Huckleberry Preschool

It’s huckleberry season here in Montana, so we did preschool activities to go along with it.
*These activities could also be used with B is for Blueberries (or B is for Berries).

• Pick Huckleberries!
1. We went on a hike to find our huckleberries
2. Pick, and eat, as many huckleberries as you can! (at least 1 cup for the projects below)
3. Talk about the different sizes and colors of huckleberries as you pick
• be sure to also talk about different wild berries how some kinds of berries are not safe to eat, so always ask before they try a berry!

• Huckleberry Dot-Counting
• You’ll need: paper, green crayon/marker/etc, die, and a dot-stamper
  
  
1. Start with a picture of hand drawn leaves all over the page to make a big huckleberry bush (minus the huckleberries, for now).
2. Have your child roll the die and count the dots.
3. Using the dot-stamper (we used a purple color like a huckleberry!), stamp that many “huckleberries” on the bush.
4. Repeat as many times as your preschooler wants, or once the bush fills up!

• Huckleberry Observations and Comparisons
  **My preschooler REALLY like this one.
• You’ll need: dixie cups (or sorter), berries of choice (we used blueberries and huckleberries), paper with observation/comparison questions (see below), crayons
1. Use the handout below, or make your own – on a piece of paper, divide it into as many sections as you have different berries (ie: we used 2 berries, so we had 2 sections – Huckleberry and Blueberry), write the berry names at the top (or have your preschooler write the names), and add things for your preschooler to observe and compare.
• Going through the paper I made:
1. (Write the names of the berries at the top) Which letters in their names are the same - match and color them
2. What color are the berrie
3. What size are the berries – small, medium, or large
4. How do they taste – good, not good, sour
5. How do they smell – good or not good
6. What shape are the berries
7. How much do you like them (color part or all of heart)

1. As you go through the questions with your preschooler, let them answer however they think, then talk about why they answered it that way.
2. After the observations are recorded, let them eat the rest of the berries in the cups!

• Make Huckleberry Muffins
1. Put an apron on your preschooler and let them help measure & pour in the ingredients, and stir the muffin batter
2. If you use liners, put those in, then have your preschooler count a certain amount of huckleberries in each cup
• Each column I told her a different number of huckleberries that she needed to put in (ie: first column is 4 huckleberries, the next is 5 huckleberries, etc.)
• It takes a while to fill up the whole pan with huckleberries, but it’s a great counting activity, especially if they get to eat some berries while they do it!

1. (I added huckleberries to the batter), spoon batter in, and bake. While you wait, you can make up a Huckleberry story!

• Make up a story about a Huckleberry
1. I recorded my preschooler as she made up a story about a huckleberry (named Huck) with question prompts from me. It’s pretty cute what their imaginations come up with.
2. Write it down word-for-word, so they always have that story
3. If they are feeling artistic, have them draw a scene from their story or you can help them draw it and they can add dot-stamp huckleberries (you could also help them make an actual book of their story).
4. Re-tell the story as you look at their picture/s, or have them re-tell it to you while you snack on huckleberry muffins.

My Preschooler’s Huckleberry Story:

-Kiley

B is for Bears (Book Scavenger Hunt)

We’ve done lots of different books for bears. But I think I liked today’s BEAR preschool the best of all. It was simple, fun, the kids really enjoyed it, and we got to read lots of good books!

• Read “We're Going on a Bear Hunt” by Michael Rosen & Helen Oxenbury

• Preschool Journal B Page … I’m really liking these journal pages. They’re quick, but we get writing practice every day and the stickers and drawings are a fun reminder of each of our days.
  1. Practice writing letter Bb and “Bear”
  2. Put bear stickers on the page.

• Gummy Bear Song … my kids loved this, so fun! Of course, we had to do it several times since there were gummy bears involved. Original idea here.
  1. Set out 5 gummy bears of different colors.
  2. Give the kids 5 pennies (total)
  3. Sing the rhyme & take turns buying (and eating) a gummy bear!

• Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear Rhyme … a great get-up-and-wiggle rhyme

  Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around. Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground. Teddy bear, teddy bear, up on tiptoes. Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch your nose. Teddy bear, teddy bear, walk with me. Teddy bear, teddy bear, bend your knee. Teddy bear, teddy bear, hop around, Teddy bear, teddy bear, sit on the ground.

• Going on a Bear Hunt … this was the highlight of our bear day. A relaxed bear hunt with lots of stories along the way … and yummy snacks!
  1. Cut out several brown bear paws. I just drew a simple paw on brown paper.
  2. Write a clue on each paw.
  3. Pull several bear-themed books out of your bookshelf (or from the library!) These are just the ones we had on hand.
  4. I put a little bear snack with each book and clue. The kids munched on their snack while I read a bear book or two. Our clues & snacks:
     • Look on mom’s bed (no snack)
     • Look in the garage (gummy bears)
     • Look under a blanket in your room (teddy grahams)
     • Look on the slide fort (bananas … starts with B!)
     • Look under the kitchen table (chocolate pudding)
     • Look in the bathtub (that’s where our bear was hiding with a special treat)
     • NOTE: you could also make blueberry muffins!
  5. We followed the paws until we found our stuffed bear holding the kids treat. A cute bag of gummy bears that said, “You’re a Beary Good Reader” … I found the idea and free printable here.

 

A is for Ants

• Read “Thinking About Ants” by Barbara Brenner

• Preschool Journal A page … more on this soon.
  1. Practice writing letter A and “Ants”
  2. Draw a picture of ants
  3. Put ant stickers all over!

• Playdoh Ants
  1. Set out black playdoh, toothpicks, small black pipe cleaners & googly eyes.
  2. Have the kids roll three balls of playdoh
  3. Poke three balls onto a toothpick
  4. Add toothpick legs (6 of them!), googly eyes and pipe cleaner antennae (we didn’t have pipe cleaner, so we used toothpicks).

• Ant Math … may work better for older preschoolers.
  1. Print the Ant Math page above and slip into a page protector.
  2. Roll a dice and place that many plastic ants on the head.
  3. Roll again and place that many plastic ants on the thorax. 
  4. Add those two together and write the number on the abdomen.
  5. Erase and start again.
  6. NOTE: this was a little much for my kids. They did it twice, then thought it would be more fun to hide their ant picture and dice and find them. So we did that over and over instead. Oh well!
  7. Other Activities:
     • Draw dots all over the ant page and have the kids place one plastic ant on each dot.
     • Write the ABCs or 123s on the ant, call out a number or letter and have the kids cover it up with a plastic ant.

• Find ants with magnifying glass
  1. Give the kids a magnifying glass and go on an ant hunt.
  2. It’s amazing how many little creatures you discover when you look closely.
  3. My 4-year-old actually found a little ant hill in our garden! We watched tons of little ants carrying eggs and little bits of food. Pretty fascinating!

• Make an ant restaurant … this is a favorite activity for my kids.
  1. Write “ANT Restaurant” on a paper plate.
  2. Place a small sample of several kinds of food on the plate.
     • My kids chose crackers, honey, a blueberry, a piece of peach, chocolate chips, a crouton and chocolate syrup. Yum. 
  3. Place in a shady location and wait!
  4. Come back and see how many ants have visited your restaurant!
  5. *The ants loved the chocolate syrup