APRIL is the “MONTH of the YOUNG CHILD!” 

 Celebrate children during this spring month by encouraging their exploration of mother nature.  Plant a garden in your area and give the parents instructions about planting a small flower or vegetable garden at home so the children can examine, predict, and eat the vegetables during the summer.

CELEBRATE Earth Day and talk with the children about the environment they live in and explore ways to make our earth a better place to live

APRIL is the month of the FROG and Fanny Frog from Frog Street is one of my favorite frogs. www.frogstreet.com is a great place to find froggie ideas for Pre-K, K & 1st.  I will share information about Frog Street’s SPLASH conference in May. 

Invite the children to squat down on the floor and sing this little ditty as they spring up and down, batting their eyes on the CLUMP, CLUMP, CLUMP!  This is some rhythmic fun that you cannot do just once.

GLUMP went the little green frog one day
GLUMP went the little green frog.

GLUMP went the little green frog one day
And his/her eyes went CLUMP, CLUMP, CLUMP!

CELEBRATE all month and concentrate on the connection to NAEYC and honor all CHILDREN!

MARCH MADNESS is upon us in the Hoosier Basketball state of Indiana.  Many of the children are learning their alphabet in preparation for Kindergarten next year.  Children from the Kinder Kountry PRe-School era learned the most important vowels during basketball season…..I.U. (Indiana University).  Clocks will move ahead soon and we will be on FAST time.  That event always sparks a feeling of moving faster and faster as the end of the school year approaches.  Testing, parent teacher conferences etc. become top priority but having FUN is still the most important part of a child’s life.

Looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

WELCOME SPRING

As SPRING arrives we see color everywhere. This reminds me of spring and was taken at the Gaylord Hotel in Dallas, TX.  The entire gardens were blooming with beautiful flowers.  Children should be busy painting with color, planting and experiencing the natural wonders of plants.

Repeat the poem as a CALL BACK (the teacher says it first and the children repeat it). Make the hand and arm motions to accompany the words.  This musical poem can be found on a CD  (CHICKEN FUN!)with music by Jim Coffey from Blue Vision Music.  It is a delightfully slow, repeatitive SPRINGTIME song.

Love is in the air and children truly enjoy the excitement of singing songs, exchanging valentines, enjoying a party and sharing HUGS, HUGS, HUGS!

A great classroom project invites children to cut out different colored hearts and paint them. Messages can be added and or the children’ names to display on the Valentine tree. This tree can be a bullentin board size or construction paper size. It can also be a class project and each child cuts and paints a heart for everyone in the class and they make an individual tree filled with names and messages.

 

Will you be my VALENTINE, VALENTINE, VALENTINE?
Will you be my VALENTINE?
I LOVE YOU!

YES I’ll be your VALENTINE, VALENTINE, VALENTINE!
YES I’ll be your VALENTINE!
I LOVE YOU TOO!

Teach the children this little song .  This  project  is a great take home and school connection. Make this a couple of days before Valentine’s Day and send it home for the children to use and sing with their parents. Type the song and glue it to the back of the colored paper plate.

MATERIALS:
3 small red and 3 small pink paper plates
2 craft sticks
Glue
Yarn
Markers
Wiggly Eyes
Stapler

Cut out 2 hearts from the middle of a red and pink paper plates (foam plates do not work well). Add wiggly eyes, yarn or marker hair, lips and nose. Glue the heart to the end of the craft stick. (about one inch only so the stick is long enough to hide in the Valentine puppet house).

Cut a paper plate so the largest piece will cover your heart on the stick. Staple or glue the paper plate to the whole paper plate. Leave a 2 inch opening at the bottom of the plate to insert the craft stick. Decorate the white side of the half plate and the child’s name can be added. Make a Valentine puppet for each child in your room and let them sing the simple song to each other. Invite the boys to sing to the girls and visa/versa. Send this project home and tell the children to sing to their parents using the puppet. This project will fit in the smallest budget. It develops small musscle control, language development, social skills and much more.

VALERIE & VINNIE

PAPER PLATE PUPPET HOUSE

 

WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE?

VALENTINE MAIL BOX

The MAIL BOX – each child should decorate their own mail box.  They can use a shoe box, photo box, mail box or paper bag designated as a mail box.  The children make Valentines for each child in the room and they become the mailman.  This idea is centuries old but still loads of FUN!

Mary Jo Huff
maryjo@storytellin.com
www.storytellin.com

Copyright 2011 © Mary Jo Huff
All Rights Reserved!
Contact Mary Jo for permission to sell, post, publish, or distribute all or any part of this article!

 

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GOOD FRIENDS,

This is the year — 2012 — to move forward and to accomplish many new tasks.  The past year has been one of the hardest in my entire life.  My mama went to heaven and my oldest, best friend soon followed, both angels in the heavens I know for sure.  Then my daughter was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and that big “C” word has invaded our lives.  Now I am recovering from a knee replacement.  They say I just wore the thing out.  Guess I moved too fast for a chicken dancing lady with a mission.

WELCOME one and all to a new BLOG!  I intended to have this accomplished over a year ago but have now met a wonderful lady at Hafner Designs who is guiding me through the process.  Watch for news from the north, south, east and west.  PreK and K Sharing is a new blog with 30 different people writing.  It is an exciting time when someone like myself can get on this computer and just type away.  My goal is to share my adventures from the past and the future.  I will share new ideas, products and places to get information about Early Childhood Education.  Check out www.storytellin.com often for new products and sign up for the newsletter and catch this blog often.  It will keep you updated on my travels from the past and into the future.

WINTER

SNOW, SNOW, SNOW where is the snow? Southern Indiana has seen only a few flakes of the soft, floating on air, white covering and it does not seem like winter. I visited a center in Florida and they had to make winter. A large truck brought in shaved ice and the children experienced the cold and wet as they played in the make-shift snow. It became a science lesson along with the play experience.

The center was decorated with snowmen and they were awaiting a visit from their northern friend Mary Jo. Even though they live in the best sunshine of the world they understood winter.  The snowmen were created by the children at the center.  I laughed and laughed as the children and myself did the snowman dance and talked about cold weather.

A VISIT TO FLORIDA IN THE WINTER

MOST REALISTIC

SNOWMAN GREETER

SNOW BUDDIES

Learning how to make snow by adding water 
to this magical mixture and poof…..you have cold,
wet snow.  Go to www.stevespanglerscience.com
and search for snow.  We used it in our center
with 115 children every winter even though
we had our own snow.  You can store it
and reuse it several times.

I  hope your winter is filled with SNOW, SNOW, SNOW and you enjoy every flake. I am headed to Minot, ND for a great day of professional development. I am taking the camera in hopes of good pictures filled with the snow from heaven. February is another winter month but stay tuned as your heart will be warmed with Valentine activities.

 Remember
Every STORY has a STORY!