A is Absolutely Amazing!

 Ants, apples, alligators and astronauts - it's time for fun while learning about the letter Aa!  When you talk, read, sing and play with your child you're helping them learn.  Preschool and kindergarten children really benefit from hands on activities like singing, finger plays, cooking, painting and more - so here are some of my favorites:

 Activity #1: Songs and rhymes for the letter A

Way Up High in an Apple Tree

Alligator, Alligator

What are they learning?  Rhyme, rhythm, vocabulary, musical pitch, and they're working finger muscles too!

Activity #2: Make applesauce

We all love food, so it's super engaging to make time to let your littles do some basic cooking activities with you!  Applesauce is a great early cooking activity because most children love it, it's a very forgiving recipe, and the steps to make it are easy enough for young children to help.

Children can learn how to cook!

 

 To make your applesauce you'll need some apples, a peeler, a butter knife (for your child) a good knife (for you), water, a potato masher, a pot and a stove... a little sugar or cinnamon is optional.  Your child can learn to peel apples by pushing the peeler away from them, to safely hold a butter knife and point the end down to cut the apples (see the picture above), and to put them into a pot.  Add a little water to cover, simmer until soft, then mash with a potato masher or immersible blender.  Add sugar and cinnamon if you want.

What are they learning?  Safe use of kitchen tools, life skills, the satisfaction of preparing their own food, and spending special time with a loved adult.  As you cut the apple you can talk about cutting it in half and into quarters - great math skills!  Did you talk about the peel, flesh, core and stem?  That's science - and so is the changing state of matter that happens when heat causes the apples to soften and change into applesauce.  As  you serve it count how many scoops you put in a bowl - and if they want more, that's coming back for seconds - ordinal numbers.

 Extend the learning fun by having your child write the letter Aa in the applesauce.  Simply put a small amount of applesauce on a plate, gently shake the plate to spread it evenly, and then let your child write in it.  If they do a great job, they get to lick their finger.  Gently shake the plate to reset, and write again!

 

Activity #3:  Hand prints

Hand prints from our little ones are something that we'll treasure forever - trust me on this one!  I had my children make their own alphabet books with hand and foot prints, by doing one each week.  I'm going to carry that over here for you, and if you can do one a week, you'll have a new favorite alphabet book!

I have the children hold out a hand for me to paint - and we talk about how the paint feels (cool, slippery, slimy, funny?) as I apply the paint.  Next we turn their hand over and place it on a paper, and I place my hand over theirs and push down firmly.  Finally, we lift their hand straight upwards so it doesn't smear everywhere.  The first few tries might be... interesting... but after a little while almost every child gets into it and masters the art of a good hand print.

For the alligator print we painted both hands, and overlapped the palms.  We used fancy scissors to cut the zig zag teeth, used a wiggle eye (wiggle eyes make everything cooler!), and added triangles for the back and tail. You are probably already really good with scissors and glue, so try to resist the urge to "help".  Children learn to use scissors by using them, and to use the right amount of glue through practice.  If they're trying, they're learning!

For the angel hand prints we paint the wings first, then make the robe when the paint for the wings is dry.  I take a photo of each child and print it out so I can trim around their face and have them add it to their angels.  

Does your little prefer an alien?  Paint just part of their hand for the print, and let them add  unusual numbers of wiggle eyes and draw on details when the paint is dry. 

What are they learning?  Scissor and glue skills, vocabulary, correlating the initial letter of words to the sound and shape of letter Aa.

 Extend the learning by adding a photo page to their alphabet book.  I like to insert the completed hand prints in a page protector and keep it in a binder.  On the facing page I add a photo of the children doing one of our activities for the letter, with a caption that includes the focus letter.  They love to "read" their books and talk about the letter and the activities, making that letter to sound connection!

Activity #4: Measuring with apples

This is a free download from my TeachersPayTeachers store. It comes with instructions, but basically you print out the pages and join the apples into a long strip.  Tape it to the wall to measure how many apples tall people and things in your house are, or let your child hold it like a ruler to measure.  Young children learn measurement with non-standard units - teacher talk for using various items to measure.

 

What are they learning?  An important concept to introduce is lining up the bottom of apple #1 with the end of the thing you're measuring.  They're practicing counting andnumber recognition -you can also use this as a number line for counting, and your children might also notice the color pattern of the apples.  Which brings us to ...

 

Activity #5 Making patterns

What are they learning?  Patterns, a very basic and essential math skill.  Picking up pompons works their finger muscles, helping their hands grow stronger - an important pre-writing skill.  Younger children may still be learning the color words, or may start counting the circles on the page.  They may ask about the question marks on the page - what question do they need to answer?  This page is included in my Apple Math Centers which is available to purchase and download.

Activity #6: Anansi the Spider! craft to follow up the book by Gerald McDermott

According to McMillan books, "Anansi the Spider is one of the great folk heroes of the world. He is a rogue, a mischief maker, and a wise, lovable creature who triumphs over larger foes."  

 

What are they learning? Folk lore from West Africa, vocabulary and story structure, and as they make their own Anansi or his sons they're cutting, pasting, creating art, and counting 8 legs.

I hope you and your little have enjoyed these activities!  For more apple activities click here, here, and here.  Find some of my favorite apple books here and see how to do a blind taste test with apples here! Join me next week for the letter Bb!

Apple activities

One of my early school memories from growing up in Australia was the alphabet posted on the walls of Mrs. Potts' room.  For each letter, there were a couple of things that started with the letter, doing something, and we sang a song for each.  The tune was always the same, Skip To My Lou - so chances are pretty good that you know it too.  We had "Rats are Running, r r r", "Helicopters Hovering, h h h", "Dolls are dancing, d d d", and of course, "Ants on the apple, a a a".

Mrs. Potts could never have guessed that I would in turn teach those songs to a couple of hundred preschool children in Texas, which I guess goes to show how far our reach as teachers really can go!  "I touch the future, I teach", really takes on a new meaning when you look backwards and see such things - and I guess right now I should be wondering about my reach into the future, and who or what I might have influenced.  I know at least one of my first class of first graders is now an early childhood teacher herself, and I have to say, I was honored when she told me I had influenced her.

The picture above shows where I've gone with those "ants on the apple".  Each of my preschoolers over the years has made their own copy of the alphabet to hang on their walls at home, beginning with ants on the apple.

I provide the children with either a precut construction paper letter, or for those ready to develop their scissor skills, a traced letter.  Apples of course can be green, yellow or red, so I have all 3 colors available, and let the children choose theirs.  As you can see, we add a brown construction paper stem, and a green leaf to make our letter a into an apple, and then glue on plastic ants or finger paint them on.  We sing the ants on the apple song throughout the week, and it really does seem to help reinforce the letter sound connection.  I've often had young learners look at a letter somewhere else and tell me what picture we've created with that letter, an excellent first connection.

In case you're wondering about the upper case A, we paint stamped a green alligator onto it, and glued on the alligator poem (which I am unable to credit, so sorry!):
  Alligator, alligator, long and green.
  Alligator, alligator, teeth so mean.
  He snapped at a minnow, and he snapped at a flea,
  He snapped at a turtle and he snapped at me!
  He caught that minnow, he caught that flea,
  He caught that turtle, but he didn't catch me!


I've blogged previously about having students bring in apples for us to cook with, and then graphing both the day they brought their apples...

 ... and what color apple they brought.

The same link will also tell you all about how we make our applesauce.  I want to add that there is no recipe necessary for applesauce.  I know there are some people who balk at the thought of winging it in the kitchen, but chances are those people wouldn't be comfortable with children doing the cooking either.  :-)  Way back when I first started teaching I was careful to have a recipe, but I've made applesauce enough times with enough children to know it is close to fool proof:  Peel apples.  Cut up apples.  Put in a pot and barely cover with water.  Boil until soft.  Mash or blend until desired smoothness is reached.  Sugar and cinnamon are optional, and usually much appreciated, but not at all required. 

 I've also found that animal crackers or graham crackers make a really nice accompaniment to fresh, warm applesauce!  (Also, you can absolutely serve applesauce in a small cup and let the children "drink" it if you are out of spoons, but don't use the paper cups like those in the picture below, they smush too easily.  Go with the small plastic ones.  And yes, coffee filters make excellent and inexpensive "plates" for those crackers!)

Another fun apple activity we've enjoyed many times over the years is making our Apples On Top classbook:
Most of the text for the book is already on the pages, the children add their name, and a numeral, draw themselves, and add apple stickers on top of their heads.  We read Ten Apples Up On Top, by Dr. Seuss to introduce this activity, and then bind the student pages together to create our own class book.

 One of the marvelous things about class books, is that the students have ownership of the books, and want to read and reread them.  Every time we do, we're reinforcing the repetitive text, making it easier for students to read it to themselves, to reread their names and numbers, and to count those apple stickers.  I LOVE how much mileage a simple activity like this can get!

Another high mileage activity I enjoy for our apples unit is our blind taste test.  (You can read more about it here).

Basically we graph which apples the children think they like best, taste 3 or 4 different ones, graph which one they actually like best after tasting, and compare the results.    Some years we write a class experience story about the process, and put the story and graphs in another class book.  We get science, math, writing a "how to", and reading from this one simple activity!

I also try to offer a sensory bin of some kind most weeks.  Unfortunately I don't have any good pictures of our apple sensory play, but you can see some ideas on my pumpkins and apples pinterest board.

I absolutely recommend you collect empty spice containers to add to your sensory play - cinnamon and cloves for apple play - because they add another sense to those you're engaging.  It seems silly (to an adult), but the children I've taught have loved smelling the spice containers, as well as pretending to season things with them.

For super easy sorting activities this week, try putting out red, yellow and green pompons (apples) and red, yellow and green containers for the children to sort them into.  You can make instant math centers with apple tree note pads (from a teacher supply store) with numbers written on them.  Students add the correct number of pompon "apples" to their trees.  You probably have several of your own favorite apple play ideas too!

I hope you and your kiddos get a chance to explore apples too - and that you'll leave a comment and let me know what your favorite apple activity is.  Thanks for stopping by!

P.S.  I didn't mention any apple themed children's books today, but you can read about 7 of my favorites here.

Applesauce and more

 I blogged on Thursday about many of the things we've been learning this week, but could not leave out our grand finale - making applesauce!

I asked our families to please send in one apple this week, and we made two graphs about it; which day they brought the apple to school...

...and what color apple they brought.

The kiddos were very involved in the graphing process, one child even insisted that her parents go buy a yellow apple, so it would not have zero!

On Friday, we made our applesauce.  I called the children to work on it one or two at a time, and of course we started (and ended) with washing our hands.

I showed them how to use the vegetable peelers, holding the apples with one hand, placing the blade of the peeler flat on the apple, and pushing it away from themselves, then showed them how to use a knife too.

They worked really hard to peel and cut their apples, and then put the pieces into a large pot, ready for me to cook.

You can really see the concentration and determination on their faces as they worked on this new skill.

This child let me help me him peel an apple, but once it was peeled, grabbed the pieces and sat in a quiet spot to eat them.  Apples taste delicious raw too!

I did the cooking, then served up warm, fresh, cinnamon applesauce for the kiddos for snack.

 Lots of thumbs up from the children!  My favorite thing said about the applesauce?  "Can we have seconds on applesauce?"  (Yes!) and then a few minutes later, "Can we have thirds?"  Oh yes!

One more special surprise on Friday was an invitation to pick tomatoes at my friends' home again.  With so many new children here, most of the children who got to go and pick this time had not been to do it before, and were tickled with the new experience.

Kid quotes from this visit, "Can I eat one?" and of course, "Can I eat another one?" and even better, "Hey! I actually LIKE tomatoes!"

I like tomatoes too, and I really love seeing children connect with their food, learning to prepare it, and to appreciate healthy and delicious vegetables!  The attitudes and preferences they learn now will be with them for a lifetime - yeah for tomatoes!

Back to school week

The first week of school is always crazy, busy, and exciting - for the children AND the teachers.  Here's a peek at some of the things we've been doing...

We put injured animals in an "ambulance" and made /a/ sounds as we drove it around.

 We made uppercase letter A crafts, cutting out the shape, writing our names on it, and then adding a poem about alligators and an alligator paint stamp to it.  We also made lowercase a crafts that look like apples with ants crawling on them.

 We made new friends...

and played in the sand.

 We found new perspectives, new ways of looking at the world we're in.

 We tried out all the playground equipment, from swings...

 ... to the climbing gazebo...

 ... and of course the slides!

There were new things to try out, like pattern blocks...

                                                             ...dinosaurs...

                                                                                              ... and other math manipulatives.

We threw bread for the ducks that live in the pond behind my house...

 ... got messy

 ... and found quiet places to hang out with friends.

 We ran ourselves ragged - and my dog Patriot too!

 We took off our shoes and felt the sand squishy and soft between our toes...

 ... and played with colorful ice on a hot afternoon.

 That meant negotiating with friends for the toys, cooperating and sharing.

 We mixed, poured and dripped the melting purple ice water, fascinated with the cold, the color, and the process.

 We found yummy ways to cool off too!  We all know what it means when Ms. Paula starts singing her "Pop, pop, popsicle" song.

 We read about astronauts, and dressed up in an astronaut costume...

 ... made a page for our abc album with stamps and stickers of things that start with the letter A.

 We hunted for roly pollies, and collected them in a container so we could check them out.

 We dug with trucks in the dirt at the sensory table.  Did I mention we got dirty and messy?

 We each made a page for our class book, Up On Top, a variation of Dr. Seuss's Ten Apples Up On Top.  Class books are our favorites to read, because we helped to make them!

 We told which kind of apple we each like the best, and made a graph to show which we think is the yummiest flavor.  Several friends signed "equal," because red and yellow both had 4 votes!

 Next we had a blind taste test, trying out (peeled) pieces of green, yellow and red apple, and deciding which bowl of apples tasted best.

 When Ms. Paula revealed which flavors were in each bowl, we found out that many of us prefer different kinds of apples than what we thought we did.  We did some clever thinking, and decided that when Ms. Paula goes to the store, she should probably buy red apples the most often, because the most people like red ones the best.

We played in the water table, and of course, got completely soaked.   Good news!  It is very hot, and the water helped us to feel cool and comfortable outside.

 We enjoyed the sunshine, but most of all...

                                                                      WE HAD FUN!

By the way, as of this writing, it's only Thursday.  We still have to make and eat our applesauce tomorrow - but that's another post.