Our Thanksgiving Feast

F is for Feast!

This week at school, in preparation for next week's Thanksgiving celebration, we talked about FEASTS!

We got started by coloring some Thanksgiving placemats. I traced a proper table setting onto each child's paper in hopes that they might improve their manners while coloring. I'm not sure if my scheme worked!

Then we moved on to circle time, where we talked about Christ feeding the 5,000...feasting on fishes and loaves.

We also learned this cute poem by Ivy O. Eastwick:

Thanksgiving

Thank you

for allmy hands can hold-

apples red,

and melons gold,

yellow corn

both ripe and sweet,

peas and beans

so good to eat!

For show-and-tell we talked about our favorite foods. I think Goldfish crackers were mentioned at least twice!

Throughout circle time the children were treated to spontaneous visits from Owen. They were all very generous and shared their carpet squares. Thanks, Joseph and Delainey!

Next we had singing time were we danced to a few Thanksgiving songs (love Tom Chapin's "Thanksgiving!) This is my favorite picture I took all day...the kids were singing "Over the River" while pretending to ride in the sleigh to Grandmother's house. Delainey drove...and the boys were happy passengers!

We then read a few Thanksgiving books and talked about CORNICOPIAS!

We headed back to the table and colored, cut out, and assembled our very own horns-of-plenty!

During snack time the kids made sugar cone cornicopias by filling ice cream cones with rainbow goldfish crackers (hooray!) and fruit-shaped fruit snacks. Yummy and very healthy (wink, wink.)

Sadly, that is where my picture-taking ended for the day! After a late snack time, we finished our day by playing a fun counting game with Thanksgiving foods and practicing our handwriting.

We had fun! Can't wait to see you at our big FEAST next week!

“T” is for Turkey! (and Thanksgiving)

Preschool was a real Treat This Tuesday!  We focused on turkeys and being thankful, both of which start with the letter “T”!  We started off the morning playing with some homemade flubber just for fun…and then we transitioned into the living room for circle time!  Max said the opening prayer, Joseph held the scripture spotlight, and Lainey checked our weather.  We sang the days of the week song, did show and tell about with things we are thankful for, and then practiced the rhyme, “I’m a little teapot”.  Next we talked about what thanksgiving means, who gives us our blessings, etc.

After getting our wiggles out to some fun songs with instruments, we did the following at singing time:

I am Thankful
(sung to "Where is Thumbkin?")
I am Thankful, I am Thankful
Yes I am, Yes I am
I’m Thankful for my friends
I’m thankful for my kin
Yes I am, Yes I am
(Explain that kin is another word for family! )

 

Turkey Dinner

(Tune: Are You Sleeping?)

Turkey dinner, turkey dinner,

Gather round, gather round,

Who will get the drumstick?

Yummy, yummy drumstick!

 

Turkey Pokey
It was like the Hokey Pokey, only we did our right and left wings, our beaks, and our tailfeathers.  The kids all got a kick out of this…and I did too!  After singing up an appetite, we ventured to the kitchen to make our “turkey muffins.”  Really, this didn’t turn out as cute as I had hoped (I forgot the beak!) but…you can kind of see where we were going with this. A banana-cinnamon (egg-less) muffin, with a grape head, mini chocolate chip eyes, and apple slices for the tail. Joseph was really the only one who wanted to make the turkey…Max and Delainey were too hungry! : )

After snack time we read The Berenstein Bear’s Giant Pumpkin…it’s all about the real meaning of Thanksgiving. It’s a cute book from my childhood, and the kids were attentive during story time.  Then we went and made our craft…thankful turkey headbands!  Everyone did a great job gluing on the eyes, taping on the feathers, and thinking of things they were thankful for.

Then it was time to practice writing…we practiced writing T’s, and then we did another cutting and coloring activity. 

Then it was time to PLAY! We all ran outside since the weather was beautiful, and enjoyed some fresh air!  When we came inside, we sat in a circle and played “hot potato” thankful game…it went like this:

Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving,
What am I thankful for,
It's your turn to share with us,
1, 2, 3, 4!

Whoever had the ball at the end said something they were thankful for. 

Next we sang the goodbye song, and played until the moms came.

It was a wonderful day of preschool…I am so THANKFUL for Delainey, Joseph and Max! : )

“P” is for Pilgrim

This month we are focusing on Thanksgiving.  I kicked the theme off by learning about the Pilgrims. 

During circle time we talked about the pioneers who traveled a long way for religious freedom, just like the Pilgrims.  For show and tell the children brought items that they would take with them on a long trip on a boat.  Delainey said she would bring an oar (smart girl), Max brought his special blanket, and Joseph shared his snuggly lamb.

After some fun songs about Thanksgiving, and a yummy snack (goldfish, because the pilgrims at fish), we talked more about the story of the Pilgrims and Indians.  We used a felt board and felt board figures to tell the story, and found their location on a globe. 

One of the interesting things we learned about Pilgrims is that they lived in one room log cabins.  Using pretzels and glue, the children made their own log cabins.  They turned out pretty cute.  Then after a little handwriting practice the children were excited to play.  We built a log cabin with Lincoln Logs and played inside of a log cabin (tent). 

It was another fun day of preschool!      

Harvest Field Trip

 

Tuesday was our second field trip of the year!  This month we had learned about leaves, the harvest and jack-o-lanterns, so we knew a farm and pumpkin patch would be a perfect field trip!

Here are our little scholars on a big John Deer tractor!

On our way to the hayride, we walked through their cow barn. We saw many cows of different sizes and colors. All the cows seemed to have a lot to say…they were mooing like crazy! Kathryn said it well—they put on quite a show for us! 

Here was my best attempt at Max, Delainey and Joseph…maybe Kathryn or Emily got a better one? : )

I LOVE this pic of Joseph! he looks so happy on the hay ride!

After the hayride, we got to see Mr. Page feed one of the baby calves (one month old) from a bottle. His mother didn’t produce enough milk. That was pretty cute to watch “Billy Bob” guzzle it down.

All of the kids had a great time playing on the pipe/hay slide! Even Sallie, Owen and Henry went down.

After playing on the slides, we went to a mini hay maze they set up.  The swings they had were also a hit. Max & Joseph took turns pushing each other.

After lunch and lots of swinging, we made our way to the pumpkin patch to choose a pumpkin! All of the kids got to choose a pumpkin, and so did the teachers (or Sallie, Owen and Henry!)

It was really a perfect day—beautiful weather, happy kids, and a lovely little farm to visit. Yay for preschool in the fall!

J is for Jack-o-Lantern!

We started our pumpkin party by assembling our very own paper jack-o-lanterns! I asked who could create the "spookiest, happiest" pumpkin and they were all up to the challenge and kept talking about their spooky, happy jack-o-lanterns!

During circle time we talked about John the Baptist and learned the nursery rhyme "Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater." For show-and-tell, the kids were excited to share their something with a face. Max shared his Whinnie the Pooh doll; Delainey brought her beloved baby; and Joseph brought his pilot.

After reading Pumpkin Circle by George Levenson and Pumpkin Heads By Wendell Minor, we headed back to the table to glue pumpkin seeds into the shape of the letter J.

We also did a fun (but unexpectedly difficult) craft where we made pumpkins using yarn and pipe cleaners. The kids were supposed to wrap orange yarn around their little piece of cardboard 80-100 times. Each one had their own approach...

...Joseph was very slow and careful...

...while Max was a little faster, a little sloppier...

...and Delainey's pumpkin was more free-form. Very creative.

Here are the finished products. (Max's wasn't really that good. He ran upstairs right after he finished and put his on his bulletin board...so the one in the picture is mine.)

During playtime, the kids decided to play soccer! Joseph kicked...

...while his classmates awaited the ball. So cute!

And that wraps up our J Day!