sheet for the letter B, the sheet that helps work on letter recognition, both were mentioned in the "All About Me" post. The students also wrote in their journals for the letter B. We turned B's into Bees! After we read Ferdinand we all made our own bees. This was a great way for the kids to practice their cutting skills. I love how each child's bee is different. Another project that we did (another one of my favorites all year) is the Boat Builder activity. I love it because I give the students the materials and the end result is something completely their own. Each child got a piece of white paper, a square of brown paper, a skinny black rectangle, scissors, a glue stick and crayons with the instruction of make me a boat however you want to. (They love when I say that). If I get "I don't know how..." or " I can't do it.." We go back a few steps and talk about boats.. what do they look like, where do we find them, what do they do, and then the creative juices start flowing. Here's the end results! Love it! For our Alphabet wall we made butterflies with coffee filters and water color paint. After the children painted their coffee filters and they dried I used small pipe cleaners to turn them into butterflies! And with the B addition, our wall now looks like... Our list for words beginning with B's was very impressive. Here it is! As a side note, teachers always need to be flexible, and as such, it was in the best interest of the flow of the classroom to switch two centers, the library and dramatic play center. And I'm always telling the kids to make sure that they turn off the water faucet after getting a drink or washing their hands. I tell them to "Save the water for the fishes, so I painted a mural for above the sink to remind them. Up next week: The letter C, Triangles and "Our Feelings".

Add elements of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell to your preschool centers to integrate science and play while students explore their senses.

Of all the art and science projects that I have done, lemon and watercolor science has been my #1 fave for YEARS! Let's get started.

Looking for ways to teach your kids about famous artists? Here are some simple hands-on art activities inspired by great artists to get you started! These activities are fun for kids of all ages-- including

Teachers, homeschoolers! Visit the Imagination Box Blog for fun seasonal art ideas, freebies, tips, & offers. Do more art in your classroom 🎨

Worksheets for 1st grade math, first grade math worksheets for free for the basic math topics taught in grade 1.

Mondrian art animals are fun for adults as well as kids. Learn step by step how to make your own. Perfect for beginners.

Aren't these goofy pumpkin faces the cutest? I've had this pinned on Pinterest for a couple weeks now. They come from artsy_T Flickr stream, and I guess she makes them with her Kindergarten class every year. We read

Discover the perfect All About Me preschool activity designed for young kids! Get a free printable worksheet that's simple, engaging, and ideal for emergent readers. Download now!

Take a look at self portraits made by kids to get an idea of what they think of themselves, and their personality traits.

I'm so excited to share with you my newest TPT product! I'll be teaching a human body class this upcoming semester at our local co-op. I needed a human body project for kids in my class that will allow them to organize and store the information we learn. I came up with this file folder

These farm art activities include process art projects, sensory art, directed drawings, and clay for your farm preschool theme!

36 nouvelles fiches soit 624 en tout. Il s’agit de présenter une fois par semaine à la classe, une oeuvre d’art (sur affiche – vidéo projecteur…). Cette oeuvre d’art s…

Crafts for kids can be fun AND educational. Here are some tips for creating art based on famous artists and ideas for inspiration!

I love starting the school year with this activity. It’s easy, parents love it, and it immediately gives the children a little boost of self-esteem by identifying a part of themselves that they like…

Hi Everyone! With the end of the year in sight, is your class struggling to maintain focus? Do you need a few extra fun art projects to get you through the end of the year? Here are some cute ideas to keep your students entertained before the year is over! Glam Jellyfish! Check

Easy Abstract Giraffe Painting Idea for Kids | A fun animal idea for kids, complete with a printable giraffe template to make art easy peasy!

Space activities and centers (literacy, math, fine motor, stem, blocks, sensory, and more) for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten students.

Farm Art activities, Farm Fine Motor Activities, & Farm Sensory Activities for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten students

The Fall Preschool Unit is packed full of hands on math & literacy activities as well as no prep worksheets for easy lesson planning.

FREE printable Paper Hats that kids can color and wear when learning about community helpers, occupations, or when doing dramatic and pretend play. Great for preschool and kindergarten!

FREE Human Body Printables For Kids. Cut And Paste Major Body Organs, Label And Color Body Parts. With Colorful Posters To Display

St. George designed by Alxndr.. Connect with them on Dribbble; the global community for designers and creative professionals.

Practice scissor skills by building a house in this printable worksheet.

12 Months of Monthly Montessori Themed Activities, Montessori Ideas, Set-ups, Trays, Free Printables, Preschool Themed Learning Activities and so much more.

The preschool years are a time of exploration and discovery. They are also filled with learning a lot about what makes us unique individuals. Recently, I started working with my toddler on identifying and naming body parts and reading various All About Me Books. Today we’re sharing a fun all about me preschool science activity...Read More

These free vehicle dot marker printables are a fun, no-prep activity for toddlers and preschoolers. Make them no-mess with round stickers!

A Kindergarten blog about effective teaching and making learning fun.

Some of the most common topics I see social workers and counselors teach is feeling identification and regulation. And it makes sense! Almost every student in need of counseling services could benefit ways to identify emotions in themselves or others, or learn ways to cope those feelings! As a result, I put together this activity ...

This moon craft is great for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, or older kids. It's a great art extension during a space theme in the classroom.

Open House Ideas {Fab Ideas from the Weekend Warriors} 5 comments Tips and Tricks, Weekend Warriors It's time for Weekend Warriors! I love our monthly link up. I really do! Our goal has always been to share great ideas with you, but we are always striving to make things better. Over the past month we've made some exciting changes to Weekend Warriors. First, we have a new look! Eek, don't you just love it? Another change we've made is to open up the linky! That's right, if you have a blog and some ideas to share that go with the current month's theme, then grab the buttons, post away, and link up! We'd love to check out your ideas! So, let's get started with this month's theme! This month, we are linking up to share our favorite Open House ideas, and more! We hope to share some fun ideas that you can use at your own Open House, or whatever annual nightly event your school might host. Warning, you are about to be photo bombed. My apologies in advance. But, I have lots of ideas to share with you. Each of which helped make our Open House a successful event. I truly hope you can take an idea or two away from this post! We recently had our Open House, so I thought it would be fun to take a peek at what we did. This year we spruced up the inside of our classroom by displaying new work on our bulletin board. It's always so nice to hang fresh work up for these kinds of events. The kids had a blast making this adorable display from Bright Concepts 4 Teachers. They wrote about why their future will be so bright. The parents loved this display! I kept our self-portraits up so the kids could play a guessing game with their families (you may recall from a few posts ago, that I never take this board down, or change it out). A few weeks ago, I removed the name tags that were on display with their artwork. With the names gone, the kids asked their families to figure out which portrait was theirs. It was a fun to watch this! If you're looking for a fun way to get students interacting with their families and their work, this is a simple way to do so. Just have your kiddos complete a self portrait, put them on display, and watch the fun unfold! Look for quick and easy projects to fill smaller spaces in your classroom. We put together this quick and easy little "board." This space is actually where I hang my anchor charts, but I didn't need those on display, I wanted student work on display. The students finished the prompt and colored their iPod. Easy peasy. You can grab a copy of this quick project here. Another idea is to spruce up your desks or table groups. That's exactly what we did! The students wrote letters to their parents thanking them for attending and noting the things they wanted their families to look at. We set these out with newly decorated name tags and bouquets of tissue flowers. I had the students hide their well loved name plates in their desks and they made new ones. I simply cut some white card stock into strips (2 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches) and wrote the students' names on each one. Then, they used colored pencils to decorate! This is my sample (and I really should have colored a bit darker...oops). I will be laminating their name tags so that they can use them as bookmarks. They are very excited about this! The finishing touch? We made some fun tissue paper flowers to set out at our table groups. Aren't they amazing? The following Monday, I sent them home with the students (they each took home a mini bouquet). My sweet colleague suggested this idea, and I am so glad she did! It made our room look super cute, the parents were really impressed, and the kids had a blast. And, they are super easy to make! To make these beauties, you need some tissue paper circles (I used 4 inch circles that I cut out on our die cut machine), pipe cleaners, and some "vases" (I used the small Mason jars). Fold one end of the pipe cleaner over (twice). Stick the opposite end through a mini stack of tissue circles (3-6 pieces). Gently slide the circles up to the folded end. Then, take your whole hand and scrunch the circles upward. Then, open the layers one at a time and rescrunch each one. Finally, trim the stems and stuff them into some Mason jars! Another fun idea is to set out any class books you might have. My students were so excited to show these to their families! Finally, to create a calm and welcoming environment, make it smell nice! I can't be trusted with a Scentsy, but I love the Air Wick plug in air freshener. I found a great tropical scent the other day and plugged it in. Our room not only looked great, but it smelled great! I realize this is soooo not necessary, but it's a nice touch. DON'T FORGET IT: PIN IT! Don't forget to visit these fabulous ladies to grab some more great ideas for Open House and more! And, if you've got some great Open House and More ideas to share, feel free to link up! An InLinkz Link-up Share It:

FREE printable All About Me Pack for preschool and kindergarten featuring the child's name, handprint, favorite things, eye and hair color, self-portrait and family portrait.