Slap That Word!

So the other day, I met with my kiddos and wanted to play a game with them to see which words they knew.  I've seen some variations of this online on chart paper and such. 


I laid out the word cards of the words they were supposed to know (added in some letters for the kiddos who have a harder time).  I handed each kid a fancy fly swatter I got at the Dollar Tree.  I called out a word and they had to slap it first before the other did.  The person to get it first got a cube to see who could make the tallest tower.

They were giggling and laughing the whole time.  And at the end, they gave each other a high five and said "great job!"  :)  Such fun!  Happy slapping!!!

Mother's Day Tiles!

Years back, I was waiting for my nephew in a family bathroom down in a mall in Tampa.  They had this wall that I absolutely fell in love with made of square white tiles and children's handprints.  I knew I had to find a way to make these....  For something....  Somehow.... 

Then, Mother's Day started inching closer and I realized, that's the something I was waiting for!!!!  So I got ahold of some tiles, a paint roller and some paint and went crazy with my students!!!

I've now been making these tiles every year and they seem to be a huge hit!!!!

Here's what I do:

I make a trip to Home Depot/Lowe's and buy a box of white 6x8 ceramic wall tiles (there's around 30 in one box, but I do it for my class and my friend's).  I already have a small paint roller (one made for edging, I think...), acrylic paints, and an acrylic clear coat.  I have been using the same materials for 4 years now and am just now thinking it's time to get some more paint.  :) 

I pour the paint on a paper plate, roll the roller over it, and then have a child hold their hand out flat.  If you have sensory kiddos, I recommend warning them that it's going to feel a little cold and it might tickle a bit.  Then they giggle instead of freak out!!!!

 I very carefully have them put the heel of their hand down while holding their fingers up in the air, then I slowly press their fingers down and make sure I press into each finger.  Hold their hands firm, or you'll have some fat fingers!!!!!  (don't worry, if they do make a mistake, you can just wipe it off with a wet paper towel and try again!) 

We then count to five and pull straight up.  Then we lay it down to dry until the next day (or a few hours later).

The next step is to use a paint marker (bought at Wal-mart for around $3 - but they last forever!).  The kids write "Happy Mother's Day!" (Or I love you! - if they do not live with mom or do not celebrate holidays) across the top, the year in the bottom left corner, and "Love, ______" in the bottom right corner.  Then it's laid to dry again.

Once they're dry, I take them outside onto a shower curtain and spray them down with acrylic clear top coat to set in the paint.

We wrap them up really, really, really, really good in newspaper and plastic bags and send them home for Mama!

Ocean Creatures!

 To help us talk about the ocean, I pulled out all of the seashells/animals I could find in my closet.  We sat in a circle and passed them around. 

The kids used a magnifying glass to inspect them. 

 The conversations were incredible!!!!  "Look!  There's a hole in there!"

 "What are all of these lines in the middle?"

 "This one is so tiny!"  - They also discovered that the tiny one was dry and would stick to their shirts, so of course everyone had to check out and see if it stuck to THEIR shirt because it stuck to their friend's!  Haha, oh to be five again!

Overall, lesson success!!!  And I didn't really even have to do much facilitating!  Their conversation and observations really led the whole time!!!

Ocean Sensory

 My friend and I have been doing a lot of looking at different sensory bin ideas online.  Most often, they are used with toddlers and preschool, but we were talking about it and we thought they would be perfect for our Kindergarteners!!!!  We upped the level, of course, but our main goal is to get them thinking about "why would that be put in there?" and trying to make connections from the information they already know to what we are learning in class.  This is our "ocean tub," where you can find an assortment of items from the ocean.

Somehow, I did not have very many toy fish, so most of mine consists of other things from the ocean:  words on popsicle sticks that relate to the ocean, aquarium rocks and jewels, eyeballs, paper fish, a guide I found in my closet that lists different fish found in the ocean, plastic boats, and shells!  One important thing that I didn't capture on my camera - we've been learning about measurement in our classroom, so I have set out some balance scales for the kids to weigh and measure, comparing different things and so much more!  I plan to set out some rulers that they can measure the lengths of the items this week.  We also have our students writing about the tub.  Last week, it was making lists of things in the ocean, this week it will be writing a story about swimming in the ocean and all of the things that can be seen.  I will try to get some pictures up of the kids playing in the tub, I took these before they arrived.  :)

At the end of each unit, I pack everything up into a big Ziploc bag to store until next year - taking up much less space in the closet and much cheaper than buying bins for each unit!!  :)  Happy sensing!!!!