Over on the Farm

I am loving our combined preschool. We meet once a week and this week we met at my friend Shelli’s house. The kids loved it! She chose the book “Over on the Farm” and focused on counting and farm animals, especially chickens.

You will love her ideas! It was a fun preschool day.

 

• Read “Over on the Farm” by Christopher Gunson … You can read or sing the words as it counts the farm animal moms and their babies 1-10. Available here.
  1. Before you read, ask the kids what they see on the cover. What do they think the story will be about?
  2. Have the kids hold up 1-10 fingers as you read each page.

  

• Animal Pictures … click the images above to download!
  1. Print out several farm animal pictures and their products (eggs, milk, bacon…) Instead of clipart, my friend Shelli printed out actual photos. I think the kids loved seeing real pictures of the animals. I put together a few pages if you’d like to use them (all from Microsoft Clipart)!
  2. Ask the kids to name a farm animal & show them the matching picture.
  3. Ask them what we use from that animal & show them the product pictures.
     • Cow = milk, beef
     • Pigs = ham, bacon
     • Chicken = eggs, meat
     • Sheep = wool sweater, yarn

• Guess the Animal Sound!
  1. Use the animal sounds found here.
  2. This game plays a farm animal sound and gives you four pictures to choose from.
  3. Simple and perfect for preschoolers!

• Chicken Eggs … next we went to the kitchen to become little chefs!
  1. If you can, show the kids fresh chicken eggs.
  2. The kids were surprised to see that they don’t look exactly like the white store-bought eggs we’re used to.
  3. Crack an egg into a bowl (then use for snack recipe below)
  4. Show them the yellow yolk and the egg white.
  5. Did you know? … An egg yolk contains all of the vitamins and minerals our bodies need, except for one ….. vitamin C! I learned something new! See info here and here.

   

• Make Oven-Baked Chicken Toes … recipe here from Rachel Ray (delicious!)
  1. Have the kids wash their hands. It’s great to teach the kids that we wash our hands before cooking and how to do it!
  2. Tie on an apron. Shelli had kid-sized aprons for each of the kids with their names written on the front (great to teach them to recognize their names). So cute! And the kids were ready to cook. Found at Hobby Lobby, Michaels or here.
  3. Hands on! … The kids can make the breadcrumb coating while an adult gets the rest of the recipe ready.
     • Count as you measure out scoops of cornflakes.
     • Let the kids use their hands to crunch the cornflakes down to crumbs.
     • Add breadcrumbs and seasonings. Use hands to mix. They loved it!
     • Put the mixture in a ziploc baggie, have an adult add the raw chicken, zip it and let the kids shake!
  4. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.
  5. NOTE: the kids loved being involved in the cooking, using their hands and helping. I loved how much counting and measuring and learning was going on without even realizing it!

Thanks Shelli!