Spring Break Countdown

In Pre-K we love to do countdowns to special days.  It is a good reminder for the kids and teachers. :) It helps with one-to-one correspondence, counting, and number recognition (We always write the number of days left on the board.).

 

This is one we have for Spring Break.  We display it on our dry erase board. 

 

  I printed the reproducibles from Twisty Noodle.

 

I made the basket the size of a paper plate, and I increased the size of the eggs as well (using a copier, and the maximize/minimize feature).  I colored them using both markers and colored pencils.

 

The basket used two paper plates.  The basket picture is cut in half so that the handle is on the back plate.  The front of the basket is on the front plate.  The front plate has been cut in half, glued together for additional strength, turned around so the front faces the front of the others, and then taped to the back so that it forms a pocket.  I hope that made sense.  I apologize for not taking pictures.

 

 

It can now hold the eggs.

 

 

For a finishing touch I made grass to "hide" the eggs.  It is laminated green construction paper cut in half, and then the tops are cut irregularly to make it look like grass.  I kept the length of the cut about the same, but I alternated the angle of the top of the grass to make it remotely more realistic.

There's a chocolate bunny at the end for that very special last day!

PreK Line up - Math integration

It is quite helpful to have the floor marked in some way to show the children where to line up.  We decided to integrate math as we transition to different activities (such as lunch, playground, etc.).  The children have color groups, so we have the opportunity to correlate them in that way if needed.  So far we have called the children to stand on a certain shape, a certain color, and a certain number.  We will also use this to review patterns.  There are two shapes for each number so that we can instruct the children to put one foot on one shape and the other foot on the other (Hopefully avoiding turning around and talking in line, twirling around, etc.).  

There are 20 total spots.  The shapes were made by laminating construction paper, cutting them out on the die-cut machine at school, writing the numbers on the shapes with a Sharpie, and using contact paper on each set of shapes (20 sheets cut to size) to stick them to the floor.  This should *hopefully* be easier to pull up at the end of the year to prepare for the floors to be waxed over the summer. 

There are a few closeups and then a full length picture.  This has been a great classroom management tool.