Using the ideas of others in the preschool classroom

I love to search out new preschool ideas and activities on other blogs. New ideas keep me motivated and inspired. However, once I find a cute idea, I visualize how I will do the activity with my students.

Lose the recipe

Often times teachers look at an idea they find online or in books as they would a recipe for baking a cake. Following the idea one step at a time. Following step one, step two, step three, and so forth, teachers feel they should not deviate from the recipe. But you need to understand that the outcome and process of the project should be based on the development of the children in your classroom.

Visualize what the children will actually do

As you plan to use an idea, ask yourself: "What will my children actually do?"  If you are doing all of the cutting, tearing, arranging, folding, gluing, and so forth then what part of the process is left over for the children to actually do?  Remember - it is in the doing that children begin to develop their skills, abilities, and confidence!

When I plan an activity I actually visualize my students taking part in the process. If there just doesn't seem like there will be enough for them to do then I change the idea up to make sure that the activity is something they can do all by themselves.

Creating flowers

Over the past few weeks I have found a ton of amazing ideas for flowers. I just love them all so at my first opportunity, I brought some of those ideas with me and presented them to a group of young children. However, I modified those ideas to fit what I felt would be best for the ages and stages of this particular group of young children.

Since I would only have one opportunity with this group of children, I decided to let them use a variety of materials to make their flowers. I first had the children brainstorm with me what ways we could use the materials to make flowers. We decided to try the following....

Colorful paint, colorful paper towel squares with seeds, straws, tape, yarn, and one child wanted me use letters to spell the word "HA".

Then the children were given time to make their own flowers.

The children started by snipping the edges of green paper to make some grass.

The children added some glue - all by themselves!

Then the children flipped the grass over and glued it to their paper.

Most of the children did the grass exactly the same way I did even though they were told they can put the grass any where they want.

Then stems were cut out by the children and then they glued the stems to their paper.

Some of the children preferred long stems and others wanted short. 

One little girl only wanted one really tall stem.

This little girls decided she only wanted to use paint to create her flowers. 

Oh, and her white flower is actually just a glob of glue since we didn't have any white paint!

Product and Process

In the end, we had a beautiful set of flowers to display in the room but we also enjoyed the process. The children were able to make decisions, use a variety of materials, and do the work without my help. I did provide guidance at first so the children could visualize the process but once the process was started, it was time to encourage their own creativity and skills.

If I were to be teaching these children on a regular basis, I would probably not have put out every type of material and instead had them try a different type of flower each day. I say this to let you know that I took a combination of ideas and adjusted them (or in this case - combined them) to make them work for my situation.

Large motor skills in the preschool classroom

Getting large motor skills moving in the classroom is a very important aspect of developmental growth. Especially in the winter time, when children spend less time outdoors, you need to make sure you are investing time in planning activities that promote various types of large motor skills.


What kind of large motor activities are there?

• Circle games 
• Ring-around-the-rosie or duck-duck-goose are two examples of simple activities that get children moving, running, jumping, sitting, and standing.

• Relay races can be simple and fun and they really do not need to be a race as much as an activity that encourages different kinds of moving. 
• Roll the ball relay - the teacher rolls the ball to the first child in line, the child picks up the ball and runs it back across the room to the teacher then sit's down behind the teacher. Now the next child in line goes.
• Pushing and pulling relays - the child crawls/runs/hops/walks across the floor pushing or pulling an object across the room and back again
• Relay races don't have to make sense, just get children moving from one place to the next

• Action songs and rhymes
• There are many wonderful CD's out there that get children dancing and moving like songs from Greg and Steve or Hap Palmer's "Sammy" song. 
• If you don't have a CD - then make up action songs that get your students to stretch, bend, twist, march, and jump.
• Try action songs like musical chairs, the limbo, and the Conga.

•  Organized Sports
• Yes, preschoolers can play a simple game of basket ball, kickball, bowling, and dodge ball too. Change up the rules a bit, use soft bats and balls, take the basics of the sport and modify it to the age group you are teaching.

• Equipment
• Hula hoops, tape on the floor, balloons, balls, push toys/cars, laundry baskets, parachutes (blankets), balancing beams, and jump ropes are all examples for simple tools that can lead to wonderful indoor large motor activities 

• Free Play 
• And of course, free play should always be encouraged but don't rely on that alone. Take a few minutes of everyday and offer up something new - then let the children enjoy some unstructured time in large motor play.

There are many children who are involved in organized sports but for those who are not, the only time they may spend on specific large motor development and skills is while in your care.

Make sure you are assessing the skills of your preschoolers. Can they make a circle, take turns, cheer for their friends, and follow simple rules or instructions of a game or a song? Do your preschoolers stretch, hop, run, march, jump, and bend daily? Your role is to make sure they do...

See the Hokey Pokey in action!
Check out who's up and movin!

More activities to build those large motor skills!

Preschoolers need opportunities to develop their cutting skills

Give your preschoolers opportunities to develop their cutting skills but before you do so consider a few of the following suggestions:

• Make sure scissors will actually cut. If you can't cut a piece of paper with the child-sized scissors you select then chances are, your preschoolers wont be able to either.
• Have left and right handed scissors available.
• Teach your preschoolers how to hold the scissors correctly and how to open and close the scissor handles.
• Teach your preschoolers how to hold the paper with the other hand so that he or she can cut more easily.
• Keep an eye on preschoolers when they are using scissors and make sure they are sitting down at a table.
• Teach your preschoolers good safety practices so they will respect scissors and use them for cutting paper, not hair, clothes, or each other! 

Let preschoolers cut scraps of paper

Set out some old newspapers or left over scraps of paper and just let students cut. Preschoolers need time to build their fine motor skills and this is a terrific way to encourage cutting practice.

Let preschoolers cut playdough

Set out some playdough and scissors and let students work on their cutting skills this way as well.

Work on snipping before cutting on the lines

To begin more formal cutting activities, have preschoolers start by snipping around the edges of a piece of paper. Snipping helps preschooler work on their fine motor control as well as eye-hand coordination.

Be selective in choosing cutting materials

Some materials such as fabric and tissue paper are difficult for adults to cut, yet alone preschoolers. While preschoolers are developing their ability to cut, select materials that will help them have a successful experience rather than a frustrating experience.

For very young preschoolers

Have them start with tearing paper but just like cutting, make sure the paper is something they can actually tear. Tissue paper is nice for tearing. Tearing helps to build those small muscles needed for cutting later on.

Be selective in choosing cutting activities.

Gradually build towards more complex cutting activities and be sensitive to the skills and abilities of each preschooler in your care. The following chart is a suggestion for developing cutting skills.

Five reasons to encourage preschoolers to color

Set out a piece of paper and some crayons and see the growth and development that is taking place.

1. 
   
   Fine motor skills are being strenthened as preschoolers grasp the crayons and hold on tight enough to make the color show up on their paper.
   
   
   
2. 
   
   Eye-hand coordination is challenged as preschoolers  learn to use the crayons to draw long connected or short curly lines.
   
   
   
3. 
   
   The imagination is sparked as children create what may seem like scribbles to the untrained eye but to the child it may be a house, baby, or the family dog.
   
   
   
4. 
   
   Color recognition is being reinforced as preschoolers choose among the many different color choices made available to them.
   
   
   
5. 
   
   Communication skills are encouraged as preschoolers are asked to share something about their drawings with the class.
   
   
   

Keep crayons and paper available in your classroom all throughout the day and give your students time to color.

Younger preschoolers need time to strenthen their abilities and as they get older, they will be better able to master the skill of coloring and drawing.