This really does not pertain to preschool but I know that a lot of mom's read this blog and giveaways are fun! A friend of mine is doing a giveaway on her blog this weekend and the prize is a beautiful mothers necklace. Make sure that you check it out and get in an entry before it's too late.
I wanted to share some easy spider treats with you that make a fun Halloween treat.
To make a scrumptious spider snack take two round crackers (such as Ritz) and spread peanut butter on one side of each cracker (don't put them together yet) Place four pretzel sticks (or you can snap two in half for four small legs) on each side of one cracker. Place the other cracker on top. Now you have a spider body and legs. To make eyes on the spider dot peanut butter and place two mini chocolate chips (or raisins..whatever your kids like) on the peanut butter. Enjoy!
Another yummy but not as healthy option would be to use cream sandwich cookies such as Oreos and then use string licorice for the legs.
You could also have fun making spider cupcakes using the same idea. Frost the cupcake and use black string licorice for the legs and M&M's or chocolate chips for the eyes.
I hope you get a chance to enjoy some spider snacks!
I brought my kids to an apple orchard this weekend. There is something about the apple orchard that helps me say goodbye to summer and embrace fall. I love the smell and taste of fresh crisp apples (especially Honey crisp!) and preservative free fresh apple cider. Whether or not you plan to visit an apple orchard with your children, I want to share a few of my favorite preschool apple books with you. I know you will enjoy reading them with your children. You may even be craving a juicy apple or a fresh baked apple treat when you are finished with the story so be prepared.
~Dinofours...It's Apple Picking Day! By Steve Metzger
~The Apple Pie Tree By Zoe Hall
~Up, Up, Up! It's Apple Picking Time By Jody Fickes Shapiro
It's been a wonderful and busy summer here. Some of our highlights were camping, visiting the beach, parks and picnics, blueberry and cherry picking and vacationing at a cottage on a lake (both of my kids caught their first fish!). I hope that all of you enjoyed your summer too. It always goes by too fast. I can feel a chill in the evening air and some of the leaves on the trees are already starting to change colors. It's the time of year when children start going back to school. When I was a kid, one of my favorite first week of school assignments was to write and/or draw a picture of my favorite summer vacation memories. I would encourage you this week to talk with your children about their favorite summer memories and then have them draw pictures. After they have completed their pictures let them give you a picture description as you write a small caption on each page. This will make a treasured book to look back on during the year.
I hope everyone has a wonderful new school year!
I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! I love celebrating my wonderful country, especially on the Fourth of July. I wanted to point you in the direction of some of my previous Fourth of July posts so that you can enjoy some fun activities with your kids too.
Fun Fourth of July Books
Patriotic Weekly Challenge
Fourth of July Crafts and Activities
Fourth of July Coloring Pages
Enjoy! Have a wonderful Independence Day celebration!
May Day festivals are traditional in England and celebrated on May 1st. May Day is a fun springtime celebration. I thought that you might enjoy doing a few May Day activities with your children too.
~For a fun and easy craft, you can help transform your children into May Kings and Queens by making May crowns with them. To make a May crown, cut the middle out of a paper plate and paint the rim green. Onto the plate, glue pre-cut flowers from construction paper or tissue paper. You could also make a construction paper crown and attach pre-cut flowers to that.
~Take a nature walk and collect wild flowers on your walk or pick some flowers from your own yard. Your children can "go a-Maying" and surprise a friend or family member with the flowers.
~Another fun activity is to dance around a May pole. To create a May pole, attach ribbon, thick yarn or crepe paper streamers to a pole or tree. The children can wear their May crowns as they hold onto the ends of the streamers and dance around the "May pole" singing their favorite springtime songs.
~A May Day song by Elizabeth McKinnon (sung to "The Mulberry Bush")
Let's dance around the Maypole today,
Maypole today, Maypole today.
Let's dance around the Maypole today.
We're the Kings and Queens of May.
~Here is a link to another May Day activity that I posted about last year. I hope that you enjoy these fun May Day Activities. Happy May Day!
*Note, many of these ideas were inspired from the book Small World Celebrations by Jean Warren and Elizabeth McKinnon.
Today is a great day to talk to your kids about doing their part to help take care of our world. My preschool students always enjoyed participating in Earth Day clean-up. I gave every child a pair of gloves and we went on a clean-up walk around the playground. It was fun for them to help make the playground look nice and I'm sure the groundskeepers appreciated our little contribution as well.
Another fun thing that I enjoy doing with my kids on Earth Day is a craft that I call a "Junk Collage". I simply collect "junk" that I would toss out anyhow and the kids enjoy making art from it. If you are a classroom teacher or daycare provider, you could send a note home for parents to donate a few items so that their child can turn trash into treasure. I realize this post is coming in a bit late as today is already Earth Day but you don't need this specific day to have fun reusing and recycling.
A sample list of items for a cool junk collage:
~Mismatched buttons of all shapes and sizes
~Beads
~Yarn
~Shredded paper scraps
~Milk carton rings
~Bottle caps
~Toilet tissue tubes
~Cut up cardboard from food boxes
~Pieces of material
Pretty much anything goes as long as it's safe and clean. It's so fun to see the creative creations. I like to provide a piece of cardboard or poster board for the children to glue their treasures onto but some children might also enjoy making free standing objects.
Have fun and remember to reuse, recycle, pick up litter and possibly even plant a tree or two.
