M is for Mom Day

This is our other most looked forward day of the year along with daddy day!  We followed our mouse unit and played a counting game inspired by the book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie", we made mini m & m "cookies" another counting activity, we did a marshmallow experiment, made a mouse craft, played with marbles in the sensory tub and much more! The marshmallow activity was a hit for several days later and some of the observations the kids made were that the marshmallows in juice turned purple, the ones in milk lightened and swelled, the ones in water stayed closest to original color and shrunk, the ones in vinegar partially disintegrated on the bottom, the ones in soda lightened even more. After an extra two weeks of observing the kids noticed mold growing on all of them except for the soda and vinegar.  We talked about why they thought those two didn't mold.  We thought maybe acids or bacteria killing agents had something to do with it. 

M is for Mice

This week we learned all about mice.  As part of the unit we did several activities relating to mice.  We learned how to draw a mouse and they turned out stinking adorable if I don't say so myself. We have some amazing budding artists! We also made felt mice puppets to play make believe with .  We sampled some cheese and graphed our favorite kind as a class.  Don't mind my horrible drawings on the white board.  Eik! I used picture and letter clues to show what kind of cheeses we sampled (String, Parmesan, Cheddar & Cream Cheese).  As you can see cheddar was most popular and cream cheese was least. 

M is for Mouse in a House

Here we are pretending to be a mouse in a house for our M unit.  It is also a great for body spacial awareness and developing the gross motor skill of balance.  

J is for Make Your Own Jungle Snack

In honor of learning about Jungles & Rainforests we just had to make a monkey snack-Really we did! We made these using a bun, peanut butter, bananas sliced for ears and mouth section and raisins for eyes. I love giving the kids the opportunity to make their own food for many reasons including helping them become more independent (great for self confidence), giving them a chance to create something fun AND on their own which often helps them want to try new foods, it lets them enjoy the art side of food and being creative, and it's just plain fun too! 

W is for Wild West Mallow Roast

We had such a great time sitting around the "campfire" singing campfire songs and roasting marshmallows so we could make and eat yummy s'mores!  These were made by "roasting" the mallows over the "fire" which consisted of pretending to have a fire and using pretzels for roasting sticks.  Next we stuck the mallows between two Keebler Fudge stripe cookies.   Yum, yum if I don't say so myself!

If You Give a Moose a Muffin

After reading the story If You Give a Moose a Muffin we of course had to make some muffins.  I guess it was more like decorating.  We had chocolate chip muffins that we frosted and added a vanilla wafer and M & M nose, pretzel antlers, and Smartie eyes to make a moose muffin. We drank some milk with them to quench our muffin-ey thirst.

M is for Moms

This is a day the kids really look forward too!  Unlike the Jr. High kids, preschoolers love having mom tag along to school with them!  They love showing their mom's what they are learning and having them be a part of their regular school routine.  We did all sorts of 'M' related activities such as mouths munching on mini marshmallows (math/counting), monkey patterns, mitten march ABC/number game, a marshmallow science activity about density found HERE. 

M is for Magnet

M is also for Milk lids.  This is a very educational exploratory experience for kids as they learn about magnetism.  My preschoolers really love magnet wands!

Q is for Quesadilla's (Mexico Theme)

We studied about Mexico during our Q is for Quesadilla's week.  We sponge painted the Mexican Flag.  This is a fun time to compare similarities and differences to our flag. We also made Sombrero's.  These were a hit with the kids and most of them spent a lot of time perfecting them! 

 Our Mexican themed Sensory tub using beans and the main colors from their flag.

Letter Q

 Q is for Quarters.  We counted & sorted money.  This was a great time to help the kids differentiate between the coins .

 The Marriage ceremony of Q and U complete with wedding costumes, flowers, the wedding march song, and kisses-don't worry they were chocolate!  Q and U will forevermore be qu together.  These 2 were thrilled to be a big part of the occasion and the other kids took turns during playtime reenacting the event! 

 Q is for Quesadillas.  We tied in the Mexico theme along with this weeks learning unit. 

More coin fun using Quarters.  We made patterns with them on our patterning cards.

M is for Mom & Me Day

We invited all the mom's to class to help us celebrate learning about the letter M.  We did marble art, counted mini chocolate chips on numbered paper cookies to go along with the  "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" theme. We had M & M cookies and sang Dr. Jean's song Macarena Month's and much more!  It's always fun to have the mom's come play with us! 

M is for Mouse Math

Counting Cookies-Inspired by If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.  I just Googled a picture of the Mouse from the book, laminated it and cut out his mouth (making it a little bigger).  The kids would select a number and then feed the mouse that many cookies.  When we were all done with the game they got to eat the cookies. Don't worry, the kids cookies were in little containers.  We weren't eating off the ground. 

 For the cheese graphing activity I had the kids sample Swiss, provolone, cheddar and cream cheese and then we graphed which type of cheese they liked the best.  We then analyzed the data. I was surprised by the results!  I really thought swiss would be the least favorite.

 To play this subtraction game I had the kids subtract the chocolate chips by crossing them off and then we figured out the total by adding how many were left.

For the counting mat I gave the kids random numbers and then they got to feed the mouse by counting out the number I gave them and placing that many cookies on the mouse's plate. The last two activities were found HERE.