Winter Fun for New Year

 

Make a messy tub-http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-polar-plunge.html

It's just white crinkle paper, cotton balls and polar animals from your favorite online store.

Use dry hot chocolate mix to practice writing letters, numbers or spelling words.

Mini marshmallows make math fun.

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2020/01/marshamallow-math-game.html

Puzzle Pieces

 

Puzzles are an important piece of the MCP curriculum.  If you are working with your preschooler at home make sure you have a wide variety of puzzles.  This is one of my favorites because it is hard and the kids love it.  There is great reward in solving a difficult puzzle.

Past posts on the importance of puzzles in your child's development:

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2010/12/puzzles.html

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2015/01/national-puzzle-day.html

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-missing-piece.html

Family Game Night

Playing games is important to your child's development.  Games teach your child cooperation, patience and much more.  Check out this past post to learn more:

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2010/07/games-people-play.html

Run Rudolph Run

The Wild Christmas Reindeer

Fun Food Friday-m & m's

When school is in session at MCP, we love it when the kiddos play with their food!

Pretzels sticks for letters, shapes and numbers.

Veggie straws to sort and create patterns.

Goldfish and Teddy Grahams for sorting, counting and patterns.  

And m & m's for a fabulous Fun Food Friday!

It will make math fun at home for you and your child! 

PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

We Love Wassily! Celebrate and Color and Create

 Celebrate Wassily Kandinsky's birthday with color!

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2016/12/happy-birthday-wassily.html

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2015/01/wassily-kandinsky.html

Use circles! 

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2020/11/going-around-in-circles.html

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2019/11/krazy-for-kandinsky.html

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2016/02/more-concentric-circles.html

Get out some paint! 

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2016/01/masterpiece-monday-more-kandinksy.html

Happy Birthday, Wassily! The Noisy Paint Box

Jingle Johns

Letter M Week-Marbles, Magnets, and Music

Happy Birthday, Dear Wassily!

 

Is your child loving Kandinsky?  Wassily Kandinsky's birthday is December 16th.  Celebrate with a batch of concentric circle cookies. 

http://www.parents.com/recipe/rainbow-rings/

Moose Munch Mix 2020

 

You and your child can learn about moose at home.  Make some  Moose Munch Mix for a Fun Food Friday snack. Sticks (pretzel sticks), pine cones (Coco Puffs cereal), snowballs and snowflakes (yogurt raisins and white chocolate chips), straw and hay (potato sticks) and wild berries (m & m's) put the 'fun' in Fun Food Friday. 

• Moose are the largest of the deer family.
• We do not have moose or elk in our area but a lot of white tailed deer.
• Moose, elk and deer are mammals.  They are covered with fur.
• The males have antlers.  The antlers fall off (shed) and the males grow bigger antlers.
• Moose, elk and deer are herbivores.
• Males...moose and elk are bulls.  Male deer are bucks.
• Females...moose and elk are cows.  Female deer are does.
• Babies...moose and elk are calves.  Baby deer are fawns and have spots when they are young.
• So many great vocabulary words-mammals, herbivores, shed and more.

Up on the Housetop-Dance Moves

If You Give A Moose a Muffin

Little Drummer Boy

Mr. Moose

The Christmas Beat and Movin' Feet

Mr. Grinch 2020

 

Need some ideas to keep the kiddos busy?  
http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2011/12/youre-mean-one-mr-grinch.html

Grinch Mix-

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-grinch-2017.html

Logs to Lumber

Christmas Dance-This Little Light

Jingle Bells

Concentric Christmas Trees

 

Another easy at home project to celebrate Kandinsky!. Concentric Christmas trees need paper and glue.  We used green scrapbook paper but let your child choose the colors.  Kandinsky loved color.  Tis the season to keep little hands busy!

Santa's Socks 2020

 

Four years ago we added Santa's Socks to our Discovery Center.  I remember searching everywhere for colorful socks for this activity.  Now you can easily do this at home because Christmas socks are not only everywhere but cheap (preschool teachers like things that are cheap or free).  Check out your local store where things are a dollar.  Fill a basket and add clothespins.  More info and the 'how to':

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2016/12/santas-socks.html

A Sweet Christmas

A sweet idea to keep the kiddos busy during the holidays! 

We love messy tubs (often called 'sensory') at MCP. We use rice throughout the school year and at the holidays add a bit of peppermint extract.  Plastic candies can be found at your local dollar stores, craft store or on-line shopping site. 

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2013/12/candyland.html

Not interested in rice all over the kitchen floor?  Use white shredded crinkle gift bag paper for an easier clean up. 

After the holidays you can add polar animals!

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-polar-plunge.html

Thanks for Hope

 

Penguins in the End Zone

Bargain Bows

Colorful gift bows are a great buy for at home math activities.  Here's what we do at MCP-

We sort.

Create patterns.

Make letters, numbers and shapes.

http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-mcp-bow-tique.html

The Seven Silly Eaters

Thanksgiving Turkey Trot

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream

Mr. Freeze

In November we learn about liquids and solids.  These photos from previous years show preschoolers observing the experiment.  Super easy to do at home.  Water, containers and your freezer.

Preschoolers love science.  Use the words experiment, observe and predict with your child.  The basic concept is liquids do not have a shape.  We also learn that temperature changes liquids and solids.

What can you do at home?  A lot!  It's water and containers.  Easy breezy. Experiment with different containers, sunny windows, outside, in the refrigerator, Use two containers and compare and contrast results (which melted faster? the ice on the counter or the ice in the frig?)  Small and large containers-which freezes or melts faster? Why?  

Enjoy learning about liquids and solids with your child!

Happy 100th Birthday, Wayne Thiebaud!

 

Wayne Thiebaud is 100 years old! 

Sketch and paint cakes, cupcakes and cookies!

Sketch and color a gumball machine with your child.

The works of Mr. Thiebaud are sweet!  Happy 100th Birthday!

How It's Made: Bread

How to Bake Bread in Africa.

Making Naan

How to make a Subway Sandwich

Bread, Bread, Bread by Ann Morris

Christmas Wreaths

Christmas may seem like a long way away for your child but we know it's just around the corner.  These two wreaths take some prep on your part.  The Kandinsky inspired wreath is lots and lots and lots of circles.  Don't have the time or energy to cut circles?  Get a tub of fun foam shapes and colorful pom poms.

The circle is a twelve inch cake board.  We like using these for projects at MCP.  They provide a sturdy base for projects and are fairly inexpensive. 

Glue 'squiggles' all around the wreath.

Place larger circles on the wreath.

Keep adding circles on top circles for an abstract Christmas wreath.

Brush slightly diluted glue over the entire wreath and let dry.

Poke a hole and add a ribbon. 

A red and green wreath requires lots of red and green felt and material scraps, pom poms, paper, lace and ribbon scraps, small pieces of wrapping paper and anything red and green. 

 

Cut a circle in the cake board for a wreath shape and glue all over.

Cover the wreath with paper and material.  

Pom poms, ribbon, jewels and fun foam finish off this crazy Christmas wreath. Poke a hole and add a ribbon. Enjoy the holiday season by crafting some memories with your child.