Sticker Friday!

Every Friday is sticker Friday at Miss Melissa's. The children know on Thursday and are sure to remind me before they leave that tomorrow is sticker Friday and not to forget. :)

Sticker Friday's start out with a review of the games and the song we sang during the week.

For each right answer the children are rewarded with a sticker that they place on their award.

Once we've played one round of each game and have sung our song or recited our poem a few times, we head to the kitchen table. There, I pull out all of my flashcards (most of which I were able to find on the net, print and laminate).

In this photo you'll see the different flashcards I use. I teach with the pictured alphabet cards first, the capital cards second and once a child has mastered those, we move on to lower case letters. During sticker Friday, I separate the cards and present each child with the appropriate card for their own level.

If a child doesn't know the answer, the other children are ready to jump in and help.

After we've completed those tasks, each child is given a sheet of paper with their name on it. They are taught to trace over the letters. I can proudly say that after 3 1/2 months of doing this once a day, four times a week, one of the children I care for can now spell and write her name without the tracer!

Name tracers can be found here: http://www.handwritingworksheets.com/print-k/make-pk-all.htm. Simply type in the child's name and print!

Our Ball Toss Counting Game

Our counting game today was Ball Toss.

I grabbed a big plastic bowl and 12 plastic, practice golf balls. If you don't have plastic balls you could always make balls out of aluminum foil.

Each child was given 3 balls to start.

I then laid a piece of green construction paper on the floor and instructed the children to line up behind it.



When it was their turn a child stepped on the green paper and tossed the balls, one at a time into the bowl.

After they tossed all 3 balls, they collected the balls and reported how many baskets they had made.








As the game went on, I moved the green paper back a few inches, making the toss a bit more difficult.

With each move of the paper, the children were given another ball to toss until they had all 12.


The children not only had fun tossing the balls, but counting them out afterwards. Each one proudly announced their toss accomplishments!

My Noggin Gets All Thumbs Up Here!

Charter Cable gave it's customers a 9 month subscription to MyNoggin.com.


I was eager to give this program a try since we watch Dora, Diego and The Backyardigans every day.

Getting started was easy and I was elated to learn I could add as many children as I want to the program!

The children are rewarded with marbles at the end of each game. This is not only a great incentive for the children to finish a game, but lets them know when their turn is over.

After each game, the parent or provider has the option to see the child's progress.

Above, one of the children plays a Diego snowboard game. In this game, the child uses the mouse to navigate Diego on the snowboard. Elisia, Diego's cousin calls out numbers and it's the job of the child to direct Diego to the ramp displaying the number just called.

This little guy scored 2nd place and won 15 marbles at the end of the game!

I highly recommend this program to other daycare/preschool providers as well as parents!

If you're not a Charter customer, you can visit http://www.mynoggin.com/ for a free 7-day trial.

Miss Mowissa has a lot of wrinkles!!

Kids will certainly say the funniest things.

This is a story one of my mom's recently shared with me.

Her daughter and she were talking as her mother worked in the small tea room they own. Her daughter brought up all the wrinkles I have by starting the conversation with,

"Mom, Miss Mowissa has a lot of wrinkles!!"

"M, I've seen Miss Melissa and I've never seen a wrinkle."

"Yes mom, she has a lot of wrinkles and she keeps them in her cupboard."

"What? No sweetie, Miss Melissa doesn't have any wrinkles and she certainly doesn't keep them in her cupboard."

Angered by her mother's disbelief, the little girl states, "Mom, she does have a lot of wrinkles...she has pink, blue and mix colored. We put them on our cupcakes."

Chuckling at her own misunderstanding, the mother says, "Does Miss Melissa have a lot of sprinkles in her cupboard?"

"That's what I've been telling you mom!!"

We all couldn't help but get a good chuckle out of that one.

Number Leap

Today I decided to try a new number game with the children.

I call it Number Leap and the rules are simple.

I call out a number and the children leap over it.

To start, I numbered 10 pieces of colored construction paper and laid them out in order.

I then walked through all the numbers, pointing out each color and corresponding number.

As the children lined up, I called out, "Max, jump over number 7." If Max didn't know what the number 7 looked like, I gave hints, such as,

"Number 7 is on white paper."

For the children who knew their numbers I had them start with the number 10 and count backwards.

Be prepared for children to miss the jump and slip. For us this ended up being the "fun" part of the game.

When nap time was over, the children were ready to play again and again!

What a fun way for them to burn some energy and learn at the same time!

Alphabet Lotto

I recently ordered the "Alphabet Lotto" game for my preschoolers in hopes it would help those still learning letter recognition.

I gathered the children and told them about the fun game we were about to play.

They were excited to see the sturdy, colorful bingo-like cards and raring to get started.

I explained that I would be calling out a letter and it was there job to tell me if they had the letter and where it was on their card.

The first round went great, but I decided I wanted to add a task to those who already knew their alphabet.

The next round involved naming one thing that began with the letter I just called. It took a few tries, but soon kids were catching on and calling out, "B is for Boy" or "M is for Melissa".

If you don't want to buy the game itself, it would be easy to make with some card stock, laminate covering and size appropriate, homemade, alphabet flashcards!

What a fun way to learn the alphabet!

A quick outdoor game

It was 58 degrees here this afternoon. Not quite warm enough for a full afternoon outdoors with the kids, but warm enough to get out for some fresh air and a quick game of Red light, Green light!

I made my "light" using a bowl, green construction paper, and red construction paper, laminate paper and a tongue depressor.

I was the leader to start, and then each child who got to the end first became the leader.

We were able to play 6 rounds before the children were ready to take the game indoors.

The parents were happy that not only did they learn an old fashion, fun game, but that the children were able to finally enjoy some fresh air!

Do your kids know "Apples & Bananas"?

This song was the most fun we've had singing in a long time! It's so catchy that even my teenagers were singing it!

Apples and Bananas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmW3aBqZtKQ

Lyrics:

I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas

I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas


I like to ate, ate, ate ay-ples and ba-nay-nays - Ba-nay-nays?

I like to ate, ate, ate ay-ples and ba-nay-nays


I like to eat, eat, eat ee-ples and bee-nee-nees - Bee-nee-nees?

I like to eat, eat, eat ee-ples and bee-nee-nees


I like to ite, ite, ite i-ples and by-ny-nys - By-ny-nys?

I like to ite, ite, ite i-ples and by-ny-nys


I like to ote, ote, ote oh-ples and bo-no-nos - Bo-no-nos?

I like to ote, ote, ote oh-ples and bo-no-nos


I like to oot, oot, oot oo-ples and boo-noo-noos - Boo-noo-noos?

I like to oot, oot, oot oo-ples and boo-noo-noos


And the cow says?

Moo-moo.....

And the snake says?

Ssss....Ssss...

Number Fishing

Number fishing is my new favorite game to play with the kids! It's easy to set up and makes learning colors, numbers and counting a blast with the little ones!

First, cut out the fish template. I don't recommend cutting each corner, rather cut around the fish for more durability.

This is the perfect size fish to start out with!

I traced the fish onto several different colored pieces of construction paper.

Second, In black marker, label each fish with a number.

I started out with 1-20, but if your child is past that, then by all means start with the numbers they need to learn next.

On the fish numbered 1-10, I added small stickers to the back of the fish for the little ones who haven't mastered numbered recognition. By counting the stickers on the back, they learn to recognize the corresponding number.

Third, add a basic paper clip to the mouth. This is how the children will catch their fish.

Fourth, find a dowel or old blind handle, tie yarn to one end and attach 2 magnets. I used hot glue to assure my magnets stay together and keep the yarn in place.

Fifth, find a nice size bowl or bucket, drop your fish in and let the fun begin!

As children catch the fish, ask them,

"What color is your fish?"

"What number is on your fish?"

"Can you count the stickers on the back of the fish?"