Go Away Big Green Monster

"Go Away Big Green Monster" by Ed Emberley is a fabulous book for working on a variety of skills. This book teaches adjectives, sequencing, and fears. Adjectives can be challenging to teach for many kids and this book opens up doors for using better words with more description while writing. Here are a few activities I have enjoyed doing with this book. With my preschool kids they help me sequence the monster by putting him together and taking him apart. Then they created their own monsters in Playdough. As they created their monsters they said my monster has 3 little eyes, 8 long legs, a small mouth, and more. This helped them to describe what they were making. By making their monster in playdough they were able to work on fine motor and sensory skills as well.

Go Away Big Green Monster - playdough

My older students I have them, either write or draw a monster using great describing words or lots of detail in the drawing. Then they get with a buddy and tell their buddy what their monster looks like. The student draws the monster step by step without looking at the picture. This helps the kids truly understand how important it is to be specific. In the end it is interesting to see how similar the two pictures are to one another.  



Monster in Playdough

Beginning Sounds

Beginning Letter Sound Sort

The following is a printable that works on beginning sounds. Each letter has 6 picture cards  (except for x) that go with each letter. The great thing is that for kids that are lower functioning you can simply give a child 2 letter cards to sort between and then for higher functioning kiddos you can provide many more options. I printed mine out on card stock, cut apart, and laminated. If you don't want things sliding around you can also add velcro.  
Beginning Sounds

Bug Counting Book

Spring has sprung and the insects are coming out to play. This is a counting book for numbers 1-10 with a variety of bugs. (printable is listed below) The kids are having fun coloring the bugs and practicing their numbers. A fun activity to do, to help your little kiddos get some of the sillies out is to have them transition like a bug. When they move from group to group have them do things like:

Bug Counting Book 1-10

Jump like a grasshopper
Fly like a butterfly
Wiggle like a caterpillar
March like an ant
Buzz like a bee
Spin like a spider
Roll like a roly poly bug

Bug Counting

Funny Sayings

Preschoolers say some of the funniest things, here are a few that have made me laugh...

"My mom and dog look alike, they both have long floppy ears."

"Swimming is fun because you can toot in the pool and make pretty bubbles."

"I'm not, team Edward! I'm team Jacob (pause) and team Spongebob!"

Hats, Hats, and More Hats

Letter H h activities - Hats

Hats are so much fun. You can find all kinds of hats from simple to crazy. This week the kids wore their favorite hats. I found pictures of lots of different types of hats. Then I printed them out on card stock and laminated them. Once they were laminated I added a magnet to the back, tape would also work in a pinch. Each student was given a small personal size white board. They chose a hat and then drew a person to go with the hat. This was great for working on body parts, shapes, and fine motor. Hat Printable

Letter Hh activities

Letter Hh activities

Mystery Eggs

Preschool painting fun



Mystery Egg - Painting

Mystery Eggs are a fun activity for kids of all ages. With my preschool kiddos I draw shapes and designs with a white crayon, on a large egg shape that is printed on card stock. Then when the kids paint, with watercolors the design appears just like "magic" My older kids draw their own designs with a white crayon and then paint over the top. This activity is always a huge hit! If you want to make the activity more challenging you can have them work with just primary colors (red, yellow, blue) and then while painting they mix the colors to create the secondary colors of (purple, orange, green).  



Mystery Easter Egg - Painting