Snowman Fun!

   Winter is in full effect and we are trying to embrace it! It was a rough and early start to winter, as we were slammed with snow (measured in feet!)- back in November, which is now known as "Snowvember". And it is only the middle of winter, so we have no choice but to try and embrace it, even though I am so over snow already at this point!
   HOWEVER, all of this snow makes planning fun learning activities very easy!
   We have read many books the past week, pertaining to snow and snowmen, and of course, we had to make a snowman craft to spruce up our January bulletin board!

   The munchkins have been getting lots of practice writing their names and I am so proud that so many of them have come a long way! The ones who were not even able to make a scribble, can now write their name legibly! And my munchkins that were not even able to hold and grip a pencil properly can now trace their names.... I love seeing how each child is progressing!

  Anyhow, I extended our name writing to make these cute little snowmen!

 We also talked alot about how to build a snowman! 

   Check out "How To Build A Snowman", as told from 4 year old preschoolers:

 

With all this snow and snowman talk, I have had many of them ask many times "Are we going to play outside today?"  (I wish we could, BUT I have already planned something I know they will enjoy- I will be bringing some snow into our water table later this week!)

    There is so much to do when it comes to Winter Fun and although I wish we had time to do it all, sadly there just isn't time- especially since Parent Teacher conferences are around the corner.... and you know what that means... the dreaded Progress Monitoring!!
   Well, I know I am going to try and make the best of it the next few weeks...

Ww is for Winter!

   Winter is in full swing out here in Western New York!

   The snow started falling right on time…right before Christmas!  And the snow is here to stay…for at least the next few months!

   So, I have a confession to make; 
   Although I am sure that I am not the only one who does this....but...
   Even though I am not too fond of the curriculum we use, as it stifles creativity, I must say that I often manipulate the curriculum in such a way where I can also incorporate my weekly/monthly themes. It is sometimes difficult to do, but I refuse to let a set curriculum stop me from continuing to provide creative and fun learning activities! I figure that as long as I am addressing the needs of my students and also implementing learning goals and objectives in a similar sequence as in the curriculum, then all is good.  Right?  =)

    So, anyhow, now is that winter is upon us- why not learn about the letter W? To learn about the letter W, the munchkins learned about winter and formed the letter W with white masking tape! We have tons of different colored tape and I am finding many new and fun ways to use it!

   We also learned that W is for watermelon!  I had them practice their cutting skills and cut out a red triangle and then they searched for seeds with the letter W on it and glued it onto the red triangle. After they made the watermelon, they painted one coat of watermelon scented water (from a Kool Aid packet) over the paper to give it a nice, yummy scent!

   And what kind of winter unit would it be if I did not do an activity about a Snowman?! I have seen this idea all over Pinterest and I knew my munchkins would LOVE it!

   A little bit of shaving cream and glue, some paper art supplies & buttons...

            and Ta-Da--- a SUPER CUTE snowman!

   I think that besides Fall, Winter is my next favorite season when it comes to creative and fun art activities!