Teacher Supply Showers

While many readers may be parents that do not put their children into school, there may also be some readers that have children in school or that are teachers.

Today in my local paper, I read a great article about giving a teacher a supply shower for the beginning of school.

Being a teacher, I know how much out-of-pocket money is spent on a classroom. Schools supply some funds, but the generous spirit of a teacher usually leads him or her to buy things beyond his or her school budget. Also, this time of year is usually a financial strain since most teachers have not been paid since the beginning of the summer and the money tends to run out. Not to mention- the amazing salaries most teachers are paid!

Utilizing the same registries as weddings or baby showers, teachers can register for wanted and needed supplies at local supply stores or discount stores such as Walmart or Target. Then parents and community members can purchase some of these supplies for that classroom. What a great idea!

There are also some online sources for these registries:
Adopt a Classroom
DonorsChoose.org
The Teacher's Wish List
Support Your Teacher

Support Your Teachers too!

Sensory Bottles

Years ago, I went to a preschool seminar with one workshop about using sensory bottles. They used different materials in small plastic water bottles to make different visual and auditory sensory experiences for preschoolers. Use the smooth plastic water bottles- without the ridges- that are around 1/2 liter (the mouth of the bottle has to be big enough to get the items in). Here are some for you to try:

1. The Wave Pool- Fill half the bottle with water and put a few drops of blue food coloring. Fill one quarter of the bottle with baby oil. Drop in a few small plastic ocean animals and seal the lid with packaging tape. Let them shake up the bottle and see the oil and water mix and then separate.

2. The Sand Box- Fill a bottle half way with clean play sand. Drop in a few desert animals and seal with packaging tape.

3. Buttons, Buttons, Buttons- Drop in a bunch of old buttons that are different sizes and colors. Seal the bottle with packaging tape. Let them shake it and hear the noise and see the colors all move around.

4. Gooey Stars- Using a bottle of inexpensive dish soap that is a color. Add in star foil confetti. Seal with packaging tape. Tip this one up and down and watch the stars move slowly through the soap.

There are a lot of options for these sensory activities for preschoolers. Make your own creation and share it with us!

Pretend Play for Preschoolers

Pretending is so important, I have probably blogged about it before! Right now, my preschooler is pretending his left over pizza is a birthday cake (he even remembered his Daddy's cake from last year). He went outside and got some candles (sticks) and put them on his cake. My husband said he normally would not let him play with his food, but he is done eating and he has a good story going.

He now has sang Happy Birthday to his daddy and will not let daddy sing. It is his birthday.

Not only is it cute, it is very good for brain development. Also, pretend play correlates with reading. Learning to read it assigning an abstract sound to a shape (letter). Pretending a pizza with sticks on it is a birthday cake is assigning a role to an object that is not the right role.

It is the same process. So encourage pretending, even if it means playing with the food!

Preschool Outdoor Art Activities

Art is an important part of the preschoolers day. Allowing time for the creative process is important in brain development. Doing different kinds of art activities is also important. So take the art outside.

Some inexpensive activities to do for outside art activities:

Sidewalk Chalk: It is fun, a little messy, but clean up is a breeze! Use your patio,
the sidewalk, or a driveway. You can hose it off or wait for the rain to wash it away. Some day your child could be a sidewalk chalk artist extraordinare!

Can you believe this is sidewalk chalk art!?



Paint The House: Not really! Using water and foam brushes, let your child paint your house, the play set, even the car (make sure the brush won't scratch!). A small cup of water and the brush can provide hours of entertainment since the water dries and you have to do it again.

Ice Cube Painting: This is fun on a hot summer day. Freeze ice cubes with food coloring added. Two or three drops per cube space should work. You want the color to be strong so it shows up as it melts. The night before, prepare the ice cube trays with the colored water. After the water is partially hardened, add in a tooth pick and continue freezing. Take the to the drive way or set up an easel with some paper and let nature make the creation.

Do you have a suggestion for an outside art activity? Share them with us!

Nursery Rhymes To Think

Today on Noggin, there was one of the in between short stories on Humpty Dumpty. A person was reading the story to the children and at the end said, "close your eyes and imagine Humpty back together again."

At dinner, my 4 year old started telling the story about Humpty Dumpty. And I asked him what he imagined about Humpty at the end. And he said, "he jumped up, got all back together, went back on the wall, and was very careful the next time!"

It was beyond the normal- "that is the end of the story". It made him consider something beyond the end.

This is my lesson to do that more often. Find ways to help your preschooler think beyond the end. What are other options? What happened next (Humpty could have gone to the hospital)? What else could be done?

Teaching your child to think is the most important skill of all.

For more lessons on thinking, visit my logical thinking section of Preschool Activities Everyday.