Penguin Pride

In this week's preschool stART class,
the theme was Penguins.

I decided to base the class activities around...

...this book,
Three Cheers for Tackyby
Helen Lester.

Such-a-fun-book!

**************************************

Before I read the story,
I had the kiddos begin work on
the day's craft...

...these Styrofoam ball penguins.

(I needed them to paint the two Styrofoam balls
so they could dry a bit before
we put the rest of the penguins together.)

(Don't these fellas just look
psyched to be in my class?) :0)

To help them paint the balls completely,
without getting the paint all over themselves,
I put a toothpick in the head...

...and the body.
(AHHHHH! It's the headless penguin!)

This allowed them to hold onto the parts
and paint with ease.

The toothpicks also served as the way to keep the
penguins together.

Instead of using glue,
just push the head and body toothpicks together.

Later, after the penguin forms dried a bit,
I used glue dots to adhere the googly eyes
and felt parts of the body.

*************************************************

Side note: If I did this again,
I would use craft glue, NOT glue dots.
AND I would have let the paint dry completely.
Basically, I probably would not do this craft again
in a situation where I only had 45 minutes to get it
completed.
It DEFINITELY needs dry time!

***************************************************

After the story,
I pulled out the day's Exploration Boxes...

...which had a "Black and White" theme,
in honor of the penguin.

As you can see...

...there was a flurry of excitement when I
pulled the boxes out and let the kiddos go!

I added another fun element to the box
this week...
...Black and White I Spy Cards.

I took pictures of different items from the boxes
and had the kiddos search for them.

That added the amount of challenge some of the
kiddos needed to keep their interest in the boxes.

Up Next: Valentine's Day...

*************************************************

Soooooooo,
for more creative learning experiences
for your kiddos,
heard on over to
Feed Me Books Friday,
Kids Get Crafty!,
Preschool Corner,
Read, Explore, Learn,
and
stART...