We read the classic book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault. Then the three little artists created their Chicka Chicka Boom Boom art activity. They had to color and cut out the palm tree, the palm leaves, and the coconuts; assemble them; and then glue them on their paper. Then they had to arrange and glue the pre-cut letters of their first name going up the coconut tree. For the last part of the activity, they had to fill out the sheet that read, "Here comes my name up the coconut tree! My name is __________________ it has _________ letters in it!" They did a super job!
Begin with jumping jacks, followed by head, shoulder, knees, and toes stretch, push-ups, mountain climbers for kids.
KARATE punch practice.
Karate kid practice
KARATE stance practice
KARATE upperBlock practice
Run on the field and back.
Stretch and strength training yoga.
Brake fall practice.
Finish with run to the picnic table.
I introduced the lesson by talking about caterpillars and how they turn into butterflies. I showed them the photos of the chrysalises on our playground. I covered myself with a blanket and broke free as a butterfly, and each student wanted to practice becoming a butterfly. I gave the preschool artists a butterfly template with empty raindrop spaces and raindrop base shapes. They colored the raindrop base shapes with markers creating patterns and then cut them out and glued them in the appropriate spaces on the butterflies. For example: the left and right bottom wings have two raindrop spaces that need the corresponding raindrop shapes.
I read the book Bird Builds a Nest by Martin Jenkins to the preschool artists. We talked about pulling and pushing and practiced those movements. We talked about what birds eat and why food is important for our bodies. They each got a bottle of glue, a small paper plate, and scraps of yarn and material to create a bird’s nest. Then each little artist got two cardboard birds to paint to add to her nest. I added googly eyes onto each bird. It was a very successful lesson!
Flower Clocks for Number Recognition and Learning to Tell Time
Lesson Outline
Miss Courtney told me she was working on introducing the Preschoolers to the clock and learning how to tell time. I had flower clocks for each little artist, and we worked on following directions and our listening skills. First, we identified the numbers on the face of the clock. Then I had them use green markers to color the big and little hands of their clock because they were leaves. I had already cut the hands out and fastened them to the face of each clock. Next, they colored the petals of the clock in light pastel markers. Lastly, I had them use a dark marker to color in each of the numbers on the clock. We also worked on our fine motor skills by staying in the lines. When they finished, I collected the clocks, so Miss Courtney could work with each student on learning how to tell time.