Transportation and Hallowen

I'm not gonna lie...doing Transportation in the middle of October was hard.  I felt like we should still be doing some activities that related to the Halloween holiday.  SO, I got creative.  :) Here were a few of our Transportation Centers.  Fire Safety Matching, Firetruck with Firefighter Puppets, Magnatrucks and maps, and our really awesome Sensory Table. 

 The Transportation Sensory Table was full of black beans, small numbers, sandpaper numbers, Construction vehicles, and different road signs to match. 

Now...how did I mix Halloween and Transportation together?   WELL...we did a day airplanes so we made an air plane AND an owl.  Because they both fly of course! 

Then we made Bats and Boats.  Because they both start with B and bats are nocturnal like owls are!











Our letters of the week were letter T and letter C.  T for Transportation obviously and T for Triangle and C for CANDY CORN!

And of course we did school buses.  SO we made a school bus AND we learned The Spooky Wheels on the Bus.  Click the image to get your copy from Amazon.com

 

This song is GREAT! A counting, "spooky" spin on the Wheels on the Bus.

Total credit goes to the author of this story for these great lines.

1 spooky bus goes rattle and shake (shake your arms then bottom)
rattle and shake, rattle and shake.

1 spooky bus goes rattle and shake

All through the town.

2 white wipers go creak, creak, creak. (spread fingers apart and wave whole arm back and forth)

creak, creak, creak.

creak, creak, creak. 

2 white wipers go creak, creak, creak.

All through the town.

3 noisy cats go meow, hiss, hiss. (make hands into claws and swipe them up and down)

meow, hiss, hiss.

meow, hiss, hiss.

3 noisy cats go meow, hiss, hiss.

All through the town.

4 glowing wheels roll round and round. (standard wheels roll around maneuver)
round and round. round and round.
4 glowing wheels roll round and round.
All through the town.

5 big spiders spin their webs. (dance your arms around back and forth)
Spin their webs. Spin their webs.
5 big spiders spin their webs.
All through the town.

6 singing mummies hum, hum, hum. (hands pressed together, sway body back and forth)
hum, hum, hum. hum, hum, hum.
6 singing mummies hum, hum, hum.
All through the town.

7 silly monsters wiggle and waggle. (wiggle arms above head, wiggle arms down low by legs)
wiggle and waggle.  wiggle and waggle.
7 silly monsters wiggle and waggle.
All through the town.

8 wacky witches cackle and howl (let students howl at the moon)
cackle and howl. cackle and howl.
8 wacky witches cackle and howl.
All through the town.

9 magic brooms go swish, swoosh, swish. (pretend to hold a broom and sweep back and forth)
swish, swoosh, swish. swish, swoosh, swish.
9 magic brooms go swish, swoosh, swish.
All through the town.

10 goofy ghosts say BOO! BOO! BOO! (hold up ten fingers and open close them on each BOO!)
BOO! BOO! BOO!
BOO! BOO! BOO!
10 goofy ghosts say BOO! BOO! BOO!
All through the town.


*And that is how I sneaked in some Halloween during our Transportation unit!

Apples!

We have been working on Apples for the past two weeks.  Learning the lifecycle.  When we pick apples.  What can be made with Apples. The parts of an apple.  We read lots of nonfiction stories about apples and apple orchards.  We also read The Apple Pie Tree and Ten Apples Up On Top!

Here's a few of the projects we made!

First we worked in the math center on Patterning.

 Then we took those patterns and used them to create a sequencing activity for The Apple Pie Tree story.

 We did lots of group writing about the things we were learning about apples.  We also made Glitter Apples.  This is a great sensory type activity.  I make the kids spread the glue with their fingers and hands before we sprinkle on the glitter!

 We did an apple tasting! Each child got at least one slice of each color of apple then we voted on which one we liked best.

 We read Ten Apples Up On Top (like ten times!)  Then the kids got a picture of themselves and had to count out ten apples to glue them up on top of their picture!  They loved this project!

 We also cut apple cores.  They had to follow the curved lines, then color and draw seeds, to create an apple core!

I think we enjoyed our unit on apples.  This week we will focus on Transportation (and fire safety).  THEN we will get to do PUMPKINS and Halloween! 

Preschool Fall Songs and Projects

One of the things I absolutely LOVE about preschool is the songs we get to sing.  I have an old favorite and a NEW favorite! I'm an Autumn Tree is my old favorite.  The Leaves on the Tree is my new favorite.


I'm an Autumn Tree
(*Sing to the tune of I'm a little Teapot)
I'm an Autumn tree all orange and brown (Have your arms up in the air like a tree)
I shake my roots and my branches, too! (shake your legs "roots" and then wave your arms"branches")
On a windy day there's a howling sound! (continue to wave your arms back and forth)
WOOOOOO!!!!
And then the leaves fall down! (wave your arms down to the ground)

The Leaves on the Trees
(*sing to the wheels on the bus)
The leaves on the tree turn orange and brown (hold arms up in the air)
Orange and Brown
Orange and Brown.
The leaves on the tree turn orange and brown.
All through the town.

The leaves on the tree come tumbling down. (wiggle your arms and bend down)
Tumbling down.
Tumbling down.
The leaves on the tree come tumbling down.
All through the town. 

The leaves on the ground go crunch, crunch, crunch. (march in place)
crunch, crunch, crunch.
crunch, crunch, crunch.
The leaves on the ground go crunch, crunch, crunch.
All through the town.

The leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish. (squat down and wiggle your arms/fingers back and forth)
Swish, swish, swish.
Swish, swish, swish.
The leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish.
All through the town!


We have also made the PRETTIEST fall trees! We used a di-cut tree, drew a shape so the kids had a different shape on each tree to stay inside with their paint.  THEN we made a color/number key and made it into a Paint by Numbers activity! The kids loved it, and these trees are always my favorite project!

We are currently studying apples! I am excited to share all the cool work we have been doing and a few more cool fingerplays/songs we have learned!