As the end of the school year approaches, you may consider assessing your preschoolers' academic skills.  Do they know their colors, upper and/or lowercase letters, 123's, any letter sounds?  Are they heading off to kindergarten in the Fall?  Have they made progress over the last year?

Assessments offer a way to see if your teaching and your students are progressing over the school year.

Here is a great award to print for your preschoolers.  Circle the crayons of each color that your preschooler can name.  

This printable and other assessment printables can be found on the Assessment tab of this website.
 

8 Spring themed preschool worksheets - free, here on the Spring printable page!

COULD YOUR GRADUATING PRESCHOOLERS BENEFIT FROM A KINDERGARTEN BOOT CAMP AT THE END OF THIS SCHOOL YEAR or DURING THE SUMMER?!?

Fun and enriching ideas for a 2 week Get Ready for Kindergarten Program
For children entering Kindergarten in the Fall, offer a Kindergarten Boot Camp style program that mimics what will happen during the first month of Kindergarten.  Not necessarily an academic program, more of a social and skills based program to help children have a better transition.  Returning from Disneyland the day before a child's first day of school is not going to help a child!  

Practice all the skills needed for a successful transistion to Kindergarten:

*Taking shoes on and off.

*Hanging up jackets on hooks.

*Practice lining up at the door and at transition periods.

*Join a Summer Reading program and read together everyday for at least 20 minutes.  Most Kindergarten programs request that parents read with their children for at least 20 minutes every night as part of their "homework."  Start now!

*Cut pictures out of magazines and paste onto paper to improve scissor and pasting skills

*Go shopping for a new backpack and lunchbox.

*Sit at circle time and listen to a story and learn to raise hands and share or ask questions when asked.

*Practice asking for assistance when needed (i.e., straw in juice box, where is the bathroom?)

*Practice writing name in new and fun ways.

*Before school starts, make sure you transition to earlier bedtime and earlier wake times.

*Take an outside walking tour of the school so you can show your child where the location of the bathrooms, playground, and office.  Best to do before the first day of school to help ease transition without so many other children on campus at the same time.

Take advantage of the sunny days and re-purpose some of those broken crayons to brighten up your windows with some pretty preschool crayon sun catchers!

Supplies:  wax paper, shaved crayons, iron, scissors

Instructions: Place a piece of wax paper cut into desired shape onto counter or other iron proof surface. Sprinkle crayon shavings onto wax paper.

Place another piece of wax paper cut into desired shape on top of shavings. Put a thin cloth over that. Gently press down with a warm iron (adult use only). Crayon will melt quickly.

Optional:  add a border.

You can make hearts, eggs, circles, stars, etc!

String several together on the window for a super-colorful display!  

An outdoor classroom can be created with plenty of learning opportunities for children.  A garden project can be created in the Spring and evolve over the Summer to incorporate lessons on plants, growth, change, nutrition, and nature.  Plus, home-grown flowers make for thoughtful Mother's Day bouquets!

PAINTING IS FUN WITHOUT BRUSHES!
Feathers
Legos 
Spaghetti
Straws
Sponges
Plungers (clean plunger of course, at the Dollar Tree), dab into paint - make large circle art on paper on fence or ground
Frozen popsicles (made with water and paint color)
Ice cubes
Salad spinner art
Line slide with butcher paper and dip golf balls into paint and slide them down the slide for art project
Balloons
Marbles rolled in paint rolling around paper on cookie sheet
Paint with feet

And with the fabulous Spring weather upon us, take the painting outdoors!

Just in time for Spring!

Tasty treats perfect for snack day item or healthy birthday treat to share with the class.  That's right, just say no to cupcakes!  Clothespins, chenille stems, paint, and baggies, all found a local Dollar Tree store!

Teacher Appreciation Week is May 5th - 9th!  Teachers love thoughtful tokens of appreciation and these door banners will be sure to greet them with smiles!  I love it when the student have clever things to say about their teachers, "I like her because she is fashionable!"

Summer Preschool Plus+

Fun and enriching ideas for a Preschool Summer Program


PLAY, LEARN, and BE INSPIRED during the fun Summer Months!

Summer provides an opportunity to ease the heavier academics and explore the outdoors.  The key to a successful Summer program is to BUILD EXCITEMENT.  You can BUILD EXCITEMENT many ways by making small changes to the program's layout, schedule, and environment.  Move around furniture, add outdoor toys/activities.

THEMES BASED DAYS or WEEKS:
Cooking Week
Summer Olympics
Art Week
Bring your wheels to school (scooters, trikes, bikes, helmets)
Sports Camp (try out a new sport each day, or bring the sport out of the normal environment, i.e., play soccer in the soccer field, or play baseball at the baseball diamond)
Game Day (bring games from home to share for the day)
Special Visitors (bakers, dentists, family pets)
Dance Week (each day focused on different style:  hip-hop, scarf dancing, ballet)

Spring is here!  A special time to take a break from rigid schedules and get outside to enjoy nature!

SPRING & SUMMER PRESCHOOL GAMES FUN TO PLAY OUTDOORS:
Obstacle course
Trike lanes with chalk, trike races
Mudpies, mud pizzas
Fossil dig, volcanoes, dinosaurs, plaster of paris with dried animals inside, children need to chip away with popsicle sticks
Bike wash - provide soapy buckets and wash all the bikes
Egg spoon races - but use marshmallows for younger kids and for less mess!
Duck, Duck, Goose
Mother May I?
Musical chairs
Hide and Seek
Jump Rope
Parachute Games 
Bubbles
Frisbee
Pillowsack races
Miniature golf
Throw wet sponges through hula hoops held by partner several feet away
Shaving cream on the slide with bathing suits (with caution, and on slides not too big), place tarp at bottom
Shaving cream on tarp for homemade slip and slide (use caution!)
Balloon pop - Set timer for 1 minute, provide bag of inflated balloons, how many can pop in 1 minute and use legs, push against walls, sit on)