Monster-iffic Fun!

   It has been a little quiet here because Fall assessments are underway, and thankfully almost done!! It really is tedious and time consuming, even though it does provide me with a general snap shot of where my munchkins are. However, by my own observations and working with them in small  groups, these assessments are only reinforcing where I believe each child is in terms of their own development and skill level.
   Anyhow, that has taken over classroom time and fundraiser & school events at my own munchkin's school has kept me busy for the past week or so. But now,hopefully as the month winds down, things will get back on track... only to get all shook up again when the holiday season hits!
   Last week, we did some fun Monster activities after reading fun books like Where the Wild Things Are and Go Away, Big Green Monster! Little munchkins always love Go Away, Big Green Monster... It is one of my favorites too!

    They created their very own monster, and some of them looked pretty scary and creepy, while others looked funny and cute! They each glued a sentence onto their paper and we added the color word of their monster.

    I added some fun little props (googly eyes, straws, beads and ghost & pumpkin cookie cutters) into the playdoh area so that they could get creative and make their own playdoh monsters. This was such a fun activity for them. We had the activity during our learning center time and when it was time to switch, many of them were too involved with making their monster, they gave some resistance in having to leave the table! 

Check out some of the awesome creations:

    I really enjoyed watching their creativity come through and the smiles on their faces as they were doing this... it makes me smile when I see how much they enjoy the activities that I put together for them.

    We also worked on print concepts, as the munchkins learned how to track words in a sentence. I created sentence cards with the predictable text in Go Away Big Green Monster. And they put a smile on my face at dismissal time, when some of them proudly showed their mom that they could "read" the monster sentences!!

This is only the start to all the Halloween themed fun we plan to have... and I say "plan" because my time in the classroom in limited until the Fall assessments are all completed and so, anything goes... !

Yummy Chocolate Playdoh for some Valentine's Day Sensory Fun!

  Yesterday was such a busy day.... a few hours at work, my little munchkin's Valentine's Day party at school and then the mad rush to get her to take a nap before the sitter came for a few hours!

   So I hope that everyone had a nice day yesterday...

    I was really hoping to have time to get a Freebie together for all of you but the week went by so quickly. I am now working on, not one-- but TWO Freebies for next Friday! 

      So, I don't go over the top when celebrating Valentine's Day, but my husband and I did do a small gift exchange.

     He brought home some delicious cupcakes from my favorite Cupcakery....AND he brought my two favorite flavors: Red Velvet and Peanut Butter Lover... YUM!

    And he received some sweets from me.

    

     And then our sitter came over for a few hours so we could go out to eat at a Greek restaurant that I have been dying to check out. 

    All in all, it was a busy day with the little one and a nice, low key evening with my love, especially since I haven't been feeling well...it was exactly what I needed.

    Oh, and I made some great chocolate playdoh for the munchkin earlier this week and left it out for her to explore last night while we went out to dinner. I threw in some cookie cutters and two Valentine Heart candy boxes, for some added fun. The texture came out really good! And it smells awesome!

    I used the recipe from Beth over at  123 Homeschool 4 Me. 

    Here is what I used:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup salt
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp cream of tartar

  The sitter said they had a fun time, making different shaped hearts and smelling the playdoh! I plan to keep it out on her tray for the rest of the month because she loves playdoh!
   It is a great hands on sensory experience and once I toss some scissors and other playdoh tools on the tray, she will be getting some fine motor practice as well!

   So, what are you waiting for? You know you want to go make some!  It's a simple recipe that will provide hours of fun!

Cc is for Construction!

 YAY! I received great news today!! I got my test results! 

 RELAX!!! NOT those kinds of results!!!  

   I passed my 2^nd New York State Certification test! 

   Two down, one more to go and then I will officially be a certified teacher in TWO states! (Illinois and New York)

   Anyhow, it has been a short time since I have posted about what is going on in my classroom!! Well, my preschoolers have been "At Work and Under Construction"!

   After our Dr. Seuss unit, I was sensing that the kiddos needed a fun unit! Our curriculum called for a unit on City vs. Country. Last year when I tried a unit like this, it was a big flop. So I turned it up a notch and began the unit by first discussing the city and country and going through the differences between the two. And then I turned the focus to the different types of vehicles that can be seen in both areas.

   THAT’S how it started! And then it took a slight turn. And so I went with it.

   It took a big turn towards a mini Construction unit, once I threw some trucks and tractors into the sand table!
   Since I have a classroom of 14 boys, I knew this would be a hit!

   And it was...even though it was a fairly brief unit.

   I whipped up some Alphabet mats and made a Matching Uppercase to Lowercase game. Some children needed some extra help in matching, so I brought out our Letter cards for them to reference back to.

I also made some Alphabet matching puzzles.

Our art center activities were pretty fun and engaging too!

We created different types of trucks and vehicles using different shapes.

   And we threw some construction tools with our play-doh and they had a blast sawing and hammering their play-doh.

  After just 2 days of doing activities centered around trucks and construction, I wished I had time to do more with it! 

   On that note, I am still working out the details on My Blog Birthday Giveaway! I was hoping to go BIG with it but with my readership still being low (even after a whole year!!), I might hold off on a big giveaway until I hit the 100 Follower mark! Giveaway details will be posted by Friday!!

I need to do a little catching up....!!

   So Valentine's Day came and went and I wanted to share just a few more activities that my little one and I did...but things go crazy for the remainder of the week, so I just forgot!

   So, before this weekend is over, I just want to share my pics from Valentine's Day!

   This year, the hubby and I went for handmade/homemade gifts this year:

   He found his crafty side and made this for me:

   And I took a stab at a new homemade protein bar recipe, just for him:

   And of course, the little one had some fun activities that she did throughout the week, in anticipation of Valentine's Day!

   I took my Valentine Ten Frames and used them as Ten Frame mats, instead of having her cut and paste.

Click the picture to get yours at my TPT store!!

   This next idea I found somewhere on Pinterest (and if I remember right, it was used as a literacy activity), and I wish I would have pinned it!-- Don't you hate when that happens???

I used heart dice and heart containers filled with Conversation Hearts to have her practice her counting, and matching number to set.

   Her favorite part was that she was able to eat some after she was all done!

   And then I picked up these play-doh mats from Jennifer over at Pink Polka Dots & PreK and I told her that I would feature them on my blog. I am just sad that I could not get a chance to do so sooner. Sorry Jennifer!
   I mixed these with my pink glitter play-doh (that I had also made for my preschoolers) and some fun heart cutters, and she was playing with this even after her pjs were put on!

So, there you have it... all my Valentine's Day fun!

   This past weekend, when I wasn't getting ready for my son's bowling party or starting my plans for my daughter's birthday party next month, I ventured on over to some of my homeschooling blogs and came across The Virtual Book Club for Kids, hosted by The Educator's Spin On It blog. This blog is AWESOME!!

  This month, the featured author for the Virtual Book Club is none other than---- Dr. Seuss!!

I am excited to be sharing my fun Dr. Seuss book activity this coming week!! (Tomorrow, actually!)

Stay Tuned!!