Learning About Ants

We got to learn all about ants including ant body parts, and life cycle, we counted ants, and we got to observe real live ants working in an ant farm.  This was very exciting for the preschoolers and they spent much of their playtime enjoying watching the ants dig tunnels, carry food, and become acquainted with their new home.  As you can see from the picture this was a popular activity! 

Ants go Marching

 For music time we marched and played instruments to the song "The Ants go Marching".  My preschoolers really enjoy playing our instruments and begged me to do this again the next day which of course, we did!

Ant Graphing

For math we played a game called spin and graph ants where you spin the paper clip on an ant spinner and then graph whichever colored ant the clip lands on. Red was the winner with the most spins, and green was the least. 

Ants on a Log

 For snack time we made some ants on a log treat using apples (letter a), peanut butter, and mini chocolate chips (ants).  It's always fun to "play" with food,  especially if we can learn something too.

A is for Ants

For sensory time we got to make tunnels and homes for our ants which included tubes, scoops, containers to make mounds, sand, and of course ants---including a queen ant.

Apple Playdough

So I love play dough...like really LOVE play dough, like seriously LoOoOvEEE it!  I always have and I'm pretty sure I always will.  Whenever my kids or preschoolers are playing, I can't resist joining in...  every stinking time!  It's just really fun to me and it's pretty popular with the preschool kiddos too!  I thought since we were learning about apples I could include some apple themed items.  I have pie tins, rolling pins, red, green and white dough, green & reddish glass beads, and I also threw in a variety of apple/apple pie type cookie cutters they could explore with.  Oh and a letter A and number 1 to help reenforce the letter and number of the week, just for fun! 

Apple Science

Did you know there was a star inside of an apple?  Well I can admit I didn't until I became a preschool teacher.  Most the kids ooooh and ahhhh when we do this experiment and so I'm guessing they didn't know either.  This is found by slicing the apple down the center instead of from the top and is a cool lesson on hidden surprises that come through exploration and creativity.  And as an added bonus the end of our experiment we had another healthy and yummy apple to snack on. 

Apple Math & More

We used apples to teach us several math skills including apple/fall leaf patterns, counting and graphing.  For our graph we SAMPLED (Mmmmmm!!) apples.  We tried red delicious apples, yellow delicious apples, granny smith apples, and of course cinnamon applesauce.  From our class results you can see that applesauce was the most popular item.  

A is for Apples Sensory

I love our Apple theme and it goes along great with learning the letter A.  Our Oats n' Apples sensory is a really fun experience for kids and they get some great use out of it! 

A is for Apple Print Art

We did the classic apple stamping activity to help reinforce the letter A and it's sound.  I found that it works great if you push a plastic fork, popsicle stick, dowel, corn handle etc. through the apple to hold onto it's a lot easier for the kids (and less mess for you). 

More Ant Art

We had fun making these red ants. Found the idea HERE. 

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A is for Ant Art

I got the idea for these HERE and didn't they turn out great!  The bonus (for kids who like raisins haha) was they could eat all the extra raisins when they were done.  

A is for Animals

Always funner to count using fun manipulative toys like these erasers.  

Ants On A Log

For snack today we made the classic ants on a log.  These were made with precut celery slices, cream cheese, and raisins.  You could use peanut butter, chocolate chips or olives as a substitute.  We used the cream cheese for allergy reasons, and personally I think the taste combination is better.  Most the kids munched these right up.  One of the kids who didn't want to eat one still wanted to make one because they thought it was so fun!  

Ant Sensory Tub

I was REALLY excited to show this to the kids.  Most were completely enthralled although I did have one girl a little grossed out by the giant ants.  It didn't stop her from playing though!  For this tub I added sand (I thought about home made moon sand, but I didn't have enough stuff to fill it on hand so I just ended up using what I had).  I also added tubes for tunneling/hiding or whatever the kids came up with.  I also added kids tweezers, a funnel, scoop and strainer.  Very fun!  I found the ants HERE.

Ant Life Cycle Puzzle

Two in one fun.  This is a fun and easy little puzzle to put together plus some great information about the ant life cycle.  I found the ant games HERE.

Ant Graphing Game

We spun the spinner and found out which color ant it landed on the most and least.  Ex: The red ant ended up with the most spins and and the yellow ended up with the least.  We used yellow counting cubes to mark the spots on the graph.  I found this HERE.

Ant Cutting Page

During our group time we practiced cutting on different shaped lines using a practice page I found HERE. 

Ants Go Marching

My preschoolers always beg me to get out the instruments so you can imagine their excitement when we marched around with instruments with the nice and long song Ants Go Marching.  We always rotate the instruments several times to give the kids a chance to try different ones.

More Fun Johnny Appleseed Stuff

I told the story about Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) using magnet board and then we played a game where Johnny "hides" behind a letter.  I gave the kids turns finding the letter of the letter sound I told them.  They then searched for the appropriate letter to find Johnny.