Preschool “Love, Joy, Peace” Canvas Painting

I placed letter stickers in the bottom corner of the canvas to spell a word. Then I had the kids choose their colors of paint and make long strokes of paint all the way across the canvas.

After they were happy with their canvas, I gently peeled off the letter stickers.

Their finished canvas’s turned out beautifully…

I have other fun Preschool posts too:

Preschool 100 Day

We celebrated 100 Day with cousins, from tots to first grade but I would recommend it for around Kindergarten age.  We had fun counting to 100 over and over by counting candy, jumping jacks, seconds, inches, and lots more.  We read lots of books, had a snack, completed a writing activity, and covered a ton of math concepts.

Book List…

One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Priczes

I’ll Teach My Dog 100 Words by Michael K. Frith

One Hundred Days of  School by Trudy Harris

Henry’s 100 Days of Kindergarten by Nancy L. Carlson

Emily’s First 100 Days of School by Rosemary Wells

Miss Bindergarten Celebrates 100 Days of Kindergarten by Joseph Slate and Ashley Wolff

Graph 100 Jelly Beans

Materials:

  • 100 Jelly Beans
  • Simple Graph

Directions:

  1. Count out 100 jelly beans.
  2. Graph the jelly beans by color on a simple graph.
  3. Ask the children which color has the most?  Which color has the least?  How many red jelly beans are there?

100 Jumping Jacks

The children jumped and counted 100 jumping jacks.

100 Piece Puzzle

The children worked a 100 piece puzzle together.

100 Quiet Seconds

The children all laid down and tried to be quiet for 100 seconds.

Name 100 Animals

We started out with the children naming as many animals as they could as I wrote them down.  I tried to write down exactly what each child said so that they would feel that their ideas are just as important as others.  For example if a child suggests dog and another child suggests Dalmatian I wrote them both down even though a Dalmatian is a dog.  When the children started running out of ideas we used the animal books for some help.

100 Days of School Poem

We read this 100 Days of School poem to the children.

I’ve never seen a hundred,

It’s pretty big, I guess.

I keep asking everyone.

And they just say, “Oh yes”…

“A hundred is an awful lot”…

“A great big huge amount”…

But I am really worried,

‘Cause I’m just learning how to count.

I’m learning all my numbers,

And I’m trying by myself,

To understand a hundred.

But I might need some help.

I can’t believe we’ve been in school

For a hundred days!

A hundred is a lot, I know,

So I am just amazed!

I like to come to school each day

And I love my school a lot.

Mom says I go to school to learn

But it’s fun so I forgot!

So we counted to one hundred

And now I think I know,

That one hundred days we’ve been in school…

And there are lots more days to go!

Lots more days for having fun,

In our very own classroom.

And if I learn to count some more

I’ll be at a million soon!

Estimating 100 Inches

Materials:

  • Yard Stick
  • Masking Tape
  • Pen

Directions

  1. Line up the children against the wall.
  2. Show the children on the yard stick what an inch looks like.
  3. Write each child’s name on a piece of masking tape and give it to him.
  4. Tell the children to put the tape on the floor where they think 100 inches would be from where they are standing.
  5. Measure out 100 inches to see how the children did.

Counting Money

Materials:

  • 100 Pennies
  • 10 Dimes
  • 1 Dollar Bill

Directions:

  1. Have the children count out 100 pennies by putting them into piles of 10.
  2. Count the piles of 10 by tens to get to 100.
  3. Trade out each pile of 10 for a dime and then count how many dimes it takes to get to 1 dollar.
  4. Show a 1 dollar bill.
  5. You can also count quarters with older children.

Fruit Loop Necklace

Materials:

  • Yarn
  • Fruit Loops

Directions:

  1. Each child counts out 100 fruit loops.
  2. Children string the fruit loops onto the yarn.
  3. Tie the ends of the yarn together to form the necklace.

Make 100 Day Hash

Materials:

  • Miss Bindergarten Celebrates 100 Days of Kindergarten by Joseph Slate and Ashley Wolff
  • 10 small cup or bowls plus one for each child
  • Pretzels
  • Popcorn
  • Mini Marshmallows
  • Cherrios
  • Chocolate Chips
  • Peanuts
  • Oyster Crackers
  • Almonds
  • Raisins
  • Chex Cereal

Directions:

  1. You can use the ingredients that I used, the ones in the book, or make up your own.
  2. Put each ingredient in a different bowl (10 bowls).
  3. Each child takes 10 pieces from each ingredient bowl and places them into his own bowl to make 100 pieces.

Sorting Number Cards

Have the children put number cards in order from 1 to 100.  You can use any cards you have to make your own with index cards.  I used the A Beka Numbers Flashcards.

I Wish I had 100…

I made a simple writing page for the children that said…

I wish I had 100 ______________ because _____________.

On the first day of school I couldn’t _____________, on the 100th day I can.

100 Fingers and Toes

Materials:

  • Poster Board
  • Paint
  • Paper Plates
  • Bath Tub of Garden Hose for cleaning
  • Children (we used 5 children)

Directions:

  1. 5 children times 10 fingers each and 10 toes each makes 100.
  2. Set the children around the table and set a paper plate in front of each child.  Pour a little paint onto each plate.
  3. Set the poster board on the table  in the middle of all the children.Each child makes a right hand print on the poster by dipping their hand in the paint on the plate and then sticking in on the poster.  Then each child does it again with their left hand.

Then have the children wash their hands in the tub or with the hose. Put the poster board on the bathroom floor or outside if it’s nice out. Have the children one at a time place their right foot in the paint and then on the poster and then their left foot. Rinse their feet in the tub or with a hose immediately to avoid unwanted paint in the house.

After the paint dries, count the fingers and toes by 5’s (there should be 100).

I have other fun Preschool posts too:

Christmas Sugar Cookies

We made Christmas sugar cookies for a family activity tonight.

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 ½ cup white sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

  1. In a bowl cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until smooth.
  2. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir till soft dough forms.
  3. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
  4. Roll the dough on a floured surface.
  5. Use cookie cutters to cut out Christmas shapes.
  6. Grease a pan and place the shapes of dough on the pan.
  7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
  8. Bake cookies for 8 minutes or until lightly browned.

Buttercream Icing

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup Crisco
  • 4 cups powdered sugar (2 lbs)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 tablespoon milk (if thick)

Directions:

  1. Cream together the butter and Crisco with a mixer.
  2. Slowly add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time.
  3. Add the vanilla, if it seems too thick you can add a bit of milk.

Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses -11

Our family Thanksgiving tradition is making Gingerbread Houses. This year we used graham crackers, we also tried chocolate graham crackers. I made buttercream icing to add the candies.

Buttercream Icing

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup Crisco
  • 4 cups powdered sugar (2 lbs)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 tablespoon milk (if thick)

Directions:

  1. Cream together the butter and Crisco with a mixer.
  2. Slowly add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time.
  3. Add the vanilla, if it seems too thick you can add a bit of milk.

Here are some of our past Gingerbread Houses.

Transformers Birthday Cake -6

J is now 6 years old and getting into superheros and technology.  He chose to have a Transformers cake this year.  I made a 9×11 sheet cake and frosted it with gray street colored frosting.  I added smaller squares of cake for the buildings and made windows by cutting mini marshmallows in half. I added green shrubs around the buildings with frosting too.  I made a stop sign with lollipops and wrote “six” on them instead of “stop”.  I placed a few of his mini Transformer toys on the graham cracker road and on the buildings.  Here the “6” candle is backwards… I didn’t notice until I got the pictures back, but otherwise he loved it.

Buttercream Icing

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup Crisco
  • 4 cups powdered sugar (2 lbs)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 tablespoon milk (if thick)

Directions:

  1. Cream together the butter and Crisco with a mixer.
  2. Slowly add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time.
  3. Add the vanilla, if it seems too thick you can add a bit of milk.

He got the Dino Transformers and a set of Schleich dinos for his gifts and was so happy!

Happy Birthday Big Boy!  I love you!

I have tons of other kids party themes: 

Halloween Bonfire -11

We had a Halloween Bonfire again this year.  This time we set up a table outside with all the pumpkin carving tools and told people to bring their own pumpkins to carve. The boys actually helped us gut the pumpkins this year… in the past they have said it was too slimy for them. T really like looking at the candles in them. It was fun making jack-o-lanterns together!

We roasted hot dogs and smores too. This was the biggest bonfire that we have ever had, was a fun time!

I bought caramel apples this year instead of making them… they were much better! J just LOVES caramel apples!

Check out our fun Halloween Bonfire from last year!

Surprise Adoption Party

My in-laws finalized the adoption of their 2 girls this past week, so we had a surprise ice cream party for them!!!

I made a family tree poster with our fingerprints. Everyone in our family added their fingerprint as the leaves on the tree. We also had new family photos taken to include the girls. I made a banner that said “Welcome to our Family” too.

Ice cream sundaes! We had several different flavors of ice cream and tons of different topping choices of fruit and candies. We wanted to make this the most special thing to celebrate the girls!

I made “Our 2 Sweethearts” sign/ banner with my Cricut.

Welcome to the family… we love you!

Bugs Birthday Party -1

We had a bug themed party for T’s first birthday!  I made bug balloons by filling latex balloons with helium and using rubber cement to hold them together.  For the Bee Balloon I used 2 yellow balloons and wrapped some black electrical tape around for the bee’s stripes.  Then I used tissue paper for the wings, black pipe cleaner for the antenna, and googly eyes for eyes.  I added a mouth with black sharpie.  For the Ladybug Balloon I found some red balloons with black spots. I glued a small black balloon for the head, used googly eyes for the eyes, and black pipe cleaner for the antenna again.  For the Caterpillar Balloon glued together 4 green balloons and used green pipe cleaner for the legs and antenna.  I used a sharpie for the mouth and added googly eyes to the caterpillar as well.  I set them up outside and it was a bit too windy for the balloons, most of them ended up popping before the end of the party!

We grilled burgers and hot dogs for lunch.  We also had ants on a lot and ladybug watermelon balls (I just put mini chocolate chips in the watermelon balls.) I taped black construction paper ants to my red and white checkered table cloth.

I filled red, green, and yellow water balloons for the kids to play with.

I got kind of carried away with the desserts and ended up making 3 sweets.  We had gummy worms in chocolate pudding with crushed Oreo’s on top.  We had a beehive cake with cream cheese frosting and bees made out of chocolate covered almonds and mini marshmallow wings.  And we had caterpillar cupcakes with candy faces.

I had my sister-in-law, Cloninger Photography, take T’s 1 year old photos and they turned out great!

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Boy!  I love you!

I have tons of other kids party themes: 

Counting Ice Cream

I made ice cream scoops in different colors with a number on each one. I laminated them so that we can use them again. Then I made a cone so the kids could put the ice cream scoops in number order on the cone.

These kids are having fun learning their number order!

You can also learn colors with this activity, or have the children bring you the number/ color that you ask for!

I have other fun Preschool posts too: