Apples + Preschool

We have had the most fun learning and playing this month! Apples are so much more than our favorite snack these days! We have tasted them, counted them, painted them, traced them, colored them… the list could go on!

Our September Play & Learn Calendar theme is “All About Apples” and we have or will do almost everything you can image with that theme! We started out with an apple tasting to kick off the calendar! It was really no competition between the apples when my girls discovered there was a “pink” apple [Pink Lady] they were sold!

The STEM loving hearts of my littles were so HAPPY to dissect apples and compare and contrast the differences in apples depending which way you slice them.

If you haven’t noticed we’re BIG fans of color over here so this activity in particular had my Sadie bug super happy! I would read her the color name and she would color in the apples. Look at that sweet face! So proud!

…And we’re only half way through! It’s not too late if you want to join in the fun! Grab your All About Apples Play & Learn Calendar here:

…and don’t forget next Wednesday, September 26 is Johnny Appleseed Day! What a perfect day to do an apple activity or two! :)

Unit 11: Transportation Recap

We began the first week as we always do with a little letter fun! This week we pulled out the paint and play cars and didn't waste any time! The girls painted the letter W with the Wheels of toy cars! Tire tracks make great decorations! :) 

Donald Crews is an author we've read a lot of books from this year. Freight Train didn't disappoint. It was a perfect book to read/look through with all three of my children (ages 5, 3, and 1.) While Sadie (3) continued to explore the book and we talked about colors, Macie Jane used number train cars to practice ordering numbers. 

This activity helped her review number order but was also a good practice in left to right progression. 

When it was all finished I hung it up over our calendar area for a reference anchor. Isn't it adorable?

Next up was a sorting activity. Macie Jane and Sadie looked at several different forms of transportation and had to determine where they traveled- land, water, or sky. Macie Jane practiced scissor skills cutting out the forms of transportation and had fun gluing them where they belonged in the sorting chart. 

The torn paper traffic light was a hit! For some strange reason preschoolers LOVE shredding up paper. I gave the girls 3 sheets of paper- red, yellow, and green. They happily tore the paper into tiny pieces and sorted them into three piles according to their color. Then using the printable as a guide they filled in the three traffic light circles with the correct colors. 

There were several more activities in the unit including a great speech/pronoun practice activity. If you want to see more you can find the full unit along with a book and resource list by clicking the button below. 

I helped Sadie review and practice using pronouns like he, she, and they. Sadie has a tendency to use the pronoun "them" when she should use "they" and doesn't use he/she pronouns frequently or correctly. Technically this is still developmentally appropriate and nothing to be concerned over, however, I don't believe it's a bad thing to practice correct pronoun use either. We had fun with the activity, I reinforce it in conversation, and we'll just watch her speech skills develop. :)

We wrapped up the unit with lots of giggles and fun! We got a wooden board and a few toy cars, made predictions on how fast those car would go at various heights, and tested out those predictions. Cars raced across the den and the girls had fun seeing how fast they could get the cars to go. :) 

• Alphabet
• Bible Verses
• Calendar
• Christmas
• Data Collection
• ELA
• Early Math
• FREE Resources
• Fall
• Hand Lettered
• Handwriting
• Literacy
• Phonics
• Play Pack
• Preschool Play and Learn
• Printables
• Resources to Your Door
• Scripture
• Spring
• Summer
• Thanksgiving
• Unit Study
• Winter

Transportation Play- numeracy & sorting skills

Today we read Donald Crew's picture book, Freight Train. It's a perfect book for preschoolers of different ages and stages. Sadie loved the bright colorful train cars and Macie Jane really liked learning about the different types of train cars. We used the book as inspiration for our numeracy play today.

We used a printable in the transportation unit along with a sentence strip but a long piece of construction paper would suit just as well. I cut the train cars out for this activity because I wanted Macie Jane focus more counting than cutting (although it wouldn't be bad for her to do both- we were limited on time too.) I glued the engine car at the end of the sentence strip and reviewed left to right progression. (We count/write from left to right.) Then I let her independently order the cars. She got most of them in order but had a few mixed up. We reviewed number order together and she glued the cars on to the sentence strip. 

This activity serves as a great anchor. I put it up over our calendar area and I'll plan to use it as a reference for future activities as well as for daily review. 

Our next activity was a sorting activity. These are so fun for both girls in their respective stages of development in preschool. 

Macie Jane is getting really good at using scissors while Sadie still just has a great time cutting everything into bits- nothing wrong with that. :) After the various forms of transportation were cut out in one piece I let the girls sort them according to where they travel, land water, or in the sky. It was a hit and the gluing portion was equally engaging as the cutting part was! :)    

Want to see more of our fun? Keep up with us on Instagram and Facebook! Stay tuned for more transportation fun this week and next!