Long & Short

For our Long & Short study we used pgs 104- 111 in the Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills for Preschool.

First, we simply arranged pieces of paper from shortest to longest. If you want to make it a little more interesting you could use rainbow colors or slice up a picture from a magazine that will be revealed once placed in the right order.

For our next game, I put some painters tape around a tile and had J try to push the cars into the square. Depending on where it ended up, we'd say "too short" and "too far." We didn't use the word long but it was a good exercise in distance, length and fine motor skills.

Short & Tall

For our section on Short and Tall we used pgs 96-103 in the Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills for Preschool. 

We did a house-wide tour to practice spotting things that are shorter or taller than J. Doorways, counters, furniture, baby brother, toys on the floor... anything goes! Plus you'll find the occasion item that is the same size. 

Before J could eat her fruit by the foot snack she had to arrange it from shortest to tallest. A little sweet motivation never hurts!

Big, Small & Same Size

The section for Big, Small and Same Size is found on pgs 88-95 in the Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills for Preschool.

We arranged the food containers from bigger to smaller and then from smaller to bigger. I also used three different types of containers per set: glass, aluminum and plastic. You can talk about the differences between the containers like how glass is breakable, how you can squeeze the plastic and how you can dent the aluminum. This would be a lot of fun for hands on teaching!

Our second project we used different sized plastic cups which we again order biggest to smallest and smallest to biggest. Once finished we poured water into the smallest cup until it was full. Once it was full, we poured the water directly into the next bigger cup to show how this cup is not full from the same amount of water. You can then add more water from your water container and once that cup is full pour into the next cup and so on. Once the largest cup was full I let J pour all of the water into the small cup and see how much it overflows! You can't beat making a mess! If the weather isn't warm enough where you are, you can always set up shop in the bath tub!

Shape Review

For our Shape Review we used pgs 84-87 in the Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills for Preschool. We traced, colored and matched shapes.

For our shape review craft J made some shape monsters! I cut out multiple shapes in different sizes and colors out of left over construction paper (you could also do with felt so it's reusable) Then cut out large shapes to make up the monster body. Let your kiddo glue to their hearts content! (You could use googly eyes if you're realllllly fun.)

Secondly, we simply collected one item of each shape from around the house.

Another idea you could do is Shape Simon Says. If the weather is nice you can draw shapes in chalk on the sidewalk and do it that way or you could tape paper shapes onto the ground inside.

Learning About Diamonds

Our Diamond section was pgs 79-83 in the Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills for Preschool. We traced, colored and wrote the word diamond.

For our first project I gave J triangle stickers and asked her to figure out how to make a diamond out of them. It took her a while so I gave her a few hints as we went: use only two triangles, have them touching, have one pointing up and one down and. I also ended up drawing a diamond to help her along. I had to use some self control to not move them around for her but she was very proud once she finally get it for herself! (If you want to simplify you could just start with two larger triangles.)

Second, we made kites with Glad Press n Seal and tissue paper pieces. You could also use contact paper if you'd rather. 

Learning About Ovals

Our Oval section was pgs 72-78 in the Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills for Preschool. We traced, colored and wrote the word oval. You can also talk about how an oval only has 1 side just like a circle.

In the spirit of Halloween we had two "spooky" crafts! For our first craft I simply printed out this tree and let J made some spooky leaves with her oval fingerprints. You could obviously used reds and oranges to make it more fall themed and colorful.

Secondly, I cut out a white ovals and a bunch of black ovals and J glues them on to make a skeleton face. You could also do this on felt to make it reusable. 

Hope you all had a very Happy Halloween!