Do you need some creative inspiration? It's back to school time and preschoolers like to stay busy. Be sure to check out our lesson plans over at the Lesson Plans Plus website. They are fun, educational, easy to use and inexpensive. You can even download a sample lesson plan for free! Preschool Lesson Plans at Lesson Plans Plus.
Here in Michigan, we are entering our final week of summer. I've had a super fun and busy summer with my family. We've enjoyed lots of adventures including camping, an amusement park (first time my kids rode roller coasters!), a trip to Wisconsin and lots of sightseeing in northern Michigan and Michigan's upper Peninsula. We've enjoyed beaches and the beauty of three of the great lakes this summer. Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and Lake Superior. As always, I'm sad for our summer fun to end but I also look forward to fall fun. Next week it is back to school time! One of my favorite books to read to little ones is "The Kissing Hand" by Audrey Penn. Such a sweet book! My girls used to really enjoy this one. Another cute book to read before the first day of preschool is "Maisy Goes to Preschool" by Lucy Cousin's. "Miss Bindergarten Get's Ready for Kindergarten" by Joseph Slate is another fun book. Best wishes to all of the moms, teachers and children for a wonderful new school year! It seems like yesterday when I was trying to hold back tears (not very successfully) and sending my twins off to Kindergarten. Let me know if you have any favorite back to school books. Enjoy!
I love summer fun and being home with my kids. My husband and I gave our girls an old cell phone and they have been using it to take videos of our animals. Sometimes they get really into movie making by creating and using props. Our bunny Peppermint is usually the star of the show. They call it "Pep TV". It's been a fun summer activity for them. I recently went through some older videos and found a super cute video of our dog Charley meeting and interacting with our bunny, Peppermint. There are no props or planned scenes in this video. Just Pep and Charley giving each other some love. It's one of our favorites. The kids wanted to put the video on You Tube so others could enjoy it too.
Here in Michigan, we are getting dumped on with snow! Today is a snow day at our house. Usually on snow days, my kids love to go outside to build forts, sled down our side hill in the yard, and make snow art. I fill several plastic spray bottles with water and food coloring. My kids go outside and spray paint designs in the snow. My yard usually fills up with neighbor friends too so it's nice to have a few spray bottles handy. Today (and tomorrow) it's too cold to go outside. When my kids were toddler and preschool age, I used to bring the snow inside. I also used to put snow in the sensory table bins when I taught preschool. At home, I used a big plastic Rubbermaid style bin or filled the bathtub with snow. Just have the kids wear mittens, put towels on the floor and let the fun begin. Snow ice cream is also lots of fun to make and eat. Here is a recipe that I posted awhile back for some yummy snow ice cream. Another fun thing to do is have an easy arts and crafts day. Coffee filter snow flakes are always fun and easy to make. They look pretty hanging in the windows. Homemade play dough is great for keeping those little hands busy on indoor days too. I recently saw a recipe for super soft play dough. The ingredients are 1 part conditioner to 2 parts corn starch. You can also add a couple drops of food coloring if you want to add color. Put the conditioner in a bowl and add the corn starch. Stir together and then add the food coloring and work it through with your hands. I suggest wearing some latex or vinyl gloves so your hands don't get stained. I have not personally tried this version of play dough but it sounds like it would be worth a try. Happy snow day fun!
I just finished a new field trip article on the Lesson Plans Plus website. This is a must-read for anyone who is thinking about planning a field trip. Let me help take the stress out of planning by sharing my tricks and tips. I even added a handy checklist to make your planning as easy as can be. Check it out and tell me what you think.
How to plan a successful field trip.
I had a spontaneous and fun evening with my family tonight. We packed up dinner (my yummy chicken salad and fresh picked blueberries) and had a picnic at the airport viewing area. At our local airport, there is a nice area with picnic tables where you can sit and watch the planes come in and also take off down the runway. It was neat to watch the airplanes up close. We also found a radio station where we could hear the air traffic controllers and pilots. Pretty cool. My kids did not want to leave. I'm pretty sure we will do this again sometime.
While shopping at a farmers market over the weekend, I noticed a poster at one of the tables that said "Breakfast on the Farm". I talked to the farmer about it and she offered me free tickets to the event. As it turns out, the breakfast on the farm event is a Michigan State University Extension. Families get a tour of the farm, learn about milking cows, get to pet a calf, see the farm equipment, take wagon ride, learn where food comes from, eat ice cream and also eat a farm fresh breakfast. I'm really excited to take my kids to this event. It should be a really fun learning experience for our whole family. Breakfast on the Farm is hosted at various farms in Michigan. If you live too far to take advantage of one of these great events, you could do a search or ask around at farmers markets in your area to see if something similar is offered near you. I love finding new, fun, educational activities for my family. Breakfast on the Farm.
