Ee is for Eric Carle

This week we talked about Eric Carle and some of his books.  I explained that Eric Carle paints on tissue paper and then cuts out pieces from his tissue paper collection to create the pictures in his books.  We read From Head to Toe a couple of weeks ago.  This week we read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, The Very Quiet Cricket, and The Very Grouchy Ladybug.  My curriculum called for reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar, but I opted not to, because it's a book many children get exposed to.  I wanted to pick other books to expose them to.

In the beginning of class, I brought out my locks and keys.  I generally sit with them to teach and assist, but I wanted to see what would happen on their own.  They didn't need me.  They figured it out all on their own.

A center activity at the start of the day: unlocking and locking locks.

I love watching them try to figure it out.  I found it interesting that they figured it out quicker when I wasn't sitting and watching them.  I wonder if the pressure of an adult slows them down in their own discovery.

For writing, they practiced writing horizontal lines with a small crayon, which forces them to hold it in a pincher grip.  It's a great way to teach pencil holding.  They also worked on the letters L and T.

When a child holds a little crayon, they are forced to use the pincher grasp.  It's a great way to teach that hold.  They used the small crayon to trace straight, horizontal lines.

Letter builders - capital letters.  The pieces are made of wood and they pretend to hammer them together.  They look forward to doing the hands on letter activities after they finish their writing worksheet.

Snack time is fun time!  A lot of wonderful friendship building.  There is a lot more talking going on, which is fantastic!!

Our water table is on the shady side of the house.  Here's one of my students walking with a bucket of water from the water table to the sand box.

A trek from the water table in the shade to the sand box.

a bucket of water to make the sand easy to work with

Actively playing

He slowly watched it trickle into a hole.

For art, we used tissue paper, just like Eric Carle.  Art for preschoolers should be about learning how to work with the materials and tools, not about a finished piece of art.  The children discovered that tissue paper is thin and easily sticks to their fingers when working with glue sticks.  This frustrated some, but they learned something about tissue paper and glue sticks that will make working with them next time, that much easier.  Our goal was to make a color wheel.  We have been talking about the primary colors - red, yellow, and blue and how mixing two of them makes a secondary color - orange, green, and purple. 

Working with tissue paper and a glue stick.  We made a color wheel.

Putting them on a window really shows how the colors blend and makes the colors look magical.