Ann Arbor Public Schools 
Preschool Activities Menu
Week #1: April 13, 2020
Weekly Video Message (can also be found on the preschool homepage on the left side)

Welcome to the Week

Hello Families!  

We hope this week's Activity Menu will provide you with some ways to keep your Preschooler active and learning.  Our first and foremost priority is that you and your family are safe, healthy, and doing well. If you are not able to do these activities, or if you just do one, that is OK!  Do what you can, when you can, if you can. If your child does not like an activity or something doesn’t work, that is OK too. You can encourage your child by saying these words:

• Tell me how you did that…                                    
• Let’s try together…
• You’re working hard…
• What will you do with those?
• Why do you think that happened?
• How can we find out?
• What do you think will happen next?

             


Remember, children do not learn if they are not having fun!

Week 1 Mindfulness Activity: Rainbow Breath/Go Noodle - YouTube

CREATIVITY

Learning Focus of this Activity: Your child will use materials from around your home in creative ways and use their imagination.

Overview of Activity:  Don’t throw it out… wash it and use it for building, playing and art.  Designate a box or a bag as a collection spot. Save toilet paper and paper towel tubes, lids, boxes, yogurt cups, cans, water bottles, styro-foam trays and containers, etc.  Your child can be in charge of the “Junk Collection” and use it to play store, build towers, color on, etc.


Ideas: 
Early 
Middle
Later

Build a tower
Stack items, words to use:  “more, on top, under…”
Make two towers. Which is taller, which is shorter?
Have your child tell you, or draw a plan of what they will build

Play house or store
Put items in and out of shopping bags - does it fit?  “Too big or too small”
Add other items, like a baby doll/stuffed animal, or some “money,” or credit card. 
“Write” a shopping list (give your child paper and pencil); include siblings (ex: one is cashier, one is shopper.)

Decorate the items
Make simple marks on the items
Put items together to create something different
Encourage your child to describe what they are making or how they will decorate the items, etc


Ways to Support Your Child: 

• You can help your child get started by making a tower and letting them copy it.  Start simple by putting one item on top of, or inside another and have your child do the same.
•  Encourage your child to plan ahead, “let’s save that one for the junk collection,” or “would this be good for your collection?”
•  When a container is empty let your child wash it.

SCIENCE

Learning Focus of this Activity: 

• Your child will experiment with various materials in water. (items saved in the “junk collection” above) 
• Your child will understand the ideas of sinking and floating.

Overview of Activity: Put water in a container (sink, tub, plastic bowl…).  Experiment with materials like plastic milk and water bottle caps, styro-foam trays, pennies or other small pieces and see what happens. 


Ideas: 
Early 
Middle
Later

Does it sink or float?
Use the words FLOAT and SINK (or sunk), as your child puts items in water.  Let them experiment.
-Ask your child simple yes/no questions about what happened.
-Sort items into two piles, a float pile and a sink pile. Talk about “more, less, biggest, smallest”
-Ask your child to predict if an item might sink or float, before it goes in the water. 
-Ask “why do you think it will float?”

Is it a boat?
Try to put a penny, or smaller item*, onto a floating object and see if it still floats.
(*small legos, pieces of styrofoam)
Add small items until the boat sinks - count the items.
Make up a story about the boat and the passengers.  Write it down or let your child record it on your phone.


Ways to Support Your Child: 

• Help build finger strength and coordination: Use tongs from your kitchen, or thumb with pointer & middle finger, to take all the items out of the water and put them on a towel or in another container to dry.
•  Encourage thinking skills: “try it another way,” or “maybe you could turn it over” - don’t just show them how to make something float

MATH AND LANGUAGE

Learning Focus of this Activity: 

• Your child will use words, or gestures, or objects to participate in the finger-play with you.   “Five Little Hot Dogs”
• Your child will build their understanding about numbers and counting

Overview of Activity: Say the following finger-play with your child.  Use the palm of your hand as the pan and your fingers as the hotdogs.  Clap your hands together when you say BAM! 5 Little Hot Dogs - YouTube Video                              
               
                                    2* little hot dogs frying in a pan                                 (*you can start with a bigger number, this is just an example)
                                    The grease got hot and one went BAM! 
                  
                                    1 little hot dog frying in a pan 
                                    The grease got hot and one went BAM! 
 
                                    No little hot dogs frying in a pan 
                                    The grease got hot and the pan went BAM! 


Ideas: 
Early 
Middle
Later

Encourage your child to participate
Your child imitates a few of the actions you are doing, or joins in with a clap or  the word “BAM!”
Your child does the actions with you and begins to say more words 
Your child says most of the finger-play independently and puts on a show for others 

Counting
Hold up your fingers and count them with your child.  Help your child hold up one or two fingers. 
(Use real objects - see below)
PIck a new number to start the finger-play with.  Ask your child to put that many “hotdogs” in the pan.  “Let’s do 4 hotdogs, can you put 4 hotdogs in the pan?”
-Your child tells you how many hot dogs are left as each one goes away. 
-Try changing the finger-play. Say “and 2 went  BAM!”.  


Ways to Support Your Child: 

• Your child will need to hear the finger-play several times before s/he will be able to repeat it.
• You can start the finger-play with 2 hotdogs or you can start the finger-play with 7… use any number that is good for your child.
• Give your child a pan and some “hotdogs” (legos, straws, pretzels, pieces of paper etc.) and act out the fingerplay

PHYSICAL

Learning Focus of this Activity: Your child will develop throwing and catching skills

Overview of Activity: Materials:  Socks rolled into balls.  Use a box, laundry basket, or a small towel as a target.  


Ideas: 
Early 
Middle
Later

Throw
Stand close to the target, drop or toss the ball in.  Get excited about taking a turn, say “My turn!” 
Move the target farther away, or change the size of the target (use a smaller box)
If you have stairs, pick a number (4), lay a target (washcloth) on that step (fourth), try to toss socks up.

Catch
Toss the ball into a box or basket your child is holding. Did it make a sound? Words to use: “Loud or not loud; hear it or not hear it”
Toss the ball towards your child’s chest.  Encourage them to move hands together to catch the ball.
Play catch with a partner.  Every turn, take a step farther apart.

Challenge
Stand on a couch cushion (put it on the floor to work on balance), or put the target up on a chair, to change the game.
Use the other hand for throwing
Use empty water bottles or milk jugs and create a “bowling game”
How many can you knock over?


Ways to Support Your Child: 

• Pick a safe area for your child to catch/throw soft balls.
• Show your child how to roll socks into a ball.  Does the ball change if you use mom’s socks or the baby’s socks?
• Use a beach-ball or a plastic bag ball (stuff a plastic bag with other bags or newspapers and tie it shut) to help your child catch if a sock ball is too small.

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Listen to todays story https://www.ryanandcraig.com/blog/2019/2/9/ten-thank-you-letters-by-daniel-kirk
​Today the story was about writing thank you letters, discuss with your child why you might write a Thank you letter? How do you think the person getting the letter feels? How do you think Grandma Pig felt when she got pig's letter? How did Pig feel when he got Rabbits letter?
Did Rabbit really write 10 thank you letters? Why don't you count and see, can you think of some of the people he wrote thank you letters too?
Writing a thank you note helps your child show appreciation and respect for others that do things for them that are nice or make their lives better. We have been working on being respectful and appreciative in the classroom.

Today's challenge was to write a thank you letter to a health care worker. To thank them for all that they are doing to keep everyone safe and healthy during this time. Your child could draw a picture and dictate what they what to say in the letter. They could write Thank you, and all the preschoolers know how to write their names.
Emma Concannon (Jacks Mom) has made the offer to collect the letters and send them to a local hospital from Mrs. Geidner's Preschool class. Please contact Emma directly at eclaires11@gmail.com for the address of where to send your child's letter. 

I hope many friends choose to do this challenge, I am sure it would bring smiles to the dedicated health care workers that are putting themselves at risk during this time. I also want to thank Emma for the suggestion and sending the letters.

The missing letter today was the letter T. Have your child practice writing the letter T, remind them to start at the top, big line down, froggy jump up little line across the top. they can practice writing Thank you. See how many words your child can think of that start with the "T" sound, or have them count how many T's are in the morning message.
Lets do a Letter T Scavenger Hunt 
Find Something you can Turn
Find something you can Twist
Find a Tissue Box
Find Ten(10) of something how many do you have to Take away to have Two(2)?
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Just a Reminder that during this time if you would like to keep up on your handwriting, Learning Without Tears if offering free actress to their Pre-K interactive teaching tool at no cost to you. Just go to https://www.lwtears.com/programs/distance-learning and set up an account.

Hello Preschool Families,
Our distant learning for today is all about exploring emotions.
Here are some activities to encourage your children to express their feelings.
1- Make a pigeon head band with your kid and act out the story. Use a brown paper bag to create the headband.  Then,  add the pigeon head which is pretty easy to do with a few ovals.
2- Draw faces  using ,crayons or salt tray, with different emotions.
3- Play the game of Emotional Charades 

4- Sing the different emotions together.

Can you send me a picture of your big smile just like mine?

 Today we are comparing and contrasting two of the same stories
"Stone Soup" one by Marcia Brown and the other retold by Heather Forest.
These stories are about sharing and working together, if everyone adds a little the end result is enough for all.
​The first story is the classic telling by Marcia Brown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trbHdayluLA 
The second is a more updated version by Heather Forest
https://vimeo.com/250886079
​*After listening to both the stories think about where the stories happened, were the settings the same or different?
What about the characters who came to town in the first story? (soldiers) Who where the characters in the second story? (travelers)
What was the characters problem? (Hungry) Was is the same in both stories?
How did the characters solve their problem? (Made a stone soup, tricked villagers into adding to the soup)
Can your child identify something that was the same/different about the two stories?
​What was the result of everyone sharing? (enough food for all)
*Have your child either find, in magazines/ grocery store flyers, or have them draw pictures of foods they would add to their stone soup (don't forget the stone). Draw or cut out a pot shape and have your child glue their pictures in the pot. This is a great time for your child to practice their scissor skills cutting out the foods. Help your child to label their foods, identifying the letters they hear as they try to write the name of the food.
*Today would be a great time to use some math/science skills to cook or bake something with your child. Have them help you add the ingredients, look at the measurements needed and compare the amounts as you add the ingredients, observe how things change as you cook them. Even try making a stone soup.
*Don't forget to get some movement in today how about making a purple stew https://app.gonoodle.com/activities/purple-stew

                                                             Happy Cooking

The Story Today is "Giraffes Can't Dance" by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bp2wiMu9xU     
Somethings to think about while listening to the story
At the beginning of the story, what does Gerald think he can’t do? (dance)
What does Gerald learn about himself by the end of the story? (He really can dance.)
Name some of the dance moves the other animals do in the story?
Here are a list of the dances, let your child try to dance in different ways, call out different types, join in and show them how.
·       Skip: to move lightly from foot to foot with a hopping motion
·       Prance: to move with high bouncing steps (like a horse)
·       Waltz: to dance with a regular series of three steps
·       Rock-n-Roll: to dance freely to the beat of the music
·       Tango: to dance with special poses and movements
·       Cha-cha: to dance with a quick three-step movement
·       Sway: to stand in place and move slowly back-and-forth or side-to-side
·       Shuffle: to move by brushing one’s feet along the floor
·       Leap: to jump with one leg in front of the other
·       Boogie: to dance with fast movements
·       Twirl: to spin around gracefully
If your child still feels like dancing try playing the Freeze dance game with Greg and Steve.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5awvRont0OI&feature=youtu.be&autoplay=1
Now lets learn some true facts about my favorite animal the Giraffe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNYXweQ81vI
I found it interesting that no two giraffes have the same pattern.​ If you would like to print off a giraffe neck you can create your own giraffe pattern
https://www.kidssoup.com/sites/default/files/legacy/pdf/Safari-activities-crafts-preschool/a_giraffedance.pdf
I hope you had fun learning about Giraffes, What is your favorite animal?

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Listen to the story Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss
​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDef7vCgrk0

Ask you child 
Why do you think King Derwin of Didd is so bored with the weather?
What is the task he gives his team of royal magicians?
What is the result?
What type of weather do you think would be fun? You could have your child draw a picture of what this would look like. Maybe create that weather on the village (read below) you build. What would happen to your village if it was raining cats and dogs? 
​
Then if you have the ingredients make Oolbeck.
What is Oobleck? This is just some information on what Oobleck is. If you have not experienced Oobleck before take sometime with your child to experiment/play with it, you will find it is a very interesting substance.
Oobleck – non-Newtonian Fluid
We love a great science experiment, especially when it is a rule breaker like Oobleck. Known as a non-Newtonian fluid, oobleck breaks Newton’s Laws of Fluid Dynamics. To understand this law think about how liquids normally behave. Water flows smoothly and freely, but mix in a bit of dirt to create mud and it slows down. This is because the dynamics (behaviours) of fluids are affected by their viscosity and density.
The book is about a bored king, King Derwin of Didd. Why is he so bored? He is bored by the weather. Sun, rain, fog and snow are just much too boring for him. So he tasks his team of royal magicians to create a new weather to make him happy.
Bartholomew and the Oobleck STEM Activity Supplies
To do this STEM activity you will need items you likely already have laying around the house.
Cornstarch
Water
Green food colouring
Bowl
Spoon
Lego – plates, blocks and mini people
Some type of mesh (you could even build a grid from Lego pieces if you prefer)
Large, shallow edged dish
Easy to clean space
Simply take 2 cups of cornstarch and 1 cup of water and add to a large bowl. Since the oobleck was green in Bartholomew and the Oobleck, color water green first before mixing it with the cornstarch.

Oobleck Inspired STEM Project
After reading the book together, you are ready for the oobleck STEM activity.
First up you need to build a “village”.  Encourage your child to come up with ways to make the walls sturdy, Oobleck has weight to it, add beams or a grid to the top. 
Next add the  villagers! 
Once it is built carefully place it all in a large shallow lipped tray to catch all the mess. Then place it on a table in an easy to clean up area. Oobleck is messy fun, so always plan ahead for easy clean up.
Now it was time to mix up the oobleck! Oobleck is soooo easy to make. Simply take 2 cups of cornstarch and 1 cup of water and add to a large bowl. Since the oobleck was green in Bartholomew and the Oobleck, color the water green first before mixing it with the cornstarch.
Almost immediately you will start to see that non-Newtonian fluid dynamic as you try and mix it all together. The trick is to move slowly. The more pressure you place on the oobleck the harder it will get.
Once mixed it was time to reenact the book! Slowly drip your Oobleck over your village, what happens to your village, would you like that type of weather?
Now if your children has never used oobleck, you should spend some time letting them explore the properties of oobleck with their hands. It is such a cool substance that turns solid under pressure and liquefies when you remove the pressure. Having an understanding of those properties before starting this experiment will help them understand why it behaves in such a strange way as it rains down on their village.

Do one or both parts of the steam activity, whatever best fits. We hope you have fun thinking about different types of weather and creating a village and/or oobleck.

Try getting outside today practice writing your name with sideway chalk, you can make sidewalk paint by using the cornstarch and water just like you make Oobleck it is just  and 1 to 1 ratio 1cup cornstrach and 1 cup water then add food coloring mix until the clumps are gone.  Try playing with a ball or ride your bike. Fresh air is good for all of us!
Check out Mr. Fishers website
https://thurston physical education.weebly.com/

​Since we read another Dr. Seuss book maybe check out Seussville 
https://www.seussville.com/

​Let me know how your villages and Oobleck turn out, I love to see some pictures.
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Hello Preschool Families 
Today’s distant learning is all about problem solving strategies and taking care of pets.

1- Talk with your children about the pet they have or wish to have at home. Then ask:
. How do you decide who cares for your pet?
. What is the hardest part about caring for your pet?
. What do you enjoy most about your pet?


2- Have your kid watch the story 
Harry the Dirty Dog

​While listening to the book pause and ask
. What did Harry bury in the garden?
. Why did Harry run away?
. Why didn’t Harry’s family recognize him?
 
3- After they are done
Discuss the way Harry tried to solve his bath time problem and ask
. Was running away a good idea? Why? Why not?
. What could Harry had done instead of running way to solve his problem?
. In your journal draw a picture of your favorite pet write about the ways you would like to take care for it.

Let’s spell out your name and complete the activity listed for each letter:

Challenge 4
Can you spell your Friends’ names?

​We miss you all!


Do you remember my cat's name?

Lets have a Wacky Wednesday today!
First listen to the Story Wacky Wednesday by Dr. Seuss, try to find the wacky things in the book as your read along.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b653k3-_wIM

Try brainstorming different ideas that would be wacky, your dog with a flower growing from its head, your furniture with feet, count how many you can think of, try to remember some of the wacky things from the book. Maybe your adult can write down your ideas for you or you could draw a picture. You could play a game with a sibling or your adult change one thing wacky in a room and see if they can find it. Maybe put socks on a chair or a shoe on a table, just remember to be careful we don't want anything to break. Practice writing your name maybe your can make it look wacky today, or write it while upside down.

Since we are reading a Dr. Seuss book check out Seussville
https://www.seussville.com/
you can read, play games and hang out with Dr. Seuss and his friends here!

Another fun activity to check out today is 
Joe Reily Children's Concert Live Stream
www.facebook.com/joereilymusic
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
4:00pm-5:00pm
Thurston is suppose to receive a shout out.

If you do something really wacky send me a comment or a picture I would love to see what you are doing. You can leave a comment here or email me. Miss all of you tons!

 Hello Preschool Families today's distant learning is all about dots.

Have your student listen to the story 
Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPJEqUB2CxA
Your child can help count the dots as the book is read. Then you can give your child 10 dots, you can cut them out of any color paper and make them any size you like, dot stickers work great too. If you make them in different sizes your child could arrange them from biggest to smallest, have them try to make letters just using dots, or if they are in different colors they could make a pattern. This can be done by just drawing dots. I did some of those examples on my morning message today, can you find them? Just encourage your child to draw a picture and see what the circle shaped dots helped to create.

Don't Forget to practice writing your name, how about try writing it with dots.

Lets practice mindfulness today, do Melting on gonoodle
​https://app.gonoodle.com/activities/melting

Special for today go to Ms. B's Media page
​https://burau8.wixsite.com/thurstonlib

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Hello Preschool friends and families,
 
I hope everyone is doing well! This is day 1 of distant learning. Every day I will be posting a morning message you can help your child read. Then I will be giving the preschoolers a daily challenge. For this week I have added a story link and an activity that ties to that story. There is no pressure to do any of them they are just a suggestion.
Since this is the first week of Spring I wanted to start with Rainbows
“A Rainbow of My Own” by Don Freeman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWn7HAxc9p8&disable_polymer=true
 
After your child listens to the story here are some questions you could ask.
>What type of weather forms rainbows?
>Where do you think a rainbow would hide?
>What did the little child find in his room at the end of the story?
>How would you play with a rainbow? Draw a picture of this and tell an adult about it. (this is the challenge)

​My hope is you can have fun with these challenges, send me your comments if you like I am here! We will do this together.
​
Special for today: Check out Mrs. Wyse art site at
​www.thurstonart.weebly.com


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