Activities to Celebrate Spring In The Preschool Classroom
Posted: Thursday, March 20, 2008
by Stephany Springer
I love spring. It is the great time of the year to bring into the classroom setting. It brightens the days up and the kids really enjoy the activities of bringing the outside in.
Spring is a time of new life as the flowers begin to bloom, butterflies are abundant and the weather is perfect for some childhood play. The trick in teaching the season of spring to preschoolers is to invigorate all their senses.
Art Center
A great suggestion I have done is to just take the kids outside during the spring and let them draw with sidewalk chalk. It is a lot of fun for the kids just to create outside in the spring air. Cleanup is also an ease.
The next idea combines nature and art. Have the children collect flower petals while going on a nature walk. For younger toddlers, you can collect petals. Once inside, take a bunch of flower petals and place them in a large bowl. Cut out some contact paper into the shape of a flower. Let the children place the flower petals on the cut-outs. Once finished, used another piece of contact paper to seal it off so no flowers come loose.
One last suggestion is fingerprint or thumbprint art. Have the children place their fingerprints in a row for a cute caterpillar. Have children place a yellow thumbprint in the sky. Draw wings, stinger and an antenna. You can do all sorts of bugs, birds, etc. with fingerprints.
Butterflies
Butterflies are such a huge aspect of spring and can be used in several different areas of the classroom. In art, have children use droppers or bingo markers to decorate a coffee filter. Then take a pipe cleaner and wrap in the center, twist at the top for antennas.
A second suggestion is to take a sheet of white paper fold it down the center put a drop of paint in the center. Then put a different color in next to it on one half fold and smash make sure to really spread the paint all over the paper they make really neat butterflies!
A third suggestion is to start by mixing colors of paint with white to make pastels. Have the children take off their socks and shoes. Then paint their feet, using splotches of colors here and there to make all colors on their feet. Then place their feet about one inch apart onto a piece of white construction paper. When they are dry, we glue a "Y" shaped piece of black construction paper into the middle to create a butterfly!
Finally my most favorite butterfly activity is to have a classroom butterfly garden. You can go to your local plant store or online at some science stores. The kids will love watching the caterpillars spin their silk then eventually come alive as butterflies.
Nature Table
The activities for this part of the classroom are endless so I am going to list a few. First you can place planting soil in the sand table and allow the kids to plant seeds. Go all out and pick up some gardening tools at your local dollar store.
Another suggestion is to place some wet soil in the table and add live earthworms. The kids will love watching them dig and crawl.
Go for a nature walk. Place masking tape on the wrist of the kids with the sticky side out and allow the kids to make a nature bracelet with items they collect on their walk. Another method is to allow them to bring a sack to take some nature home.
Place playdoh in some planting pots. Allow the kids to plant artificial flowers in the pots. This can be a math center by placing a number on each pot and then only allowing that many flowers to be planted in the pot.
Homeliving
What better time to add the pretend cleaning product?. Allow the kids to spring clean. Provide a feather duster, vacuum cleaner, gloves, brooms, etc. The kids will enjoy pretending to be grown up and you will have a super clean center for the week.
These are just a few suggestions. I am sure you have more. Feel free to add to the comment section any and all activities you have used in your classroom.
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