Foot-er-flies

It's butterfly week! After we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and check to see how big our caterpillars got while we were home for the weekend, we make these "foot-er-flies". This is a butterfly I made with my nephew's feet when he was a couple of months old, but I do it with my 3 year old class each year. They crack up when I paint their feet :)

Simple Volcano

Science is very popular in a three and four year old classroom...and I'll do anything to keep those kids sitting still on circle carpet for more than thirty seconds :) I made a volcano with them today that they absolutely loved...and it was so cheap and simple that I'll probably do it a few more times before summer break.  All you need is baking soda, vinegar, two paper cups (one with a dime size hole cut in the bottom), and food coloring if you want to make colored 'lava'. Put about a quarter cup of baking soda in the bottom of one cup and add some optional drops of food coloring on top. Cut a dime size hole in the bottom of the second cup and tape it to the top of the cup with the baking soda. (Make sure you do this on some sort of tray or you'll have a huge mess) Slowly pour vinegar into the hole...the more vinegar you use, the more the 'volcano' will erupt. Simple, cheap and fun!

The Purple Crayon

One of my favorite things to do is fun activities tied in with great children's books. The kids love the book "Harold and the Purple Crayon" by Crockett Johnson, and I wanted to give them a chance to bring it to life in their own way and make the connection that reading can be really fun. I bought a large inflatable purple crayon and had each child pose for a picture holding it however they wanted. After reading the book to them I gave them a half sheet of white paper and one purple crayon and asked them to draw someone or something that makes them feel happy. After developing the pictures I cut around each of their bodies and the large crayon they were holding and found a good place to put them into the pictures they each drew. The results are adorable, and probably one of my favorite bulletin board ideas of all time :)

 

Adorable Spring Bulletin Board

For our Spring theme I wanted to do something cute, and I love using pictures of the kids because they're cute...win win! I bought a foam board from a local craft store and cut an oval in it toward the top of the board. I painted a flower on one side for my three year old class, and I painted a bumble bee on the other side for my four year old class. I hung them on a bulletin board with the saying "Spring is in the air!" It turned out great! (I erased their faces for these pictures, but you get the idea) I also did the same thing for a November bulletin board with a foam board and a turkey painted on it...also adorable...I have a really cute class :)