PRESCHOOL ART ACTIVITY: STENCILING FALL LEAVES 🍁

Earlier this week we learned that yellow and red paint mix to make orange paint, which just so happens to be one of the colors of Fall/Autumn leaves 🍁 (just not in South Florida because 🏝 seasons are not really something we see here 🍃). The kids then used stencils to make their own Fall leaves 🍁 collage. H went to work right away with the stencils while B decided to try her…

PLAY-DOH MATH: FALLING LEAVES 🍂 AND CHANGING SEASONS🍁

This morning we read Sky Tree by Candace Christiansen and Thomas Locker, which has gorgeous illustrations. To bridge the gap between literacy and math, we were supposed to collect leaves from outside for our @experiencecurriculum lesson…but it was pouring rain ☔️, so I improvised. H and I made a tree trunk, branches, and leaves 🍃 , and put them together to make an Autumn/Fall tree. We discussed how trees and their…

PRESCHOOL SNACK & LEARN: USING FOOD TO REPRESENT THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF A TREE 🌳

Today we borrowed an idea I found on @pinterest from @fantasticfunandlearning that I will absolutely repeat again. This works just as well for picky eaters (says the SLP who loves feeding therapy) as it does for children who are highly motivated by food. Even if not a single bite is eaten, different smells and textures have been explored, and symbolic play is powerful. MATERIALS:• Pretzel rods = trunk• Braided pretzels = branches…

VISUALS FOR EVERY OCCASION

I have a passion for teaching and rehabilitating others, both as a teacher and a SLP. And do you know what helps a TON? Visuals! 👀 There are many other ways people learn (auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, etc), and not everyone is a visual learner, BUT visuals can’t hurt. In fact, the more learning modalities you can fit into a lesson, the more likely that information is to “stick.” So if…

PRESCHOOL STEM ACTIVITY: BUILDING A HURRICANE 🌪 PROOF HOUSE 🏠 (SO THE WIND 💨 DOESN’T BLOW IT DOWN LIKE THE BIG BAD WOLF 🐺 IN THE THREE LITTLE PIGS) 🐷 🐷 🐷

So Hurricane Eta made a wind and water appearance in South FL between Sunday and Monday, and because B was so curious as to why things had to be brought inside and preparations made, I decided to veer from our usual curriculum and do 1 full day on hurricanes. Although there were multiple Pinterest fails today 🙈) this STEM activity was such a great cooperative learning experience and just plain fun…

LETS MAKE RAIN 🌧 CLOUDS!

Clouds are made up of water, so to simulate rain and make the whole experience more visual, we recreated a STEAM station suggested by @experiencecurriculum. @donnavroberts then added a related classic song whose lyrics I couldn’t remember in its entirety, and the result was focused children having fun. 🤗 Also, in case you’ve never used a pipette/eye dropper with your child, be prepared for the fine motor challenge…