Preschool Art

Art is very important for preschoolers. A Montessori classroom would have art supplies available for the children at all times. While I think this is ideal in a home setting with certain children this will not work.

I tried to have lots of art supplies available for my daughter but it only resulted in a huge mess. Markers leaked on the floor, paint randomly on the wall or chairs, and play-do EVERYWHERE! So I had no choice but to put the art supplies out of reach for a while.

I still had my art trays but I put them in a closet with a lock. When it was time for art I wold simply take the trays out so she had a choice of what she wanted to use but it was under supervision.

If your child is mature enough to use the art supplies correctly by all means set up an art corner with art trays! Here are a few ideas for your preschoolers art corner:

*An Easel with washable paint and a smock
*A tray with play-do or beeswax with cookie cutters and other play-do tools
*A tray with paper and crayons,markers, colored pencils
*Child sized safety scissors and paper to practice cutting

Also hang art (at the child eye level) by famous artists along with art your child created.

Here are some fun art must haves for your preschooler:

Winter Fun!

We did a fun and messy activity today with snow.

Take some snow from outside and place it in a bowl. Have your child add a few drops of food coloring (put newspaper on the table first). Let the child add another color of food coloring. Mix it up to reveal what the 2 mixes colors make! Be sure to use old gloves or plastic bags to mix the colors together.

Spring Sensory Box

Spring Sensory Box:
Place grass, flowers, flower petals, rocks, twigs, acorns, crab apples, and any other spring related item you can find in a box. Place a blind fold on your preschool and ask him/her to reach into the box and feel an object. Have your child describe the object and guess what it is they are holding.

Montessori Chat Forum!

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Book Review: I Love You More

I Love You More by Laura Duksta, is a touching children's book about a mother and her son's love for each other. It begins with the boy asking, "mommy, just how much do you love me?" The mother answers using things from nature to explain her love, for example. "I love you mightier than the mightiest wind ever blew, I love you fuller than the fullest moon you ever knew".

A neat thing about about this book is it's a flip-sided book! Simply flip it over and you have the son telling his mom just how much he loves her. The rhyming text and beautiful, colorful illustrations will keep young children engaged in this sweet story.

I read this book to my 5 year old daughter at bedtime. She loved it and thought is was so cool that we could flip the book and the story continues! After I read the story to her she looked at me at said "mom I love you all the way to Jupiter!" We then had our own little discussion about how much we love each other. Priceless!

Visit: http://www.lauraduksta.com/default.asp for more information.

Setting up you a Montessori Home Environment

Setting up a Montessori area in your home for can seem like a daunting task at first. There are so many wonderful Montessori materials, how do you choose the best ones for your 3-6 year old? Here is a list to help you set up a Montessori area with the essentials:

Setting up the room/area:
* Lots of shelves
* Child sized table and chairs
* Display art work at child's eye level (change frequently)
* A pet to care for
*Live plants
*Art easel with paint and smock all out and available for your child as he/she wishes

Language area:
*Age appropriate Books
*Sand Paper Letters
*Movable Alphabet

Math:
*Baskets with objects to sort and classify and count
*Sand Paper Numbers
*Spindle Boxes

Sensorial:
*Smell Jars
*Color tablets
*Pink Tower
*Feely bags (different textures in a bag)


Practical Life:
*Child sized duster, broom, sponge
*pouring work

Montessori Halloween activities

Here are some fun Montessori based Halloween activities to do with your preschooler!


Math:
Pumpkin Seed Counting: After carving a pumpkin, rinse and dry the seeds. Take 20 index cards and number each one (1-20). Have your preschooler count and place the correct number of pumpkin seeds to match the numbered index card. Example: If your child is working are on the index card with the # 3 on it, then the child should count out 3 pumpkin seeds and place them on the card.


Ghost Matching: Make 10-12 ghosts out of white felt or construction paper. Draw the same face on every two of the ghosts (ex: 2 happy ghosts, 2 mad ghost, 2 sad ghosts). Have your child match the ghosts by facial expressions.


Sensory:
Halloween Sensory Box:
Place small pumpkins, gourds, acorn squash, Indian corn and other Halloween items you can buy at your local pumpkin patch in a large box. Place a blind fold on your preschool and ask him/her to reach into the box and feel an object. Have your child describe the object and guess what it is they are holding.

Black Cat Touch cards: Cut out a cat shape out of cardboard. Buy black satin, fake fur, cotton and other textured fabrics from your local craft or fabric store. Glue the different fabric to your cardboard cats. Your child can "pet" the cats and feel the different textures.


Practical Life:
Cooking Pumpkin seeds: Let your child help prepare pumpkin seeds to be cooked. Your child can wash, dry and salt the seeds.


Art:
Painting: Provide Halloween paint colors at the easel.

Pumpkin Paper Plate: Have your preschooler paint a paper plate orange. Let the paint dry as your child cuts out eyes, nose and mouth out of black construction paper and a stem out of brown or green paper. Let child glue the face on when paint is completely dry.


Science:
Life Cycle of a Pumpkin: Montessori for Everyone offers a wonderful (and free) download of the life cycle of a pumpkin.

Reading:
Read several Halloween themed books: Avoid scary Halloween books. Read to your preschooler every day and place several Halloween/fall themed books in your childs reading corner basket so she can sit and look at the books as she pleases.