Wednesday, August 27, 2014

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Best Preschool Halloween Books!

Halloween is a fall favorite around here!  Our preschoolers love cute ghosts, friendly witches, fall crafts, and fabulous Halloween books!


 

I have been building a list of our favorite preschool-friendly Halloween books for several years, and I hope you find some here that you and your kiddos can enjoy too!  I've also been able to find a lot of these in the library, but you may want to reserve them 2-3 weeks before you need them because they get very popular in October.  August and September are the best times of year to buy Halloween books because they are on the shelves, but not running out of stock yet.  My favorite places to buy children's books are Amazon.com and ThriftBooks.com.

Below you will find Amazon affiliate links.  They are fabulous places to get a good look at the book and see what other people think about it too.  If you do purchase the book through Amazon, I get a small commission for referring you.  You never pay more for using these links.

(Amazon affiliate links below)

I'm starting with my all-time favorite Halloween book:

Room on the Broom
by Julia Donaldson



And, in no particular order, here are the other best preschool Halloween books ever!

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything
by Linda D. Williams


Big Pumpkin
by Erica Silverman



10 Timid Ghosts
by Jennifer O'Connell



Pumpkin Soup
by Helen Cooper



The Runaway Pumpkin
by Kevin Lewis




The Hallo-Wiener
by Dav Pilkey




Five Little Pumpkins
by Dan Yaccarino



Click! Clack! Boo!
by Doreen Cronin



Too Many Pumpkins
by Linda White



Go Away Big Green Monster
by Ed Emberly



From Seed to Pumpkin
by Wendy Pfeffer



My Monster Mama Loves Me So
by Laura Leuck



The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin
by Joe Troiano



How Spider Saved Halloween
by Robert Kraus



Can You See What I See? On a Scary Scary Night
by Walter Wick



Halloween Mice
by Bethany Roberts



Did I get your favorites?  I'd love to know!!  Feel free to leave a comment here or on our Preschool Powol Packets Facebook page!


Happy Educating,
Carla

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Monday, August 25, 2014

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When I Grow Up & Preschool Dramatizing


This month's theme for Poppins Book Nook is When I Grow Up.  Before I give you preschool activity ideas for it, I want to introduce you to my absolute favorite book about dreaming about growing up:  When I Grow Up by Al Yankovic!

(Amazon affiliate link below:)




What I love most about this book is that it makes the future seem entirely in the hands of the child.  It encourages kids to dream big and do what they love.  And that is a message that I think kids everywhere (even grown up kids!) can use sometimes!

One of my other favorite things to do with preschoolers is to act out or dramatize...anything!  A growing up theme is especially fun!  It gives children a chance to imagine something and then create and become the precise thing they have imagined in just a matter of moments.  It is wonderful for developing confidence, creativity, and even problem solving!


So, here are 10 Dramatizing Activities for When I Grow Up!:


1.  Place a bin with props in the middle of the room and encourage everyone to dress up as whatever they want to be when they grow up.

2.  Read When I Grow Up by Al Yankovic and take turns dressing up like all the things talked about in the story.

3.  Take turns dressing up like what you want to be when you grow up and let everyone guess what each child is.

4.  Work in partners to create short (1-2 minute) plays featuring what each child wants to be when they grow up.

5.  Improv stories as a group featuring characters the children want to be when they grow up.

6.  Let the children guess what "job" you (the adult) dramatize.  Be sure to include less common things like a volcanologist or an inventory specialist at a tire shop!  :)

7.  Put on a parade with each child acting and/or dressed as what they want to be when they grow up.

8.  Play "What do you want to do today?" by having the children assume the role of what they want to be when they grow up.  Ask each child "What do you want to do today?" and have them answer as they would if they were their character.  Continue to ask other questions that they answer in character.

9.  Play "Hop Like a Fireman!" by having the children line up on one side of the room and hopping like a fireman across the room.  Have them hop, skip, jump, roll, or move in other ways like each job they would like to do when they grow up.  For example, hop like a fireman, then skip like a nurse, then jump like a marine biologist, etc.

10.  Ask your children what they want to do while they are dressed up for the day!




This post is part of the Poppins Book Nook!  Be sure to check out other fabulous ideas on the When I Grow Up theme from these bloggers:

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ 3 Dinosaurs ~ To the Moon and Back ~ Planet Smarty Pants ~ Farm Fresh Adventures ~ Growing in God's Grace ~ Chestnut Grove Academy ~ Learning and Growing the Piwi Way ~ The Usual Mayhem~ Preschool Powol Packets ~ Monsters Ed Homeschool Academy ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ Teach Beside Me ~ Life with Moore Babies ~ Kathy's Cluttered Mind ~ Are We There Yet? ~ Our Crafts N Things ~ Hopkins Homeschool ~ ABC Creative Learning ~ Joy Focused Learning ~ P is for Preschooler ~ Laugh and Learn ~ A Mommy's Adventures ~ Inspiring 2 New Hampshire Children ~ World for Learning ~ Ever After in the Woods ~ Golden Grasses ~ A glimpse of our life ~ Journey to Excellence ~ Happy Little Homemaker ~ Little Homeschool Blessings ~ Raventhreads ~ Tots and Me ~ As We Walk Along The Road ~ Stir the Wonder ~ For This Season ~ Where Imagination Grows ~ Lextin Academy ~ The Canadian Homeschooler ~ School Time Snippets ~ Peakle Pie ~ A Moment in our World ~ Every Bed of Roses ~ Finchnwren ~ At Home Where Life Happens ~ The Library Adventure ~ Embracing Destiny ~ Day by Day in our World ~ Our Homeschool Studio ~ A "Peace" of Mind ~ Thou Shall Not Whine ~ SAHM I am ~ eLeMeNo-P Kids ~ Simple Living Mama

Also, if you want to share a post that links to this theme, we would love to see it!  Please link up here:





And be sure to enter the BIG Giveaway and check out next month's Poppins Book Nook theme at Enchanted Homeschooling Mom!



 
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Friday, August 22, 2014

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Egg Carton Ladybug Preschool Craft & Ladybug Fun Facts!!

Our yard may need a warning sign: any ladybug that lands here can expect to be held, named, loved, and temporarily relocated to an observation-friendly habitat by very little hands.  And you can expect to have a ladybug preschool craft created in your honor.




Yes, our kids love ladybugs!  We also love egg carton crafts, so these little bugs were extremely popular!

The best part?  They use very common materials.  I literally opened our craft drawer and said, "How can make a ladybug craft today?"  And these adorable little bugs were born!


Your kiddos can make their own set too!  Here's the easy How-To.  Of course, you can easily adapt the concept to whatever supplies you happen to have on hand or whatever mood you are in.  Go on...have fun!  And, just for you ladybug-loving friends out there, I included ten Fun Ladybug Facts below too!

Egg Carton Ladybug Preschool Craft

Simple Supplies:

* Egg carton cups, cut out
* black or brown fuzzy sticks (or "pipecleaners") and scissors
* paint and brushes
* wiggly eyes
* sharp nail

Easy How-to:

1.  Preparation:  Cut out one egg carton cup for each ladybug.  Also for each ladybug, cut one fuzzy stick in half.  Then cut one of the halves into 2-4 pieces, depending on how long you want the antennae.  Finally, use the nail to pre-poke holes at the top for antennae.

2.  Paint the ladybug!  Preschoolers loves paint, and it is excellent fine motor exercise!!  Just look at all the different paint-brush-holding skill levels we had represented!






You could let them dry at this point, but we just carried on making our ladybugs.  You may just get a little extra paint on your fingers.  

3.  Make your ladybug face by rolling half a fuzzy stick/pipecleaner into a spiral.  Attach the face with hot glue.  You can see the spiral pretty easily in this little ladybug below.  The preschooler who made him thought it would look best if the eyes were not on the face.  


4.  Stick the eyes on the face...or the body.  :)  We used self adhesive wiggly eyes (you can an affiliate link at the bottom of this post), but you can also use non-self adhesive eyes and stick them on with glue.

5.  Stick the antennae into the pre-poked holes.

6.  Optionally, add legs (more fuzzy stick/pipecleaner).

Ta da!!  Super fun ladybugs!  

This one was a rainbow ladybug:


They come in lots of colors, you know!


Look!  They're having a party!!


Ladybugs are also great to learn about!  Try catching one and carefully putting it in an insect observation bucket for half an hour.  See what body parts you can identify.  Be sure to carefully release it when you are done!

And, here are 10 Super Fun Ladybug Facts:


1.  Not all ladybugs are "ladies."  Unfortunately, it is very difficult to tell males and females apart.  Sometimes they are even identical on the outside!

2.  There are about 5,000 different species of ladybugs and about 400 of them live in North America!

3.  Ladybugs eat other bugs like aphids, mites, and bollworms.  They also can eat pollen and mildew.

4.  Ladybugs can release a bad-smelling (and bad-tasting) orange chemical from their "knees" when they are stressed.

5.  Ladybugs hibernate!  Actually, insect hibernation is caused diapause...it is basically a "pause" in the insects life cycle.  When the weather cools below 55 degrees, ladybugs crawl under logs or patios and wait for the weather to warm up again.  They can last for nine months in diapause!

6.  Ladybugs can be colored red, black, yellow, pink, "rainbow," blue, brown, and more!

7.  Ladybugs are technically a beetle...and often called Lady beetles!

8.  Ladybug spots do not tell you how old they are.  

9.  When a ladybug flies, its wings can beat 85 times a second!

10.  Ladybugs chew their food from side to side!


Do your kids love ladybugs?

Be sure to check out my {FREE} Ladybug Math Activity,  {FREE} Ladybug Count & Clip Cards, and this Kindergarten Ladybug Unit!! 

 
I may share at any of these parties!

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Monday, August 18, 2014

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The Preschooler's Brain: How Young Children Learn

When a child is born, he has about 100 billion neurons.  Most of them are not connected at birth, but by the time he is three years old each neuron can have over ten thousand connections!  And it doesn't stop there.  The brain continues to wire and re-wire as your child grows.


As a new school year begins, I love the new book buying, new curriculum writing, new goal strategizing, and just the general back-to-school season.

I do not, however, love the pressure.

The pressure is everywhere...and it is worse every year.

The preschools want to make sure their kiddos are ready to read by kindergarten.  The homeschoolers want to make sure nobody thinks their kiddos are falling behind or missing out.  Almost every parent of a preschooler that I have watched wonders if their child "knows enough."

People!  The pressure has got to stop!  And not just because it isn't healthy for caregivers (which it's not!), but because this pressure ignores research about how preschoolers brains develop.

The wiring process for those hundred billion neurons has been studied and researched for years, and we have a lot of really good ideas about how children learn.  Unfortunately, most of that research gets tossed out the window when we start to stress about early learning.  I keep finding myself having the same conversations with parents and teachers about how kiddos learn, so I decided to share this information with everybody!

Today I'm going to share five facts about how preschoolers' brains develop, early learning, and essential things you should know as parents, teachers, and care-givers.  I could share a lot more, but these are some of what I feel are the most important concepts that can be easily implemented in any home or school...even though they are often overlooked.


#1.  Children learn best when they are interested!  If you are dragging your baby away from a train table to do alphabet flash cards, you are not doing him any favors.  Studies show that hormones produced when children are stressed actually destroy connections between neurons in their brain.  On the other hand, when children are in a good mood, well-fed, and well-rested, they learn better and faster.

 * Make sure your kiddos get enough sleep, food, and play before you expect them to sit still.
* If possible, try catering your lessons to their interests.  Let the 4-year old who loves trains learn to count while playing with his train sets.  Click here and here for more ideas about child-led education.

#2.  Children Develop at Different Rates!  Children learn to walk, jump, talk, and use the toilet at different times.  Likewise, different portions of their brains and synapses develop at different rates.  Even the folds inside the brain mature at different rates.  One child may be an early talker while another child may have amazing balance and coordination.  Similarly, one child may be ready to learn phonics months or even years before another.  There are many children who are simply not ready to learn to read until they are six or seven.  Pushing them before they are ready is stressful and deprives them of learning the things they are currently ready for.

* Learning should be a pleasure for preschoolers.  If they act stressed during school time, adapt the curriculum!  Make it simpler.
* If your child is struggling in one area, he may be excelling in another.  Find his strengths and let him build on those also!

#3.  Preschool is a Fabulous Time For Building "Frameworks!"  Our brains (and our children's brains) are not built to remember random bits of information.  Information is stored with other similar knowledge.  I like to imagine our brain as having lots of closets.  Each closet is a framework for a particular subject, and when we learn new things that fit inside that framework, we can hang the information up in that closet.  When new information has somewhere to "hang," it is much easier to remember it!  Many studies have emphasized the importance of prior knowledge when we are trying to learn new things.  Preschool years are a wonderful time to build new frameworks, or new ways of viewing and interpreting the world, through new experiences.  Every time your child touches something new, tastes something unexpected, feels a new texture, or visits a new building, he can expand his current frameworks to include the new knowledge or--when the experience does not fit his current frameworks--build a new paradigm for interpreting future experiences!

* Use a variety of activities in your preschool and/or homeschool time.
* Deliberately introduce a new experience, toy, object, animal, trip, craft, or idea at least once a week!

#4.  "The Other" Learning is Important Too!  We live in a culture that puts a very heavy emphasis on linear, logical, math and reading skills...and for good reason.  They are important.  However, non-linear, "whole-image," visual, artistic, and musical skills are also important.  There are many people who will get much more satisfaction out of creating a painting than solving a math problem (and the other way around, of course)!  Remember that children develop differently...sometimes children's brains are working on their "whole-image" creative processing skills when we want them to be identifying numbers.  Especially for our preschoolers, we need to step back and let them work at their own pace.  The creative skills are valuable in their own right, but it is also worth mentioning that they are not independent.  Your child's brain is interdependent, and strengthening creative skills also strengthens logic skills and prepares the brain to make learning leaps in those areas too.  Many studies are showing that children who take music lessons perform better in language and math than their peers.  This is one of the reasons why play is so critical.  Playing actually creates neural connections that speed mental processing and later learning!  Each neuron in a 3-year old can have 15,000 connections to other neurons!  These connections are literally built as the neurons are used, in play, in exploring, in learning, and in life! The brain is constantly re-wiring itself, and connections that are not used are lost...discarded by the brain in favor of connections that get used more frequently. Imagine which requires more thought (and more neural connections):  a worksheet where you circle pictures of words that start with B or a game where only toys that start with the letter B are allowed on a bridge across a volcano mountain created by a baby dragon?  Even just playing an imaginative game (without the letter aspect) requires many more neural connections than any worksheet.

* Plan at least one open-ended art project every week!
* Play with your children!  Create imaginary scenes where they can be the heroes and problem solvers.  Take them on wild adventures where they can do anything!  Just imagine all the synapses you're creating.  :)

#5.  Sensory Activities are Vital!  Sensory activities activate and grow different parts of your child's brain.  I have also observed that they have a tendency to calm children, redirect their energy, and help them focus.  New research also suggests that sensory input can activate parts of the brain that are critical for higher learning.  For example, olfactory (the sense of smell) stimulation uses neurons in the hippocampus--the same part of your brain responsible for forming and storing memory.

* Try using a sensory bin as a gathering activity, for a center, or during a transition.
* Incorporate a strong sensory activity each day.  Remember the less common senses like olfactory and vestibular.

Finally, I cannot end any suggestions for preschool without this note: read, read, read, READ!!  I cannot emphasize this enough.  Study after study confirms that the more children are read to, the more advantage they will have in their education.  Immerse your children in a literature-rich and language-rich environment.  Read to them.  Talk about what you read.  Make up stories. Talk in the car.  When your child is ready to read (and perform all the math tasks our society values so much), those skills will come easily because of the language-rich environment he has already experienced.

So, there you have it:  five critical notes about how your preschoolers' brains develop (and one vital tip!).  Use them!  Let those tens of thousands of synapses form while you watch!  These concepts can transform your preschool years into fun, educational, and exciting times for you and your kiddo(s) to grow together!

And please...let the pressure go!  You don't need it and your kiddos don't need it either.

Have you used these ideas, or similar ones?  I would love to hear about your experiences!  Feel free to leave a comment or post on our PreschoolPowolPackets Facebook page!

Additional Reading/Resources:

Research in Brain Function and Learning from the American Psychological Association


Disclaimer:  I am not a doctor or a psychologist.  I am a licensed teacher with a science degree, loads of experience with children, and a passion for learning about human development.  This blog post, like all others, represents my experiences and opinions.  Hopefully you find it helpful.


Happy Educating, Carla






I may share at any of these parties!


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Thursday, August 14, 2014

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Elsa's Ice Castle Science Experiment Play

Those hot summer days are almost over, but this Ice Castle Science Experiment Play (inspired by Elsa, of course!) can also work wonderfully in an indoor tray! This easy and fun science project is perfect for teaching kids about melting points.



 
Our kiddos had a fabulous time building their own ice castles out of real ice cubes and a secret ingredient that helped them stick together faster!  This science play takes almost zero prep time, is super easy to clean up, and appeals to a huge age range, making it the perfect group activity!


Some of the towers were simpler than others, but all the kiddos loved sticking the ice together and adding color!


You can make an ice castle too!  The ingredients are super simple:

lots of ice, salt, and liquid water colors (see note at bottom).

I also put out a big blue blanket for everyone to work on.  This helped the ice on the bottom of each tower hold still better and gave everything a cool blue tint!  Our younger children especially loved the texture change of the blanket as the ice melted and the blanket became more and more wet!


Pour small piles of salt around the blanket.  To make the ice cubes stick together, generously dip one ice cube in salt, wait a second, and then place it on top of another ice cube.


When you're done, (or at any point in the middle!), add drops of liquid watercolors for an even more magical look!


This Ice Castle Science Play works as a science experiment, sensory play, and so much more!  You could do it with a construction unit, a discussion on states of matter, or just for fun!  

When you finish, use a garden hose to spray the color off of your blanket.  Or, if you're inside, just dump the colored water down the sink!  

What's going on?


Salt lowers the freezing point of water, which makes it melt faster.  When you dip (or sprinkle) the salt onto the ice, the ice touching the salt will melt faster than the rest of the cube, resulting in fascinating tunnels and caves throughout the ice cube.  The melted water is still so cold that it will temporarily re-freeze when you put it on top of another super cold ice cube, making it easier to build a "castle."  Of course, they still break easily and younger children may have even more fun sprinkling salt and coloring the tunnels!  My daughter, however, was very pleased with her ice castle and loved adding a stream of blue right down the middle:


Liquid Watercolors Note:  Liquid watercolors are absolutely amazing!  You can see how we make our own here, you can buy them on Amazon (affiliate link below!), or you can substitute food coloring!

Do your kids love Frozen-inspired science projects and activities?  If so, be sure to check out this science experiment, where you can freeze water instantly!!

Amazon Affiliate Links:






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Monday, August 11, 2014

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Apple Preschool Science Experiments

These apple science experiments are great for preschoolers and even older children too! These science projects are a lot of fun and get the kids excited to learn about their world.


Last week we went to the grocery store and were blown away by all the varieties of apples coming into season!  No wonder everyone likes to do Apple themes in the fall for preschool!  Today, I'm sharing more than a dozen fun apple-y preschool science experiments that you can do with an Apple theme, or just for fun!  And if you'd like even more apple-themed ideas, including crafts and recipes, be sure to check out my Apple Fun Pinterest Board!

12+ Apple Preschool Science Experiments:

1.  Make fun and colorful eruptions flow from your apples!

2.  Learn how to make apple seeds bounce and jump by mixing a few common ingredients!


4.  Measure, predict, and record observations with apples!

5.  Use apples to see how cavities can grow in your teeth!

6.  Make an apple mummy!

7.  See how well you can balance and stack apples...and read a book to go with it!

8.  See how strongly your sense of smell affects taste!

9.  Discover how dramatically your sense of smell can change taste when you make an apple taste like something completely different!

10.  Dip apples in a secret ingredient to keep them perfectly shaped and colored (hint: it's not lemon)!

11.  Use apples to study the science of rotting food!

12.  Predict how many seeds you have and record your investigation on this {FREE} printable!

13.  Investigate an apple tree and discover when the fruit is ripe!


15.  Build an engineering monument with this fantastic Apple Toothpick Tower Challenge!


 I hope you have a fabulous fall!  And if you do any of these science experiments, I'd love to know!  You can share pictures or links of your science projects on our Facebook page or here as a comment!




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Friday, August 8, 2014

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8 Planets Preschool Science Experiment


Space is a super fun preschool theme, and I'm sharing a science experiment you can do with one of our preschoolers' favorite space books at Rainy Day Mum!  Be sure to hop over there and see how your preschoolers can combine art and science in this hands-on exploratory, sensory science project!  And while you're there, be sure to check out Rainy Day Mum's other Story Book Summer themes, like Dinosaurs, Bugs & Butterflies, and more!



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Tuesday, August 5, 2014

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Fly Into the School Year With Owls!! Back to School Fun!

It's Back-to-School Time!!  Fly back to school this year with this fun, free owl-y printable!





I love doing things when we start the new year that help me grab a "snapshot" of my kids. They grow up SO fast! It is so easy to think we will remember their favorite breakfast or subject forever, and... we just don't! This little booklet is perfect for celebrating a new year and grabbing one of those little snapshots in time!

Do you love owls?  We do!  Here are some more great ideas and printables with owl themes:

* Egg Carton Owls from Life With Moore Babies
* Mix and Match Owls Felt Board Play from And Next Comes L
* Owl Paper Bag Puppets from Reading Confetti
* Paper Plate Owl Craft from Own a Day Care
* Owl Art Crafts from Deep Space Sparkle
* Owl Book Page Craft from 29 Black Street
* TP Roll Owls from Fresh and Fun
* Owl Themed Classroom Door Mrs. Lee's Kinder Kids
* Paper Plate Owl from Pure and Noble
Owl Books, Crafts, Activities, and more from And Next Comes L


Happy Educating,
Carla



Dinosaur Made Me Sneeze!
This awesome book introduces the rock cycle with dinosaurs, volcanoes, and more!
(hint: You can buy it on Amazon or use the code Dinosaur25 at OakieBees.com!!)



Have you seen HEEP? It is a preschool homeschool curriculum! Learn more here!



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