**This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. View our full disclosure policy here.**

Here were our plans for our Valentines theme:

And here are the details for each activity:

Love, Splat! Comprehension

It’s no secret that we love Splat the Cat in this house, so we started off the week with Love, Splat! by Rob Scotton. After reading, we talked about why we give valentines. Then I had Madelynn draw and write to show what kind of valentine she would make? And who she would give it to.

Valentines Lady Retelling:

  Our next story was all about our favorite silly old lady, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose by Lucille Colandro. We started by reading the story.  After reading I gave Madelynn 8 pictures from the story with simple sentences underneath. We read through them all together and then I prompted her to find what happened first, second, third, etc. She then glued them to her page in the correct order to retell the story. I kept the book nearby so she could check the pages if she was stuck, and it was also an easy way to double check her work.

Valentines Learning:

Next we read The Story of Valentine’s Day by Nancy J. Skarmeas which is a nice little board book introduction to why we celebrate Valentine’s Day. After reading, we talked about what we learned. Madelynn drew a picture of a card to show that we send cards to people we love.

Valentines Comprehension:

Next we read How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? by Jane Yolen & Mark Teague. After reading, we talked about the ways the dinosaurs showed they loved each other. Then I asked Madelynn, who she loves and what do they do to make her feel loved? She choose her Daddy, so we made him a card and she wrote ” I love you because you give me hugs.” Mommy heart melted.

Tracking Print:

  Our last book was this letter V for Valentines alphabet reader. Madelynn identified the picture then pointed to each word as she read. We switched to the more difficult version this week so that she could work on learning new sight words each week. Afterwards she colored all of the pictures in.

Valentines Letter Writing Tray:

Our first literacy activity this week was a Valentines themed letter writing tray.  To make this fun sensory activity I filled our shallow tray with pink scented rice. Madelynn used heart letter cards as a model and chose which ones she wanted to practice.  Then she used a light up heart wand and/or her finger to write letters in the pretty themed tray. We found our light up want in the Target dollar spot but you could also ouse heart stir sticks instead!

 Valentines Sound Stamping:

  Next, for more letter practice we used our dot stampers. We started out stamping inside the letter to make a V. Then Madelynn had to find the upper and lowercase v’s in the heart, stamp them and make the “V” sound each time. Then she stamped the other letters different colors and tried to make the sounds for each one.

Valentine Syllable Sort:

I found these adorable mailboxes in the Target Dollar Spot this week so I knew I had to find a fun way to use them. Since we are working on syllables this week I printed small valentines with pictures on the front.  Madelynn chose a valentine and clapped the syllables for the picture. Then she wrote the number of syllables on the inside of the card. Finally she placed it in the correct mailbox.

Valentines Name Craft:

For this week’s name craft we created a valentines themed caterpillar craft.  First, Madelynn cut the craft pieces out. Then she wrote the letters in her name on each heart. After she finished writing, she glued the caterpillar pieces together in order to spell her name. Then she added the legs and antennae. Finally she used a marker to draw a mouth and glue googly eyes to the heart to complete the face.

Valentines Journal Writing:

For our journal this week Madelynn chose to draw something that makes her heart full. She decided to draw food, haha. She might have been a little confused about the concept of a full heart vs. full tummy, but I can’t blame her, food makes my heart full too.  After drawing I asked her what she wanted to write about her picture. She said, “I eat food.” So I drew 3 lines, then we worked on writing the sounds together. She wrote “i e FF.”

Color By Shape Valentines:

  We worked on identifying more shapes for our color by the code activity this week. Madelynn worked on identifying and naming 5 different shapes, including hexagon this week for a little challenge. I told her the color for each shape and she had to search and color each one in the picture.

3D Shape Puzzles:

We started learning about 3D shapes this week with this set of foam shapes and a few shape puzzles. After exploring the foam 3D shapes and talking about the names, I printed and cut apart 8 heart puzzles. Madelynn matched the 3D shapes to the real objects and we practiced reading the names of each shape.

3D Shape Bingo:

For more 3D shape practice we played a few games of 3D shape bingo with valentines candy to make things festive. Madelynn and I each chose one of the 3D shape bingo cards. Then we took turns choosing a a shape card and identifying the shape. Each time we chose a card we found and covered an object on the bingo card with the same shape. We continued to play until someone got 5 in a row before having a little candy as a treat.

Valentines 3D Shapes:

Our last 3D shape activity was some Valentine’s themed hands on 3D shape building. I printed 3D shape cards for Madelynn to use as a model and she used jelly hearts and toothpicks to create each shape.

Valentine Number Sense:

We used these mats to practice numbers 11-20 this week. First, Madelynn identified the large number. Then she made it with play dough and counted the hearts in the ten frame. Next, she used a dry erase marker to practice writing the number, and finally counted out heart candy to cover each heart.

Valentine Slime:

  If you are slime challenged like me, I have the BEST no fail slime recipe for you. Because for whatever reason borax and/or liquid starch recipes just don’t work for me.

Here is what you need:
•1/2 Tbsp Baking Soda
•1 1/2 Tbsp Contact Lens Solution (w/boric acid & sodium borate in it)
•6 fl oz Glitter Glue
•Heart Cookie Cutters

  How to make your amazing slime:
•Pour the entire bottle of glitter glue into a bowl.
•Add 1/2 Tbsp baking soda to the glue and stir.
•Add 1 Tbsp contact solution to the glue mixture.
•Mix until slime begins to form.
•Take slime out of the bowl and use hands to finish mixing.

  If slime is too sticky, add few more drops of contact solution. Then use cookie cutters to pretend and play.

 Valentine Play Dough Cookies: 

On this play dough tray: red, pink, and purple play dough, heart stamps, heart gems, heart buttons, heart cookie cutters, and rolling pins

Blow Paint Hearts:

For this fun art project we started out tracing and coloring in hearts with white crayon on cardstock.
Next, Madelynn used an eye dropper to drip liquid watercolors on the paper. After the paper was covered in drops she used a small straw to blow the drops of paint all over the page.  Then, she continued to add more colors and blow until the whole paper was covered and the hearts began to show through.

Valentines Water Play:

  In this bin: pink dyed water(use food coloring), heart sponges, mini heart boxes, mini cups, scoops,  silicone cupcake cups and eye droppers

Heart Stamping:

Our last project for the week was a heart stamping and resist picture.  First I hot glued a few foam hearts to clothespins to make heart stamps.  You can also find heart stampers here, but we didn’t have any on hand so I improvised. Then I used removable double sided tape to stick a large foam heart in the center of a piece of cardstock. Then I set up a tray with pink, red, purple and white tempera paint. Madelynn used the stampers to make hearts all around the page. When she was done, I pulled off the foam heart, there was a beautiful heart left in the center.

Want all of this week’s Valentines activities for preschool?  You can grab them here:
On my site : Valentines Plans & Printables On TpT: Valentines Plans & Printables

Or you can grab our entire year of themes and plans:
On my site here: Preschool Bundle On TpT here: Preschool Bundle

Then check out the rest of our 45+ themes on the Preschool Curriculum Main Page.

The post Preschool: Valentines first appeared on Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten.

**This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. View our full disclosure policy here.**

Here were our plans for our Polar Bear theme:

And here are the details for each activity:

Polar Bear Predictions:

We started the week off reading Love Matters Most by Mij Kelly and it is just about the sweetest story ever.  With Valentine’s Day around the corner, this story of a polar bear mother’s love for her lost cub will melt your heart. We used this book to practice making predictions so I asked Madelynn what she thought the story would be about. She said “They’re going to find some animals and be sneaky.” Clearly she didn’t listen too much to the title but I suppose you could get a sneaky polar bear vibe from their faces on the cover.

Polar Bear Characters:

Our next story was The Polar Bear and the Snow Cloud by Jane Cabrera. Before reading we discussed and defined characters. “A character is a person or animal that does things in the story.”  After reading, I printed the polar bear characters response page. Madelynn drew and labeled the characters in the story then circled the main character.

Polar Bear Learning:

Our next read aloud was the nonfiction book Polar Bears by Gail Gibbons.  Gail Gibbons has tons of great non fiction titles packed with great information for little ones.  There is so much information we did skip over parts, but I love that this is a book that will grow with my girls. Before reading, we talked about what we already know about polar bears. Madelynn drew a picture and told me that “polar bears walk in the snow and dive under water.”  I helped record each idea on the polar bear KWL chart under “K” for know. Next we discussed things we want to know about polar bears. Madelynn drew a picture and asked “do they eat fish?” I recorded her question under the “W” for wonder. Finally we read the book and talked about our new learning. Madelynn learned that they eat seals so she drew a picture and I wrote her sentence under the “L” for learned.

Polar Bear Retelling:

Our polar bear theme wouldn’t be complete without reading Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear by Eric Carle. After reading, Madelynn used polar bear character and word cards to match the name to each animal. Then she put the cards in the order the animals appear in the story while looking back through the book as needed. Finally she cut and paste the animals in the correct order on the sequencing page to retell the story.

Tracking Print:

  Our last book was this letter B alphabet reader. Madelynn identified the picture then pointed to each word as she read. Afterwards she colored all of the pictures in.

Rhyme and Color Igloo:

  This week we focused on rhyme so we started with this color by code activity. Madelynn identified the pictures on the left side of the page, then searched the picture on the right for words that rhymed. Then she followed the directions to make each spot the correct color.

 Bear Sound Stamping:

  Next, for more letter practice we used our dot stampers. We started out stamping inside the letter to make a B for bear. Then Madelynn had to find the upper and lowercase b’s in the bear, stamp them and make the “B” sound each time.

Polar Bear Word Fishing:

We pretended to be hungry polar bears for this fun CVC word game.  First I cut out a piece of “ice” from white cardstock, taped it to the top of a tissue box and cut a slit in the paper. Then I placed CVC word fish in the box. Madelynn used polar bear paws (white gloves) to reach in and pull out a fish. Finally she tried to say the word slowly and write the 3 sounds in each word.  Even though we haven’t worked much on middle sounds, having the box in middle encouraged her to listen and attempt to identify a sound for each part of the word.

Polar Bear Name Craft:

For this week’s name craft we created this adorable polar bear.  First Madelynn cut the polar bear pieces out. Then she wrote the letters in her name on each of the paw prints. After she finished writing, she glued the polar bear pieces together and added the paw print pieces to the page in order to spell her name. Finally she used her finger dipped in white paint to complete each paw print with dots and added foam snowflakes.

Polar Bear Journaling:

For our journal this week Madelynn chose to draw and label a polar bear habitat.  After creating her polar bear home and adding lots of detail, she labeled her picture “cv” for cave.

 Polar Bear Number Tray:

Our first math activity this week was a polar bear themed writing tray.  I filled our clear tray with instant snow. Then Madelynn used small bear number cards as a model to write numbers in the snow with polar bears or her finger.

Polar Bear Track Patterns:

  This week we worked on identifying, extending and creating patterns.  For our first activity I printed bear track pattern cards and made small balls of white, light blue and dark blue play dough. Madelynn used the colored playdough to create each type of pattern. Then she used a paw print stamp to squish each ball into a bear track while naming the pattern (AB, AAB, ABB, and ABC.)

Bear Stamp Patterns:

For more pattern practice, I printed several copies of a snowy pattern page. Madelynn used paw print stamps and paint to create bear print patterns on each snow bank. I encouraged her to try different types on each one (AB, AAB, ABB, and ABC.)

Polar Bear Character Patterns:

  After reading Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear by Eric Carle I put together some polar bear pattern cards with the animals from the book. Madelynn chose a card to use as a model, then used character cards to create each pattern.

Goldfish Patterns:

For a yummy end to our pattern practice we created patterns with colored goldfish. I created pattern pages and Madelynn used color goldfish crackers to create each type of pattern. Then she pretended to be a hungry polar bear and chomp all of the fish.

Polar Bear Sensory Bin:

In this bin: shaving cream, water, polar bear finger puppets, foam snowflakes

Polar Bear Pastel Art:

  To prepare this project I first printed a polar bear outline on heavy cardstock. Then I cut out the center of the outline and taped it to a white sheet of paper. Madelynn traced the polar bear with white pastel and colored it in completely.  I removed the polar bear template and Madelynn painted the page with purple, light blue, and dark blue liquid watercolors.  After it dried she added snowflake stickers.

Polar Animal Sort:

To create this sorting bin I filled a small bin with fake grass on one side and cotton ball “snow” on the other then printed polar/non polar animal labels for each side. I filled another bin with small plastic animals of various types. Madelynn tried to sort animals into polar and non polar animals. Then we discussed the characteristics of each.

Polar Bear at Night Craft:

For this icy multimedia craft, Madelynn started by drawing a black line across a piece of paper with crayon. Next she painted the top of the paper purple with liquid watercolors. Then she painted the bottom of the paper light blue. (I probably could have watered down our blue a bit more as it ended up pretty dark.) Next we added a piece of clear plastic wrap to the bottom to create an icy look.  I helped Madelynn add a few drops of glue to the corners to hold the plastic in place. After the page dried we cut out a polar bear and glued it to the icy picture. Finally we added a few dots of white paint to the sky for snow.

Arctic Animal Sensory Bin:

  In this bin: ice (I froze ice in small bowls to create icebergs that wouldn’t melt too fast), bowls, arctic animals TOOB, reusable ice cubes

Want all of this week’s Polar Bears activities for preschool?  You can grab them here:
On my site : Polar Bears Plans & Printables On TpT: Polar Pear Plans & Printables

Or you can grab our entire year of themes and plans:
On my site here: Preschool Bundle On TpT here: Preschool Bundle

Then check out the rest of our 45+ themes on the Preschool Curriculum Main Page.

The post Preschool: Polar Bears first appeared on Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten.

**This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. View our full disclosure policy here.**

Here were our plans for our penguin theme:

And here are the details for each activity:

Penguin Comprehension:

Our first book this week was If You Were a Penguin by Florence Minor. After reading, we talked about all of the different things the penguins did in the book. Then I asked Madelynn what she would do if she were a penguin and had her draw it on the response page. Madelynn said she would swim and fly through the water.

Penguin Retelling:

Our next story was the loveable Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester. After reading Madelynn drew pictures to show what happened in the beginning, middle and end of the story.

Penguin Problem and Solution:

Our next story was Penguins to the Rescue by Tony Mitton. Before reading we discussed and defined problem. We talked about how every story usually has a problem or something that goes wrong. After reading, Madelynn drew and labeled the problem in the story (The seal pup was sad. He missed his mom.) Then we talked about and drew how the problem was solved (The penguins acted silly to cheer up the seal while he waited for his mom.)

Penguin Vocabulary Match:

Next we read Penguin Chick By Betty Tatham. After reading we used cards to match penguin related words to pictures.  I emphasized the beginning sounds to help her choose and match the correct word to the picture.Then I printed a second set of the same words and we used them to play a memory matching game. This gave Madelynn more practice with identifying the pictures and using the new vocabulary.

Tracking Print:

Our last book was this Penguins Can Go book from our Scholastic Guided Science Readers set. Madelynn is starting to read easy level A books with patterned text. After I read the first page she used the pictures to read the remaining pages. I drew her attention to the first letter in words as needed.

Rhyme and Color Penguin:

This week we focused on rhyme  so we started with this color by code activity. Madelynn identified the pictures on the left side of the page, then searched the picture on the right for words that rhymed. Then she followed the directions to make each spot the correct color.

Igloo Sound Stamping:

Next, for more letter practice we used our dot stampers. We started out stamping inside the letter to make an I for igloo. Then Madelynn had to find the upper and lowercase i’s in the igloo, stamp them and make the “I” sound each time.

Penguin Sound Stomp:

This week we continued to focus on ending sounds with this penguin stomp activity. Madelynn choose a penguin card and identified the picture. I helped her say the word slowly as she listened. I had her listen for the ending sound and she used a dot stamper  to stamp it.

Penguin Name Craft:

For this week’s name craft we created this adorable penguin.  First Madelynn cut the penguin pieces out. Then she wrote the letters in her name on each of the ice cubes. After she finished writing, she glued the penguin pieces together and glued the penguin to the ice. Then she added the ice cubes to the ice in order to spell her name.

Penguin Journal Writing:

For our journal this week Madelynn chose to draw and write about what she learned about penguins. She drew a penguin swimming and looking for fish.  This week we ventured into writing a full sentence instead of just labeling the picture with a word or two.  Madelynn said “Penguins eat fish.” In order to help her write an entire sentence I drew one line for each word.  This helped her to visualize and seperate each word and focus on just one word at a time. We are back to one letter for each word this week “P e f” but writing a sentence is a huge step!

Penguin Writing Tray:

Our first math activity this week was a penguin themed writing tray.  I filled our clear tray with instant snow. Then Madelynn used small igloo number cards as a model to write numbers in the snow with penguins or her finger.

Grab and Graph Snowflakes:

Our new math focus for the week was graphing. We started out with a picture graph with only 2 colors. I filled a bin with this fun winter pasta then Madelynn used fine motor tools to grab a scoop full of snowflakes. Next she sorted them. Then she counted how many of each color and filled in her graph.  She repeated this 4 times for even more practice.

Color & Graph in the Arctic:

For our next graphing activity, Madelynn and I played I spy. First I said “I spy seals that are brown.” She then had to find the item I named, color each one, count them and color in her graph. This was a lot of steps to follow so I helped her along the way, but she really did great following along! We repeated the “I spy” game with each arctic object on the page.

Penguin Sticker and Graph:

Like most kids, Madelynn loves stickers. I found these foam penguin stickers in 3 colors and knew they would make a great picture graphing activity.  She sorted, stuck them to the page, then counted to answer the questions at the bottom.

Penguin Number Sense Mats:

We used these mats to practice numbers 11-20 this week. First, Madelynn identified the large number. Then she made it with play dough and counted the igloos in the ten frame. Next, she used a dry erase marker to practice writing the number, and finally counted out penguin mini erasers to fill each igloo.

Build an Igloo Sensory Bin:

In this bin: baking soda snow, penguin mini erasers, empty fruit cups

Baking soda snow recipe:

• Mix 1 cup of baking soda with 1 Tbsp. of white hair conditioner (or water).
• Stir to combine.
• Add more tablespoons one at a time, until the mixture forms a wet moldable consistency.

 Directed Draw Penguin:

For this directed drawing I drew one part of the penguin at a time on my paper, and Madelynn followed along by drawing the same or similar shape on her paper.  She is quite the perfectionist, so I had her use a pencil in case she wanted to erase try any part of the penguin again.  Then I quickly outlined the entire penguin with a black crayon.  (You could definitely skip the pencil and start with a black crayon to save time.) To finish off the project, Madelynn used watercolors to paint her penguin and add details to the background.

Penguin Feather Science:

For a this animal investigation, I printed a penguin outline and ha Madelynn color the entire penguin with crayon (including white for the belly.) Then I filled a spray bottle with water and tinted it blue. Madelynn used the water to spray the entire paper and watched as the water rolled off the penguin. We talked about how many penguins live in cold climates so the feathers help keep the freezing water away from the penguins body.

Igloo Stamp Art:

Our second art project this week was this stamping project. Madelynn used a building block to stamp rectangles on a light blue semi circle page with white paint. Then she stamped the other side of the block with circles on dark blue paper for snow and painted the bottom of the page white. After both pages were dry, she cut semi circle igloo out and glued it to the dark blue background. And finally she added penguin stickers.

Penguin Sensory Bin:

In this sensory bin: penguins from our Penguin Toob, blue gems, frozen icebergs, bowls, and water.

Want all of this week’s Penguins activities for preschool?  You can grab them here:
On my site : Penguins Plans & Printables On TpT: Penguins Plans & Printables

Or you can grab our entire year of themes and plans:
On my site here: Preschool Bundle On TpT here: Preschool Bundle

Then check out the rest of our 45+ themes on the Preschool Curriculum Main Page.

The post Preschool: Penguins first appeared on Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten.

**This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. View our full disclosure policy here.**

Here were our plans for our Winter theme:

And here are the details for each activity:

Making Predictions:

Our first story was The Hat by Jan Brett.  Before reading, we practiced answering questions and making predictions.

I asked “After looking at the cover, what do you think this story will be about?”  Madelynn: “I think a porcupine will go in a hat and all the other animals will go in and get poked.” 

We love Jan Brett in our house and just finished reading The Mitten which probably explains Madelynn’s prediction. Also I love that she didn’t know what animal it was on the cover and guessed porcupine, which meant we’d have a good teachable moment learning the word hedgehog.

Cold Lady Retelling:

Our next story was all about our favorite silly old lady, There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow by Lucille Colandro. We started by reading the story.  After reading I gave Madelynn 8 pictures from the story with simple sentences underneath. We read through them all together and then I prompted her to find what happened first, second, third, etc. She then glued them to her page in the correct order to retell the story. I kept the book nearby so she could check the  pages if she was stuck, and it was also an easy way to double check her work.

 If I Could Build a Snowman:

Next we read Snowballs by Lois Ehlert. While reading, we talked about all of the materials the author used to make each snowman. Then I asked “What would you use to build a snowman?” Madelynn decided she was going to make Frosty the Snowman (we had just watched the movie a week or so ago). After drawing the details in her picture I asked her to write her snowman’s name and she wrote “FF.”

Winter Vocabulary Match:

  Our next book was one of my favorites, The Jacket I Wear in the Snow by Shirley Neitzel. The fun rebus style and repetition of this book make it a great anchor book for learning vocabulary. After reading we used cards to match winter clothing words to pictures. I helped emphasize the beginning sounds so Madelynn could find and match the correct word to the picture.

Tracking Print:

Our last book was this It is Winter book from our Scholastic Guided Science Readers set. Madelynn is starting to read easy level A books with patterned text. This book is a level B, so she read the “it is winter.” sentence on each page, and I helped her with the second sentence using picture clues to read the words.

SnowLetter Writing Tray:

Our first literacy activity this week was a winter snow themed letter writing tray.  To make this fun winter activity I filled our shallow tray with instant snow. Madelynn used snowflake letter cards as a model and chose which ones she wanted to practice.  If you haven’t played with instant snow before it is super fluffy and cool like real snow. It was a really fun way to switch up our normal sand/salt tray.

Winter Sound Stamping:

Next, for more letter practice we used our dot stampers. We started out stamping inside the letter to make a W. Then Madelynn had to find the upper and lowercase w’s in the winter tree, stamp them and make the “W” sound each time. Then she stamped the other letters different colors and tried to make the sounds for each one.

Icy Ending Sounds:

This week we began to focus on ending sounds in words.  Madelynn has been really focused on beginning sounds for a while now and isn’t hearing the other sounds in words especially when writing.  (She’ll usually hear the beginning sound and write it over and over like when she wrote FF for Frosty.) Madelynn choose an icy picture card and identified the picture. I helped her say the word slowly and she slid her finger under each letter snowball. I had her listen for the ending sound and then she filled in the missing sound with a clear gem letter.

 Snowman Name Craft:

For this week’s name craft we created this adorable snowman.  First Madelynn cut the snowman pieces out. Then she traced the letters in her name on each part of the snowman body. After she finished writing, she glued the snowman pieces together and added the snowballs under the head in order to spell her name.

Winter Journal Writing:

For our journal this week Madelynn chose to draw and label a snowman. Of course she decided to draw her favorite snowman buddy Frosty again.  This time I encouraged her to really listen for other sounds after the first “F” sound. She wrote “FT” so hooray for learning ending sounds!

Color By Shape Snowman:

Now that Madelynn is excellent at counting and identifying numbers to 10, we are switching up our focus for our color by the code activities.  For this week’s color by code activity Madelynn worked on identifying and naming shapes. I told her the color for each shape and she had to search and color each one in the picture.

Build a Teen Snowflake:

This week in math we are working on teen numbers. Madelynn has been doing great with identifying numbers 11 through 20 but still struggles to count out 11 through 20 objects (because you know 4 year-old attention span) So I put together this count and build snowflake math activity. I twisted 3 pipe cleaners together to make a snowflake. Then I gave Madelynn a bowl full of pony beads and snowflake number cards.  She chose a card then added that number of beads to each snowflake.This week in math we are working on teen numbers. Madelynn has been doing great with identifying numbers 11 through 20 but still struggles to count out 11 through 20 objects (because you know 4 year-old attention span) So I put together this count and build snowflake math activity. I twisted 3 pipe cleaners together to make a snowflake. Then I gave Madelynn a bowl full of pony beads and snowflake number cards.  She chose a card then added that number of beads to each snowflake.

Snowflake Ten Frames:

For this activity I started out by filling plastic ornaments with marshmallows in quantities of 11-20.
Madelynn choose an ornament, poured them out, then counted them. For additional number recognition and fine motor practice, she had to find the matching ten frame card and place the marshmallows on each snowflake.

 Mitten Stamp Book:

Our next number sense activity was a mitten stamp and count book. I helped Madelynn read the sentence on each page. Then she used mini dot stampers to add the correct number of spots to each mitten. The mini stamp markers were perfect for stamping quickly while counting.

Snowflake Catch & Count:

For our last number sense activity we reinforced the numbers 1-10 because you can never have too much practice right? Madelynn counted and velcroed snowflakes to each mitten to catch the correct number of snowflakes.

Snow Sensory Bin:

In this bin: instant snow, clear snowman cups, scoops, snowman cookie cutters, cupcake liners, puzzle “SNOW” word

Ice Paint/Tape Resist Snowflakes:

For this art activity I dyed water with liquid watercolors and froze them into blue & purple ice cubes with popsicle sticks in them. Then I taped snowflakes on cardstock with washi tape. Madelynn used the colored ice to paint over the snowflake shapes. After a bit of painting, I helped to remove the tape and reveal . *Be careful not to let the paper get too soaked or the tape will be hard to pull off without ripping the paper.

Pouring Ice Experiment:

This science activity took a bit of trial and error and prep time, but was totally worth it. First, I placed a bottle of water into a bucket and packed ice around the base. Then I poured salt over the ice and topped it with water to the bottle’s lid. Next, we let it sit for about 30 minutes (until the temperature was approximately 17 degrees.)
When I told Madelynn it was time, she carefully removed the bottle while I placed ice cubes in a mixing bowl. After I removed the cap, Madelynn slowly poured the water over ice cubes, and watched as an ice tower formed like magic.

Tissue Paper Snow Prints:

I’m loving how this pretty wintery craft turned out. Madelynn placed bleeding art tissue paper squares on top of white cardstock. Then she painted water on the tissue squares to color the white paper. After we allowed the paper to dry we easily peeled off the squares to reveal a gorgeous water colored background. Finally she used white tempera paint to stamp snowflakes on the colored paper.

Icy Sensory Bin:

In this bin: frozen water beads, cups, scoops, winter Little People

Want all of this week’s Winter activities for preschool?  You can grab them here:
On my site : Winter Plans & Printables On TpT: Winter Plans & Printables

Or you can grab our entire year of themes and plans:
On my site here: Preschool Bundle On TpT here: Preschool Bundle

Then check out the rest of our 45+ themes on the Preschool Curriculum Main Page.

The post Preschool: Winter first appeared on Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten.

**This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. View our full disclosure policy here.**

Here were our plans for Christmas week 2:

And here are the details for each activity:

Dream Snow Characters:

  Our first story this week was a simple Christmas favorite of mine, Dream Snow by Eric Carle. After reading Madelynn drew and labeled the characters in the story.

Christmas Retelling:

We love all of the Splat books, so our next story was Merry Christmas Splat by Rob Scotton. After reading Madelynn drew pictures to show what happened in the beginning, middle and end of the story.

Santa Comprehension:

Next, we read How to Catch Santa by Jean Reagan. After reading, we talked about all of the ways the kids tried to catch Santa. Then I asked Madelynn if she thought they would work or not.  Finally she drew to show what she thought would be the best way to catch Santa. Madelynn said she would lasso Santa, and leave carrots for the reindeer.

Pout Pout Fish Setting:

Our last Christmas book was The Not Very Merry Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen. Before reading we discussed and defined the setting as the time and place that a story happens. After reading, we talked about each part of the setting and Madelynn drew the time that the story took place (Christmas) and the place (in the ocean.)

Tracking Print:

Our last book was this letter M alphabet reader. Madelynn identified the picture then pointed to each word as she read. Afterwards she colored all of the pictures in.

Read and Color Tree:

This week we focused on beginning sounds so we started with this color by code activity. Madelynn identified each picture, then decided what letter it started with. Knowing it was one of the 5 listed on the left side of the page helped with some of the trickier sounds, then she followed the directions to make each spot the correct color.

Mitten Sound Stamping:

Next, for more letter practice we used our dot stampers. We started out stamping inside the letter to make an M for mitten. Then Madelynn had to find the upper and lowercase M’s in the mitten, stamp them and make the “M” sound each time.

Santa’s Syllable Sacks:

For a little syllable sorting, I printed Santa sacks with the numbers 1-4 on them. Then I also printed pictures of toys. Madelynn chose a toy, and clapped the syllables to figure out which sack it belonged in. I showed her how to count the syllables by putting up one finger for each clap, and she added it to the correct sack.

Christmas Tree Name Craft:

For this week’s name craft we created this cute Christmas tree.  First Madelynn cut the tree pieces out. Then she wrote the letters in her name on each ornament. After she finished writing, she glued the tree pieces together and added the ornaments in order to spell her name.

Reindeer Journal Writing:

For our journal this week Madelynn chose to draw what she would like to give someone as a gift. She decided that she wanted to give her friend Meredith a doll. So sweet

Christmas Lights Sand Tray:

Our first math activity this week was a Christmas themed writing tray.  I filled our clear tray with green sand and placed it on top of 2 light pads. Then Madelynn used small light number cards as a model to write numbers in the oats with her finger.

Christmas Bow Measuring:

This week we had a little fun with measurement.  We started out measuring length with nonstandard units.  I printed a Christmas bow measuring recording sheet and Madelynn chose an object to measure. After she found the item, she lined up present bows end to end to measure the length of the item, then recorded her answer.

Weighing Presents:

Our next measurement activity had Madelynn exploring weight and using a balance scale.  I filled 8 small boxes with objects of various weights. Then Madelynn weighed 2 boxes at a time on the balance scale. On the recording sheet, she circled the present that weighed more then, opened each box to see what was inside.

 Christmas Capacity:

Capacity is always a fun measurement concept for preschoolers, because they love to fill and dump things.  For our Christmas themed capacity exploration I filled our sensory bin with red and green water beads. Then I added various sizes of plastic fillable ornaments, measuring cups and spoons. Madelynn explored capacity by seeing how many water beads fit in each container. I helped her to make predictions and check to see how accurate they were as well.

Roll, Count, and Decorate Trees:

Four our last math activity of the week we focused on number identification and counting. First, I cut out green triangles and brown rectangles from tissue paper. The I laid them on top of a clear tray and placed a light pad underneath. Madelynn rolled a 1-20 die, identified the number, and counted out the correct number of clear Christmas table scatter for ornaments.

Washi Tape Christmas Trees:

This adorable little forest of trees was super easy for Madelynn to make, and she loved them because she is always asking to  play with my stash of washi tape. First she cut out triangle trees in various sizes.  Then she covered each one with strips of washi tape. I helped her to cut off the excess tape.

She cut and glued a brown rectangle to the bottom and added pom pom ornaments.

Christmas Play Dough:

On this tray: green play dough, dough roller, tree cookie cutter, foam shapes, buttons, sequins

Christmas Tree Light Box:

This light box was so mesmerizing, it had my girls busy all week long.  First I always save any giant boxes we get for projects like this.  (You know how kids always want to play with the box right?) This was a box from one of the girls’ car seats.

To make the tree, I laid the box down so the opening was on the side and drew a large triangle on the outside of the box.  Then I measured and poked holes with a screwdriver for each light. If you are a little OCD like me and want things all measured out evenly, here were my measurements:

9 inches across at the base and 18 inches tall
I used a string of 60 LED lights.
I started at the base with 10 holes across 1″ apart.
I made the next row 2″ above the first and poked 9 holes, again 1″ apart.
Then I repeated with each row 2″ above the previous one and light holes 1″ apart with one less each time.

After I poked all of the holes I pushed the lights in starting at the top so any extra lights and the plug were at the bottom. Then I added mini 3M hooks for the girls to hang mini ornaments on while playing inside.

Stamp Wreaths:

I can’t be the only one that loves finding random things in our house to use as stamps right? Well for this easy craft we used a ice cream cone to stamp wreaths all over a sheet of paper.  Then Madelynn glued on a few yarn bows and pom pom holly for a pretty little decoration.

Tradition Tree:

We finished off our Christmas theme talking about traditions.  We discussed how many families have special ways of celebrating holidays that they do every year.  Then we made a fun craft to show our learning.

First, Madelynn painted an entire paper plate green. After it dried, I cut it into 3 equal pieces. Madelynn glued the pieces together to form a tree and added the star to the top.
Finally she drew one family tradition on each ornament and glued them to the tree as well. To add a little extra color she glued a few colorful pom poms on the tree too.

Want all of this week’s Christmas activities for tot school?  You can grab them here:
On my site : Christmas Plans & Printables On TpT: Christmas Plans & Printables

Or you can grab our entire year of themes and plans:
On my site here: Preschool Bundle On TpT here: Preschool Bundle

Then check out the rest of our 45+ themes on the Preschool Curriculum Main Page.

The post Preschool: Christmas {Week 2} first appeared on Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten.

**This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. View our full disclosure policy here.**

Here were our plans for Christmas week 1:

And here are the details for each activity:

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell Retelling:

Our first read aloud was There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell by Lucille Colandro. After reading, I taped a picture of the little old lady to a wipe container then gave Madelynn pieces from the story. She fed them to the little old lady while retelling the story in order.

Santa Duck Predictions:

Our next story was Santa Duck by David Milgrim. Before reading, we practiced making predictions.

I asked “After looking at the cover, what do you think this story will be about?”  Madelynn: “The duck is going to deliver the presents.”  Then I asked: “What makes you say that?”  Madelynn: “Because he is dressed like Santa, so maybe Santa is sick.”

Polar Bear Problem & Solution:

Our next story was The Polar Bear Who Saved Christmas by Fiona Boon. Before reading we discussed and defined problem. We talked about how every story usually has a problem or something that goes wrong. After reading, Madelynn drew and labeled the problem in the story (Dasher had a broken leg.) Then we talked about and drew how the problem was solved (The polar bear helped fly the sleigh.)

 Merry Christmas, Mouse! Numbers:

Next we read the counting book, Merry Christmas Mouse! by Laura Numeroff. To practice counting and number words, I printed number and ornament cards from the story and cut out a large tree from construction paper. Madelynn stuck the numbers and ornaments onto a large tree in order to retell the story and practice counting.

Tracking Print:

Our last book was this letter C alphabet reader. Madelynn identified the picture then pointed to each word as she read. Afterwards she colored all of the pictures in.

Christmas Salt Tray:

Our first literacy activity this week was a Christmas themed salt tray.  To make this fun Christmas salt I mixed 1/2 cup salt with 1 tsp of red glitter. Madelynn used Christmas tree letter cards as a model and chose which ones she wanted to practice.  To add a bit more fun, we used plastic candy canes for writing letters too.

Christmas Sound Stamping:

Next, for more letter practice we used our dot stampers. We started out stamping inside the letter to make a C. Then Madelynn had to find the upper and lowercase c’s in the Christmas tree, stamp them and make the “C” sound each time.  We also talked about how C makes 2 sounds. Soft C says /s/ like “circle” and hard C says /c/ like “Christmas.”

Syllable Christmas Trees:

Madelynn is loving our light pad lately, something about it’s glow just always gets her engaged right away. I placed our clear tray on top of 2 light pads (You could use just one, but I grabbed an extra one since they are pretty cheap. We like the extra glow, and 2 fit perfectly under our large tray.) Then I printed Christmas trees with pictures on the stumps.  Madelynn chose a tree, and clapped the syllables in the picture on the stump. I showed her how to count the syllables by putting up one finger for each clap, and she added that many colored bingo chip ornaments to the tree.

 Elf Name Craft:

For this week’s name craft we created this adorable elf.  First Madelynn cut the elf pieces out. Then she traced the letters in her name on each stripe. We chose to do first and last name this week, but you could do just first name on one leg and plain stripes on the other. After she finished writing, she glued the elf pieces together and added the stripes to the legs in order to spell her name.

Christmas Journal Writing:

For our journal this week Madelynn chose to draw, decorate, and label a Christmas tree. After working hard on all the details, I encouraged her to label her picture. She wrote C for Christmas (which really impressed me since usually she only uses K for the /k/ sound) and TT for tree.

Santa Count and Color:

To continue working on counting and identifying numbers, Madelynn worked on this color by code activity. Madelynn counted the dots then had to follow the directions to make each spot the correct color.  She is getting pretty fast at counting the groups of 6-10 dots so we will have to switch up our math skill soon!

Christmas Positional Word Cut and Paste Book:

This week we focused on positional words in math. For our first activity, I created this simple printable book with cut out pieces.  On each page I used a different positional word (above, below, behind, next to, between, etc.) and Madelynn cut and glued the Christmas themed items in the correct spot on each page.

Where is Santa?

For this positional word game I made printable Christmas items and positional word direction cards. (We also plan to use these cards again with the pieces from our Little People Advent Calendar but we haven’t opened all the doors yet   Madelynn chose a card then put Santa in the correct position, easy peasy.

Christmas Positional Word Drawing Book:

This book is very similar to our cut & paste book, except Madelynn had to draw the missing parts instead of gluing them.  On each page Madelynn followed the directions to practice positional words and complete the Christmas themed picture. (Ex: Draw stripes ON the candy canes, draw a reindeer NEAR the sleigh.)

Christmas Number Mats:

We used these mats for LOTS of math practice this week. First, Madelynn identified the large number. Then she made it with play dough and counted the ornaments in the ten frame. Next, she used a dry erase marker to practice writing the number, and finally counted out red and green pom poms to make the correct amount.

 Fill Santa’s Sack:

For some science fun I set up this force and motion activity for Madelynn to experiment with. It was really easy to set up.  I taped Santa to a paper lunch bag, set up a small ramp with a flat board and a small container, then taped the bag to the edge of the table so the ramp would empty into it. Madelynn gathered a bunch of small toys then tested to see which toys rolled and which toys did not. Finally she sorted them onto the mats.

Red & Green Magnet Play:

In this bin: jingle bells, Magnatiles, magnet wands, mini ornaments, pipe cleaners, pom poms

Candy Cane Swirl Painting:

These paintings were super easy to do. First, I filled a shallow tray (thanks Target dollar spot!) with shaving cream. Then I added a few dots of red/green watercolor paint. Madelynn used a paintbrush to swirl the colors around. Then she gently placed a white cardstock circle on top and patted very lightly. She pulled it off of the shaving cream, then I helped her use a craft stick to push all of the excess cream off and reveal a swirled design. We made a bunch then allowed them to dry. After they dried we glued 2 wrapper pieces to the sides.

 Dot Stamp Ornaments:

Madelynn still loves the little felt tree that I made for her when she was a baby, so I figured it was time to add a few new decorations. I printed ornament outlines on cardstock. She covered the outline with a few strips of washi tape then used dot markers to stamp and color the remaining spaces. After peeling the tape, she cut the ornament out and I laminated it (to protect it from sassy little sisters). We added a Velcro dot t each one and stuck them on our felt tree.

Sticky Window Christmas Tree:

Our last activity of the week was Madelynn and baby sister Aubrey approved! I drew a large Christmas tree on the non-sticky side of a sheet of contact paper and stuck color ornaments to the tree so the color side will show through the paper when it is taped sticky side out. After taping it to the window, Madelyn went to town matching mini pom poms to the ornaments and sticking them to the paper. To complete the tree she added green paper shreds to fill in some texture.

That’s it for this week, but there is more Christmas fun to come in Christmas week 2!

Want all of this week’s Christmas activities for tot school?  You can grab them here:
On my site : Christmas Plans & Printables On TpT: Christmas Plans & Printables

Or you can grab our entire year of themes and plans:
On my site here: Preschool Bundle On TpT here: Preschool Bundle

Then check out the rest of our 45+ themes on the Preschool Curriculum Main Page.

The post Preschool: Christmas {Week 1} first appeared on Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten.

**This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. View our full disclosure policy here.**

Here were our plans for our reindeer theme:

And here are the details for each activity:

Reindeer Retelling:

Our first story was Olive, the Other Reindeer, by  Vivian Walsh and J. Otto Seibold. We started by reading the story.  After reading I gave Madelynn a response page divided into 3 columns for beginning, middle, and end. We talked about what happened in the story then Madelynn drew a picture to show each part. Afterwards I asked her to tell me about each picture/part of the story.

Beginning: He was listening to music.
Middle: He went with the reindeer to help.
End: They were at the North Pole and opened presents.

The Reindeer Problem:

Our next story was The Great Reindeer Rebellion by Lisa Trumbauer. Before reading we discussed and defined problem. We talked about how every story usually has a problem or something that goes wrong. After reading, Madelynn drew and labeled the problem in the story (Santa’s reindeer wouldn’t fly the sleigh.) Then we talked about how the problem was solved.

Making Predictions:

Our next story was The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett. Before reading, we practiced answering questions and making predictions.

  I asked “After looking at the cover, what do you think this story will be about?”  Madelynn: “That’s about reindeer.” Then I asked: “What will the reindeer do in the story?”

Madelynn: “They’re going to fly and deliver some presents.”

She is still making very basic predictions initially, but I love that she is starting to use the vocabulary that we have been talking about each week, like characters.

Reindeer Vocabulary:

For some nonfiction learning, we read Reindeer (A Day in the Life…Series) by Katie Marsico. While reading I used picture cards to reinforce new words. Then Madelynn made a reindeer vocabulary book. She drew pictures to show the meaning of each word and used the picture cards and book as a reference.

Tracking Print:

Our last book was this letter R alphabet reader. Madelynn identified the picture then pointed to each word as she read. Afterwards she colored all of the pictures in.

Sleigh Read and Color:

This week we focused on beginning sounds so we started with this color by code activity. Madelynn identified each picture, then decided what letter it started with. Knowing it was one of the 5 listed on the left side of the page helped with some of the trickier sounds, then she followed the directions to make each spot the correct color.

Reindeer Sound Stamping:

Next, for more letter practice we used our dot stampers. We started out stamping inside the letter to make an R for reindeer. Then Madelynn had to find the upper and lowercase r’s in Rudolph, stamp them and make the “R” sound each time.

Reindeer Rhymes:

This week we focused on rhyme again. For this rhyme sort, I taped reindeer feed bag labels onto small paper bags with pictures and printed carrots with rhyming pictures. First we read the word on each carrot, Madelynn found the rhyming word then placed it in the correct feed bag. Afterwards we brought them to our stuffed Sven (the reindeer from Frozen) for a little snack.

Reindeer Name Craft:

For this week’s name craft we created this fun reindeer.  First Madelynn cut the reindeer pieces out. Then she traced the letters in her name on each antler piece. After she finished writing, she glued the reindeer pieces together and added the antler pieces in order to spell her name. To finish off the reindeer she used a marker to draw a mouth.

Reindeer Journal Writing:

For our journal this week Madelynn chose to draw and label a reindeer habitat. She decided that her reindeer lived in a cave because that is what she saw in Rudolph.  After drawing she wrote Rudolph next to her reindeer with “RF.”  All the letter sound work and stretching out words is starting to show!

Magic Reindeer Feed Tray:

Our first math activity this week was a reindeer themed writing tray.  I filled the tray with oats and sprinkled with glitter. Then Madelynn used small reindeer number cards as a model to write numbers in the oats with jingle bells or her finger.

Reindeer Shape Run:

It’s starting to get a bit cold to be outside for long so it’s time to incorporate a little movement into our learning inside for sure. For this shape game Madelynn put on reindeer antlers and chose a shape reindeer card from our basket. Then I called out an action and she ran, jumped, tiptoed, hopped on one foot, and flew like a reindeer across the room to find the matching shape carrot in a basket. She named the shape then fed it to her matching reindeer.

Build a Shape Reindeer:

Learning shapes was fun with this little shape reindeer.  To make this activity more about shapes and less about cutting, I precut the reindeer shape pieces from construction paper. I also didn’t want her cutting skills to interfere with her ability to identify each shape. (The circles sometimes turn into squares and triangles into trapezoids depending on her cutting ability that day.)  I named a shape to find. Madelynn looked for it then followed directions to glue the pieces together and create a reindeer.

Reindeer Shape Puzzles:

These shape reindeer were just too cute, so I had to find another way to use them.  I created these little Rudolph shape puzzles. Madelynn matched the shape pieces together. Then I helped her read the shape words and match them to the puzzles.

Roll & Build Reindeer:

We can never have enough counting practice so I came up with this little game for Madelynn to get some more practice in this week.  First I printed the reindeer (without antlers) page. Madelynn rolled 1 or 2 dice. Then she counted out the correct number of brown connecting cubes and used them to build antlers for the reindeer.

Rudolph Sensory Bin:

In this bin: Rudolph finger puppets, artificial snow, artificial trees, and foam snowflakes

Fruit Cup Reindeer:

This little Rudolph was fun and easy to make.  Before we started I used a utility knife to poke 2 holes in the bottom of a few plastic fruit cups. Madelynn painted the entire fruit cup brown then we waited for it to dry. Next she bent small pipe cleaner pieces around a longer one to create antlers.  She pushed the antlers into holes in the fruit cup and I added a little hot glue on the inside so that they would stay in. Finally I helped Madelynn use hot glue to add googly eyes and a large pom pom nose. (I added a dot of glue and she was able to carefully push it into the glue without any problem, but you may want to do this part on your own!)

Rudolph Rockets:

These little rockets were hands down our favorite activity of the week. I printed black and white reindeer and Madelynn colored them in. I cut a few inches of length off 4 plastic pipettes and taped them to the back of each reindeer. Madelynn pushed a straw inside of the pipette on the first reindeer. Then  she blew in each one to see how far she could launch it. After she repeat with each reindeer we talked about which one went the furthest.

Reindeer Paper Plate Mask:

To prep this mask I cut out a semi-circle from the top center of a paper plate. Madelynn painted the plate brown. While we waited for it to dry she cut out cardstock antlers and a nose. I reinforced the antlers by taping a craft stick to the back of each one. When the plate was dry she drew a mouth with a marker and  helped glue the antlers and an additional craft stick to the bottom of the plate for a mask handle.

Reindeer Feeding Sensory Bin:

In this bin: oats, pipe cleaners (bent into reindeer shapes), cups, bowls, scoops

Want all of this week’s Reindeer activities for preschool?  You can grab them here:
On my site : Reindeer Plans & Printables On TpT: Reindeer Plans & Printables

Or you can grab our entire year of themes and plans:
On my site here: Preschool Bundle On TpT here: Preschool Bundle

Then check out the rest of our 45+ themes on the Preschool Curriculum Main Page.

The post Preschool: Reindeer first appeared on Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten.

**This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. View our full disclosure policy here.**

Here were our plans for our Gingerbread theme:

And here are the details for each activity:

Gingerbread Baby Retelling:

Our first story was Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett. We started by reading the story.  After reading I gave Madelynn 7 pictures from the story with simple sentences underneath. We read through them all together and then I prompted her to find what happened first, second, third, etc. She then glued them to her page in the correct order to retell the story.

Gingerbread Man Characters:

Our next story was The Gingerbread Man by Karen Schmidt. Before reading we discussed and defined characters.

“A character is a person or animal that does things in the story.”  After reading, I printed the Gingerbread Man characters response page. Madelynn drew and labeled the characters in the story then circled the main character. Most gingerbread stories are great for identifying characters because it is fun to remember all of the animals and people that chase the gingerbread man and the main character is easily identifiable.

Gingerbread Girl Retelling:

Our next story was The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst. We started by reading the story.  After reading I gave Madelynn 7 pictures from the story with simple sentences underneath just like we did with Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett. We read through them all together and then I prompted her to find what happened first, second, third, etc. She then glued them to her page in the correct order to retell the story.

Making Predictions:

Our next story was Gingerbread Cowboy by Janet Squires. Before reading, we practiced answering questions and making predictions.

I asked “After looking at the cover, what do you think this story will be about?”  Madelynn: “A gingerbread cowboy.”  Then I asked: “What do you think he will do?” 

Madelynn: “Run away from all the hungry characters.”

She is still making very basic predictions initially, but I love that she is starting to use the vocabulary that we have been talking about each week, like characters.

 Tracking Print:

Our last book was the letter G book from Abby’s Alphabet Book Series. Madelynn identified the picture then pointed to each word as she read. She has caught on to the pattern in these one word per page books, so she is completely independent with them at this point.

Gingerbread Salt Tray:

Our first literacy activity this week was a gingerbread themed salt tray.  To make this fun gingerbread scented salt I mixed 1/2 cup salt with 1 tsp each of cinnamon, ginger, and allspice.Madelynn used gingerbread man letter cards as a model and chose which ones she wanted to practice.  To add a bit more fun, we used gumdrops on toothpicks for writing letters too.

Gingerbread Sound Stamping:

Next, for more letter practice we used our dot stampers. We started out stamping inside the letter to make a G. Then Madelynn had to find the upper and lowercase g’s in the gingerbread man, stamp them and make the “G” sound each time.  We also talked about how G makes 2 sounds. Soft G says /j/ like “gingerbread” and hard G says /g/ like “girl.”

Baking Gingerbread Rhymes:

This week we focused on rhyme again. First I printed gingerbread cookies with rhyming pictures on them and then taped labels onto cookie sheets. Madelynn used a spatula to choose a cookie and identify the picture. Then she found the baking sheet with a rhyming picture at the top and added it to that pan. I chose words with the same ending sounds but different rimes (bat and jet, lip and hop) for a bit more of a challenge this time.  If your kiddos aren’t ready for that challenge you could start with just 2 rhymes to make it a bit easier then do the other 2 afterwards.

Gingerbread House Name Craft:

For this week’s name craft we created this super cute gingerbread house.  First Madelynn cut the house and decorations out. Then she traced the letters in her name on each gumdrop. After she finished writing, she glued the gingerbread house pieces together and added the gumdrops to the roof in order to spell her name. To finish off the house she added the rest of the decorations and used crayons/markers to make the candy cane stripes and window panes.

Gingerbread Journal Writing:

For our journal this week Madelynn chose to draw and label a gingerbread house. She also added a little gingerbread girl for her house.  I encouraged her to label each item so she wrote H and W for house.

Hot Cocoa Count and Color:

To continue working on counting and identifying numbers, Madelynn worked on this color by code activity. Madelynn counted the dots then had to follow the directions to make each spot the correct color.  Now that we’ve been doing these activities for a few weeks we moved onto 6-10 dots in each area.

Roll & Count Gingerbread House:

Like most kids, Madelynn of course loves any learning activities that involve food. She started out with an empty gingerbread house. Then she rolled 1 or 2 dice and counted the dots to identify the number.  After that she counted out the correct number of candy pieces and used them to decorate the gingerbread house. She repeated this many times until the house was completely decorated.

Gingerbread Counting Cookies:

This game was really easy to prep and fun to play.  To prep, I printed numbered gingerbread boys, then set out brown play dough, a rolling pin, a mini gingerbread boy cutter, and a baking sheet. Madelynn chose a card and identified the number.  Then she rolled out brown playdough, used a mini gingerbread man cookie cutter to make the correct number of cut outs and put them on a baking sheet.  We repeated with each gingerbread boy number card with numbers 1-10 to fill the entire baking sheet.

Count and Build Gumdrops:

For another easy number identification and counting game, I set up this count and build gumdrop activity. I printed a gingerbread spinner with numbers 1-10, laminated it, and added a a brass fastener and paperclip for the spinner. Madelynn gave the spinner a spin and identified the number.
Then she counted out that number of gumdrops and used toothpicks to build a gumdrop house. Wwe repeated until her house was complete. While building we talked about the different shapes she was making and any patterns we saw.

Gingerbread Number Mats:

We used these mats for LOTS of math practice this week. First, Madelynn identified the large number. Then she made it with play dough and counted the buttons in the ten frame. Next, she used a dry erase marker to practice writing the number, and finally counted out buttons to make the correct amount.

Gingerbread Baking Sensory Bin:

In this bin: gingerbread cloud dough (8 cups flour & 1 cup vegetable oil mixed together + 3T each allspice, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger), spoons, cups, gingerbread cookie cutters, pans and rolling pins

Gingerbread Face Plate:

This project turned out so ute and was even easy enough for my 19 month old to join in.  First I cut brown tissue paper into squares, printed gingerbread face cut outs on colored cardstock, and
mixed 1/4 cup white glue and 1/4 cup water together. Madelynn used watered down glue to paint a paper plate. Then she stuck brown tissue paper squares to the glue and painted over them with more watered down glue.  We allowed the plate to dry then glued white string around the rim of the plate for icing and red string for a mouth. Finally we finished it off with the paper shapes for eyes and a bow.

Build a Boat for the Gingerbread Man:

Our science activity this week was a simple STEM activity. I set up a tray with a gingerbread boy, aluminum foil rectangles, straws, pipe cleaners, and rubber bands. Then I filled a small bin with water. Madelynn used the materials to build a boat for the gingerbread boy so he didn’t get eaten by the fox.

Gingerbread Puffy Paint:

For this craft I made a batch of puffy paint, by mixing equal parts of shaving cream and white glue. Then I added brown food coloring, a few drops at a time until I got a nice gingerbread color. I printed a bunch of gingerbread outlines on cardstock. Madelynn painted them with the puffy paint and added buttons, bits of yarn and googly eyes to complete her gingerbread boys and girls.

Gingerbread Sensory Bin:

In this bin: brown paper shred, gingerbread pan and cut outs, pom poms, buttons, pipe cleaners, and jingle bells

Want all of this week’s Gingerbread activities for tot school?  You can grab them here:
On my site : Gingerbread Plans & Printables On TpT: Gingerbread Plans & Printables

Or you can grab our entire year of themes and plans:
On my site here: Preschool Bundle On TpT here: Preschool Bundle

Then check out the rest of our 45+ themes on the Preschool Curriculum Main Page.

The post Preschool: Gingerbread first appeared on Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten.