Kids Homemade Classroom Valentine Garland

It seems like most gorgeous art projects never stay in the classroom longer than a day. Sometimes, I actually have to plan for festive classroom decorations and really get the kids excited about it, as well. This can be a bit tricky but long-term projects can go on for months!
The children used the same crayon muffin technique and I simply place metal paper clips inside as soon as the come out of the oven.

Materials You'll Need For the Homemade Valentine Classroom Garland:

• Lots of Shaved Crayons
• Heart Muffin Tins
• Paper Clips
• Oven
• Long Ball of Twine
• Colored Ribbon or Yarn
• Nature kids collect from home, nature walks, etc.

All photos from Resurrection Fern

The Process: Check out the crayon muffins link and just after you take them out of the oven place a paper clip inside them just before they cool. As a class, we have this activity open all week. We get quite a few hearts. Unfortunately, one year a preschooler came up with the brilliant idea of making them into crayon necklaces. Brilliant idea, and there went the garland...sigh.

Making It Meaningful: I encourage the children to bring bits of nature from home. Pine cones, acorns, twigs and leaves. We make it a special show and tell where the children tell how and where they found the prized possessions just before we hang it on the garland.

These valentine garlands are very beautiful and natural looking. And best of all the children love adding to them and telling stories about it!

How about you? what would you have your class add?

What if my preschool classroom set up isn't working?

"But, The room was clean a second ago!"

 It's the beginning of the year and kids are flinging Lego's and dumping baskets of tinker toys. Your vision of children blissfully and serenely ogling over toys and learning materials has now fallen flat like a lettuce leaf on hot cement.
One one truly knows how children will react to even the most carefully planned classrooms until they are actually working within them. This is why I learned to set up materials and learning centers to the absolute minimum basics when I begin the year. We often forget that children are already overstimulated as it is in the first few weeks. In the early months of class, try setting up the room to focus mainly on the children.

10 Things to Consider About Your Preschool Room Set Up or Management:
1. If you walk around on your knees in the classroom, what's the first thing you see? What grabs your attention and what doesn't? Chances are it's the same for the kids.

"But I DID clean up the toys!"

2. Have a plan! Draw and map out all the areas you will have and create a room arrangement. This will save your back in the long run!
3.Are your learning centers clearly defined? Rugs, hanging posters and tiled areas tend to define the space within the room. As yourself, "What can I do to make this appealing to more children? Is this culturally respectful? Is there variety?
4. Are noisy and quiet areas in strategic places? Really try to keep them away from each other.
5. Got Flow? How do you and the children move within the room? Make sure there are surface areas, clear paths and places for you to strategically sit/stand and observe the children. Hidden areas that aren't readily visible to you could be a problem.
6. What is your group of children gravitating toward most? If it's farm animals, per say? Have farm books in the reading areas, farm animal shapes to color in the art area, etc. The goal is to see how your children are and will be actually using the areas in the beginning, not necessarily changing your curriculum.

Keep toys some toys for special occasions,
like a rainy day!

7. Always have a personal bag of back up toys. Things for a rainy day, picture day when kids are nervously waiting to be called, a family night, or just when the whole group of kids seem on edge. Something as simple as soft finger puppets, small little colorful caricatures ,mini animals/bugs or small wind up toys. It's a life saver to whip out this bag on special occasions when getting your classroom messy isn't the option for the moment.
8. Changing the room around a few times a year can be refreshing to everyone. We encourage you to make changes to keep older things looking new!
9. As tempting as it may be, don't put out all the toys at once in the classroom. Have a small rotation stash! Some toys won't bring out the best in our kids at the beginning of the year...save it for later.
10. Take a look at what your curriculum is telling the preschoolers to do. Have a balance of materials that require sitting, standing, floor or table play. Balance out activities that are will be exciting or calm though out the day. You can actually create a rhythm and balance of chaos verses serenity throughout the day.


We would love to hear some of your classroom set up or management techniques!

The Back To School Checklist For New Teachers

There are so many things to think about besides posting up bulletin boards, cubby tags and tying shoes. But what? We remember those first time teacher jitters. This back to school checklist really helped me. I was sure to ask veteran teachers for tips and tricks....and then came up with a few of my own. Enjoy!

The Back to School Checklist for New Teachers! 
10 Needful Tips From the Pros:
1. Get a list of all the children and parents names. Keep a cheat sheet in a cabinet but work on memorizing all the names as soon as possible!

2. Buy a few stacks of thank you cards from a dollar store. Send them out within the first two weeks of school thanking them for allowing yo to share in their child's life.
3. Set up simple, non- messy materials on tables when children enter the room for the first few weeks of school. Kids will need something to fun and engaging to play with and parents feel better leaving if children are engaged in play.
4. Think of some fun, even unconventional props you could use to get the children's attention during transitions or clean up times. A train whistle, kazoo, a silly flashlight, etc. After children become used to the schedule they can sense when activities will end or begin.
5. How will children be lining up or sitting at circle times? Don't assume all the little ones will know what to do. Colored tape is your friend until kids know the routine.
6. Give everyone a classroom tour. I do it as a group. We walk around the room and I tell them where everything is, what it's for, and go over a bit of rules. Keep it simple...the kids won't remember everything but it establishes respect for the materials and learning areas.
7. Be sure to tell them where the bathroom is! It is the most forgotten room! If you are fortunate to have one in your classroom be sure to decorate it with friendly pictures!

8. Keep the Classroom simple. Brimming baskets full of Lego's and sensory tables full of water looks inviting but isn't always practical until the children are familiar with the room and routine. I put out the toys, but half a basket full...Full baskets and such are for after we have mastered clean up times. If the children are doing well with materials...you can always add more to the shelves or baskets later.
9. Be sure to a knowledge kids feelings. Puppets work great in this area. I usually present a special puppet  at circle time and  let the children know he is a bit scared  and nervous his first day of school. I'll ask the children to help him feel comfortable by being his friend. They quickly relate to him and have ideas to help.
10. Don't forget to put the parents at ease! Have a nice letter or present a first day of  hand out of what the kids will be doing. The first day is very special. Letting them know you make play dough together or build sand castles puts parents at ease. Try to have special anecdotal their child did for pick up times to share with them!

Did we leave out anything? Let us know what works for you!

Great Quiet Activities for Kids

 "There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm."

~Willa Cather

Kids are so full of energy and laughter. I grew up with two other sisters and I remember how I used to scream when something was funny. Unfortunately the rest of my family didn't find it so funny when the sound traveled up their spinal columns. The fun would quickly end after that. I suppose that is around the time my mom started figuring out quiet activities for us kids to do. Most activities us teachers do with kids to keep them engaged tend to be exciting.....okay, so now that they are all excited how do we get them to wind down? It's always good to have a bag of tricks you will need to get kids calm and quiet for the next activity. Here are some quiet-quick-tricks we use that are especially helpful.

Quiet Activities for Kids That Really Work:

Read a Story: Okay, this can be a bit tricky depending on the story, but classics like, Good Night Moon and The Napping House really appeal to kids.
Finger puppets: Yes, finger puppets! The small individual ones that fit on one finger. Believe it or not simply passing them out on a table with small books to read really helps kids focus and wind down.
Cards: We all have stacks of cards somewhere. Kids can make card houses or play simple matching games.
Marbles: Kids love marbles! A simple game of marbles is quite easy to teach while gently bouncing them off of wood blocks makes a pleasant sound.
Lotion: I have been known to have kids stop after washing up from outside play to apply lotion to their own hands, face or legs. Lotion tends to immediately have a calming effect and has a lovely scent.
Socks: Okay, it doesn't have to be a sock, per say, but here at school we always have stray clean socks around. The guessing game, "What's in the Sock?" means simply putting a few small items inside and gather a group. We give clues to the kids as to what may be inside.
Small pom poms: We have a bunch of these for crafts but a quick quiet activity could mean giving them to the kids as a sorting, or math activity.
Guess the Drawing: If you are fairly good at drawing gather a group and slowly begin to draw on a large chalk or dry erase board. The slower you go the more time they have to think. Keeping it simple like only drawing items withing the learning environment really gets them thinking. We always give clues!
Water Play: Get a few small plastic bins and fill them with a few inches of warm water. Place a few very small cups, droppers and toys inside. Small plastic animals are a hit, too. One or two children per bin works best.

Color Science and Water Play in Early Childhood Education

"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it!) but "That's funny..."
~Isaac Asimov

When the weather is nice and sunny we live to bring water play both indoors and outdoors. I love letting the children make scientific discoveries on their own. Setting up the right kind of inviting activities not only make for scientific thinking, but open up kids mind to worlds of possibilities.

Setting up Scientific Discoveries
for Kids Through Water Play:

Discovering Color: Gather all yellow toys (legos, cars,small balls and scoops and cups, have a large bin or water table filled with enough water to actually submerge some of the toys completely.  Add blue food coloring to the water (be sure to add just the right amount of blue to get the perfect color of green-check with a yellow toy). When the toys are submerged they actually turn a lovely green color. This can be done with any combination of primary colors (red, blue or yellow) to make secondary colors (green, orange, purple, etc.)

We take dictation of the children and post it on the door for the parents to see what types of conversations the children have while making their scientific discoveries!

Teacher Documentation and It's Benefits in Early Childhood Education

Ink on paper is as beautiful to me as flowers on the mountains; 

God composes, why shouldn't we? 

~Terri Guillemets

I can remember when I used to take my drawing to my dad as a little girl. He used to stop whatever he was doing; ask me about it, gush over it and write down whatever I said…word for word.

As an early childhood education there are disagreements about how much or how often to praise. Praise vs encouragement, rewarding behavior, etc.
As a little girl I remember the time my father gave me. I wonder if preschooler remember that when we take the time to document their work?
Documentation and various transcripts of children’s words and discussions, photographs of children engaged in activities, play and representations of their thinking and learning using many medias are arranged are often arranged on the walls of the preschool classroom to document children’s work. All in all, it makes for a very print rich and personalized preschool environment.
Benefits of documentation can include:

• Making families aware of children’s experiences
• Maintaining parent involvement
• Allowing for teachers to understand children better
• Evaluating children’s work
• Providing a venue for children to recall and value their own work and the process of that work
• Facilitated communication and exchange ideas among educators.

-Facilitation of an overall sense of community, social development, and personal awareness and development for the child and among his or her peers.
I enjoy the personal time I get with the children when I document. I do consider it a bonding experience. It has helped me become a better listener, friend, and helped me to understand my children and even myself better.
What I have found is that what I am seeing in them, I see in myself…..
We are all growing and learning together.
That's something I not only love to document, but write about....
How about you? What do you really love to write about?

Creative and Open Ended Art in Early Childhood Education

“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what

 to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”

~George Smith Patton, War as I Knew It, 1947

I think for the first few years of teaching in early childhood education I told the preschoolers what to do most of the day. I mean…I was on top of them. Hovering, like some kind of kinder-cop helicopter; alert and ready to airlift anyone with messy pants or a sour disposition.
What’s different now…well, the messy pants part hasn’t changed.

But I defiantly allow leeway when it comes to creativity. Creative art, creative problem solving (conflict resolution skills), creative solutions….
I am not so quick to rush in and have all the answers for the children. Often I find if I simply am a comforting positive and encouraging presence the children have many skills when they have been given a good foundation from the beginning of the school year and understand the rules.
Creative art is also open-ended art and can be done in any area of the preschool classroom and with any type of material. I think it’s one of my favorite areas and center’s to watch the children in.
Children don’t have much control in their own environment- but they do over what goes on their paper.
Art is always a preference with children-some truly enjoy the process of crafts.....
What type of art do your preschoolers enjoy doing?

Art in Early Childhood Education

“Conditions for creativity are to be puzzled; to concentrate; to accept conflict and tension; to be born everyday; to feel a sense of self.”

~Eric Fromm

Artists tend to look at the marks or strokes that are left behind on the paper or canvas. They can be beautiful within themselves. This is usually why young children’s art work is appreciated so much.
Crayons, markers, pens and pencils are usually staples in any art area. As children’s skills grow and develop the materials usually graduate with them. Staplers, tape, scissors, stickers etc. The list can go on. I recruit help from the families as well. It’s not always that it is necessary, but it is important to involve them as active members in the preschooler’s education.
Parents and families are creative as well and have so much to bring to the table. They are so necessary in the education of the ‘whole child’.

The saying, It takes a village to raise a child…I believe holds true. The village must also know how to work together, come together, and be quite a community in the first place in order to do that.
Wow…what a group of people…and the children….imagine the community…and the work that they would produce.

Non-Competitive Games in Early Childhood Education

“It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.” ~Albert Einstein

In the preschool classroom I do not regularly set up or have out competitive activities. Being that this is an early childhood setting and we are setting children up for having as many successful experiences in and with school as possible.
To have a lot of competitive board games would mean having one happy “winner” and a group of crying or angry children to console….I like to go home with my head intact.
I have a lot of self correcting or open ended activities. This means if something spills,tips over, or goes splat there are materials available for the child to clean it up immediately themselves, and so on.
Duplo Legos, Marble Mazes, Wooden Blocks are all open ended activities that have no right or wrong way to use them. As the children grow and develop we can challenge them more with materials as they are introduced and added to the preschool setting.
I notice the children gaining confidence, staying focused for increased periods of time, and problem solving together.
Warms a preschool teachers cockles…..whatever that is….
I’ll have to Google it.

Some great non-competitive games & activities are:
*Candy Land-Hasbro
*Snails Pace Race
*Etch a Sketch
*Pound a Peg
fatbraintoys.com website has excellent reviews of toys that are well researched. It is actually quite impressive.
How about you? What works for you?

Quiet Areas in Preschool Environments in Early Childhood Education

“Never miss an opportunity to make 

others happy, even if you have to leave 

them alone in order to do it.”

~Anonymous

I am not the sunshine in everyone’s life….Shocker, right?
There is an art to leaving kids alone to recover their dignity from humiliation, anger, fear, resentment….and such like. And WOE unto you if you mess-ith with them.
I mean yikes to the power of yikes.

Well…..a temper is another separate issue.
When I was upset, I preferred not to be alone-I was just that type of child. I preferred someone to pick on….at the very least……
I knew a little boy named Sean that used too hide under the table when there was trouble. There was a rule at the preschool that no one was to be under the table. He would quietly duck under and “gather” himself together…I could almost see it happening. The teachers would begin to pull him out until I brought the situation to their attention. The solution was to have one “Quiet Tent” in the classroom that kids could all sit under. It was enough for him and he used it less and less.
Hmmmm….Do we have a restful retreat for our kids their environment?
How do I take time to 'recover' from situations?

From Passion 2 Fruition

“Let your working ideas go for a picnic - sometimes the fresh air and ant bites are just what they need. Many great ideas were bitten a little at the beginning.”
~Carrie Latet

I loved to follow around ants as a kid. They built dams, bridges with their own bodies and dug endless tunnels. My mom was always heartsick looking for me at parks because I would always get lost following them….but I learned something.
Gather in the good times…the summers of your life-you will be prepared for the winters and look back in thankfulness. Together work, together build and teach it to your little ones. Be unified as a family.
There a lot nature can teach us....
I guess that's why I co-habituate with critters in the class. I'm not squeamish, either. We all are like little Fonzie's when it comes to the idea of nature....
coooooool.

The Honorable Mention: Successful Clean Up Times with Kids

 “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
~Henry Ford

Kids look up all the time. Why? They’re little doesn't mean "small"...just ask a Hersey's Kiss.
How do I know this?
I, myself…am vertically challenged. Petite…...ahem. But, I am a giant among the wee ones so please don’t break the news to them.
There are so many things I could be doing in the room that would be quicker, more convenient, and more efficiently done if I had done them all by myself….but I have a certain culture I wish to create in my classroom.
Teamwork.
Culture is like a seed. You must be take care in what you plant…because it can take over, like beautiful flowers or like thorny thistles.
We have small wash cloths, squirt bottles, and brooms for clean up times. The children use them often and were shown with care how to use them properly.
Parents were surprises when they first saw a clean up station set up in a preschool class. They initially thought the children weren’t allowed to touch it. When they saw children working with the materials they said.....
“Wow, so how do they know which of the clean up materials to choose? Option A, B, C or D?” They joked.
“As long as they use the materials together with purpose, they can choose all of the above” I laughed.

Going Green in the Art Area in Early Childhood Education

 “Good heavens, of what uncostly material is our earthly happiness composed... if we only knew it. What incomes have we not had from a flower, and how unfailing are the dividends of the seasons.”
~James Russell Lowell

Most teachers are “green” in their classrooms and don’t even know it. I always was…I taught many ideas I originally learned from my parents. My mom always found ways to keep me busy…I was a very artsy kid-I loved to draw color and do collages. We had no money to do any of it…but she always supplied the goods. If you want some excellent collage material that will last you the rest of the school year-now is the time to get it. Wrapping paper…yes, wrapping paper…
It’s better if it is all not too season oriented, but it really doesn’t matter. The brighter, bolder the colors the better-this time of year…while everyone is tearing through it with drunken abandon, simply select your samples and set them aside.
Here are some ideas of what you can do with it:

*Shred some for projects
*Uses some patterned pieces for cutting with the children
*Have some die cut into shapes for gluing
*Use some for the kids to do a tearing collage
*Colored cellophane is great, too-don’t forget to save that!
*Have a ‘Collage Box’ in the art area and steadily add to it as it gets low
Bows, ribbons and bits of card board from the boxes are also a great hit.
Remember-you heard it hear first!

Values and The Preschool Teacher

"Cheshire puss? Asked Alice," Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to go." Said the cat.
"I don't much care where." said Alice.

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go." said the cat.
-Chareles "Lewis Carol" Dodgson 1832-1898, Alice's Adventure's In Wonderland

(You must) choose to feel good. Life and business are tough, but in the midst of all that a critical decision must be made: will I let my emotions rule me or will I rule my emotions? There is nothing worse than someone that can't make a decision when everything is on the line.
-Micheal E. Parker, CEO Stellar Enterprise

Definition: Values

The inner most desiring force that guides your decisions and behaviors a a result of learned experiences of time.

Working as family caregivers, preschool teachers, directors, and or parents we each have our own set of values. When we identify what our TRUE values are we will see them manifest through the decisions we make and the behaviors we display. Depending on where we work and what we do, on average 80% of our day is spend managing children or people.

As "overseers" of our environment, are our values evident in the classroom or home environment simply by looking around? Are the children busy and happy? Do I feel happy and positive?

Do we bring anything extra to the table when it comes to caring for young children? How we implement our preschool curriculum says a lot about our values.

I made a decision to be an advocate for preschool children. To listen to them and let them have as much of a childhood as they could get. I learned many things through nature and just being allowed to be a kid. This isn't the case for many children in this day and age...especially with the technology we have today. In more cases than not I am seeing a growing trend with technology robbing children of their social skills.

It is easy to tell a child what to do. But to teach, it takes something out of you.

What values do we as early childhood educators bring into our own learning environments?

"Let's make a dent in the universe."
— Steve Jobs