clip-on koalas

Are you tired of strengthening your fine motor control 

with those same old clothespins????

We have been loving these cute little koala clips!  When you squeeze their backs, their arms and legs open and you can clip them onto lots of things.  We have been clipping ours onto this wooden spice rack.  These koala clips are the perfect challenge for the child who is working to strengthen his pincer grip AND build coordination and control of his movement.  They are not easy to open - you really have to have strong fingers - but they are so much fun, even the littlest hands in our classroom will manipulate them all morning long.  

I remember having lots of  clip-on animals like these koalas when I was growing up.  The 80's were just rad like that, I guess.  I found some koala clips on amazon, but they seem a little on the spendy side to me.  Click here if you want to check them out. 
 

Does anyone have any other ideas where you can find animal clips?  

We want more!!!

busy hands

 grading color tablets from  

darkest to lightest

 writing and illustrating  

a story

 building and writing 

short vowel words

 counting spindles

{Wrapping each quantity with a colorful rubber band 

makes this lesson a hit!}  

 scrubbing chairs and tables

{This is one of our FAVORITE afternoon activities!}

All you need to get scrubbing

is a bucket of water, soap, and few brushes or sponges. 

Hope everyone has a great week!

little smudge art

We have been loving the book Little Smudge by Lionel Le Neouanic.  Have you read it?

Little Smudge asks a group of colorful shapes if he can play, and they reject him.  

{WARNING:  Their rejection is brutal.  Depending on my audience, I change the wording to be less negative.} 

When Little Smudge goes home disappointed, his parents show him a few tricks that totally win the other shapes over.  

When I read this book, the children are always shocked by the rejection scene.  

They get all like, 

Are you kidding me?! 

Don't those other shapes know that EVERYONE is included? 

Duh!

{"Everyone's included" is one of our school rules, and most of the children believe it to be universal.  Wouldn't THAT be something if it was?} 

This book leads to meaningful conversations, and some pretty fun art, too!

  

First, we made our own little smudges on heavy paper with finger paint.

After the paint dried {this took an hour or two}, we turned our little smudges into other things... 

...people, dogs, insects, transportation systems, smiley faces, etc.

We experimented by drawing with markers AND ball point pens.  

The children were very proud of their creations, and they want to make more!

For more fingerprint art, check out 5 Orange Potatoes.  I think we're going to try their project next!

L-O-V-E

according to preschoolers...

Love is kisses.

Love is my family.

Love is giving a hug.

Love is the moon.

Love is living with my parents.

Love is my heart.

Love is petting your dog.

Love is my blankie.

Love is something that you give away.

 
Happy Valentine's Day!

busy hands

squeezing pink water from a dropper

into a heart-shaped ice cube tray

{when all the hearts are full,

use the dropper to suck the water back up

OR just stick the tray in the freezer}

 constructing with 

the pink tower AND the broad stair

 using the 100 board to count to 100

on the 100th day of school

{yes, that IS a muffin tin holding the number tiles}

writing and illustrating 

a book of planets

 

painting a wooden bead 

with liquid watercolor

 two friends wearing their hand-painted

valentine's day necklaces

{we can't wait for v-day around here!}