We started the day with our routine circle time which involves our welcome song, calendar, days of the week song and weather.
I started out by showing the kids the globe of the earth again and reminding them where we live. We then took a look at the arctic circle on the globe and I placed a bright ribbon around it to make it jump out more. I asked them what they thought it was like in the arctic and was pleasantly surprised when they guessed it was very cold! We talked briefly about some arctic facts (the temps, the tundra, ice mountains, dark winters and light summers). I then had them watch a 5 minute segment from the movie "Earth" that followed a polar bear family as the arctic goes from complete darkness to daylight. It shows a mother polar bear emerge from her snow cave with her young cubs. The kids loved this! It really has beautiful imagery of the arctic. We skipped through and looked at short clips of wolves, caribou, walrus and whales.
We then returned to the table and had a little craft time making some cute little polar bears out of Styrofoam cups, balls and cotton balls and a toothpick to hold the head in place. As they worked on their craft I went over a bunch of polar bear facts, many of which had been mentioned in the movie. They were pretty impressed when I pointed out that a polar bear can be up to 10 feet tall which is the height of our ceiling!
I showed them a variety of cards with various animals found in the arctic (walrus, polar bear, arctic hare, seals, whales, wolves, etc). I had made 2 of each animal and laid the cards upside down on the ground to play a big game of match. Fun.
After learning about the animals it was time for a little science! We had tons of fun with this one. First we talked about how so many of the animals in the arctic spend so much time in the water. I brought out a bucket of very cold icy water and they had fun dipping their hands in it. They sure couldn't keep their hands in for long though.
I then taught them about the thick, fatty layer of blubber that these animals have just under their skin to keep them warm. I brought out this "blubber glove" (two ziploc bags filled with lard) to try out.
When they slipped their hands in the blubber and then back into the icy water their hands stayed warm. This was such a great hands on lesson.
We took a little snack break with a "polar bear" to snack on (rice cake, oreo cookie, bananas and black berries). I don't think anyone left a drop on their plates.
After snack I read them this cute little story I found here called "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, Turn Around". It was the perfect combination of a story and a wiggle activity in one.
After I read the story once they pretended to be bears and did actions and made bear noises as I read it again........it was a hit!
bear, Polar bear,
Turn around,
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Make no sound.
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Dance on your toes,
Polar bear, Polar bear.
Touch your nose.
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Show your paws.
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Hide your claws.
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Reach up high
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Wink one eye.
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Say good-night,
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Shut your eyes tight.
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Wake up now,
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Take a bow.
We then went back to the table for some art time making some snowy pictures. Since our snow has finally left us we made our own with equal parts of shaving cream and white glue thrown into the blender. I think the highlight of the whole activity was watching me measure out the supplies (who knew shaving cream was so funny).
I then gave them a scoop of the "snow" on their paper and they finger painted some snowy scenes. Too much fun (and maybe a bit messy).
We finished off with some free playtime.
(The poor dog is having her heart checked at the "doctors office")
This has to have been one of my favorite preschool days......the kids all had fun, my kids both behaved so well and we learned a lot! I love days like this.
No comments:
Post a Comment