Jelly Bean Preschool Activities

My group was so excited to play these “jelly bean games” they didn’t even realize they were learning some math skills!  I gave each child a small cup of jelly beans use {the small size/cups are condiment cups from a party store}.

We started with this patterning/color sorting sheet from Adventures in Mommy-Hood.

I allowed the children to do whatever they wanted to see what they would do. Some quickly started sorting colors, some started to line up jelly beans in a row in the blank spots, and some just played with them.

I did not have a discussion about eating the jelly beans. I said in the beginning “We will eat some, but not yet. First we’re going to play some games.” No one ate any, surprisingly – that I know of! Maybe I have my group trained! Afterwards, I said each child could have 3 before lunch. The rest when into their Easter basket bags for later.

Count & Graph Jelly Beans printable from here

Coffee Filter Watercolor Butterflies

Such a simple & fun process to make these beautiful butterflies!

Needed:

• liquid watercolors (more vibrant results) or diluted paint, water/food coloring mixture
• pipettes / water droppers
• coffee filter
• “fuzzy sticks” / pipecleaner

1. Paint coffee filters with paint using water droppers.
2. Allow to dry.
3. Twist pipecleaner around painted coffee filter to make a butterfly.

They look great hanging up!

Easter Egg Water Sensory Play

A simple & quick sensory bin for Easter. I used:

• warm, colored water (with food coloring)
• plastic Easter eggs
• large glass marble gems (those flat pebble looking things!)

My varied age group – from 10 years – 14 months (with supervision of course) all enjoyed it!

About this sensory play:

• water is always inviting!
• color draws interest
• eggs float or sink depending on if there’s water in them
• water will drain from the holes in the egg
• marbles can be used to fill the eggs – shaking creates sound
• eggs offer fine motor fun when they are opened & closed
• eye hand coordination development when little ones try to “catch the egg” as it floats
• sensory experience involves the senses of touch, sight & hearing -the soothing sounds of water & socializing (sometimes taste too, with the little ones, although that’s discouraged!)
• allows for group play

Wash hands before and after sensory play. Supervise always when water and small objects are used. A small use of food coloring does not stain hands.

Butterfly Cookies

To make “Butterfly Cookies”:

• Frost a graham cracker (frosting: powdered sugar, small amount of milk & food coloring. Can also try using Cool Whip or cream cheese with some yogurt to thin/flavor it.)
• Add colored sugar & sprinkles
• Line up small marshmallows or candies (M & M’s work well) for the butterflies body
• Add pretzel wings

Yum!

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Ocean Sand Sensory Bin

This sensory bin doesn’t coordinate with our current theme, but I was inspired to make it after finding the little sailboat while I was out thrifting over the weekend. I’m always on the lookout for items that will spark the imagination & this certainly did!

The sailboat is a bit fragile so it works in a small bin where play will be limited to the bin and is for calm play only. It did require some hot glue before we could use it but I think it will hold up fine now.

I’ve been holding onto this bag of blue play sand for a while now so I finally brought it out to use in this bin. I bought it at Menards.

I added rocks, stick, various shells, and little glass bottles with corks {from Pick Your Plum}. I didn’t buy them for day care use, but they work for this! Again, rarely do I use glass materials for sensory bins, but with supervision, in the bin only, it is safe for the older kids. There are two sizes of jars so I saw one of the boys trying different corks until he found the one that fit. Also, there’s opportunity to learn about capacity. The jar was too full of sand so he realized he needed to dump some out to put the cork top on.

There’s also a few foam sea creatures – crab, fish and seahorse. They went over better than I thought they would!

This is a small bin, really made for 1 or 2 friends to play with at a time, but they couldn’t wait! They all wanted to play at once and it went very well overall but I will limit it to 1 or 2 in the future. 

I love it when everything gets quiet during play. Not because I like quietness, but because I know they are fully engaged in their play!

Preschool Activity Trays

My group has really enjoyed the new activity trays I created. I love this cart from Discount School Supply that can be used in so many ways.


Discount School Supply Mobile Art Rack Price: $104.95
I bought the cart for additional activities that I can’t leave out because of our mixed age group. They are mostly used during free time and kids choose their activity tray and put it back when they are done.
This one is for counting. The bunny/egg picks are from The Dollar Tree. (They are for cupcakes & come with cupcake liners).
This piece of foam came with a basket I bought there so I made this for counting out the picks. It held up long enough for us but I also bought more foam pieces to use if needed.

This one just is just decorative sand (found at the thrift store – originally for decorating) for spooning into the ice cube tray. I love this mini tray I found at the thrift store. It’s great for activities like this. I later added a funnel for clean up.

Paint tray (colored with Sharpies) for transferring “pokey balls” with tongs.
Hammering tees – this one should have had thicker foam for pounding in the nails but they still liked this tray.
Spring flower arranging.  Least popular tray but then again, I have all boys currently.

This tray is very popular. Prism Easter eggs and flower shapes from The Dollar Tree. Matching and just fine motor fun.
This activity proved challenging. It’s not easy for little hands to pump water! They loved to try though.
Same story here – the little sprayer isn’t easy for small hands but great to work on. Towel for drying.
Counting/color matching
Pouring water
Letter Mazes – put in sheet protectors & use dry erase marker

Dry erase board/marker for drawing shapes
Number stamping traySorting by size
Number/shape mats with foam shapes (from Mother Goose Time March 2013 curriculum)

Green & yellow pom poms and tongs in the mini ice tray

I’ll be sharing more of our activity trays in the future!

Scented Kool-Aid Paint

We’re learning about bees & butterflies this month. We’ve learned that both use their sense of smell – bees for finding flowers to collect pollen and butterflies for flower nectar. So we used scented paint to make colorful paintings.

I bought the least expensive drink mix I could find (15 cents). I chose these flavors/colors:

• fruit punch/red
• grape/purple
• orange/orange
• berry/blue
• Lemonade/yellow

I mixed one packet with a small amount of water – about 1/2 cup. The purple didn’t look very purple so I added some liquid watercoloring but I’m not sure it needed it. It dried more purple than it looked like it would. We painted on cardstock.

The room smelled yummy! I heard “It smells like sweet strawberries!” before they even knew we were using scented paints.

We used one brush per paint cup. When a child wanted to trade colors, I assisted to minimize spills – yes, we still had a couple little spills. This added the element of taking turns and asking each other for the colors they wanted. Patience & cooperation!

The colors dried soft but very pretty. The solution will temporarily stain hands. May stain clothing too so put paint shirts on your kids if it might be an issue. Painting on trays is recommended.

The scent lessens as the paintings dry but still smell sweet, like sweet tarts.

Hoppy First Day of Spring

It certainly isn’t very spring like here in Wisconsin, but we’re past the worst of it and spring is coming! That’s something to celebrate with handprint flowers and bunny tails.