Back-to-School preschool

• Back-to-School Treasure Hunt
        We love doing “treasure hunts” at our house. So for this back to preschool activity, I set up a treasure hunt, with sticky note clues and lots of back-to-school related books and items that she found along the way.

1. Sticky notes (are the easiest) or paper with clues – as simple as “look under your pillow” and/or draw a picture of a bed with a pillow.
2. Stick the clue to a book or back-to-school item and have them collect them along the way
   
• Tip: the first item my preschooler found was her backpack, so she could then fill it up with all the books and items as she went along.
3. After the hunt, get a snack and sit down to read all the books they found! (see the next few ideas for more activities to go along with some of the books)

• Practice writing their name
1. Read David Goes to School by David Shannon
   
• All throughout the book it uses the writing paper. Point out to your preschooler how the book uses the writing paper with the words. Have your preschool look for letters in their name on the pages.
• Practice using writing paper, write their name (draw solid or dotted letters for them to trace if they need help with their names).
  
  
  
2. Explore different ways to write their name
   We used:
• Pencil/Crayons/Markers/Colored Pencils
• Sidewalk Chalk
• Lettered Beads
• Stamp Letters
• ABC Stickers, Magnents, Stencils
• etc…

• Crayons in Rice sensory bin

1. With the crayons they used to write their name (or from their treasure hunt), bury them in a rice/bean/wheat bin for sensory fun.
• use Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Pink, Black, and Brown for a coloring project below.
2. As they dig up each crayon, have your preschooler use it to color the correct items and words on this page.

• Read If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff

1. Collect a few items from around the house that are talked about in the book.
   Ideas are:
• Lunchbox
• Notebook and pencils
• Backpack
• Science Experiment (pictured below is THIS one)
• Soap/paper towels
• Building blocks/legos
• Clay/playdoh
• Notebook paper
• Soccer ball/Basketball/Skateboard
• Snack
2. Read the book again, and as you read, have your preschooler find the item you are reading about in the book. Put in order of sequence.
3. Play “What’s Missing”
• Lay all the items you are using for this book out on the floor or table.
• Have your preschooler close their eyes and remove an object (hide it so they dont know what you took)
• Have them open their eyes and figure out what’s missing.
• Then give them a turn to pick and item and you guess what’s missing.

• Read Albert Starts School by Eleanor May

1. Talk about the days of the week, show them on a calendar
• The Dollar store sometimes has days of the week items, or something like these, or make your own, or just write it out!
2. With your preschooler, decide (or tell them) what specific things are planned for each day of the week, just like in the book with Albert and school.
• ie: Mondays is Library day, Tuesdays is Art, etc.
• Leave the schedule up where they will look every day so your preschooler can plan and anticipate what is happening each day of the week.

C is for Colors

There are so many fun COLOR books and activities. We did several books alternating with an activity. Do them all or pick and choose which ones work for you! We get most of our books from our local library.

• Read “Colors for Zena” by Monica Wellington … available here.
  1. A fun book about a girl named Zena. She goes for a walk to find all of the colors that seem to be missing.

• Do ‘C’ journal page … we used a fun multi-color pen from the dollar store to write our letters. 
  1. Write ‘Cc’ on the next blank page.
  2. Write ‘COLORS’. I write this for my 2-year-old. My 4-year-old copies the word from the front of our book!
  3. Practice writing big C’s and little c’s.
  4. Draw a simple rainbow on your journal page.
  5. Add colorful stickers to the rainbow. Available here .

• Read “Animal Colors” by Beth Fielding … available here. 
  1. A very bright and colorful book! There are lots of interesting pictures. We really enjoyed this one.

 

• Make paint chip colors book … I keep this little book in my purse and pull it out when my 2-year-old needs an easy activity while we’re out. He will pick a color and we’ll look for things that match that color.
  1. Collect several paint chips from a local hardware store.
  2. Print the color names on sticker labels.
     • TIP: You could also just write the color names on sticker labels with markers. If you have time, your preschooler could also help write the words!
  3. Hole punch each of the paint chips and clip together with a circle fastener.
  4. Have your preschooler choose a paint chip color and stick the matching color name to it.
  5. When you’re finished, “read” the book together!

• Read “The Rainbow Book” by Kate Ohrt … available here. 
  1. This is a fun, bright book. Each page has a cutout that overlaps the next page, making it very colorful and fun to read.

• Color Hunt … I have used these color circles since my 10-year-old was about two. The kids never get tired of this  
  1. Cut out circles in several different colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, black, brown, grey)
  2. Write (or print) the color name on each circle.
  3. Laminate. I use this laminator.
  4. Have your preschooler choose a circle.
  5. Hunt around the house for things that match their color!
  6. We also have these colored-letter clothespins that we matched to the colored circles. Not necessary, but it was fun (I found them at Michaels).
     • TIP: You could also simply write letters on clothespins with different colored markers.

• Read “A Color of His Own” by Leo Lionni … available here. 
  1. This is a classic story about a chameleon who is not very happy that he blends in with everything, until he meets someone just like him!
  2. Ask your preschooler to find the word “color”. Hint: it’s the word that starts with a ‘C’!
  3. What colors do they see on the front cover?

• Colorful Painter’s Tape Art
  1. PREP: Use painter’s tape (available at a hardware store) to make the first initial of your preschooler’s name on white cardstock.
  2. Pour a small blob of several colors of paint on a plate. We use Crayola washable paints.
  3. Let your preschooler use their hands to cover the entire paper with color!
  4. Let dry, then remove the painter’s tape!

• Read “Red, Stop! Green, Go!” by P. D. Eastman … available here.
  1. This is a simplified version of “Go, Dog, Go!”
  2. There are several interactive pages (wheels to turn, tabs to pull)
  3. I love the page that changes the yellow dog to a green dog when it dives into the blue water (transparent film). Pretty creative!

• Play “Extreme Red Light, Green Light” … I’m sure we’re not the only family that plays this traditional game a little differently
  1. Use the same color circles from the activities above.
  2. Have your preschoolers stand at one end of the room (or outside!)
  3. Stand at the opposite side of the room, holding the colored circles.
  4. When you hold up the GREEN circle, the kids walk toward you.
  5. When you hold up the RED circle, the kids stop!
  6. If they continue to move, you can send them back to the starting line again.
  7. EXTREME: Add a few more colors, one at a time Have the kids help decide what they should be:
     • ORANGE: crawl
     • YELLOW: slow-motion
     • BLUE: hop!
     • PURPLE: walk backwards
     • BLACK: giant jumps!

• Have a COLORFUL snack! … this was a fun and favorite lunch
  1. Make a snack together with all the colors in the rainbow.
  2. We used red pepperoni and strawberries, oranges, a banana, green kiwi and blueberries. Mmmm!

C is for Colors (Fall Colors!)

I love all of the fall changes in the air. We enjoyed the fall colors for preschool. We made an extra colorful fall treat to celebrate the first day of fall!

• Read “Mouse's First Fall” by Lauren Thompson …  or any other book with great fall colors!

• Preschool Journal C Page
  1. Practice writing Cc and “Colors” … we used fun pencils with lots of colors so our page was extra colorful.
  2. Stick colorful fall leaf stickers to the page (I found these at Michaels).

• Colorful Fall Hand Trees
  1. Trace your preschoolers hand and forearm on brown paper.
  2. Let them cut it out (I helped my 3-year-old, but my 4-year-old did it all by himself)
  3. Glue their hand tree to light blue paper.
  4. Stick colorful fall leaf stickers to the page … some on the tree, some on the ground and some falling! We used these, but I found them at Michaels.

   

• Colorful Crayon Shaving Leaves … I love how these look in the window
  1. Use a sharpie to draw a large leaf outline on wax paper.
  2. Have the kids help remove the paper from several fall colored crayons.
  3. Make crayon shavings by using a manual pencil sharpener. I let my kids try to do this themselves, but it was a little tricky. They had more fun when I made a pile of crayon shavings for them to use.
  4. Sprinkle the crayon shavings all over the wax paper.
  5. Place another piece of wax paper on top.

     (before)                             (after ironing)

  6. Place a large piece of paper on your ironing board, then the wax paper leaf, then top with another large piece of paper.
  7. Carefully iron on top of the paper (on LOW heat). It doesn’t take very long to melt. The more your iron, the more the colors smoosh together. I like to do it until the colors are just starting to spread.
  8. Let cool. They cool very quickly.
  9. Cut around your leaf shape and hang in the window!

• Colorful Fall Scavenger Hunt & Wreath
  1. Make a simple colorful wreath
     • Trace around a large plate and a smaller cup to make a wreath shape.
     • Using the wreath as a pattern, cut out several fall colors & glue them around the wreath.
  2. Take your colorful wreath on a fall scavenger hunt walk. Find leaves and other fall items that match your colors.
  3. When you get home, glue the items to the matching colors.
  4. Hang up your colorful fall wreath!

• Fall Colored Sugar Cookies … these were a yummy treat to end our colorful day and were fun to make!
1. Make a batch of your favorite sugar cookies.
2. Divide the dough into four balls.
3. Color each ball a different fall color. We used red, orange, yellow, and green.
4. Take pieces from each ball and smoosh the colors together into a large ball.
5. Roll out your dough (and ooh and ahh at the cool colors)
6. Use a leaf cookie cutter to cut out your cookies. This is the one we used:
7. Sprinkle with colored sugar sprinkles & bake.
8. Delicious … even without frosting.