The 2011-12 Year has Begun!

Here we go!

Thursday, September 1st was our official first day.  NO TEARS!  That is always a good sign.  The day went extremely well.  We were happy and just played most of the day.  I pulled out some of my special music and we danced and sang for about thirty minutes.  Our circle time was just talking and sharing.  Everyone loved my microphone 

and couldn't wait for their turn.  The day went by fairly quickly and before we knew it, it was time to leave.

Here are some of the new ideas that I am trying for this year.  I hope you like them.  The first came about after a trip to my local Dollar Store.

The object of this game is simple.  More the little pom-poms from one bowl to the other BUT you can't use your hands!  HUH??? You have to use the tongs!   We love it!

Next is a fun math game.  I have a huge box of bottle tops and I knew they would come in handy.

I found this template on line and new it would be perfect for all those wonderfully colored bottle caps!  So far - we love it!

Since we are studying the letter "A", I wanted to incorporate our letter of the week while practicing our math skills.  I really like this

We match the number of apples with the number on the tree trunk!   Simple FUN!

Okay, now let's talk about our first week!  With day one being such a huge success I decided that we should go ahead and start slowly working on our curriculum.  We started Friday with a great project!  We talked about the color red, and the letter "A".  Everyone took turns gluing red items to a giant red apple.  Simple, easy, a great confidence building and very fun!

We headed to the kitchen for our special Friday Fun snacks and science experiments.  This week we made our world famous "Friendship Pudding".  Here is my recipe if you would like to make it.  One package of good 'ole Jello Instant Pudding, milk and a coffee can.  We pour the pudding mix into the coffee can, add the milk and SHAKE!  Everyone takes a turn shaking the pudding.  Each time we pass the can to a different person we shout out their name!  It is a great, fun way to learn every one's names.  Plus the pudding is really yummy! 

While my buddy, Mrs. Christi, was dishing out the pudding, I showed our class a very simple science experiment.  We mix oil and colored water together.  OR DID WE?  Well, we tried, and tried, and tried.  But the two would not mix together.  FUN?  You bet!  Next we added an Alka-Seltzer tablet to the mixture - instant lava lamp! 

NOW THAT WAS FUN!  I loved hearing everyone screaming when they got into their cars later that day, "oil and water don't like each other!".  Mission accomplished!

I at the lake now for Labor Day but I cannot wait until Tuesday!

New Game!

Oops I did it again! I have to apologize for not posting in TWO months! Oh my goodness I have been so busy! Between school, my second job, my son's graduation from the police academy, Thanksgiving and Christmas, I have neglected my class blog. PLEASE forgive me! :) I'll be playing catch-up from now until school starts but there is something I just have to share. Our new game! It is made from a cupcake holder, the kind you get your cupcakes in from a bakery.

This is what was left after a birthday party. I knew I NEEDED to keep it, but I wasn't sure why. Then inspiration hit me!!! First I lined the bottom with circles.

I'll tell you a secret, those scrapbook supplies came in real handy for this project! My circle cutter made this really fast and easy. Next I used some old stickers and put numbers on each circle.

I could have put the numbers in order but I wanted my class to have a challenge. We will now use all those little scraps of circles, squares, heart, etc. to add to the game. Simply but one circle in the 1 hole! I'm going to try and use items that coordinate with our theme or letter of the week. When school starts back we will be reviewing for a while so I'll just use some plastic snowflakes I found. Isn't this a great math and fine motor skills game. I think so!!! You could also simplify it by using colors or shapes. Of course you make it harder by using Roman numerals or words. I hope you try it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Our Favorite Game

I made this color game a few weeks ago and my class loves it! I call it "Color Sorting". It is so simple to make and everyone wants to play with it. The base is .an old carton from our crayon box.

I cut out colored paper and glued it to the bottom.

Next a gathered all the different colored bottle caps I could find.

And I let the children sort!


As the year progresses I will change out the paper in the bottom. First I will have an all white background with just the words of the colors (red, blue, orange, etc.). Next, I will swap it out for the Spanish version. Simple, cheap and lots of fun! What more could you ask for???