Story Book for December 5, 2008

Our story book for December 5th was Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler.  In this story poor Skeleton has the hiccups and can't get rid of them.  He tries every hiccup remedy but nothing works until his friend Ghost has an idea.  This is a really funny book that the kids loved.

Art Activity: Skeletons

For this art activity we gave the children paper skeleton parts (legs, arms, bodies, heads) to color with crayons.  After coloring the parts, the children used paper fasteners to put their skeletons together.

Art Activity: Painting Fabric Strips

We gave the children white strips of cloth and water color paints.  After reading the Ten Little Mummies story we asked the children to decorate some cloth strips so that we could make our own mummy.  After the strips of cloth were dry we used them to wrap up a stuffed person to make a mummy for the classroom.

Story Book for December 4, 2008

Our story book for December 4th was Ten Little Mummies by Phillip Yates.  This is a counting book where 10 little mummies get into various sorts of mischief.

Math Activity: Feed the Monster

For this activity we used a Monster gift bag with a opening for a mouth, a pair of large dice, and some spider counters.  The children rolled the dice and then counted out that many spiders to feed to the monster.  This game was very popular with the children.  This was great for rote and touch counting.

Art Activity: Playdough Monsters

For this art activity we gave the children various colors of playdough along with feathers, tooth picks, wiggle eyes, pipe cleanser, and spangles.  The children used their materials to create a monster.  

Story Book for December 3, 2008

Our story book for December 3rd was My Favorite Monsters by Vincent James.  In this story a little boy lives in a house full of friendly, funny monsters.  Rhyming text and great illustrations make this book perfect for preschoolers.

Art Activity: Monster Stories

This activity was a combination of language and art.  The children drew a monster picture and then told a story about their drawing.

Story Book for December 2, 2008

Our story book for December 2nd was There's Something in My Attic by Mercer Mayer.  In this story a little girl discovers a monster living in her attic, and the monster has taken her Teddy Bear.

Discovery Table for Monster Stories

For our Monster Stories theme we put colored paper in the discovery table.  We added scissors and hole punchers to the paper to help with fine motor development.

Language Activity: Big Green Monster Chart

For this activity we asked the children to complete the following sentence in their own words:  "Go away big green monster!  and don't come back until..."  As you can tell from the pictures above, we got some creative sentences from the children.

Art Activity: Big Green Monsters

For this art activity we gave the children construction paper in the shape of teeth, mouths, noses, eyes, etc.. to create their very own Big Green Monster like in the story we read on this day.

Story Book for December 1, 2008

Our story book for December 1st was Go Away Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley.  With this book children are able to create and then make disappear a Big Green Monster.  This is hands down one of the best books for children ever.

Art Activity: Monster Rubbings

For this art activity we taped textured rubbing plates to the art table.  We then gave the children paper with the outline of various styles of monsters and crayons with the paper removed.  The children placed the monster paper over the rubbing plates and used the crayons to rub color onto their paper creating different textures on their monsters.

Story Book for November 26, 2008

Our story book for November 26th was You Monsters Are in Charge by Jill Sardegna.  In this story Momma Monster leaves Baby Monster to be watched over by 10 little monsters.  The monsters have a hard time keeping the baby from crying until bedtime.  The books is also a counting book and a Pop-Up book.  The kids in our classroom loved this story.

Easel set up for Monster Stories

For our Monster Stories theme we attached rubber monster fingers to the paint brushes at the art easel.  We hope that this will draw the children to this area during these next few weeks.

Bulletin Boards for Monster Stories

The first bulletin board in our room for our "Monster Stories" theme is the Go Away Big Green Monster Bulletin Board.  This is an interactive bulletin board.  The children can change the monster's face to look any way they like.

Our children's art bulletin board features our Scary Leonardo Faces that we made on the first day of our "Monster Stories" theme.
The dramatic play bulletin board is a Monster Train Station to go along with the Monster Train that we have in our dramatic play area.

Cooking Activity: Monster Toast

For this cooking activity we first mixed a few drops of food coloring with milk.  Next the children used paint brushes and the colored milk to paint a monster face on their bread.  We popped them in the toaster for a few minutes and then they were ready to eat.

Art Activity: Monster Train Decorating

For our art activity today we let the children decorate the monster train that is in our Dramatic Play area.  We gave the kids markers and crayons and let them color, scribble, and draw anything they wanted on the train.

Story Book for November 25, 2008

Our story book for November 25th was Come For a Ride on the Ghost Train by Colin and Jacqui Hawkins.  In this story the readers take a ride on the Ghost train through a slimy swamp, scary forest, gruesome graveyard, and other spooky places.

The kids absolutely loved this book!!!

Music Activity: Horns, Fangs, Knees and Claws

For our music activity we sang the song Horns, Fangs, Knees and Claws.  This is an alternate version of the favorite children's song "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes", but we've reworked it a little bit to fit our monster stories theme.

You can click on this link to see some children singing this song.

Music Activity: Wild Rumpus

For our music activity today we had a Wild Rumpus.  A Wild Rumpus is sort of a monster parade where you make lots of noise and play your instruments really loud.  Each child had an instrument for this activity.

Art Activity: Leonardo's Scary Face

After reading the book, Leonardo the Terrible Monster, we had the children make a scary Leonardo face.  In the book Leonardo tries very hard to be scary, but just wasn't.  We gave the children fabric circles for Leonardo's head, string, fabric eyes, foam horns and teeth.  The children used tacky glue to create their scary Leonardo face.

Story Book for November 24, 2008

Our story book for November 24th was Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems.  This is the story of a little monster, Leonardo, who can't seem to scare anyone, no matter how hard he tries.  He hopes to be able to "scare the tuna salad" out of the most scaredy-cat kid in the whole world.  A little boy named Sam.

Art Activity: Purple Crayon Drawings

After reading Harold and the Purple Crayon we hung up long pieces of butcher paper in the hallway and gave the children purple crayons.  The children used their purple crayons to draw anything their imagination could conjure.

Story Book for November 21, 2008

Our story book for November 21 was Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson.  The story of a little boy who uses his purple crayon to draw wonderful world created from his imagination.

Story Book for November 20, 2008

Our story book for November 20th was It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw.  This book features a white shape that changes shape on every page.  Is it a rabbit?  Is it an Owl?  Is it a Mitten?  We find out what the white shape is at the end of the book.

Story Book for November 19, 2008

Our story book for November 19th was The Night Sky by Alice Pernick.  Simple text describes some of the many wonderful things to be found in the night sky.

Art Activity: Glitter Stars

For this art activity we gave the children star shaped paper in various colors, glue, paint brushes and glitter.  The children used their paint brushes to spread the glue on their paper stars.  After applying glue, the children sprinkled glitter over their stars.

Science Activity: Reflecting Light

For this science activity we gave the children flashlights and a stand up mirror.  We asked the children to shine their flashlight into the mirror to see what would happen.  The children learned that the light would reflect off of the mirror and appear on the wall behind them.

Story Book for November 18, 2008

Our story book for November 18th, 2008 was Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by Sylvia Long.  This is a version of the classic children's song featuring animals.

Math Activity: Teddy Bear Counting

For this math activity we gave the children a spinner with bears on it, and some colorful teddy bear counters.  The children spun the spinner and then counted out that number of teddy bears.  This activity helped develop the children's touch counting skills.

Story Book for November 17, 2008

Our story book for November 17th was Bunny Day by Rick Walton.  This story follows a bunny family throughout their day.  Telling time is part of this story.  On each hour of the day, the bunnies are engaged in another part of their day.

Story Book for November 12, 2008

Our story book for November 12th, 2008 was The Sun is My Favorite Star by Frank Asch.  This is about a little boy who explains why he loves the Sun.  From waking him up in the morning to making shadows for him among other reasons.

Math Activity: Clothing Graph

For this activity the children were asked to count how many people were wearing a certain clothing and then use wooden blocks to graph that number.  For example, how many people were wearing a skirt that day, or how many were wearing shoes that day.