The Peoria Park District http://www.peoriaparks.org/ had an insert in the Peoria Journal Star http://www.pjstar.com/ There is so much for you and your family to do this summer. Many of the classes and camps are for six years old and up but if you look there are a lot of opportunities for summer fun. Here are just a few things going on this summer. Check out the Peoria Park District website for more information and online registration.
***Peoria Zoo*Peoria Zoo Camp K-8*Fine Arts Camp 7 y/o-12 y/o*Performing Arts Camp 6 y/o-13 y/o*Band Concerts all ages Glen Oak Amphitheater Sundays and Wednesdays FREE*Skating Stars 3 y/o-6 y/o Owen Center*India Fest*Louie Louie Fest BYOK (bring your own kazoo)*Erin Feis*Forest Part Nature Center lots of activities for all ages*Pioneer Days @ Sommer Park last Sunday of the month*Songs from the Woods @ Forest Park Nature Center FREE! Saturdays beginning May 8th at 7 p.m. Check the website for additional dates***
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Sculpture
This week our MWF classes started our unit on sculpture. This is a massive project in our room. The concepts we work on are two dimensional and three dimensional (your child should be able to explain the difference). We talked about television, movies, paintings and pictures are two dimensional. They are 'flat'. We talked about 3-D movies (boy, timing is everything). What happens when you put on the glasses? It looks like things are popping out and you could touch them. Sculptures being three dimensional can be viewed from many different sides. You can see and feel a sculpture. Very very basic ideas.
We also looked at some photos in some books from the library. We learned sculptures can be made from just about anything-wood, rocks, mountains and even a telephone and a lobster! We looked at sculptures that were realistic and modern. We learned modern art sometimes requires a lot of imagination.
Each child is creating a sculpture. We are using abstract cardboard shapes and lots and lots of paper towel and toilet paper tubes.
Over the weekend, try to take some time and look at some local sculptures.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The Carrot Seed
'The Carrot Seed' is such a classic children's book. The book has short and simple text plus simple illustrations. This combined with a timeless message of patience and perseverance has made this book a favorite with children for over sixty years.
We had many activities with our three year olds and 'The Carrot Seed' this week. We read the book of course and then we read it several more times. Each time the girls were the mom in the story and said, "I'm afraid it won't come up." The boys were the dad and then all the children were the big brother. I really like involving the children in the literature we are reading. This was super fun and the kids loved it.
We learned carrots are vegetables and carrots grow under the ground. We planted carrot seeds and talked about how tiny those carrot seeds are. We learned our seeds will need water and sunshine to grow.
We did some graphing. The graph was titled-Do You Like Carrots? The chart was labeled YES and NO. I held up a paper carrot and the children were to see if it was their name (name recognition activity) and then they glued it under YES or NO. We looked at the graph and very easily could see YES had more and NO had less (introducing those math concepts) and then we counted. Ten children liked carrots and three did not.
We looked at carrots with the green leafy tops. I cut off the leafy top and we placed them in some wet sand in a pie pan. The carrot tops are supposed to regrow. This is the first time I have done this activity so we will see. You can try this at home. Buy the carrots with the green leafy tops (I found them at Kroger). Cut off the top and leave about an inch of the carrot and place in a shallow dish (we used a pie pan) filled with sand. Keep the sand wet and in a sunny spot.
We also have a number matching game in the Discovery Center. You can see in the photo the children are to match the dots to the correct numeral.
What to do at home? Get 'The Carrot Seed' from the library. Have carrots and ranch dip for a snack. Make carrot cake. Have fun!
We had many activities with our three year olds and 'The Carrot Seed' this week. We read the book of course and then we read it several more times. Each time the girls were the mom in the story and said, "I'm afraid it won't come up." The boys were the dad and then all the children were the big brother. I really like involving the children in the literature we are reading. This was super fun and the kids loved it.
We learned carrots are vegetables and carrots grow under the ground. We planted carrot seeds and talked about how tiny those carrot seeds are. We learned our seeds will need water and sunshine to grow.
We did some graphing. The graph was titled-Do You Like Carrots? The chart was labeled YES and NO. I held up a paper carrot and the children were to see if it was their name (name recognition activity) and then they glued it under YES or NO. We looked at the graph and very easily could see YES had more and NO had less (introducing those math concepts) and then we counted. Ten children liked carrots and three did not.
We looked at carrots with the green leafy tops. I cut off the leafy top and we placed them in some wet sand in a pie pan. The carrot tops are supposed to regrow. This is the first time I have done this activity so we will see. You can try this at home. Buy the carrots with the green leafy tops (I found them at Kroger). Cut off the top and leave about an inch of the carrot and place in a shallow dish (we used a pie pan) filled with sand. Keep the sand wet and in a sunny spot.
We also have a number matching game in the Discovery Center. You can see in the photo the children are to match the dots to the correct numeral.
What to do at home? Get 'The Carrot Seed' from the library. Have carrots and ranch dip for a snack. Make carrot cake. Have fun!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
'The Art of the Brick'
Lakeview Museum currently has an exhibit called 'The Art of the Brick'. Artist Nathan Sawaya http://www.brickartist.com/ creates his sculptures from Legos. The MWF classes will be doing a unit on sculpture in April so the timing is great. The exhibit will be at Lakeview through September 6th. Go to http://www.lakeview-museum.org/ for museum hours, cost, workshops and special events.
Not sure if you can make the museum? Go to this website for some great preschool sized Lego activities for you and your child.
http://www.creative.lego.com/ Click on Family Time. Click on Building Instructions. Click on Monthly Building Instructions.
Not sure if you can make the museum? Go to this website for some great preschool sized Lego activities for you and your child.
http://www.creative.lego.com/ Click on Family Time. Click on Building Instructions. Click on Monthly Building Instructions.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Let's Go Fly A Kite!
Looking for something to do with kids this weekend? Sommer Park is hosting their annual kite day this Saturday, April 17th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It's FREE!!! BYOK-bring your own kite and a picnic lunch. The address is 6329 N. Koerner Road in Edwards for your GPS, Mapquest or Google map.
Monday, April 12, 2010
ABC's and 123's
Here is an another idea for letter and number recognition and identifying color words. When I am out and about I am always picking up those free Internet CD's for school use. I covered the label with some old computer CD labels I had but you could also just write on the digital side of the CD (use a Sharpie). For letter recognition, I put the upper case on the CD and both upper and lower case on the clothespin (those clothespins are good small motor activities!)
For the number recognition, I wrote the numeral on the CD. On the clothespin, I wrote the numeral, the written word and corresponding dots.
The color CD I used office dots. Some I had to create by coloring with marker. Write the color word in colored marker on the clothespin. The children really love this simple homemade activity.
This activity could also be adapted for older children-contractions, antonyms, math facts, state capitals and much more. The possibilities are only limited to your imagination.
For the number recognition, I wrote the numeral on the CD. On the clothespin, I wrote the numeral, the written word and corresponding dots.
The color CD I used office dots. Some I had to create by coloring with marker. Write the color word in colored marker on the clothespin. The children really love this simple homemade activity.
This activity could also be adapted for older children-contractions, antonyms, math facts, state capitals and much more. The possibilities are only limited to your imagination.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Easter Eggs-ABCs & 123s
We practice letter and number recognition with a variety of materials at MCP. This is a fun and easy way to practice both in the spring.
You will need-
Plastic Easter eggs-if they are connected cut apart.
Sharpie marker
Easter Basket (No grass needed. That is just for a prettier picture!)
For the letters, write the upper case letter on the larger section of the egg and lower case on the bottom section. Separate all the eggs and have your child match upper case to lower case. If necessary, remove some of the eggs if it is too many pieces for your child and work up to all twenty six letters.
For the numbers, write the numeral on the top half with dots on the bottom.
You will need-
Plastic Easter eggs-if they are connected cut apart.
Sharpie marker
Easter Basket (No grass needed. That is just for a prettier picture!)
For the letters, write the upper case letter on the larger section of the egg and lower case on the bottom section. Separate all the eggs and have your child match upper case to lower case. If necessary, remove some of the eggs if it is too many pieces for your child and work up to all twenty six letters.
For the numbers, write the numeral on the top half with dots on the bottom.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)