One of my favorite things to do with preschoolers is to provide large empty boxes for them to play in. My daughter got a new washer and dryer and I took her empty boxes. I was thinking I would need to wait until Spring before I could use them since I wanted to use them outside where there is more room. But luckily we had a few nice days in December to break them out. Before turning them lose with the boxes, we read Not a Box by Antoinette Portis, always a favorite. Then the fun began. There was also some great problem solving and risk assessment happening too. One fun thing the students did was get in the box and roll it over and over. I was standing close by, ready to tell them when to stop because they were close to the wall. But it wasn’t necessary. They were able to do their own risk assessment, stopping and changing direction when necessary, explaining to each other why they needed to. After a couple of days of play, the students ended up tearing up the boxes until they could no longer be climbed in, but that was not the end of the fun. Adding markers prolonged the use of the boxes. This group of boys were creating houses on the box that they had turned into their house.
I’m trying something new, linking to products I use. I will earn a small commission if you use these links. So here is a link for Not a Box you can get on Amazon. It’s a fun read.
Here is some more imaginative play happening in December. A couple of girls had a camping experience outside and a picnic inside. Also, not sure who did the pizza, but I love seeing this kind of residue of play after the students leave. And that little shape guy is so much cuter than any of the printed patterns. I have reduced the use of our sensory table this year just to try to reduce the spread of germs, but when a student suggests different things to put in, I figure it will be a fun one so I better do it.
I took this next picture because of the conversation happening between these two cute girls. I posted it on Facebook, but here is the recap of it:
“Where’s our mama?”
“Remember she died”
“Oh yea, what did she die from?”
“From Amazon shopping, she was shopping on Amazon and then she died”
(Said with a straight face)
I can so relate this time of year!
And of course, the art. One day I set out a lot of different things and just let the students create, and create they did. Then of course there are some fun Christmas crafts to do and even though they are more product orientated, there are always individualized touches that make the art unique.
And lastly, the writing the happens organically throughout the day because it is important to the child.
I put up some chalkboard contact paper because some times you just need to write big! Here’s a link to chalkboard contact paper on Amazon. It is important to switch up writing surfaces, especially for the little writers still developing the small motor skills needed for more controlled writing.
Miss Lori's Preschool 